[video + text] Trying to get this arc done with by Grab Bag
[There video shows a shot of a staircase, with a pair of voices coming from the top.]
"How do you do, Lady Lauderdale? I'm Dr. Bailey, Dr. Harrison referred me to you." "Oh, yes of course..."
[You see Jezebel descend into a room that seems to be a well-lit stone basement. Inside is a man who looks to be nearly twenty-five, but he sits in a corner playing with puppets and a rocking horse, watching him warily. When he speaks, he has the tone and inflection of a small child.]
"Who are you?"
[He smiles.] "How do you do, Gilford? Dr. Harrison, your family doctor, sent me."
[Gilford sits on his rocking horse, swaying back and forth, still staring at him. Jezebel moves to crouch in front of him, and Gilford reaches out to toy with Jezebel's hair and iron cross.] "Are you really a doctor?"
"Yes, I am."
[Gilford pulls out the string tying Jezebel's hair back.] "You're lying."
[He giggles.] "No one with hair like that is a doctor! I know what you really are. You're a devil."
[Jezebel looks at him curiously while Gilford points to a poster on the wall.] "Look at that picture. It's Lucifer, the fallen angel. He was cast out of Heaven when his lust for power turned him against God. And just like him..." [He nods towards the doorway, where Cassian is crouched, watching them both.] "...you, too, are followed by a little devil."
[Gilford giggles.] "I'm glad you finally came to see me! I've been waiting for you!"
[Jezebel looks at him for a second or so, wearing a bemused expression. He chuckles, straightening up so that he looms over him, taking his glasses off and wearing a wide smirk.] "Well, now. If I was the devil...what would you want me to do for you?"
Our murder witness should be no longer a source of concern within a few days; I snuck a needle with medication into one of his toys. I imagine he'll regain his senses soon. Considering Gilford Lauderdale is a spoiled, self-centered aristocrat who is about to lose his inheritence because of his madness and was being beaten daily by his own servants, I imagine he's going to have bigger things to worry about any "red ram"s he might have witnessed...and since his madness is what's about to cost him his title, I doubt he'll be mentioning to anyone that he met the devil in his basement.
Earl Cain has been sniffing around; he went to visit Meridiana's old home, though I doubt he learned much, since her mother is the one who's been, shall we say, keeping Meridiana "fed". Her grave was also dug up in the last night, which I doubt is a coincidence.
None of that would be bothersome if Meridiana hadn't run away to go see him. Cassian found her within an hour, but the change in her behavior is worrisome.
And even that would not be so very bad except I think that Earl Cain will not be off our trail anytime soon.
It seems that while collecting blood for Meridiana -- and only a day after the Card Master ordered us not to interfere with the Earl -- Meridiana's mother hacked Cain's fiancee into bits with an axe.
This is not going very well.