Final answer:
The townspeople in Faulkner's 'A Rose for Emily' find a long strand of iron-gray hair on the pillow next to the corpse, indicating Miss Emily's presence with the body over the years.
Step-by-step explanation:
In William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily, after Miss Emily's death, the townspeople discover the decomposed remains of a man in a sealed room within her house. On the pillow beside the corpse's head, they find a long strand of iron-gray hair, which suggests that Miss Emily had been lying beside the body. This eerie discovery signifies Miss Emily's inability to let go of her loved one and implies a macabre form of companionship.