Investigation #0016 · Closed file
The Opened Grave at Potter's Field
A fresh grave at Potter's Field found disturbed at dawn.
- Where
- Potter's Field, Cemetery District
- Opened
- Thursday, 21 October 1926, 08:00
- Closed
- Wednesday, 10 November 1926
- Investigators
- Nathan Callaghan, Elias Finch
- Outcome
- Escaped.
Afterwards: Potter's Field is quiet, for now; Nathan has become more careful; Elias has become more careful.
Findings
- Singing is reported from an empty building.
- A lump of black wax pressed with a seal. Nobody at the site admits to having seen it before.
- A pocket watch stopped at 3:07. It is cold, and stays cold in the hand.
- The hymn is in harmony, in a tune nobody knows.
- A 1723 parish letter complains of the same 'unlicensed singing' at night.
- A lamp chimney blackened on the inside only. It is cold, and stays cold in the hand.
The record
Thursday, 21 October 1926
- Initial report received. A fresh grave at Potter's Field found disturbed at dawn.
- Nathan & Elias take up the investigation.
- Elias arrives 14 minutes late.
- Nathan & Elias arrive at Potter's Field.
- North row examined.
- Investigators report a smell of wet earth.
- Leaning headstones noted in the vestry.
- Investigators report a bell rope creaking.
- Nothing of note found.
- Investigators leave Potter's Field.
Friday, 22 October 1926
- Elias arrives 14 minutes late.
- Nathan & Elias arrive at Potter's Field.
- Statement taken from Mr. Morris Lacey (the sexton).
- The unidentified man in the photograph of 21 October is identified by Nathan: Mr. Morris Lacey.
- Records conflict: Mr. Morris Lacey's account and a witness's cannot both be right.
- Statement taken from the landlady.
- Accounts conflict. Mr. Morris Lacey (the sexton) says it only happens in fog. The landlady saw it on a clear night under a full moon.
- Working theory: rats, old pipes and imagination.
- Finding: Singing is reported from an empty building.
- Investigators leave Potter's Field.
Saturday, 23 October 1926
- Nathan & Elias arrive at Potter's Field.
- Search of the family plot for physical evidence.
- Object examined: a lump of black wax pressed with a seal. Nobody at the site admits to having seen it before.
- Object examined: a pocket watch stopped at 3:07. It is cold, and stays cold in the hand.
- Finding: The hymn is in harmony, in a tune nobody knows.
- Investigators leave Potter's Field.
- Patrolman Dunn's notebook is produced: Mr. Morris Lacey was seen outside the property at 9:36 PM.
- Records conflict: Mr. Morris Lacey's statement and the constable's notebook cannot both be right.
Monday, 25 October 1926
- Nathan & Elias arrive at Records Archive.
- The Sanitarium's admission books consulted.
- Strong smell of coal-gas from the lamps noted.
- Finding: The Sanitarium's admission books — A 1723 parish letter complains of the same 'unlicensed singing' at night.
- Working theory: rats, old pipes and imagination.
- Investigators leave Records Archive.
- Nathan & Elias meet at Kellerman's Lunch Room.
- Evidence compared: “The hymn is in harmony, in a tune nobody knows” set against “A lump of black wax pressed with a seal. Nobody at the site admits to having seen it before”.
- Working theory: rats, old pipes and imagination.
- Elias proposes smugglers using the place; Nathan objects that it explains too much.
- Working hypothesis adopted: rats, old pipes and imagination.
- The meeting breaks up.
Tuesday, 26 October 1926
- Nathan & Elias arrive at Potter's Field.
- Marks found earlier appear fresher.
- Strong smell of the sea, a long way inland noted.
- Investigators note a door open that had been left shut.
- No further findings.
- Someone was watching from across the way. When looked for again, nobody there.
- Investigators leave Potter's Field.
Wednesday, 27 October 1926
- Nathan & Elias arrive at Fisk's Loan Office.
- Inquiry extends to Fisk's Loan Office.
- Search of the upstairs landing.
