Part 2: A Visit to the Old Town - Documents

Missing Entries
1916 - 1921

I'm completely unable to recall what led to my confinement in the Arkham
Asylum, or what happened to the six years between my two visits there.

They tell me I had some kind of personality change that night in Boston - they
watched me for a while, decided I wasn't dangerous, and let me go. After six
years, I switched back, just as mysteriously.

They admitted me again, found nothing wrong, and here I am. Among the personal
effects they returned to me is a leather-bound journal - perhaps it will tell
me what I've forgotten.

Looking through the journal, all I can find is my life as a police detective.

There is no hint of any illness, or mental strain, or anything else that could
explain my change of personality - or the equally sudden recovery that still
baffles my doctors.
However, a number of pages have been torn from the journal. Who did it, or why,
I can't tell. Did I destroy them myself, to suppress some horrific memory? Or
did the asylum staff judge their contents detrimental to my treatment?

Why was part of my life erased? What is it that I can't remember, and who wants
it to stay forgotten? Is it a precaution to protect my sanity - or the key to
something I need?



A Shadowed Past

February 6, 1922

Early Evening

It has been more than 6 years since I entered that strange house in Boston.

But to me, it was just 5 months ago. Amnesia, the Doctors called it, probably
brought on by acute mental stress.

I remember investigating the far side of the library, there was screaming.

According to the police report they had searched the house for hours, only to
find me later, collapsed on the floor.

When my eyes opened and I spoke, my colleagues recoiled in fear; there was
something unnatural in my voice and blank gaze.

They committed me to Arkham Asylum, where I was diagnosed with severe
schizophrenia.

As it became clear that I presented no danger to either myself or others, I was
released from the asylum's care.

I have learned little of my activities in the 6 years that followed.

The accounts I have been able to piece together, show much of my time was spent
in travel and study.

I maintained a fanatical infatuation with the occult; delving deep into volumes
concerning witch-cults and dark legends, often in languages unfamiliar to my
own.

When I reawakened 5 months ago, exactly 6 years after entering that house in
Boston, no trace was left of what had been a second personality.

I was myself again, or at least what I believe myself to be.

Return to normal life has been a painful process.

In recent days my dreams have been plagued by cosmic landscapes, and I've
become fearful of my own reflection.

I am beginning to remember things from that day, more than six years past, that
I have told no other.



New Client

February 6, 1922

Night

I have a new client: Mr. Arthur Anderson, the regional manager of the First
National Grocery Store chain.

It appears that the First National Grocery Store in Innsmouth was recently
burglarized, and its manager, one Brian Burnham, is missing.

From what I have been able to gather, Burnham is something of a young rogue. A
friend of the family, Mr. Anderson gave him the job as a favor.

Burnham is looking like the prime suspect for the robbery, but there are a few
things that don't add up - not to Anderson, and not to me.

For instance, why would Burnham force an entry into the store when he had a
full set of keys, free access to the cash register, and the combination to the
back-office safe? To misdirect any investigation? If that was his plan, why did
he disappear?

Following my conversation with Mr. Anderson, I found out what I could about the
ancient town of Innsmouth. For generations, the crumbling sea-port and its
people have been shunned by neighboring communities.

Outsiders are unwelcome there, and there are superstitious tales of a strange
element in the town's oldest families. They are of mixed blood, so the stories
go. Whatever that's supposed to mean. The usual hick-town prejudice, no doubt.

After making a brief visit to Innsmouth, my client came away distrustful of the
local authorities. He isn't buying their line that Burnham robbed the place,
and wants to know what happened to him.

Only one bus goes to Innsmouth, and tomorrow afternoon I'll be on it. It feels
good to have a purpose after five months trying to break through my amnesia.

I also feel a little apprehensive - maybe it's the wild stories about the town,
or maybe it's just because I haven't had a case in so long.



Arkham Advertiser, 6th February 1922

Grocery Store Robbed
Manager Missing

Thieves have robbed the First National Grocery Store in Innsmouth, breaking
down the door and forcing open the cash register. The newly-appointed manager,
Mr. Brian Burnham, has been missing since shortly before the robbery.

"This is a very disturbing turn of events," said Mr. Arthur Anderson, First
National's regional manager, from his Arkham office.

"This branch had only recently opened, and First National Grocery had high
hopes for its success, given the general lack of modern stores and amenities in
Innsmouth. The robbery is a definite setback, and more worrying still is the
fact that the branch manager remains unaccounted for."

Innsmouth authorities could not be reached for comment.



Diary of Brian Burnham

Well, I agree with the locals on one thing - I shouldn't be stuck in this
miserable excuse for a town. I can see why nobody comes here, that's for sure.

Another slow day at the store. At first I thought people were staying away
because First National isn't local, but I haven't seen anyone go into any of
the other stores either.

Come to that, I haven't seen the other stores open for business. This place is
deader than dead.

Still, it won't be long before I'm out of here - before we're both out of here.
She's the one good thing about Innsmouth. We'll bust open Old Man Waite's safe,
take a car - and then it's New York City!

Bright lights, nightlife, everything. I'll show her all of it.



Innsmouth Courier, 19th June 1846

Innsmouth Patrician Arrested!
Tales of Heathen Ceremonies!
by John Lawrence, Editor

Obed Marsh, the head of Innsmouth's wealthy and influential Marsh family, now
sits in the City Jail accused of devil worship and other unspeakable practices.

The whole community is left in a state of shock by the horrifying revelations
that accompanied the arrest.

The readers will no doubt be aware of the deep reservations expressed by the
Courier's editorship and other decent citizens concerning the Esoteric Order of
Dagon, which was founded by Captain Marsh after his return from the South Seas
and is said to be based upon a primitive religion he encountered among the
uneducated natives of certain distant Pacific Islands.

The Captain's arrest seems to lend strength to those suspicions, and a full
investigation is expected to unearth more.



Arham Advertiser, 7th February 1922

Innsmouth Robbery: Missing Manager Accused

In yesterday's edition, we reported on a burglary at the recently-opened First
National Grocery store in Innsmouth.

The case took a new turn today as authorities in the town named Brian Burnham,
the store's manager, as a suspect in the case. Burnham has not been seen since
the robbery, and is thought to have left the area.

"It is a very straightforward case," said Chief Constable Andrew Martin in
response to inquiries by the Advertiser. "This young man simply robbed his
employer and fled. I imagine he's out of the county now, if not the state."

The Chief Constable dismissed concerns expressed by First National Grocery's
regional manager, Mr. Arthur Anderson, that Burnham may have been kidnapped or
injured.