The Mind's Eye.P2

Beginning of 'The Mind's Eye': https://wjr5oakley.blogspot.com/2022/12/the-minds-eyep1.html

Essie Vance [Whitney], Peter Graves [Jordan], Phillip Vance [Aaron]

Recap: Phillip has to fill in for Helen's brother, Michael Farr, as one of the pallbearers. Later at the wake, they are drawn to a disturbance out back that turns out to be Michael. His eyes scratched out. Restrained by arriving police who inform him escaped from an ambulance that was transporting him from St. Mary's Hospital to the Arkham Sanitorium. Helen asks for their help.

5pm Sunday, April 23^rd: Peter made sure Helen was comforted by others before he asked for Michael’s address, “We happen to be Private Investigators and want to help.” They drove down Peabody Ave and turned west on College St then south on Walnut St in the French Hill district. Scaffolding remained around 2 light poles: obvious new additions to one of the poorer districts in Arkham known for its squalor. (But then, this was an election year.) Kids played in the street: pogo-sticks, tag, hide-n-seek. Women hung rugs in the alleys and beat dirt out of them.

They walked up the steps to the Simpson Apartments. The apartment manager, Mrs. Cilauro, stood in the doorway watching the kids, “Finish up. It’s time for supper.” The smell of zesty Italian pasta wafted in the air. Peter tried to squeeze past her as if she unimportant. Essie took the time to make small talk, “Have you noticed anything unusual?” Phillip got straight to the point, “What can you tell us about Michael Farr? His sister Helen is concerned.” Dominica launched into her Catholic beliefs, “He’s a divorcee… heaven not for him. Always knew him not right in the head, staying up all hours with his telescope. If there were women across the street, I’d say he a peeping-tom. Cleaning men in his room now. Go on up.” She paused to tend the cat rubbing against her leg, “Tsk, tsk, Sebastian. I know Mr. Sabatino feeds you.” That didn’t stop her from giving milk to the tabby-cat.

They could smell strong ammonia halfway up the stairs. The door to apartment #5 was closed. Phillip opened it to reveal 2 men (in what used to be white overalls) mopping the floor. More pushing and diluting a now pinkish stain. The men looked up when Peter cleared his throat. “This is a crime scene. You need to stay out. Oh, friends of the family. Well, as you can see, Mr. Farr made quite a mess. They say he ripped out his own eyes. We’ve been looking for them.” 

One man reached into his pocket and pulled out an eye with its optical nerve still attached, “Found this one. Best guess, he ate the other.” They went on to describe, in vivid detail, all that had happened. At least what they had to clean up. It soon became apparent they took pleasure at trying to make the trio squirm with discomfort. “I remember another case…” Peter faked interest and faked taking copious notes as distraction so his teammates could snoop.

Essie ignored the men as she was more interested in the telescope in front of the window. It now pointed to the floor, probably bumped. She looked thru the eyepiece as she angled the tube out the window. She kept the same focus and confirmed it out-of-focus for anything near, such as buildings across the street. She angled it skyward and confirmed the focus appropriate but didn’t know what to look for. Meanwhile, Phillip found astronomy books on the nightstand. And noticed a stained notepad on a table near the telescope, “Hey, what’s that?”

Essie glanced at the blood-stained scribbling as she silently read. “Skip looking at Pleiades and straight to Saturn’s rings… those damn lights…strange geometric hallucination… working too hard. Those beautiful rings… saw a shadow of a moon across the rings. More wretched hallucinations… No! Stop! Evil putty jelly…after me! Coming now… close my eyes… I can still see… the only way…NO!”

6:30pm: By now the cleaning crew finished and packed up, “If you find that other eye…” Now Peter got involved in the search as he opened the astronomy books. 30 minutes later, “If I understand these tables, 43 degrees north latitude on Sunday 23^rd, Saturn’s tables… set the scope elevation to 67.4 degrees and the azimuth to 103 degrees.” Essie peered thru the scope and compared the image to the book drawing, “Here’s Saturn and its rings. I don’t see anything strange but then I don’t really know what to look for.” Peter looked up the details for Pleiades and set the scope for another look himself. Nothing. Essie stood by the window to look out with her naked eye. Nothing of note other than those bright streetlights. Phillip sat in a chair and re-read the blood-stained note as if they missed something. Finally, Peter conceded, “If I heard correctly, Michael mutilated himself after midnight. Perhaps we should come back later.”

7:30pm: 4 hours to kill. Marina scolded Phillip for leaving the others out on the porch, “Of course they can join us for dinner.” Peter sat next to Pierre to practice his French. After supper, he excused himself to smoke on the porch. Really, to give them family time alone. Meanwhile, Essie sat on the couch studying the astronomy books for herself. And Phillip helped clean the kitchen to be near Marina and play with Anna.

