IC-Ep 4-The Boss(Anna Jerkins only)

[Mr. Handy]

Maxwell's Sanitarium - London, England
7:30 AM - Wednesday, September 11, 1940

Anna was in Dr. Stoddard's office to ask for permission to get Eugene out of the sanitarium, but he had apparently heard something about the escape last night and was asking her about it.

[Mephistophilis]

Anna decides she's going to have to play this one pretty carefully. 'Yes, Catherine Exeter escaped again. I had asked for extra observations to be placed on her but it still seems she slipped out of the basement during the air raid.' She takes a deep breath, time for the unbelievable bit, 'It is still not entirely clear how she got out, but it seems there was some kind of crack formed in the toilet wall, perhaps from a bomb, I don't know, but she managed to escape through this crack and I followed her with one of the orderlies, into the sewers. Between us we managed to restrain her and take her back to a manhole. Unfortunately she slipped out of the hands of the orderly while I was checking it was safe to climb up.'

Anna hopes a bit of mock humility will help her cause, 'I didn't think it was safe to go tearing off into the tunnels after losing her a second time. I realise now I shouldn't have left her with the orderly but I honestly expected he would have been able to keep her under control.'

As an after thought she adds, 'I'm also worried about the structural safety of the sanitorium building because by the time we returned the crack had all but sealed back up.'

[Mr. Handy]

OOC,[b]Anna[/b], please roll Credit Rating.

[Mephistophilis]

Credit Rating 40%,0

OOC:   Pass

[Mr. Handy]

"It sounds strange, but I suppose that's what must have happened," said Dr. Stoddard. "I'll get a structural engineer to have a look at the basement today. It's a shame she's escaped again, but at least it wasn't MacDonald. If it had been, I'd probably be looking at the inside of a military prison. Is there anything I can do for you, Dr. Jerkins?"

[Mephistophilis]

'Well yes, there is one other thing' says Anna, carefully. 'Mr Thomson, he was asking to be discharged. He's a voluntary patient as you know. His main difficulty seems to be fear of the dark and I'm not sure spending time in our basement is doing him much good so I think it would be pretty reasonable for him to go home. I certainly wouldn't want to detain him here.'

[Mr. Handy]

"Yes, I heard about the power outage last night," said Dr. Stoddard. "He's also the one that tried to spring MacDonald yesterday. Very well, I can see that this is not the right place for Mr. Thomson. I trust he can be treated on an outpatient basis."

[Mephistophilis]

Anna nods, 'I'll see to it myself.' She waits for a moment, thinking. 'Given what happened with Mrs Exeter I think MacDonald could do with some close supervision. From what I've observed he is much more comfortable with several strong lights, even at night.'

OOC:   Interestingly outpatient treatment for mental illness has only been legal for the last 10yrs in 1940

[Mr. Handy]

"Excellent," said Dr. Stoddard. "You can be sure we'll keep a close watch on MacDonald, especially after yesterday. Is there anything else?"

[Mephistophilis]

'No that's it thank you Dr Stoddard' says Anna. 'I will take a look at Mrs Exeter's file to see if I can find any clues as to where she might have gone.'

[Mr. Handy]

"I have it here," said Dr. Stoddard, going into his filing cabinet and handing Anna a manila folder. Opening it, she read the details of how Catherine Exeter ended up in the sanitarium in March 1930 and the course of her treatment. It seemed that she and her husband, Professor Winston Exeter, an Egyptologist who had worked at the British Museum, had recruited several Egyptian men to aid them in their mad schemes. They had abducted a treasure hunter named Grit Wilson and taken him to the basement of a warehouse owned by the professor. The underground rooms had been in the style of ancient Egypt, and they had tied him to an altar where they had been preparing to offer him up as a sacrifice. A group of people led by a man named Story had burst in to try to rescue him, but it had gone badly and they had been captured. One of his companions, Elizabeth Young, had been shot in the head and just barely survived. However, the police had been alerted to what was going on there and a squad of constables entered, where they fought a brutal battle with Professor Exeter and his group. Professor Exeter had been killed in the fight, and Catherine Exeter had shot British Museum security guard Gareth Hayes three times in the back. Miraculously, he survived. Catherine Exeter was badly injured and rendered unconscious. She was committed to Maxwell's Sanitarium, but her treatment had not gone well. She still clung to her delusions of a powerful being called the Black Pharaoh that she and her husband had been trying to summon to rule the world, always trying to justify her actions as for the greater good. She seemed to be even madder now than when she had first arrived. There had been no escape attempts until her first successful escape, however. Her daughter Madeline had been raised by her sister, who refused to allow the girl to visit her mother. However, when Madeline came of age, she began making frequent visits to her mother. Once she married Major Steadman, he often came along on these visits.

[Mephistophilis]

As she reads, Anna finds herself becoming increasingly uncomfortable. This woman is more depraved and more dangerous than she had suspected. 'It makes unsettling reading' she says.

[Mr. Handy]

"Quite," said Dr. Stoddard. "She is not to be underestimated. The fact that she managed to escape not once but twice only enhances the danger she poses. We'll need to keep her in a straitjacket at all times if we ever manage to get her back."

[Mephistophilis]

Anna gives a subdued nod and turns to leave the office and let Eugene know he will be discharged.

[Mr. Handy]

OOC, [b]Anna[/b] is moving to the thread linked below:

Prepare for Battle