"God said unto Moses:" ""Thou shalt not make unto thyself any graven image for I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God."" "So I ask thee yet again, Sarah Browning is this graven image thine?" " No." " Then why would William Woodson with his dying breath swear to me that it was thee who sold it to him for this?" "Sold it?" "I never did such a thing." "Do not lie." "You have been consorting with papists." "Having given yourself body and soul to these forces of darkness you must confess." "You know I am no witch." "Tell them." "As God is my witness, I never saw this cross in my life." " No, Mother, please!" "Tell them!" " Abigail, we must be quiet." "My sister's innocent!" "Silence the child!" "That is for God to decide." "I curse thee and thine, Josiah Blood." "Damn thee unto the 13th generation." "Whatever my fate, so be theirs." "Immerse her." "If she lives, she's a witch." "If she drowns, then 'tis God's will." "And may God have mercy on her soul." "No!" "No!" "What is meant to be is meant to be." "Oh, my God." "Let us thank God for this deliverance from evil." "Let us pray." "God is our strength and our savior." "He leadeth us through troubled waters giving refuge from the storm..." "Since the beginning oh time  mankind has existed between the world oh light  and the world oh darkness." "Our secret society has been here horever  protecting others hrom the creatures who inhabit the shadows and the night." "Known only to the initiated by our true name  The Legacy." ""Having found a cross, I did confront her." "And though she did deny it, we put her to the test." "Sarah Browning did drown as a witch in Hellsgate Pond this, the 15th day of March, 1696." "God's will be done."" "It has been more than 300 years since these words were written and still they read like signposts to the past guiding us through the depths of the Puritan mind at a time when witchcraft was seen as real." "Thus, we must conclude the witch trials were not trials but public executions." "Born of ignorance and fear in an age of rampant superstition." "Thank you." "Thank you." "Well, I'm sure I speak for all of us in thanking Dr. Rayne for sharing the journal of Josiah Blood and the Luna Foundation for its generous support." "I think we have time for one more question." " Professor Slater?" " Cora?" "Recently, some bone fragments were recovered from the pond." "Is there any chance they could be from the body of Sarah Browning?" "It's an interesting possibility." "However, hundreds of bones have been recovered." "We've been asked to help to date and identify them if possible." "But as yet we have no definitive answers." "Suppose the bones turn out to be hundreds of years old." "How can you identify them?" "Since the breakthroughs at Berkeley in the '80s, we have the tools." "Coding present in each bone's DNA." "Today it's possible to trace a family history for centuries just using genetic sequencing." "Again, I'd like to thank Dr. Rayne for taking time to come and speak to us." "Okay, that's it." "Remember, paper topics next class, huh?" " Shall we go to my office?" " Yeah." "You'll have to excuse the mess but this whole pond-preservation project has taken on a life of its own." "You have no idea how much pressure there is in the community to just fill it in and develop it." "Well, crusades are never easy." "How about Josiah Blood's family tree?" "There must be a few descendants willing to help preserve the pond." "Probably, but genealogies take time." "Let me talk to the Luna Foundation." "Maybe we can give you a hand." "Well, thanks." "God knows, we need it." "Meanwhile, since you're gonna be in town for the rest of the week is it too bold of me to ask if I could make a photographic copy of Blood's journal for the archive?" "Never leave my hands." "I'd do all the work myself." " Of course." " Excellent." "Where are you off to now?" "Well, actually, I thought I'd drive down to the pond." " Care to come along?" " I'm tied up in meetings all day." " Thanks." " Bye-bye, Jordan." " Beautiful spot." " Beg pardon?" "Oh, hi." " I didn't mean to interrupt." " No, please." "I come here all the time." "I'm doing a photographic study of the pond as part of my senior thesis." "That's why you were so interested in the bones." "Well, I grew up with it." "Just over the hill, New Haverford." "My family's been here since before the Revolution." "They say it's haunted." "Yeah, by the ghosts of the witches who died here." "Beneath still waters lurking there" "Let all who pass this way beware" " You know it?" " Oh, yes." ""Elegy Beside Still Water" by Edward Clare." "It's one of my favorites." "I used to think he must have