Play@YSDC

"That might work. Perhaps we should go back to him and ask him if Florence ever expressed fear of snakes specifically. Maybe she let something slip to him." He frowns. "I'm beginning to fear she never made it back to New Orleans. I pray very much that I am wrong."

"It could be, but he specifically told us he'd never heard anything about snakes. If he was concealing an affair I don't see what he'd gain by not mentioning that. In some ways it could even serve as a convenient excuse; `I was counseling her so much because she had this fear.` "

Alexander waits until they get outside before he addresses the others. 'I'm afraid I have my suspicions about Father Ortega ," he explains. "Based on what we know I cannot believe that marked reference to snakes is a coincidence, and if she spoke to the Father as much as he claims I can't...

" A sad situation all around. From what little I've heard she and Billy truly loved each other, but were perhaps incompatible. I advised Billy to follow her back to New Orleans, but doubtful he will while his mother's still alive. Thank you both ," he tells the fathers. "And we're ver...

" I suppose Lucy Bates is out ," Simon chuckles, but then has the good grace to look chastened. " Bad jest, forgive me." "While I cannot help with that, I think we should assume if there's a leak Balfour already knows his daughter's real location. Best we make it seem as leg...

"Balfour's a desperate father and likely not thinking clearly." Simon chimes in. "I think we can risk rolling the dice here. If he sees a chance to get his daughter back before the world ends he's likely going to take it."

" Our main concern was that the only verse Florence had marked in her bible concerns snakes. Combine this with the oil workers who were and are obsessed with them, and we feared she may have been touched by the same mania. But if in your counseling with her she never mentioned anything about th...

Simon says nothing as to Malone's code name; he's no Freudian. "One presumes we're not actually moving her, just making it seem like we are. Why not suggest we're going to try a quiet move of her to a nearby group home? If that gets leaked, Balfour has the perfect opportunity to try and snatch...

" Time is short, but anyway we could use that to our advantage ?" Simon muses. " Put out that we're moving Regina out of fear for her safety and hope it leaks and Balfour's goons take the bait? If they use force to try to 'rescue' her and we can tie them back to the church, perhaps we...

"Is there no way we can hand her over to him in exchange for police "protection" at the service? I would argue its the lesser evil by far-- Balfour wants his own child to be the chosen sacrifice, but everything we've learned indicates he's fine using one of his followers children. Ze...

" Sometimes to take a king you need to sacrifice a pawn ," says Simon . Looking at the likely horrified faces of those around him, he clarifies. " No I'm not suggesting we let Balfour murder his daughter, that's what the police would be there to prevent. But we know with a high certai...

Simon contemplates. " The issue with that is that it's only a temporary solution. Balfour would be out in a short time I suspect, especially as he can argue he was under a lot of stress with his daughter being kidnapped. He'd miss the prophesied date, but his church would receive a massive out...

" The fact he strangled and very nearly killed me when I mentioned the group to him should serve to prove he's dangerously unstable and connected to them. Frankly, I don't understand how he wasn't arrested for that ." He glares at everyone in the room. 'As best we were able to establish, B...

"I spoke with Louise Hayman. She admitted to me she lied about having no contact with Mr. Zero-- he called her up a few weeks ago and asked her to put him in touch with some of his old associates. Given his loyalty to Balfour it seems evident he was on some business for the man."

Simon also follows. Further time removed from his dream allows him to regain his usual skepticism, if only just. But there's a hint of mania peeking up beneath the surface; he is increasingly desperate to catch Balfour in the act and prove that this entire thing was a run of the mill group of relig...

" Billy's mother--a thoroughly unpleasant woman if you'll forgive me saying so-- mentioned that you and her spoke often. We've discovered evidence that she may have been struck with the same obsession and fear of snakes that that poor oil worker was before his untimely demise. We were wondering...

At first, Simon says nothing in response to Jocelyn, a notable rarity in it of itself. He's hardly a Freudian, but the dream had seemed significant in some way. He recognized basic elements; a church, fear of judgement and the eyes of the Almighty upon him, perhaps even the Passover Angel Balfour ra...

Alex has a bad feeling about all this. Father Ortega would deny the accusations, and valid or not they'd lose their most sympathetic contacts in the town.It wasn't as though they even cared if he and Billy's wife were having improper relations (though he would certainly frown upon it.) they were tr...

" Lucy is hysterical. I believe she truly believes that Balfour has the power to call down angels or what have you ." The events that occurred in that motel room are a blur to Simon , but he's sure that as with everything else there was a logical explanation to all this-- that Reverend Bal...

Simon opts to go with Jocelyn , having spent more time in the investigation with her. " I do not like that woman ," He remarks about Julie Thomas . " Had we gotten me on with her I'm quite sure I could have dissuaded her of this foolish sympathy for Balfour . Perhaps after this mess ...