Monday, November 17, 1924
The investigators, joined by the Detherages, once again descend on the Fresno house to continue the cleaning. Dr. Miller and Father Wilk take breaks to read Fresno’s journals, helpfully collated by Ada. Dr. Miller finds them discomfiting, but not unusual. As a psychiatrist, he has read stranger things. Father Wilk’s mind becomes a touch unbound from reality when perusing Fresno’s works.
At some point in the morning, Ada, Dr. Miller, and a few others step out to get some groceries. They find a small market near Seben Haus—which turns out to be a seven-sided house that is also an historical landmark. They buy groceries without incident, but Dr. Miller does notice that a very well-dressed young lady, who is walking two tiny, fluffy dogs, gives his group a penetrating stare as she walks by. Dr. Miller is unsure whether or not he should be more intimidated by the woman or her dogs.
 |
| The Fancy Lady in Question |
The phone rings. Saul answers it and learns that the caller is from Pierre, South Dakota, who is inquiring after Martin Craven. Upon being given the phone, Craven learns that his horse, Lincoln, will be arriving on the 5:10 train into Port Harbor. He thanks them kindly and hangs up.
A Barely Averted Altercation
Father Wilk, who is reading out on the screened in porch, thinks he sees an intruder sneak into the house. Alarmed, the good father puts down the journal he was reading and goes to investigate. He finds a hideous, shadow-like monster hunched and muttering in the living room. He grabs a chair and plans to strike the beast by surprise, but it turns and lets out an awful howl.
Meanwhile, the telephone rings in the living room. Saul once again answers it. It’s Mabel Ohlmstead, the legal secretary. She asks if the rest of the investigators have decided to sign affidavits stating that they agree to become Fresno’s heirs. Saul cups his hand over the mouthpiece and turns around to call out to everyone else in the house.
Only to find a frantic and bug-eyed Father Wilk standing behind him, holding a chair above his head.
“What manner of creature are you?” shouts Father Wilk.
“It is me. Saul. You know, the pharmacist? We have met several times, yes?”
Just as Father Wilk is about to smash the chair over Saul’s head, Ada and Val enter the living room from separate directions. Their screams of fear and warning snap Father Wilk back to his senses. Embarrassed, he sets the chair down.
While everyone tries to make sense of what the hell just happened, the phone receiver squawks in Saul’s hand. Saul apologizes and says, “Yes, absolutely, we will sign.” Mabel says that Mr. Sebastian will bring over the paperwork straight away and hangs up.
Papers of Various Kinds
With the Detherages’ help, Dale manages to exhume Fresno’s car from the garage. It takes a bit of tinkering, but he gets it running. He is pleased about this. He also argues with Gus Detherage about the raccoon in the garage. Dale claims the raccoon is his friend and isn’t leaving, despite the junkman’s protests.
Most of the garbage in the garage turns out to be bundles of old newspapers (from the Port Harbor News-Reader, the papers of surrounding towns, and several national newspapers). Ada, Dr. Miller, and Val go through them, looking for clues. They find that numerous articles have been neatly cut out of the paper, likely with a razor.
Val, a newsie, digs a little deeper, and manages to find a clue that the others miss. One front page story is completely excised apart from a caption that reads, “See Heartfire Church, pg. 5.”
The remainder of the article is also excised, but at least the investigators now know what Fresno was researching. They now insist that they must pay a visit to the strange church in the north section of Port Harbor. They debate on going during a service (Tuesdays and Thursdays) or stopping by at another time.
Mabel Ohlmstead arrives shortly thereafter with the paperwork. Everyone signs the affidavits, and Mabel hands various bankbooks, documents, and the key to the safe deposit box in the Second National Bank. The investigators question her about Fresno, but she has only a little more information than they do.
Martin asks Mabel if she knows a good place to stable a horse. There is some discussion about clearing out and using Fresno’s garage, since it was a barn originally. Mabel also mentions that Crosstree Farms (to the northwest) has public stables for rent. Martin thanks her kindly.
Maude and the Mare
Saul, Martin, Father Wilk, and Dale pile into the Fresno car and take it up to Crosstree Farms. They meet the owner, who is a large, friendly man in stained overalls. He agrees to rent stable space to Martin for $15 a month, and even agrees to pick up Lincoln from the train station. Martin insists on bringing Lincoln himself, but thanks the owner for his time.
