The Case of Charles Dexter Ward Episode 6

## Synopsis

Kennedy investigations the site of Charles Dexter Ward's experiments.

## Plot

Similarly to the previous episode, there is no music, editing, or change of perspective. Instead, it consists of one continuous recording made by Kennedy Fisher of her investigation of the Devil's Reef Trailer Park in Pautuxet.

Kennedy arrives at the trailer park, almost missing the park's sign which depicts a monstrous fish-creature overlooking the sea. As she pulls in, she narrates that she's come alone as George Shepley was busy and Ezra Weeden didn't respond to her messages. She begins describing the rundown nature of the site when she's suddenly met by Al Treggore, the trailer park manager. He greets her gruffly, and claims he doesn't know Charles Dexter Ward, but invites her to his office to talk further. Before she goes to Treggore's office, she leaves a message on Ezra's voicemail explaining where she is, that she's a bit spooked by the place and the manager, and that she'll call back in an hour.

In Treggore's office, they don't find a trailer in Charles' name, but they do find one for 'Dr. Allen.' As they go over to the trailer Kennedy asks Treggore about the trailer park's history, and he tells Kennedy that he's been trying to sell it, but that no one will buy it because of a gun battle between the police and a cult that took place here, which Kennedy recognises as the Curwen siege. Kennedy asks him where the house was, and he responds that Allen's trailer is directly on the site of the house. He gives her the keys and returns to his office, leaving Kennedy to explore the trailer alone.

Finding the trailer's exterior to be overgrown and dirty, she goes inside and finds it to be completely abandoned. She spots a collection of occult books and anatomical studies, a dirty cot, and broken glass all over the kitchen floor, all covered in dust. While exploring, she discovers a trapdoor that leads down a shaft into the smuggler's tunnels that were under the Curwen house. Although refusing to go down there, she accidently drops her recorder into the tunnel, and climbs down the shaft's ladder to get it. As she does, a sinister whispering is heard on the recording and when Kennedy turns around to climb out of the tunnel, the ladder and the trapdoor are gone. Panicking, she finds there's no signal on her phone, and frantically uses her phone light to look for a way out. She finds the tunnel entrance next to her to be sealed off, and decides to move down the tunnel hoping that the police didn't seal the other end. Terrified, she trips over a cable and follows it to a large chamber which has been set up as a laboratory. She sees a vast collection of occult books, papers, and notes. She finds a drawing of a body made of different parts. and a surgical table with instruments covered in the remains of blood and flesh. In a nearby notebook she reads a transliteration of one of the incantations out loud and distressed by a sound that Kennedy believes to be the wind, but sounds on the recording like an ethereal voice reading along with her.

Continuing further, she finds the tunnel's end in a space she describes as a dungeon, but can't work out its purpose. She finds a series of trapdoors with holes in them that lead out to the sea, and begins opening them. She hears wailing coming from one of the trapdoors, opens it up and attempts to communicate with the figure inside. She asks them to move into the light so she can see them better. The sound of something wet and slimy moving is heard, and Kennedy begins screaming hysterically. The audio ends here.

## Cast, Characters, Crew

* Jana Carpenter as Kennedy Fisher
* Nathan Osgood as Al Treggore
* Alun Armstrong as Ezra Weeden

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

## Notes and Trivia

The name 'Devil's Reef' and the creature seen on the trailer park sign are both references to another of H. P. Lovecraft's stories: The Shadow Over Innsmouth. This story was adapted as the third series of The Lovecraft Investigations in 2020.