Latest / History Dark / The Macabre Epstein Hotel_ Stomach-Churning Events of 1898 (Missouri_ Ozarks)

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The Macabre Epstein Hotel_ Stomach-Churning Events of 1898 (Missouri_ Ozarks) · History Dark

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome to this journey of one of the most disturbing
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: cases in recorded history in the Ozarks, Missouri. Before we begin,
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: I invite you to leave a comment about where you're
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  Speaker 1: watching from and the exact time you heard this story.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: We're interested in knowing where and at what times of
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: day or night these documented accounts arrive. The summer of
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: 1898 in the Ozarks seemed more oppressive than usual. The
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: humid heat hung over the region like a damp blanket,
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: permeating the wooden structures of Thorn Creek, a small mining
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: settlement nestled in the hills southwest of Springfield. The temperature
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: had remained consistently above 90 degrees for weeks, with humidity
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  Speaker 1: levels that made the air feel thick enough to cut
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  Speaker 1: with a knife. It was the kind of heat that
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  Speaker 1: made people move slower, speak quieter, measure their words carefully,
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  Speaker 1: but for those who stayed at the Epstein Hotel on
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: Pinewood Trail, the silence came from something beyond the heat.
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: The property belonged to Montgomery Epstein, a 63-year-old businessman who
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: had arrived in the area in 1879 during the lead
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: mining boom. Born in Philadelphia to German immigrant parents, Epstein
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: had made his initial fortune in textile manufacturing before sensing
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: opportunity in the expanding mining operations of southern Missouri. According
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: to county records, he purchased the land in 1880 and
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: spent nearly a year constructing what would become the most
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: impressive building in Thorn Creek. The hotel stood out among
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: the modest structures of Thorn Creek with its imposing Victorian architecture,
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: featuring a wraparound porch supported by ornate columns, tall windows
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: protected by iron grills, and a garden in the back that,
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: according to locals, had once been vibrant and well-maintained. Now, however,
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: weeds invaded the abandoned flower beds, and vines climbed the
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: peeling walls, creating shadows that seemed to shift as evening fell.
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  Speaker 1: The once-white exterior had weathered to a sickly yellow-gray, giving
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  Speaker 1: the entire structure an appearance of premature aging and decay.
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  Speaker 1: Local newspapers from 1881, when the hotel first opened, praised
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  Speaker 1: it as a beacon of metropolitan sophistication in our humble
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  Speaker 1: mining community, and certain to attract a more refined class
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  Speaker 1: of visitor to Thorn Creek. The Springfield Republic noted that Mr.
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: Epstein has spared no expense in creating accommodations that would
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: not be out of place in St. Louis or Chicago.
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: It was common for travelers to quicken their pace when
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: passing the hotel, especially after dusk. There wasn't a specific
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  Speaker 1: reason for this, at least not one that could be
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  Speaker 1: clearly articulated. It was more of a feeling, a subtle discomfort,
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: as if the building were watching those who passed by.
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: Local residents often crossed to the opposite side of Pinewood
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  Speaker 1: Trail when their route took them past the hotel after sunset,
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  Speaker 1: a behavior that became so common it was rarely discussed
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: or acknowledged. Interviews conducted by historian Wallace Pritchard in 1959
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: with former residents of the area, reveal that, even before
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: the infamous events of October 1898, the hotel already had
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: a peculiar reputation. Josephine Garner, a laundress who worked for
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: several wealthy families in Thorn Creek, reported, That hotel always
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: was different. The linens I washed for them always had
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: a smell. Not of ordinary dirt, but something like damp
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: earth and dried herbs, even the clean pieces. and Mr.
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  Speaker 1: Epstein always handed me the laundry personally, never allowing me
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  Speaker 1: past the service entrance. Once I arrived earlier than expected,
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: and caught a glimpse of the kitchen. Everything was immaculate,
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: unnaturally so, as if no food had ever been prepared there,
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  Speaker 1: yet I know they served meals to guests daily. Another resident,
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: Bartholomew Miller, who operated the general store across from the hotel,
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: shared his observations— Epstein was particular about his supplies. He
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: ordered unusual items, specific salts, herbs I'd never heard of,
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  Speaker 1: large quantities of beeswax candles, when everyone else had switched
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  Speaker 1: to kerosene lamps. And he insisted on importing certain goods
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  Speaker 1: directly from Europe at great expense, even when domestic equivalents
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  Speaker 1: were available. But the strangest thing was how the hotel
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: seemed to consume without producing waste. Other establishments their size
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: would have garbage to dispose of, empty bottles, food scraps.
