304: Pet, Cemetery

Synopsis

The episode picks up that same evening in Denny's Tavern, where the investigators approach the clean-cut young man whom Ezra Denny pointed out at the end of 303: The Grand Slam. Dom buys a round of scotches, including one for retired constable Robert Morgan, who says he does not remember any Percival Warthrop. The old Dr. Pellinore Warthrop, he says, never had a son as far as he knew. The young man introduces himself as Percival Warthrop. He says he is related to the family that lived in the ruins on the hill, is traveling alone, and has come to see whether anything is left of the old estate. When Dr. Simeon asks about the Warthrops' "monstrumology," Percival calls the idea crazy, but Simeon's Psychology roll tells him that Percival is lying. Dom slams the campsite photograph on the table, and Percival is shockingly composed, but his eyes widen slightly. He tells Dom to put it away.

Up in the group's room, Percival admits that he hunts monsters too. He says he grew up in New Jerusalem, that "we" exterminated these creatures years ago, and that it should not be possible for them to be back. He has always thought of monsters as aberrant biology, but now he wonders whether the town is cursed, because bad things seem drawn to it. The investigators tell him about Bernard Corbitt, his letters to Mordecai Shep and the newcomers in town. Percival knows nothing of Corbitt, but he says he followed rumors of a group that seeks out occult things and creatures "from the outside." When Simeon asks whether he is thirsty for violence, he answers, "Always, doctor. Always." The group invites him to sleep in their room, and Percival offers to take a watch.

During the night, Dom joins Percival on watch and tells him about his wife Fiona and son Sam, who vanished from their London home more than a decade ago, leaving a strange symbol burned into the floor of the sitting room. Dom draws it: three overlapping stars inside a circle, with trailing lines ending in small circles. Percival asks whether Fiona's maiden name was Devereaux. He identifies the symbol as belonging to the Order of Scorpius and the Devereaux family, a line of witches that came from France to London, with ties to Salem, Massachusetts. Percival warns Dom that the Devereauxs will notice if he starts digging into their business and that he should probably let it go. Dom refuses after 13 years of searching, and Percival promises to contact some people he knows. After Dom returns to bed, Percival looks at the drawing again and throws it into the fire.

Ezra gives the group a 7 a.m. wake-up call, and they find that the Grand Slam is catching on downstairs. Percival is already eating and tucks his notes into his satchel as they sit down. Simeon introduces himself to a young widow, Delilah Bevins, and her son Zachary. His Psychology roll suggests that she is genuine when she says the townsfolk are just not very friendly, and Zachary tells Simeon that psychology is a soft science. As the group gets up to leave, Delilah adds that she has not seen her friend Hannah Russell, whose family farms out on the road west of town, in longer than usual, and asks them to check in on her.

When Billy opens the truck's driver's door, a freshly killed cat swings out at his face, hanged from a rope rigged inside the cab. The others suspect Ike Watson, but Simeon looks badly disturbed. He admits that he dreamed the night before of a cave of glowing crystals and of hovering over New Jerusalem, where he saw a sickly silver-white light inside Denny's and a greenish-purple light moving away from the truck. It was a dead cat, which turned to him and said "Carcosa." Nobody recognizes the word, including Percival, who thinks they have simply run afoul of the locals. He cuts the cat down. On the drive, Billy confesses that he wishes he had listened to his captain, that the killing of the girl still haunts him, and that he will need some sessions with Simeon once this is over.

The cemetery on the northwest edge of town is far larger than a town the size of New Jerusalem should need, and its north side holds an unusual number of above-ground tombs, bearing the names Hardink, Porter, Warthrop, Prentis, Warren and Faust. The Warthrop tomb has collapsed in on itself, and Percival stands before it muttering that the same creatures have returned by a different means, as if it were meant to happen. Using the dates in Corbitt's letters, the group plans to search for headstones from 1917. Remembering the phantom fire, Simeon gets a hard success on a Spot Hidden and finds smoke streaks around the door of the tomb at the end of the row. That tomb belongs to J.G. Faust (1790–1900) and bears a Latin inscription and a compass symbol. Its door has no handle and will not open when pushed. The others call for Tallahassee Turner, whose books inspired Corbitt's locking mechanism. Keeping watch from the top of the truck, Tallahassee sees another vehicle creeping slowly up the road from the south. It stops when its occupants can see him, and the episode ends there. The story continues in 305: The Shining... Skin.

Funny Moments

Percival is visibly impressed only when he learns that the group has rented five rooms but is using only two.
The table decides that Percival is not only lying but carrying the doctor's child, and that the scotch is "not good for the baby."
Tallahassee steps out of the shadows to answer Percival's question about curses: "I see you've read my book."
The group fights over who gets to be big spoon in the shared room.
Percival explains the Devereaux witches, and the table tells Dom he has "99 problems" and a witch is one.
Tallahassee promises to write about the Grand Slam if it is any good, leading to "Tallahassee Turner and the Grand Slam Breakfast."
Zachary informs Simeon that psychology is "a soft science," and Simeon calls him a "little twerp."
Simeon tells Delilah he is sorry to hear she is a widow, "but not that sorry."
Delilah gets Simeon's last name right on the first try, and the table immediately starts mangling everyone's names.
The Major asks whether Hannah Russell "may have bought the farm."
Tallahassee reveals that his wife is legally dead: "My wife was killed by Vikings."
The table plans to turn the dead light's box into a backpack with a pull-string, and the Keeper warns that the first thing it would go after is the wearer's head.
Asked whether the tomb has a hidden lever, the Keeper offers "a bookcase full of Tallahassee Turner books."
Tallahassee struggles with getting down from the truck: "Not good climbing down things."

Notable Quotes

"I don't remember any Percival Warthrop." —Robert Morgan
"Put it away, Englishman." —Percival Warthrop
"They should all be dead." —Percival Warthrop
"I see you've read my book." —Tallahassee Turner
"Always, doctor. Always." —Percival Warthrop
"I'm too far down that rabbit hole." —Dom Druncard
"Wow, that's like a fake doctor, isn't it?" —Zachary
"Do you think this Hannah may have bought the farm?" —Major Bakersfield
"My wife was killed by Vikings." —Tallahassee Turner
"Somebody hung a cat in our truck." —Billy McConnell
"It's as if it was meant to happen." —Percival Warthrop