Dr. Jordan is haunted by Grace and his sexual attraction to her, but he is also haunted by what he was unable to unravel. In the novel, Jordan has a dream where he is trying to dissect a dead woman, but she is fully clothed. He peels back layer after layer only to discover yet another layer. This dream shows his frustration at failing to get to the truth about the murders. Unfortunately, Dr. Jordan is unable to get to the truth by himself. He eventually asks the help of Dr. Dupont (a.k.a. Jeremiah) and here they discover that Grace was possessed by Mary Whitney. Dr. Jordan feels emasculated because he was unable to uncover the truth on his own. He feels as if he failed at his job, so he tries to find comfort in Mrs. Humphrey by abusing her in bed, once again placing himself in the role he feels he has lost. When she reveals that her husband will return, he decides to run away, abandoning Grace and his ruined reputation. Feeling emasculated by both women, he takes on the most manly role he can think of: soldier. We later learn that he suffers a head injury and fails to remember much of what happened, except Grace’s name, revealing that he is still haunted by her and what she did to him.