Sergeant James Patt, New York City Police
Notes on Stewart Case/Five Points Murders
Good God.
After having read this mad account, I must now turn the diary over to the detective investigating the Five Points murders.
• • •
I spoke with the Five Points detective, and he told me they’d nabbed a man named Crenfall for the crimes—got him out of a local madhouse after he’d been reportedly wandering the Metropolitan Museum like a mumbling bum. Seems he killed an artist in France, too, before committing murders in England, some young lord, and then here in New York. He confessed to all of it, though I’m unconvinced he has enough wits to speak to a woman, let alone kill her. Mrs. Evelyn Northe brought his name to their attention. Seems she shot the man in the leg when he broke into her house after a painting. What a lot of fuss over brushstrokes and canvas!
Crenfall. I recognized the name from the diary pages, and I now saw it was all connected. I’m going to pay a visit to Mrs. Northe then. This very afternoon.
• • •
I will say this; the woman is charming.
“Mrs. Northe, I have no jurisdiction to arrest you but I’m almost inclined to.”
“Yes, I was told you took Miss Stewart’s diary. Since you’re here, I assume we all look guilty in your eyes because you don’t believe the girl.”
“You do?”
“Wholly.”
“Crenfall did it, did he?”
“Well, he assisted. The possessor did the rest, sir. And I’d be wary. This is only the sign of more to come. So don’t waste your time following a young girl and her lover. That’s not the problem. There’s a society of people calling upon forces of evil and amassing dark magic practices. What you read in that diary was only one instance of a host of bad omens. The society is who I’d worry about. You need to think about a different sort of battle on a different sort of battlefield.”
“Whom and what should the precinct employ, then, Mrs. Northe, a battalion of mediums and fortune-tellers?”
“That would be a very good start, sir,” Mrs. Northe replied.
I shook my head and begged her leave.
I stand by my decision to give these materials over to the Five Points detective, who likely will see it closed, satisfied enough to have a conviction in Crenfall. I want nothing to do with the case; it makes my head hurt.
Should you be curious about devils, societies, séances, etc., please call on Mrs. Evelyn Northe, Fifth Avenue. I’m sure she’ll be glad to oblige you. If there is such a thing as a society of devils, then I hope to God they stay patrons of the arts and leave the rest of us regulars alone.
Should anyone who has followed this narrative to this conclusion regret doing so, don’t say I didn’t warn you.