written it right here." " Right on this very spot." " Well, it's possible." " You okay?" " Yeah, fine." "There is something embedded." " A crucifix." " That's strange, to find it here." ""And so, having found the cross I did confront her."" "Very good." "You remembered from the journal." "It reminded me of a passage in one of the letters my grandmother gave me." " What sort of letters?" " Mostly family." "My grandmother collected them." "She left them to me." "I thought Puritans didn't believe in things like that." "They didn't." "It would have been considered against God's law." " A graven image." " Just like a photograph." "Careful." "Some primitive cultures still believe photographs steal your soul." "Only if the photographer's good enough." "Well, time to get back to campus." " Nice talking with you." " Yeah." "Examining these bone samples well, I would say that they are the same." "Yeah, look." "Compare the pattern here to the pattern here and the sequencing's identical." " Where'd they come from?" " Some pond in Boston." "Derek said they're gonna fill it or develop it unless we can prove some kind of historical value." "If we connect these to a genealogy, we can show its historical significance." "He's even asked us to draw up a genealogy for Josiah Blood." "Sounds pretty ambitious." "Anyway, given the DNA match I would say that what you have here are two bones from the same body or at the very least, bones from members of the same family." "Well, we agree so far." "I was beginning to think the forensic software was fried." " How many samples did you test?" " A dozen." "They all had the same genetic pattern?" "Yep." "The bones connect with what we've gleaned from Blood's journal about the woman killed in the pond." "Interesting." "However, your sample's still too small." " You can't jump to any conclusions." " You're probably right." " Thanks for the second opinion." " Anytime." "I gotta go, though." "I've got an appointment with a patient who thinks he's the mother of God." " "He"?" "I really can't talk about it." "How do you actually deal with somebody like that?" "Be direct." "Role play." "Try to draw him out, just whatever it takes as long as he eventually faces his psychosis." "Well, give him..." "Or her." " My regards." "Damn thee!" "Damn thee!" " Hi." " Oh, hi." "Doing a little postgraduate study?" "Actually, I'm trying to date this crucifix." "Any luck?" "Yes, actually." ""One of the many such crucifixes cast by the silversmith William Terry for the archbishop of Canterbury, circa 1670."" "Probably thrown into Hellsgate by Josiah Blood or a follower as an act of faith." " Another unchristian act." "Much done in the name of Christ is less than Christian." "But does invoking Christ's name make it right?" "No." "Just the darker side of human nature." "Remember the day you found the crucifix and I was taking pictures?" "Well, that night, when I went to develop the film something happened." "Well, sometimes when you work in a darkroom, you lose track of time but this was different." "It was more like a dream." "Describe it." "Well, there was a..." "A strange man an old silver coin..." "I really couldn't see it but as soon as he touched it, he started to strangle." "It was horrible." "But what makes you think it was more than just a bad dream?" "This." "The clipping is from this morning's newspaper." "But it's the photo that doesn't make sense." "If I took it, I don't know when, but it's the same man." "What are you saying?" "You think you witnessed or caused his death?" "I don't know." "I mean, I felt like he was running from me." " But that's not possible, is it?" " Anything is possible." "Let me look into it, and I'll let you know." "Thank you." "I've gotta get to class." "Call me?" "Detective Longbow?" " You've found him." " Interesting name." "Iroquois." "I'm the original Boston brave." "You got a problem?" "I understand you are the investigating officer on the Brian Chang case." "If you say so." "Businessman found dead in an alley south of Beacon Hill." "Heart attack, three nights ago, right?" " Who are you?" " My name is Derek Rayne." ""Dr. Derek Rayne." What kind of doctor?" "Biological anthropology, but I specialize in forensics." "If you need a reference, call Robert Jaycox." "The police commissioner." " Was this Chang a friend of yours?" " No." "Just saw the article in the paper." "Did you happen to find a coin near the body?" "Coin?" "What kind of coin?" "I'm not sure." "Since the article didn't mention it." "Then how do you know one exists?" "Well, if it didn't, you would have already said so." "So much for lunch." "Three nights ago, this Chang's in town on business." "He