After the alarming events at the Tullio Warehouse, the investigators part company. Connor O’Shea drives off alone to his home in Brooklyn. The others drive to Ray’s Place Barbershop, where Ray Brannigan attempts to conceal the sudden aging both he and Alistair Sinclair have suffered at the hands of Father Washington.

While Ray and Alistair attend to their new wrinkles and graying hair, Ivy Morgan and Jonas Markham drive to The Slaughtered Lamb, where they plan to let Dora Long know they made it out of Red Hook in one piece.

Following the now-ingrained instructions, Ivy and Jonas slip into the Hell’s Kitchen alley, squeeze through the narrow space between two buildings, and stand in front of a stained, mahogany door. Ivy knocks and delivers the password. Alec Long opens the door and lets them in.

Alec and Dora, Ray Honore, Truth Justice, Trent Tucker, and Vincent Falker, are all huddled around a man Ivy and Jonas have never seen before. On the bar is the metal cylinder they left with Alec on Wednesday night.

“Ms. Morgan, Jonas, it’s good to see you alive and well,” says Dora, as she pours them both a shot of Old Unhappy Dog.

Ivy drinks the shot, lets out a deep breath, and tells the Lamb patrons her sordid tale. Jonas nods in agreement periodically, and then becomes engrossed as Ivy get to the parts he missed while lying comatose on the temple floor.

Dora pours everyone a shot and raises a toast to Ivy and Jonas. Alec drains his glass, and then introduces the investigators to Andrew Payne. Andrew is a freelance journalist who dabbles in theoretical physics and astronomy; Alec gave him the cylinder to see what he could make of it. Andrew explains that he brought the cylinder to Columbia University and had it checked out by a friend in the physics department. When they couldn’t determine what type of metal the cylinder was constructed from, they attempted to view its contents through an x-ray. When they couldn’t see the contents of the cylinder with the x-ray, they attempted to cut it open using a hacksaw. After breaking several hacksaws, they used a diamond saw blade and were able to cut the cylinder open.

To Payne’s shock and dismay, when they opened the cylinder, they found what appeared to be a perfectly preserved human brain. Plugged in to the brain were numerous wires which were soldered to connectors on the inner wall of the cylinder. They carefully disconnected the wires and placed the brain in formaldehyde. Over the next few weeks, Payne says the brain will be studied to confirm that it is human. In the meantime, he has brought the cylinder back to the Lamb for safe-keeping.

As Ivy recounts the events that lead to the discovery of the cylinder, she realizes that Ray and Alistair are probably wondering where she and Jonas have gone. They say their goodbyes, have one more shot for the road, and drive back to the barbershop. Once there, they inform Alistair and Ray of Andrew Payne’s findings.

Ivy and Jonas drive back to the Hotel Belleclair with Alistair, and then hail a cab. By 3:00am, the two return to Ivy’s Morningside Heights home and fall fast asleep.

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