Categories > TV > Doctor Who > Doctor Who- the Vanishing of Penelope Kelsey
The Tardis materializes in a side street down the hill, the highest peak of Kelsey's house just visible over the rooftops.
“Alright, we need to find out more about this whole situation-” The Doctor says. “John, why don't you talk to Kelsey's partner and the police, see what they have to say about him. Rose, if you can find Agnes MacDuffy and talk to her, I want to see this school for girls.”
Mrs Donovan's School for Girls is an appropriately pointed and dark building, though it has been made somewhat less severe by the addition of brightly colored pinwheels planted in the front yard. A group of small humans are frolicking around on the short grass.
As the Doctor approaches, several of them circle up and begin to dance, accompanying the movements with a singsong chant. “Grandfather, grandfather, has a box...”
The Doctor watches them for a moment, then walks past the children and through the door. The lower floor has been renovated, creating two large rooms, a walled staircase forming the barrier between them. One of the rooms has desks in neat rows, the other appears to be used for art and music study.
“Can I help you?” A gray haired woman in a conservative dress.
“Bridgette Donovan? I'm the Doctor, here with Scotland Yard-” She flips out the psychic paper. “I have some questions about Penelope Kelsey.”
“Yes, of course. The girls have exercise for the next ten minutes, if that will be long enough.”
The Doctor smiles. “I'm sure that will be fine. Tell me about her. How did she come to be at your school?”
“After Mrs Turner died, Dr. Kelsey couldn't find anyone to take care of her. I agreed to allow her at the school”
“She's younger than your other students.” The Doctor comments.
“Yes, a little over six.”
“Did you ever have any problems?”
“Not particularly, no. She was very bright, quite intelligent. I regularly assigned her work that I'd normally reserve for the older girls. Very good vocabulary.”
“They didn't bother her about the house?” The Doctor asks.
“Oh, yes, that- once in awhile, but I told them to stop being silly.”
“You were one of his patients, weren't you?” The Doctor asks.
“Yes.”
“And what was your experience with him?”
“I think he's brilliant. Cleared my chest right up.” She pats her collarbone. “He's modern.”
“I see.” The Doctor nods. “Did you ever notice anything unusual about his practice?”
“No, not really.”
“What about his partner?”
“Dr. Andrews? He's alright, but...well, he's just a bit old fashioned.”
“Mm.” The Doctor nods, looks around the room for a moment before turning her eyes back to the
woman. “What do you think happened?”
“To Penny? I don't know.” Mrs Donovan shakes her head.
“Oh, come on, you must have an opinion.” The Doctor smiles.
Mrs Donovan looks uncomfortable. “Well...”
“It's alright, whatever it is. Strictly off the record.” The Doctor makes an 'I swear' motion with her hand.
“I got the feeling he was in trouble, wherever he came from. Mixed up with the wrong people. That's why he came here.”
“What makes you say that?”
“There were these men...” Mrs Donovan says. “Two of them, I saw them outside perhaps half a dozen times over the course of two months. Sort of thin, a bit...shabby...I can't say why, but I found them unsettling.”
“What were they doing?”
“Nothing suspicious.” Mrs Donovan says. “Just out walking, for the most part. Only one day, this was not long before Penny went missing, I saw her talking to them. She wasn't the type to talk to strangers, but she went right up to the fence when they came by.”
“She knew them.” The Doctor says.
“That's the impression I had.” Mrs Donovan says.
“What were they talking about?” The Doctor asks.
“I have no idea.”
“Mrs Donovan?” An older girl pokes her head in. “It's time for art.”
“Alright, thank you, Sara. Can you help Elsie with her paints?”
“Yes, ma'am.” Sara says.
“Did she draw? Penny?” The Doctor asks.
“Oh, yes.” Mrs Donovan says.
“Do you have anything she's done?”
“Back here-” Mrs Donovan leads her to the back wall of the art room, where students' work is hanging. “Here's one of hers-”
A red barn on a green field dotted with little round sheep, a yellow sun shining from the blue sky.
