Doc and Penny is the last to arrive. Doc has the Carnamagos book with him. Penny is bleak and disconsolate, but seeks comfort in their mutual desperation. When they enter the living room the other sits sipping their tea. Wasn't it for the gravity in the situation, Penny and Doc would have taken pleasure in seeing how their friends facial expressions turned from joy over seeing them, to shock and disbelief.

The room is quiet for some long seconds until Charles breaks it. "What has happened to you?"

Doc replies, "I am not exactly sure, but I believe that it was a side effect of hearing the contents of the book. Not only were the three people apparently aged, but also everything in the room. Whether it is permanent or temporary only time will tell."

Charles exclaims, "Jesus Almighty! Where is this going to end? In light of the evil we are facing here, you might consider you lucky to be alive."

Doc continues, "We did find out some usual information. In the book, there was discussion of a pact made with an evil being to gain immortality. This is what Bishop appears to have done. The facts we know all support this. It indicated that he does not age and could not be killed via physical ways nor by most magical ways. As this was written many centuries ago, it is possible that advanced technologies could kill him, but it is also possible that they would not be able to. The usual recognizable side effect of the pact is that the recipient develops a deformity of the spine."

Doc continues, "The symbol on the bridge, known as the Sign of Barzai, is reported to immobilize most creatures, however the symbol in the book is hard to make out and the page is damaged. I believe the sketching we have of it is a better representation." And at that, he brings out the sketching out of his jacket pocket.

"That won't be necessary" Len interrupts. "Daria and me spent yesterday diving after the missing pieces of stone symbol on the Bowen Bridge. I believe that an inspection or your sketching will conclude with that the copy we've made yesterday is excellent."

"Very good", Doc says. "We need to place the symbol on something which we can place on a body and test it to see it is does work. Then we might be able to stop bishop while preserving Atwater's body. How we switch them back is still uncertain to me. There was no mention of body switching in the book."

"That worries me a bit", Charles says. We spoke to poor Atwater yesterday and promised him that we would do everything in our power to transfer back his soul to his original body. Do you remember of the two first victims were killed, Doc? Do you remember anything mentioned about those spell in the Carnamagos book?

Doc shoots a short glance at Penny who nods negatively, "No I don't, and I am pretty sure."

"Then we must conclude, and not surprisingly, that Bishop possess more power and knowledge than we know from this book. When we face him he may have some nasty surprises up his sleeve, we are not prepared for. With this sign though, it gives itself how we are going to capture and neutralize Bishop. The challenge will be to find him and come close enough to attach the symbol on him. Then remains to get the necessary lever on Bishop to force him switch bodies again. That may prove difficult if he realize that we will kill him in the end nevertheless."

Charles continues, "I spoke with detective Stuckey earlier today and he told me that Bishop didn't make a move yesterday. Maybe the incident in High Street has made him cautious and the police protection scared him away last night. I believe that he will strike tonight. Our priorities this day should be to find out where Bishop is. Any suggestions to how we might find him?"

"Perhaps we will find him at one of his old "haunts" anyone managed to track down the location of his old house, or where he worshipped or cast his spells?"

Len looks around the group. "Don't all speak at once...", and he tries to smile, not succeeding very well.

Doc speaks, "We believe we know the address of his old house but I do not think that anyone has visited it yet. Maybe we should start there when we have the sign made up with perhaps some careful pre-investigation where care it taken not to let our presence be known."

"A good idea", Charles looks at Doc and Penny, then at Pierre and Daria. "Can we use this sign of Barzai on Bishop, immediately? Have you tried it?"

Penny shakes her head, "Now that you mentions it, I believe we have made a serious mistake, or what, Doc?" Doc looks back at Penny, like a question mark. "You understand, the symbol is only a part of a spell. The symbol has no effect unless the spell is cast. Both Doc and I knew this, still we left Godfried go. We still need him to translate/give us the spell."

"Gods, you are right, Penny, but nor you and me are to blame. Yesterday's shock would make everyone loose his or her composure. Done is done, we got to find Godfried immediately. Meanwhile, I think Len's suggestion was excellent." Doc is in a hurry, "Come Penny. We have no time to loose."

