Ep5

     Stone is in a diner. He is putting hot sauce on his food, the waitress tries to warn him about ‘salsa habanero’, liquid fire, but Stone says he has had hotter. A man sits down at his table and talks to Stone, telling him of the escaped souls, and the policeman sent to send them back. He introduces himself as the legendary warrior, Hasdrubul Skaras, and shows his knife, with the blades spaced the same distance apart as the eyes. He proposes a partnership, and says innocents will suffer if Stone refuses. Stone lunges across the table at him, but Hasdrubul Skaras is not there. They fight, and Stone is wounded in one eye. Stone goes out the back way.
      Stone’s eye heals quickly. The Devil shows up, says he was almost sent back.
      Stone draws the blade and shows it at a museum, they are able to tell him about ancient Carthaginians, who were legendary warriors and could blend seamlessly into the background.
      Stone is studying more about it at home when he hears a noise outside his door. Drawing his gun, he opens the door to find… Father Horn? He has moved out here from New York and found him with the help of Detective Kane.
      Down in the lobby, he complains to the new clerk (Lori Petty) about letting someone up to his room. They see on the news that a policeman’s widow was killed, and Vae Victis, a Latin phrase which means ‘Woe to the vanquished’, is scrawled on the wall in her blood.
      Ash is in a restaurant, she leans to pick up her purse and catches Stone eyeing her leg. She asks if it has been a while, and when he says yes, she suggests it has been even longer for her. He asks her about the cop’s widow case. The victim’s husband was one of four officers who died in a bank robbery gone bad. The wives formed a group, Blue Survivors. Stone leaves after he has this info.
      Stone does some checking on Blue Survivors, and goes to a member’s house. He finds her body, and Hasdrubul Skaras is there, taunting him. He offers a partnership again, and hints that there is a policeman’s widow that Stone really does not want to be killed. The police show up, and Hasdrubul Skaras holds Stone and forces him to shoot at them, but is somehow invisible to the police, making it look like Stone is acting alone. Stone is shot, but he runs away.
      At the police station, they are talking to Ash about Stone. She says she is going to nail him.

     Stone shows up at a flower shop to talk to another Blue Survivor, Gina Brayker. He tells her about the last death, Gina tells him about her husband and how the shop was his idea. She says she won’t run from anyone. The phone rings, and Ash’s partner tells her that Stone is the suspect. Gina pulls a gun on him, but he grabs her and knocks her to the floor just as a crossbow bolt comes shooting through the window. “Come with me if you want to live.” They take the delivery van to escape. Stone takes her to Father Horn’s to be safe.
      Hasdrubul Skaras is in a bar, and talks to the bartender (‘I been to ‘Nam’) about the glory of battle.
      Stone lights a candle for himself at the church. Gina tells him about Madeline Fuller, the fourth member. Stone says they should wait there, and Gina says he has to protect her, to stop the killer. Stone is unsure if he can.
      Maddy is leaving work, and Ash comes to take her into protective custody. Hasdrubul Skaras is watching.
      In the hotel, they explain that she is safe there. Stone comes down the hall pretending to be room service, and knocks out the guard. When the guard doesn’t answer his radio, Ash goes out to check, and Stone gets into the room by knocking out her partner. Maddy is scared, but he tells her about Gina, and convinces her to come with him. Ash comes around behind and follows them. They pull guns on each other. Stone and Maddy get into an elevator, but Ash can’t seem to get there before it closes from five feet away. She runs down the stairs. In the elevator, Stone complains that Ash doesn’t understand him.
     At the church, Stone lights lots of candles, testing a theory. He tells Father Horn that he feels responsible for the deaths.
     Maddy calls her mother and leaves a message about where she is. Hasdrubul Skaras is there and hears it.
     Stone talks to Gina in the church. He asks her; what if there was a knock on the door, and her husband was back. Gina says she would love him as always, no questions. They hear a scream, and find Maddy has been taken.
     Stone finds Maddy in the sanctuary; he looks for Hasdrubul Skaras’ shadow as he is taunted by him. Finally he sees him, and throws the special knife to pierce both of his eyes at the same time. Maddy is okay.
     At the police station, Ash asks what really happened, Stone just says that she won’t be bothered by the killer anymore. She tells him that she called New York, and there is no Detective Ezekiel Stone there. She promises to find out what game he is playing, but he is free to go.
     Outside, The Devil is dressed as a cop, laughing with other officers about beating a confession out of a punk. Stone is proud of himself for stopping a 2000 year old warrior, when he had only been in hell for 15 years. The Devil warns him that ‘Pride goeth before a fall’.