The Case of Charles Dexter Ward Episode 2

## Synopsis

H.P. Lovecraft’s tale continues: Who is Charles Dexter Ward? Heawood and Kennedy find out more about his background.

## Plot

The episode opens with another of Dr. Jonathan Willett's recordings of his conversations with a 15-year-old Charles Dexter Ward. In this recording they discuss Charles' tutor, Barbara Sayers, and Willett's disapproval of her teaching methods and the literature he's been reading. Charles responds indignantly and suggests that Willett is afraid of Sayers.

As discussed in the previous episode, Kennedy Fisher goes to interview Sayers about her teaching relationship with Charles. Whilst they have tea at her home, Sayers tells Kennedy that Charles was an excellent student and that his problems at school stemmed from being bored. She dismisses both Sarah Ward's and Willett's views on Charles, citing Willett's subsequent mental breakdown as reason enough to doubt him. When Kennedy brings up the name Joseph Curwen, Sayers abruptly stops the interview and accuses Kennedy of writing a sensationalist piece, rather than wanting to find Charles. She insists that Charles was a good student with an unlucky family, and makes Kennedy leave. After the interview, Kennedy calls George Shepley as he asked. As they discuss the interview, Shepley recognises Curwen as being a cult leader and remembers Sayers was into 'hippie stuff' in the past. He also tells Kennedy that Sayers was the school librarian when Charles was there and that she left with him to become his tutor. He offers to give Kennedy her resume over dinner at a later date.

Later, Kennedy calls Matt and tells him about the interview. She says that while she won't go back to Sayers today, needing more evidence she has found Tyler Green, a childhood friend of Charles who is mentioned on another of Willett's recordings. Tyler tells Kennedy that he knew Charles until they were 12 when Tyler moved with his family to New York City. Tyler describes Charles as a normal child and they spent a lot of time together exploring a derelict house up the street from them. Kennedy asks Tyler about a series of letters that Charles claimed Tyler had found in one of the recordings, and Tyler tells her that they were love letters from a man he remembers as 'JC' to the woman who had lived in the derelict house. Tyler gave them to Charles and that was the last time he saw him. Subsequently, Kennedy goes to the Providence City Hall, where a woman named Alice helps her look through the housing records. They discover that the last person to live in that house was Barbara Sayers.

Kennedy shares this information with Matthew Heawood and Matt suggests that Sayers and Curwen must have known each other and that the contents of the letters might have been what triggered Charles's mental health issues. He asks if Kennedy knows where the letters are, but Kennedy doesn't know where they or any of Charles' possessions are. They agree that she needs to go back and see Barbara Sayers, and to not go alone. So, Kennedy and Shepley go together to Sayer's house, but when they arrive they find that the house is on fire.

## 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
* Harry Kay as Young Charles Dexter Ward
* Adam Godley as George Shepley
* Penny Downie as Barbara Sayers
* Alex Lanipekun as Tyler Green
* Samantha Dakin as Alice

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

## Notes and Trivia

* After Ward was taken out of school, he received private tuition from a woman called Barbara Sayers, who was also the school librarian at the time. She got Ward into the occult.
* Ward and his childhood friend Tyler Green found letters from Joseph Curwen to Barbara Sayers in an old house in Providence when they were children.
* Barbara Sayers' house is on fire at the end of the episode.