Pathologic - Witch Hunt

*Spoilers*

The morning of Day 6 brought grim news that the Isolator I had commissioned in the Cathedral had been infiltrated in the night, and the people inside had been infected, and then died. The town is now convinced of the existence of a "Spreader", although who could do such a thing without falling victim to the disease is a mystery. Perhaps there's more to this town's superstitions and spiritual beliefs than I had thought. Regarding the Cathedral infiltration, eyewitness testimony (albeit admittedly fuzzy) points to any one of the town's important ladies as being the culprit. I had to take blood samples from each of them, although I've found nothing alarming. All evidence points to it being the Devotress (the other of the two other playable characters) who breached the Isolator in the night. Finding her is not an easy task, though.

She seems to be in with the Saburov family, who suspiciously went back on their supposedly undying devotion to her when I told them she was the culprit, even without having proof. They seem to have sent me on a wild goose chase looking for her. I was led to Laska at the cemetery, who mentioned something about an evil impostor. Meanwhile, I got a tip that sent me hunting for a "Steppe beast", which turned out to be a frightening being out on the edge of the open field (the Steppe, I suppose?) that forms the southern boundary of the town. The beast looked like something out of a prehistoric cave drawing, and I was afraid to approach it - rightfully so, as it has the power to drain your health either by proximity, or just by looking at you. I chatted with it briefly (yes, it talks) - it seems to have some connection with the Devotress, but it didn't tell me where I could find her.

Somebody had mentioned something about her hanging out at the railroad hoping to skip town, although I suspect that was another dud clue. I skipped across the wide open Steppe, to the far edge of the railway station. I found a young girl hiding out in a railway car, who seemed to also know the Devotress, but again, couldn't tell me where to find her. I was getting desperate at this point, and started wandering the very border of the map, just to see what was out there in the wilderness. There were three odd tents for which I have no idea what the purpose is. There was also a really neat swamp. I had circled all the way round back to the western edge of the map and headed back in towards town. I was just about ready to give up, having exhausted myself from the walk, ate up all my provisions, and wasted a large chunk of the day, and just when I reentered civilization around the vicinity of Eve's house, I stepped inside, and to my complete and utter surprise, there the Devotress was, waiting for me. Well I got her blood sample, and she admitted to breaking into the Cathedral (although she claims she did it on good will) so we'll see how it goes from here. Either I'm not doing as well this day, or I'm getting less and less clues on how to proceed as the days roll on...

The Inquisitor arrives tomorrow. He comes from "the Authorities". They've been watching my progress in this town - and my success/failure at fighting the disease will determine (presuming I actually survive) whether my research will be discontinued or not. But first I gotta tie up these loose ends and survive the night!