goes to his car and he drops dead." "No signs of foul play and no witnesses." " What does the coroner say?" " Congestive heart failure." "A heart attack is not murder." "We found this in his hand." "A silver shilling." "Dated 1696." " In mint condition." " So they tell me." " Who told you?" " A friend." " Not good enough." "I need a name." " I'm sorry, it's confidential." "So is this." "Three more bodies over the past six weeks." "Same m.o." "Ask your friend to think about it." " Kind of late for a run." " Once a SEAL, always a SEAL." "Old habits die hard." "Hey, what's your excuse?" "I just need a break from Josiah Blood's family tree." "It's taken three days just to get to 1800." "Well, I'm ready to call it a night." " When is Derek due back?" " Six a.m. Redeye from Boston." " See you." " Excuse me, ma'am." "Dr. Rayne is on the line." "Thank you, Dominick." "Hey, Derek." "I thought you were supposed to be on a plane." "I need to stay here a few extra days." " Is there anything I can do to help?" " Well, maybe." "The police have a couple of unexplained deaths that need looking into." " Do they have any suspects?" " Not yet." "But there's a woman experiencing chronic memory loss who's afraid she may have done it." "Well, what makes her think she's responsible?" "She can describe one of the murders but doesn't know where the information came from." "Sounds like a dissociative disorder, possibly a fugue state but, well, it's hard to tell without actually seeing her." "Listen, is she under any specihic stress?" "Possibly, but I'm not sure." " Want me to hly in?" " Not yet." "Let me see how it goes." "Okay." "But be careful." "If she's going through personality disintegration, then she might try..." " ... to wrap you into her problems." " I'll keep it in mind." "Okay." "And, Derek?" "Get some sleep." "Yeah." "Good night." "Hi." "You're early, I thought..." "I'm just on my way to my 3:00." "I thought you didn't need the darkroom till tonight." "Working late sometimes gets a little spooky." " Lf you don't mind..." " No problem." " How's the thesis coming?" " Slower than I'd like." "The work in the darkroom's taking longer than I thought." "Actually, I was wondering if I could get an extension." "Sorry, rules are rules." "No extensions, no exceptions." "I tried to warn you, five hours in the darkroom can seem like five minutes." "Anyway, don't worry about it." "You'll see." "It'll all be worth it in the end." " Don't forget to turn out the lights." " I won't forget." "Thanks." "Damn thee!" "You found this picture when you woke up?" "Just like before." " Anything in the papers?" " Nothing, I checked every edition." "There's no mention of anyone dying who fits this description." "Do you mind if I keep this?" " There's someone I'd like to show it to." " Of course." "Why me?" "I mean, what am I becoming?" "I don't know, but I'm going to find out." "Hey." "Here's the latest on that DNA." "It's a mess, I don't know what to make of it." "Lovely." "No rest for the restless, huh?" "That's a pithy little slogan." "Where'd you get that, in the Navy?" "How come you never wanna talk about that?" "I don't know." "It just hasn't come up." "Funny, I dated a guy once, he was determined to become a SEAL." "Took this guy three tries." "Said it was the toughest thing he ever did in his life." "But he's still there." "I thought that was the deal." "If you were good enough, you stayed there the rest of your life." "That's the drill." "You know, if you don't wanna talk about this, we don't have to." "It's not that I don't wanna talk about it it's just that I really don't have that much to say." "Your friend was right, though." "The training was a bitch." "You really gotta wanna be there to make it." "Once you make it, you gotta believe in it to stay." " What does "it" mean?" " The boys the team, unit integrity." "So, what happened?" "SEALs are a covert operations unit." "You drop in someplace you're not supposed to be." "Sometimes it's hostage recovery, sometimes it's recon surgical strikes." "In our case they dropped us into the jungle just south of the equator with orders to collect a certain drug lord." "Supposed to go 50 klicks upriver to this villa, grab the guy and get out." "The team I'd been assigned to was together five years before Desert Storm." "The team leader, Richter, just loved to tell me in detail how the guy I was replacing had died there." "Some people really get their kicks in strange ways, huh?" "So I was on point." "I was still pretty green then, and that's where they put the new guy." "I was scared shitless, you know?" "It's night, crawling around in the jungle." "Every sound makes you jump." "They