- Investigators report a smell of the sea, a long way inland.
- A door open that had been left shut noted in the front hall.
- No further findings.
- Investigators leave Fisk's Loan Office.
- Complication: The owners refuse any further access.
Thursday, 28 October 1926
- Investigation suspended for 1 day: the witnesses have left town for a funeral.
Friday, 29 October 1926
- Elias arrives 32 minutes late.
- Nathan & Elias arrive at Arkham Police Department.
- Items held by the police are laid out for examination.
- Object examined: a lamp chimney blackened on the inside only. It is cold, and stays cold in the hand.
- The object contradicts the landlady's account.
- No further findings.
- Investigators leave Arkham Police Department.
- Margin note: a figure at the corner, quite still. Did not approach. Not seen to leave.
- A further record puts Mr. Morris Lacey abroad at 9:33 PM on the night in question.
- Nathan & Elias meet at Hobb's Tavern (est. 1714).
- Evidence compared: “A lump of black wax pressed with a seal. Nobody at the site admits to having seen it before” set against “A 1723 parish letter complains of the same 'unlicensed singing' at night”.
- Working theory: rats, old pipes and imagination.
- Elias proposes insurance fraud; Nathan objects that the timing doesn't fit.
- A connection is noted with an older file, The House on Gallows Lane: Cash and Silver (16 October): the same place — Fisk's Loan Office.
- Working hypothesis adopted: rats, old pipes and imagination.
- The meeting breaks up.
Saturday, 30 October 1926
- Nathan arrives at First Congregational Church.
- The parish registers consulted.
- Nathan reports a smell of lilies past their best.
- No further findings.
- Nathan leaves First Congregational Church.
Sunday, 31 October 1926
- Investigation suspended for 3 days: the witnesses have left town for a funeral.
Thursday, 4 November 1926
- Nathan & Elias arrive at Fisk's Loan Office.
- Investigators report footsteps overhead in an empty attic.
- Investigators report a smell of a smell nobody could name — sweet, and wrong.
- Dust inside the grooves of the carving — old dust — reported by Nathan & Elias.
- Investigators withdraw from Fisk's Loan Office.
- No further findings.
Friday, 5 November 1926
- Nathan & Elias meet at Kellerman's Lunch Room.
- The team discuss whether to go on.
- The discussion ends.
Saturday, 6 November 1926
- Nathan arrives 23 minutes late.
- Nathan & Elias arrive at Fisk's Loan Office.
- Everything is as it was left — including a cup of tea, still warm.
- Strong smell of something sweet under the damp noted.
- Investigators note a door open that had been left shut.
- No further findings.
- Investigators leave Fisk's Loan Office.
Monday, 8 November 1926
- Elias arrives 35 minutes late.
- Nathan & Elias arrive at Miskatonic University Library.
- The university archive consulted.
- Strong smell of floor polish noted.
- No further findings.
- Working theory: rats, old pipes and imagination.
- Investigators leave Miskatonic University Library.
- Elias arrives 12 minutes late.
- Nathan & Elias arrive at Potter's Field.
- Marks under the wallpaper like writing noted in the bell tower.
- Strong smell of something sweet under the damp noted.
- No further findings.
- Investigators leave Potter's Field.
Tuesday, 9 November 1926
- Elias arrives 24 minutes late.
- Nathan & Elias arrive at Potter's Field.
- Strong smell of ozone, as if lightning had struck indoors noted.
- Marks under the wallpaper like writing noted in the family plot.
- The grave was dug from beneath, and the earth is warm.
- Outcome: Escaped.
Wednesday, 10 November 1926
- Elias arrives 17 minutes late.
- Nathan & Elias meet at Kellerman's Lunch Room.
- The team agree the file: escaped.
- The file is put away.
- Afterwards: Potter's Field is quiet, for now; Nathan has become more careful; Elias has become more careful.
Moments from this file
Connected files
The morning after it was reported, the Arkham Gazette led with “SCREAMS AT TOWN HALL & REGISTRY OF DEEDS; SEARCH FINDS NOTHING”.