Part 23: Detective Mosely vs. Compelling Evidence

Chapter 22: Detective Mosely vs. Compelling Evidence



Gabriel struggles against the museum python, but it's much stronger than he is -- the harder he tries to pull it off, the tighter its grip becomes.



No longer able to breathe, he tries desperately to think of something that will get the snake off him. His eyes scan frantically across the dark room for some sort of idea.

After a moment that seems like forever, he spots the light switch by the door and, suddenly remembering what happened the last time he flipped it, realizes it's his best chance out of this mess.





Gabriel crawls to the switch as best he can, consciousness slowly slipping away. If this doesn't work, he's not going to have much longer to worry about it.



Finally, he manages to just barely flick the switch, and the noisy fan above the window begins to roar.



Alarmed by the noise and vibrations, the snake loosens its death grip on Gabriel. As air rushes back into his lungs, he finally manages to rip the snake off him.





As the snake flees from the terrifying fan, the lights flip on and Dr. John wanders inside.



He's as cordial as ever, but Gabriel doesn't even want to hear it, and for good reason.




Dr. John doesn't sound even the slightest bit concerned or surprised by this. Because of course the snake assaults and strangles museum visitors all the time.







Gabriel strolls out the front door as calmly as he can. He hops on his bike and roars for his home as fast as he possibly can. He's had enough for today, and possibly for the rest of his life.



After he arrives at the bookstore, Grace watches him cautiously for a moment.





Gabriel complies, hoping he won't have to explain just what happened, especially after this morning's safety lecture.




Grace picks something off him.






A sparkly, you say? Grace tosses it in the ashtray, where Gabriel takes a closer look.



Well hey there, beautiful. Gabriel gently picks it up with the tweezers.





After a quick glance at the creepy guy in the window, Gabriel goes into the back room to check it out undisturbed.







Holy shit.







Looks like the museum's python somehow made its way to the scene of the murder. Seems like a pretty big fucking coincidence, doesn't it?

"Gotcha, you son of a bitch."



Gabriel reclines on his bed for a bit, waiting for his heartrate to go down and his breath to catch up with him. He considers everything he's gathered so far and decides he's ready to make his case to Mosely. Some more evidence would be nice, but at this rate he'll be dead before the damn weekend. It'll have to do.



He leaves the shop as calmly as he can, trying not to alert the suspicion of either of his spectators. Neither seem to think this latest exit is particularly special.



When he arrives at the police station, Gabriel finds ... uh.




...thaaaat's probably a bad sign.



Gabriel keeps walking so as not to arouse the drummer's suspicion any more than he already has.



Gabriel settles himself into the chair. So begins Operation Convince Mosely.




We'll just have to see how that goes. Let's start with the little matter of the two dead guys Gabriel's come across in less than 24 hours.








Hell, if he's that untrustworthy why did you question him in the first place?








Mosely isn't too broken up about the slimy drug dealer. Maybe the innocent college professor will inspire a little more sympathy.




This whole sequence of conversations has a lot of little branching paths depending on what order you present your facts to Mosely. It's nothing really worth replaying for, but it helps the flow a lot, especially given how long this sequence can get.



Two days ago actually, but it hasn't been very long since Gabriel's near-death experience. It's okay that the days are still fuzzy.






That's not fair; he obviously knows the answer to that question.








The thing with Crash probably would've happened either way, but that's some damn solid advice Gabriel probably won't listen to.

It's time to ride the evidence train. Gabriel starts by handing over Hartridge's notes.







The notes seem kinda inconclusive to me, but okay.

Gabriel then pulls out the reconstructed vévé and passes it along.






Gabriel waits for Mosely to slam him for stealing the tracings, but it never happens.




Of course, we still need to prove that they're a threat and provide a suspect. Thankfully, Gabriel has much better materials for those tasks. He shows Mosely the newspaper clipping.






Success! Now for the final blow. Gabriel hands over the hard-won snake scales.






That sure as hell gets Mosely's attention.






And at this moment, after five days of wandering around in the city trying to gather random scraps of clues, Mosely finally relents to Gabriel's point of view.





And yet flattery is the least sincere form of flattery. Mosely either doesn't notice or chooses not to notice the sarcasm.





Their business complete, the two friends leave the dank hole of an office.



Finally, Gabriel and Mosely get to adventure together, like they should have been from the start!




Or not.





With Mosely gone, there's really no reason to stay in the precinct, especially with that drummer around. Gabriel considers warning him about the drums, but his only real source of information on that is Crash, and it's probably a good idea to keep that information low to the ground anyway. Gabriel leaves.



By the time he arrives at the bookstore, the sun is down and the creepy observer seems to be long gone.



Grace leaves for the evening.



Shortly after, Gabriel dials Malia's number again ... and only receives the steady beep of a busy signal in response.





The dream begins anew, as Gunter Ritter watches Tetelo burn.



As has happened so many times before, Tetelo lowers her head...



...and transforms herself into a leopard.



The rest of the dream continues on schedule, with one exception. Gabriel sees Tetelo standing inside two concentric circles of fire.



The view flies out and above and the talisman appears out of the center of the flames.



And yet again, the dream ends with Gabriel's grisly death.


Next time:

Gabriel receives a secret message in Chapter 23: Gabriel Knight vs. Unexpected Gifts!

Videos!
42. That doesn't prove anything! (Dailymotion) (YouTube)
43. ...okay, that does. (Dailymotion) (YouTube)