This chronicle is part of episodic DLC which can be purchased from the PlayStation Store as an add-on. The Taxidermist is a scenario with Heavy Rain character Madison Paige, prior to the events of the main game. In this chronicle she has found a lead on the possible identity of the Origami Killer and she is going to his house to investigate. There are no trophies for this DLC, although one bonus is unlockable (concept art) for completing the chronicle.
Outside Leland's House
The story starts with Madison learning the name and address of a possible suspect in the Origami Killer while she's driving on the highway. Gameplay starts when you arrive at the house. The goal is to get inside the Leland White's house. You can't go out into the street and you'll turn back if you try to go talk to the neighbors, so your only option is to check out the garbage cans and mailbox on the sidewalk, or go investigate the suspect's yard.
No one answers the door, although you can peer through the keyhole and the front window. Even though one of your thoughts is that you should leave, you won't have the option if you try going back to your bike, so you'll need to keep exploring. Head around the right side of the house, as the left side is blocked off with a fence. The back door is blocked off, so you'll need to get in through the slightly cracked kitchen window.
Start out by holding 
to look at the window, then press 
and tap 
to turn over the small barrel beneath the window. It's not tall enough for you, so knock over the bigger barrel on the side of the house by pressing and tapping 
. Roll the barrel over to the window by tugging down on the controller, then pick it back up by bending down and tapping again. You'll now be able to climb up the barrel with then open the window with the same button press and upward tugs on the controller. Hold the combo instructions to get inside, where the window closes behind you.
Inside the House
You're inside Leland's kitchen and you won't be given the option to leave the house until you've found enough evidence. If you break anything or leave anything different than you found it, Leland will know you're in the house as soon as he gets home. You can open cupboards and closets, but just put things back the way they were. On the harder difficulty, you'll also knock things over if you walk around too close to them. You'll need to perform a quick-time button press to catch whatever it is before it falls, or Leland will see that you've disturbed it. When you're done looking around downstairs, and maybe out in the garage, head upstairs to continue your search.
Upstairs you'll find a hallway with access to some rooms, but you don't find anything very interesting until the last room on the left and the one at the end of the hallway. You won't be able to leave until you've gone through that last doorway, and Leland comes home shortly afterward or when you attempt to go back down the stairs.
Leland is Back
When Leland gets back, you'll find yourself at the beginning of the creaky hallway upstairs, while he comes in the front door downstairs. If you walk too quickly on the floorboards up there, he'll become alerted to your presence. Wait until he turns the television on, then proceed slowly wherever you're going. Leland turns on the TV, then gets a beer and sits on the couch watching some boxing, before getting up to use the bathroom. After that he goes upstairs to fiddle around in each of the rooms, although it's always in a random order. He sleeps on the bed in the first room you come to, looks in the locker of the next room with the mannequin torsos and sits at the desk in the room across from there. He looks around the middle room, and saws on the girl in the bathtub in the last door on the left. The last thing he does upstairs is visit his models in the master bedroom. When he's done everything there is to do, he'll go back downstairs and watch TV again.
Once Leland is aware you're in the house, he'll come upstairs and start searching through the rooms, again in a random fashion. If he's looking somewhere where you're not, you'll be able to sneak past him back downstairs where you can escape. If he catches you, you'll have to perform a quick-time sequence to escape him, and then he'll be chasing you. As you're running way, you'll get more quick-time instructions to pick the way you want to go. Depending on whether you mucked anything up before he got home and your actions when he gets home, you might escape without him knowing you're there, escape after he chases you, or you may be killed.
Endings
There are five endings you can get in the chronicle, and when you finish you'll be shown their names and informed that you can try for all of them. Whenever you've found one of the endings, it will be marked off on that screen so you know which ones you still have left to do. Each of the ending names correspond to the newpaper headline shown once you've finished the chronicle, and you only have to replay the last chapter if you didn't do anything in the previous one to alert Leland to your presence.
- Sacrificed in the Name of Truth.: When the killer gets home, sneak into the first bedroom and call Sam from the phone on the side of the bed. After the phone call, alert Leland and let him kill you.
- In the Middle of the Horror.: Don't use the phone and escape with Leland chasing you outside.
- The End of Anguish.: Use the phone and either escape or wait for the police to arrive.
- Where is Madison Paige?: Don't use the phone and let Madison die.
- The End of the Nightmare.: Don't use the phone and escape without Leland following you outside. He can become alerted that someone is in the house, he just can't see you.