From a writer's requiem—
"Algis points out that at the end of each story, there should be a moment of validation, a place where a person in authority makes some sort of statement that lets the reader know that the story has reached its conclusion." —David Farland, June 9, 2008
Paraphrase of a version by an anonymous reader at Amazon.com (see previous post)—
"… someone who has no other vested interest in the story… steps forward and says 'He's dead, Jim' or 'Who was that masked man?'"
Moments of validation from today's midday NY Lottery— 4639 and 575.
For "He's dead, Jim," see April 6, 1939* (4/6/39) at St. Joseph's Church in Springfield, Mass.
For "Who was that masked man?," see the Mark of Zorro in Post 575.
* This was a Maundy Thursday, not the Good Friday indicated in the linked narrative.