hit us just before dawn." "Three helicopter gunships just lit up the jungle behind me." "It happened so fast." "You know, I couldn't have been more than 500 yards away." "By the time I got back all there were was bodies." "And you're the only one who survived?" "It's ironic, huh?" "I mean, you take the point thinking that you're gonna die and you're the only guy who survives." "Except I don't think I was alone." "I did a body count, and Richter's body was missing." "You think he betrayed you?" "When I got back stateside, they listed him as MIA." "Later, I heard rumors about a renegade American." "I tried to get reassigned, go back in but a lot of red tape, just never happened." "So you never reenlisted." "You go into combat you've gotta believe in the guy covering your back." "I just didn't believe anymore." "I guess I had more to say than I thought." "Well, whenever you feel like not talking, I'll be listening." "Thanks." "Hey, Nick." "I guess you know but I'm real glad that you're the one who's watching my back." " Where did you find the body?" " What body?" "This one." "You got me." "Never seen it before." " Happened last night." " Really?" "Leave the photo with me." "When a body shows up to match it, I'll give you a shout." "Did you talk to Robert Jaycox?" "We don't exactly move in the same circles." "But I asked some questions." "This Luna Foundation's been around a while." "You guys worked on the Boston Strangler case." " That's right." " Yeah, well, don't let it go to your head." "Longbow." "Yeah." "I want the case files and all pictures on my desk in half an hour." "That was the medical examiner." "They found a woman's body over bayside matched this description." "Preliminary reports indicated the cause of death was a broken neck." "When they found her clutching a silver shilling, they checked again." " Congestive heart failure." " Does that mean you need help?" "No, it means, where did you get this picture?" "I told you, it's confidential." "Wrong." "See, I don't care who your friends are or what club you belong to." "I've got a serial killer running around, and I need some answers." "Even if it means I throw you in jail to get them." "Go ahead, but it won't stop the killings." " Well, what will?" " Access to the case files." "And just a little cooperation, detective." " Oh, hey, Nick." " Hey." "I'm glad you're here." "Derek left a message." "Something about cross-typing the tissue samples of the murder victims sent from Boston." "What are you doing?" "Apparently, the Boston police have been a little less than cooperative." " So the tissue samples just arrived." " Great." "Meanwhile, you remember the bone fragments from Hellsgate Pond?" "I just got the carbon dating back from the lab and I'm checking it against the DNA." "Something just doesn't track." "Well, no kidding." "Chronologically, you're all over the place right from the 1600s on to the present." "And look at how many times the same DNA pattern repeats." " Eighty-three percent." " Ridiculous." "Did you have the lab recheck the data?" "Twice." "It's impossible." "Yeah, it is, except that I did the work myself and the facts don't lie." "No, it means that more than four out of five of the victims who drowned in Hellsgate Pond in the last 300 years were related." "Go figure." "Jordan?" "Damn thee." "Damn thee." "Damn thee!" "Derek, what are you doing?" "I thought you were in class." "I was going to leave a note." "I'm sorry, I was just developing some film and sometimes in the dark, your imagination runs away with you." " Where'd you find these?" " The shillings?" "Hellsgate Pond, along with the bones." "Found quite a few of them." "Oh, I forgot." "The journal of Josiah Blood." "Thanks for letting me make a copy of it." "I ran into a student of yours, Cora Richland." " She talked about some letters." " Yeah, dating back to the 1600s." "One or two of them mention Blood." "Very interesting." "I'm letting her store them here in the darkroom." "She's agreed to make photographic copies when she finishes her thesis." "Do you think I could have a look at them?" "I think you should ask her." "I wouldn't wanna show them to you without her permission, I'd feel funny." " You understand." " Of course." "So if I'm still in town tomorrow, let's get together." "Right." "So Josiah Blood was pretty prolific." "How's it coming?" "It's done." "All I have to do is fax it to Boston." "Great." "We can send it to Derek along with these DNA gene sequences." " Where'd you get these?" " Where?" "Where do you think?" "From the tissue samples Derek sent us of the Boston murder victims." "What's wrong?" " Well, I mean, this can't be right." " Why