The Council: Episode Two, Hide and Seek

Episode Two of The Council, Hide and Seek, covers chapters five to seven: the investigation into Elizabeth Adams’s death, the Bible cipher in the tower room, Lord Mortimer’s hidden study and the hedge maze. It picks up from whichever of the first episode’s endings you reached, and this walkthrough covers both routes through chapter five.

The game’s mechanics, classes, skills and controls are described in the guide to the first episode.

What you chose in episode one

The first episode asked for several important decisions, one of them the choice of class, which determined the skills available afterwards. Other choices decided which character Louis dealt with at a given point, and those opened different branches leading in the end to four different endings.

Prologue

“Act yourself” or “Trust your mother”. The first gave the trait Independent: von Borchert ended up dead, but not before leaving Louis a knife scar on his face. The second gave Trusting: von Borchert stayed alive and Sarah de Richet planned to question him on her return. Each trait inclines the character towards developing certain skills and towards making certain decisions, so the choice genuinely matters.

Part one

• The choice of class, Diplomat, Occultist or Detective, which decided the hero’s skills.
• “Stay with Washington” or “Talk to Holm”. The first taught Louis more about his mother; the second taught him about Elizabeth Adams and her illness.
• “Open the letter”, “Do not open the letter”, or “Open the letter without disturbing the seal” with Subterfuge, which decided Cardinal Giuseppe Piaggi’s attitude to Louis afterwards.

Part two

• “Help George Washington” or “Check your vision”. Helping brought a further dilemma.
• “Do not get involved” or “Step in, at the risk of losing Adams” during the scene between Elizabeth Adams and Jacques Peru.

Refusing to help the president, by checking your vision instead, earned his dislike, and he said outright that Louis should not count on his help in future.

Part four

“Follow Elizabeth” or “Go to Emily”. The important one. The first led to a further choice that produced three of the endings; the second let Louis reach the goal he came for and meet Lord Mortimer.

The four endings

• With the trait Dissolute, spending the night with the duchess, or Ascetic, going to his own room: Louis de Richet meets Lord Mortimer. Preceding choice: go to Emily.
• With the trait Level-headed: Louis de Richet is arrested for the murder of Elizabeth Adams. Preceding choices: follow Elizabeth, and refuse the offered glass of wine twice.
• With no new trait: losing consciousness, Louis sees Elizabeth Adams take a knife and go. Preceding choices: follow Elizabeth, drink twice, advise her to flee the island.
• With the trait Desperate: Louis comes round to find Elizabeth Adams’s body beside him as Gregory Holm walks in. Preceding choices: follow Elizabeth, drink twice, advise her to stay.

These endings can be reached by different routes, and each route changes what is available later. Checking your vision cost you George Washington’s trust; helping him brought the dilemma of whether to step into the fight between Jacques Peru and Elizabeth Adams, failing the task, or to stay out of it, which sends the story in a different direction again.

Episode two begins from the save carrying whichever ending you reached.

The story so far

Having received Lord Mortimer’s letter about his mother Sarah’s disappearance, Louis de Richet arrives on the lord’s island and starts looking for her. Searching the jetty, he finds a cache of things she hid there. Up at the mansion he meets the important people who have also come at the lord’s invitation. In the middle of intrigue on a global scale, Louis keeps looking for the leads that will find Sarah de Richet, and his search is cut short by the death, or disappearance, of Elizabeth Adams, depending on the choices you made.

Chapter five: where is my mother?

Lord Mortimer’s study, 22 January 1793

Whichever ending you reached, the second episode starts in Lord Mortimer’s study. What differs between routes is the subject matter of the dialogue and the order in which the tasks are done.

Route 1: from ending 1, having gone to Emily

Traits Dissolute or Ascetic.

Marks in the Success column at the end of chapter five:

• ”I refused to name a murderer to Mortimer”
• ”I found all of mother’s and E.’s notes”
• ”I found mother’s message”
• ”I deciphered mother’s message”

Lord Mortimer apologises for the late meeting and tells Louis about Elizabeth Adams’s death.

