Investigation #0017 · Open investigation
The Disappearing Professor: The Stair Below
Dockhands report chanting beneath Carver & Sons Warehouse No. 7. Neighbours say it has been building for 12 days — since 16 October.
- Where
- Warehouse No. 7 — the Stair Below, Arkham Docks
- Opened
- Thursday, 28 October 1926, 14:00
- Now
- RESEARCH
- Investigators
- Walter Ferris, Rafael Delgado
- Line of inquiry
- The Disappearing Professor
- Outcome
- Still open.
Findings
- An office door is found open that the porter swears was locked.
- Halsey's notes refer to 'the third door' as though it were a place he had been.
- A lamp chimney blackened on the inside only. It is older than it looks.
- A handful of river sand from a dry room. There are marks on it that match the marks found earlier.
- Library records show MS 1147 withdrawn in 1788, in 1893 and last month — each time by a man who then disappeared.
- The loan ledger was altered by someone with a key; the older entry names Blakemore.
- The doors Halsey counted are not in buildings. They are in the river, one beneath another.
- Every man who withdrew MS 1147 is recorded as returning it. None of them came back.
- A brass button from a uniform no regiment wore. It is older than it looks.
- A tin box of teeth, labelled by year. It is cold, and stays cold in the hand.
The record
Saturday, 16 October 1926
- Before the report: Someone was seen leaving Warehouse No. 7 — Order Meeting Place at an hour nobody can account for.
Sunday, 17 October 1926
- Before the report: A strange weather at Warehouse No. 7 — Order Meeting Place: frost on one wall on a mild morning.
Monday, 18 October 1926
- Before the report: Lemuel Carver at Warehouse No. 7 — Order Meeting Place says the water there ran the wrong way for an hour on Tuesday.
Saturday, 23 October 1926
- Before the report: The Gazette has had three letters this week about Warehouse No. 7 — Order Meeting Place.
Sunday, 24 October 1926
- Before the report: A local rumour about Warehouse No. 7 — Order Meeting Place is doing the rounds again, decades old. (since explained)
- Before the report: Two households near Warehouse No. 7 — Order Meeting Place report the same sound on the same night.
Monday, 25 October 1926
- Before the report: A resident who has lived near Warehouse No. 7 — Order Meeting Place for thirty years says they have never known a week like it.
- Before the report: An old document concerning Warehouse No. 7 — Order Meeting Place has turned up in the bound volumes of the Gazette.
Tuesday, 26 October 1926
- Before the report: A second, unrelated witness now confirms what the first said about Warehouse No. 7 — Order Meeting Place.
- Before the report: The talk about Warehouse No. 7 — Order Meeting Place turns out to have had an ordinary explanation.
Wednesday, 27 October 1926
- Before the report: A resident who has lived near Warehouse No. 7 — Order Meeting Place for thirty years says they have never known a week like it.
- Before the report: Dead fish at Warehouse No. 7 — Order Meeting Place, dozens, and no reason for it.
Thursday, 28 October 1926
- Initial report received. Dockhands report chanting beneath Carver & Sons Warehouse No. 7. Neighbours say it has been building for 12 days — since 16 October.
- A new development in an older matter: The Disappearing Professor: A Professor Missing (reopened), closed 19 October (partially solved).
- Among the papers on the file: the notice of Thursday 30 September — “The 6.40 to Boston will not call at Arkham Depot (Boston & Maine) on Sunday owing to work …” Nobody thought anything of it at the time.
- Ferris & Rafa take up the investigation.
- Ferris arrives at Warehouse No. 7 — Order Meeting Place.
- Search of the pier head.
- Ferris reports a smell of river mud.
- Ferris notes rope coiled on the boards.
- Ferris reports a foghorn.
- Finding: An office door is found open that the porter swears was locked.
- Ferris leaves Warehouse No. 7 — Order Meeting Place.
Friday, 29 October 1926
- Ferris arrives 19 minutes late.
- Ferris & Rafa arrive at Warehouse No. 7 — Order Meeting Place.
- Statement taken from Lemuel Carver (Owner, Carver & Sons).
- Statement taken from the milkman.
- Accounts conflict. Lemuel Carver (Owner, Carver & Sons) heard a man's voice. The milkman heard a child.
- Working theory: a family covering something up.
- Finding: Halsey's notes refer to 'the third door' as though it were a place he had been.
- Investigators leave Warehouse No. 7 — Order Meeting Place.
Saturday, 30 October 1926
- Ferris arrives 24 minutes late.
- Ferris & Rafa arrive at Warehouse No. 7 — Order Meeting Place.
- Search of the boathouse for physical evidence.
- Object examined: a lamp chimney blackened on the inside only. It is older than it looks.
- Object examined: a handful of river sand from a dry room. There are marks on it that match the marks found earlier.
- The object contradicts the milkman's account.
- Finding: Library records show MS 1147 withdrawn in 1788, in 1893 and last month — each time by a man who then disappeared.
- Investigators leave Warehouse No. 7 — Order Meeting Place.
- Ferris arrives at First Congregational Church.
- The parish registers consulted.
- Ferris reports a smell of cut grass.
- Finding: The parish registers — The loan ledger was altered by someone with a key; the older entry names Blakemore.
- Ferris leaves First Congregational Church.
Sunday, 31 October 1926
- Rafa arrives 38 minutes late.
- Ferris & Rafa meet at The Blind Heron.
- Evidence compared: “Halsey's notes refer to 'the third door' as though it were a place he had been” set against “A handful of river sand from a dry room. There are marks on it that match the marks found earlier”.
