Part 2 - Asylums on every corner; Life is like a box of nuts.

Saturday, 20 October, 1928: The haunting experience at the seance had Oliver retreating to Hyde Park to seek spiritual guidance from his father who was murdered near the same park bench. [Failed SAN check even with bonus die] His father appeared only to torment him, “Did I raise a crybaby? Face your fears…and quit drooling on yourself. Life is hard; your patients show you that.” So much for self-healing. Oliver decided a trip to seek professional counsel elsewhere. Why not East Anglia where the 1925 deaths occurred. There is an asylum there. Treatment AND research; two birds with one stone. “Ring, ring. Evie, I’ll be out of the office a few days tops. I’ll call if I get held up. But I should easily be back in time for our 29 Oct meeting.”

Evie was planning her own phone call; long distance…Trans-Atlantic…to America. “Yes operator, Boston; Penguin Publishing…. Hello? Yes, I’m trying to get in contact with Mr. Chambers. Author of romance novels? No, I’m looking for the Chambers who translated ‘The King in Yellow’. The same author?! My, what different topics. I know it’s Saturday. Fine, then PLEASE have him telegram me soonest. We saw a play here in London based on his book translation of ‘The King in Yellow’. The audience reacted quite… Well, I was hoping he could tell me the source of his story; his inspiration. Anything to help us solve this dire mystery. By the way, is there an outlet here in London that sells his romance novels?”

John busied himself at the library. Anything related to, or referencing ‘The King in Yellow’. He found Chamber’s translated copy of ‘The King in Yellow’.  Many references to Queen Cassilda and her daughter Camilla. And Hyades. “Hyades, as in hell?” Further research to find Greek mythology describing them as daughters of Atlas, changed into the star clusters forming the head of Taurus the Bull. Further reading to find the star Aldebaran the brightest in the Taurus cluster. Then a script passage, “The Hyades are said to serve the King in Yellow and be at war with his enemies in Aldebaran.”

It’s late afternoon when John calls the others, “Evie, I’m found some interesting notes. Oliver is out of office for a few days. And Bartholomew has buried himself in another project. A universal translator. From his incoherent ramblings I can only surmise he’ll be months in labor. You’re heading off to? Mind if I join you? To Pluckley? OK, I’ll find you on the tube platform. Staying at your sister? Is Sandy pretty… like you? I’m just asking; you did say she is single.” It was evening when the train pulled into the station. And John already hitting on Sandy waiting to drive them to her house. Evie rolling her eyes before whispering to her sister, “He’s harmless…I think. The ladies’ man…he thinks.”

A quick dinner before Evie and John borrow Sandy’s car to drive to St. Nicholas Cathedral. Evie explaining, “I hope to contact the ‘Lady-In-Red’ who haunts this place. I have this premonition she knows something about the King-In-Yellow (KIY).” And so, the two wait for hours in the cold night of the dark cemetery. Creaking sounds echo thru the headstones; John attributes to wind rattling the tree branches. Evie knows better. A mist rolling in, “She’s here.” Evie tries to reach out with her clairvoyance; Lady Deering actually pausing to face her and speak. A very archaic English Evie fails (00) to understand. Evie guesses at a few words trying to communicate (push…failure 98). An eerie shriek causes nearby trees to come alive as birds and bats vacate the cemetery. The shadow charging at Evie who stands her ground. The mystic knocked back as the shadow passes thru her body and is gone. John can only ask, “What did she say? And what the hell did you say to piss her off?!”

Over the next couple of days, Evie persists trying to contact Lady Deering, scouring the cemetery hoping to find her headstone. Maybe reach out for Deering’s missing child. Finally, an aura around one particular grave. Once again Evie reaches out with her clairvoyance (failure 00 that she pushes…65). The mist coalesces into the shape of a woman who again speaks with a hard dialect. Having heard and studied the ancient tongue with the locals, Evie begins to understand (Language check: 11). Apologies for her misunderstanding before she mentions the KIY. The ghost sliding into old memories, “1652 when the man I thought loved me, got me pregnant then abandoned me. Soon after, I was kidnapped by John Cuthbert who drug me to this cemetery and tied me to this very headstone. Insane he was, planning to sacrifice me. I pleaded for my unborn child but he only gazed to the stars, befuddledly asking ‘Where is the bull?’  Angered things weren’t as planned, he lashed out at me, kicking me. That’s when I lost my child. He left me still tied to the stone where I later died.” Evie tried to console the ghost, “You wander the cemetery looking for your child. But maybe you are looking in the wrong place. Have you considered heaven where your beautiful child waits for you?”

