• ThinkOfTheChildren

Episode 1 Episode 2 Epilogue

(RobHague)

The Society are drawn into the investigation of a girl's abduction.

A personal account of the events may be found in HayesJournal.

starring Paul O'Grady as MrFlanagan

Episode 1

4/9/23 - Even though it's the middle of the week, there are still several people lounging around the tea room just after lunch. SuzannaJohnson calls, and she sounds so distressed that MrFlanagan puts the call through as opposed to fobbing her off with an excuse. She told Robert that their son had been sent home from school, as one of his classmates (JessicaVaughn) had disappeared while the class was on an excursion on JenkinCommon. He went home immediately, to find that Jessica's mother, AnnieVaughn, who was a friend of Suzanna's, was visiting. He also learned that the girl had been snatched while the teachers were trying to gather the children back together before setting off back to the school (this was at around noon; the trip had started around ten). After giving Annie a lift home, he returned to the club and reported what happened.

It was decided that they should go to the common to aid in the search (Hayes couldn't quite remember who AnnieVaughn was, and tagged along in the hope of a reward.) When they arrived, it emerged that many of the parents from the school had also had the same idea, and the two UniformedOfficers present were engaged in crowd control as opposed to actually searching. When FrankShort arrived with a couple more officers, he tried to calm the crowd, to little effect. At Robert's suggestion, he gets Alsoud to brief everyone on how to search without destroying the evidence, then arranged the search such that the only Society members and police would actually arrive at the crime scene. When they did, Lisa found a scrap of leather, about 6"x1", on a thorn in a bush that had obviously been walked through. A UniformedOfficer named Mike took pictures.

Frank sent them back to the club while he forensic guy (QuincyJones) did his thing, and called them back a couple of hours latter. It emerged that someone had gone out of the bushes, then back in; he probably could have got in or out without making any other marks, but not with a struggling child). The PCs briefly looked for a tunnel in the copse, to no avail. A little tree climbing latter, it was discovered that branches were snapped consistently with someone leaving the copse upwards, and possibly sitting in one of the trees, there was no evidence that they had climbed the tree in the obvious way. RobertJohnson also noted that there were signs of a struggle about nine feet from the bushes, smudged but appearing to have been made by shoes of both a small girl and a medium-sized adult male, but no tracks between them. At this point, several people noticed that there was a man in a black leather coat (and shoes) watching them from the edge of the common. Robert, Ethan, Hayes and Alsoud went to head him off in Robert's car, and after a brief chase he was apprehended. As Mike was cuffing him, Alsoud and Robert both noted that they recognised him as someone who was around at the University, but they didn't know what he did. Alsoud also noted that his leather jacket was intact.

Episode 2

5/9/23 - The following morning, Hayes, Ethan and Robert are in the tea room. They are discussing the previous days events, and the reports about such in the morning paper (see Unity Times Chronicle Articles September 1923), when FrankShort arrives. He busies himself in the drawing room for a minute or two to give the others time to hide their tea, and then joins them in the basement. He explains that they had to release the suspect they had arrested (named by the paper as JonathanMason), as he had a cast-iron alibi for about an hour either side of the abduction (he is a lab assistant in the Physics department, and was helping with a practical, and hence was seen by dozens of staff and students). After he made his excuses and returned to the station, it was decided that, in the absence of other leads, they should pay a visit to WarrenHardingMemorialSchool, which had been closed indefinitely due to the abduction. They went to the police station and suggested the idea to Short, who agreed that it was worth a try. As the police were stretched thin with the investigation as it was, he gratefully accepted the offer of a few more pair of hands, and the trio accompanied two UniformedOfficers to the school, where they were met by the janitor, one HowardSpencer. They searched the school, finding nothing untoward, and were just leaving when a boy ran up with a message for the police officers.

The UniformedOfficers sped off in the direction of JenkinCommon, and the characters followed. When they arrived, they found two more nervous-looking UniformedOfficers trying to figure out what to do about a lynch mob that had formed. As the apparent leader, CharlesGrayson, whipped them into a righteous frenzy from a soapbox, Robert sidled into the back of the crowd and learnt that another child, ThomasJones, had been abducted. The four officers ummed and ahhed about what to do, but when the mob set off towards Mason's house, three of them tried to stall them, while the other commandeered the characters (and Robert's car) to head them off and move Mason. They arrived at his house (on the corner of Washington and Columbus) a few minutes ahead of the mob, and managed to persuade him to come to the police station for his own protection (he was not being arrested, it was repeatedly stressed) just as they appeared. When they arrived, FrankShort sent him to the interview room. A short while later, the mob arrived and demanded justice, and FrankShort made a speech about the need for calm, and told the characters he was going to advise Mason to remain in the station for the time being. They decided to go and investigate the scene of the second abduction (the Jones' house on Dee Lane. On the way out, a journalist named MichaelScott tried to get a comment out of them, but they ignored him.

