Cannich Part Three: March 20, 1926 (Night)

High Times at the Slaters Arms

Judge Putnam and Kane return to the Slaters Arms with Dr. MacParlan and a very heavily sedated Mr. Potafiori. Their arrival gets some attention from the group of locals that remains in the bar this late at night, as well as from Jimmy Rizzo and Jimmy Russo, who realize that the Bernouse lawyer’s problem is, likely, their employer’s gain. Fergus, seeing the duo’s plight, offers to pour them drinks downstairs once they get Mr. Potafiori settled.

The judge, Kane, and Dr. MacParlan help Mr. Potafiori into bed. Kane informs Luca of what happened to Mr. Potafiori and Luca, realizing the issue, opts to camp out in front of Mr. Potafiori’s room for the rest of the night. By Luca’s later report, the terrified lawyer remains undisturbed until morning.

Dr. MacParlan bids Kane and the judge a fond farewell and departs. The duo then travels to the bar and have a drink with a small group clustered about the bar. Some of the faces are familiar, some are not, but all of them are introduced by a very gregarious Fergus. They include the following:

Wully MacMurdo: The barfly that the duo already knows. He manages to connive more drinks out of Kane, though Kane insists that the Wully polish off a huge glass of water first. Which he does.

Maggie MacNair: The waitress, who is always good for a quip or a parting shot amidst her excellent service.

Angus MacNair

Angus MacNair: Maggie’s brother. A strong-jawed laborer of some unspecified type.

Annie Chantraine

Annie Chantraine: The blond woman everyone has seen at various points throughout the day. She is apparently staying with her cousin on his farm (the biggest and wealthiest one in the area) outside of town. She is apparently fresh out of University and has traveled extensively, and there is some rumor that she either chooses not to or cannot return home. Kane notes that she speaks Scottish with a slight French accent, and learns that she spent quite a bit of time as a youngster “on the Continent.”

Alistair MacGivillray

Alistair MacGivillray: The schoolteacher. Smarmy and charming, and fond of ostentatious bowties. He is also, as both the judge and Kane both note, a bit of a conniving thief. They independently see him stealing sips from other people’s drinks, as well as change left behind as tips by other patrons, when he thinks no one is looking. Judge Putnam successfully plies him for information, and learns quite a bit about the town.

Tommy Hayes

Tommy Hayes: A Londoner who seems to have been accepted warmly by the folks at the bar, even though Fergus continually refers to him as a “Sassenach.” (This is the equivalent of being called a “Flatlander” by someone from Maine, or more or less.) He seems like a friendly sort.

The duo gets into a bit of banter with the locals, share drinks, and get a bit of a better view of the lay of the land. There is some talk of the impending search that will take place in the morning, once Constable MacNeil’s backup from Inverness arrives.

The Investigation of Hancock House

The Hancock House

The group at the house, consisting of Ron, Mikhail, Johnny, Vivian, Dr. Black, and Dr. Kennedy, quickly recover from their awe and fright at being consulted by the ghost of Henry Montague Hancock. Mikhail attempts to use Psychology to sooth the panicked and animalistic ghost, calming it enough for others in the group to question it. The ghost seems incapable of speaking, so Dr. Black attempts to question it by writing on a convenient scrap of paper. Unfortunately, the ghost also seems incapable or unwilling to read Dr. Black’s words. Ron jokes that it might be because of his “doctor handwriting.”

At the group’s urging, Mikhail uses his “witch’s ball,” to no effect.

Vivian presents the crucifix from her rosary to the ghost, hoping that seeing such a symbol of sacrifice and mercy will, somehow, get through to the vestiges of what was once Henry Hancock. Alas, whether due to the presence of the Godly symbol, or for some unknown reasons, the ghost takes that moment to vanish.

The group takes stock of the situation and decides that the first thing they need to do is to search the rest of the house. Just as they are about to do that, Vivian and Johnny have simultaneous intuitive leaps of logic, the process of this goes something like this: the fireplace in the living room was unusually clean, and the ghost came out of the kitchen fireplace to attack Vivian, therefore, Henry Hancock’s body is hidden in the fireplace.

Ron pokes his head into the living room fireplace to look and, sure enough, discovers that the lifeless body of Mr. Hancock has been shoved, Murderer in the Rue Morgue-style, into the chimney.  Even Ron, a stone-cold mafioso, is unnerved by the obvious brutality suggested by this find.

The group agrees that they should not move Hancock’s body until they make a complete search of the house, which they proceed to do. They find the following:

Second Floor: The master bedroom has been thoroughly ransacked, and there are numerous holes in the walls likely caused by an elephant gun. They find a photograph of Mr. Hancock’s associate, Dr. Alan Chisholm. Ron notices that the upstairs bathtub has a pinkish ring and that, plus the nearby presence of several bottles of cleaning products, leads him to check the drain. He finds a trace amount of blood beneath the drain lip. Johnny uses the powder of Ibn-Ghazi and it reveals the blood that the murderers tried to scrub away, as if it were magical Luminol.

Dr. Chisholm

First Floor: Ron notices a slightly askew drain in the floor of the first-floor bathroom. Removing it, he finds a green stone marked with an Elder Sign—likely the one mentioned in the Hancock letters.

