The Case of Charles Dexter Ward Episode 5

## Plot

Unlike previous episodes, this episode contains none of the music, editing, or production value that has characterised the show so far. It starts with a message left by Kennedy Fisher on Matthew Heawood's answer machine explaining that she's sending a file across to him because she's going to go out soon and asks him to call her back. The file is a series of recordings made by Kennedy, interspersed by audio notes she's made explaining them.

The first recording is of George Shepley reading a letter that Charles Dexter Ward sent to Dr. Jonathan Willett, just before Charles' incarceration in 2016, that Kennedy has acquired. In the letter, Charles apologises to Willett for his behaviour and asks for his help in destroying his research, claiming that he has discovered a horrifying truth. He asks Willett to bring petrol and firearms to his house so that they may destroy 'the trailer' and everything in it and below it. The letter ends with specific instructions to shoot Dr. Allen on sight and dissolve his body in acid.

The second recording is of Kennedy describing the exterior of the psychiatric hospital Charles was kept in, describing it as looking similar to Shutter Island or Arkham Asylum.

The third recording is of a phone conversation between Kennedy and an anonymous male who Kennedy suspects to be one of the guards at the hospital. He claims that a friend of his was on duty when Charles disappeared and that he says Charles' voice, hair colour, even body shape, and height, changed over the course of his incarceration. He also claims that when they entered the room where Charles disappeared they found dust everywhere, something Kennedy connects to Ezra Weeden's account of the Curwen siege. He tells her to talk to 'Lyman' before ending the call.

The fourth recording is of Kennedy ambushing Dr. Mark Lyman in the street, who she has discovered was Willett's cover at the hospital. Kennedy asks Lyman about Charles and Willett and explains that she thinks he knows more than he's revealed, and offers to get Willett's side of the story out.

The fifth recording is of Kennedy's interview with Lyman at his home later that day. Lyman believes that Charles' condition contributed to Willett's mental degradation. Willett did not consider Charles' behaviour concerning until Barbara Sayers became his tutor. She manipulated Charles and his parents into believing she was a good influence on him, resulting in Willett being fired. When Sarah Ward died he was rehired, and managed to get Sayers removed, but Charles had grown much more unstable, obsessed with Joseph Curwen and conducting experiments to contact Ipqu-Aya. Willett also believed that Charles was responsible for a series of grave robberies in Providence, because Charles had become interested in a book called the Necronomicon which Kennedy discovers is a mythical occult book written in the 8th Century by Abdul Alhazred the 'Mad Poet of Sanaá', which supposedly contains rituals for raising the dead. When Willett and Howard Philip Ward confronted him about this, Charles moved his experiments out of the house to an unknown location. However, before Howard died Charles convinced him that Willett was no longer helping, and had him replaced with a Dr. Allen, whom Lyman does not know. Willett didn't hear again from Charles until 2016 when he sent him a letter, the letter read out by George at the start of the episode. The letter greatly disturbed Willett and led to Charles being incarcerated at the hospital. Lyman tells Kennedy that he has the letter along with Willett's notes on Charles and strategically leaves the room to allow Kennedy to look through them without his knowledge.

The sixth recording is of a conversation between Kennedy and Ezra at a diner. Ezra tells Kennedy that he's tracked Sayers' movements after the siege with help from a contact at the FBI. She moves around the U.S. with no discernible purpose until 1986, where she flies to Paris. From there she travels across Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, in what Kennedy believes is a search for *The Necronomicon*. In 1987 she travels to London and gets a job as Lucy Hawthorne's nanny from 1990 until 1992 when Lucy's mother remarries and she is not needed. From there she returns to Providence, enrols at Miskatonic University studying ancient languages, and then takes a job as Charles' school librarian in 2003.

The seventh and final recording is of Kennedy at Providence City Hall, but it is cut short by the batteries in the recorder running out. Kennedy explains that Alice had discovered that Charles owned a trailer at a place called the Devil's Reef Trailer Park and she intends to go there to investigate. She wonders why Matt has not called her back and attempts to call him again, but gets no response. She leaves a message telling him she's worried about him and explaining what she's done and is about to do.

## Cast, Characters, Crew

* Barnaby Kay as Matthew Heawood
* Jana Carpenter as Kennedy Fisher
* Alun Armstrong as Ezra Weeden
* Steven Mackintosh as Dr. Mark Lyman
* Adam Godley as George Shepley
* Ben Crowe as Guard
* Samantha Dakin as Waitress

* Writer & Director: Julian Simpson
* Production Coordinator: Sarah Tombling
* Sound Engineer: David Thomas
* Composer: Tim Elsenburg
* Producer: Karen Rose