Dakota Elizabeth Winchester

Chapter 36: Provenance Part 2

"You said the Isaiah Merchant family, right?" The short, bald librarian asked excitedly.

"...Yes." Dakota said, a little concerned about the man's enthusiasm.

"I have dug up every scrap of local history I could find." He said laying all the information down. Dakota saw sitting at the table while Sam stood up looking over the large stack of papers. She looked over her shoulder and saw Dean flipping through a magazine. "So, are you guys crime scene buffs?"

"Kinda. Why do you ask?" Dean questioned, half sitting on top of the table. Dakota leaned forward on her elbows and looked over at the man.

"Well..." He said and he held up an old newspaper and pointed to a section which read, "Father slaughters family, kills self".

"Yeah, that sounds about right." Dean said.

"The whole family was killed?" Dakota asked. So many violent deaths could lead to a lot of angry spirits.

"It seems that Isaiah slit his own kids throat, then his wife, then himself. Now, he was a barber by trade. Used a straight edge razor.

"Why did he do it?" Sam asked.

"Well let's look." The man sad turning the paper to face him, "Um... 'People who knew him described Isaiah as having a stern and harsh temperament, and controlled him family with an iron fist.' He had a wife, two sons, an adopted daughter...oh here! There were whispers that the wife was gonna take the kids and leave, which ya know, in that day and age." He gestured and Dakota nodded. "So instead, Old Man Isaiah gave them all a shave." He said dragging his finger across his neck.

"Does it say what happened to the bodies?" Dakota asked resting her head in her hand.

"They were all cremated." He said. Dakota resisted the urge to groan and bang her head on the table.

"Anything else?" Sam asked trying to sound normal, but Dakota could tell that he was annoyed at the news of the bodies as well.

"Actually, I found a family photo." He said and he opened one of the other books that was sitting on the table. He showed them the page and the portrait that they had burned previously, but something was different, something Dakota couldn't put her finger on.

"Can I get a copy of this?" Sam asked and she knew that he must have seen something too.

They went outside and got in the car, "Why do you need a copy of that in the painting, we already know what it looks like." Dean asked.

"Because, the painting in the book is different than the Telesca's painting." Dakota said.

"Kota's right. In the painting at the auction house, Dad is looking down. The painting here, Dad is looking up." Sam said.

"It's changed." Dakota said.

"So you two think that Daddy dearest is trapped in the painting, and he's handing out Columbian neckties like he did with his family?" Dean asked.

"Well yeah. It seems like it." Sam confirmed.

"But if his bones are already dust, then how are we gonna stop him?" Dakota asked.

Dean picked up the copy from the library and looked at it, "Well, if Isaiah's position changed, then maybe some other things in the painting have changed as well. It could give us some clues." Dean suggested.

"Like a 'Da VInci Code' deal?" Sam asked.

"I don't know. I'm still waiting for the movie on that one." Dean confessed.