The Secret of Kolney Hatch (17 page)

Anna McCrae, who suffered from a rather severe case of mania from a train accident (her eye bulged almost completely out of the socket now), sat next to the Captain and stared downward, expressionless. Eaton Fergus sat next to them, twitching.

“Put ‘em in a locked box, cut ‘em up and let ‘em rot,” the

Captain repeated.

I tried to write out my schedule in my notebook for the day as I finished my porridge, but the Captain’s words distracted me.

“Put ‘em in a locked box, cut ‘em up and let ‘em rot, down into the darkness. Gone. Gone.”

Suddenly I felt an extraordinary chill run through my veins. The feeling was incredibly intense—enough to make the hairs on the back of my neck stand tall. I slowly looked up from my journal and turned my head ever so slightly toward the glass window near the door. To my horror, a figure stared at me with the iciest eyes I had ever seen. The steely glare froze my entire body and paralyzed my muscles for several seconds.

My night visitor had returned, but this time in the light of day, her sinister look was even more frightening. After a few moments in the captivity of her eyes, she released me from her stare, and again I felt life pulse through my body. I looked down for just a second, closed my notebook and jumped up from my seat, but when I looked back the girl had vanished. I hurried through the dining room door, and when I reached the hallway, I saw no one was there. I ran back into the dining room.

“Did anyone see her? The girl by the window?”

I asked Lamont and Nurse Hinkle first, and then looked toward the patients. Anna and Eaton did not even acknowledge my question.

“Are you alright, Doctor Watson?” Lamont asked me.

“You didn’t see a girl standing by the window? That’s the girl that was in my room! I…”

“Doctor Watson, there was no girl there,” Nurse Hinkle said softly.

“But I saw her…I know I did. She was there. None of you saw her?”

“I saw her, Doctor,” the Captain said. “I saw her.”

Frustrated, I hurried out of the dining room. I found Nurse Bigsby in the lower level West Wing corridor by the operation theater.

“Nurse Bigsby!” I called to her. “Eleanor!”

“Oh, Doctor Watson,” she said. “Are you...all right?”

“Did you see a girl run down this hallway?”

“No, I’m sorry, I haven’t.”

I took a deep breath.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m quite positive.”

“But I saw her!”

I turned to go back into the dining room and nearly walked into the Captain.

“Ahhhh hahaha,” he cackled.

“Sorry Captain, but you must be accompanied by a nurse or attendant.”

“I saw her. I saw her.”

“You cannot be out here alone...”

“The ghost of Kolney Hatch. I saw her. I saw her!”

“Captain..please....”

“Put ‘em in a locked box, cut ‘em up and let ‘em rot... Put ‘em in a locked box, cut ‘em up and let ‘em rot...that’s what they’ll do to you too, Doctor!”

I hurried him back into the dining room.

“Keep watch on him this time,” I snapped at Lamont. He’d been too busy courting Nurse Hinkle to notice the Captain missing. “He was wandering around the hallways.”

Nurse Hinkle blushed and Lamont looked embarrassed. I hadn’t meant to scold them, but I could not think straight between seeing the girl again and the Captain’s blubbering. Someone had to have seen the girl. She couldn’t have been a ghost, could she?

twenty three

THE WARNING

Paul Watson’s Journal

June 28, evenin
g
.—
Bonnie White was new to the staff of Kolney Hatch, even newer than I. She was only twenty and was a wonderful teacher from an orphanage in town.

In the two weeks she’d been at Kolney Hatch, she was able to connect with Madelyn and the other patients with kindness and encouragement I did not see in the other staff at Kolney Hatch. She was even able to set some time aside in between working with her larger classes of patients to work one on one with Madelyn because of her inability to leave the ward.

I headed to the women’s ward that morning to find the ward empty of other patients. The gramophone played an upbeat tune and Bonnie sat beside Madelyn as she drew something on a piece of paper.

When Bonnie saw me she greeted me with her large white smile.

“Hullo, Doctor Watson.”

“Please, call me Paul, Bonnie.”

Bonnie blushed.

“Madelyn’s doing so well,” she said.  “You have to see. I think we’re making really good progress here. The gramophone’s helped, and her drawings...well...she even drew one for you...”

She handed me a handful of drawings of dogs, rabbits, and meadows. One drawing was of a sun, grass, and a river. Though underdeveloped, they were all beautiful because Madelyn drew them.

“This one’s mine?”

“Yes,” Bonnie answered.

“This is wonderful!” I said to Madelyn, examining the drawing. “You drew this?”

 Madelyn turned her head slightly to look at me. She smiled for the first time, and I couldn’t help but feel my insides double over in happiness. This small girl’s smile made me feel pure joy.

“This is the best I’ve seen her in the short time I’ve worked with her,” Bonnie said. She looked at me with eyes full of admiration. “She’s really likes you, Doctor Watson. Truly.”

All of a sudden, an excitable Nurse Hinkle entered the ward.

“Doctor Watson...Paul...may I please speak with you a moment...in private.”

“Of course, Nurse Hinkle...” I said. Then, to Bonnie. “I’ll just be a moment.”

“Sure,” Bonnie said with a smile.

I walked out into the hallway of the women’s ward, where Nurse Hinkle was pacing back and forth.

“I’m sorry,” she said nervously. “I don’t want to sound rude, honestly, but if I don’t tell you this...well... I’m afraid you may find yourself in a rather unpleasant circumstance.”

Nurse Hinkle looked almost frightened. I waited for her to continue.

“It’s just…the patient’s are a little excitable lately. You see...they believe this silly story about a girl that was murdered and whose ghost haunts the asylum. She picks her victims...one by one. They call her…”

“The evil one.”

“Yes, how did you know?”