11:30pm: They arrived early at the apartments to setup. No kids nor cats in the streets. A few men returning home for work. Milk bottles on the porch stoop. Dominica let them in, especially since Peter had ‘paid rent.’ They took turns scoping Pleiades and Saturn till 12:15 am when they finally gave up, “Not sure what we are looking for.”

Monday, 24 April: Peter arrived early at Essie’s house and passed along her mail from the porch mailbox when he entered. “It’s an invite from a Professor Avebury for us to give a presentation on our Iraqi finds. Scheduled for today at 2pm.” After picking up Phillip, they swung by Helen’s house to get a letter of permission to talk to her brother Michael Farr, supposedly being treated at the Arkham Sanitorium. But first…

8am, Police Station: As the men entered the station, Essie stepped out to buy a newspaper from the corner stand before getting back in the car to wait. She found the article about Michael on page 4, “Disturbance in Southside.” It read as a repeat of Mrs. Cilauro’s description. Although there was no mention of his divorce status nor banded from heaven.

Peter took the lead as they approached the police counter as he flashed the letter from Helen, “Michael’s sister gives us permission to follow up on his case.” Phillip was a little more diplomatic in his approach, “We’re Private Investigators hired by the family.” Sgt Bilko had thoughts of retiring and going into PI work himself, and discretely turned the police blotter towards them as he pointed to the applicable entry, “Responded to disturbance called in by the local beat cop. Says they had to lockpick their way into his apartment.” Nothing new, other than the entry 3 days prior that Peter happened to see, “Thursday, 22 April. Police responded to disturbance on Walnut St. One Francis Caruso involved.”

Francis. Better known to Peter as Frankie Caruso, his stoolie, “So, I see you also picked up Frankie days before.” Sgt Biklo flashed a smile, “Let me guess, he’s your pigeon.” Peter slipped a couple of bills on the counter. Biklo handed over the unfiled report, “He wasn’t arrested. Disturbance called in of him having fits of seizures leading up to hallucinations. But by the time the cops arrived, he was all good. Shaken, but given a clean health and released.”

When they got back to the car, Peter slid into the driver seat with the news, “Complete waste of time.” Essie knew his ‘tells’ when he lied, and thus punched his shoulder, “Liar.” She showed them the newspaper article. Peter told all about Frankie, “When I was a cop, he was my stoolie. He remains one for me as a PI. He’s a bootlegger under the guise of a milkman when he makes his nightly deliveries: milk to the porches and bottles of hooch to the speakeasies.”

9am, Arkham Sanitorium: They buzzed the front gate and listened to the garbled speaker. They must have responded correctly as the gate opened. Peter parked in the lot and rolled up the windows and locked the car (with pistols stored in the glove box, rifles in the trunk, and Phillip’s MP18 under the spare tire), “Don’t want no crazy using MY car to escape.” Dr. Hardstrom looked over the letter from Helen, “Permission from the family to talk to Mr. Farr? If you’ll follow me. We have him sedated; so, I’m not sure how informative he’ll be. Mrs. Vance, are you SURE you want to join them? The man did…horrifically mutilate himself. I wouldn’t want to scare you.” Essie kept her calm even though she was riled by the man’s condescending attitude. Hardstrom led they past other residents.

Phillip looked thru the barred window set in the door and saw Michael with his back turned, no straitjacket, eyes glued to a spot in the top left corner of the ceiling. Dr. Hardstrom unlocked the door and let them in, “Michael, you have visitors.” Michael kept his back turned as he stared at the same spot, “It’s out there… it’s coming…I found it… will they name it after me?” He turned to face them. And again, stared at them eye-to-eye, even though he blinded! Unnerving. He slowly slipped into insane giggling, “The Farr star… far, far away… not so far is it Farr… it’s coming…Heehheee HAA!” Custodians were already at the door unlocking it as they rushed in to calm Mr. Farr and put him in a straitjacket, “I think you’ve done enough! We’ll take it from here!” 

As he left, Peter asked Michael one last question, “Can you point it out?” Michael pointed to the same top corner of the room which Essie realized aligned with the night sky view of Saturn!

10:30am, Caruso Address: Peter told the others to stay in the car as he stepped up to the house and knocked. Mrs. Caruso answered. “Tell Frankie it’s Graves.” While she didn’t know him, she heard Francis talk about him. Soon a bleary-eyed Frankie appeared, “It ain’t good to be seen here. What will my mob associates think if they see us together? Get inside quick! MARTHA, get him something to drink!” Frankie walked out to the mailbox as if to check it, but really to make sure no-one was watching. He was surprised Essie and Phillip joined his return to the house.