“Here- these are the others.” Mrs Donovan hands her a stack of heavy paper, some of it slightly warped from water paints.
The Doctor moves into the other room to look through the pictures while Mrs Donovan's students come in and sit down, assembling their various art supplies. Most of the drawings are almost suspiciously generic- houses, pastures, and woods presented with wobbling, uneven lines and blobby colour.
They don't look like a child drew them, the Doctor thinks. They look the way grown-ups think children draw…
She is almost on the bottom of the stack when she stops, staring at one of the papers. Mrs Donovan can be heard approaching, and she quickly folds the drawing and puts it in her pocket.
“Thank you.” She hands the rest of the papers back. “I'll get out of your way, now.”
…………………….
“Here we go, Dr Adrian Kelsey.” Constable Abrams hands a file over to the investigator from Scotland Yard.
“Thank you.” John Smith opens the folder and flicks through. “What do you know of him before he came here?”
“Not much, sir. Why, do you think he's dangerous?”
“We don't have any evidence to that end.” John says. “Did you investigate the death of this Mrs Turner?”
“Heart attack, sir.” Abrams says.
“Did you perform a postmortem?”
“Seemed pretty straightforward, sir.”
“Mm.” John says.
“You think there was foul play, sir?”
“That's what we're here to find out.” John says. “Where was she buried?”
“Ah...” The constable hesitates. “Well, sir, you see...” He looks around, takes a deep breath. “The body went missing, sir.”
“Went missing?” John says.
“Yes, sir. Mix up with the funeral home, sir. Still trying to work it out.”
"I see." John nods. “Can I borrow this, do you think? I'll bring it back.”
“Of course, sir, I'll make out a receipt.” The constable pulls out his pad, begins to write then stops. “Say, is it true, sir? That you have a lady doctor with you?”
“Yes, that's right.” John opens the folder and casually flips through the contents.
“To examine Dr Kelsey?”
“No. She's the lead investigator, I am but a humble assistant.”
“Oh.” A pause. “Is she any good?”
“Best in the world.” John takes the receipt, flashes the young man a grin before vanishing through the door.
............
The hotel where Agnes MacDuffy works has a 'help wanted' sign on the door. Rose has to make a few beds before she finally runs into Agnes, and strikes up a conversation while they are sorting clean sheets.
Rose works around to saying she'd come into town looking for a job as a nanny, but been told that one was no longer needed, and voices her disappointment.
Agnes goes pale. “Up at that doctor's place?”
“Yeah.” Rose says. “What? You've gone all white.”
“That place is evil.” Agnes said.
“Evil?” Rose says. “Oh, come on, you don't believe in that sort of thing, do you?”
“Normally, no.” Agnes says. “But that house...and that man...there's something not right. Did he tell you why he doesn't need a nanny? His girl vanished. Or, he says she did. But...” She lowers her voice. “He's in league with the devil. He sacrificed her. And poor Mrs Turner. And his wife, before. That house...you can hear things in the walls.”
“What, like rats?”
“Like snakes. Huge snakes. He says there's nothing there, but I knew he could hear them. And the basement...that's where he does it. Summons demons.”
Rose laughs. “Oh, come on.”
“It's true.” Agnes says.
“Did you ever see these demons?” Rose asks.
“No.” Agnes admits. “But...once I saw a light under the basement door.”
Rose gives her a doubtful look. “Is that all?”
“There was another girl, worked there. She was foreign.” Agnes says. “She saw the devil there. Ran off then, before he could get her. And poor Mrs. Turner, she didn't get away. She worked there for longer than anybody else, though. In the end, he took her soul. Said it was a heart attack, but everybody knows. Black magic, that's what got her.”
“What about his child?” Rose asks.
