Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned
Tags: murder

Plot synopsis:
Four years after the events of The Beast Within, Gabriel Knight and his assistant, Grace, travel to Paris on the invitation of Prince James of Albany, a descendant of the House of Stuart, who seeks their help in protecting his infant son Charlie from beings called "Night Visitors" - bizarre vampire-like creatures that have plagued James' family. Charlie is soon kidnapped by two strange men on their first night, and Gabriel, forced to leave his assistant behind, pursues them onto a train bound for Southern France. Knocked out by the kidnappers, Gabriel awakens some time later upon the train stopping at Couiza, whereupon a night porter helps him to a hotel in Rennes-le-Château, but not before confirming that the kidnappers left the train at the same stop. The following morning, Gabriel contacts Prince James about what happened and his current location, only to be asked to investigate into the kidnapping before his men take over that evening, before running into Mosely, his old friend from New Orleans, who reveals he is on vacation with a treasure hunting tour group. Discussing the case with him, Gabriel suspects that one of the group - Madeline Buthane, the group's leader, British actress Lady Howard and her friend Estelle Stiles, Australian treasure seeker John Wilkes, Italian tourist Vito Buchelli, and former Middle-Eastern tourist Emilio Baza - might be involved in the kidnapping as they all arrived the same night he did. After reuniting with Grace that evening, Gabriel decides to not drop the case, instead tailing his replacements, whereupon he witnesses them make heated accusations against the local church curator, Abbe Arnaud, over the kidnapping, while greeting Larry Chester, a Scottish scholar researching the regions ties to the Knight Templars, with a Masonic handshake.
The next day, while Gabriel stays behind to search for clues, Grace joins the tour group to investigate the kidnapping's connection to the regions treasure, with the group visiting various sites, including a vineyard that leaves her uneasy. Shortly after visiting the vineyard, the tour group come across the gruesome sight of James' men, both of whom had their throats slit and their bodies drained of blood. After investigating the crime scene and relaying the bad news to James, Gabriel confronts Larry over what he witnessed the previous evening and his connection to the Freemasons, and after being forced to leave, witnesses him plan something for later that night. At Grace's insistence that the vineyard the group visited has significance to their case, Gabriel, under the guise of a journalist, meets with its owner Excelsior Montreaux, and notes an oddness in some of his answers, particularly with wine and viticulture. In the evening, while Gabriel spends it with Mosely and later with Madeline, Grace continues her investigation into the treasure, and comes across an envelope taped to the door of the town's museum that contains "Le Serpent Rouge" - a document filled with riddles, which she had learned about on the tour. After solving some of its initial riddles, Wilkes invites her to join him in celebrating something important he uncovers, which Grace accepts only in the interest of learning what he discovered, but leaves him after he makes a drunken pass at her. Meanwhile, that night, Gabriel uncovers a manuscript from behind Larry's house after witnessing him bury it, discovering its topic concerns Jesus Christ having descendants, with James' family being among them. Upon returning to the hotel with it, a nightmare about vampires finally forces him to slip into bed with Grace and sleep with her.
The following day, Grace manages to locate the treasure through completing the remaining riddles of "Le Serpent Rouge", while Gabriely confronts Larry over the manuscript and later find Wilkes dead out in the valley, murdered in the same fashion. Both later confront Mosely, Madeline and Buchelli at the hotel, accusing them of stealing the manuscript after it disappears, with the latter burying it in the valley. All three reveal the truth behind who they are - Buchelli is exposed as a Vatican priest, who reveals that he came to the region to uncover any possible attempts to damage the Catholic Church, whereas Madeline is uncovered to be an agent of the French Internal Secret Service who was investigating the sudden interest in conducting an excavation in the area, while Mosely reveals himself to be with the CIA, investigating the secret societies in the region as a matter of national security for the United States. Gabriel further suspects that Arnaud is a priest for the Priory of Sion, but that his group weren't involved in the kidnapping, while Grace believes the other members of the group are purely harmless. After returning the manuscript to Prince James, who had recently arrived in Rennes-le-Château, and discussing its content with him, Gabriel meets with Montreaux once again at his vineyard. The second meeting proves very unsettling, and Gabriel soon uncovers evidence connecting him to the kidnapping, soon fleeing what one of the kidnappers arrives and spots him.
Whilst waiting for Gabriel to return, Grace confronts Emilio in his room over a meeting she witnessed in the church graveyard between him and Mesmi, Prince James' manservant, suspecting that he was also responsible for leaving the document that she found. Emilio reveals this to be the case and explains that Mesmi is a member of the Magi, a brotherhood that had aided Jesus in guiding him to be a divine figure, but who could not stop him from going forward with a number of prophecies that would end with his crucifixion. A rogue group who were expelled over seeking to be one with the messiah by stealing his blood for their own ends, learned that Jesus agreed to provide children at the Magi's request, and after his crucifixion, began seeking them, becoming vampires as a direct result. Realising that Charlie could give them enough to become the rulers of the world, Emilio, unable to directly assist the pair without exposing himself to danger, secretly aided Grace and Gabriel in their investigations. After Gabriel returns, he, Mosely and Mesmi, head for the temple that Grace uncovered during her search for the treasure, while she and Emilio stay behind. While they are away, Emilio reveals the full truth about himself - a former magi, Emilio originally was known as Ali, a young boy who had been greatly devoted to Jesus, and who had exposed the rogue group to his father. Their belief however caused him, out of despair of losing the hope that the messiah gave, to drink his blood and became immortal. He soon regretted his actions and vowed to never use the power he gained, forever walking in anonymity as the "Wandering Jew". Learning that the temple's treasure is at risk, Emilio reveals his intention to remove it upon the child being saved.
Reaching the heart of the temple, after passing the traps and tests, Gabriel soon arrives to find Montreuax in the process of sacrificing the infant. Spotting his presence, Montreaux summons the temple's guardian, the demon Asmodeus, to kill him, only for Gabriel to defeat it with his Schattenjäger dagger, killing him in the process. With the infant unharmed and given to Mesmi, both Gabriel and Mosely open a tomb lying nearby, whereupon the truth behind Gabriel's lineage is revealed to him in a vision. Shortly afterwards, Emilio arrives and removes the tomb's contents, but not before its secret is passed onto James' son, identifying his lineage. Upon returning to the hotel, the tour group, hotel staff and the Abbe await in the lobby, and quickly ask about what happened, learning of the child's safety. Although Madeline tries to flirt with Gabriel during the moment, he rejects her advances and returns to his room to check in on Grace, only to find she has left, having headed out to follow her own path at the suggestion of Emilio, much to Gabriel's sorrow.