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Another murder
The Cochroft cottage 1030, Thursday, 25th August 1921.
Charles Cochroft is calling the Police station trying to get hold of Detective Stuckey while Pierre is waiting and listening. The others have already left for their assignments.
"He isn't in. This is important. I'm Charles Cochroft and I've got to speak with him. Can you tell me where he is?"
<Pause>
"What! A murder! When and where?"
<Pause>
Charles scribbles down in his small notebook, "115 E. Curwen Street. Thank you very much." Charles hangs up the phone and looks at Pierre. Charles doesn't have to say anything, Pierre knows.
*****
115 E. Curwen Street 1045, Thursday, 25th August 1921.
Charles speeds down to Arkham, with Pierre with his side. "Easy now." Pierre says, with his accident in Len's car freshly in his mind. "This isn't a speed track you know."
Charles eases the pressure on the speed pedal. "I am sorry. But I can get rid of the terrible feeling I have. I am afraid that time is of essence here. More lives are in danger." Slight pause. "You know that 115 E Curwen Street is nearly on your block, didn't you?"
"Shouldn't we alert the others about the murder?"
"No." Charles says. "They have important tasks to accomplish. It will only slow the investigation down. We'll tell them when we meet at the agreed upon time, at 5 P.M. at Anton's restaurant, or earlier at the Historical Society."
"Yes, where we agreed to meet if we accomplish our tasks before 5 P.M. I guess you are correct as always." Pierre says with a smile
When Charles reaches Arkham he follows N. Garrison Street, passes E. Derby Street and next is E. Curwen Street where Charles takes right (east), and he immediately sees the crowd and the police.
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"The victim is Jefrey Noyes. The milkman spotted what was left of the man when he strolled by the first-floor bedroom window. I can tell you, this incidentally ended the milkman's interest in glancing through customer's windows." Detective Stuckey grins. "We found a scrap of paper with the numeral 2 scrawled upon it, and the library, just off the formal parlor, has been ransacked. We have found no other clues. The murderer entered through an unlatched, we believe sometimes in the night."
"Might we see the body and scene of crime?" Charles asks the police detective.
"I would strongly advice against it, sir. It is not a pretty sight. You can see the crime scene as soon as we have removed the body and got rid of the thousands of flies."
"Thousands of flies?" Pierre asks.
"Yes, hatched from the maggots."
"Maggots?" Pierre asks again
"Yes, the maggots that have crawled out of Jeffrey Noyes' body." Pierre's face takes on a slightly greyer tone.
"Well Charles, I for one will wait I think. I have seen animals that have been fly blown in the forest and that was bad enough. At least there, the fresh air was blowing around and you could escape the smell, but here in a house I don't know if my stomach could handle it. I'm sorry. Maybe if we had some of Mr Len's liquid I could give it a try." "How long before we can search for clues Detective. Without getting in your way I mean", Pierre asks.
Detective Stuckey looks at his wristwatch, "Not before a couple of hours I guess. How goes your investigation yet, Mr. Cochroft. Have you stumbled on anything that may be of help to me?"
"Yes, I believe we have some clues. We suspect that the killer is searching for a book called the Carnamagos. That is why he is searching in the libraries. We will go back to the Williams library to check if the Carnamagos book entered in the index of the library. I doubt that it is since the killer searched this library too. Do we have your permission to enter her house again?"
Detective Stuckey nods.
"The second clue we have is that we suspect that these murders actually be a revenge for something that happened a long time ago. If we can prove this, we may find out who his next victim is before he strikes. We believe that the victims are the descendants who dispensed of Sermon Bishop who was rumoured to be a wizard. We ain’t sure yet what connection the killer may have to these past events yet."
"That’s’ good. Your work is very valuable to us. May we meet this evening so I can hear of what progress you have done today?
*****
Arkham Historical Society. 1100, Thursday, 25th August 1921.
Stepping into the wide front hall, the hallway is decorated with numerous portraits of past Arkhamites. The receptionist smiles at you when she recognizes Len. "Good morning sirs. What can we do for you?"
"Good morning to you, also, Mrs…?"
"Putnam, Janice Putnam", the woman smiles radiantly.
"We wish to look into your genealogical records." Doc Slade says
"Sure. You haven't been here before have you?" Both shake their heads. "Do you want a tour before I take you to the John Halden library?" Both nod yes.
