506: Baggage

Synopsis

In the 1914 records at the Salem train depot, Dom finds a passenger listed as "Mr. Dominic Druncard," arriving at 9:50 AM on June 25, 1914. A couple of entries earlier, on the same train, is Ms. Hannah Baker, with a note of unclaimed baggage next to her name. The group realizes that June 25, 1914 was the day of the great fire of Salem, and they wonder whether "Constance Venus" could be an alias for Hannah or Fiona. A map of the building points them to long-term storage at the top of the northwest tower. Billy keeps watch on the station supervisor, Clint Peacock, while Dom and Timeon sneak across a catwalk. Dom fails to pick the storage room lock, but Timeon gets it open.

Inside is a suitcase tagged "Hannah Baker." It holds expensive women's clothing, an old scrap of parchment covered in Latin calligraphy and arcane symbols, and a stack of unopened letters. Some are from Dom to Fiona, and others are from "Ariel Tempest" to "Prospero." All of them are addressed to the same post office box in Clapham. Dom explains that Prospero and Ariel, from Shakespeare's The Tempest, their favorite play, were his and Fiona's pet names for each other. On top is a letter from Fiona to Hannah. In it, Fiona apologizes for vanishing, which she says was the only way to keep "him," and themselves, safe. She has been hiding from those who will never stop hunting them because she defied them. She reminds Hannah of a scrap they studied during their initiations that spoke of "the hollow," a place of limitless power "where nothing is everything and everything is possible." Fiona believes it is real and is her way to be free forever. Her research in Salem and at Miskatonic University has led her to a book called Proverbia Peregrini, which says the opening to the hollow requires some kind of ritual of sacrifice, and she needs Hannah's scrap to understand it. She also asks Hannah to find Dom through their old post office box in Clapham and send him to her. The letter is signed by Fiona, who writes that she will be at the Last Lighthouse inn in Salem, where the group is now staying.

Dom takes the letters and the parchment. On the way out he sees Hannah sitting in a chair by the door, vacant-eyed and disheveled, rocking and singing softly, but Timeon sees nothing. Dom loses 2 Sanity. He feels that Hannah is trapped somewhere and needs their help. Heading down the stairs, he realizes the song is the one he heard humming through the walls of the Last Lighthouse inn that morning, from the innkeeper's back room.

Meanwhile, Simeon and Denny walk through the snow to the hospital. Simeon questions why Denny came on the trip, but his Psychology roll shows that Denny is telling the truth: he pays back his debts, and he knows he would not have Delilah and the kid if not for the group. At the hospital, the nurse at the front desk tells them that Dr. Joe Wakefield is treating Mitch, who will live but will never walk again. Outbursts of madness began after the great fire of 1914, spiked, faded and have returned recently. They have almost always struck foreigners, usually English, who ramble about the stars, falling, emptiness and "the hollow." Mitch is the first local case. She shows them a newspaper article by Benjamin Smithe, "Another Outbreak of Madness Baffles Authorities." It reports that a few weeks earlier Edward Grayson, an English traveler and antiquarian staying at the Hawthorne Inn, seized a fire poker and attacked people, and that he is now locked away muttering in English and uncanny nonsense. Some call the afflicted "star-crazy," while others blame a "fire-sickness" from the chemicals burned in the fire. Below the article is an advertisement for the Horror in Clay exhibit by Henry Anthony Wilcox. Simeon donates $10 to the hospital's collection for Mitch, and the two head for the police station, where Grayson and the man from that morning are being held.

Funny Moments

Thomas Mitchell on the manifest "reminds me of poor Mitch."
The theory that the train is a midday ghost train that travels through time.
Sneaking across the station inside three cardboard boxes.
Clint Peacock looks exactly like his name suggests, tail feathers and all.
"Who's Shakespeare?"
Simeon's Psychology results on Denny: "I'm here to backstab all of you."
The nurse jokes that Mitch died, but that was a joke. "He will never walk again." "I can live with that."
The Korn leather factory: "It is the Korn leather factory with a K."
"He sneezed a fire poker." "Bless him."
Simeon tries to wave witch repellent at the nurse. "Are you a witch?" "Only on the weekends."
A bench for Mitch, donated by "Mr. Kantstandyerbitz."
"The Great Mitch Controversy of 1926."

Notable Quotes

"So close but still kept apart." —Fiona's letter
"The place where nothing is everything and everything is possible." —Fiona's letter
"I know she's not really here, but I can't help but feel like it's real, like she's in danger and troubled somewhere else." —Dom
"Look, I got Delilah and the kid. I'm trying to help Dom get his wife and kid back." —Denny