On the news of her death:

• ”Ask who the murderer is”, needing Questioning, cost 3
• ”Tell him about the meeting that night”
• ”Say nothing”

On what Mrs. Adams wanted to tell him:

• ”Unfortunately, no”
• ”She was in a panic”

On the statement that the murderer must be found:

• ”Ask what he proposes”
• ”Let him finish”

Louis agrees to look for the murderer, and the lord advises him to examine the scene, Elizabeth’s room.

Questions about the coming investigation:

• ”Ask about suspects”
• ”Ask for the details of the tragedy”
• ”Begin the investigation”

Lord Mortimer is opened as a character, and the goal “Investigate Adams’s death” appears. To close it, visit the victim’s room and examine the evidence there.

Goal: investigate Adams’s death

Lord Mortimer’s study

• AMBER SHARDS and LORD MORTIMER’S HANDWRITTEN NOTES, in the casket on the round table. Opening it means setting four letters. Given the statue of Zeus standing beside it, the word is ZEUS.
• GOLDEN ELIXIR on one of the round tables, the one with the candelabra on it.
• COLLECTIBLE COIN on the sofa by the balustrade.
• KEY WITH THE OCCULT SYMBOL “WATER” on the floor by the opposite balustrade.
• TRIBULUS on one of the tables.
• Leviathan, on a shelf of one of the cases by the wall.
• MEAD on the lord’s desk.
• CARMELITE WATER on one of the round tables.

Important: note the painting The Nightmare on the wall. You will come back to it.

Talk to Cardinal Piaggi and learn that he saw Bonaparte near Elizabeth’s room during the night. Leave the study and go down the stairs to the first floor. Outside Elizabeth’s room Louis meets Mr. Wöllner, which looks suspicious.

Elizabeth Adams’s room

The room was accessible in the first episode, so the items below may already be collected.

• AMBER SHARDS, in the casket.
• GOLDEN ELIXIR, in the casket.
• MYSTERIOUS NOTES, in the casket. Reading them needs Occultism or Science, difficulty 1; they describe a rite resembling exorcism. Opening the casket needs the key with the semicircle or Agility, difficulty 1.
• MEAD on the cabinet.
• CARMELITE WATER on the floor.
• Evelina, a book on the sofa.
• KEY WITH FIVE RINGS
• COLLECTIBLE COIN on the floor.
• TRIBULUS on the wardrobe.

The note from Elizabeth’s father and the three from her sister are also here.

Examining the body

A fuller reading of the evidence needs various skills:

• Psychology level 2, cost 0
• Erudition, cost 0
• Occultism, cost 0
• Linguistics, cost 0
• Vigilance, twice, cost 3 in total
• Science, cost 1
• Etiquette, cost 1

The evidence itself:

• The knife. Studying the handle establishes that the killer has a small, thin hand, possibly a woman’s.
• The overturned wine bottle.
• Blood spatter on the wall, showing that Elizabeth was standing when she was attacked.
• The watch on the floor, stopped at 3:54. This clears Emily, because Louis was with the duchess at that hour.
• The opium phials. The tincture was produced in America, and Louis wonders whether George Washington is mixed up in it.
• A print in the victim’s blood on the left. Peru? Washington?
• Elizabeth’s notebook, which needs skills to read.
• The pistol, with “To the liberators of France” engraved on the barrel. Napoleon? Peru?
• A scrap of good-quality cloth. Studying it fully needs Logic or Etiquette, difficulty 1, because Louis’s mother had a dress of that material.
• A pentagram drawn on the floor in the centre of the room. Studying it fully needs Logic, difficulty 1, and Occultism, difficulty 1.

Talk to the servant at the door, then go round the guests’ rooms to interview them.

The guests’ rooms

Johann von Wöllner’s room

• COLLECTIBLE COIN under the sofa by the wall on the right.
• Hortus Deliciarum, on the small table.
• MEAD on the sofa in the corner.
• GOLDEN ELIXIR on the bookshelf, needing Vigilance level 2, difficulty 1.
• Theatrum Chemicum and MYSTERIOUS NOTES, in the locked casket on the chest of drawers. The password is ZINC, which you can see on the table of alchemical elements, where the word is circled in pencil.
• AMBER SHARDS in the open casket in the bedroom.
• TRIBULUS in the open chest by the bed.
• COLLECTIBLE COIN on the table.