“I heard one of the patients talking about her.”

“So...you can imagine then, you going around saying you’ve seen the girl...or...the ghost rather...it’s all they talk about.”

“But I never claimed to see a ghost. It was a girl.”

“Please. I beg you to stop this. You never saw the girl. Paul...if you keep this up, Doctor Reid, Alice, and the rest of them—they’ll think you’ve gone insane here.”

“And what would you think?”

“I’d have no choice but to agree.”

“What do you suggest then, Miss Hinkle?”

“I suggest you forget about what you saw, or they’ll find a reason to lock you up here.”

Saying nothing more, Nurse Hinkle scurried back down the hallway. As I re-entered the women’s ward, I could only think of Nurse Hinkle’s warning. She wasn’t telling me everything she knew. Perhaps another doctor experienced the same thing and went mad. Was I seeing a ghost that no one else could see? Or was I simply witnessing something people chose not to see. With an unsettling feeling, I turned my attention back to Madelyn and Bonnie.

twenty four

DISCOVERY IN THE CABINET

Paul Watson’s Journal

June 28, continue
d
.—After my session with Madelyn, I headed back to the infirmary, still bothered by Nurse Hinkle’s warning. Alexander Parker was still recovering, and I had yet another kitchen incident involving an oven flame and a patient’s arm. I reached into my coat jacket to grab my pen; I needed to update the burn patient’s file. I pulled out, along with a pen, the piece of paper that I nearly forgot about until that moment. I read it again.

The walls have eyes.

I felt a prickly feeling on my skin. Nurse Hinkle’s words, the ghost, this note—it was all too overwhelming. I decided to put it out of my mind and headed to Doctor Reid’s office. He had told me Edward Fitch would be inspecting the facility until noon and then would meet with both Doctor Reid and me in his office. The time was just five minutes until noon now. I let myself into his office. He wasn’t there, so I decided to wait for him. I studied his portrait for a moment. At first glance, his image seemed stoical, but as I continued to stare into his dark eyes, I noticed something obscure in them. Like most portraits I had seen, Doctor Reid’s was devoid of happiness. I shuddered and turned away from the painting and began to peruse the rest of the office.

Doctor Reid’s desk was very neat; barely anything was on top, although I did notice my file in the top left corner. I picked it up and glanced behind me to make sure no one saw me. I could see my address, my credentials, and a few written notes about how well I was doing at Kolney Hatch. He did not note the altercation about William Wilson, and for that I was thankful. With a satisfied grin on my face, I returned the file to its exact position on the desk. Then I walked toward two large file cabinets. I contemplated leaving his office to wait for him just outside, but something told me to check those file drawers. One of the drawers was locked and that piqued my curiosity. After again looking behind me to make sure no one was by the doorway, I looked through Doctor Reid’s desk for a key. I had no idea if I would find one, but sure enough I found a tiny copper-colored key in the top drawer of his desk. The drawer opened with ease then, and I carefully browsed through the stack of files. Suddenly I stumbled upon a folder labeled with a name I recognized.

Hannah Hamilton.

I pulled it out and gave it a cursory glance.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, except for a ledger with a record receipt of large payments, much, much larger than an under-funded asylum would ever receive. For the past two years, Kolney Hatch received these payments from a Theodore Hamilton, Hannah’s husband.

Immediately, I remembered what Hannah mumbled that night I visited her. She spoke of Theodore and the money, but Doctor Reid assured me that he was not taking money for his patients.

I should have left then, but instead, I returned Hannah’s folder and found George’s. Sure enough, other large payments were received from a Mrs. Wallingston, George’s step-mother, to Kolney Hatch Lunatic Asylum.

I wondered what Reid had done with the money.  

Suddenly, my heartbeat quickened. Was someone watching me? Thinking perhaps the girl had followed me once more, I quickly turned around. Instead of the girl, the woman staring at me was Alice. She glared at me with her black beady eyes, and
 
her arms were folded defensively.

That day, her voice was especially shrill and disapproving.

“Doctor Watson, do you mind telling me why you’re in Doctor Reid’s office, rummaging through his personal items?”

I was speechless for a moment as she ripped George’s file out of my hand.

 “I was only waiting for Doctor Reid and Mr. Fitch,” I answered reservedly.

“Did that give you authorization to look through his desk and open a locked drawer?”

“No, but…”

“Doctor Watson, I’m appalled by your unprofessional behavior. I should have you fired for such an insolent act.”

“Alice, I’m sorry I just…”

“You just nothing, Paul Watson. If I ever catch you alone in Doctor Reid’s office again looking through his personal drawers, I promise you, Doctor Reid will have your license revoked.”

Just then, Doctor Reid and Mr. Fitch walked through the door.

“Doctor Reid, may I have a word?” Alice asked.

She shot me one last steely glance and walked out of the office.

Letter from Paul Watson to Amy Rose

“Dear Amy,”                                              “June 30, 1926”

Your letters bring me happiness as well. In fact, lately I only find joy from reading your letters. If I had stayed in Scotland, perhaps we would be together. But I also believe our reconnection is fate.

August 1 we will have visitation day at the asylum. The staff is only required to work until two in the afternoon, and then the asylum will have a celebratory event in the dining hall. I hoped that I could come and visit you then. Mr. Newbury, the gardener, told me about an old tavern by a stone bridge just a short distance from here. Perhaps I could send a car to retrieve you, and we could meet there around three in the afternoon. I would really like to spend time with you. Please write to me and tell me you will meet me there.

Also, please, tell me more about your dislike for Kolney Hatch. I noticed some suspicious happenings lately, several in fact. Please tell me everything you know and what the people of Whitemoor know about this place. Have you ever heard of a ghost story surrounding the asylum? Have you ever heard of the evil one?