A Whitby Vampire - June 1929



A Call for Help


For several days before the arrival of the letter from Frederick Davis, several of the investigators had spotted curious stories in the Press about a "vampire" in the town of Whitby. Davis's letter, more than hinting at strange events,  potentially connected to the Shelborough Incident, caused them to make arrangements to travel to Whitby the next day.

It took most of the day to arrive in the picturesque town and was early evening by the time they had arranged lodging at The Royal Hotel. They then ascended the 199 Abbey Steps and made their way round the ruin to Davis's abode at East Cliff House. Davis was delighted to see them and had laid on a splendid High Tea for them -  courtesy of "cook"! Over the meal he explained this his friend Elliot Elder was a member of a group, somewhat similar to their own, that was interested in investigating the unusual. He believed they had stumbled upon something and the members of the group were now in danger, hence the call for help. He informed them that Elder was out of town for a few day but was expected to return shortly. Davis was unaware of exactly what Davis's group had found, and the only other member of the group he was aware of was Steven Mason. Davis had never met him but her believed he lived somewhere in the town.
Whitby
Next morning after a pleasant night in the Royal Hotel the Investigators set out to discover what they could find out in Whitby. In time-honoured fashion they all spilt up.Billy and Basil took a walk up to prospect Hill and confirmed that Elder's house was all quiet, no one was at home. Carl went to the police station and spoke to the constable there who informed him that the investigation was being run out of York and the lead investigator was Inspector Paul Needham, for whom she obtained contact details. Jimmy and Paul went first to the local library and then to the offices of the Whitby Gazette where they quickly discovered that Steven Mason had been the latest victim of the "Whitby Vampire". They also made contact with Tom Jenkins, a local reporter who, although happy to exploit the "vampire" angle to sell papers, was convinced that the murders were simply burglaries gone wrong.

Meeting back at the Royal, they compared notes and Basil speculated that the other victims may have been members of Elder's group. While Paul settled in the lounge with a copy of Bram Stoker's Dracula for research, Basil and Billy decided to see if they could get a look at one of the crime scenes, and decided to head for Michael Green's house in Wellington Terrace. They found the place locked up with one of the upper rear windows boarded up. Basil secured entrance by breaking in through the back door, and they quickly searched the house. There were clear signs of a struggle, including blood-spatter in the rear bedroom, but the only other things they found were a small collection of occult tomes, to which Billy helped himself to a couple, and a letter linking Michael Green to Steven Mason referring to a recent abortive trip to Durham. Confirming that at least two of the victims had indeed been members of Elder's group. That evening after checking a couple of time that Elder had not returned home they retired to their rooms after a rather nice fish supper in the hotel restaurant.

Early next morning they set out fro Elder's house once more. There was no answer at the door, but when they went round the back noticed, that the upper rear window was smashed. Fearing the worst, Basil once more provided a hefty shoulder to the back door and they rushed upstairs. The bedroom was a mess, the window—not just the glass, but the frame as well—had been smashed from the outside, the bedside table next to it, was in pieces. They found what they feared in the living room. A body, presumably Elder lay there, a shotgun next to it. The body was covered in bruises. When Billy examined it, he noted to his horror that in the centre of each bruise was a clear puncture mark!

They quickly searched the area finding on Elliot's desk a handwritten note containing some curious annotation and a somewhat bizarre recipe. They also found a folder containing random photographs of people, buildings , a set of close-ups of strange inhuman footprints on a beach. The final set was obviously photographs of each of the previous crime scenes. One of these was taken at night with flash. It showed the broken window and something impossible to identify that at first sight looked blurred, underexposed, or out of focus.

The final discovery was Elders Journal where they found a list of the previous victims all of whom were confirmed to be friends of Elder. One name however was not crossed off - that of Seth Gray. Another, Gabriel Ward, was crossed off but also had numerous question marks against it. Although there were numerous cryptic references to the others in the journal. There was little about Ward other than his address and curious reference to seals and keeping away from the sea! Another short list of names contained the names of Sam Miller, Professor Benjamin Graham and Seth Gray again - this time with an address for him in Ugthorpe. Two other curiosities they discovered before they left was some strange goo plastered against a wall, in which Billy spotted a shotgun pellet, and that fact that someone had spilled floor over the floor in the hallway.

Leaving the crime scene, they debated whether to report it or not but decided that if the mysterious Seth Gray had not been crossed off the list he might still be alive and they should seek him out urgently. A few enquiries revealed that Ugthorpe was a tiny village on the moors and was served by a bus service that  departed the Quay at 11.30. They dashed back to the hotel to pick up some gear, and then met at the bus stop on they Quay. As they were waiting for the bus, they ran into Tom Jenkins who informed them he was on his way to the scene of the latest murder - someone had obviously reported something.

The motor-bus to Ugthorpe did not actually go to Ugthorpe but dropped them off at  a stop on the moors - of course it was raining!. Walking down what was little more than a muddy track the Investigations arrived in the tiny village. At the local shop cum Post Office they gained directions to Hob Lea House. They met Seth Gray, an elderly man, who walked with the support of a cane. Despite the elderly and obviously infirm occupant and the seeming lack of servants, the house was neat and tidy. Gray was saddened but not surprised to hear of the death of Elder and advised them that he had worked with the group as a researcher as he maintained an extensive library. He invited the Investigators to stay the night as he had put in place certain "protections" round the house and he suspected that their poking around may have drawn the attention of those who had eliminated the other members of his group. Accepting the offer, Basil asked if they could see the library. Seth obliges and leads them down a corridor to the back of the house. The library was the largest room in the house but, in contrast to the other rooms, was completely disorganised. There were books and papers packed onto shelves from floor to ceiling and piled on the carpet, the desk, the tables and chairs. Seth apologised for the mess saying, “it isn’t usually quite this bad.”