Evidence: a copy of The Sorrows of Young Werther carrying an inscription Wöllner wrote for Elizabeth.

Talking to Wöllner. Opening the dialogue branches fully needs:

• Questioning level 2, cost 1
• Psychology level 2, cost 1
• Manipulation level 1, cost 1
• Conviction level 1, cost 1

George Washington’s room

• GOLDEN ELIXIR on the round table in the corner.
• MEAD on the cabinet in the bedroom.
• CARMELITE WATER in the locked casket on the table.
• A casket on the bedroom table, needing either Agility or Subterfuge.
• Notes on trade deals, needing Politics, difficulty 1.
• A note from William Mortimer.

Talking to Washington. Opening the branches fully needs Vigilance level 1, cost 1, and Etiquette level 1, cost 2.

Duchess Hillsborrow’s room

Accessible in the first episode, so these may already be collected.

• The Port-Royal Grammar, on the shelf of the wall cabinet.
• COLLECTIBLE COIN on the floor by the fireplace, in the room where Emily is standing.
• GOLDEN ELIXIR on the table in the second room.
• TRIBULUS in the second room.

Opening the casket needs the two keys with two half-rings, or Subterfuge, difficulty 3. It holds a note from Emily addressed to Sir Gregory, and CARMELITE WATER.

Also here:

• A note from Emily’s sister Emma, saying the Golden Order is connected to Buckingham Palace and that this is getting in the way of their task. Her sister also writes that Sarah de Richet came to Mortimer’s island on personal business.
• A note to Emily from William Pitt the Younger, the sitting prime minister of Great Britain, asking the duchess to arrange him a meeting with Her Majesty the Queen.
• A note from Cardinal Giuseppe Piaggi, reporting that His Holiness has released funds to hire royalists to fight France.

Talking to Emily. Opening the branches fully needs Psychology, difficulty 2, and Diversion, difficulty 3.

Napoleon Bonaparte’s room

Also accessible in the first episode.

• The Prince, on the bookshelf.
• CARMELITE WATER on the shelf, needing Vigilance level 2, cost 1.
• COLLECTIBLE COINS on the chest of drawers in the bedroom, to the right of the door, and on the floor in the corner.
• AMBER SHARDS on the mantelpiece in the bedroom.
• GOLDEN ELIXIR on the chest of drawers in the bedroom, to the left of the door.
• A note from Napoleon’s mother, on the desk.
• A note from Lord Mortimer, on the trunk in the bedroom corner.

Evidence: a holster with no pistol in it, in the open chest in the bedroom. The sabre by the chair behind the desk reveals Bonaparte’s resistance to Conviction.

Talking to Napoleon. Opening the branch fully needs Psychology level 2, cost 1.

Jacques Peru’s room

Talking to Jacques. Opening the branches fully needs:

• Psychology level 2, cost 1
• Questioning level 2, cost 2
• Manipulation level 1, cost 4. Whether this is available depends on having chosen “Help George Washington” in the previous episode, when Louis witnessed Jacques beating Elizabeth.
• Logic level 2, cost 3

Items:

• MEAD in the locked casket on the table, needing Subterfuge, difficulty 3.
• COLLECTIBLE COIN on the table.
• The Daily Work of the Secret Police, on the bookshelf in the bedroom, which reveals Jacques Peru’s weakness in Psychology.
• KEY WITH FOUR RINGS on the chest of drawers in the bedroom.
• GOLDEN ELIXIR on the floor, to the left of the chest.
• A LETTER from his sister Maria Elena, CARMELITE WATER and TRIBULUS, in the closed casket. It takes the key patterned with four circles, or Agility.
• An anonymous note on the desk.
• A note from Lord Mortimer, on the bedroom table.

When the conversation is over, Jacques Peru shows Louis the door.

