Tuesday, November 3, 1925. Drs. MacKenzie "Mackie" MacNamara and Henry Armitage are having evening tea in Dr. Armitage's study.
"Of course weird things happen on Halloween!" Mackie lit a cigarette in her excessively long cigarette holder. To Dr. Armitage, the cigarette holder seemed to get longer and longer for every time he met Mackie, Perhaps a bit like Pinocchio's nose? "Well, actually, Halloween used to be quite devoid from 'weird things' until the early 1920s. Consider what we spoke about just about a week ago." Mackie did recollect their conversation about a strange increase of strange events dating back to June of 1923.
"So, tell me more about what you found out about poor Picky Barnett?" Dr. Armitage poured Mackie some tea. Still the mid-Qing dynasty tea service. "Well, I have been spending some time in the library now, and it does seem as if Professor Thornton Smythe actually read the Beatus Methodivo and the Daemonolatreia last winter after his wretched son started dabbling in certain arts, leading to the tragic death of a student at the Hoover School, a certain Gregory Goyle. He then proceeded to borrow and read the Unaussprächlichen Kulten by von Juntzt, although he used his premier Ph. D. student, Eric Carlyle, as a proxy. Now, you do know that Thornton Smythe is a rather astute mathematician, which I am not. Nevertheless, I believe that he figured out a way to use old Graeco-Roman augury, sifting through organs and all of that in search of divine signs, to contact extra-dimensional forces and to ever so slightly bend time with one horrific purpose: to predict the stock market." Dr. Armitage almost dropped his teacup, and he had to put it down on his desk. "That is indeed interesting. You see, the Economics Department has been spending lavishly on some rather questionable projects, and we were just wondering where they might have been getting their funds. These questions mostly ceased once Thornton Smythe more than doubled his contributions to Miskatonic University, of course." Mackie had suspected this to be the case, but she did light another cigarette before continuing. "I am not at all sure of the details of Thornton Smythe's ritual, but research conducted by my friends, Mr. Pollack, Mr. Lake, Mr. Alter, Mr. Jeremiah and Miss Baker did indicate that initial tests were conducted on two vagrants some time ago. This required a visit to the Arkham PD Morgue, and a lengthy and unsavory conversation with Archie, the rather revolting mortician's assistant that delves in the morgue. Fortunately, we have some connections with Dr. Hubert Cline, the head of the Arkham PD Morgue." Dr. Armitage nodded as he was taking notes. His legal pad was already marked by concentric circles of spilt tea. "One man, a Joe Marx, did not survive, while the woman, Mary Kruss, did survive, although at quite some cost to her mental health. They also investigated the earthly remains of Picky Barnett, and it turned out she had the following marks and bruises:
- slight bruising around left wrist
- scratches on left lower arm.
- Bruised knuckles on right hand, two broken nails.
- Sewn together opening from pubic area to rib cage. Professionally and carefully done."
Mackie continued after a long drag on her cigarette: "So, as it turned out, miss Barnett was abducted on her birthday, and it seems as if the augury had been conducted on her birthday, October 24. According to my calculations, the next date to perform an augury would on Halloween, which this year even coincided with a full moon for extra effect. Now, to find a person whose birthday would be October 31?"
"Dr. MacNamara, I did mention the rumors of some form of new Greek society on campus. What did you make of that?" Dr. MacNamara helped herself to another cup of tea, even if she really was longing for a cold glass of champagne right now. Dr. Armitage could not help notice Mackie's scarred right forearm as she reached for the tea pot. He'd have to inquire about this at some later date.
"The rumors were very difficult to trace, though, but there were also rumors of a great big celebration, once again without being substantiated. We thought that this might refer to the Halloween celebrations, possibly excluding the President's ball. Further research and plain snooping around did find mention of a club, association or fraternity with the motto or name 'Opec ac Felicitatem', or 'Wealth and Happiness'." Professor Armitage smiled. "Yes, Dr. MacNamara, I do know some Latin, but please do continue."
