Western Woods – Day
The Lenape Indian hangs dead in a tree, lynched. The townfolk are gathered. Spencer makes his way through, followed by Derek, looking up.
"We do not need you, Constable…" Nathan strides towards Spencer from a group of men spreading a sheet under the tree. Van Ripper is there. "The men who did this have been taken. We do not need you here." Brom points to where two filthy men in chains sit in a horse-drawn cart. An armed man guards them.
"You should thank us. The killings will end. We saved you all!"
The armed man shoves the filthy man to shut him up.
"They spend two days in chains." Nathan tells Spencer.
"Two days…? For murder?" Spencer asks disgusted.
"For poaching. Or, would you remake our laws not that Magistrate Rossi has given up the ghost?"
"Does that look like an animal hanging?"
"Looks like an Indian." Nathan tells him smartly.
Van Ripper cuts the noose rope at the trunk. The Lenape corpse free falls and lands hard. The Lenape lies in a heap on the sheet. Van Ripper and the others come to lift the sheet with the Lenape in the middle. Spencer watches, noticing…the Lenape wears a woven piece of reed grass a cord on his lion cloth, twisted in a pattern.
"Wait. Give me a moment…" Spencer kneels. He removes the woven piece, looking across the diseased Lenape's body. Something else…the Lenape's mouth is agape teeth rotting. Spencer looks around, finds a twig. He uses it to pull the Lenape's mouth open and gets closer to peer inside the Lenape's mouth.
Archer House, Spencer's Room – Day
A drawing of the Lenape's woven piece in Spencer's ledger. The piece lies near. Spencer sits staring at it, trance-like. Derek waits and there is a long silence.
"The Lenape Indian had much to tell once I opened his mouth."
"How could he?"
"His teeth. Someone had cut them and chipped out rotten pieces far back in his mouth. The Lenape could not have done that for himself." He closes his journal. "Someone out there cared for him."
Spencer rises and decides. He picks up his satchel and leaves the room. Morgan is surprised and follows.
Windmill – Day
Spencer and Derek look at the massive, wooden woodmill and dismount their horses. They go up the ladder from the underbelly. Gears and counter wheels turn millstones. A few men work in the grain powder filled air. Spencer leads the way to a staircase, up twists and turns.
"Where are we going, Spencer?"
"Up, Derek."
They both climb out a door to the roof. The rotors spin nearby. Spencer searches the countryside. Below, many men are riding up the long straight road.
"What is it?"
"It's payment day. Loan money are given to William Archer the last day each month. Almost everyone borrows…for tools or to hire workers." Derek tells him.
Spencer sit, takes a bowl from his bag and gives it to Derek, then produces a bottle of water…fills the bowl. "Out there. What do you see?" Spencer points outward.
"The Western Woods."
"Look again."
A plume of smoke rises from the woods, far.
"Smoke. Chimney smoke."
Spencer holds a piece of straw in his mouth, rubs the point of a sewing needle against a small black rock. "Are you familiar with magnets?"
"What kind of nuts?"
"Not for eating, I assure you. Watch here." Spencer shows the magnet grab the needle. Derek is amazed, reaching for it. Spencer watches him play with it.
"It's spectacular."
"Yes…I suppose it is. Keep it." Spencer smiles at his young assistant.
"No, I couldn't…"
"I have others. All I need is this." Spencer takes the needle, poking its butt end into the tip of the straw. Derek studies the rock and pockets it.
"Thank you."
Spencer nods, almost shy. "Now, hold the bowl steady. Back to business."
Derek lifts the bowl. Spencer drops in the needle and straw which floats and turns compass like.
"If the Western Woods are truly the Devil's Glen, we will see for ourselves."
Derek looks towards the woods uneasy. "Father said witches live there."
"Witches do not exist. However…" Spencer uses a knife to notch the bowl lip where the needle points, then surveys the smoke and makes a second notch. "Not long ago, I would have said the same for the Headless Horseman."
"Spencer Reid…!" Spencer heard Lila say outside.
Lila's on horseback below, unhappy. "I need to speak with you. Alone."
Archer Great Lawn – Day
Spencer and Lila lead their horses. A heated argument.
"Why would you do such a thing?"
"No stone may be left unturned. It may appear harsh…"
"I have misjudged you I think. I did not imagine you were so cruel."
"You are not regarding it in full. The Widow Prentiss had been run through by a sword. I followed the bloodless wound, a wound whose path I could not comprehend till I had seen the Horseman with my own eyes."
"What are you on about?" Lila asks annoyed.
"The child she carried was eight months grown at least…near to birthing. The sword had pierced its tiny heart exactly."
"Must I hear this?"
"There was no blind stabbing. This singular thrust found its target omnipotently, as if the Horseman made certain the unborn child died with its mother."
"And this give worth to butchery?"
"It was not butchery." Spencer defends his actions.
"What is it then? Scientific method? How can any of this matter in the slightest?"
"I have no solution for its meaning yet, but I could not just ignore it."
"Take a lesson from Derek Morgan's desire, Spencer Reid. He follows with you to avenge his father's death. That I understand. But, what do you want?"
"To avenge his father, and the others."
"But, why? Tell me why?"
Spencer struggles with his reply to her question.
"You falter with your answer because you strive without putting the whole of your heart into it. Can you see? You'll bring dignity to the dead even if you have to chop them into little pieces to do it."
Spencer starts to get angry. "If it had been surgery on a living person, done to save that person's life. You would not question it. Not for a moment. So, let me be the first to tell you, dear girl…on the other side of these sheltering mountains, a whole world has advanced beyond such plebeian thinking as yours. And someday, no matter how much you fear it, that would will come to roust Sleepy Hollow out of its slumber."
Lila's eyes water and she storms away. "It was nice to have this talk with you, Constable."
Spencer regrets what he said and shakes his head.