BROADCASTS.com

Published: Jan. 27, 2022, 4 p.m.

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Adapted by Julie Hoverson from a story by H.P. Lovecraft.

Cast List
Richard - Philemon Vanderbeck
Edward - Bryan Hendrickson
Charles - Michael Coleman (Tales of the Extraordinary)
Warren - Glen Hallstrom
Herbert - Carl Cubbedge
Auguste - Reynaud LeBoeuf

Music by Kevin MacLeod
\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 (Incompetech.com)
Editing and Sound:\\xa0\\xa0 Julie Hoverson
Cover Design:\\xa0 Brett Coulstock
[cover art attributions]

"What kind of a place is it?
Why it\'s an artist\'s loft, can\'t you tell?"

**************************************************************************

The View from Within

Cast:

• Richard, artist
• Charles, wealthy dilettante
• Herbert, scientist
• Warren, professor
• Edward, pulp writer
• Auguste, visitor

OLIVIA \\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0What do you mean, what kind of a place is it? Why, it\'s an artist\'s loft, can\'t you tell?

MUSIC

SOUND\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 FOOTSTEPS RECEDE, ECHOES

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [calling out] Thanks - ever so!

SOUND\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 DOOR SHUTS

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 You have to love a restaurant that will send orders out.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Smells delicious. I suppose we should... wait?

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Take a breadstick. No one needs to know.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [chewing] From one starving artist to another, my stomach thanks you.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [chuckles]

SOUND\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 KNOCK ON DOOR

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Aha!

SOUND\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 FEET, DOOR OPENS

WARREN\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Oh! This is-- ah! It is the right place, then?

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Either that, or we\'re all lost together.

WARREN\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [dubious] Oh?

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [off] Don\'t confuse the poor academic! Invite him in!

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Come in, then.

WARREN\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Ah. This is the first time--

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Welcome to my studio. \\xa0I don\'t usually have much company. \\xa0Through here.

SOUND\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 FOOTSTEPS

WARREN\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 It is a bit out of the way.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Just be happy we\'re not meeting in the basement.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Oh, why?

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [chuckles slightly] Mildew. \\xa0Though the atmosphere is most ... stimulating.

WARREN\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 I\'m rather surprised the building is still standing.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 It\'s an antique.

WARREN\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 More like a relic.

SOUND\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 KNOCK AT DOOR

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Any bets on who\'s next?

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Heads or tails?

HERBERT\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [off] Open the door!

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Tails.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [snickers] [up, trying not to laugh] I\'m coming.

SOUND\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 FEET RETREAT

WARREN\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Good thing Richard knows how to give directions - I\'d hate to be lost in such a decrepit and forbidding part of town.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Don\'t tell anyone, but I wrote them. His were needlessly labyrinthine. No one would have found this place in time.

WARREN\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Dinner would have gone cold?

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Weather would have gone cold.

SOUND\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 FOOTSTEPS ENTER

HERBERT\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 You wouldn\'t believe the types of fungi that can grow in the plaster and wood in buildings this ancient. I suggest a thorough going over with Listerine, possibly followed by razing it to the ground.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [laughs] You modern-minded scientists. Can\'t see the value of anything lacking in hygiene unless it\'s in a Petri dish.

WARREN\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Culture isn\'t born in a day.

HERBERT\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 It might be - in a Petri dish.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Sit. Relax. I suppose we could commence eating if Charles isn\'t--

SOUND\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 KNOCK ON DOOR

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 But... he is. Back in a moment.

SOUND\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 FEET RECEDE

HERBERT\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [sigh] Fire trap.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 What?

HERBERT\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 These old gambrel-roofed buildings. The attic framing is particularly susceptible to the flow of air.

WARREN\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Well, I doubt that it will go up tonight.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 And I doubt that a going over with lister\'s formula will make it any less flammable.

HERBERT\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Did Richard say anything about this story of his?

WARREN\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Only that he felt it an impenetrable mystery.

HERBERT\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 It had better be something a bit more engaging than a plebian crime drama. That\'s no entertainment for a thinking man.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 You didn\'t come just for the food? [bites a breadstick] I certainly did.

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [coming in] Did I hear someone mention a thinking man?

WARREN\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 That would be Herbert.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Neither of us is inclined to think at all - if there isn\'t an immediate need.

WARREN\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Of course I think - I\'m always--

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Buried in the college library. Absorbing.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Rather like a sponge.

