An Account of the Office and its Occupant

sexton / SEX-tən / noun : custodian of consecrated ground, historically appointed to guard the cemetery gates, toll the passing bell, and dig the final resting places for the departed

The Sexton of the Cimetiére des Petits-Choux remains one of the cemetery's most enduring figures. Extensive research has established facts of the Sexton's life, although none can be presently verified.

The office is understood to have passed through several generations of the same family, though there is little evidence that such a family ever existed. Some records show that the current office holder shares the same name as the previous one, while others show no succession has ever occurred.

Accounts of the Sexton's life are plentiful and, without exception, unreliable. The individual is described as both exceptionally handsome and incredibly unremarkable, with a boisterously commanding voice and an abnormally quiet demeanor. Whether the Sexton is male or female remains a mystery, but both opinions are held with equal certainty.

One feature appears consistently throughout the historical record: a small silver locket attached to a brass chain worn about the wrist. The locket is said to contain the likeness of a remarkably elegant opossum with sorrowful eyes. The animal's identity has been the subject of several scholarly inquiries, none of which has been completed.

The Sexton's most recent confirmed appearance was recorded many years ago, although a visitor reported a conversation only yesterday. The visitor could provide no physical description but was quite certain of the encounter.

It is widely believed that the Sexton continues to reside within the cemetery, despite the absence of living quarters, a mailing address, or any evidence of habitation.

The grounds remain orderly. The candles are tended. The Sexton's Journal continues to receive entries.

No one has witnessed these activities, which is generally regarded as evidence of the Sexton's admirable discretion.