Session Report - Played Thursday 11th May, 2006

Audio Recording - This session was run between the Gamemaster and Doctor Frederick Bartlett (as played by Marcus Gustafsson). There was no recording done of this session.

Doctor Bartlett receives a letter from Doctor Charles Highsmith, superintendent of St Agnes Asylum in Weobley, Herefordshire, requesting a meeting on the 28th at the Great Western Hotel in London.

At the meeting, Highsmith explains that the patient he wishes to consult Bartlett about is Alexander Roby, who has been committed to St Agnes Asylum for the last two years following the brutal murders of his father and sister, killings he initially claimed responsibility for, but was never in fact charged with.

Highsmith has to make a recommendation for the release, or otherwise, of Roby and was leaning towards release when he came under pressure from the Roby family, through the conduit of family physician Doctor Lionel Trollope to keep Alexander confined. The head of Alexander's family is his brother, the prominent banker Grahame Roby.

Highsmith wishes to understand the motives behind the family's position, but they hasn't been able to get them to reveal any details. He also wants Bartlett's professional opinion of the state of mind of Alexander Roby, and asks Bartlett to accompany him when he returns to Herefordshire on the 30th. Intrigued, though unsure of his suitability for what amounts to a private investigation, he agrees.

Bartlett joins Highsmith on the 10.20am train, to change at Bristol for Hereford. A car meets them and takes them the 20 miles to the village of Weobley. The asylum squats on a hill overlooking the village - a grim Victorian building.

Highsmith describes Roby's symptoms - extreme night terrors, or scotophobia, which manifest around the anniversary of the Roby murders in October each year and continue until April. The attacks are controlled with high doses of laudanum. apart from these attacks, Roby is uncommunicative and seems to live in a world of his own. Highsmith suggests that Bartlett examine Roby on his own initially, and instructs two of his male staff, Nurse Price and Reeves, his secretary, to accompany Bartlett.

En route to Roby's cell Price asks if Bartlett is here about 'the murder', which turns out not to be the Roby killings, but a murder that happened within the asylum a year before. Bartlett asks if he can talk to Price about that after seeing Roby.

In Roby's cell, the madman is reading a book and does not react to his visitors. Bartlett examines Roby's books, which are all poetry by modern poets such as Graves and Pound, and discovers marginal notes in pencil throughout them. He is astonished to find a note referring to Carcosa and soon finds other referring to Cassilda, Hastur and other elements of the play.

Eventually Bartlett gets a response from Roby, who soon goes into a strange monologue, which Reeves records in shorthand and types up later. Amongst other things, Roby refers to unknown associates called Malcolm Quarrie and Edwards. When Roby asks Bartlett if he's seen the Yellow Sign, Bartlett says 'yes' (see Roby's statement).

After that, Roby returns to reading his poetry, so Bartlett sends Reeves to type up the statement and goes with Price to the staff break room to hear about the asylum murder of November 27th, 1927.

The murder was brutal and mysterious. A nurse called Cuthbert Yates was slashed to death with at least two knives in the cell of Roby's neighbour, the brain-damaged Lucius Harriwell. The police suspected Harriwell, but since he was clearly insane and already indefinitely incarcerated they saw no point in prosecution. The asylum staff, however, don't believe Harriwell capable of such a thing - he was found cowering in his cell, insisting 'the Devil' was responsible, and no weapon was found. Roby was heavily sedated, and despite the interesting parallels with the Roby murders, could not have been involved.

The strange thing, however, was that the amount of blood found in the cell far exceeded that which could have been lost by the victim alone. No second victim was found, and nobody was reported missing. Price says that Hereford CID handled the case.

Bartlett agrees with Highsmith that Roby seems harmless, and says he'll see what he can find out in London. In further discussion with Highsmith, Bartlett finds out that Roby befriended the nurse, Mark Evans, and Evans gave him pencils on two occasions, against instructions. Evans himself says that Roby talked to him about poetry and asked him for pencils so he could 'complete his work'. He knows he shouldn't have done it, and won't again.

That evening, Bartlett visits the Wheatsheaf pub with Price and other staff, and they talk about the murder, Roby and Highsmith, but Bartlett learns little more.

After breakfast, Bartlett visits Roby again, this time in the company of Evans, but Roby is uncommunicative, except to say “Don't forget to tell Quarrie.” just as Bartlett leaves.

Bartlett is driven back to Hereford, has lunch at the station hotel and returns to London. He has an appointment to play bridge with Withers, Browne and Saunders at his Wimbledon home that evening.

Continue to Session 2 - The Plot Thickens