To Insanity and Beyond

[OzCymru]

Saturday, 31st May, 1924

Arriving at the Marsh family home, you again recall the letter that has disrupted your weekend. Its finely crafted characters are written in a feminine hand and the paper smells faintly of perfume.

Dear ____

I hope you will forgive me writing to you out of the blue, but I am desperate for help and am running out of people to turn to. Baxter has had a breakdown, and I have had to have him committed to hospital. I am hoping that seeing some old friends might bring him to his right mind, and I would be sincerely grateful if you were able to visit him.

If you can help, please come to our home in Providence after lunch on Saturday and I will arrange for your visit with the hospital later that afternoon.

I am starting to lose hope and don’t know where else to turn.

Yours sincerely

Mrs. Celia Marsh

Accompanying the letter is a card which bears the address of the Marsh family home in Providence, Rhode Island.

The letter arrived on Tuesday, identical copies addressed separately to Tim, Donald, Mary and Katherine. Call it a hunch, divine inspiration or women’s intuition, but something gave Mary the idea that Jenounces may be of use in the matter and placed a call, inviting him along.

It is approaching one o’clock when you arrive at the house, a grand old Georgian-style building set amid a beautiful apple orchard whose trees are in full bloom. Birdsong floods the grounds and the family’s elegant black limousine is pulled up out the front, its chrome fittings gleaming in the spring sunshine. Despite the pleasantry of the surroundings, however, it is with some reluctance that you approach the front door and ring the bell, feeling a tightening in your throat as you listen to the chimes echo through the hallway and slowly fade to nothing.

Baxter L. Marsh

Spoiler

Show

As an only child, Baxter L. Marsh had a comfortable and rather cosseted upbringing at the family’s luxurious home in Providence, Rhode Island. Despite a university education, he was never inclined towards a life of work and has spent most of his adulthood indulging himself in a variety of hobbies and interests – fast cars, golf, archaeology – each one more random and short-lived than the last as he sought for something to cure his boredom. As he has lurched from one phase of his life to the next, Baxter has touched each of you in some way – a friend, a colleague, a lover. Whatever your relationship with him, you were close once, close enough that you still think of him occasionally, usually with fondness.

The last you heard of him, Baxter had been thinking of going overseas – Europe, most likely – very much against the wishes of his family, who would prefer him to stay within the fold. That was a few years ago, when he was entering his twenties, but you lost touch shortly afterward and you never found out what happened to him.

[Xealot7]

Katherine Crawford

Katherine waits on the front porch of the Marsh Family Home. She is a stunningly beautiful woman, rather petite with gorgeous blonde hair, partially covered by a large, stylish hat with a yellow flower on it. She wears a nice summer dress and carries her purse over her shoulder.

"Oh, I do hope Baxter is alright." she says to no one in particular, her strong southern accent readily evident.

[Strawberries]

Mary Cavanaugh

Mary walks nervously to the porch. A woman of medium build, she is almost unremarkable save from the fact that she is unhealthy pale. For the occasion, she is wearing one of her nicest dress, of those she uses when she is invited to the gatherings of the high society. It’s a sober green and doesn’t have chemical stains on it. She also combed her hair, getting rid of her hairbun in favor of a more stylish hairdo.
As always happens when she has to deal with people of an higher status she feels nervous and self-conscious. The strange, ominous sensation she feels approaching the door, however, is something new.

She notices the woman on the porch. “Good morning, Madame “ she says, trying to remember if she has already met her. Remembering people’s faces has never been one of her strong points.

[Xealot7]

Katherine Crawford

"And a good day to you as well. I don't believe we've met. I'm Katherine... a friend of Baxter's." Katherine flashes a big smile as she greets the new arrival.

[Strawberries]

Mary

Mary returns the smile, relieved. "My name is Mary, I am a friend of Baxter as well. I,ehm, received a rather disturbing letter from Mrs. Marsh. Would you happen to be here for the same reason?"

[Xealot7]

Katherine Crawford

"I would, although I have no further information than Baxter is in the hospital and not quite feeling as himself. I certainly hope it's not too serious."

[V for Victory]

Donald walks onto the porch and grabs a seat. He sits legs spread, with his arms hanging between his legs. Waiting for someone to happen

He is dressed in charcoal gray slacks, a white button shirt with some staining around the collar and the sleeves rolled up to the forearm, he has brown leather suspenders on and is wearing unpolished black workshoes. His hair looks messy, as if he hasn't cleaned him self for a couple days and he needs to shave badly enough you wouldn't recognize him if he did. He took a cab here and is planning on trying to get a ride back with one of you.