Weighing up what you have learned, the conclusion is that there is not enough evidence to accuse any of the guests of murder.

Back in Lord Mortimer’s study

Speak to the lord at his desk and choose “I have suspicions, but I will not pass sentence”. Mortimer accepts the decision and offers to talk about Louis’s mother.

Goal: put your questions to Mortimer

“Let us talk about your mother, Louis”:

• ”She has not disappeared”
• ”She is hiding”
• ”She used to disappear often”

“And which do you think your mother is, the cat or the mouse?”, following the second option: “The cat” or “The mouse”.

After Sarah de Richet, Mortimer moves on to the deal with Napoleon.

How the confrontation between Louis and Bonaparte ended in the first episode plays a part in this conversation.

“Time will tell”:

• ”Was my mother selling arms?”
• ”You are helping an unknown lieutenant?”

Mortimer suggests that if Sarah does not appear, Louis take her place at the negotiating table.

“Was there an unofficial reason for her coming?”:

• ”No idea”
• ”She was looking for a buyer”

The second brings the question “What is your seller’s name?”:

• ”Von Borchert”
• ”Von Brochert”
• ”Von Brebis”
• ”He has a German name”

“Can you suggest why your mother has been hiding for a second week?”:

• ”She is avoiding meeting somebody”
• ”She has found something”
• ”She has gone mad”

“When we first arrived we spent a good while discussing the problems of the world”:

• ”Let us talk about her disappearance”
• ”What did you talk about?”

Choosing the second, at “…from taking…”:

• ”Discuss Eli Whitney’s machine”, needing Erudition, cost 0
• ”Discuss the Treaty of Jassy”, needing Politics, cost 0
• ”Show surprise”

“One of my ancestors…”:

• ”The famous papal bull of Gregory VIII”, needing Erudition, cost 0
• ”I know nothing of the Crusades”

Lord Mortimer tells Louis that on the eve of his arrival, Sarah de Richet lay in wait for Emma, Emily Hillsborrow’s twin sister, and shot her.

Louis learns of Sarah’s habit of shutting herself in a room a floor below, and asks leave to look at it.

Goal: find the tower room

In the first-floor corridor, go through the door on the left, opposite the stairs you have just come down.

Goal: find leads

The tower room

• MEAD on the mantelpiece.
• CARMELITE WATER on the table.
• COLLECTIBLE COIN on the table to the right of the entrance door.

Take the charred sheets of paper out of the fireplace. Louis recognises his mother’s hand: “…Rely on my faith in the swordsman.”

Pick up the MAGNETIC DISC from the floor.

Look at the Caravaggio on the wall, Paul on the Road to Damascus, and choose “Examine”. Move back from the painting and you find the door to the next room locked from the other side. Choose “Open”. Louis pushes the door and the key sticking out of the lock falls to the floor. Choose “Use the disc”, and Louis drags the key over with the magnet and unlocks the door.

Items in the second room

• MEAD on the table under the portrait of the Apostle Paul, to the right of the door.
• TRIBULUS on the chest of drawers by the wall.
• AMBER SHARDS under the dust sheets covering the paintings.
• Sophistry, a book on the table.
• COLLECTIBLE COIN on the floor under the balcony door.
• GOLDEN ELIXIR (two) and AMBER SHARDS, in the closed casket. It takes the key with the occult symbol “Air”, or picking, needing Subterfuge, difficulty 7.

The Bible cipher

Go to the painting on the wall to the right of the entrance door and choose “Study the painting”. Louis notices that Paul is shown with a sword in his hand, the swordsman of his mother’s note. He notes that the painting has recently been wiped, and finds an inscription on the frame: “So Paul spoke with the pilgrims from Rome.” A little higher, the number 11 is underlined twice.

Go to the table by the opposite wall, where a New Testament lies. Read “The first part of the epistles of Paul” and choose “Read the Epistle to the Romans”, following the inscription on the frame. Read chapter 11, verse 11, from the number underlined twice.

Between the pages Louis finds a message from his mother to somebody called E.: “…Take the book, you know from where, and hide it where nobody will find it. Urgently. Hide your reply behind the youngest of the apostles.”