Basement: A study in the basement has been so thoroughly trashed that there is nothing of value left. Intruders have gone so far as to dynamite open a wall safe, seemingly heedless of the potential noise or destruction that this might cause. Dr. Black searches the interior of the safe, but aside from some bits of ashes, cannot determine what it might have once contained. The group also finds a room set up like a university archaeology laboratory, including two autopsy-like tables with ancient skeletons and several long, flat drawers on shelves that contain various artifacts. Another room, with fine wooden paneling, has about fifty animal heads mounted on the walls, as well as a glass trophy case in the middle of the room.

Hancock’s Secret

At about this time, Kane and Judge Putnam, a bit worried that their companions have not returned, go to the Hancock house to see if everything is all right. Pushok, ever vigilant, nearly attacks the judge, but stops once he realizes that Judge Putnam is part of his pack.

The group catches the duo up on the recent happenings. Judge Putnam, intrigued at the archaeology lab, decides to have a look for himself. After looking over the bones and the artifacts, he finds a small journal that seems to be an account of Hancock and Chisholm’s findings. The book describes a dig on Loch Mullardoch, which features numerous Roman artifacts, as well as “a temple to Azog” and “a statue of a faceless sphinx.” The judge surmises that the skeletal remains are likely that of Roman soldiers, which prompts Kane to pass around the “Summary of the Expedition to Loch Mullardoch” that he “found” in Father MacBride’s office.

Father MacBride, Unaware of the Missing Letter

Vivian, meanwhile, is convinced that Hancock has hidden something important in the house, which the intruders and murders were obviously looking for. She and Dr. Black do another search of the house, and find something curious in the trophy room. A shooting trophy (which features a statuette of a bronze hunter holding a rifle), seems to have been rotated away from its original position, which is clearly marked on the velvet beneath it. When Dr. Black and Vivian open the case and reposition the statue, the rifle then points to a warthog head hanging on a nearby wall. Dr. Black notes that one of the warthog’s tusks is askew and attempts to straighten it.

This, of course, unlocks and opens the secret panel at the far side of the room, revealing a tiny cubby hole containing only a table and a dual-locked iron box. Further, the box is also closed with a wax seal, to make any tampering obvious.

Johnny dusts the box with the Powder of Ibn-Ghazi, causing a golden glow to briefly emanate from within. Johnny then picks the locks, scrapes off the seal, and opens the box, revealing a roughly trapezoidal object wrapped in brown paper. He attempts to lift the parcel out of the box, but finds it to be far too heavy for him to move (it weighs about 150 lbs.).

Ron, however, has no trouble removing the parcel and, at the group’s insistence, he carries it to the desk in the archaeology lab. After carefully unwrapping the package, they discover that they the parcel is made of solid gold and is also the central portion of the R’lyeh Disc.

A Portion of the R'lyeh Disc

Plans

The group decides that now is the time to inform the authorities about Mr. Hancock. Dr. Kennedy, Dr. Black, Mikhail, and Pushok go to the Constabulary and awaken Constable MacNeil (who lives in an apartment above the office). Dr. Kennedy explains the situation in as vague terms as possible. Constable MacNeil, baffled and demoralized, says that he will accompany them to the house after he contacts Dr. MacParlan.

Ron, a troublemaker and felon, does not want to be anywhere near the house when the cops arrive, so he escorts Vivian back to the Slaters Arms. They check in with Luca and Mr. Potafiori and, finding that everything is as all right as it can be, retire to their rooms for the night.

Johnny, meanwhile, sneaks back to the parking lot behind the Slaters Arms, gets the car, and drives it to the Hancock house. Between himself, Kane, and Judge Putnam, they are able close the secret door and transfer the segment of the R’lyeh Disc to the gate box on the judge’s car. Johnny takes the disc segment through and, in order to make sure it is as safe as possible, proceeds to take it through his second set of gate boxes to Atlantic City. He returns and waits outside the house with the judge and Kane until the others arrive.

Dr. Black, Dr. Kennedy, Mikhail, Pushok, Constable MacNeil, and Dr. MacParlan arrive on the scene a few minutes later. Between them, the group performs the unpleasant work of removing Hancock’s body from the chimney. It is clear from the wounds on Hancock’s body that he had been heavily tortured before having his throat cut. Neither Dr. MacParlan nor Dr. Black can determine an accurate time of death, but considering the body’s bloating and putrefaction, Hancock has been dead for at least a week or more.

Constable MacNeil asks the group to not say anything to anyone about the house or Mr. Hancock. He wants to wait to do any further investigations until the early morning, when the police from Inverness are due to arrive to help search for Seamus MacRae. He says he will tell the Inspector about the murder once he arrives, and that, hopefully, there will be enough men to secure the scene and search for the missing baby.

Dr. Kennedy, meanwhile, decides that things are getting too dangerous for him in Cannich. He thanks the group for helping him to find out what happened to his colleague, leaves his calling card, and makes plans to return to Inverness that night. He also tells them that he will attempt to acquire funds to pay the group for their investigative help.

At this point, the group returns to the Slaters Arms to rest and await the next morning.