[Lycan 01]

Tim slowly approaches the mansion, surveying the beauty around him with an aloof expression and raised eyebrows. "Nice place... I forgot how ritzy it was..." he murmers to himself. He wears a comfortable black suit, with a white long-sleeve undershirt and a vibrant red tie. He pauses for a moment in his walk to place his black fedora with a red band back atop his head, having been unable to wear it while driving his motorcycle. The hat fits comfortable over his short-cropped brown hair, and he stops to scratch his face, the itch of his five-o'clock-shadow's stuble starting to bug him.

One thing lacking from his ensemble is his violin case, which usually holds either an instrument or a weapon, depending on the day. He felt that this meeting wouldn't call for entertainment or firepower, so he opted to leave it at home. Always cautious and practical, however, he still decided to carry a pistol and a harmonica on him, just in case he was wrong on either count. As he approaches the front door of the manor, he notices the people already gathering on the porch. Ascending the front stops, he tilts his hat in greeting and flashes a friendly smile. "Afternoon, ladies..." he remarks to the lovely women before him, also nodding to the man sitting nearby. "Hi there to you, as well."

Fishing into the inside of his suit jacket, he removes a small cigar box and grins. "Ya'll mind if I smoke? Or chomp? Or would you prefer I do neither?"

[Strawberries]

Mary

"Of course not. Please, suit yourself, sir" Mary gives a look to the other man that has sat on the porch without a word, but figures it wouldn't be polite to drag into the conversation if he doesn't want to talk.

[JeenLeen]

Jenounces

Jenounces drives up to the estate and parks his car, a rather shoddy looking Model T, a bit far back where it won't be as easily seen from the front door. He is wearing a nice-looking tweed suit and a simple but nice rimmed hat, although anyone with a good sense of fashion can tell that neither are expensive. He is without backpack or pistol, although both are in his car.

When he approaches, he recognizes Mary and says, with a small hint of excitement and nervousness and a bit of a French accent in some of his words, "Hello, Miss Cavanaugh, an honour to see you again. I greatly appreciate your asking me to come along."

He turns to the others and says, "Hello. My name is Jenounces Leone. I assume you all, too, are here to see Mr. Baxter." Seeing Tim with his cigar box, he then offers, "Would anyone like a cigarette?"

[V for Victory]

I'll take one of em'

[Lycan 01]

"No thanks, Frenchie..." Tim grins in a friendly manner as he tucks a cigar between his teeth, hoping the fellow doesn't take his cavalier attitude personally, "I'm covered. But thanks for the offer..."

He considers lighting up the cigar, but decides he'd rather not subject everyone to the thick smoke. He's content to just chew the cigar casually, anyway. "The name's Tim, by the way. I don't think I've ever met any of you folks. I'm an old friend of the family..." he shrugs, deciding that's all that really needs to be said on the matter.

[JeenLeen]

Jenounces smiles at Tim and adds, "I see you are already better equipped. A pleasure to meet you, Tim."

He offers one and a light to Donald, then starts to light one for himself but stops and asks, I apologize if I was the last person to arrive. Are we waiting for another gentleman or lady, or has somebody already rung for the doorman? I admit I, too, know nobody here besides Miss Cavanaugh.

[V for Victory]

I think onea' them dames got the bell. Say, what's the deal here anyway? You all freinds of Baxter?

[Xealot7]

"I appreciate the offer, but no thank you." Katherine smiles as she declines the offer.

[Strawberries]

Mary nods in aknowledment and smiles to Jenounces when she is addressed, declining the offer of a smoke with a small shake of her head
"Me and Miss Crawford at least are both here for the same reason" she says "We received disturbing news about Baxter's health. And being rather worried I took the liberty of inviting Mr Leone as well. He is quite a talented young detective" she adds with another smile. She seems slightly more at ease, now that introduction have been almost made.

[OzCymru]

The sound of the door being unlocked from the other side stills the conversation on the porch. A moment later it swings open and you are ushered inside by the family's butler, a stately, rather stiff fellow who nods a curt greeting to each of you and shows you to an elegantly furnished living room, where he bids you to sit down on one of the expensive looking sofas before disappearing.

The room is brightly lit by a large, south facing window, and is the height of good taste, the furniture modern yet classical and the walls adorned with a mixture of family portraits and collection pieces. Pride of place is given to a family portrait that shows a young Mr. Marsh standing rather formally behind Mrs. Marsh, who is seated with the infant Baxter on her knee. From what you know of Baxter, it would have been torture for him to sit still for so long, but the artist has given him a mischievous, joyful expression that lights up the otherwise dour painting.