Goal: follow the instructions left in the Bible

Go to the painting standing on the floor on the right, showing John the Evangelist, and choose “Examine the face”. Louis sees a beardless face and concludes this is the youngest of the apostles, the one his mother meant. Choose “Look closely at the frame”, and behind the painting he finds: “On the second day the pilgrims hear the young apostle’s prophecy. Their ranks are joined by one believer on the left and three on the right.”

Go to the Bible. Read “The catholic epistles and the Revelation of John”, choose “Read the Revelation of John” and read chapter 12, verse 14: add 1 to the previous chapter (11 + 1) and 3 to the previous verse (11 + 3), as the inscription says.

Louis finds E.’s reply: “I found the book among your things and hid it where nobody will find it. I await your instructions, like the voice of an angel.”

Examine the frame of the painting on the left, showing the Apostle Matthew. Louis finds a note: “Half of each group will go to the first city, Corinth.”

Read “The first part of the epistles of Paul” and choose “Read the first Epistle to the Corinthians”, then chapter 6, verse 7: half of each group, as the hint says, so 12 ÷ 2 and 14 ÷ 2.

The next message hints: “…I shall follow the first group to Mark, who will give the long-awaited answer.”

Go to the painting of Saint Mark and choose “Study the surroundings”, then “Look closely at the chest of drawers”. Louis finds an inscription in Hebrew. Translating it needs Linguistics level 1, difficulty 1: “Count in the dust.” Choose “Examine the dusty furniture” and Louis finds eight prints.

Read “The second part of the epistles of Paul”, choose “Read the Epistle to the Hebrews”, then chapter 6, verse 8: following the first group means chapter 6 from the previous step, and the eight prints in the dust give verse 8.

The new hint: “Let one of the pilgrims on his left hand carry your answer”, meaning the Apostle Paul’s left.

Go to Paul on the Road to Damascus in the next room and choose “Study the frame”. In the thin layer of dust Louis finds the figure 4.

Read “The Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles”, choose “The Acts of the Apostles”, then chapter 10, verse 8: add the 4 from the frame to the previous chapter 6, and the verse stays at eight, as Louis notes. The trait Enquiring is unlocked and Louis finds the last message.

Goal: decipher the message

Louis puzzles over the last message: “…Look behind the nightmare.” Remember the painting in the lord’s study.

• ”What did she mean by that?” — “Apparently it is to be taken literally”
• ”What does that remind me of?” — “It is an object”
• ”Where should I look for it?” — “On the second floor”, then “Look in Mortimer’s study”

A gong sounds: Mortimer is gathering his guests. You get the item NOTE FROM THE BIBLE.

The text of the note matters to the story, so if you fail here you get another chance to learn what it says through additional steps. Those are flagged in the notes below.

Goal: join the other guests

Go out into the corridor.

Chapter six: the nightmare

Marks in the Success column at the end of chapter six:

• ”I met Manuel Godoy”
• ”I made von Wöllner share what he knew”
• ”I found the nightmare mother spoke of”
• ”I met Waldo”
• ”I found a way into the secret study”
• ”I left Mortimer’s secret study without trouble”, or “I heard strange words from Jacques Peru”

Goal: meet everyone in the small drawing room

Go left and down into the hall. Louis stops Emily on her way to the drawing room. One of the branches, “Do not give mother away”, needs Manipulation level 2, cost 1.

If you failed to decipher Sarah de Richet’s message in the previous chapter, ask Emily about the nightmare now. She knows nothing about it herself, but will point you to the cardinal.

• An important choice: “Tell the truth” or “Say nothing” about Louis’s vision.

Telling the truth gives the trait Straightforward and opens a new branch. It raises the duchess’s trust in Louis, since she already knew Sarah de Richet had killed her sister Emma. Saying nothing gives the trait Cautious.

The small drawing room

Louis and Emily come in to find Jacques Peru arguing with a stranger, advising him not to travel home through France. Lord Mortimer and Sir Gregory come in.

