Wherein a private eye is hired to investigate the death of a mythos-chasing flapper
February 14, 2013 22:34
New York – the city that never sleeps. If you believe Walt Whitman, there’s no place like it. But if you ask me, something’s gone rotten in the Big Apple, and the whole damned place is decaying from the inside out. My name’s Ainsworth – Fred Ainsworth – and I’m a private investigator.
The papers had been thick with the murders all week. Ivy Morgan, a Sugar Hill snake-oil salesman, was found dead on a farm in rural Massachusetts, along with a few college professors and some unlucky farmers. The coppers had a suspect – a down-on-his-luck, deformed drifter named Thomas Parkhill, who the local hacks lost no time dubbing Tin-Mask Tommy. The bulls believed Morgan and her accomplices headed up to Arkham to steal a priceless statue, and in the process Parkhill double-crossed them. All-in-all, it seemed pretty neat – perhaps too neat. And looking back, had I known what I know now, I would have never agreed to find out the truth.
“What did you do to that man?!” the man yells again, as he quickly makes up the distance between him and the investigators.
Ivy attempts to explain that there’s been a terrible accident, but the man will hear nothing of it.
“Explain it to the Sherriff,” the man bellows as he turns back to his wagon.
“Settle down, pa!” interjects a young man as he approaches the investigators. “You have to excuse my dad,” he says, “He’s a cantankerous, old bastard.”
Looking at Ivy, he continues. “My name is Luther Monroe, and this charming old coot is my father, Benjamin. Now, what happened here?”
Wherein new alliances are forged and new adventures begin
April 16, 2012 21:31
Ivy Morgan and Cuthbert Sorensen have been invited by Professor Rudolph Pearson to his office at Columbia University at 10:00am. Pearson, who has been asked to be on the lookout for able-bodied parapsychologists or other experts in the occult, has a business proposal to discuss with the investigators, and feels that Ms. Morgan and Dr. Sorensen would benefit from an introduction.
Cuthbert and his assistant, Mr. Thomas Parkhill, are sitting in the outer office when Ivy arrives. The three introduce themselves and make small talk until Pearson opens his door and invites them in to his inner office.
Professor Pearson has been contacted by his friend, Mars Bickle, a parapsychologist based in Arkham. Bickle was offered a research job by Miskatonic University that he is unable to accept, and recommended Dr. Sorensen, whom he is acquainted professionally, as a possible replacement. Pearson explains that the job is of the “observe and report” variety, and could take up to a month to complete. He feels that Sorensen, who employs the most up-to-date film and sound-recording equipment, could utilize a person with Ivy’s brains, charm, and experience with “things that go bump in the night,” most effectively. Cuthbert and Ivy agree to the partnership, and are advised to meet Harvey Wainscott, Miskatonic University President, at 11:00am the following morning.
They had arrived in Jonas’ Packard early in the morning, and covered the car with brush to avoid it being spotted from the road. They looked down on the lake most of the day, spying out the area they believed the ritual would take place. At ten o’clock, they cautiously made their way down to the shore and struck a path to the ritual clearing.
Under the new moon, the darkness was complete. The investigators took their places and waited. After a while, they could hear movement around them. Into the clearing they came – a half-dozen robed figures with bushels of dead tree branches, firewood, and lumber in hand. Within minutes, a ten-foot high pile was erected in the middle of the clearing, and the wood was saturated in kerosene. Some time later, two more figures emerged into the clearing, both tall and robed – one, wearing a ritual headdress. The two figures plunged torches into the pile of wood, and the clearing exploded into light.
Wherein the investigators kill some time before heading back to Arkham
January 25, 2012 22:04
As she wipes the sleeps from her eyes, it occurs to Ivy Morgan that there is a recently translated text waiting for her at Columbia University – the crazy and confused bible she found while exploring Red Hook. She wakes up Jonas and Ray, makes a quick call to her grandfather, and gets the number of Professor Rudolph Pearson. She is delighted to find that his people have completed their work, and that she can pick up the translated text later that morning. After a hearty breakfast, the investigators jump in Jonas’ Packard and drive uptown to the university.
Both Ivy and Jonas are concerned that Ray is still insisting that he is David Malgresh, a botanist from Chicago who is town for a symposium on sustainable food sources. To this point, both have been indulging Ray’s fantasy, although Ivy intermittently attempts to force Ray’s reality upon him, to no avail. As they enter Rudolph Pearson’s office, Ray extends his hand and introduces himself as David Malgresh. Confused, Pearson catches Ivy’s eye and she motions him to his office.
Wherein the investigators get in a New York state of mind
January 23, 2012 22:35
Midnight finds Jonas Markham and Ray Brannigan (currently answering to David Malgresh) sleeping uneasily, while Ivy Morgan keeps watch on the back alley of the Tilden Arms Hotel; hopeful that she and her fellow investigators were not followed from Steeplin County. As the evening slowly passes, Ivy is spelled by Jonas, who sees a car pull in to the alley around three o’clock. It is too dark to see, but Jonas can make out the silhouette of a tall man getting out of the car to put something in the trunk. Running to the front of the room, Jonas places his ear to the door and is able to make out a muffled conversation between the front desk clerk and another man (“Good evening, Ed,” says the front desk clerk). Moments later, heavy footsteps quickly pass outside the door and disappear into silence.
As dawn approaches, Jonas wakes Ray and tells him to keep an eye on the car in the alley. Heeding Jonas’ advice, Ray keeps his eyes peeled out the back window. Shortly before seven o’clock, Ray sees a tall, healthy-looking man approach the vehicle (“A Studebaker, by the looks of it,” Rays says to himself), open the trunk, and take out a long, metal cylinder, which he places in the front seat of the car before driving away.
Wherein the investigators realize that strange things are afoot in Steeplin County
January 13, 2012 21:14
The train pulls into the Steeplin Valley station at approximately 12:30am. As they walk off the train, Ivy Morgan, Jonas, and Ray are surprised to find Mr. Booth waiting for them. He states that he was able to make it to the road, where an agent of Mr. DuPont was following the train in case there was trouble. He cautions the investigators that they’re still being followed and that they need to leave immediately. Jonas notices something odd in the way that Mr. Booth is moving, but chalks it up to lingering injuries sustained from being thrown from the train. Ivy, suspicious as always, is not so sure.
The parking lot is dark and empty – a black Buick is the only car in sight. Booth claims that the driver went on foot to the estate to warn Mr. DuPont. He also states that he’s too sore to drive, and sits in the back seat with Ray. Jonas and Ivy walk to the back of the car to load their gear.