It is several minutes before the door opens and Mrs. Marsh enters. She is as elegant as ever, and still very attractive for a woman in her fifties. She smiles and bids you to remain seated, but it is obvious that she is not the zestful, spirited woman she once was. Behind her smile, her eyes are dull and lifeless, and her make-up has not fully hidden the grey bags that hang below them. Her outfit, too - a plain black dress matched with a simple pearl necklace - is unlike her usual colourful attire.

"Welcome, all of you," she says in a thin, rather strained voice. "Thank you so much for coming. It's good to see you. How about some tea?" Without waiting for a response, she picks up a small bell and rings it for a few seconds. "Jarvis will be along in a moment."

She perches herself on the edge of a wingback chair near the window so that she is slightly silhouetted, making it difficult to see the detail in her face. She offers light pleasantries to Donald, Tim and the two ladies, asking about their work and their families but hardly listening to the replies.

"And yourself, sir?" she asks Jenounces directly. "I don't believe I've had the pleasure. Are you a friend of Baxter's too? I only recall addressing four letters. May I ask how you have come to be here?"

[Strawberries]

"Mrs. Marsh, please allow me to introduce you Mr Leone" Mary says, a bit stiffly, as if insecure of the proper etiquette. Never be certain of which the etiquette is for social situations is one of the reason she dislikes upper classes meetings. The other are the looks she gets when she says she works for a living and what her work is. "He is a friend, and a private investigator, here at my request. I was honestly worried about your letter, I thought he may help."

[JeenLeen]

For a moment at Mrs. Marsh statement, Jenounces has a slightly embarrassed expression which he mostly hides, then exhales a quiet sigh of relief upon Mary's answering for his presence. He stands and gives a deferential nod to Mrs. Marsh.

"As the fair Miss Cavanaugh said, my name is Jenounces Leone. I have heard how dear Mr. Baxter is to many people, and if I can be of any assistance I would be more than happy to lend my aid."

After a second of hesitation--he's not too sure of himself in this social setting, either--he sits down again.

[OzCymru]

Mrs. Marsh frowns at the explanations given by Mary and Jenounces. "An investigator? I'm not quite sure we have anything that needs investigating. All I asked is for some of Baxter's friends to pay him a visit. I thought it might help to clear his head a little, that's all. Really, Mary, I'm surprised at this."

She shrugs, and breathes a heavy sigh just as the door opens and the butler appears. "Tea, Jarvis, and some light refreshment," she says. He nods his assent and departs, closing the door behind him.

"Well, I don’t suppose it matters now," she says, "but I did specifically ask those people who I thought Baxter might respond to. I never intended for it to be an open house. Anyway, I have arranged for you to visit the hospital at three o'clock. Perhaps until then I might explain to you what has happened with Baxter and answer any questions you might have. I realise that this must be something of a shock to some of you, being called out of the blue like this. I'm sorry, but I have been under enormous strain lately and I am getting quite desperate."

For those of you who have met Mrs. Marsh before, it is obvious that she is not herself. Normally warm and vibrant, whatever has happened with Baxter has clearly had a tremendous effect on the poor woman.

"Now, I'm sure you know how Baxter used to go from one hobby to the next. Goodness, the amount of money we wasted on his short-lived hobbies, I could fill this house with the junk we bought him that he never used. Well, about two years ago he finally seemed to find something that held his attention for more than five minutes - tracing his family tree.

"I know," she smiles. "Doesn't seem like something he'd be interested in, does it? But he really got into it, spent hours searching the libraries and the old public records trying to track down the more distant, obscure branches of the family. It got to become something of an obsession for him, but he didn't let on much about what he'd found. Mr. Marsh and I asked him about it a number of times, but he never gave much away. It became a little worrying, actually, we'd never seen him like that before, and he started to become quite withdrawn. Still, we weren't too concerned until he found out about an old farmhouse in Woonsocket that is supposed to have belonged to some distant ancestor.

"Against my wishes and my husband's, he bought the farmhouse and moved in. Oh, you should see the place - nothing more than a dilapidated shack in the woods. How we tried to talk him out of it, but he wouldn't listen. You know how stubborn he can be. That was about a year ago, and after that we started seeing less and less of him. He seemed to spend a lot of time with this horrid fellow, a Mr. Baines. I think he even moved into the farmhouse with Baxter for a while."

She pauses as the door opens and Jarvis reappears, pushing a trolley laden with sandwiches, cakes and several pots of tea. He sets them out onto a side table as Mrs. Marsh continues her story.

