MAG 24: Strange Music

Statement of Leanne Denikin, regarding an antique calliope organ she possessed briefly in August 2004.
==Statement==
Leanne Denikin's grandfather, Nikolai Denikin, died in August 2004. As she was not very close to either of her parents but spent a lot of time with her grandfather, she took the death hard. He had been a carnie most of his life and travelled around Europe with various groups. He left his house to Leanne in his will.
The attic had always been locked, but whilst moving boxes around the house, Leanne took a pair of bolt cutters to the lock and stored some boxes there. In the attic she found a bright red calliope organ and a steamer trunk. In the trunk were 23 dolls, 22 of which had their lower jaws removed, and one which was a very old clown doll, hairless but with a pointed hat and a red smile painted across its mouth. The calliope organ had a brass plaque reading "The Calliophone" with writing carved into the cover "Be still, for there is strange music".
Sims is briefly interrupted by Sasha, talking about how to pronounce 'calliope' (cal-EYE-oh-pee vs ca-lee-OH-pee).
Leanne played a tune her grandfather had taught her, getting faster and faster until she fumbled. She turned to see the steamer trunk open and the clown atop it, even though she had closed the lid. She noted that afterwards she discovered that you cannot play a calliope organ without the blower working, which she didn't setup.
She took Josh, her partner, to see it, but he was unsettled by the clown dolls, and when she played the organ he said that he wanted to go.
A few weeks later, Josh and Leanne split up for undisclosed reasons, although in the last days of the relationship he broke down, saying that he could still hear that calliope music, as though it was getting nearer.
Later, whilst packing more boxes in the attic, she saw the clown doll again out of the steamer trunk, this time reaching for a doll that looked exactly like Josh. She padlocked the trunk later that day.
A week later, Leanne returned to the house to find it broken into. Nothing had been taken save for the red calliope and the steamer trunk. She provided a copy of the police report in which a neighbour explains that she saw two men taking the calliope out, piece by piece and taking them away. The organ was never found.
4 days later, Josh was found dead in his room, his throat crushed by a rope made from thick wool, with his lower jaw torn off and missing. Leanne swears she had nothing to do with it.
== Post-Statement ==
The police report that Leanne provided is corroborated by Irene Harlow, confirming the existence of the calliope.
There was no DNA evidence in the room that Josh was murdered in.
Tim said that the calliope reminded him of traveling circuses in the early 20th century in Poland and Russia. On page 43 of Freaks and Followers book by Gregory Petry, Jonathan Sims found a black and white photo of a travelling circus troupe: a contortionist, two strong men, a fire eater, a ringmaster, and an organist, from 1948 in Minsk, Belarus. The organist and ringmaster are named as Nikolai Denikin and Gregor Orsinov and the troupe was called Tsirk Drugovo (Цирк другого): Circus of the Other другой Цирк ('Drugoy Tsirk', or 'Another Circus') [this was corrected on the forums by Jonny], which rings a bell with John.
Leanne emigrated to Southeast Asia in 2014 and wasn't available for a follow up interview. Jonathan Sims explains that the calliope organ is currently in the Magnus Institute's Artefact Storage and Elias suggested that the answer to how it got there is in the Archives somewhere. He was only able to ascertain that it was acquired somewhere in 2007, 2 years after the original statement was given.
== Trivia ==
*Sasha and John debate briefly about the pronunciation of "Calliope" with Sasha leaving confidently stating she had always heard it pronounced the way she said. There is something called "Calliope Syndrome" where a person knows how to read and understand a word but does not know how to pronounce it, this is frequently noted among people who learn new words through reading.
== Continuity ==
* Related Entity: The Stranger
** The Calliope and Dolls are artefacts of The Stranger that are eventually stolen and used in The Unknowing.
***The Clown Doll was possibly Nikola Orsinov, given John's describing it in MAG 119: Stranger and Stranger as "Sometimes a doll, sometimes a mannequin."
**Nikolai Denikin was a member of The Circus of the Other which was run by agents of The Stranger.
** The "two strong men" mentioned are Breekon & Hope.
** Basira offhandedly mentions a missing clown doll in MAG 43: Section 31. Meaning she was one of the police officers that was called to the scene after the calliope and steamer trunk were stolen.
*Related Cases
**The tape for this case and case 0160204 are reported missing by Jonathan in the epilogue of 0162907-B
**the mentioned Harold Silvana case which Sasha obtained police reports for is case 0020406
Category:The Magnus Archives Episodes