Mackie chuckled. She actually did enjoy the company of Dr. Armitage, as formal as he might be, and Mackie did not mind snark at all. "Picky Barnett, or Veronica Astor, was probably abducted by two men claiming to be from the provost's office. Messrs. Jeremiah, Lake and Alter did of course find out that this was not at all the case, and they did speak to several witnesses, one of whom claimed that one of the gentlemen escorting miss Barnett bore a striking resemblance to someone from the Economics Department. We can only speculate in what happened next, but my friends believe that Picky Barnett was sedated and used for the augury. She was supposed to have survived the ordeal, but she did not. Was there a pre-existing condition, or did something go wrong? We'll probably never know."
"There are three major Halloween events at Miskatonic: The President's Ball, which is a fancy masquerade ball. It is held at the University Exhibit Museum. Then there's the Medical College Nightmare, at the college itself and featuring costumes and a dance, and finally the Young Economist's Halloween Spectacle at the Jonathan Edwards Hall. My friends thought this would be a perfect spot for an augury. There were a few students with birthdays on October 31, but they were difficult to find during the hectic week leading up to Halloween. Afterwards, the victim may, and I say may, have been a Paul Coffee from the Medical School. He is one of Dr. Herbert West's protegees, you know."
"Dr. MacNamara, do we know anything on the ritual Thornton Smythe had devised for this...stock market augury?" Mackie shook her head and shrugged. "It is difficult to say. Look here." She opened her briefcase and took out a folder filled with what seemed random notes, some of them seemingly written by a deranged person, or just Mackie. She placed several sheets of paper in front of Dr. Armitage. They were covered with exotic formulae, some quite weird illustrations and diagrams, and generous amounts of Mackie's wavy handwriting. "I believe that the ceremony included Thornton Smythe to access whatever lies beyond our dimension, and his helper, Fritz Rickman, to do the augury. Then the ceremony might need a sufficient amount of chanters to amplify the transdimensional contact (I think), and one or more guardians to make sure that forces from beyond our dimension do not enter the ceremonial space - and our world. My friends did not realize this at the time, though, and these are my reconstructions after speaking to Lake, Jeremiah, and Alter afterwards."
"These three gentlemen managed to get invitations to the Halloween Spectacle without further a due, and they even dressed up. Howard Lake was a Mexican wrestler. Felix Jeremiah a little devil, and Franz Alter dressed up as Death, scythe and all. They entered Jonathan Edwards Hall, and eventually they noticed Thornton Smythe dressed as Napoleon Bonaparte, something he seems to have a penchant for. He eventually left for the basement together with a matador that we assumed was Friz Rickman. My friends managed to get down into the basement by discreetly picking a lock or two, but there were no signs of Napoleon and the matador. There was, of course, a secret passage leading further down into the bedrock, and soon enough my friends started hearing dronelike chanting. The ritual, or augury, was taking place in what almost seemed like a small amphitheater, or perhaps a medical theater. A person, presumably Mr. Coffee, was just about to be carved upon by the matador, while being surrounded by four masked and robed individuals that were stretching out their arms in each direction of the compass. Theye were some 30 or 40 yards away, the theater being at the end of a dark hallway, and there was only light in the actual theater itself. Mr. Lake decided to open fire with his Luger at one of the individuals stretching out his or her arms, and his aim was true. The individual toppled over, and mayhem ensued. These guardians, or whatever they were, did seem to have served a purpose, as four or five horrifying headless creatures emerged from what seemed to be tears or rifts in our very own reality. They growled and wailed as one grabbed a chanting student and forcibly dragged the student into a featureless black void. The student's terrified screams were instantly cut off as the rift in time and space closed with the snap of a vacuum seal being broken, which sent a wave of pain into the eardrums of everyone present. Two of the beasts ran up towards Thornton Smythe, while one ran towards Lake, Jeremiah, and Alter, who attempted to flee the scene. Yet, they were too slow, but mortal weaponry seemed to have some effect on the monstrosity. Lake emptied his Luger, Jeremiah his high-gauge shotgun, and the beast was eventually finished off by Alter's scythe. While Thornton Smythe conducted some gruesome chant, my friends ran up the stairs and pulled the fire alarm before leaving the building. The party was over."
"So, what's next?" Dr. Armitage had been listening intently perched at the edge of his chair." "I do not know. According to the Arkham Advertiser, two students were killed in a fire at the Jonathan Edwards Hall. Professor Thornton Smythe will have the board of the Economics Department do a review of inhouse celebrations, and the Arkham PD is conducting a full investigation. in other words, very little."