HERBERT\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [snort of laughter] So there\'s only one thinking man present.

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 I beg to differ. May I introduce a friend?

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 What? I thought this was a secret society!

WARREN\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Is it? I thought it was dinner.

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Don\'t matter. As he\'s in town for just the fortnight, Richard said I might bring him along. Particularly with a mystery in hand.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Aren\'t mysteries "afoot"?

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [agreeing] Plenty of food, though it looks like the breadsticks are going fast.

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [chuckle]

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 So. These are my cronies - Warren there in the tweed; Edward with the glasses; Herbert - well, he\'s Herbert. And you met Richard at the door.

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Enchante\'.

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 And this, to all you rabble, is monsieur Auguste, an old friend of the family.

WARREN\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 French?

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Oui. Do not discompose yourself. My English is quite fair.

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 My father met Auguste when he was overseas. They always figured on meeting up again and trading some yarns.

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 "Yarns"?

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Stories.

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Ah. Oui. I am a great one for the recounting of the stories.

WARREN\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 But - but it\'s Richard\'s turn tonight!

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 I see why you let him in! Cheater.

HERBERT\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 You\'re not getting out of it that easily!

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 I\'m not getting out of anything, but there\'s no reason we can\'t allow such an "august" visitor a morsel of our time. My story can wait until we\'re onto the cigars.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 If they\'re half the size of your breadsticks, we might be here all night.

MUSIC

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 So, monsieur Auguste. You don\'t mind our informality?

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 I have lived a rather - bohemian - life, myself. If I was to be precise in the naming of names, you should all address me as "sir".

WARREN\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 You aren\\u2019t that much older than--

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 No, no! Pardon. It is the title, yes? I have the honorific of Chevalier - a knight, I think, en Anglais.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 A knight? Really? Do you have a sword and a horse and everything?

WARREN\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [disgusted sigh] Pardon Edward. He\'s the product of our public school system, and thus is oblivious of the niceties of history.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 And you were a bohemian in Paris? [wistful sigh] there\'s no better place for it.

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 C\'est vrai. True.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Aren\'t you some sort of consulting detective?

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Mais non. At best, I would call myself a dilettante. My friend and I simply found ourselves in the path of a crime or two in our day. I analyse. I correlate. I also am willing to accept things that others might assume are impossible.

WARREN\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Impossible? Nonsense. Things must be either possible or impossible.

HERBERT\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Not really. The bounds of the possible are enlarged every year by my fellow scientists.

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [teasing] I thought you of all people would be defending the "bounds of the possible".

HERBERT\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Every impossibility is like a lock. Once you find the right key, the door opens, and the boundary enlarges.

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Though I comprehend you are speaking of science, I am of the same mind. Trying key after key, any door will eventually open, even if there is a century of keys.

MUSIC

SOUND\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 MATCH STRIKES

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [puffing] So. Replete?

WARREN\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 That was quite delicious. How did you get anything like that delivered here?

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Generous tipping. [chuckles]

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Is anyone else chilly? [1 shivers] I feel a bit of a draft.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 High ceilings and large windows. Good for painting, terrible for heating. Have some more brandy, that should warm you up.

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 You call this brandy?

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 The rum-runner I bought it from assures me--

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Hmm. It\'s almost the right color, but the resemblance is less than skin deep.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Let\'s agree I buy for effect, not refinement.

HERBERT\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Seeing your house, I can understand that.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 And we come full circle. [sigh] My story begins at the house of a friend. I\'ll call her Mavis--

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Mavis? A romance?

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [dismissive] A patron. She\'d just come into an inheritance, including a large manor out in the country. It hadn\'t been lived in for a while, and needed tending, but money can go a long way toward fixing any neglect.

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 My father would agree.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 So, in the clearing out of the picturesque dilapidation, several outbuildings were uncovered.

HERBERT\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 This is your story? They trimmed the lawn and found a shed?

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 How... bucolic.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 I\'m simply trying to include any details you might need later to arrive at the conclusion to this mystery.

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Perhaps, if I may, you could recount us the mystery first, and the details to follow.

WARREN\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 That wouldn\'t be precisely methodical, would it?