When they arrived at the house, OfficerMike was on duty outside; he didn't see much harm in letting them have a look around. They examined the (tall, conifer-type) trees around the garden, but couldn't find any damage or other clues. They were about to leave when Ethan spotted Thomas' twin sister, SophieJones, sitting in a porch swing, watching them. She was extremely untalkative at first, but with a little coaxing she revealed that she and Thomas had been playing chase in the garden, and he was so preoccupied he failed to notice a "big bird", which swooped down and snatched him up, and flew off. When asked where, she pointed east by northeast. The characters noticed that, amongst half a dozen other notable buildings, Mason's house was in that direction. They high-tailed it over there, and found a relatively large police presence, guarding Mason who had insisted on returning home. Hayes persuaded Frank to let him ask Mason to have a look around the house (on the pretence of trying to find anything that had been planted) but Mason refused. Meanwhile, Robert sneaked around the back to see if there was another way in; he was joined by the other two just as he tried the gate, which was unlocked. They noticed that there was a telescope in the open upstairs window, and that the yard was empty other than a large cellar door. Robert heard the sound of chanting coming from it. Hayes picked the lock, and then stood ready with his revolver whilst the others threw the doors open.

The first thing they saw was the two missing children, hanging from their feet from the rafters of the cellar. Their blood had been drained into bowls placed below them for the purpose; needless to say, they were both dead. Mason stood at the other side of the room, wearing hastily thrown on robes and chanting, with his back to the door. In front of him was an elaborate chalked circle, and an eerie light was radiating from it. More importantly, the circle was occupied by a dark, man-sized creature with no noticeable face, long claw-like fingers, and huge leathery wings, one of which had a strip missing from it. This, along with the sight of the children's corpses, was too much for Hayes, who began to shake uncontrollably. He dropped his gun, which went off. This caused Mason to spin around and stagger backwards, scuffing the circle. The creature instantly leapt forwards, grabbing Mason and swooping out of the door, past the now-recumbent Hayes, and into the darkening sky.

Epilogue

<<< As this all happened out of game, it's provisional and open to debate; please suggest anything your characters may have done differently. -- RobHague >>>

Robert and Ethan went into the cellar; they decided to leave the children where they were for now, and examined the rest of the room. The walls were covered in papers containing scrawled diagrams and notes, ranging from occult symbols to star charts. On the floor they find a book that Mason was obviously reading from, AstrologikalNotesOnTheGeometryOfEuclid. As Robert is examining this, FrankShort arrives with a couple of UniformedOfficers - they evidently heard the gunshot.

A few days latter, once everything has died down, Frank drops round to the club with a box containing the book, the papers and crime scene photographs, which he is lending to the club for further study (on the understanding that they will be kept safe, and returned should they be needed for a trial). The official story is that Mason was a delusional manias who kidnapped and murdered the children; when a police deputy stumbled upon the bodies in the cellar, he fled, and is still at large. A warrant has been issued for his arrest, along with mug shot photos, in Rhode Island and all neighbouring states. They are confident that he will not evade justice for long.

<<< We need to sort out a couple of things. The first is how much Frank knows/believes, which boils down to what Robert and Ethan told him, and what Alden decides he believes. The other thing is what manner of indefinite insanity Hayes has. Now, I could've sworn that there was a phobia in the CallOfCthulhu rulebook that was "fear of the night sky", but I can't find it - the nearest are Scotophobia (fear of the dark) and Agoraphobia (fear of open spaces). Anyone got any suggestions? -- RobHague >>>

<<<I think Agoraphobia is closest to what we want. Anyway, it was Temporary insanity, not Indefinite insanity, which is nastier. -- SimonBooth>>>

<<< Yes, you're right - it was just short of 20%, wasn't it? I'll have to check the rulebook, but I guess that, now that Hayes has had a little while to pull himself together, there aren't any lasting effects, rules-wise. -- RobHague >>>

<<< Alsoud will spend some time studying the papers. If questioned he will say "Mason and that thing you saw is out there somewhere... I pray they do not return but if they do, we need to be able to defend ourselves." -- TristanBarback >>>

<<< And Robert, being the usual sucker that he is for Mythos books, will probably borrow the book to read. Who needs SAN anyway???

As for the story told to Frank, Robert will have described what he saw minus the demon. Mason was clearly killing the children due to possession by some unknown insanity, and we disturbed him. He sprang past us like a madman to make his escape; Hayes tried to shoot him, but Mason was just too fast and was through the gate and gone before we could react.

This story immediately told to Frank in front of Hayes and Ethan so that we might have some chance of a consistent story. Any holes could be covered easily - Robert's horrified that such an evil man could have been preying on Unity's children, and is still shaken by the thought that only luck spared AndrewJohnson from this grisly fate. Steve McIntyre >>>