“She's...was...well...quiet and well behaved but...sometimes late at night, he would go up to her room and I'd hear them talking...and other times, when they thought I couldn't hear...and the way she spoke...it was as though she was older. And not just a little older. Sometimes she sounded like she was giving him orders. And...and she had this song, she got the girls at that school doing it, too. Like a game, you know, but I'd never heard it before and it was...well, you know those things are sometimes rather, morbid, I suppose you'd say, but this one...it was about an old man, and things kept happening to him. Horrible things, he got all his things stolen, gets attacked by wolves and burns up in a fireplace and...there's something about a Chinaman and rats and...” Agnes sighs. “I don't know. It doesn't sound like anything when I say it, but..”
A thin woman pokes her head down the stairs and calls Agnes up, when the door has closed and Rose is sure they've walked away she slips out the back.
She's been walking for several blocks when someone grabs her arm from behind. Rose jumps, but it turns out to be the Doctor.
“ 'Ello, love, going my way?”
“As a matter of fact, I am.” Rose laughs, linking elbows with the Doctor. They have been walking for a minute or two when she can't stand it any longer. “OK, spill it.”
“Pardon?”
“That stupid creepy poem. It's about you, innit.”
“So, Agnes knows it, then.” The Doctor says. “So do the girls at the school. They have a game that goes along with it-”
“Answer the question!” Rose says.
“What?”
“Is it about you?” Rose enunciates clearly.
The Doctor makes a series of sounds and gestures which completely fail to clarify the situation.
“I'm going to get a straight answer out of one of you.” Rose says.
“Oh, are you.” The Doctor arches an eyebrow.
“Yes.” Rose says firmly.
“And how do you propose to do that?”
“I have my ways.” Rose says.
“Oh, see, now that's incentive in the completely opposite direction.” The Doctor smirks. “Ok, ok- look, it's not really as exciting as you're making out. It's from a book of obscure nursery rhymes I picked up a long time ago. I'll have to check when we get back to the Tardis, but I'm pretty sure that it was authored by the school teacher up there.” She jerks her head.
“Oh.” Rose says, sounding slightly disappointed.
“Yeah, that one stuck in my head.” The Doctor taps her temple.
“Is that really all?” Rose pushes.
The Doctor shrugs. “As far as I'm aware, yes.”
They have reached the Tardis, and the Doctor unlocks and opens the door, motions Rose through.
.............
“Dr. Frank Andrews?” John Smith flashes the paper that identifies him as an investigator.
“Yes?” Dr. Andrews says.
“Do you have a few minutes? I'd like to ask you about Adrian Kelsey.”
“Of course. My next appointment isn't urgent, he can wait for a little while. What would you like to know?”
“How did he come to be working here?”
“Moved, after his wife died. Well, his parents, I suppose, had an inheritance.” Dr. Andrews said. “He came highly recommended.”
“And how was he?”
“Oh, well, I disagreed with some of his methods- he liked to use new methods, chemical and equipment. But his patients seemed to like him, for the most part. Until all this nonsense about the house.”
“About that- you've been there, haven't you? He claimed something happened in the basement.”
“Yes. That would have been...it was September 8th, I remember. He hadn't been living here very long. He'd mentioned odd things about the house, but nothing like when he came here with that story about the city.” Andrews shakes his head.
“What happened on that day?” John asks.
“He came in, very agitated. I didn't know what to make of it, he's normally quite calm and composed. I thought he must have fallen asleep and dreamed it. But he was very insistent I accompany him. There was certainly no city. There was a door that had been closed over, we tore it open again but there was nothing but a small room. It was quite wet, though.”
“Do you know what the room was used for? Why someone would have closed it?”
“It looked like it had once been a laboratory, there were a few boxes of equipment, not much. It was all quite old, I'd imagine it belonged to the vet that used to live there. I have no idea why they walled it up.
The floor was wet, perhaps the foundation leaks.”
“You knew the previous owner?” John asks.
“The old vet used to work on our horses when I was young, and the dogs a few times. He passed away, must be around twenty years ago now. His brother managed the house, I believe. He had some grand vision about leasing it out to rich families for vacation, but that never came to much. There were a few people here and there, but not enough to turn any real profit. I'm sure he was glad to be rid of it.”
