Now that I wear a mask with Beacon Communications printed on a blue background, I don’t think twice when people seem to know me and I’m left to guess who they are by their eyes.

“You must be John,” said the woman from behind the counter. “I have something for you.”

I hadn’t expected such a greeting upon walking into Twice Told Tales in Pawtuxet. It was my first visit to the store and I was there as part of a project to do a series of videos on Warwick neighborhoods and villages.

The woman, who I learned was Linda Calkins, left her post and soon returned with two books by Michael deGuzman. Linda opened the cover to reveal my name and the note “with my best wishes” signed by the author. As the videographer was looking to get shots of the store, I didn’t question Linda about the books and tucked them under my arm. When I got home, they found a place on a living room table.

That was more than a month ago.

I found them again last week and started reading the shorter of the two – “The Boy from Somewhere.”It was a fast read with a good message about misfits and how they find a place, only this boy was from a place beyond this planet where life is eternal and hence, as we learn, so is hell. The being is transported here in the form of particles that transform into a boy. In his limited time on Earth, his assignment is to find and save a woman that he knows only by name. Whether he is successful will determine the eternal role he will play in his home planet.

As I read the story, I kept digging the recesses of my mind for Michael deGuzman. Had we crossed paths someplace? Had he emailed me? Was this part of some publicity stunt designed to give him and his books publicity?

From the back of the book a white-hair man with bushy eyebrows, dark rimmed glasses gave a straight smile. I learned that Michael who lives in Seattle has written for multiple television movies and that “Strangers,” the other book left for me, was made into a CBS movie starring Bette Davis and Gena Rowlands.

That answered some questions about Michael, but how had he or someone else known to leave the books in Pawtuxet in a store I had never visited before and with a woman I hadn’t meet? I pondered the possibilities, but nothing short of the supernatural made sense. “The Boy from Somewhere” was becoming the book from beyond.

Finally, on Monday I set about finding an answer.

Twice Told Tales was open. A couple of girls were looking over the wide array of items carried by the store. Indeed, there are books but so much more, from jewelry and cards to stuffed animals and unusual gifts. The woman at the counter was on the phone, so I looked over the displays hoping to find something for Carol. There was an abundance of cardinals and Carol loves cardinals.

My moment came when the clerk hung up. I held my copy of “Strangers” and explained I was looking to discover how Linda happened to get the books.

“I’ll give her a call.”

There was no answer, but I was assured Linda would call back momentarily.

No particles appeared out of thin air as they did in the book, but Linda called right back. The woman explained what I was looking for and then hung up. I waited for the news.

“She said a woman came in with the books. She thinks her name was Martha.”

OK, I thought, Michael is really good at playing with my mind – or was he writing a new segment for “The Twilight Zone”?

On my way back to the office, I could only think of one Martha who might have a clue to what was happening – former Providence Journal reporter and features writer Martha Smith.

I was right.

Martha knows Michael. She met him as a reporter covering North Kingstown in the 1970s. Actually, she knew him because of his mother, Adelaide Lynch. Adelaide was much beloved by the residents of Wickford for rescuing cats and dogs.

“She walked around the village every day,” Martha said, “sometimes carrying a cat under each arm.” The stray cats would get given to whoever offered to take them.

The scene Martha recalls vividly was Adelaide’s funeral, when the pastor walked down the aisle with a black lab following. Everyone dissolved into tears.

As for the books, she thought she had probably dropped them at Twice Told Tales, but she wasn’t making any promises.

And what was the story with Michael?

“I think he’s being forgotten,” she said. Martha, who occasionally gets calls from Michael, said he is a workaholic, churning out story after story. Invariably he asks, “what are you working on” to which she adds, “I’m working on eluding you.”

Did that clear everything up?

Hardly. But I won’t be surprised if I get a call from the author from somewhere – or maybe one day he’ll suddenly materialize here.