Peter bought a bottle of brandy from Frankie to break the tension, “I heard the police picked you up the other day.” Frankie nervously answered as if he’d done something wrong. Till he learned Peter only wanted to talk about his episode on Walnut Street. But even then, he was hesitant to admit such to his police contact, “No, everyone will think I’m crazy. I’m fine.” Essie pulled him aside, “You can talk to me. Trust me, I’ll believe you. I’ve seen a living mummy! And flying bugs bigger than a car.” 

In the kitchen, Frankie told her about his alley encounter, “Delivering milk I was. Nights worth of hazy view on the street. As if water spots on glasses except, I don’t wear glasses. Bubbles just floating in the air like jellyfish. Then Thursday night… same jellyfish… but as I passed the alley, I swear I saw a tentacle reach out for me! I ran screaming. A block away before I stopped, and the police found me. Calmed enough for them to let me go.”

Before leaving, Peter suggested Frankie stay off Walnut St for a couple of days. “I can’t do that! What will my boss say? When he asked what happened, especially with the police involved, I made up a story about a rival mob trying to muscle in on his territory. If I don’t go to work, the boss might think I jumped ship to join the rivals. No, No, I’ll be OK. You say you might be out there. I’ll keep a lookout for you.”

11:30am, Walnut Street: They drove back to the scene. The older kids were in school. Younger kids chased the tabby cat, trying to pull Sebastian’s tail. They walked the street checking the alleyways. Found one with broken milk bottles where Frankie was obviously frightened. They dug deeper in the alley but didn’t find anything. They turned to exit when they found a man staring at them from the alley entrance. Peter made the excuse, “Have you seen a silver-and-black cat?” Essie seconded the excuse, “That damned cat!” Joe Sabatino joined the search, “I know how precious cats can be. While it’s not mine, I feed our local stray, Mr. Sebastian. Say, haven’t I seen you somewhere before? No, not on these streets; somewhere else. Me? I’m the janitor at the Arkham Historical Society. Yourself?” Essie introduced herself as, “Essie. Um, Doris Essie. This is my husband, and he is my brother.” A snort and chuckle leaked out of Peter when they got back into the car, “Doris Essie?!”

2pm, Scheduled Meeting: Essie was still learning the MU campus; so, it took awhile to find the Orne Library. They found Professor Wentworth Avebury standing outside the Private Reading Room. “I’m so glad you could make it on such short notice. Come, let me introduce you to my colleagues.” There were about 2-dozen attendees busy in their own gossip. Wentworth rapped the podium, “If you’ll please give a warm welcome to today’s presenters: Mrs. Robert Vance, Mr. Phillip Vance, and Mr. Peter Graves.”

While the trio stepped forward, it was Essie who took center-stage as she opened her briefcase full of her notes and artifacts she’d brought alone. She was 10 minutes into a detailed description of the Kissah ziggurat artifacts when someone in the front row raised his hand, “Yes, yes. But when are you going to tell us about what you encountered?” Essie looked confused. 

Avebury blushed as he stood to approach them, “I’m sorry. You misunderstood my request. We are the Society for the Exploration of the Unexplained ­(SEU). We were hoping you are sane enough and bold enough to repeat your encounters with the unexplained. Those British soldiers leaked news to their superiors and word came down from the British Museum to our own museum staff. Something about flying bugs as big as cars. And a walking tree.”

Peter immediately became suspicious of their true intent. Were they here to be mocked? Essie was close hold with her accounting. Phillip was short and to-the-point in his description of events. Someone in the back of the room asked, “I heard tell of your hospitalization about the HMS Adriatic. What was that about?” Phillip pulled out the 2 vials (retrieved from Joanna’s briefcase) and offered them over, “You’ll have to analyze them yourself. But apparently something to do with serpent folk.” Where Peter excepted laughter, he heard “Oohs” and “Aaahs”. Which encouraged him to finally pull out his detailed notebook and begin reading. And showing some of his drawings. All were fascinated and enthralled by their encounters.

When the session finally came to a close, all stood in line to thank the trio. Professor Avebury was the last to say goodbye, “The society meets once a month. I hope you will join us. If nothing else, I look forward to introducing you to the library director, Dr. Henry Armitage. If impressed, he might allow you access to the Restricted Collection he controls. I think if you are in the habit of encountering such foe, HE might have something to offer.”

NEXT SESSION: https://wjr5oakley.blogspot.com/2022/12/the-minds-eyep3.html