“Look at this passage of Daniel’s story,” Cid urged, holding up a page of the report he sent them with the passage highlighted:
The two Atwaters had discarded their clothes and stood facing each other. I could not tell one from the other. The only exception was that one had an evil-looking blade.
Miss Gee said something in a strange language and then repeated it in English for the benefit of the Atwaters. “There can only be one.”
The one with the blade circled the other. It wasn’t a fair fight. I suppose, when evil is about, the fight is never fair. The unarmed man fell to the floor.
“Which Atwater survived? I assumed it was August, but what if Gadus fell in love with Arnold?” Cid asked.
“It would make sense. Prior to the house being built, we couldn’t find any glowing reports regarding August Atwater,” Kiki said. “Just that he obtained his land by questionable means. He bought all these agricultural businesses cheap because they went bankrupt trying to compete with August. However, Congressman Atwater seemed to work hard to lift up his neighbors, in particular the families August ruined.”
“Unless I’ve got this wrong,” Cid prefaced, “Arnold Atwater, the grandson, killed his grandfather before he could be sacrificed so August could take his place.”
“The only one who would have known that was coming, besides August, was Gadus,” Father Santos said. “And if Audrey is right and Gadus had fallen in love with Arnold, then she broke heritage demon code and saved Arnold.”
“That’s why she never took a soul to Hell,” Father Simon realized.
“That’s why she never touched her gold,” Cid said. “By doing so, she would be captured and tried for her crimes. The demons take their code very seriously.”
“Okay, let me see if I’m following this right,” Alan said. “August Atwater, at some time in his young life, made a deal with a heritage demon named Gadus. He had a large family at the time, and it would have looked like a good deal to Gadus. Gadus kept her part of the deal until she met Arnold. She fell in love with Arnold. August became tired of maintaining the glamour of being an old man. So he would have told her to prepare to sacrifice Arnold so he could step into his shoes. Gadus loved Arnold and convinced him there was no other way but to kill his grandfather. Arnold didn’t assassinate him but gave him the same chance he had by the duel with the knife.
Arnold fatally wounds August, and the demon gives August the opportunity of doing the honorable thing of ceasing to exist or for him to feed upon the soul of Daniel, forever condemning him as a negative elemental. They prepared for this outcome by enchanting the house to hold the spirits on which August would feed, essentially trapping him there. I don’t know if they knew at the time about the workmen who died already or not. If so, it probably would have been wiser to trap him in a building with less fuel.”
“You’re correct,” Father Simon said. “An elemental can’t possess a living being unless they are very powerful. Having dozens of ghosts who could regenerate quickly would maintain the level of power needed.”
“Why did Atwater allow Gadus to kill Jon, Daniel and the acolytes? He seemed like an honorable man,” Alan asked.
“It really was the only way to protect Gadus, whom he loved. If August’s spirit descended into Hell, he would have told the demons there about Gadus’s betrayal,” Cid answered.
“Again, love came first,” Audrey said. “I was able to trace Daniel’s parents in Ireland. Miss Gee, or Gadus, was true to her word. Daniel’s parents were taken care of. The Sullivans received a monthly stipend from the Atwater Foundation in Daniel’s name until they died. I’m looking into the O’Connors right now. There are a lot of them, otherwise I’d have that information.”
“Let’s say they were also taken care of. It’s not in the character of a demon to care about such things. Killing humans isn’t really a problem,” Father Santos said.
“But to Arnold, those men made the ultimate sacrifice, whether it was voluntary or not,” Alan pointed out. “Gadus killed them.”
“It will still be held against him in the court of Heaven,” Father Santos explained. “All the good deeds in the world can’t balance the taking of an innocent’s life, and it looks like he killed the two acolytes. He’s tainted with all four deaths, unless he asks for forgiveness, but he would have to be truly regretful. And his carrying on with the demon Gadus shows otherwise.”
“He’s done a lot of good with the power she wielded,” Kiki pointed out. “Politics aside, Congressman Atwater has used his position to help multitudes.”
“So why bring the mansion, which has been pretty much abandoned, up to date for Bridgeton?” Cid asked.
“That’s a good question. Kiki, you’ve met Bridgeton. What kind of feeling did you get from him?”
“I didn’t like him. He acted like a throwback to the fifties. I was glad that I dealt with the family lawyer and not him. He acted like… like… me.”
“Kiki, please explain,” Father Santos asked.
Cid could see the priest was sitting now on the edge of his seat.
“Alan showed me the video that Cid sent him of me. I didn’t recognize myself, but now it seems as though I, and Bridgeton, was arrogant, dismissive, and paranoid.”
“It could be that August was possessing Bridgeton first,” Father Simon offered.
“It would certainly explain the need to not disturb the ghosts and to bring in fresh meat. Sorry, Cid,” Kiki apologized. “It then controlled me to take out any and all threats that would stop my contractors from
