The Whisperer in Darkness Episode 5

## Synopsis

A mysterious recording throws up more questions surrounding Kennedy.

## Plot

Matthew Heawood opens the episode with Henry Akeley's final audio tape, dated 25th of June 2019. In the recording he claims to know what is happening, and who is responsible, and intends to stop it. In case he fails he has written down everything he's discovered and sent it to someone he trusts to act on it. Matt recaps the state of the investigation so far and concludes that the only person with answers is Henry himself.

Kennedy Fisher wakes up with no memory of the previous night. She notices that her watch is 12 minutes slow, and that there is a file from last night on her recorder that is 12 minutes long, which she sends to Matt. The recording is of a conversation between Kennedy and a woman who identifies herself as Parker. Parker tells her that she wants to help her, and that Pleasant Green was an English village that vanished from history, and memory, after a numbers station was broadcast from it. She doesn't know where Henry is and is hoping *The Mystery Machine* will find him. Her organisation, The Department of Works, is fighting an occult group, similar to the Soldiers of Ipqu-Aya, who are attempting a Babalon Working of colossal proportions. Parker also tells Kennedy that Dr. Allen is still alive, and is surprised that Kennedy doesn't remember him from her time in Iraq. Through Parker's prompting, Kennedy realises that she doesn't actually remember what happened to her in Iraq, and Parker explains that the cult used magic to implant false memories of her time there. Parker explains she used the same magic to get her here and gets her to recall her journey, seeing Albert Wilmarth, whom Parker describes as a 'nice man', and seeing Walter Brown, whom Parker says is possessed and that the real Walter murdered his wife and buried her in his back garden. Kennedy then realises Parker is the woman she saw by the car, and Parker somehow knocks her out and the recording ends.

That same night, Matt has another meeting with the mystery woman on Westminster Bridge. She tells him that the current investigation is linked to *The Case of Charles Dexter Ward*, and instructs him to look at an 1869 edition of *The Times,* and The Blake House Incident. The woman continues that she can tell Matt this information because whatever is being planned will happen in two days time, and Matt will not be able to publish it before then. She then demands Matt's memory card and gives it to a colleague to make a copy for him with her voice disguised. At the London Library, in the Times archive Matt discovers an article about an accident at Niagara Falls, Canada, on the 24th of September 1869 involving a Mr. and Mrs. Tillinghast and a Mrs. Fisher as the survivors. He then looks into The Blake House Incident where architect Jonathan Blake and his family disappeared from their home in Capel St. Andrew in 2010. Matt discovers that the Blake House was built on the site of another house that burnt down in 1935. The occupants, the Marston family, were stabbed to death by their 11-year old daughter Mary Marston, and Matt realises that Thomas Marston was a relative of that family and begins investigating him.

Kennedy goes back to the Akeley House, this time in daylight with Wilmarth for support. They look around the house for clues, but nothing comes to either of them. Frustrated, Kennedy leaves the house and is prepared to give up on the case when Wilmarth comments on Henry's wi-fi doorbell and suggests ringing it in the hope of finding Henry's phone. They hear nothing in the house but are surprised when a static-y voice comes out of the doorbell. It's Henry, who tells them that he's fine and asks them to stop coming to his house and stop looking for him. As Kennedy tries to talk to him, a girl's laughter is heard coming from the doorbell, and the audio stops.

## Cast, Characters, Crew

* Jana Carpenter as Kennedy Fisher
* Barnaby Kay as Matthew Heawood
* Mark Bazeley as Albert Wilmarth
* David Calder as Henry Akeley
* Phoebe Fox as Parker
* Nicola Stephenson as Mystery Woman
* Ferdinand Kingsley as Newsreader

* Writer & Director: Julian Simpson
* Production Coordinators: Sarah Tombling and Holly Slater
* Sound Recordist and Designer: David Thomas
* Composer: Tim Elsenburg
* Producer: Karen Rose

## Notes and Trivia

* The *Times* article referenced in this episode is real. Julian Simpson discovered it when searching for the name Tillinghast in old newspapers. It was this that led him to the idea that Kennedy is not to be trusted.
* The mention of the Blake House Incident in this episode connects this story with the standalone story, "Bad Memories". However, certain details are changed for the sake of this narrative (see a break down comparison here).

## References

1. ↑ Night of the Living Podcast Interview