Meanwhile, Oliver drives the snow-packed roads northeast towards Clare Melford in East Anglia where he seeks treatment and research. But first a stop at the police station, “I was hoping you might have records on the local deaths of 1925’s New Year’s Eve. Food poisoning? Yet you say there were deaths with others institutionalized?” Obviously, the incident brushed off by the local bobbies. So, Oliver continued thru the farming village, on toward the asylum to meet Dr. Buchanan, “Thank you for your confidentiality. I tried the old adage ‘physician heal thyself’ but without luck. I am hoping you can help me and at the same time tell me something about the local murders of 1925.”

Instead of just a few days, Oliver’s outpatient treatment lasts a week. During which time Oliver gathers info both from the doctor and locals at the Railway pub (a free house independent of its supplying brewery). From the bar patrons, “This is a farming community; it was our winter festival. The deaths occurred after the events. Some deaths of locals; others, unknown within the community… outsiders. Ephraim Werner, the original pub owner, found the outsiders dead in their own beds the next morning. Didn’t come down for breakfast. Didn’t attend the festival yet their cloths were muddy. We buried them in Potters Field while we buried the locals at Christian Field.” When Oliver asks to see the registry to find the names of those outsides, the new owner Dick refuses, “I, I don’t have it. Ephraim took it with him when he moved back to London.” Oliver saw the sweaty hands and furtive glace to know (Psych 01) Dick was lying, but why? Mesmerized (hypnosis) by Oliver’s swinging watch, Dick admits he knows about the KIY. Explains how Monte Edwards (who helped finance his purchase of the pub) told him to get rid of the registry. Edwards now gone without seeking payback for the pub financing.

Dr. Buchanan was more forthcoming, “Yes, I was called to examine the dead; in their own homes, a look of terror on their faces. I remember 3 patients committed from that incident. Disturbing; they’ve passed on. Jezebel hung herself in her cell. Reinholt carved symbols on his arms and chest and bled out before the next nurse rounds. Ivey was found dead from heart failure sitting on her bunk, staring out the window. During the few sessions I had with them before their passing, they all claimed to see a ‘King-In-Yellow’.

Meanwhile, back in London, Evie gets her telegram from Chambers: “Inspired by Catholic suppression. Stop. Bad Dreams. Stop.” As for John: he learns the free tickets to the ‘Carcosa’ play were actually delivered by Walter Paige. Familiar. John reaches for the old flyer finding Walter listed as one of the actors; he played Thale, the older son of Cassilda. Intrigued, John buys tickets to the same Scala Theater for their production of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. Quality actors this time. Afterwards, John approaches the owner, Mr. Nobles, to congratulate him. “I must say, MUCH better than the last play you held here. Do you still have any of those Carcosa props? Talbot took them? He lives in London? Well, anyway, it’s good to see your business thriving once more.”

Monday, 29 October, 1928: Oliver swings by each house picking up his friends, “I just got back into town yesterday. I hope you had a pleasant week of your own.” And thus, per the intro letter, they drive to the Grand Western Royal Hotel to meet with Dr. Highsmith.


The doctor dressed in a 3-piece suit while puffing on a pipe. Oliver dressed in his…stained shirt, introduces his associates. Evie all so anxious to shake hands to get a reading…nothing out of the ordinary. The doctor getting down to business, “My patient ‘W’ is Alexander Roby. Brother to THE Grahame Roby of the largest bank in London.

Two years ago, 14 Oct 1926, there was a double murder at the Roby mansion. Mr. Herbert and his daughter Georgina brutally killed. Initially Alex pleaded guilty but police investigation implied him innocent. All that blood in the rooms but none on Alex; not even under his fingernails. But while cleared, Alex was committed to St Agnes Asylum, under my care ever since. His hearing for release comes up next month. I’m of the opinion Alex can be released for home care or a convalescent home. However, his family physician Dr. Trollope and his brother Grahame disagree. And thus, I need a 2^nd opinion from someone in the parapsychology field. I hope you will accept and come visit the patient.”

John asks, “What can you tell us about this Dr. Trollope? Sounds like he’s been swayed by the bankers’ money.” Highsmith explains, “Dr. Trollope only visits about every 6 months. Only for a short visit. No matter Alex’s temperament, the doctor making the same notes. As for Alex, I label his condition as ‘sympathetic mania’. Seasonal bouts of scotophobia; what you might know as night-terrors. Usually around the anniversary of the murders. Weather? 14 Oct ’26 was a clear night. Last year, 19 Oct was a cloudy night. Just last Oct 15^th was a clear night. As for his confession that night, he babbled ‘I’m the reason they are dead.’ The police took that as confession. During his bouts, which manifest during his sleep with rapid pulse and breathing, I’ve overheard him calling out the names Camilla and Cassilda.” Evie takes the time to sketch the Carcosa rune to show the Dr, “By any chance has Alex drawn this symbol?” Startled, Highsmith drops his tea cup which shatters. “Alex was an artist. Nothing professional. But I’ve never seen him draw THAT.”