“What about Mrs Turner?”
“She was a good woman, bless her soul.” Dr. Andrews says.
“Are you aware of the circumstances surrounding her death?”
“Heart attack, wasn't it?” Dr. Andrews asks.
“It appears so. Dr. Kelsey claims that she died of fright after confronting some...entity. He seems to believe it is of supernatural origin.” John says. “He hasn't been in to work since his daughter vanished, is that true?”
“As far as I know, yes.”
“How well did you know Penny?”
“I saw her maybe a dozen times.”
“What was she like?”
“Quiet.” Dr Andrews laughs. “Most children who come in here are crying. She's bright, very well behaved. Was. Do you know what happened to her?”
“Not yet.” John says. “Do you mind if I have a look around?”
“Yes, of course.” Dr. Andrews fishes a key from drawer and offers it over.
John unlocks the door and steps into the other side of the building, which has an empty front office and
an examination and treatment room, and a storage closet. He rattles the desk drawers but finds them locked, drops down and runs a hand along the bottom of the desk.
His pocket vibrates, John reaches in with his free hand and pulls out a clamshell style cell phone, flips it open. “Yeah...ooh...found it.”
“Where are you?” The Doctor asks.
John traps the phone between ear and shoulder as he works the key into the lock on the main drawer. “Kelsey's office. And either he takes all his work home with him, or somebody has been in here and cleaned the place out. No papers, no notes, looks like some of the equipment has been taken, too. Whoever did it was good.”
“Mrs Donovan, the teacher, she says she saw a couple men that fit Lean and Arrows description talking to Penny. Did his partner mention anything like that?”
“No.” John says. “I can ask him, though.”
“You do that. And hurry up, I've got something to show you.”
……………………
John finds the console room empty, but he can hear laughter coming from the kitchen. Laughter that suspiciously stops the second he walks in.
“Hi.” Rose says in her innocent voice.
The Doctor glances over at him, bites her lip and turns away with a muffled snort. “Here-” She manages after a moment. “Have some tea-”
This makes both of them stifle giggles again.
“Oh, I see. So that's how it's going to be.” John tosses the folder from Abrams onto the table.
“Come on, you know we love you.” The Doctor grabs his arm as John walks past, gives it a squeeze.
“Yeah, yeah.” He hugs Rose before sitting down and taking the cup she offers him.
“You remember that book- the one with the Grandfather poem in it?”
“Yes.” John says.
“Do you have any idea where it might have gotten off to?”
“If it's not in the Library?” John frowns. “You know...ooh, you know where I bet it was- when the Tardis dropped so much mass and lost all those rooms-”
The Doctor groans. “I was really hoping you weren't going to say that.”
“Books aside- I was looking through Kelsey's file, and these numbers don't add up.” John says.
“What numbers?” The Doctor straightens up.
“According to Kelsey, his wife died the year before he moved here, right?”
“Yes.”
“These records say that he purchased the house in 1876- nine years before Penny went missing. If his wife died the year before, Penny would have to be at least ten.”
“Maybe she has some sort of medical problem.” Rose says.
“That would be fantastic.” The Doctor says. “But I rather doubt it. Seems like the sort of thing he'd mention.”
“Fine, she's a brain sucking alien who's trying to take over the world, and has enslaved Kesley to help her. Is that better?”
The Doctor has been arranging her face into a sarcastic expression, but now stops and tilts her head. “You know...”
“Oh, come on.” Rose groans.
“No, no, that was a bit...B-movie. But that girl did say it sounded like she was giving him orders.”
“Yeah.” Rose admits.“But, a kid?”
“What if she only looks like a child?” The Doctor says. “And what about this-”
She produces the paper, unfolds it with a flourish and spreads it flat on the table. John and Rose lean over to look.
A bizarre mass of circles, like the heads of people in a crowd, an impression strengthened by swooping lines that look vaguely like curtains. In the center of the image, a blue rectangle cut with a cross, a bright square extending wiggles of light sitting on the slightly lopsided top.