Choosing “Who is that?” tells you the stranger is the Duke of Alcudia, Manuel Godoy, head of the Spanish government. The duke reports the execution of the king of France, Louis, and everyone present is shocked.

Some of the conversation options need Psychology level 2, cost 1, and Erudition level 1, cost 1.

Lord Mortimer invites his guests to get acquainted and, when the bell sounds, to proceed to the assembly hall. Manuel Godoy is opened as a character.

The guests start to disperse, and Johann von Wöllner calls Louis over.

Goal: find out what von Wöllner is hiding

Confrontation. You get only one chance at this.

Stage 1. “Have you found anything out? Has she been found?”

• “Why do you ask?”, no skill needed
• “Is she dear to you?”, needing Questioning level 2, cost 3

Stage 2. “Did she tell you about our arrangement?” — “Lie”, needing Manipulation level 2, cost 3. This option unlocks the title Tempter.

Stage 3. “And did you come across any old books among her things?” — “Discuss with him what he is looking for”, needing Manipulation level 2, cost 3.

Stage 4. “Do you know him?”, meaning Borchert — “Ask what connects them”, needing Manipulation, cost 3.

A conversation follows in which Louis demands outright that Wöllner say who he works for. You are offered a guess at who commissioned the book: choose “It is Holm”. Wöllner confirms it and, leaving the room, says that Holm does not like being made a fool of.

If you solved the puzzle of mother’s message to E. above, the goal “Go to Mortimer’s study” opens. If you failed to decipher it, the goal “Find out what the note says” opens instead: go looking for Cardinal Giuseppe Piaggi as Emily advised, find him in the dining room, and he will remember the painting in Lord Mortimer’s study.

Goal: go to Mortimer’s study

The small drawing room

The room could have been searched in the first episode, after the confrontation with Jacques Peru.

• MEAD on the table by the wall on the left.
• GOLDEN ELIXIR (three) in the casket on the table by the far wall, needing the key patterned with five circles or Agility, difficulty 2.
• AMBER SHARDS (two) on the upper bookshelves, needing Agility, difficulty 2.
• ENCYCLOPAEDIA PAGES, if you are missing pages, on a bookcase shelf.
• The ENCYCLOPAEDIA itself, on a bookshelf.
• COLLECTIBLE COINS on the floor in the far corner, next to the table with the casket, and on the table in the near right corner.

Head for the lord’s study.

Goal: find the nightmare

Look at the painting The Nightmare hanging on the wall behind Mortimer’s desk. Louis feels the frame and finds rails that let the painting slide upwards.

Goal: find the mechanism that moves the painting

Press the pedal under the lord’s desk. The painting rises on its runners, revealing a code mechanism.

Examine it:

• “Notice a detail”, needing Subterfuge, difficulty 3. Louis notices that the third ring sticks on the number 9.
• “Examine the wheels”, needing Vigilance, difficulty 3.

Goal: find the code to the hidden door

Read Lord Mortimer’s letter to a Mr. Poletti lying on the desk. Note the second, third and fourth paragraphs, which discuss the Masonic calendar the dates on the lord’s paintings are given in.

Go to the painting of the Third Crusade. Louis notices two dates on it, 1154 AD and 5154 AL. Studying it needs Erudition, difficulty 2. Find the book A History of the First Crusades on the bookshelf. Louis notes that all the dates point to events in the 5000s.

Choose “Read about the Third Crusade”, which is the one Lord Mortimer mentioned an interest in. Read about the breaking of the naval blockade of Acre in the twelfth month of 5190 AL. Converted to the ordinary calendar that is 1190, but the lord’s letter to Mr. Poletti notes that the Masonic year begins in March, so the ordinary date is 1191. Enter that code.

The hidden door opens. Louis goes through into Lord Mortimer’s secret study, and the door closes behind him.

There is a cage with a myna bird in the lord’s study. You can feed it the red berries from the little dish on the corner table, but do not give it the chocolates from the dish on the desk. Louis warns you himself, knowing what they contain: the bird will die and it goes into the Failures column at the end of the chapter.

