Chapter Text
From the Hanlon Records
[Copy. A handwritten note is stapled to the top left corner. It reads: "The Derry Herald — 14/08/1889"]
AEROLITE FOUND!
— Fallen meteoric stone dropped into field across Indian Marsh.
Derry, Aug. 13 — An aerolite, of a large and irregular shape, crashed on the bank of the Tamarack Stream late last night. Onlookers reported a fireball of red-and-white and a fearsome crashing sound. The stone, a dark slate-blue color, is said to be near the size of a small shed. Hundreds have gathered today to view this strange new sight.
[Original handwritten document. The handwriting is a left-leaning, spiky block script.]
Mr. Benjamin Hanscom
7808 Jackson Street
Boulder, CO
Aug. 10, 1953
Dear Mike,
Apologies are in order! I keep meaning to write, but the end of the term and my research have kept me quite busy.
Right now I am preparing for the yearly trip to the High Altitude Observatory. The university's new observatory will not be ready before the start of term, which means one last excursion up to Leadville.
The site itself is not much to write home about, it's an old molybdenum mine—but at nightfall, during the meteor showers—good God, Mike! I don't think Kodachrome footage could do it justice, it's like being dropped in the middle of space. Well worth the hassle it takes to get up there! If you can be persuaded to visit Colorado, I could persuade my boss to let you come along to one of our excursions.
I should be back the week after writing this. It's always a treat to come back and find letters from home to read and reply to after pretending to be an aeronaut. Until then, please take care of yourself, write when you can, and give Ma a tight hug from her second favorite son (we both know you're the first).
Your friend,
Ben
[Copy. Blue ink used to remark words where the typewriter ink has faded. The page is stapled together with the next sheet, at the top left corner.]
DERRY TOWNSHIP
POLICE DEPARTMENT
"For Community And Order"
Date: August 13, 1953
Reporting Officer: Patrolman F.E. Kaspbrak
Location: Near State Route 2 and County Road 7
Elderly white female located approx. three ft. from roadside, in the vicinity of Hanlon Dairy Farm. Ezekiel Fisk, night watchman at the farm, found the woman and notified his employers, William & Michael Hanlon, at around 5:50 A.M.
W. Hanlon found no signs of life and proceeded to notify dispatch. Fisk and M. Hanlon reported no unusual activity near or around the farm's limits at the time the body was found.
No vehicles were observed passing the area, save those in service of the dairy farm’s operations. Reporting parties confirmed same. Area was cordoned off while waiting for coroner's arrival.
[Original handwritten document. The handwriting is tidy and compact cursive on black ink. The remaining lines have been scored out with enough force to thin the paper.]
7:13 A.M. — body picked up & transp. to Derry General for autopsy. interviews w/HDF laborers do not produce positive ID or leads (?)
Mike reports leaving for home c. 10:30 P.M. last nite, arrival today c. 6:30 A.M. (Fisk's call). only overnight staff assigned was Fisk
spoke w/Fisk re: body found nr farm road. reported working hrs are 10 P.M.–8 A.M. no vehicles reported driving near/by the area overnight; nothing amiss, "things very quiet"
both shaken but otherwise collected—reliable accts
— follow-up: parish/church, Rotary Club, dispatch
1st Methodist, St. Agnes—0 match, 0 lead from both
10:16 A.M. — no useful missing persons notice rec’d yet matching age/descr. in Penobscot Cty
— follow-up: Maine Missing Persons Department—0 match, 0 lead (??)
11:09 A.M. — MSG from Rotary Club—0 match, 0 lead
— no apparent local leads — extend search beyond Derry?
Chief Bowers orders any further matters on this case delegated to Dep. Rogan. Orders: "no outside involvement"
[Copy. Typewritten document.]
Penobscot County Medical Examiner’s Office
Autopsy Report
Case Number: 53-814-001
Date of Examination: August 15, 1953
Location of Examination: Penobscot County Mortuary Facility, Bangor
Referring Agency: Derry Police Department
Case Designation: Jane Doe – DPC-81353
Based upon the findings disclosed, and in the absence of evidence indicating violence or external injury, it is my opinion that the deceased’s cause of death is an acute myocardial infarction. Death is therefore determined to be of natural causes.