HERBERT\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Under normal circumstances, I would abhor one who settles on a hypothesis first and then aims all his tests to achieving that end and only that end. But for the purposes of entertainment--

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Right. Mystery first. Bare bones. The house was beautifully restored, mansard to masonry, and Mavis was hosting her first house party. She had invited some three dozen of her closest friends, secured a small orchestra, and was inaugurating the newly sprung ballroom floor.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [humming a waltz]

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Leave off.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Just trying to help with atmosphere!

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 I had stepped out to look over some portraits unearthed in the attic. Mavis was most anxious for my opinion as to their provenance--

HERBERT\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [bored] Ah? Stolen paintings? Is that it?

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [superior] Do not judge your eggs before they are cracked.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Yeah, don\'t crack so early, Herbert.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Screams.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [mock scream]

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [ignoring him] Screams erupted from the ballroom. From the sound of it, there was nothing less than a wildfire or militia attack in the offing.

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Ah.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 I left my hostess in the portrait room.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [suggestively] Aaah.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Ahem. I made my way to the ballroom, much hampered by the press of people running the other direction--

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Towards the "portrait room"?

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 --in a mad panic. By the time I reached the ballroom, it was an empty shell. Chairs were tipped, glass on the floor from shattered tumblers, and some very strange tracks.

HERBERT\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [after a pause] And?

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 That is the mystery. You didn\'t want any piddling extraneous details.

HERBERT\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 You expect us to reach some sort of conclusion from this?

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 What would you do if this was one of your experiments?

HERBERT\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 I would run a series of tests. But that hardly applies here--

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 If I may beg to differ?

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Hmm? How?

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [small chuckle] In the case of ratiocination, the tests that would be run are the interview of the witnesses, and examination of the scene--

WARREN\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 That\'s a bit far to go for a story.

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Bien. So we must settle for the interview of the singular witness, notre vieux Richard here. You, sir, are our window on the tale.

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 But - but how would that work?

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Why not make of it a game? Each takes it in his turn to ask a question, to be answered to the best of Monsieur Richard\'s knowledge. Bien?

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Sounds rather entertaining, really.

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 You can learn a great deal about any man from the way he plays even the simplest of games.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 I might have an edge for once, what with my newspaper experience.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Obituaries? Hmm. You might at that.

HERBERT\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 It\'s hardly scientific method.

WARREN\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 I\'m game, who begins?

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 I think widdershins would be appropriate. That means Edward starts it off.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Well. One question. I\'m caught rather flat-footed.

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Treat him like one of the characters in your stories.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 I generally try to avoid talking to them. People find it unnerving. Very well. My question, to start this all off - do you have an answer to your own puzzle?

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [laughs] I have an answer that satisfies me.

WARREN\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Would it hold up in a court of law?

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 No. Next question.

WARREN\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 That wasn\'t my--

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 You should speak more carefully, then. Next?

HERBERT\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Describe the tracks you found.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Is that a question?

HERBERT\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [sigh] What did the tracks look like? Detail please.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Of course. They were muddy footprints with a rather recognizable configuration to the shape of the heel.

HERBERT\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 So definitely a person?

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 While I could say "ask that one next time round", instead I\'ll merely point out that I know very few animals that wear man made boots.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [laughs] I should write that one down. Charles?

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Yessss. [Hmm, thinking] Was the culprit a member of the party?

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 No. Completely uninvited.

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Ah well. Monsieur?

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [satisfied with himself] Did the tracks merely enter the room and then come to a halt, or did they appear to have a specific terminus?

WARREN\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Ah! You think someone at the party was the object, rather than the instigator, of the ... intrusion?

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Shush Warren. You\'ve had your turn. The prints meandered through the room, though they showed no sign of purpose.

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 And a terminus? Or must that be a separate question?

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [consternation] Oh. A second question, I\'m afraid.

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 It is nothing, I will wait.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Back to me, then... Hmm... Could I ask his question?

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 I suppose you could ask him.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [to Auguste] Could I? Oh, no! Wait - wait I have one. Where did the footsteps come from - I mean outside, obviously, but did you or anyone happen to follow them back to their source?

HERBERT\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 That\'s two questions.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 No! Is it?

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 I\'m making a ruling - if a question is a compound, I\'ll answer whichever parts suits me. In this case, yes. Come morning, we followed the footsteps.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 B-but I asked where they came from?

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 But you also asked if we followed them. And I answered yes.

WARREN\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Hold on! I\'ll ask where they originated from.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Very well. We followed them back to the family burial plot behind the house.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Really?