In passing conversation, the owner mentions the Thornhills, who are apparently the wealthiest family in town. They have a large mansion on the other side of the Abanasset River, to the east. The owner seems a touch wistful, sad, and worried when he indicates the direction, but the investigators do not know why.
Meanwhile, Maude Collins pays a return visit to the Fresno house. Armed with information obtained in their independent research, Val, Dr. Miller, and Ada question Maude about the book and its contents.
Once she realizes that the investigators know more about the book than she thought, Maude apologizes for the deception and levels with them. She explains that the book is a dangerous grimoire of occult magic, which would be used for evil if it ever fell into the wrong hands. She knows that Fresno was able to keep it safe, and she suspects that the investigators, considering their understanding of the book, could do so as well. However, she suggests that, should the investigators not feel up to the task, they could always give her the book. She once again offers to pay for it.
Dr. Miller finds Ms. Collins frustratingly difficult to read but convinces himself that she is still not being completely forthright.
As the conversation with Maude winds down, the others return from Crosstree Farms. As they park the car, they spot another, larger car parked just down the street. Three large, burly man are either sitting in this car or hanging around outside of it.
When Maude Collins leaves, Martin watches her from the Fresno house’s upstairs window. He sees her greet the three men. Then all four of them get into the car and drive off.
To the Bank
The investigators all agree that Maude is very suspicious, and that they need to learn a lot more about this book. After a lot of discussion on who should go, what routes they should take, and what they plan to do if they are being watched or followed, they decide to all go to the bank.
Martin does not notice anyone or anything unusual as the group depart. They reach the bank without incident and, after explaining themselves, are taken into a private room with the safe deposit box. The book is still inside.
The investigators decide to force the lock and open the book. After Dale, Val, and several others wrangle with the book, Ada manages to unlock it with a judiciously applied hairpin. Not sure what they will find inside, the investigators gather around the book and open it.
Only to discover that it is blank.
The Book
Well, not completely blank.
The first page of the book is embossed with a strange symbol. Dale and Father Wilk, for reasons that are unclear to themselves and others, believe that the symbol is the mark of the Queen of Black Tourmaline, a malign ruler from ancient folk legends who commands perfect order and servile obedience from her followers.
 |
| The Symbol |
Ada and Dr. Miller say that it makes no sense that the book has no writing in it. Books of this type were written first, then bound. Binding a series of blank pages would be a wasted effort.
Val quips that maybe she ought to get some lemon juice.
This gives Father Wilk an idea. He mentions that he saw “a ritual” in Fresno’s journals that, allegedly, allows one to read books even if one was blind or in pitch darkness. He thinks it is reasonable that, if the ritual works, it could also reveal invisible writing.
Ada scoffs at this and is vaguely alarmed that the rest of the group seems to take Father Wilk’s proposal seriously. Dr. Miller even goes so far as to hypnotize the priest, so that he can recall the ritual with perfect accuracy.
This somehow works, and Dr. Miller scribbles down the instructions for the ritual on a nearby deposit slip.
The others watch—with varying degrees of skepticism—as both Dr. Miller and Father Wilk invoke the ritual and lay their hands on the book. To both the doctor and the priest’s surprise, the words of the book leap unbidden into their mind. They learn that this book is the Aóratos Grimoire, an almost perfect translation of the Book of Black Tourmaline, by Sister Bohuslava of Mezhyhirya Monastery.
The book is filled with the awful rites to the Queen of Black Tourmaline and the constant castigation of her eyeless and tongueless servants. The Queen’s desire to “return to the world” is mentioned many times, along with her intent to “purify the diseases that infest it.” These words prove to be too horrible for both men to contemplate.
To the others, it seems as though Father Wilk and Dr. Miller have fallen into a deep trance, their hands on the book. Then, without warning, both men recoil from the manuscript, screaming and shouting.
With a cry of, “Apostate! Defiler! Unbeliever!” Dr. Miller hurls himself over the table at Saul.
At the same time, Father Wilk knees reverently in front of Val, his eyes brimming with tears. “Father Anatoli!” he cries, “I have missed you!”
No comments:
Post a Comment