“Alright, we need to find out more about this whole situation-” The Doctor says. “John, why don't you talk to Kelsey's partner and the police, see what they have to say about him. Rose, if you can find Agnes MacDuffy and talk to her, I want to see this school for girls.”
Mrs Donovan's School for Girls is an appropriately pointed and dark building, though it has been made somewhat less severe by the addition of brightly colored pinwheels planted in the front yard. A group of small humans are frolicking around on the short grass.
As the Doctor approaches, several of them circle up and begin to dance, accompanying the movements with a singsong chant. “Grandfather, grandfather, has a box...”
The Doctor watches them for a moment, then walks past the children and through the door. The lower floor has been renovated, creating two large rooms, a walled staircase forming the barrier between them. One of the rooms has desks in neat rows, the other appears to be used for art and music study.
“Can I help you?” A gray haired woman in a conservative dress.
“Bridgette Donovan? I'm the Doctor, here with Scotland Yard-” She flips out the psychic paper. “I have some questions about Penelope Kelsey.”
“Yes, of course. The girls have exercise for the next ten minutes, if that will be long enough.”
The Doctor smiles. “I'm sure that will be fine. Tell me about her. How did she come to be at your school?”
“After Mrs Turner died, Dr. Kelsey couldn't find anyone to take care of her. I agreed to allow her at the school”
“She's younger than your other students.” The Doctor comments.
“Yes, a little over six.”
“Did you ever have any problems?”
“Not particularly, no. She was very bright, quite intelligent. I regularly assigned her work that I'd normally reserve for the older girls. Very good vocabulary.”
“They didn't bother her about the house?” The Doctor asks.
“Oh, yes, that- once in awhile, but I told them to stop being silly.”
“You were one of his patients, weren't you?” The Doctor asks.
“Yes.”
“And what was your experience with him?”
“I think he's brilliant. Cleared my chest right up.” She pats her collarbone. “He's modern.”
“I see.” The Doctor nods. “Did you ever notice anything unusual about his practice?”
“No, not really.”
“What about his partner?”
“Dr. Andrews? He's alright, but...well, he's just a bit old fashioned.”
“Mm.” The Doctor nods, looks around the room for a moment before turning her eyes back to the
woman. “What do you think happened?”
“To Penny? I don't know.” Mrs Donovan shakes her head.
“Oh, come on, you must have an opinion.” The Doctor smiles.
Mrs Donovan looks uncomfortable. “Well...”
“It's alright, whatever it is. Strictly off the record.” The Doctor makes an 'I swear' motion with her hand.
“I got the feeling he was in trouble, wherever he came from. Mixed up with the wrong people. That's why he came here.”
“What makes you say that?”
“There were these men...” Mrs Donovan says. “Two of them, I saw them outside perhaps half a dozen times over the course of two months. Sort of thin, a bit...shabby...I can't say why, but I found them unsettling.”
“What were they doing?”
“Nothing suspicious.” Mrs Donovan says. “Just out walking, for the most part. Only one day, this was not long before Penny went missing, I saw her talking to them. She wasn't the type to talk to strangers, but she went right up to the fence when they came by.”
“She knew them.” The Doctor says.
“That's the impression I had.” Mrs Donovan says.
“What were they talking about?” The Doctor asks.
“I have no idea.”
“Mrs Donovan?” An older girl pokes her head in. “It's time for art.”
“Alright, thank you, Sara. Can you help Elsie with her paints?”
“Yes, ma'am.” Sara says.
“Did she draw? Penny?” The Doctor asks.
“Oh, yes.” Mrs Donovan says.
“Do you have anything she's done?”
“Back here-” Mrs Donovan leads her to the back wall of the art room, where students' work is hanging. “Here's one of hers-”
A red barn on a green field dotted with little round sheep, a yellow sun shining from the blue sky.