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [laughing] Watch out! He\'ll take that as your next question.

HERBERT\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Where did the tracks go?

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Into the cemetery! Don\'t waste a perfectly good question!

HERBERT\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 No. Richard said they came from the cemetery. Where did they go upon leaving the house again?

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Ah.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Clever. But the answer is the same. They returned to the graveyard.

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [after a beat] Oh! Me. Well, someone must have seen the intruder. What did they say he looked like? I mean it was a man, wasn\'t it?

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [tiny chuckle] Everyone described the intruder as male.

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 But what did it-- [getting it, then rueful] Ah. I posed two questions, didn\'t I?

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [gleeful] Oh, yes.

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [to self] Must be more careful.

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [to Charles] Do not fret yourself, mon ami. [up] How are the grounds laid out in relation to the house and the road?

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 That\\u2019s-- [thinking] ... that\'s--

HERBERT\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 But a single question.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [laughing] You\'ve got me. Here, I\'ll show you.

SOUND\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 RUSTLE OF ITEMS IN TRAY, SOUND OF DRAWING

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 This is the road, crossing the bottom, turning roughly... north I think. [pauses to draw] The house is here, with a gate, and a drive, thus.

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 And the burial place?

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 You specified the grounds. Not the structures.

WARREN\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 I don\'t know that a cemetery constitutes a structure per se.

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 No, no. It will wait.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 I would love to ask for that, but I already have a question in mind.

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 It will wait.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Good. All right.

SOUND\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 PAPER FLIPS

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 You\'re taking notes?

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 I\'m working out my question so I don\'t blunder again.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [laughs]

HERBERT\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 How ...methodical.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Yes, well, I can be as tiresome as you, if I try hard enough.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 The question?

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 You say the footprints went into the graveyard -that\'s not my question, just the premise - here it is: Which way did they go beyond the graveyard?

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Nowhere.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Huh?

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 We found no footprints beyond the graveyard.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 So this fellow wanders off into the graves and flies off into space?

WARREN\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Shh. It\'s my question now.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Good.

WARREN\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Hmm. Hold on. Perhaps I should take my questions down too. It\'s hard to see the flaws when a question is only behind your eyes.

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Too true.

WARREN\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [determined sigh] Is the ground around and outside the cemetery the type of ground that would show marks of, say, a horse?

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Hmm. I\'ll have to equivocate and say - I saw no marks of a horse. All right?

HERBERT\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Is this supposed to be a mystery or a ghost story?

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 That\'s hardly a fair question.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 It\'s at least a very difficult one. Hmm. I suppose the absolute truth would be neither, but I don\'t want to give the wrong impression. So I will say simply that no one claimed to have seen a ghost.

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [musing] But it\'s not really a mystery either - Don\'t answer! Just musing. Hmm... The plot thickens.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Come on, Charles!

WARREN\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Don\'t pester.

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Did you ever see the ... culprit?

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 I was in the portrait room.

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 I didn\\u2019t ask if you saw the incident - but if you ever saw the culprit.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Ahh. Hmm. Yes, at some point, I saw the one that I believe was the "culprit".

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Well, at least he didn\'t vanish off the face of the earth.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [almost laughing] More or less.

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [chuckling] More or less.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 You sound like a man who knows something.

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 I know many things. I do not yet know you well enough to know what you are thinking, but I can already see - yes - when you are thinking, or rather when you are forced to think. Some questions merely amuse you, while others - others force you to consider carefully the words to use.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Oh I get it, instead of noting the answers, you\'re watching the speaker.

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 As with any game. Chess, par example, is not won by the player who watches only the board. It is not the board that one is playing against.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [offhanded] Amusing. But let\'s get on with your question - unless all this is just your way of buying time to think?

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [chuckle] No. I have had plenty of time to think. I do not wish to ask the obvious question.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 What is it? I\'ll ask it!

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [tsks] Think of what hasn\'t been answered fully. [up] Mon question then, apart from the footprints, was there any other disturbance of the ground anywhere that you looked?

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 What? Even if you didn\\u2019t want to ask an obvious question, you didn\\u2019t need to throw one away on--

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Shh. Let him answer.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [serious] Oh. Um...No.

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [as if this is very important] Aah.

WARREN\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 It\'s almost as if they\'re speaking in ciphers. What are we missing?

