The Case of Charles Dexter Ward Episode 4

## Synopsis

A donation from an unknown source allows Heawood and Kennedy to crack on with their investigation. But the trail gets weirder.

## Plot

Before the start of the episode proper, Matthew Heawood addresses the audience. He explains that since his confession about the state of the show's finances in the previous episode, there has been an increase in support and donations, for which he is grateful. He singles out a large anonymous donation from a client of the Boston legal firm Hutchinson and Orne, which has singlehandedly funded the show for the remainder of the year. He thanks the mystery donor and hopes they feel they have spent their money wisely.

The episode opens with another of Dr. Jonathan Willett's recordings, this one from around the time he first tries to have Charles Dexter Ward committed to the psychiatric hospital. In the recording he asks Charles about a man named Dr. Allen. Charles eventually explains that Allen is a scientist who worked with Joseph Curwen, and is helping Charles with some experiments, but he declines to explain further. Willett says Charles' father claims Charles has been arguing with himself, which Charles denies. Charles also denies hitting his father when he confronted him about it, despite Willett pointing out that Charles' knuckles are bruised.

Since his discovery that Eliza Tillinghast was Charles' grandmother, Matt has been searching for evidence that Curwen met her in England. He discovers that Curwen was a member of a witch coven in the New Forest as far back as 1957. To help him understand the history of English occultism he interviews Dr. Eleanor Peck, a lecturer of Early Modern History and author of several books on witchcraft. Peck explains that the New Forest group was founded in the 1930s and led by a woman known as Old Dorothy, whom Gerald Gardner referred to as Ipqu-Aya. She adds that Curwen was involved with various groups and figures, all interested in Ipqu-Aya, including Charles Manson, and the Son of Sam. When Matt asks Peck if there was anyone who might remember Curwen she gives him the details of 85 year old Amelia Fenner, a former member of the New Forest coven. Matt calls Kennedy and they discuss whether Charles was trying to follow in Curwen's footsteps, and whether Willett believed Curwen, and therefore Charles, was dangerous, but Matt points out that it still doesn't explain why he killed Lucy Hawthorne. Kennedy tells Matt that she has been trying to find out where Ward's possessions are. She's worked out none of Ward's items went with him to the hospital, and that Sylvester Burtwhistle has confirmed there was little belonging to Charles in his house, but none of her other leads are progressing.

Matt travels to a nursing home in Barnett to interview Amelia. After discussing her early life Amelia tells Matt that she joined the coven in 1958/9 and met Curwen. She partook of the coven's practices on the first night she was there, something she blames on hallucinogenic mushrooms she drank, and describes in disturbing detail the sensation of performing a ritual. Matt asks her if she saw anything supernatural, and Amelia responds cryptically that Curwen was Ipqu-Aya and that Ipqu-Aya was many others. Matt asks about Eliza Tillinghast and Caroline Hughes, and learns that they came down from London, along with Eliza's brother Godfrey Tillinghast, and became Curwen's favoured acolytes. Curwen impregnated both women so that Ipqu-Aya's bloodline would continue but had a subsequent argument with Godfrey, causing the three of them to leave the coven. After which police raids broke the coven up, Curwen vanished, and Amelia left to join a Wicca group in Winchester. She never heard from any of them again.

After the interview Matt goes to a bar to process what he's learnt. While he's there, a man drags him outside and beats him. The attacker suggests that he make this his last episode as the audio abruptly ends.

## Cast, Characters, Crew

* Barnaby Kay as Matthew Heawood
* Jana Carpenter as Kennedy Fisher
* Mark Bazeley as Dr. Jonathan Willett
* Samuel Barnett as Charles Dexter Ward
* Nicola Walker as Dr. Eleanor Peck
* Susan Jameson as Amelia Fenner
* Cherrelle Skeete as Nurse
* ? as Bartender
* Ben Crowe as Thug 1
* ? as Thug 2
* Doreen Valiente as herself (archive footage)
* Michael Bakewell as himself (archive footage)

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

## Notes and Trivia

* An American company called Hutchinson and Orne has given a large donation to The Mystery Machine so Heawood and Kennedy can keep investigating the case of Charles Dexter Ward.
* Heawood makes contact with Dr. Eleanor Peck, an expert on witchcraft and folklore. She has found a woman called Amelia Fenner, who may be the last living member of Curwen's coven in the New Forest.
* Amelia tells him that Godfrey Tillinghast, Eliza Tillinghast, and Eliza's friend Caroline Hughes were all members of Curwen's coven and all had sexual relationships with him.
* Eliza's and Caroline's children were both fathered by Curwen as a way to continue the bloodline and ensure a new vessel would be ready for Ipqu-Aya.
* Heawood is beaten up at the end of the episode.
* This episode marks the first appearances in the Pleasant Green Universe of Susan Jameson and Cherrelle Skeete.