First door at the left is the parlor. The parlor is furnished, like the rest of the ground floor, with mid-18th century antiques, many of them original to the house and part of the bequest of the late Mrs. Ingree. Several portraits of eminent Pingrees grace these walls, as do framed land grants, title deeds, and period maps. A glass display case holds such things as Arkham's first iron pump handle and a 17th century girl's needlework sampler.
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First door at the right is the Dining room. The Dining room displays fine imported china, linens, and many pieces of locally crafted pewter and silverware, some bearing the stamp of Paul Revere. A portrait of Ethel Pingree, along with a small plaque commemorating her and her generosity, can be found in this room. |
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| The Arkham Historical Society |
Second door at the left is the common room. This room displays souvenirs from Arkham's South Seas trade days included carved tusks, scrimshawed natural scenes, ornate chess sets, and inlaid wooden boxes. This is where the society holds it's bi-weekly meetings. Paintings of Arkham merchant ships and their captains are prominent.
Second door to the right is the Kitchen. The Kitchen was heavily remodelled and modernized in the late 19th century, and is currently not open to the public. A storage room.
At the end of the hall a janitor is sweeping the hall. A stair is leading to the second floor.
Over the Dining room lies the office of the Curator. E. Lapman Peabody is the curator of the Arkham Historical Society. The door the office is closed but the curator is present.
Over the Parlor lie the Society archives. This material is fully catalogued on file cards, cabineted in the reading room. Prominent among the aging and valuable documents stored here are old church records, salvaged from closed and forgotten churches, drawings and paintings with no place to be hung, carefully wrapped and shelved in vertical racks; and old civil records (lawsuits, marriage licenses, dead transfers, etc.) and court proceedings, many of them dating from before the revolution.
A large collection of custom records dates from where Arkham was a thriving port of entry, 1761 (still British customs) until 1808 when the port was officially closed as a port of entry by the United States federal goverment. A number of rare books (all undated) and personal diaries and journals also rest in the archives. Finally, the archives hold a sizeable collection of maps dating back to 1694.
Over the kitchen lies the storage room. The storage room is closed to the public.
Over common room lies the John Halden library and the reading room. Mrs. Putnam says "This library contains over 1500 books pertaining to Arkham and the Miskatonic Valley area, as well as thousands o archived manuscripts, journals, maps, and other documents. We charge 50 cents per visit to all but bona fide scholars, who are not charged. Members receive free, unlimited use of the library."
The librarian, scowling, 37 year old, dark-haired, bearded Lester Ropes, sits at a desk in the reading room, facing the door. Mrs. Putnam lets out a little giggle, "Mr Ropes is always bent over the desk, hard at work doing something. It is Mr. Ropes who collects the library fees and who will explain the rules to you."
Mrs. Putnam shows you around in the room while describing it. The reading room of the library contains tables and chairs situated near the large windows, and a number of large, mahogany, glass-doored bookcases. These cases contain almost exclusively books concerned with Arkham and the Miskatonic Valley. These books are professionally published, mostly in Boston and New York.
A number of family histories and biographies were written and published by members of various families involved. These private, no-commercial printings were usually small, rarely more than 150 copies, and were intended as heirlooms. Despite frequent inaccuracies and tedious attempts of humor, these books often contains data findable nowhere else.
Ignoring library-cataloging methods, the holdings are divided into major topics. History, Biography, Genealogy, Architecture & Furnishings, Folkcraft, Ships &Sailings, Indians, Natural History, New England oddities.
"I'll leave you to Mr. Ropes now. He will show you our records." Len shows his gratitude for the guided tour.
"Misters, I will tell you the rules of the library. Then you can tell me what you want to see."
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Doc Slade speaks, "We are interested in finding all the information we can about Sermon Bishop and Richard Russell, but most important, we want to find the names of certain people involved in the disappearance, and subsequent investigation, of Sermon Bishop, and their living descendants." "Not an easy task. I propose that you begin with looking through our old civic records and court proceedings. I cannot grant you access to the records, but you can read our indexes and I'll fetch the records you wants to look at." Doc Slade asks, "How are the indexes organized?" [Old libraries can have very weird indexes.] "The indexes are sorted chronological by type of records, i.e. by court proceedings and different type of civic records. If you have a date, it shouldn't take long to find the records you are looking for." |
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| The Library rules |
Doc Slade and Len go over to the filing cabinet in the reading room and begin their search.
Doc Slade gets out his note pad and a pen ready to take notes.