“Here- these are the others.” Mrs Donovan hands her a stack of heavy paper, some of it slightly warped from water paints.
The Doctor moves into the other room to look through the pictures while Mrs Donovan's students come in and sit down, assembling their various art supplies. Most of the drawings are almost suspiciously generic- houses, pastures, and woods presented with wobbling, uneven lines and blobby colour.
They don't look like a child drew them, the Doctor thinks. They look the way grown-ups think children draw…
She is almost on the bottom of the stack when she stops, staring at one of the papers. Mrs Donovan can be heard approaching, and she quickly folds the drawing and puts it in her pocket.
“Thank you.” She hands the rest of the papers back. “I'll get out of your way, now.”
…………………….
“Here we go, Dr Adrian Kelsey.” Constable Abrams hands a file over to the investigator from Scotland Yard.
“Thank you.” John Smith opens the folder and flicks through. “What do you know of him before he came here?”
“Not much, sir. Why, do you think he's dangerous?”
“We don't have any evidence to that end.” John says. “Did you investigate the death of this Mrs Turner?”
“Heart attack, sir.” Abrams says.
“Did you perform a postmortem?”
“Seemed pretty straightforward, sir.”
“Mm.” John says.
“You think there was foul play, sir?”
“That's what we're here to find out.” John says. “Where was she buried?”
“Ah...” The constable hesitates. “Well, sir, you see...” He looks around, takes a deep breath. “The body went missing, sir.”
“Went missing?” John says.
“Yes, sir. Mix up with the funeral home, sir. Still trying to work it out.”
"I see." John nods. “Can I borrow this, do you think? I'll bring it back.”
“Of course, sir, I'll make out a receipt.” The constable pulls out his pad, begins to write then stops. “Say, is it true, sir? That you have a lady doctor with you?”
“Yes, that's right.” John opens the folder and casually flips through the contents.
“To examine Dr Kelsey?”
“No. She's the lead investigator, I am but a humble assistant.”
“Oh.” A pause. “Is she any good?”
“Best in the world.” John takes the receipt, flashes the young man a grin before vanishing through the door.
............
The hotel where Agnes MacDuffy works has a 'help wanted' sign on the door. Rose has to make a few beds before she finally runs into Agnes, and strikes up a conversation while they are sorting clean sheets.
Rose works around to saying she'd come into town looking for a job as a nanny, but been told that one was no longer needed, and voices her disappointment.
Agnes goes pale. “Up at that doctor's place?”
“Yeah.” Rose says. “What? You've gone all white.”
“That place is evil.” Agnes said.
“Evil?” Rose says. “Oh, come on, you don't believe in that sort of thing, do you?”
“Normally, no.” Agnes says. “But that house...and that man...there's something not right. Did he tell you why he doesn't need a nanny? His girl vanished. Or, he says she did. But...” She lowers her voice. “He's in league with the devil. He sacrificed her. And poor Mrs Turner. And his wife, before. That house...you can hear things in the walls.”
“What, like rats?”
“Like snakes. Huge snakes. He says there's nothing there, but I knew he could hear them. And the basement...that's where he does it. Summons demons.”
Rose laughs. “Oh, come on.”
“It's true.” Agnes says.
“Did you ever see these demons?” Rose asks.
“No.” Agnes admits. “But...once I saw a light under the basement door.”
Rose gives her a doubtful look. “Is that all?”
“There was another girl, worked there. She was foreign.” Agnes says. “She saw the devil there. Ran off then, before he could get her. And poor Mrs. Turner, she didn't get away. She worked there for longer than anybody else, though. In the end, he took her soul. Said it was a heart attack, but everybody knows. Black magic, that's what got her.”
“What about his child?” Rose asks.