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 I don\'t know. [annoyed] How obvious IS this question? Ask what hasn\'t been fully answered, indeed.

HERBERT \\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0[smug] I know what it is.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 What?

HERBERT\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Find your own question. It\'s all a matter of organized thinking. Having an eidetic memory helps.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 It is your turn, Edward.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 The ground wasn\'t disturbed? What kind of clue is that - and that\'s not my question!

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [almost laughing] Of course not!

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 It\'s rhetorical. Oh, hell. I\'m drawing a blank. Here - did the intruder break anything at the house?

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [thinking] Well... No one ever said the intruder broke anything, and there was no sign of it.

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 And yet things were broken. Your initial description was very clear on that point.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Yes, but that all happened during the general state of panic.

WARREN\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 I don\'t believe it\'s your turn, sir!

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 And I did not ask a question.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [laughing] ohhh. You sly dog, you.

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [amused shrug] eh bien. My apologies for interrupting the proper order of things.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Hit him with a good one, warren!

WARREN\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [still trying to figure it out] something that hasn\'t been fully answered... Oh! What about - Auguste, you asked something about where the footprints inside went - but it was two questions.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Well--

WARREN\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Ssh! My question then is where did the footprints go, once inside the house. Be specific.

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 This may be of great interest.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 You have to picture the room like this--

SOUND\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 SCRIBBLING

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 This entire wall was windows, including the one the intruder entered through. The orchestra was here, at the back. Hallways lead off here, and here. And there were a few tables.

SOUND\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 A FEW MORE PENCIL SWOOPS

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 There\'s no way to know who was where when the intrusion began, but the footprints started here and made a long loop this way--

HERBERT\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 That\'s an arc. A loop requires closure.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 --probably to avoid tables. This area was all dancing. The intruder appears to have been drawn toward the music. There was a sort of fumble in the steps - a loss of purpose in the stride, which I assumed meant this was when the general panic broke out--

HERBERT\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 It took people that long-- [catching himself] No, no. Go on.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Panic broke out. From there, the footprints walked over to one of the alcoves, then, striding quickly again, back to, and out, the window.

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Alcoves?

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Yes, there are five. Next question.

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 No, no - I really must draw the line here. you never described alcoves when you were describing the room. Besides, it\'s not even my turn.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 He\'s right!

WARREN\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 I think you\'ll have to give him that one.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 I was only joking. Besides, Herbert has been looking smug for long enough. Out with it, foul fiend and ask the question you\'ve been brimming over with!

HERBERT\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [feigned innocence] Oh, me? [chuckles] I\'m sorry, Warren, but you missed Auguste\'s point entirely. The question that was never answered is "what did people say the intruder looked like?"

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Ahhh.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Good golly! That\'s right!

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Well played, Herbert.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [starts slowly, but working up to being as spooky as possible] The few people who could speak of the intrusion without descending into helpless gibbering, or simple fainting, described the intruder as unclean, uncanny, unwelcome, abnormal and detestable. It was the ghoulish shade of decay, antiquity, and dissolution! It could not have been of this world - or certainly no longer of this world - yet a part of the horror was that in its eaten-away and bone-revealing outlines, it resembled nothing so much as an abhorrent travesty on the human shape! [moment of silence]

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 So a walking corpse?

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [annoyed tch] If you, the self-professed wordsmith, wish to put it so bluntly, and blandly. Yes. Apparently so.

HERBERT\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 I protest - you said it wasn\'t something supernatural.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 I said no one had seen a ghost. Ghosts are entirely ethereal, and this was apparently an entirely physical manifestation.

WARREN\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 True. Dead that climb out of graves and walk have long been a separate myth cycle from the purely spiritual. The "zombie" of the caribbean tales, which of course are drawn from the mystical beliefs of the various tribes imported from Africa--

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Enslaved and dragged here.

WARREN\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Yes, but the beliefs are so fascinating - that a witch doctor could cause someone to not only die, but return--

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Is that the answer then? That a corpse simply woke up out in the graveyard and decided on a lark to join the party? Or are we expected to figure out how and what caused it to motivate?

HERBERT\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 I have a few ideas on that subject.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Ah, but it didn\'t come out of a grave - that WAS the point of your question about disturbed ground, wasn\'t it, Monsieur?

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [shrug] I had a little thought.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 That means you were onto the walking dead angle almost from first principles.

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Father was right on the money, you are a genius.