The estimated time of death is approx. between the late evening hours of August 12, 1953 and the early morning hours of August 13, 1953.
The deceased remains unidentified at the time of this report. Dental charting and physical description have been recorded and relayed to the Derry Police Department for circulation among the proper authorities.
Signed,
Dr. Harold Tibbs
County Coroner
Penobscot County, Maine
[Copy. Typewritten letter.]
Women's Division of Christian Service
Methodist Board of Missions
P.O. Box 276
New York 27, NY
September 24, 1953
Dear Sisters,
Through our channels of service, we have received a request concerning the identity of an elderly woman found deceased in the outskirts of Derry, Maine.
The woman is described as white, around seventy-five to eighty years of age, of small build, and plainly but respectably dressed at the time she was found. She was found early in the morning of the 13th of August, and is presumed to have passed away the previous night. At present, her identity has not been established, nor have any positive leads been found.
If any member of this society has knowledge of a missing person case fitting the description, we ask that the information be passed without delay to your local authorities, and to our sisters in Derry at the following address for any further information:
Women's Society of Christian Service
First Methodist Church of Derry
Derry, ME
We request you treat this matter with discretion and charity, bearing in mind the Christian duty to spare some family any further uncertainty.
Grace and peace,
Penelope Cooper
Secretary of Literature and Publications
Women's Division of Christian Service
Methodist Board of Missions
[Original document. Typewritten letter. There is a ring-shaped brown stain on the paper, presumably coffee or tea.]
4516 Magnolia Avenue
Chicago 40, Illinois
October 14, 1954
My dear Mikey,
Eds had told me about that grisly find in his latest, but it's another thing entirely to read your account of it from the safety of the Near North Side. This must be the stuff of nightmares for you and your parents.
You remember my Bubbe's last years, don't you? Went and Maggie would go bananas every time she wandered off, and that only got worse closer to the end. There's likely a worried family whose efforts to find her will soon meet Bevy's to find her kin — I have full faith in her tenacity (how is she, by the way? I've been asked by one of our mutual friends).
Hopefully this poor soul finds her way back home soon and is laid to rest as intended, so you and your family can leave all this ugliness behind.
Speaking of making your way back home, and on a wildly different note …
My time in Chicago has come to an end and I am preparing my return to Derry. It won't be before this letter reaches you, don't worry — I should be arriving by the week of Thanksgiving, at latest. There are some remaining loose ends yet to deal with, and I must keep this short. Rather than bore you with a novel, I'd like to tell you all about this move over a drink or five when I'm back in town.
The thought of being back among so many friendly faces, your handsome mug included, gives me something to look forward to. Look after yourself and give everyone my love in the meantime.
Your good pal,
Richie
[Copy. Typewritten document.]
DERRY TOWNSHIP
POLICE DEPARTMENT
"For Community And Order"
Date: October 27, 1953
9:43 A.M. —
Received: long-distance phone call from Hawkins Police Department in Hawkins, Indiana. Caller identified himself as Sheriff James Hopper of Hawkins P.D.
– re: possible ID link between unidentified female body recovered near Hanlon farm road in August, and a missing female reported in Hawkins (surname: DRISCOLL). Request made for description of deceased and personal effects recovered.
Chief Bowers notified of request, pending further orders.
10:51 A.M. —
Sent: long-distance phone call request to Hawkins P.D. from Chief Bowers.
11:02 A.M. —
Per Chief Bowers:
— provide verbal description of full identifying particulars for Jane Doe – 8-13-53
— postmortem findings for Jane Doe to be held pending wired written request from Hawkins P.D.
— wire written request to P.D. for full identifying particulars of Driscoll case, including dental/medical records & family contact where available
Internal instructions: case delegated to Dep. Rogan and Sgt. Uris
1:30 P.M. —
Sent: long-distance phone call request to Hawkins P.D. from Sgt. Uris.
1:48 P.M. —
Per Sgt. Uris: Chief Hopper from Hawkins P.D. advises request for coroner's report, missing persons report for Driscoll case to follow by wire and post.