Len is flattered by Doc's kind words and smiles again, this time more successful.

*****

To Doc and Penny's relief, they find Godfried in a healthy condition. He is not pleased to see Penny and Doc again, and blame them for his ill fortune. When Doc ask him to help them with the Sign of Barzai passage again, he refuses to do this!

Doc understands, but still tries to convince him, "It is very important. It may be the only way to stop the murderer. We need to get it right. We could work from Greek-to-English dictionaries, but may not get it right. Your help would reduce the chance of failing. I doubt that working on this particular section will have any adverse effects on you."

Godfried listens to Doc trying to persuade him. "OK then, but it will cost twice the amount you planned to pay me, and secondly, I will never see you or this book again, ever!"

Doc states "Excellent, now what we need is just the Sign of Barzai passage. We need a good English translation of the passage, the Greek section referring to the spell as it may only work in Greek, and a phonetic break-up of the spell as well in Greek. We need to have noted anyplace where ambiguity exists in the original as we may have to try it multiple ways."

Penny begins to think about the consequences of the choices that she now seems faced with. "I am willing to work on the spell," she says with trepidation. "After all it is a puzzle of sorts and it is what I wen to school for. Although," she adds with a nervous chuckle, "I didn't expect this." She reaches into her sweater pocket and finds her small personal Bible and grips the leather bound book for strength.

Godfried's hands are shaking when he leafs through the Carnamagos book once again. He stops at a page, and points to a passage, "Here it is." Godfried reads the procedure, while Doc takes accurate notes. Within the hour Doc is pleased."

Doc speaks up, obviously pleased, "Excellent work, Godfried. I will make sure that the faculty here hears about the quality of your work. You have been invaluable in our efforts to stop the madman."

Thank you so much, Godfried. You probably just saved our lives. You will never have a need to look in that book again. Is there anything thing we can do for you?"

"Pay me the money. If there are anything else, I'll let you know."

"Come Penny, We will try to learn this back in my office."

*****

The information on Bishop's location is accurate, and it don't take the investigators long to find the place. Standing much as it was built, the Bishop house is hidden from the street view by another house, built around 1800. The investigators must look behind this house to find the Bishop place, located another 20 feet back and obscured by overgrown trees and scrub.

Abandoned for decades, the gable roof sags under accumulated layers of leaves and moss; the small diamond paned windows are mostly broken, and the front door sags limply. Evidence of occupation is everywhere; opened cans of food, old newspapers, and a single escaped .38 revolver cartridge attest to someone's presence. There is nobody here.

Noticing the single cartridge on the ground, Nick reaches inside his jacket and pulls out his .45, making sure the clip is loaded, "Watchit, dere, boys. We might gotta little company hea. Le's take a look aroun' de house'n see if we c'n catch somebody." Nick starts to walk around this level (are there stairs to another level? Maybe basements door?) looking for any other doors, stairs or people.

Len picks up the .38 cartridge and places inside his jacket and then he removes his .45, clicks off the safety and then pulls back the slide. "The rest of you remain here.." He indicates the front room, "While Nick and I search the house. Pierre I suggest you arm yourself. Come on Nick, times a wasting."

Nick nods, "Right. You go dat way'n I'll go 'roun' dis way. We'll go up de stairs tagether." He proceeds to cautiously make a circuit around the house. Once done with that he meets up with Len at the bottom of the stairs leading to the upper floor.

There are two levels with stairs to the second level. It is a common house with kitchen, dining room, sitting room, and bedrooms. There is no basement. No people are present in the house. This "look around" took five minutes

Standing at the bottom of the staircase leading to the upper floor Nick glances at Len, "Well Lennie? Whatchya think? You wanna head upstairs an' see what we c'n see? Or d'you wanna wait fer backup." It's pretty obvious by the smile on Nick's face that he wants to head upstairs and start putting the heat on their elusive adversary. The tone of Nick's voice challenges Len to go up the stairs as well.

Nick and Len do a thoroughly search upstairs while Daria, Pierre, and Charles do likewise downstairs. The search turns up with nothing. Somebody is living here alright, but there are no clues that this somebody is Bishop. The party decides to hide outside to wait and observe.