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Merely someone who is not afraid to embrace the impossible from time to time.

HERBERT\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 So this is the end of the tale. A body got up and wandered around, then walked away again. Where\'s the great mystery?

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Perhaps, if I may?

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Go ahead.

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 I think the question of where it went to is one of mild amusement, as perhaps is the question of what moved it to leave?

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Perhaps.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Yes, but is there an answer?

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 I believe I have the answer to the first part. But I would like to ask my belated question first.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Please do.

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Did you search the crypt?

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [amused] The what?

WARREN\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [annoyed] You never said there was a crypt!

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Perhaps I have not the right word. The building in the cemetery for the bodies, non?

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 That\'s more of a mausoleum.

WARREN\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Crypts are generally below ground. And you never said there was a mausoleum!

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 No one asked.

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 But I have asked now. Did you search the mausoleum, and, if I may ask, did you find your visiteur hidden within?

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 I should just give up now. There\'s nothing left to hide from you, Monsieur.

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 But I do not know everything. I believe there is still the question of why it walked away. And I believe it is Charles\' turn.

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Before I ask, is this something that can be answered?

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [a bit subdued] I believe so.

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Right, then. Do you think it was due to the fear and confusion that the creature decided to leave?

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 I don\'t think so. Most of the crowd had fled before it apparently made its own exit. If you look at the drawing of the room, I am still quite certain that here is where it was the moment the panic broke out, and yet it continues onward for some time.

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Monsieur?

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 I have solved my part of the puzzle. I shall leave your younger minds to uncover the motivations.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [teasing] Cheater.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 This means we\'re back to you, Edward.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 From what you\'ve drawn, it looks like the alcove is the epitome, or do I mean azimuth?

HERBERT\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 I doubt it.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 The ultimate point, anyway. That seems to be where it turned back. Is that correct?

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Is that your question?

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Yes.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 To the best of my knowledge, yes.

WARREN\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 What is in the alcove? Was -- [catches self] No. [firmly] What is in the alcove?

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 The same as all the other alcoves. A large mirror. They\'re supposed to reflect the light and make the room look larger.

WARREN\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 There are creatures of mythology who are terrified of mirrors. Vampires are said to have no reflection, possibly because the silver of the backing rejects their unclean nature and therefore refuses to reflect them. The gorgons--

HERBERT\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Was the mirror untouched?

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Meaning?

HERBERT\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Did it do anything to damage the mirror?

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 The mirror was ...undamaged.

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 That sounds a little bit like a hint.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [negative facetious shrug]

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Well, let\'s go on and get this over with. I think even I can read you this late in the evening. Did the thing touch the mirror?

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 There was a disgusting mold-smeared handprint, and I use the term very loosely, on the glass.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 So it\'s afraid of a mirror. That\'s no thrill.

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Have you ever suddenly realized there is a large spot of ink -oh! - leaked on your pocket, or a bird perhaps has insulted the crown of your hat?

HERBERT\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Hasn\'t everyone? Nature is notoriously... insulting.

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 And perhaps people are smiling and laughing, or even upset and disgusted, and you don\'t realize the cause of it?

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [laughs] Are you saying this thing needed to [gets serious] to see itself in a mirror to realize what it was?

HERBERT\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 I doubt there would be much higher brain function in a rotten corpse. It might not occur to it.

RICHARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 You know, that is rather the conclusion I arrived on. You\'re a bit of a marvel, Monsieur.

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 [modest] Experience. And ratiocination.

CHARLES\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 How did you come to the conclusion about where the - corpus delecti - would be found?

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Ah! That was very simple! Reminded me of something from my youth. It is rather like the old saying "cannot see the forest because of all the trees", vous comprenez?

HERBERT\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 I know the saying.

EDWARD\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 It\'s rather obvious once you see it.

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Bien. But what if the forest was hidden among a plethora of forests?

HERBERT\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 That wouldn\'t be physically possible.

AUGUSTE\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 conceptualize, mon ami. So, to extrapolate, where better to find a dead body, than in a room which is filled with them?

END

NOTE:\\xa0 \\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0"Auguste" is intended to resemble "C.\\xa0Auguste Dupin", the detective character in Poe\'s "Murders in the Rue Morgue" even though the timing would make him about 130 years old, if he\'s visiting Charles in the 1920s.

(story very loosely inspired by "The Outsider" by HPL)

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