The party visits Luth the locksmith to ask about Harbin’s broken lock. Luth said he remembers Harbin coming in that morning. Because he’s been busy, Luth never made it to Harbin’s to look into the lock. He decides to send his new employee, Ultorin, with the group to check it out. They travel to Harbin’s house.

With a quick flick of the wrist, Ultorin dismantles the lock and holds it up for everyone’s inspection. He tells them that the lock was picked. “Not only was it picked,” he says, “but whoever did it did a pretty shitty job. Otherwise the lock would still be usable after.” Ultorin also believes that whoever did this probably broke his pick in the process. The group remembers the broken lock pick they found in Daren Edermath’s barn.

They enter Harbin’s house in search of more clues. Ultorin stays with them. and together they search the place top to bottom. Mystic finds that several items of food left in the fridge are dusted with a green substance. It appears to be the same substance found in Grista’s basement: The same poison that killed all those at the party: Midnight Tears.

Ultorin searches Harbin’s bedroom and finds a small, expensive-looking chest. It’s locked, but that’s not a problem for him. He easily picks the lock and looks inside. The box contains a gold wedding ring and a note. The note’s addressed to Lillian, Harbin’s granddaughter. In it he says that he wants to give her her grandmother’s wedding ring. 

Ultorin places the ring back in the chest and puts it safely in his pocket before heading downstairs to join the others. When he’s asked if he found anything upstairs, he says he didn’t. Lilvari decides to use her newly acquired power to read his mind. She catches him in his ‘untruth’ and calls him on it. Ultorin talks with her separately to clear the air. He claims that he’s holding onto the ring just for now, for safe keeping.

It’s getting late. They leave Harbin’s and eat dinner at the Stonehill Inn before heading back home. Ultorin asks if he can join them in the morning to help with the investigation, and they agree. During the night, Lilvari has a strange dream and wakes up with a dark, leather bag next to her. It’s warm to the touch.

The party meets Ultorin in the morning. Before they get too far, two guards summon them to the Townmaster’s Hall to talk to Halia Thorton. Upon arriving in her office, they see that Gundren Rockseeker is already there. It turns out that he’s giving the party a 10% stake in the Wave Echo Mine. Halia is getting the documents ready. She needs to record the ‘company name’ in writing. The party quickly decides on ‘Team Ramrod’. 

After everything is in order, Halia tells the party that she’s closing the investigation. The culrpit has been caught, she reaons. They need to bury this awful tragedy and their dead. The party agrees with her — at least to her face. She orders them out. On his way, Dare farts quite loudly.

They talk to Sildar before leaving the Townmaster’s Hall. They tell him their intention to keep the investigation open, and he agrees that it’s a good idea — as long as they keep it between them. As a first order of business, they ask Sildar to gather Ethor and Menalaus so they can be questioned together in hopes of getting the story straight on who was where the night Harbin’s house was broken into. Sildar promises to meet the party at their house later that night with both Ethor and Menalaus.

With time to kill, the party decides to follow up on the haunted tree that lies south of their manor. They find the town’s history buff Kethra Ungart and ask her about it. She tells them the tale of a tiefling family who was strung up by it’s branches for making a pact with the lord of the nine hells. According to the townmaster at the time, Desilav Phandalin, the family was using dark magic to steal riches from the Wave Echo Mine. A member of Desilav’s council of five, Hervico Tav, requested a trial take place. This angered Desilav, for a trial would cause delays. Tav was already Desilav’s least favorite member of the counci. Now, he absolutely despided him.

 Desilav decided to take matters into his own hands. Under the cover of night, he and a group of villagers dragged the tiefling family — a father, mother and two sons —  to the woods and strung them up by that very tree. As the family members died, their shadows disconnected from their hanged bodies and circled the tree. The tree itself withered and rotted. The woods were abandoned from that point on, labeled as cursed.

Desilav, on the other hand, was labeled a hero. The town, originally called Wyrmwood, was renamed to Phandalin. Celebrations were had throughout the town. This story doesn’t have a happy ending, however. Over the course of the next several months, the council died from a strange sickness one by one. Eventually Desilav succumbed as well. It was said that the devil was taking his due.

No one knows what happened to this supposed magic item that the tieflings used to gain their money and power. The party decides to look for Old Phandalin’s cemetery, where Desilav is buried. Ultorin claims to know the way, having seen an old burial ground on his way to town.

They arrive at the abandoned cemetery a short time later. They see overgrown grass, crumbling graves and two mausoleums. Mercarri, while checking out the rest of the cemetery, finds two other points of interest. One is a tombstone with fresh yellow flowers on it — strange because the rest of the cemetery seems to have been forgotten — and another is a shiny object resting against a different grave.

Ultorin and Dare check out the tombstone with the flowers. It reads,  “Honored Member of the Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors, Arannis Mooncairn”. Ultorin knows not only who the ‘Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors’ is but who Arannis Mooncairn is as well. Ultorin tells them that Mooncairn discovered a powerful wand, one that he kept with him at all times. This news prompts Dare to dig.

After an hour or so, Dare reaches the coffin. He easily opens it. Inside are the remains of Arannis Mooncairn and a wand — A Staff of Magic Missiles. 

They then head to the shiny object. It appears to be a silver flask with the word ‘Not’ on it. There’s an amber-colored liquid inside. The party’s surprised that Dare doesn’t drink it immediately and instead, pockets the flask. There seems to be something magical about it. Next, they all head to the mausoleum. 

With Mercarri’s help, Dare kicks the rusted door in. They find a dusty room filled with paintings. The coffin of Desilav Phandalin rests in the middle of the room. Looking at the paintings, they find that each one has an indentation the size of a small circle. Mercarri and Dare again used their combined strength to push the heavy marble lid from the coffin. Inside are the remains of Desilav Phandalin, but unlike Arannis, Desilav’s remains are still in the process of decaying. He’s gooey, rotted and the smell that escapes the coffin is enough to make them gag. Desilav is naked from the waist up. Stuffed in his eyes are two gems. There’s another in his mouth. Seeing a large buldge in Desilav’s stomach, Dare cuts it open and finds two more gems. Just as the party starts removing the gems, the mausoleum’s doors shut and a poisonous gas fills the room.

Quickly the party figures out what’s needed to dispel the trap. They place a gem in each of the indentations. The color of each gem matches that of a particular painting. After the last gem is placed, the gas stops. The doors open. And, strangest of all, the coffin automatically slides to one side, revealing a stairway heading down into darkness…