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Amos Shaw

Amos Shaw is the unnaturally fit preacher of Marblehead's ocean-obsessed church, who serves fishy communion wine and owns the blood-soaked house the team finds in The Summer Service.
Type NPC
Aliases Mr. Shaw; the preacher; the priest
Affiliation Sons of Adam; Marblehead Board of Selectmen
Status Alive and in the early stage of bloating at the selectmen's meeting (Summer Service 04)
First appearance Summer Service 01
Played by Andre

Description

Shaw is about 60 but built like a bodybuilder, with a healthy glow and a bounding, light-footed gait. His grip is iron, and Kurt Larson suspects steroids. He wears homemade white vestments imitating Catholic ones and insists on "Mr. Shaw," not "Father" (Summer Service 01).

History

The Summer Service

At the 9 p.m. service, Shaw reads Revelation 13 (the seven-headed beast from the sea) and preaches that angels are terrifying monsters built by God to wipe out sin, and that good is not the same as nice. He argues that Noah's "floodgates of heaven" imply a source of holy water, and that the world comes from water and returns to it. He asks, "Was Christ not himself a fisherman?", which goes over well with the fishermen in the pews. Communion is wine only, the "Blood of the Lamb" (Summer Service 01). See Communion wine and Second coming and eschaton.

Afterward he introduces himself to the team, calls Jester "very devout," and tells Andrew Howard, who complains that everyone takes him for a fed, to "be yourself." He recommends the fish breakfast, says he is trying a "new format" with softer notes, and scolds the Biz for swearing in "God's house." Asked about the wine, he calls it "a local variety." Kurt catches a flicker of reaction when the flavor is mentioned, but cannot interpret it (Summer Service 01).

In Summer Service 03, Huell Kendrick walks into an unlocked house whose door has been open for days. The mail is all addressed to Amos Shaw. Inside are crucifixes, a bachelor's furnishings, a burned-out pan, a blood smear, a long gouge through the hallway wall, a burst-open bathroom door and a wrecked bathroom. The bedroom shelves hold academic biblical books beside fringe Lemuria material, clerical garments (some missing) hang in the closet, and the nightstand holds an improvised grocery bag with about ten pounds of clear crystal spheres like Jester's (Summer Service 03). See Amos Shaw's house and Crystal marbles.

Donald McManley judges the blood three or four days old, and because Andrew met Shaw alive in that window, the dead body is someone else's. At the 7 a.m. service Shaw is absent; a replacement preacher, opalescent and bloated, hands Andrew the cup and says "Blood of Christ" (Summer Service 03). See The Mayor of Marblehead.

At the evening selectmen's meeting in Summer Service 04, the team sees that the actual priest is also among the selectmen. Dante confirms with Andre that he is the man whose house looked as if someone had exploded in it. He smiles amiably at the team and shows an early stage of the bloating that is far advanced in the mayor and the chief of police. Andre rules that the team has grounds to arrest him on suspicion of murder, and Andrew asks to pull him aside after the meeting (Summer Service 04).

Unresolved

The episodes never identify the body in his house or explain what burst the bathroom door from inside, and they do not say why Shaw missed the 7 a.m. service.

Memorable quotes

Quote

"Was Christ not himself a fisherman?" Andre (as Amos Shaw) (Summer Service 01)

Quote

"Be yourself... There are worse things to be." Andre (as Amos Shaw), to Andrew (Summer Service 01)

Appearances