Part 5: Wherein the Game Flips Us the Bird
First, last update's puzzle solution:
Since today's update so thoroughly insisted on being a tie, I decided to give Lore of Serpents' vote some extra weight for that awesome info post.
Pearl's house is just past the screen where we can access the barber shop and the cafe.
There's this semi-hidden staircase leading up to a house built on top of a hill of some sort. That looks like both the world's smallest hill and the worst place to ever build a home.
When we get up there the door is locked, but the flamingo key from the cafe takes care of that.
That sure is a stuffed bird in the corner.
Most buildings have a huge section that you can't at all explore or interact with. This is that section in Pearl's house.
Rounding the corner, the rest of the place looks to have a bedroom on the left, a kitchen on the right, and a door in the back, next to a wall with
painted on it. These people are the worst interior decorators.
Let's start with the kitchen.
To my great disappointment, none of it is interactive except for this oven. Well, at least it's better than having a bunch of empty drawers.
Oddly enough, the oven is not empty.
June 16
Some authorities from Flagstaff came to search the canyon for the missing couple, but they didn't stay long. We're not getting any tips at the cafe 'cause we're out-of-towners, and tourists are scarce.
June 17
I'm just sure someone here in Cyclone is responsible for the disappearance of the three people. Every time one of us asks about Devil's Mouth, we're warned to stay away because of some ancient Anasazi curse. Phil Dunlop, at the market, said the Navajos and the Utes won't even go there because the spirits of the ancient ones still live there. I think the townspeople are just covering up some horrible secret.
They're telling us to stay out, and at the same time, the mayor is trying to get mining companies to come and lay waste to Devil's Mouth. Go figure! I feel as if it's up to us to find the missing people - or their bodies. We know it's a long shot, but if we put the clues that lead to the perpetrator (I just knew someday I would get to use that word) in a rock video, then maybe we can get some attention from the media and it will be played on RokTV.
...I just know this game is going to end with, "...and I would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for you meddling kids." Anyone else remember that show? ...no?
June 21
Last night there was an armed robbery at Safari Savings. Everyone here blames it on a transient, but I wonder if it's somehow connected to the missing people.
Darkcloud?
Phil Dunlop
Charles Spencer
Tad Matthews
Keith Hickson (too old)
Ivan (too old)
George Bellairs
Andrew Washington
Richard Talbot (too dumb)
Max Wharton
Burt Thompson
Stewart Warensky
July 9
We went into Devil's Mouth today. Mike thought he saw the paintings on the rocks start to move, but I think it was just his imagination.
July 10
People in Cyclone are pumped. After trying to get cable TV into the town for years, everyone will get satellites. Some sales guy came in and made everyone an offer they couldn't refuse - six months free service and a free TV. Unfortunately, they won't have RokTV, but we're too busy to watch. Making a music video is major work.
July 12
The library was open, so we went and looked up kachinas. This library is fairly big, but some guy named Max Wharton has checked out every book there. We found enough information about kachinas to know that Darkcloud may not be playing with a full deck.
July 16
Mike says he saw one of our new videos on TV. Yea, right! I think Mike is just working too hard. Mike's Aunt Pearl is acting really bizarre about the TV though. It's in a prominent spot in the cafe and she leaves it on all day. We used to hear all sorts of juicy gossip at the cafe; now all anyone does is watch TV.
July 18
We worked so hard today that my throat's sore. When we came back to the cafe, the TV had been left on, and there it was: one of our videos! Something was... I don't know. It had the right words, with Mike's voice singing, but...? For some reason, watching it made us want to go into Devil's Mouth. Olivia started crying when the song was over, probably because there were images in there that she hadn't planned. I think we were just tired, and the video wasn't quite what we had expected.
July 19
We drew straws to see who would confront Darkcloud about the video. I lost, but Mike said he'd do it. He wants to see Darkcloud's face when he explains it. Mike doesn't trust him at all.
Aug 1
Dave followed Darkcloud into the ruins after we finished filming today. There's this secret room back there. Dave hid behind a wall and watched while Darkcloud chanted some Indian words into this hole in the ground. All of a sudden this spirit thing came up out of the hole. This spirit told Darkcloud that our music was insulting. As if!!!! Then Darkcloud said he was just using the music to bring his enemies into the canyon so he could use some kind of power on them. We don't know what power he has, but I'm sure it's the answer to the disappearances. I think we might be in big trouble.
