The Voice Behind Me

There is a lovely little horror story about the peasant who started through the haunted wood--the wood that was, people said, inhabited by devils who took any mortal who came their way. But the peasant thought, as he walked slowly along,

I am a good man and have done no wrong. If devils can harm me then there isn't any justice.

A voice behind him said, "There isn't."

I hear that voice all the time. This anecdote starts off "A Voice Behind Him", by Fredric Brown (1906-1972), reprinted in Carnival of crime.