THRESHOLD | Part 1 "Dead Man's Mouthpiece"
Malevolent
Detectives John and Arthur conduct a stakeout at the Arnett farm to investigate reports of an intruder in a barn. They discover a man named
Key takeaways
- Arthur and John investigate suspicious activity at the Arnett farm involving missing livestock.
- The duo discovers Sam using blood sigils and a knife to attempt organ harvesting on a young man.
Main topics
- The Arnett farm stakeout
- Ritualistic violence in the barn
Notable quotes
I'm begging for life to just slow down to a crawl.
Conclusion
A tense investigation into ritualistic violence leaves the protagonist
Transcript preview
Speaker 2 (0:12) Yeah, must have been close. Why so late? The stakeout? Our case? Speaker 3 (3:22) How's it going? Speaker 2 (3:23) As well as it's been going for the last few hours. Well, thanks for keeping an eye out. Yeah, for four goddamn hours while you dozed. Remind me again. How exactly is this fair? Speaker 3 (3:39) How? You want a full refresher? Okay, well, let's see. Last year I opened a mysterious book that was delivered to my office. Speaker 2 (3:49) And when I did, a Speaker 3 (3:52) fragment of an eldritch god known as the King in Yellow, that's you, John, was somehow transferred into me. I meant... Speaker 2 (4:00) Leaving me completely blind. Speaker 3 (4:03) However, he... Speaker 2 (4:04) Again, that's you. Speaker 3 (4:06) Got control of my eyes. So when we do stakeouts... Or have to tail a client, or hell, have to file a police report. Arthur! You're sadly the one who watches. While I... I Speaker 2 (4:18) get to nap. It's the napping I'm talking about. Feels like I have to work while you get to rest. That's exactly what Speaker 3 (4:27) it Speaker 2 (4:27) is. Hardy har har. Oh, come Speaker 3 (4:29) on. You get plenty of time to rest, too. Do you not? Speaker 2 (4:33) I don't rest. I... Sure, Speaker 3 (4:35) sure. What I mean is when I sleep, you get your time to relax, to pursue your own endeavors. Speaker 2 (4:41) And you do the same. Speaker 3 (4:42) When Speaker 2 (4:42) you want time alone, I let you put me in time out. Speaker 3 (4:46) Willingly. You said you enjoy that space. You said it's like sleeping for you. Speaker 2 (4:50) It Speaker 3 (4:51) is. I'm Speaker 2 (4:52) not complaining. In moments like this, shouldn't we both be working? Speaker 3 (4:57) What am I supposed to do here? We're stuck staring at the broad side of a barn. Speaker 2 (5:01) And the field surrounding. How Speaker 3 (5:03) am I supposed to know? Speaker 2 (5:05) I mean, you could review the case with me. Keep me company. I know, but it's so boring. Speaker 3 (5:10) Like it isn't for me. Fine. The Arnett case. He hired us because he suspected someone of nefarious nature was living in his barn. Speaker 2 (5:20) It wasn't just him who hired us. A few of the local farms were concerned. Some of their livestock went missing. Rightly. Arnett is the one who noticed the guy. Yes. And for the past three nights, he's seen a figure skulking about the fields. And when he looked into the barn during the day, he saw signs of someone living there. Speaker 3 (5:43) Including... Including a sigil painted on the floor. Speaker 2 (5:46) In Speaker 3 (5:47) blood. In what he thought looked like blood. It can't be blood? It can be. But we don't know that. For all we know, it's a vagrant just needing a warm bed for the night. A vagrant? We don't know anything. In fact, we don't even know if Old Man Arnott is all there. All there? Oh, he's older than dirt, John. And he said himself that his granddaughter was dating a troublemaker. It's probably the two of them sneaking off to canoodle in the barn while the old man sleeps. What about Speaker 2 (6:16) the sigil? Speaker 3 (6:17) I don't know. Maybe kids these days make love in mysterious ways. I'd rather not know. Speaker 2 (6:22) Yeah, well, you better know. Faroe is bound to start dating soon. Don't bring Faroe Speaker 3 (6:27) up, please. God, I'm having a hard enough time sleeping as it is. Speaker 2 (6:32) Well, then wake up! Speaker 2 (6:35) Why is she keeping you up? Speaker 3 (6:36) You know why. It's been, what, a handful of months since... Speaker 2 (6:41) Since we got back. Speaker 3 (6:42) Yeah, and I mean I can't tell her about you. Speaker 2 (6:45) I know. Speaker 3 (6:46) You know how awkward that is for me? I Speaker 2 (6:47) know. I know. I'm just... I need more time to... To what? Speaker 3 (6:55) Look, good as I am without needing to see, she's bound to start asking questions. She's a sharp girl, John. Sharper than I am. Than either of us. She knows something's up. Speaker 2 (7:08) Don't put this all on me. You're hesitant to tell her as well. Of Speaker 3 (7:12) course I Speaker 2 (7:13) am. Speaker 3 (7:14) Of course I am. Are you kidding me? All my life I wanted a second chance with Faroe. All my life I had hoped to see the woman she'd grow into. And now... Now that I do, I... You know how terrified I am to upset the apple cart? To force. She has such heart. You know she's acing all of her classes at Miskatani. I know. People out there... They are desperate for times to change, for the next era. But me? I'm begging for life to just slow down to a crawl. I want to sit in every moment with her, catch up on all of those years missed, tell her everything. And yet, I'm so nervous to say the wrong thing, Speaker 2 (8:12) I could lose her again. You're not going to, though. She's not... she's not like that. Speaker 3 (8:22) I know, I know. Look, I don't