not?" "Because I've been amplifying these same DNA sequences for two weeks." "I mean, I could probably do it in my sleep." "C, T, GGG, T, AA, TT, CCC, A." "We've gotta call Derek." "Because we either have a serious bug in our system or somehow the dead bodies back in Boston are related to the bones from the pond." "March 13, 1759." "Dear Eloise:" "Thank you hor your letter oh the hirst." "I realize how strange it must seem  to learn oh an aunt you never knew you had." "It's been more than three score years since I saw my sister Sarah die." "Yet even now, I cannot erase it hrom my memory." "So I ask thee yet again, Sarah Browning is this graven image thine?" " No." " Do not lie." "You have been consorting with papists." "Having given yourself body and soul to these forces of darkness you must confess." "The way she looked at me, I knew she was innocent." "No one would listen." "When Reverend Blood ordered them to lower her into the pond..." " ..." "I pleaded with my mother." " You know I am no witch." "But she rehused to speak out." " Please!" "Tell them!" " Abigail, we must be quiet!" "In the end, my sister did curse them all  unto the 13th generation." "And it is my belieh that  given the events that have since come to pass  this curse still remains." "Slater?" "Professor Slater, you in there?" "I called your office." "They said you were out here." " What are you doing?" " Trying to humor my lieutenant." "The coroner thinks someone's been tampering with evidence." " In what way?" " He sent samples of the fluid they found in the lungs of those victims to the lab." "They came back contaminated with pond water." " Pond water?" "Yeah, so now he wants us to check every area pond on the chance that there's a connection." "Damn thee!" "Wait!" "Drop the coin!" "Drop the coin!" "Yeah, send paramedics to Hellsgate Pond." "Now!" "Well, it's hard to say." "They're moving him now." "Have you seen the genealogy?" "Longbow is Josiah Blood's descendant on his mother's side." "Thirteenth generation, like Brian Chang  and all the other recent victims." "But if the DNA matches the bones dredged up from Hellsgate Pond then that means they're all related." " Right." "What are we dealing with here?" "An angry spirit that died before its time." "Seeking revenge on the descendants of Josiah Blood." "Exactly." " You got my message?" " Dr. Rayne, it's happened again." "I've had another episode." " I know, I was here." " You were here?" " Oh, my God." " Yes, I saw it happen." "Well, I don't understand." "Who's doing this?" "Well, that's what we're here to find out." "I read your grandmother's letters." "You're related to Sarah Browning the woman tried for witchcraft." " That's right." " From her sister, Abigail." " Yes." " Professor Slater?" " Come to help us find the truth." "Cora?" "What are you doing here?" "We were just discussing witchcraft." "Witchcraft?" "Here, today?" " You're not suggesting Cora's a witch?" " No." "But three centuries ago, her ancestor, Sarah Browning was tried as one here at Hellsgate pond and drowned." " Don't you mean murdered?" " Yes, murdered." "What happened to Sarah Browning had nothing to do with justice." " Neither has what happened since." " Since?" "What do you mean?" "Almost all the bones found in the pond and all the heart-attack victims baffling the police have one common genetic link:" "Josiah Blood." "So it was witchcraft." "Well, that's what we've been misled to believe." "But it's not." "Then what is it?" "The spirit of Sarah Browning carrying out her curse." "For 300 years?" "You can't be serious." " How?" " By waiting here beneath the waters of the pond and claiming the descendants of Josiah Blood when they came near." "Only recently, with the pond threatened by development the spirit has become more aggressive." "It needed a host whose body would allow it to leave the pond and search out its victims." "Someone like you." " I beg your pardon?" " Our search of your genealogy show that you're the 13th generation." "You're a direct descendant of Josiah Blood." "The spirit could have killed you, invaded your body using it to kill again." "No." "Run, Cora, run!" " I can't!" " You must stop!" " Never!" " Murder can never justify murder!" "Be gone in God's name!" "You okay?" "Then Professor Slater, he was just another victim?" "Yeah." "Like all the other descendants of Josiah Blood." "I don't understand." "How can I be related to something so awful?" "Because perhaps, in a strange way, we all are." "What do you mean?" "Man's injustice to man doesn't end with the passing of a single generation." "Or 13 or 30." "It's always there." "We must never forget." "Come." "I'll drive you home."