Chapter 8

After tending Dawes’s burns at the armory, Alex heads to the medical school at Turner’s request. She worries about the horned, bound Darlington at Black Elm but chooses to help. Turner leads her to a quiet third floor office in the Department of Psychiatry.

Inside, Professor Marjorie Stephen lies slumped at her desk, hand holding a worn Bible, a finger marking a place in Judges. Alex notes the corpse’s milky gray pupils; Turner says time of death is estimated between 8 and 10 p.m. The scene lacks spectacle because it currently looks like natural causes.

Alex and Turner review context: a night cleaner called Turner directly; Stephen was healthy and active earlier in the day. A desk calendar entry reads “Hide the outcasts,” an Isaiah reference. Turner and Alex consider whether the Biblical staging is meaningful or misdirection.

On closer look, Alex observes Stephen’s loose rings and dramatically aged face despite being only fifty-five. Witnesses scarcely recognized her, suggesting rapid aging or occult interference, not stroke or aneurysm. The Bible’s state implies regular use, contradicting the husband’s claim she wasn’t religious.

They agree on next steps: Alex will search Lethe’s library for arcane causes matching sudden aging and milky eyes, and Turner will send the tox report and review lobby footage. As they part, Turner remarks that trouble seems to have caught up with Alex, underscoring escalating stakes after Black Elm.