know what the manager did, I... I don't know what magic he pulled to have her here with us, but... It's clear that she's never known anything else. Same with everyone else, for that matter. Jack, God! Navigating the Discovery was awkward. Oh, hey, Daniel. Did Di ever mention Faroe? Of course, Arthur. She was staying with me while you were out dealing with those monstrosities. Speaker 2 (8:46) It's as if she's always been here. Speaker 3 (8:47) Which makes it all the more awkward when I ask her things I'm supposed to know about. Like where she's staying Speaker 2 (8:52) or what she's studying. Speaker 3 (8:53) It's Speaker 2 (8:54) difficult to find out what you don't know. Speaker 3 (8:56) Without her thinking, I'm a shit father who doesn't listen. Speaker 2 (8:59) You're trying your best. Yeah. We both are. Speaker 3 (9:03) And Speaker 2 (9:03) thank God no one seems to question why I'm only 15 years older than her. Speaking of, don't forget that we're meeting her for dinner after this. Speaker 3 (9:11) Don't forget? You're the one watching the time, Speaker 2 (9:14) aren't you? I'm watching the barn. Well, how the fuck am I supposed to be watching the time? Well, maybe if you weren't sleeping. Tell me you are fucking with me, and that you're making... Wait, wait, wait. Speaker 3 (9:24) What? Speaker 2 (9:25) Movement. From the treeline. Behind the barn. Speaker 2 (9:32) I can barely see through the rain, but I think it's a figure. Moving from the wood toward the field. Stay with him. He's crouched low. The light outside is very dim and covered in shadow, but he moves with a nervousness. Speaker 3 (9:57) Arnott said he found some entrails in the woods. A creature. Deer. Yeah. Speaker 2 (10:05) Gutted with a knife. Do you see a weapon? Tough to tell. Speaker 2 (10:16) He scampered up the hay bales on the side of the barn and headed into the loft. Shall we confront this vagrant? Don't suppose the rain is going to let up, is it? You're bringing the gun. Shouldn't I? What about this seems violent? Speaker 3 (10:34) Nothing but it Speaker 2 (10:35) can't hurt, can it? People get spooked by guns, Arthur. It speaks to intention. Speaks to intention? What are you... I'm just saying. Speaker 3 (10:46) You said yourself, blood sigils. You said it wasn't blood! Speaker 2 (10:51) Look, you're just nervous. I get that. But this isn't like it was before. You know, we're just outside the city. These are just people. And the majority of the cases that we've handled so far, they all end in mundane, simple explanations. Yeah. Remember the Garnet case? Literally just misplaced. And the stained livery case? Oh yeah, Leonard Gilbert. They're just people. You bring the gun, and this could change a potentially friendly chat to an armed encounter. But look, it's your call. I support either way. Speaker 3 (11:37) People they may be, but it's people that I'm cautious about, John. As you said, these cases are mundane. But at this point, the mundane can do just as much damage. Speaker 2 (11:46) Very well. Speaker 3 (11:47) All right. It's so wet out there. Speaker 2 (11:58) Get out. All right. The barn is straight ahead. Though the cloud covers the moon, there's still a fair bit of light coming through. The barn sits black, drawn of all its color against the blue hue of the lightning strikes and obfuscated moonlight. Speaker 2 (12:24) The barn looks old. Not the oldest we've encountered, but surely one that has been around for some time. Do you want to enter the way he did, or would you rather move through the front? Let's follow him. All right. The hay bales are stacked up opposite the forest. Move to the right of the building. There's a small wooden fence here. You'll need to... Yes. Yeah. Now stay low. The rain may cover the sound of our movement, but it won't hide our approach, should he look out. Here, here. The hay bales. You'll need to climb them. Okay, okay. It's just ahead. Stay low. Crouched on this top bale of hay. See if you can peek over the edge, just slightly. It doesn't even look like he's using light. I don't see any movement. Headed. From the dim light outside, it looks like there are crates. A few stacked against the far wall of this upper barn loft area, and a few to our immediate left. We are near the back of the barn, so... Okay. This loft area is rather large. It looks like a maze of mold-covered hay bales, and wooden crates filled with various farm supplies almost serve as... walls, creating a branching path deeper into the barn. I can understand why this vagrant would have gone undetected. He must be somewhere, squirreled away, near the front of the barn. Can you see? Can you navigate? Barely. I can for a bit, with a guiding hand, but eventually I'll need some light. Unless... Unless he has a light deeper in that we can't see. Yes. All right. Slow and steady. Anything you see, you... Yeah, yeah. Of course. Speaker 2 (14:58) This loft feels maze-like. A few flashes of blue light from the opening behind us cut hard shadows through the crates, painting the floor in angular patterns like a funhouse. There's no fun. Shh! Listen! I can hear him at what he's saying. We Speaker 3 (15:40) need to tell him to shove off, so might as well just... Speaker 2 (15:44) Okay, but it's still dark. Use the lighter. Show him that you don't mean him any harm. Speaker 3 (15:55) Ugh. Speaker 2 (15:59) He's just around the crates to our right. Who Speaker 3 (16:01) are you? Speaker 2 (16:02) He's seen the light. Who are you? He stands. Who are you? He's dropped