“She's...was...well...quiet and well behaved but...sometimes late at night, he would go up to her room and I'd hear them talking...and other times, when they thought I couldn't hear...and the way she spoke...it was as though she was older. And not just a little older. Sometimes she sounded like she was giving him orders. And...and she had this song, she got the girls at that school doing it, too. Like a game, you know, but I'd never heard it before and it was...well, you know those things are sometimes rather, morbid, I suppose you'd say, but this one...it was about an old man, and things kept happening to him. Horrible things, he got all his things stolen, gets attacked by wolves and burns up in a fireplace and...there's something about a Chinaman and rats and...” Agnes sighs. “I don't know. It doesn't sound like anything when I say it, but..”
A thin woman pokes her head down the stairs and calls Agnes up, when the door has closed and Rose is sure they've walked away she slips out the back.
She's been walking for several blocks when someone grabs her arm from behind. Rose jumps, but it turns out to be the Doctor.
“ 'Ello, love, going my way?”
“As a matter of fact, I am.” Rose laughs, linking elbows with the Doctor. They have been walking for a minute or two when she can't stand it any longer. “OK, spill it.”
“Pardon?”
“That stupid creepy poem. It's about you, innit.”
“So, Agnes knows it, then.” The Doctor says. “So do the girls at the school. They have a game that goes along with it-”
“Answer the question!” Rose says.
“What?”
“Is it about you?” Rose enunciates clearly.
The Doctor makes a series of sounds and gestures which completely fail to clarify the situation.
“I'm going to get a straight answer out of one of you.” Rose says.
“Oh, are you.” The Doctor arches an eyebrow.
“Yes.” Rose says firmly.
“And how do you propose to do that?”
“I have my ways.” Rose says.
“Oh, see, now that's incentive in the completely opposite direction.” The Doctor smirks. “Ok, ok- look, it's not really as exciting as you're making out. It's from a book of obscure nursery rhymes I picked up a long time ago. I'll have to check when we get back to the Tardis, but I'm pretty sure that it was authored by the school teacher up there.” She jerks her head.
“Oh.” Rose says, sounding slightly disappointed.
“Yeah, that one stuck in my head.” The Doctor taps her temple.
“Is that really all?” Rose pushes.
The Doctor shrugs. “As far as I'm aware, yes.”
They have reached the Tardis, and the Doctor unlocks and opens the door, motions Rose through.
.............
“Dr. Frank Andrews?” John Smith flashes the paper that identifies him as an investigator.
“Yes?” Dr. Andrews says.
“Do you have a few minutes? I'd like to ask you about Adrian Kelsey.”
“Of course. My next appointment isn't urgent, he can wait for a little while. What would you like to know?”
“How did he come to be working here?”
“Moved, after his wife died. Well, his parents, I suppose, had an inheritance.” Dr. Andrews said. “He came highly recommended.”
“And how was he?”
“Oh, well, I disagreed with some of his methods- he liked to use new methods, chemical and equipment. But his patients seemed to like him, for the most part. Until all this nonsense about the house.”
“About that- you've been there, haven't you? He claimed something happened in the basement.”
“Yes. That would have been...it was September 8th, I remember. He hadn't been living here very long. He'd mentioned odd things about the house, but nothing like when he came here with that story about the city.” Andrews shakes his head.
“What happened on that day?” John asks.
“He came in, very agitated. I didn't know what to make of it, he's normally quite calm and composed. I thought he must have fallen asleep and dreamed it. But he was very insistent I accompany him. There was certainly no city. There was a door that had been closed over, we tore it open again but there was nothing but a small room. It was quite wet, though.”
“Do you know what the room was used for? Why someone would have closed it?”
“It looked like it had once been a laboratory, there were a few boxes of equipment, not much. It was all quite old, I'd imagine it belonged to the vet that used to live there. I have no idea why they walled it up.
The floor was wet, perhaps the foundation leaks.”
“You knew the previous owner?” John asks.
“The old vet used to work on our horses when I was young, and the dogs a few times. He passed away, must be around twenty years ago now. His brother managed the house, I believe. He had some grand vision about leasing it out to rich families for vacation, but that never came to much. There were a few people here and there, but not enough to turn any real profit. I'm sure he was glad to be rid of it.”
“What about Mrs Turner?”