Three hours pass before anything happens. A man comes into the back yard in a fast pace and heads for the house. The man is dressed in a coat with upfolded flanges and wears a broadbrimmed hat. You cannot see his face.

From his hiding place Nick looks over at Len, gesturing toward the house with his head then shrugging his shoulders. 'Do we go?' Nick mouths soundlessly. While asking he again unsheathes his pistol and gets ready for a confrontation.

Crouching behind Len and Nick, Charles pulls his trenchcoat tighter about him as he ponders his options. Faintly he hears Nick's voice 'Do we go?' With a muffled grunt, he straightens up. "Dear God, I feel like an old man today" He reaches out and slaps his hand down softly on Len's shoulder. His voice is urgent as he speaks, "I say we wait for Doc and Penny..."

Len shakes his head to Nick's request, and the others stay calm. The man enters the house and closes the door. Len gives sign to the others to follow him and then sneaks out of the courtyard.

Nick is excited, "Why didn't we take him." Nick strokes his piece. "With this darling I could have made big hole the bastard."

"Think Nick! How could you be so sure it was Bishop, and if it is a bum, how would you explain that big hole? We have to make sure it is Bishop and if we had challenge him, God knows what power he has and what he could have done to us before we had overwhelmed him? And have you forgotten, we want him alive and in one piece."

Nick is silenced, and Len addresses everyone. "I am quite sure that this is Bishop, the odds are with us. I think it is to dangerous, but the only way w can be completely sure, is for one of us to sneak up to one of the windows and maybe get a glimpse of him."

*****

Doc and Penny sit down to study the spell. It seem to them that casting the spell, requires a reciting of a text and then the reader must press his left palm at the symbol when declaring the final word. The text is complex and in an unfamiliar language. Even if the words are in phonetic English, learning to articulate those odd sounding words take time.

After five hours of hard work, both Doc and Penny feel they master the ritual and the reciting. The symbol lies in front of them. After drinking some water and snacking on some baked goods, which he also offers to Penny, he suggests to her, "I think we should try it out. Would you like to try the spell or be the test victim?"

Penny looks at Doc, "I'll rather try the spell." Penny concentrates and begins to recite wording. At the end she presses her palm against the symbol. The sensation that she feels is indescribable. It is as her life force flows from her body, through her hand, and into the symbol. This time she really feels it. With a choked shriek in her throat she expect the worst when she runs for the mirror.

Doc is worried.

Penny puts her hands to her face barely daring glimpse the reflection from the mirror through her fingers. Her face doesn't feel different and her relief is great when she sees that she hasn't aged further.

Doc says, "Well, the time is come to see if all our strain was in vain. Press the symbol against me, Penny."

--- Afterwards ---

"It worked. The darn thing works. It tried to speak and to move, but I was paralyzed. I had full sensory awareness while in contact with the symbol? I can't feel any noticeable side effects after it was removed. Now let test a few things. First, Penny, without speaking, try pressing it to me again and see if it still functions. It may not require the spell once activated."

Doc is paralyzed once again until Penny removes the symbol. Doc then speaks, "Now I will press it against you to see if it works for others or just the one who cast the spell." He takes the symbol and presses it against Penny saying nothing and observes to see if it functions.

Grinning, Penny reaches out to the symbol and removes it from Doc's grasp. "I guess not."

Doc speaks "Interesting, now we need to find out if anyone else beside you can touch it and not be frozen or whether it is just keyed to me, or you have to key it be pressing it against each target person."

God must have answered to Doc's request because in that moment Len and the gang enter the office.

"You are heaven's sent, Len. Penny try it out on Len."

Len gets suspicious and tries to avoid Penny, but it is inevitable. Immediately as the symbol makes contact with Len's finger, he freezes. Penny presses the symbol against Len finger for ten seconds before she removes it and Len regains the ability of speech and motion.

Doc states, "Yes, Len, the spell works. Ok, it seems that once the symbol is charged the person who charged it is the only one immune to its effects. This means Penny, if we do not have time to make a permanent symbol, you will need to press it against Bishop."

