I awoke this morning hoping things would be less strange a day removed. Over a brief breakfast at the diner, Ringo determined that at least one of the keys was similar to those used at Miskatonic University, while another was to some sort of lock box or desk drawer. The Colonial Flintlock was from the late 17th century, usable and would probably carry a hefty pricetag to the right buyer.
No surprise but the local Acton Gazette made no mention of the dead police officer - of the fire for that matter. About 20 minutes back towards Arkham, we realized that perhaps the policeman was in possession of the notebook with our names. We were pretty sure that the dead officer was the man that took our information. We debated back and forth the merits of trying to return to the site and retrieve the book, maybe dispose of the body or other extremes. I, for one, thought it was worth the risk. We drove back, dropped Collin and Chuck off and Adam, Max, Ringo and I looped back to a dirt road off Main Street with the intention of returning after about 30 minutes. We headed back to the pick up point twice and they weren't there. Our anxiety amped up when a Sherrif's car passed but on the third attempt, Chuck and Collin were there with the notebook. It contained our names and other routine police reports. Apparently, the police arrived while they were there but a well-timed dive into the nearby barn allowed them to slip away while they examined the dead officer's body. they insisted no prints or evidence was left behind. We promptly decided to incinerate the book as soon as we arrived at the University.
We visited Mason Ward's office. The door was locked but the one of the keys fit perfectly. Turning the office over, we located a worn folder containing two maps of colonial Virginia with notes about the Roanoke Colony. Additionally a list of about 24 colonists were in the folder. A note in the top corner of the list referenced a basement storage room with a box number. We located the box and it contained a note directed at us to find his last student. Back to Ward's office, we discovered the name of his last graduate student, Wilbur Young. He was a Class of '23 graduate with an MA in History. Records indicated he lived at 17 Maple Street right here in Arkham. A second look around the room and clearly this guy was a Roanoke enthusiast. There are woodcut images and books about the lost colony. I grabbed one book in particular, The Roanoke Event, since it was heavily dogeared.
A quick walk over to Maple Street took us to Young's home. The visit was quick. When we told him about Ward's death, he and his wife were distraught. He insisted they would need time before they could talk further. Unhappy but realizing we had little options, we walked back to the University. A phone call to the Acton County Hospital followed and the nurse on duty told us that no arrangements had been made by the Ward family. The coroner was scheduled to visit tomorrow. We could learn more after.
The letter in the basement of the University contained a curious PS to learn more about Hazeal. The name Hazeal appeared on the Death Certificate in the safe of Ward's house. He was a librarian in Revere and was buried in Malden - dead two years. We decided visiting the Revere Library might help. The long drive to Revere was pretty quiet - I think we were all focusing on the whirlwind of the last 36 hours. The current librarian recalled little about Hazeal. He was found at the bottom of his stairs - victim of an apparent fall - he was babbling a word "Sencamo". I immediately recognized the name as an Indian Chief of the Powhatan tribe in Virginia. Another strange connection here. What connection did Hazeal have to Ward? The library was closing so we were unable to locate newspapers around the date of his death. We would have to return on Monday. His gravesite in Malden offered no clues so we made the long drive back to Arkham, having assembled no further pieces of the puzzle but uncovering even more confusion.
I just finished reading through that book after an evening at Collin's speakeasy. It talks quite a bit about escaped slaves that went over to the Indians. It focuses around the common theory about the missing colony - that they didn't simply disappear but rather abandoned the site. The most common probable destination was Hatteras Island - known to them as Croatoan Island. Talk about cannibalism among the colonists is unsettling but nothing knew. The book doesn't seem to shed anything knew on the issues. Nothing left to do but sleep. Tomorrow after services, I will head to the library and read the book more thoroughly, maybe there is more here in his notes.
No comments:
Post a Comment