With promise to come see the patient, the team departs. Oliver to his asylum to tend patients he’s neglected this last week. The others to the library. Evie researching the 17^th century serial killer John Cuthbert: linked to an odd sign (KIY), caught and beheaded at the Tower of London. John and Bartholomew researching the Roby name. “Alexander’s mother died of the Spanish flu. Herbert’s recorded will divided the family wealth: 20% to Alex, another 20% to Georgina, and 45% to Grahame. Interesting and suspicious; the remaining 15% set aside for Alex IF he marries within the next 4 years. With Georgina dead and Alex committed, that means Grahame currently controls 100% of the family wealth. No wonder Grahame doesn’t want Alex released. Not only regaining his 20%, but the chance to marry for another 15%.”

Tuesday, 30 October, 1928: Surprisingly the train departed the station on-time at 10:20am. Thus, it just after 5pm when the train pulled into the Weobley station. Gathering their luggage, they headed for the Red Lion Pub where rooms had been secured. A warm dinner washed down with local brew. And John already on the prowl, asking the barkeep, “Do any St Agnes nurses happen to frequent your establishment?” Which draws they attention of a table of men, “Yeah, we work there. What of it?” Deflated for lack of females, John presses on, “Any interesting cases?” Suspicious till John buys a round. Then their story of a fellow nurse murdered there last November. How they now carry truncheons and saps for protection.

Wednesday, 31 October, 1928: The limo arrives to take them to St Agnes some 20 miles away. Cresting a large hill, they spy two buildings: one two-story with covered walkways to the attached 3-story building with barred windows. Dr. H greets them before taking them inside, “Formalities. Please sign these release forms just in case.” Evie asks to see Alex’s artwork. Very rudimentary of city scape and the night sky. A LOT of sketches of the night sky. Oliver holds one high trying to find the bull but becomes dizzy… it was as if the stars were shifting. Bart too looks at the sketch, recognizing echoes of the stars they saw in the séance dimensional portal. Dr. H adding, “Quite strange. Sharp objects are not allowed in the cells, yet somehow Alex has pencils to draw with. Which reminds me, empty your pockets of anything sharp.”

Dr. H walks them up the stairs and down the hall towards Roby’s cell, “I’ll leave you to your own visit. Don’t want to influence his reactions if he sees me. Per your request, I reduced his meds; prescribed a half-ounce of laudanum to make him more relaxed and susceptible to your hypnosis.” Leaving nurse Price leading the way and unlocking the cell with his sap in his other hand. Oliver enters alone to first calm the patient before inviting the others in. A blast of ammonia that cannot hide the lingering stench of human waste. A desk with books in one corner.

Alex in another corner, sitting on his cot, starring at the floor. So emaciated, yet something about his charisma draws attention. Oliver begins his hypnotic session (hard success), yet all attempts to gain his attention fail; no reactions to sound. Oliver asks the nurse, “What did you give him for meds? A FULL OUNCE?!”

And that’s when Evie slips in to touch Alex who responds, “Delia?” Alex awake and responding with a flowing dialog, “Have you seen the pallid mask? Seen the lake and its beauty and righteousness? Edwards said to only work with him. Is it this year, the one in 5,000 year event? Has Quarrie brought the King-In-Yellow?” More ramblings about Edwards, Quarrie, the white acolyte, dream city, Cassilda, and Carcosa. All transfixed till Alex raises his volume, “HAVE YOU SEEN HIM? HAVE YOU SEEN THE KING?!” Evie scrambles backwards. Oliver flinches. John moves to the desk to read the book spines. Poetry. Ezra Pound, The Man Who Died Twice, etc. Bart scans the room finding a small hole in the wall; just large enough to pass a pencil. Asking the nurse, “Who is in the next cell?”

Nurse Price explains, “That’s Lucius Harriwell. Head injury from a car accident last year; a rod rammed thru his skull. Straightjacketed since last November and the murder. It was his cell where nurse Yates was butchered. Yet no blood on Lucius. He claims the ‘devil’ killed Yates.” Bart explaining the hole in the joining wall as source of Alex’s pencils. “How? Like I said, Lucius is jacketed. Has been for months.” Bart demanding entry but Price denying. “Then go find Dr. H and get his permission. He assigned us to this case and by God we expect compliance.” Price slumps down the hall mumbling to himself, “Doctors. Assholes every one of them.”

With nurse Price gone, Bart pulls out his universal key and unlocks the cell, “I guess we don’t need Dr. H after all.” Sure enough, the man jacketed and squatting on the floor. Obese, horseshoe bald, and parroting Alex’s words of the city and stars and mask. “The devil did it. He cut Yates then himself. Back and forth. Slice here, slice there, laughing as he worked. Please, take me to the city and the lake and peace before the king.” A nutjob! Unhinged. Nothing else to see here, so they backed out of the room. [Group Luck roll: 00] Coming face-to-face with nurse Price!

Next Session: https://rigglew5totk.blogspot.com/2019/08/part-3-what-murder.html