Doc states "One more test, try pushing it against my clothing. I want to see if it requires flesh contact or just general contact."

Doing as she is told, Doc is paralyzed again.

When Doc is released, he comments, "Interesting, I wonder what level of insulation / protection is required to prevent the effect. This could make a good trap placed on a doormat. Try touching the sole of my boot, Penny, and see if that prevents it."

Once more Penny does as instructed and awaits the result, which is the same as before. Penny leaves the symbol on the shoe of Doc and he is still paralyzed.

Penny removes the symbol and lay it on the floor. "Now try step on the symbol in stride."

Doc walks through the room and puts his foot down on the symbol. He crashes down on the floor when he looses the control of his muscles. The others can't hold their laughter for the silly sight it is.

Penny concludes, "The doormat trap probably wan't work if the target is in motion when he is paralyzed."

"Well its time we confronted Bishop! Doc, do you think we can do a transfer between Bishop and the boy?" Len says.

Doc replies, "Len, we have the ability to freeze Bishop. That I am pretty sure of. How to get them back to their own bodies I have no idea."

"Okay we need to spring the boy and then confront Bishop at his house. Transfer them back into the right bodies and then do that mumbo-jumbo and freeze that son-of-a-bitch wizard! What d'ya say?"

Doc replies, "Len, actually, we probably would be better leaving the boy where he is until we capture Bishop. Does you question mean that you have located Bishop?"

"It won't be easy but we have to stop him and stop the murders, right? So lets go do it?"

Doc replies, "Yes."

Charles speaks up, "I'm assuming that we do not yet know how to do a body switch between Atwater and Bishop. So, help me out here Len. When we get to Bishop, what exactly do you propose we do with the fellow? If we don't go there with a plan and very specific goals, it could end up being a very costly and futile expedition for us. I think we should discuss this a bit more, before we do something rash..."

"Chuck, we slap that thing on him, we take and wrap him in some chain and either bury him at sea or bury him somewhere more than six-feet under! But if you've got any better ideas, now is the time to speak up!" replies Len

"Actually, Len, after we freeze him, we need to put him somewhere safe and accessible to us, so that the body is well kept for when we find out how to transfer the bodies back." says Doc

Charles comments, "Indeed, but I suggest we make a cast from the one we have and then reforge it, this time from lead. At least we'll know that it won't rust away then, when we dump Bishop into the ocean as Len suggested" You notice a faint smile of amusement from Charles as he finishes the sentence, followed by a sly wink in Len's direction. His features soon take on an air of seriousness again as he continues, 'To be quite honest, I don't fancy the idea of taking Bishop on, on his own turf. It's much too dangerous. What if we lure Bishop to a place that we have prepared for him, and then trap him there? We could use the Carnamagos Book as bait. He's sure to come, and we get to make the rules for the game. We could send him an anonymous note. What do you think...?"

Doc replies "If we can lure him away from his place, that is fine, even believing that we had the Book is fine, but even giving him a chance at obtaining the Book, scares me deeply. I will be returning the Book to the police, prior to going anywhere else. We can let him believe that we have it, but I will not risk him getting ahold of it."

Penny nods in complete agreement.

"Actually...", Charles responds, "...that was what I meant. I have no intention of using the actual book as bait."

Penny sighs in relief.

Nick is getting impatient, "What is it then. Do we go to get this bastard? Immortal or not, my baby is going to make a few holes in him anyway."

Doc is somewhat unaccustomed by Nick's direct and violent speech, "Right. Off to the police station then and deliver the book and then off to Bishop hideout. No words to the police about this, this matter is best taken care of by us."

On the way out Len whispers to Doc..."You ever do something like what you did to me before and it will be the last time you do, understand? At least ask first Doc!"

Doc replies softly, "Sorry about that Len, we were in the middle of testing it, I just had suggested trying it out on someone else after it was used on me and you walked in the door, I knew it was non-harmful, and got carried away."

"Thats okay Doc, just don't let it happen again! Least ways without asking first..."

Please wait for the hunt for Sermon Bishop or go back to the table of contents.