Final votecount.
Nathan Greaves [1]: Chad Hutchins
Nikolai Kolmogorov [3]: Ethan Hayles, Nathan Greaves, Kyle Handley (Sopko), Peyton Hadley
Ethan Hayles [6]: Seamus (Excal), Jack Daniels, Ronald Dale (Bardiche), Samuel Hargreaves, Nikolai Kolmogorov, Peyton Hadley
Kyle Handley (Sopko) [1]: Martin Andrews
---
At the last second, Chad decided that the funeral would be held on the green in town, not up in the mountains as Jon had allegedly requested. "Trust me," he said. "It's... better, this way."
Most people shrugged and accepted that it was the scion of House Hutchins' choice. There was one odd exception, though, in Jeb Cress, the proprietor of Rosie's. His eyes flaring, he declared "UNACCEPTABLE. This sounds like the Altar of Aorako! This is a sacred quest; we must obey. YOU! Show me the way to the original funeral site!" A poor, cowed, pallbreaker shrugged and went off with him to the stables to hire a horse from new stablemaster Seamus O'Malley, who took Jeb's money without asking much for the reason behind his sudden shift in behavior.
"What's got into 'im?" whispered Farmer Hayles to Ronald Dale. "I have no idea. Only been a local for... uh... not that long, really," the novelist replied.
---
Even during the funeral, people were at work in the background. Sheriff Hutchinson exited the funeral to be greeted by his excited deputy.
"We've found Pietro's diary, sir! It makes for... interesting reading. Seems like..." Deputy Webster trailed off, then continued in a fierce whisper - "He was a communist."
"I should have guessed." Sheriff Hutchinson shook his head. "Those Italian immigrants, bringing their popery and their socialism and their wine... well. I have to admit, the wine isn't bad. Back when it was legal, of course. Uh... let's just not talk about that anymore. Anything else interesting?"
"Well. There's lots of information about his... er... activities with the Manzoni family in New York, and routing legal Canadian liquor through Marbury on its way to Boston. It might be best if this was left out of any public records, though. Can't have Marbury looking like a den of vice. There was, ah, one other thing. Seems Pietro was planning to set up some stills locally to skip having to make the trip to Canada. They set 'em up... somewhere in the mountains... not really sure from the description he wrote, but anyways, one of his compatriots, Patrick - you met him, tall, freckles? - he up and disappears two and a half weeks or so ago! Pietro goes nuts, best I can tell. Starts ranting about how Pat was reliable and wouldn't just leave. Apparently his next trip to Boston - this is a week and a half ago- he searches for Pat, comes up empty, and then returns to Marbury, and starts leaving crazed scribblings about how this entire town is guilty of his murder and should be investigated! I mean, come on now. Our town's a great town, right? Why would anyone think that? Pat's probably off with a mistress in Rochester right now!"
Sheriff Hutchinson nodded. "Yeah, we didn't receive any reports of a murder or a missing person back then. Can't imagine there's anything to it. Fellow just overreacted a mite. I have to wonder, maybe he was killed in self-defense? He goes all crazy on some innocent Marbury resident, who then has no choice but to... uh... stab him 14 times. Maybe that was a little excessive, but still. You just don't say that kind of thing about Marbury, claiming we're guilty of murder. Speaking of murders.. well. This Bike fellow sounds like a suicide, but I suppose we should do something about finding Giovanni's killer, assuming this wasn't some kind of commie-gangster infighting. And Callahan could still have had accomplices when he murdered dear old Jon. Let's gather up the suspects again, and have a chat."
---
The discussion seemed to drone on interminably, never really reaching a conclusion. At last, Jack Daniels grew impatient. "Hayles! You're not helping us enough! Sitting back on the sidelines.. you must not really want us to find the real killers! Which means you must be one!"
"This is ridiculous! Since when is being unhelpful to the town of Marbury a crime? You don't see the Widow Avil being helpful ever, and we're not lynching her!"
"Yeah, Jack is right!" Others now joined in. "Why'd you do it? Poor Jon... stabbed in the back! ..no mercy for 'im, god rest his soul..."
Ethan had a more annoyed look on his face, now. "Come on! A knife? That's not my style at all!"
"Objection!" yelled Seamus. "So you admit you have a style! A fatal error which is as good a confession as we could ask for!"
"You're... you're being irrational! You're just afraid your superegos will be damaged by this, your self-image of manly confidence. Failure to act would lead to a critical breakdown between what you imagine yourself to be and the cruel reality of not actually being able to solve this crime! This is just a case of the id running wild in this town." Hayles now turned to Sheriff Hutchinson. "Now, Sheriff. Let's think this through, and what it'll be like for you tomorrow. You'll 'ave hung an innocent man... and you'll be in tears, begging your wife or a minister to forgive you. You'll feel terrible! Now wouldn't you rather just avoid that? Let's go play baseball instead!"
The room paused a moment to consider Hayles' words.
"He... he's got a point in there, I think," the sheriff eventually replied. "I WOULD feel terrible after I hung an innocent person. Huh, maybe we should just go home after all."
"... wait a second," Sam Hargreaves, village vet, noted. "Aren't we just going on his own word he's innocent? Won't we feel great if we hang him and he's guilty?"
"Aw, shucks, ya got me." Hayles gave a jaunty slump of his shoulders. "'ow 'umiliating to 'lose' in my own dream! Oh, fine, I'll let you all in on the secret. See, you're all fake versions of the real townspeople in me brain. This is a fun alternate version of Marbury where you're all secretly witches and sorcerers who need to be purged! I was playin' along with Hutchins. It is pretty weird 'ow long this dream has lasted, but I guess I'll just feel really well rested when I wake up next morning, 'eh? Still, it'll be nice to visit the real Marbury again, where everyone is just honest folk and friends!"
---
Hayles maintained a dippy smile on his face all the way to the gallows. Once more, Dr. Gottlieb and Rev. Jones were summoned to watch.
"Aw, man, I don't want this to be a nightmare or nuthin'. Let's just finish this short an' sweet. Okay... waking up... any second now... annnnnyy.... second... now...."
There was a thud, and then - a crack.
The town held its breath...
...and the 'dream', if that be all the world is, did not end.
---
"Look at this!" yelled Deputy Webster, pointing to a library of books off to the side in Hayles' home. "Freud... Jung... Adler... Charcot... Binet... who would have thought that a farmer with an 8th grade education would have been such a fan of psychology? The hobbies people secretly have... can't say I've found anything else suspicious here, though. Certainly no bloody knives or secret organization regalia. Hayles was an odd one, but he seems innocent enough... to me, at least?"
Ethan Hayles, Scum Psychologist, has been lynched! (Nightkills aren't normal nightkills; they seem to be based on psychology somehow...*)
It is now Night 3. You have 24 hours to submit night actions. As a flavor note, "Night 3" will take 3 in-game days, as asking people to assemble on an impromptu citizen's jury on the weekend would be just un-American. Not to mention that everyone's going to be watching the Marbury - Hilton game, right?
* As a reminder, scum do not get full flips this game, though any information given is accurate. Also don't assume that this role has anything to do with the "Psychiatrist" role, which is an illegal alignment-changing role, so this does not imply a serial killer exists.)