Aug 2
We had a pretty hard time acting normal around Darkcloud today. Olivia said she wanted to go home, but Mike says we should hang around and find out what kind of power Darkcloud has. Meanwhile, everyone in Cyclone watches TV. No one in town goes into Flagstaff for supplies anymore, so supplies are running low. Pearl hadn't had meat for a few days when all of a sudden Phil Dunlop called saying he had fresh meat at the market. Well, Richard works for Phil at the gas station and he said Phil never leaves town. Richard also mentioned his dog was missing.
I'll stick with tuna.
Olivia went out with Stewart tonight. She says she is just trying to find out how much he knows about Darkcloud. Mike and Lyle can't stand it.
Aug 9
When Dave was in that secret room behind the ruins, he saw a sand painting. So we made another trip to the library. Sand paintings are believed to be able to summon the powers of the past. I think most tribes use them for healing, but Dave said the one up there was not only unfinished, but it looked very different from the ones in the books.
Aug 10
The mayor's wife disappeared today, but the mayor didn't seem too concerned. Mike mentioned to the mayor that we might be in danger from Darkcloud. The mayor got furious and told us never to mention that name again.
Aug 11
I think living at that "Psycho" motel is affecting Stewart's brain. He hasn't even noticed that there is something odd with the music videos. When he finally watched the TV he was ticked off because Darkcloud had changed stuff, but then he started to get this glassy look in his eyes.
Aug 14
I can hardly write this; my hand is shaking. Dave and I went to the Kiva, but the spirit kept talking about some warrior, so we left more confused than ever. Just as we were coming out of the ruin, we saw Darkcloud. He didn't see us, because he was focusing on a side canyon. There, headed straight for the ruins, were two hikers. I wanted to call out and warn them, but about what I didn't know.
Darkcloud said something, then all of a sudden a huge petroglyph of a horned animal peeled off the wall and came right at the hikers. Then more came off the walls - from everywhere! The hikers kept falling down, trying to run away, but the monstrous things were everywhere, sucking their life away.
All of a sudden, Darkcloud called the petroglyphs back onto the walls. I thought the hikers were going to be safe until he pushed this huge rock down the cliff, causing an avalanche of boulders to fall down on them. I couldn't look. That might have been us! I'm never going up into Devil's Mouth again!
I now know that we will never get out of Cyclone alive - we've seen too much. What were we thinking when we thought we could catch a murderer merely by putting clues in music videos? If Darkcloud will kill anyone who approaches the ruins, then he'll surely kill us.
I think I can hear Lore of Serpents softly weeping at all that plot and character exposition.
This is a random picture of a penguin statue on top of the fridge.
Since there's nothing else in the kitchen, let's check out the bedroom.
You couldn't pay me to sleep on that bed.
This bird thing on top of the dresser opens its mouth when you click it, but that doesn't seem to do anything useful.
Oh good. More empty drawers.
What is it with- oh. This drawer actually has stuff in it. Huh.
I'm honestly not sure if that's supposed to be Pearl or Mike and Lyle's actual parents.
No. No, she did not.
That's it for the bedroom, so there's just one more place to check.
Above the entrance where we came in, there's a conspicuously quiet birdcage. I don't think he made it.
There's a door next to the massive
. Also I think I see another (quiet) birdcage above and to the right. 
It looks like it leads into a basement, which just makes me even more puzzled at the strange hill this place is built on.
Have the band members been using sleeping bags for months now?
Unlike Stewy's suitcases, we can actually interact with these. Well, one of them. I'll take what I can get.
An empty tape recorder. With no batteries. Sounds useful!
This table on the far side of the room has a picture of one of the band members with some girl. Wasn't she in the cafe photos?
There's another bahos puzzle in the corner to the right of where we came in.
Activating it causes a bat to fly out.
...and then we control a bat.
The goal of the puzzle is to eat all the bugs, with the green bug on the right being last. Eating a bug removes all paths connected to it, so while you can't do any backtracking, it's not quite one of those "trace all the lines only once each" puzzles. Some paths we will never cross.
Solving it leads to ...
Be right back.
...and that's it fo-
Oh. Hi, Mom. Yes, Mom, we'll figure out who our enemy is. No, I didn't forget to lock the door.
Puzzles:
Notes:
Can't get anything from the vending machine.
Which windowsill do we need to look under?
We might be able to find quarters at Phil's store.
The literal key to "the truth" is under Burt's trailer.
Who is Darkcloud?
Find something to use on the candle.
"Offer her a flower"
We have some kind of triangle code thing.
What do all those numbers in Wendy's diary mean?
Voting:
One down, far too many to go.
Location list:
Bakery
Barber Shop
Burt's Trailer
Cemetery
Community Church
Gusty's Gas Station
Max's Cave
Mine Entrance
Museum/Library
Phil's Market
Savings & Loan
Warehouse