the next morning, they attempt to leave early, but philip finds groper stole the distributor cap from their car, of which he promptly retrieves. driving down the road, philip loses steering control of the volkswagen and narrowly misses hitting a delivery truck head-on, but causing him to crash into a lake. veronica's body is then possessed by the spirit of the 18th-century witch who was killed by the local villagers and is now bent on avenging herself upon them. both persons still unconscious, the truck driver (ennio antonelli), who has a bad local reputation with the police, retrieves philip and what he thought was his wife, but was vardella instead. he brings them back to vaubrac, leaving them with groper, so that the police would not accuse him of any wrongdoing.