“She was a good woman, bless her soul.” Dr. Andrews says.
“Are you aware of the circumstances surrounding her death?”
“Heart attack, wasn't it?” Dr. Andrews asks.
“It appears so. Dr. Kelsey claims that she died of fright after confronting some...entity. He seems to believe it is of supernatural origin.” John says. “He hasn't been in to work since his daughter vanished, is that true?”
“As far as I know, yes.”
“How well did you know Penny?”
“I saw her maybe a dozen times.”
“What was she like?”
“Quiet.” Dr Andrews laughs. “Most children who come in here are crying. She's bright, very well behaved. Was. Do you know what happened to her?”
“Not yet.” John says. “Do you mind if I have a look around?”
“Yes, of course.” Dr. Andrews fishes a key from drawer and offers it over.
John unlocks the door and steps into the other side of the building, which has an empty front office and
an examination and treatment room, and a storage closet. He rattles the desk drawers but finds them locked, drops down and runs a hand along the bottom of the desk.
His pocket vibrates, John reaches in with his free hand and pulls out a clamshell style cell phone, flips it open. “Yeah...ooh...found it.”
“Where are you?” The Doctor asks.
John traps the phone between ear and shoulder as he works the key into the lock on the main drawer. “Kelsey's office. And either he takes all his work home with him, or somebody has been in here and cleaned the place out. No papers, no notes, looks like some of the equipment has been taken, too. Whoever did it was good.”
“Mrs Donovan, the teacher, she says she saw a couple men that fit Lean and Arrows description talking to Penny. Did his partner mention anything like that?”
“No.” John says. “I can ask him, though.”
“You do that. And hurry up, I've got something to show you.”
……………………
John finds the console room empty, but he can hear laughter coming from the kitchen. Laughter that suspiciously stops the second he walks in.
“Hi.” Rose says in her innocent voice.
The Doctor glances over at him, bites her lip and turns away with a muffled snort. “Here-” She manages after a moment. “Have some tea-”
This makes both of them stifle giggles again.
“Oh, I see. So that's how it's going to be.” John tosses the folder from Abrams onto the table.
“Come on, you know we love you.” The Doctor grabs his arm as John walks past, gives it a squeeze.
“Yeah, yeah.” He hugs Rose before sitting down and taking the cup she offers him.
“You remember that book- the one with the Grandfather poem in it?”
“Yes.” John says.
“Do you have any idea where it might have gotten off to?”
“If it's not in the Library?” John frowns. “You know...ooh, you know where I bet it was- when the Tardis dropped so much mass and lost all those rooms-”
The Doctor groans. “I was really hoping you weren't going to say that.”
“Books aside- I was looking through Kelsey's file, and these numbers don't add up.” John says.
“What numbers?” The Doctor straightens up.
“According to Kelsey, his wife died the year before he moved here, right?”
“Yes.”
“These records say that he purchased the house in 1876- nine years before Penny went missing. If his wife died the year before, Penny would have to be at least ten.”
“Maybe she has some sort of medical problem.” Rose says.
“That would be fantastic.” The Doctor says. “But I rather doubt it. Seems like the sort of thing he'd mention.”
“Fine, she's a brain sucking alien who's trying to take over the world, and has enslaved Kesley to help her. Is that better?”
The Doctor has been arranging her face into a sarcastic expression, but now stops and tilts her head. “You know...”
“Oh, come on.” Rose groans.
“No, no, that was a bit...B-movie. But that girl did say it sounded like she was giving him orders.”
“Yeah.” Rose admits.“But, a kid?”
“What if she only looks like a child?” The Doctor says. “And what about this-”
She produces the paper, unfolds it with a flourish and spreads it flat on the table. John and Rose lean over to look.
A bizarre mass of circles, like the heads of people in a crowd, an impression strengthened by swooping lines that look vaguely like curtains. In the center of the image, a blue rectangle cut with a cross, a bright square extending wiggles of light sitting on the slightly lopsided top.
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