Trask's a stinker. He was sure that the knotted ascot on the voodoo doll was causing Desmond's affliction. Does he strip the ascot off the doll the second he sees it? No, no, he stops to soliloquize about his triumph, he heads back to Rose Cottage, stopping to talk with Daphne on the way, and once at Rose Cottage he engages Gerard in conversation before finally letting Desmond off the hook. I hope Flora brains him with one of her books for waiting so long.
By the way, I never would talk about an ascot as casually as the Dark Shadows characters are talking about Desmond's ascot now. None of the males of my acquaintance wear ascots. Neckerchiefs maybe, but not ascots. Shouldn't Trask be denouncing ascots as the Devil's neckwear?
Desmond trusts his instincts about Gerard, and he's right. Does Quentin now or did he ever have any instincts that said anything to him about Gerard? What blind spot in Quentin did Gerard exploit?