At what point in the Shirley Jackson short story "Charles" did you figure out the ending? What led you to this conclusion at this point?

I was
actually pretty clueless before the surprise ending was revealed byin her short story,
"." I wondered about the imaginary Charles and why he had never been seen by anyone
but Laurie. After a rereading, the clues given by the author become more obvious. Laurie's
increasingly bad behavior at home should have been one clue of the bad habits he was picking up
in kindergarten. The fact that Laurie seems to enjoy telling of Charles' exploits is another
clue. Laurie's laughing "insanely" should certainly be yet another clue that the young
boy was in need of some counseling, and that Laurie may actually be suffering from a
split-personality disorder. Since the story was told from the viewpoint of the mother, who still
saw Laurie as her innocent, little boy, it is no wonder that the ending was so surprising to
most readers.