Goal: search Mortimer’s secret study

• MEAD
• GOLDEN ELIXIR
• TRIBULUS
• A note from Elfriede Bauer, on the table to the left of the entrance.

Going clockwise from there you find documents showing how much influence the Golden Order has over affairs across the world:

• a note from John Adams
• a map of Africa
• a note from Nikolai Novikov
• a note from K.
• a map of North and South America
• a note from Mohamed el Kabir
• a note from Hugh Smith
• a map of Europe
• a note from Lord Mortimer’s brother
• a note from Qianlong, the Chinese emperor
• a note from Charles François Dumouriez, general of the Army of the North
• a map of Asia
• a note from Elfriede Bauer, pinned to the map of Asia

Look at the note pinned to the globe in the centre of the room with a sword. Louis recognises his mother’s hand. He understands that the stone sword driven into the globe shows where Sarah de Richet means to lure Mortimer, and works out that the sword spent a long time outdoors and belonged to some statue.

You get SARAH’S NOTE and the STONE SWORD.

Goal: find your mother

Look over the next room, which resembles a laboratory.

• On the Fabric of the Human Body, on the stool in front of the table.
• CARMELITE WATER
• KEY WITH THE OCCULT SYMBOL “FIRE”
• KEY WITH THE OCCULT SYMBOL “WATER”, in the closed casket.
• COLLECTIBLE COINS (five), in the closed casket.
• MEAD, in the closed casket.
• CHALK on the cabinet.
• A note from the architect Gustave Montrand.
• A note from François de la Contrie.
• A note from Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State.
• A note from Tipu Sahib, ruler of Mysore.

The casket opens with two keys bearing the fire symbol, or with Subterfuge, difficulty 3.

Note the deck of tarot cards. Use Occultism, difficulty 1, to read the spread, and note the numbers on the cards: 14, 7, 4.

Go back to the room with the globe and up to the code mechanism. Louis wonders how to get out of here, and the goal is set aside.

Goal: find a way out

Study the mechanism. Entering the wrong code drops a grille.

Enter 6466, which is what the code you need, 1191, reads as from this side of the dial. The door opens and the trait Deft is unlocked.

Get it wrong a second time and Louis is caught in the trap, giving the trait Careless and a mark in the Failures column. In that case Jacques Peru is the one who gets him out, and the Success column gains “I heard strange words from Jacques Peru” instead.

Goal: find where the sword came from

Head out of Lord Mortimer’s study.

Chapter seven: the labyrinth

Marks in the Success column at the end of chapter seven:

• ”I overheard Piaggi and Wöllner talking”
• ”I convinced Piaggi to share important information”
• ”I convinced Peru to trust me”
• ”I opened the entrance to the crypt”
• ”I found mother in the crypt”

Coming down the stairs, Louis flinches back and hides round the corner, because Cardinal Giuseppe Piaggi and Minister von Wöllner are talking in the corridor.

• An important choice: “Go and look for your mother” or “Overhear Piaggi and von Wöllner”, which gives the trait Prying.

Overhearing them

Louis listens in. The two soon notice him, and the cardinal invites him to join them. Answer Piaggi’s “My son, what do you need?” with “Cut into the conversation”, then choose “Calm them”, needing Etiquette level 2, cost 3. Wöllner asks Louis to leave them to finish.

Head for the stairs and down to the ground floor.

The hall

Speak to the servant at the door of the assembly hall and choose “Ask about the sword”. Louis shows him the stone sword and the servant says it belongs to one of the statues in the garden. Go out into the garden.

Goal: follow your mother’s trail

The garden maze

The garden holds a hedge maze. Stone statues stand at various points in it, each with a crack the sword can be set into. In the middle of the maze is a pavilion. Putting the sword into the right statue opens the way down into the undercroft. COLLECTIBLE COINS are also scattered around the garden, and finding them is left to you.

Go left, where Jacques Peru is standing in one of the corners of the maze. Talk to him and choose “And you?”, needing Etiquette level 2, cost 3.

This cannot fail, because Peru has a weakness in Etiquette.

Choosing it opens an opportunity, needing Psychology: click quickly on the active point on Jacques Peru’s clouded eye.