- Ferris and Rafa disagree about the cause: Ferris suspects a thing that was here before the town; Rafa, someone who wants the property cheap.
- Ferris notes a gentleman in a silk hat and morning coat: he crossed the road, and crossed back, 6 times, in the same manner each time. Rafa sees nobody.
- Rafa proposes someone who wants the property cheap; Ferris objects that the records say otherwise.
- A connection is noted with an older file, The Disappearing Professor: The Collector (2 October): the same line of inquiry.
- No agreement is reached.
- The meeting breaks up.
- Patrolman Szymanski's notebook is produced: Lemuel Carver was seen outside the property at 7:18 PM.
Monday, 1 November 1926
- Ferris arrives 19 minutes late.
- Ferris & Rafa arrive at Warehouse No. 7 — Order Meeting Place.
- The riverbank has been disturbed since the last visit.
- Investigators report a smell of ozone, as if lightning had struck indoors.
- Marks under the wallpaper like writing noted in the riverbank.
- Finding: The doors Halsey counted are not in buildings. They are in the river, one beneath another.
- Ferris notes the same gentleman in the silk hat as before: he crossed the road, and crossed back, 7 times, in the same manner each time. Rafa also sees him. When next looked for, he is gone.
- Investigators leave Warehouse No. 7 — Order Meeting Place.
Wednesday, 3 November 1926
- Ferris & Rafa arrive at The Stair Below.
- Inquiry extends to The Stair Below.
- Side passage examined.
- Strong smell of old blood, though we found none noted.
- A shadow on the stair with nothing to cast it noted in the flooded chamber.
- Clue recorded: “The Worn Stair”.
- Finding: Every man who withdrew MS 1147 is recorded as returning it. None of them came back.
- Investigators leave The Stair Below.
- Ferris reports trouble concentrating.
- A bystander noted beyond the cordon. Nobody present knew who it was.
- Complication: Evidence goes missing from the police station overnight.
- Rafa arrives 21 minutes late.
- Ferris & Rafa arrive at The Stair Below.
- Furniture in the flooded chamber has been moved.
- Strong smell of a smell like the inside of the earth — old beyond old noted.
- Investigators note a stair going further down than the house is tall.
- No further findings.
Thursday, 4 November 1926
- Investigators leave The Stair Below.
- Ferris complains of a cold sweat.
- Ferris & Rafa arrive at The Stair Below.
- Search of the side passage for physical evidence.
- Object examined: a brass button from a uniform no regiment wore. It is older than it looks.
- Object examined: a tin box of teeth, labelled by year. It is cold, and stays cold in the hand.
- The object contradicts the milkman's account.
- No further findings.
- Investigators leave The Stair Below.
- Rafa arrives 21 minutes late.
- Ferris & Rafa meet at Kellerman's Lunch Room.
- Evidence compared: “The doors Halsey counted are not in buildings. They are in the river, one beneath another” set against “A tin box of teeth, labelled by year. It is cold, and stays cold in the hand”.
- Working theory: smugglers using the place.
- Rafa proposes someone who wants the property cheap; Ferris objects that it's what we wanted to find.
- A connection is noted with an older file, The Disappearing Professor: A Professor Missing (21 September): the same line of inquiry.
- Someone was watching from across the way. When looked for again, nobody there.
- Working hypothesis adopted: smugglers using the place.
- The meeting breaks up.
Friday, 5 November 1926
- Rafa arrives 22 minutes late.
- Ferris & Rafa arrive at Records Archive.
- The Sanitarium's admission books consulted.
- Strong smell of old paper noted.
- No further findings.
- No further findings.
- Working theory: smugglers using the place.
- Investigators leave Records Archive.
- Rafa arrives at Warehouse No. 7 — the Stair Below.
- Acting on Ferris's theory — smugglers using the place — investigators visit Warehouse No. 7 — the Stair Below.
- Strong smell of saltwater noted.
- Nothing here connects to the case.
- Rafa leaves Warehouse No. 7 — the Stair Below.
Saturday, 6 November 1926
- Ferris arrives 35 minutes late.
- Ferris & Rafa arrive at The Stair Below.
- Investigators report something breathing, slow and enormous, under the floor.
- Strong smell of a smell like the inside of the earth — old beyond old noted.
- Stars in the water under a clouded sky — reported by Ferris & Rafa.
- Investigators withdraw from The Stair Below.
- No further findings.
Sunday, 7 November 1926
- Ferris & Rafa meet at Kellerman's Lunch Room.
- The team discuss whether to go on.
- The discussion ends.
Tuesday, 9 November 1926
- Rafa arrives 14 minutes late.
- Ferris & Rafa arrive at The Stair Below.
- The markings have spread.
- Strong smell of a smell like the inside of the earth — old beyond old noted.
- Investigators note the same face in photographs a century apart.
- No further findings.
- Investigators leave The Stair Below.
- Ferris complains of trouble breathing.
Wednesday, 10 November 1926
- Rafa arrives 32 minutes late.
- Ferris & Rafa arrive at Miskatonic University Library.
- The university archive consulted.
- Strong smell of coal-gas from the lamps noted.
- No further findings.
- No further findings.
- Ferris and Rafa disagree about the cause: Ferris suspects smugglers using the place; Rafa, the dead trying to say something.
- Investigators leave Miskatonic University Library.
Moments from this file
Connected files
The morning after it was reported, the Arkham Gazette led with “"NOTHING IN IT," SAYS CHIEF OF RARE BOOKS ROOM TALK”.