Len whispers to Doc Slade, "Well this is 'dry' work and no mistake but I guess its necessary so we can catch and banish this madman. I've never been one for being inside, unless it was a locker-room, a speakeasy or a whorehouse. Given half a chance I'd rather be out on the green sward, a baseball in my hands."
Subconsciously Len's right hand seemed to be holding an imaginary baseball. He noticed this and dropped it to his side. To cover up he spoke again. "Well Doc, you tell me where to look and I'll fetch, thats one thing I am good at...."
Doc Slade replies, "Len, we will probably find a few books or references that we will need to study further. The staff here will get them for us. What we will need to do is scan them for pertinent information. Let me check my notes for the approximate date of the trail." He flips his notebook, back to his previous note notes, finds the date, and goes to that part of the index and peruses the titles, jotting down those they might have pertinent information in them. He then gives the list to the staff so that they might get the references in question.
The librarian comes back with a pile of documents. "Good luck to you sirs. This is what you asked for. Remember to handle the documents gently."
"I'll begin to go through old court cases and investigations and see if I can find any references to the investigation the sheriff did after the disappearance of Sermon Bishop. For you I have picked some old maps of Arkham I want you to go through, Len. See if you can find the name of Sermon Bishop and Richard Russel name on them."
"Ok Doc, lets see what I can find", Len says and takes a bite of a fresh chewing tobacco.
*****
The Miskatonic University 1100, Thursday, 25th August 1921.
Daria takes Penny to the workshops. "Well, we'll try to recreate it in clay although I might not be able to get angles and corners exactly right, if clay doesn't work I will try and use stone. Stone of course will be risky as the original was carved into the concrete foundations of the bridge." Daria looks eager to start and starts to play with the corner of her sleeve.
Together they begin to recreate the symbol. It is a difficult and detailed work. The symbol is complex with many signs and signs in the rupture lines are difficult to read. In addition, pieces of the symbol are missing.
After a while Penny is feeling that she is superfluous, and says she'll go to the library and see if she can find references to the Carnamagos book.
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The Miskatonic University is the Gem of the University, a repository for over 400.000 carefully chosen books and pamphlets. This three-story Gothic structure was built of native granite in 1878, replacing a smaller wooden building.
Although the marble halls are cold and drafty, the library is well lit by tall, arched windows that allow maximum light to penetrate an otherwise dreary structure. The library is open 9 A.M. to 9 P.M., Monday to Friday; 10 A.M. to 6 P.M. on Saturday; 1-6 P.M. Sunday the reference room is open.
The mastiff chained near the front steps still stands guard at night, and Armitage has convinced the board that more security is needed. The University has determined to install an expensive electric burglar-alarm system.
The director of the board is, of course, Dr. Henry Armitage, A.M., Miskatonic; Ph.D., Princeton; Litt.D., Cambridge. Armitage is 73, white bearded, and lives with his wife, Eleanor, in their home at 348 W High Street. He has directed the library since 1906 and knows the library better than everyone.
Penny is without luck and can't find any references to a Carnamagos book. As a last resort she goes to the director of the library, Dr. Henry Armitage.
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Penny finds Armitage in his office. Humbly she asks Dr. Armitage if the library contains a book called the book of Carnamagos, or however heard of such a book. Dr Armitage frowns and sucks away on his pipe, "The Carnamagos book, eh. I am sure that he library doesn't contain a book with that name. Nor have I ever heard of a book with that name. You have stimulated my curiosity, where have you learned about this book and why do you want it?" "The reference for it came up in a query I had about the damage that had happened to the Bowen Bridge recently. I didn't know if the book had something to do with Engineering or bridge design and was interested," Penny responds. She begins to turn away from the good Dr but turns and asks, "Do you know of any other nearby libraries I could check?" |
| Dr. Henry Armitage |
"Sure! You should check up the Arkham Historical Society. The have a much more extensive Library and records than we have when you are talking about local affairs."
Penny checks with Daria. "I couldn't find anything here at school about the book we seek. Dr. Armitage suggested I check out the Historical society... What do you think?"
Daria looks up from the carving for a minute before speaking "Well, I think you should check it out as I won't be finished here for a while. You might strike it lucky." She turns back to her work while Penny leaves for the Historical society.
Illustrations are from page 65, and page 120 of the Arkham Unveiled. Art copyright Chaosium Inc. for Tim Callender.
Please read the Arkham Historical Society or go back to the table of contents.