Evidence Board: The Place For Clues

[jp1885]

Please post any clues you’ve uncovered, aide memoires, thoughts and theories etc. here.

[Philulhu]

The weird cup/jug/thing that Des spotted in the photograph:



The markings made her feel funny, and not in a good way.

[Snapper]

[Snapper]

Hogwarts stuff:

The clatter of wooden skittles...
The taste of cheese and onion...
A snatch of a bawdy song - "Why was he born so beautiful?"...
A very faint smell of petrol or motor oil...


Why was he born so beautiful?
Why was he born at all?
He’s no bloody use to anyone,
He’s no bloody use at all!

[SaintMeerkat]

The runes resemble some we encountered in a graveyard in Whitechapel. Someone had supposedly been carrying out 'black magic' rituals, but Nightingale could not pick up any unusual vestigia. However, you did find symbols like these (but not identical) scratched onto a gravestone.

The cheese in the vestigia smells like cheddar.

[Snapper]

[Snapper]

After some searching, you find a grainy photograph of a very similar, if not the same, urn. It’s on a Dorset history Facebook page and comes from an old auction catalogue.

Listed among a number of more everyday items from the sale of some manor-house in the 1930s, it is labelled as a ‘stone pot with unusual markings, possibly East Asian or Central Asian. Providence unknown.”

There is no indication of its value.

It appears that the catalogue pertained to a house sale for Crowberry Manor, owned by the Perryman family. Further research reveals that it was demolished in 1936.

[Snapper]

To Do:

Speak to Ken Danson and Archie Buttress.

Look at the score sheets Mike had located.

[Snapper]

[Trivun]

Izzy's notebook - live case notes regarding the Karl Chichester death (to be updated as and when the notes are updated in the story threads):

Talk to Sgt. Dhillon - done and dusted What was his job? - Advertising executive - which company? Colleagues/clients connected to incident? Any immediate family/friends? Notified yet? Any close friends who may be practitioners? Anyone with a grudge - any recent fallings out? - Tried to fight Shaun Rushgrove after trying it on with his girlfriend, Holly Tremlett. Cautioned, no charges pressed. History of voyeurism? See photos on SD card, found inside sanded phone. Vestigia around brain - flowers, sun on skin, tropical birds - has he been abroad recently? - Vestigia also on clothes, spray bottle with plant extract residue. No recent trips abroad currently known. Likes sports cars - mid life crisis? Likes Grimesy, hates Loz Drivez, what were his political leanings? Red herring? - Drove Porsche Boxster - deffo mid life crisis. Check phone for microchip damage - sanded - as expected. CCTV - if entrance further from changing room, might be operational - could get time of entry - also other people, did everyone in building leave at closing time?

(next page - from Karl's apartment) Dates marked on calendar - second Wednesday of the month, last two months - meaning? Event? Vestigia in kitchen according to Skipper - same as elsewhere Forensics checking spray bottle residue - might be three days at least for results Working theory - turned invisible somehow, Bilbo Baggins style Spray bottle marked 'Flowers Fields' - new lead? Garden centre or something Lots of violent incidents today in area - connected or coincidence? More info from autopsy - HTD over time, not one burst; moss in stomach - sample? Compare to Flowers Fields? Maud Flowers - runs Flowers Fields garden centre. Demi Monde. Reacted poorly to spray bottle - knows what's in there, suspicious? Hasn't told us what it is.

[jp1885]

Ooh, have I shown you the map of local environs yet? Click to enlarge

[Snapper]

The pair of you positively ace the research!

Working at an efficiency and pace that would make the cleverest Oxford don weep, you soon uncover plenty of information on the history of the town - to wit:

The history of Cwmllyn:
There has been a settlement at the site since at least the Bronze Age. The town has served the local agricultural community for centuries, with hill farmers bringing their livestock to market before the advent of the railways allowed them to trade in larger cities further afield.
Apart from small-scale coal mining in the 18th-19th century, the town has seen little in the way of industry and suffered a decline in population between the world wars. This depression lasted until the late 20th century, although contemporary reports show that the town remained content and largely crime-free despite being moribund economically.
Cwmllyn is currently experiencing a significant change, thanks to the arrival of a major road artery, linking the town to larger cities in a way never seen before. This has led to a building boom, with many newcomers looking for a semi-rural base from which to commute.

The religious revival of 1904-5:
Wales was swept up by a religious revival, starting in 1904. Methodist preachers toured the country, holding prayer meetings, and filling churches to over-capacity. The effects were considerable: rough miners, for example, forswore alcohol and bad language, and took to prayer and hymn singing. The revival only lasted for a couple of years, but influenced other religious awakenings across the globe.
By the end of 1905, a minority of preachers had become disillusioned with how the movement was weakening and became more fundamentalist in their sermons.
A fellow called Preacher Jones operated exclusively in and around Cwmllyn. His sermons became increasingly fiery, leading up to the riot of 1905, which was quelled by the local militia.

A treatise on religious practices in Bronze Age Wales says the following:
Little is known about the subject. Archaeological evidence suggests that offerings of foodstuffs were left at certain sites. Archaeologists have found pottery shards, cooked animal bones and grains.
In addition, a number of folk tales have been recorded, in which spirits of sacred groves were honoured with gifts. Communities would ‘cleanse’ themselves, asking these spirits would seize the unworthy and send them to the underworld for punishment.

The exact location of the grove is unknown, but looking at old maps, Grove Road has always been the main thouroughfare through the town.

Looking through the (mainly national) newspaper archives, you find nothing on Councillor Short than you don't already know, but Cwmllyn does get the occasional mention:

1904: Religious revival spreads – Emlyn Jones is noted as holding his first sermon at Cwmllyn chapel.
The crowd was so large that Jones went outside and preached on the lane next to the school.

1905: Militia quells riot in Welsh town – Preacher Jones is blamed for inciting a lynching in Cwmllyn.
The local authorities dispatched the militia to keep the peace and shots were fired. Several people were killed or injured. A search for Jones was carried out, but he was never found.

1917: Trail for army deserter goes cold in Cwmllyn – A deserter from the Monmouthshire Regiment went missing from their depot in South Wales. He was last seen in Cwmllyn.

1952: Dead wife found in missing farm worker’s cottage – A farm worker was reported missing by his employer the day before. He was never found.

The only other mention of the town you can find is on an archived news website from 2003:


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[jp1885]

Here you go