Dankovskiy sent me to speak with the Inquisitor first thing in the morning, but when I got to the Cathedral, the Executors standing outside informed me that I had already been escorted to the gallows...
They did, however, express an interest in having me speak (again?) to the Inquisitor, but only with a disguise. So I went to the pit of corpses just outside the cemetery and took an Executor's mask and coat off of a dead body. But when I got back to the Cathedral, the Inquisitor was in the middle of 'inquisiting' the Kains, and the Executors told me to wait till noon...
I had received a letter from my sister overnight again, and I used the clues to track down her whereabouts. She was in the first house I checked (I know, I'm a damn good detective). Our meeting was identical to yesterday's...
At noon, an APB (or the equivalent, at least) was issued on a warrant for my arrest, with instructions to the guards who might find me to prepare me for my execution. I reached the Cathedral unmolested, and when I finally got inside, the Inquisitor (who completely ignored my disguise, as if I wasn't even wearing it) didn't take long to begin working with me, rather than against me. She seemed to believe I had a dissociative identity, which isn't an altogether surprising conclusion for her to make (and I'm not entirely sure it isn't true). She wants proof of my abilities, but her task for me today was to investigate the Saburovs, to determine their guilt, and report a verdict back to her - the same duty I had previously performed for the Saburovs.
Alexander admitted that he knew the town was doomed from the beginning, but what he wanted to know was whether the emissaries of the Authorities (the Bachelor, the Inquisitor, and the General, soon to arrive) also had no hope for the town from the start - only then would Alexander feel that his own actions could be forgiven.
I found the Bachelor hanging out at the Theatre. He told me that the Haruspicus had gotten some sensitive information out of the Inquisitor, and that I should ask him about it. He was hiding out in the Apiary (short block). The Bachelor also handed me a sawn-off shotgun to deliver to the Worm/Gatherer whose wife had been sacrificed by Burakh the previous day. I guess they're still working against each other's interests.
The Haruspicus informed me that the Inquisitor had been sent to the town believing it to be condemned beyond hope, but that the Authorities who had sent her actually had something else in mind. The Authorities - the grand deceivers. It is clear that they value the preservation of the town, and judging from the letter I received days ago, I feel they are relying on me to produce the miracle that will allow that.
Burakh took the Executor's costume from me (well, I gave it to him when he asked me for it), though I still don't know what he needs it for... He also sent me on an errand to deliver some medicinal Twyrine to a family seeking refuge in his secret laboratory, who had for some reason been victimized by the Bachelor. Cross-purposes, I say.
I told Alexander that the Authorities believe that the town can be saved, and so he was resigned to his guilt. He felt that, being the man in charge, he was to be held responsible for the tragedy that had befallen the town. The Saburovs were prepared to die, although they begged me to let them live just a little bit longer - that doing so would serve my purposes. Catherina abdicated her title as Mistress, and blessed me as her heir, despite yesterday's self-serving betrayal. She sent me to seek the acceptance of the other two Mistresses-to-be, Maria and Victoria Jr. They accepted, mysteriously mentioning that they knew somehow that it was by my power that Simon was still alive in the town, if not physically.
To the Inquisitor I reported, but I spared the Saburovs from her wrath, just as I had spared the previous criminals from the Saburovs' wrath. The Inquisitor is strangely confident in my victory, even if it may be at odds with her own goals, and she wants to better understand me. I believe I will have to pass some tests in the near future to prove my nature.
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