Taking the opportunity gives the trait Watchful and lets the conversation continue, which earns “I convinced Peru to trust me” in the Success column. Miss it and the Story branches column gains “I could have convinced Peru to trust me”.

In the dialogue that opens, choose “What did he do to you?”

The statue

After Peru goes, the statue you want is Minos. Go to it and put the SWORD into the opening. Going straight to it earns “I opened the entrance to the crypt on the first try, choosing the right statue”; working round the maze trying every statue still earns “I opened the entrance to the crypt”.

Go to the centre of the maze, where the pavilion stands, and touch the drawing of a hand on the pillar. The way down into the undercroft opens. Go down, which gives the trait Quick-witted.

Louis has his third vision. Coming round, he notices a bloodstain on the wall.

Goal: search the crypt

In the corner on the left, find AMBER SHARDS.

Go deeper into the crypt and find bloodied bandages. Choose “Notice a detail”, needing Vigilance level 1, difficulty 3. Go further and pick up a COLLECTIBLE COIN.

Head for the body lying in the centre of the room. Louis bends over the corpse of a servant, and the muzzle of a pistol is put to his neck. Sarah de Richet does not recognise her own son.

End of episode two.

Route 2: from endings 2, 3 and 4, having followed Elizabeth

These three run more or less the same way, differing only in the characters’ lines:

• From ending 2, the lord reports the murder of Elizabeth Adams.
• From ending 3, the lord reports her disappearance.
• From ending 4, the lord asks Louis to explain what happened in Adams’s room.

In all three, Sir Gregory arrives at the study wanting to hold an inquiry, and first asks Mortimer for a word in private. The two leave, which opens the choice “Search the room” or “Wait”. On their return Sir Gregory begins the inquiry, which is a confrontation, the goal being “Prove your innocence”. When it is over Holm leaves and Louis is alone with the lord, with the goal “Put your questions to Mortimer”. After that conversation Louis sets out to look at the room his mother used to shut herself in, with the goal “Find the tower room”.

Level-headed and Desperate

Asked by the lord how he feels:

• ”What do you think?”, needing Etiquette, difficulty 3
• ”I am at a loss”
• ”Like a trapped rat”, needing Psychology, difficulty 3

Mortimer suggests waiting for Sir Gregory, who has questions about Elizabeth Adams’s murder. Holm comes in, asks the lord for a private word, puts written sheets of paper on the desk and leaves with Mortimer.

Goal: prove your innocence

Choose “Search the room” or “Wait”.

Searching the room

The main goal is set aside while you do it. Items:

• AMBER SHARDS and LORD MORTIMER’S HANDWRITTEN NOTES, in the casket on the round table. Four letters have to be set; given the statue of Zeus standing to the right, the word is ZEUS.
• GOLDEN ELIXIR on one of the round tables, the one with the candelabra.
• COLLECTIBLE COIN on the sofa by the balustrade.
• KEY WITH THE OCCULT SYMBOL “WATER” on the floor by the opposite balustrade.
• Leviathan, on a shelf of one of the cases by the wall.
• MEAD on the lord’s desk.
• CARMELITE WATER on one of the round tables by the far wall.

Read the witness statements Sir Gregory left on the desk. Mortimer and Holm then return.

Waiting

Do nothing and the two of them soon come back.

The confrontation

Stage 1. “How did it all begin?” — “I was with Emily until Elizabeth appeared.” Then “Where had you come from?” — “Tell the truth.”

Stage 2. “What did she want to talk about at such a late hour?” — “About her course of treatment with my mother”, needing Psychology, difficulty 3.

Stage 3. “Louis, who do you think could have done this?” — “My mother.”

Even if the confrontation with Sir Gregory and Mortimer goes badly, choosing the line “Superficial wounds” lets you carry on.

Holm and Jacques Peru, who was present, leave, and Louis stays with Lord Mortimer.

After the conversation with the lord, everything proceeds as described above, with the difference that Louis goes to the tower room first and only then starts the investigation. Chapters six and seven are no different from route 1.