So what're you folks inside the house doing? You can hear Father Antonio talking to someone just outside.
Elliot glances outside a window when he hears the voices, though he tries to stay hidden in case whoever the good padre is talking to might try and raise an alarm seeing strangers in Reverend Kornfield's house. Little did the archaeologist figure it WAS the serpent priest himself!!
If he manages to come through that little nasty surprise unscathed, he moves away from the opening and gestures at the others, mouthing "OUT! GET OUT NOW!" silently as he hustles toward the door on the opposite side of the house - presuming there is one there...
Brisk frowns at the strange art but will leave it and follow Elliot with the book wrapped up under his jacket.
While unsure what Elliot just spotted, Chakos trusted his companion and went to leave, quietly...
As the team hustles out the back door, Chakos accidentally strikes a tin wash basin that stood precariously by the back door, causing it to crash loudly to the wooden floor. The three then flee into the neighboring yard.
Out front, Reverend Kornfield hears the crash and hurries into the house with Father Antonio right on his heels.
"Seems its only a fallen tub," says Kornfield. "A false alarm."
"Would you excuse me?" he asks and heads into the back room. A moment later he returns, his handsome face darkened. "I was wrong. it was something more. I have been robbed of a very old and very precious book. I need to call the Sheriff."
"Do you guys have a safe house in the area? If not, we should find somewhere safe to hide the book until we are ready to get out of this town." Brisk says.
Antonio's first instinct is to somehow excuse himself, but then he realizes getting the Sheriff and others in town to see the now-alive Reverend might be exactly the thing to do.
"Oh, of course! Yes, let's call the Sheriff and see what they can do about the robbery. Do you know if anything else is missing?" Antonio moves to find a phone and help make the call.
Chakos pushes the others ahead of him, "keep going, we need to get somewhere and have a look at this book."
Father Antonio helps the Reverend make the call to Sheriff Cliff Benson, who agrees to come straight to the Kornfield residence.
Meanwhile, Chakos, Brisk and Elliott head for cover with the Book of Yig in their possession.
So what now, intrepid investigators? What's the plan?
"Reverend, you said there was a book missing. What was it? Was it valuable?"
"We need to find a place to hide the book so that no one can find it until we are ready to get out of town. You wanted to try and help the girl before we leave right?" Brisk asks.
"The girl, the mom, the family, the town. We should help who we can, but ultimately, we need to figure this place out."
"Do you know of a safe place to hide the book for now?" Brisk asks.
"Nothing comes to mind, except something simple like storing it above the water reservoir in any restaurant wash closet."
Elliot shakes his head uncertainly. "I think we should hold onto the book - not let it out of our grasp until we get out of this place. That priest... back from the dead? He might be able to... I don't know... sense it somehow? If we hide it, we risk the book falling right back into his hands again. Let's go back to our room at the hotel and wait for the padre to rejoin us. Then we can go visit Suzie's father and do what we can to get both of them out of here. And if her mother is no longer under Kornfield's influence, maybe her as well. But if the priest is alive, I suspect she might be too far gone."
"Reverend, you said there was a book missing. What was it? Was it valuable?"
"A very old and very precious gospel, my friend. Very precious indeed. It must be recovered."
He thinks for a moment. "You came into town with several other new men. Do you think one of them might be responsible?"
As you walk through town, it hits you that several people have mentioned that Reverend Kornfield took frequent walks in the Wilderness, returning healthy and renewed each time. Now you know that the dead walk again. Is it a miracle? Or is there something going on out there in the wilds beyond the town?
Thinking about this as the last glow of the sun sets in the west, you come across another body. This one is Bill Schoenbaum, the leader of the Dissenter faction (the anti-Yig party in town). Bill has been beaten to death and left here at the mouth of an alley where he evidently bled out and died.
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The word around town is that Sheriff Benson arrested Bill Schoenbaum last night for questioning in regards to the church bombing but released him after a few hours. The Sheriff and deputies were the last people to have seen him alive.
The town is abuzz with talk of a Pilgrimage. Reverend Kornfield is going to lead the faithful into the Wilderness.
As this group includes Sheriff Benson, this could be your chance to break Susie Schoenbaum out of jail if you like, or you could follow the pilgrimage to see where it leads...
Elliot kneels next to the body and curses softly. "Susie's father. We need to find that friend of hers, the fella that helped her burn the church down. If we can get her out of jail while the congregation makes their pilgrimage, he can get her out of here and maybe allow us to find out why Kornfield seems to find some unnatural healing out there."
"Who goes where?"
"I can try and get him out of jail, but I think we need to deal with whatever is happening in the wilderness. It sounds like the not so good reverend is leading his flock to some slaughter, and we need to stop it." Brisk says with a frown at whatever the reverend plans to do.
Elliot nods at Samuel. "I'll go with you. None of us should be alone in this place." He turns to the Chakos and Father Pena. "You two follow the congregation. Use a knife or something and leave marks on the trees you pass so that we can follow your trail until we catch up. As soon as the sheriff leaves his office and heads out, we'll get Susie out and leave her in the care of her friend, then follow after you all."
"Sounds like a plan!" Chakos looks at Father Peña, "Ever carve a fish into a tree before?"