Entered:
S. Neptune
Dispatcher
[Original handwritten letter. First of two letters clipped together. A handwritten note clipped at the front on the top left corner reads "please take good care of this, Mikey! - B". The handwriting of the letter is cursive with a slight lean to the right; it does not match the note's.]
11 Cornwallis Street
Hawkins, IN
November 6th, 1953
Dear Mrs. Rogan,
We have not yet been formally introduced. My husband, Sheriff James Hopper, has been in touch with yours regarding the unidentified woman found in your town last month. She has been formally identified as Mrs. Doris Driscoll, a resident of Hawkins, Indiana, at the time of her death.
Doris was our neighbor and an esteemed member of our community, and while we are saddened to confirm her passing, it brings us comfort to know she passed among good people who saw to it that her family was found.
We still don't know how or why she came to be in Derry, as she was not known to have any travel plans or relations to visit outside of Indiana. Furthermore, no vehicle related to her went missing. The coroner who took her case assured us wanderings like this are not unheard of among the elderly, and we pray this is explanation enough to provide her family some comfort.
On behalf of her surviving relatives and our community, I wish to commend you on your kindness of spirit, shown by efforts well beyond what duty requires. We are indeed quite grateful to you for sparing them any further uncertainty and pain, and for treating Doris's remains with the grace and dignity befitting Christian charity.
With sincere appreciation,
Mrs. Joyce Hopper
[Original handwritten letter. Second of two letters clipped together. The handwriting matches the previous letter.]
11 Cornwallis Street
Hawkins, IN
April 10, 1954
Dear Beverly,
Thank you for trusting me with something so personal. I hope I continue to be worthy of your trust. And please, don't apologize for speaking so openly.
Spring here has been mild, so far—at least when it comes to the weather. We expect some very big changes this season: Jonathan's transfer to NYU is all but a reality! The move won't be for a few more months, and he won't be able to audit all the classes he took here, but there's nothing else in that boy's mind. Jim and I know he'll do fantastic out there in New York City. Though I must admit, I'm very much not prepared to face the first of my children leaving the nest!
You mentioned sometime over the winter that your friend's farm received some odd damage. Jim has now received reports of similar damage to three local farms. The way he described it was not unlike what you wrote—the long strips of dead soil where crops have rotted and stopped growing. He says that the farmers suspect a fungal blight of some sort, because of the way it's localized, and are looking into testing the soil in the affected areas.
I share this information with you in case it might be of help to you and your friend; and in the hope you might have anything helpful to offer.
Do write back when you can— I quite look forward to your letters!
Your friend,
Joyce
[Original document. Form filled out with a typewriter and signed by adjuster. The section labelled NOTES is handwritten.]
PENOBSCOT COUNTY MUTUAL INSURANCE
est. 1865
March 14, 1954
Claim No. F-18427
Insured: Mr. William Hanlon
Property location: Hanlon Dairy Farm
Claim: Declined (want of insurable interest)
Dear Sir:
Following our investigation of the losses reported in December of 1953, we cannot establish a direct loss by any of the perils insured against under our policies. The condition seems to be localized to a dead strip of ground with resulting loss of crops and fruit trees; which is not a covered item under the terms of your policy's contract.
Without admitting any liability, we would like to offer a sum of $85.00 as compromise for the damage reported and confirmed during inspection.
The receipt is enclosed and ready to be cashed in, should you find the sum acceptable to cover the following:
-
loss of four young apple trees
-
loss of four young pear trees
-
cost of spring reseeding on the affected margin
Respectfully,
C. Britt
Adjuster
Penobscot County Mutual Insurance Company
Notes
The inspection disclosed a band of dead soil crossing the insured's field on the northern limit, continuing into the adjoining pasture and stopping at the start of the road. The band is six inches wide and even throughout. The soil is darkened and cold to the touch, sterile in appearance. The neighboring farm reports similar conditions.
No evidence of fire, vehicle damage, sabotage, chemical burn, or overflow of any kind were found. The cause remains undetermined.
Recommendation: denial — land damage and loss of productive soil not covered under the terms of contract. Compensation for young trees and reseeding is suggested to close the case.