"That was when we started to notice some real changes in Baxter's personality. We tried to dismiss it, of course, but when we didn't see him at all over the winter, well then we became extremely worried. In February, Mr. Marsh and Jarvis went to Woonsocket to visit Baxter and try to talk him into coming back home. I don’t know what happened - Mr. Marsh wouldn't tell me when he came home that night - but I'm sure it had a terrible effect on my poor husband. Only a few weeks later…" Her voice starts to break and you can see that she is becoming more distressed.

"Only a few weeks later I lost him. He was on the balcony upstairs when…well, I don't know." She lapses into a long silence, staring at the floor as if composing herself before she can continue.

"Jarvis found him," she continues eventually in a flat voice. "They say he didn't suffer, the fall must have killed him immediately." She looks up at the family portrait, he eyes watery, her face a mask of resolve as she tries bitterly to control herself.

"Baxter never even came to the funeral," she says in a much smaller tone, sounding almost defeated. "I don't know what on earth has happened to him. Then I heard he was in trouble with the police, though I don't know what over. The only thing I could think of was to commit him to a hospital and hope that someone there could help him, so I had the papers served last month. When the police went to the farm he went mad and they had to restrain him. Now the doctors say he isn't responding to treatment and they can't take care of him anymore. They want to put him in a permanent facility. I won't have that, I know he can get better. I just hope seeing you might help him in some way."

[V for Victory]

Damn Donald says, suprised

[Strawberries]

"I'm very sorry for your loss, Mrs Marsh" Mary says in a small voice. She had gone a bit red at her rebuke."I'll try to help however I can."

[Lycan 01]

"Mr. Marsh..." Tim mutters somberly, his cool and calm demeanor momentarilly unsettled. Mr. Marsh had been a good friend, and they'd even done some business together. How had he not heard about his death? Had he really been that busy over the last few weeks? "I'm... I'm sorry for you loss, Mrs. Marsh..." he mutters, taking a chomp into his cigar to distract his thoughts and ground them back in reality. "We'll see what we can do to help. When would you like us to go visit him?"

[JeenLeen]

Jenounces gives a slow, solemn nod, quite shocked at hearing the tale. His right hand instinctually goes over his chest, over the spot where his pendant of the Virgin Mary is under his shirt.

He starts to offer some condolences, but then decides against it; his presence here is a tolerated thing, and he needn't remind the poor woman that another thing, even rather minor like his being invited, has gone contrary to what she would hope.

[OzCymru]

Mrs. Marsh nods a thank you at the offers of condolence, though doesn't look overly impressed by Donald's choice of language or the lack of sympathy in his tone.

"I've arranged your visit for three o'clock," she replies to Tim, glancing at the grandfather clock, whose face shows that you still have an hour to go before then. "The hospital is fifteen minutes from here, so why don't you help yourself to some tea and something to eat? Goodness knows, what I just told you must be a lot to take in, so you might want some time to digest it before you leave."

She dismisses Jarvis, who has finished transferring the refreshments to the side table, and he disappears with the empy trolley.

[Lycan 01]

Tim slowly chews on his cigar in concentration. "So... Mrs. Marsh... What can you tell us about this fellow Baxter started pallin' around with?" the strong-man asks. "Mr. Baines or whatever?" he says, a hint of venom and disdain detectable in his voice.

[OzCymru]

Mrs. Marsh pauses halfway through lifting a cream bun to her lips, which she purses together in an expression of sour distaste. "Hmm, yes, him," she says. "I only saw him once, but he certainly left an impression. Dressed all in black, he was, and he was wearing these dark glasses that hid his eyes. I only met him for a few minutes and he never said a word, but there was something about the man I didn't like, and my husband felt the same."

[JeenLeen]

Jenounces adds the question, "Did your son ever mention a first name for that fellow, or where he lived?" He adds with a slight reticence, "...besides the farmhouse," then normally, "If we can find this Baines fellow, we might be able to learn better what troubles your son."

[OzCymru]

Mrs. Marsh looks a trifle impatient at Jenounces' question. "Didn't I already tell you that I only met him once?" she says. "Weren't you listening?"

She sets down her plate and for several awkward moments buries her face in her hands. When she emerges, her expression is somewhat softer. "I'm sorry Mr...um...Long? I don't mean to be rude. I've been under a lot of strain, as you can imagine. No, I'm sorry I don't know this Baines fellow by any other name. To tell you the truth, I've tried not to think about him. I can't even tell you what it was that made him seem so disagreeable - it was just a…feeling…when he was around."

[JeenLeen]

Jenounces looks rather shocked and embarrassed at her rebuke and remains silent during the awkwardness. After she finishes talking, he nods and says, "No offense taken, ma'am. I know this is a difficult time."