“The Doom Statues” — Chapter 49

At no point had there ever been any news crew sent out to report on Ben and Lois’s mysterious fate, either at Otherwise or in their hometown or anywhere in between. Common sense seemed to indicate that there probably was a newspaper writeup or two, of some sort, but even these must have been second hand and vague, since none of the residents personally talked to anyone about it. And Jeremy’s family was mostly inclined to keep a tight lip on all of this as well, just as it was difficult to imagine Harry Kidwell went out drumming up a bunch of bad publicity.

Still, word must have leaked somehow, considering the sharp decline in attendance for their third Saturday tour. While Tom grimly speculates that he might have gotten too stale with his teachings, after that first pair of workshops, at the opposite end of the spectrum, Liam appears somewhat relieved. In any event, they go from 78 paid attendees that first week, to a whopping 213 the second, down to just 36 this time around. Kidwell himself is once again nowhere near what had once been his pet cause. Meanwhile, the others are left wondering if interest has already waned, or if darker forces are at work, fallout from the Ben and Lois disappearance.

Lenny is finally around to assume his original handyman’s role, while Jeremy, mostly with the help of Grace and Denise, manages to keep the kitchen afloat. Though…