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  Speaker 1: The Epstein Hotel hardly generated enough refuse to fill a
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: small barrel each week. Miller also recalled the peculiar nature
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: of the hotel's operations. You would expect a hotel to
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: have regular deliveries, food, linens, coal for the furnace. But
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: the Epstein place received shipments irregularly, and often at night,
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: heavy wooden crates with strange markings. All was handled by
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  Speaker 1: Epstein himself, rather than the porter. And when commercial travelers
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  Speaker 1: stayed there, men who had seen hotels across the country,
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  Speaker 1: they'd often check out earlier than planned, looking pale and unrested.
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: I remember one drummer who told me he'd rather sleep
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: in the stables than spend another night there. When I
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: asked why, he just shook his head and said, The walls.
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: They ain't right. The official history, as recorded in the
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: county records, was straightforward. Montgomery Epstein ran the hotel alone
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  Speaker 1: after the death of his wife, Millicent Epstein, in 1896. Childless,
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  Speaker 1: he dedicated himself to managing the property and was rarely
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: seen in town. His public appearances were limited to occasional
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  Speaker 1: business at the bank or post office. All was dressed formally,
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  Speaker 1: in a black suit, regardless of weather conditions— always carrying
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: his distinctive silver-topped cane, always keeping to himself. Those who
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: interacted with him described him as unfailingly polite but distant,
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  Speaker 1: with an accent that suggested European education despite his American birth.
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  Speaker 1: Census records from 1880 list the Epstein household as consisting
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  Speaker 1: of Montgomery, 45, Millicent, 42, and four staff members who
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: lived on the premises— a cook, a housekeeper, a groundskeeper,
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  Speaker 1: and a porter. By 1890, the live-in staff had dwindled
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  Speaker 1: to just two, the housekeeper, Florence Grady, and the porter,
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: Silas Merritt. After Millicent's death, Florence also departed, leaving only
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  Speaker 1: Silas as permanent staff, though Epstein was known to hire
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: temporary help from nearby Springfield for larger events or during
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  Speaker 1: busier seasons. Details about Millicent Epstein's death present intriguing inconsistencies.
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: According to the official death certificate signed by Dr. Harrison
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: Wells on February 3, 1896, the cause of death was
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: recorded as cardiac arrest resulting from typhoid fever. However, a
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: more detailed medical report found in the archives of the
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: old Springfield Medical College describes symptoms that hardly correspond to
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  Speaker 1: a simple fever. The patient exhibits periods of extreme agitation,
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  Speaker 1: alternating with profound lethargy. She reports disturbing visions and insists
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: that there is something in the walls watching her. The
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: pupils remain dilated, even under strong light, and the skin
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  Speaker 1: exhibits an abnormal pallor. More disturbing is the fact that,
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  Speaker 1: during episodes of delirium, she occasionally speaks in a language
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  Speaker 1: unknown to this physician. When lucid, Mrs. Epstein begs not
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  Speaker 1: to be returned to the hotel, claiming that it waits
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  Speaker 1: for me there. Her husband insists these are merely manifestations
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  Speaker 1: of fever-induced delirium. The burial record at Oakwood Cemetery in
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  Speaker 1: Springfield shows that Millicent was interred on February 5, 1896,
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  Speaker 1: in a private ceremony, attended only by Montgomery Epstein and
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  Speaker 1: the officiating minister, Reverend Collins of the First Presbyterian Church.
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  Speaker 1: no obituary appeared in local newspapers, and no funeral announcement
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  Speaker 1: was published, unusual omissions for a woman of Millicent's social standing.
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: When questioned about this by curious neighbors, Epstein reportedly explained
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  Speaker 1: that his wife had requested simplicity in death as in life,
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  Speaker 1: and that public displays of mourning were contrary to her wishes.
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  Speaker 1: On October 17, 1898, a guest at the Epstein Hotel,
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: Jeremiah Holloway, a traveling salesman from St. Louis, did not
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: emerge from his room. Initially, no one paid much attention
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  Speaker 1: to this fact. Travelers occasionally sleep late or decide to
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  Speaker 1: remain in their rooms. But when his absence extended through
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  Speaker 1: the entire day, and he missed an important business meeting
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  Speaker 1: at the Thorn Creek Mining Company office, the company secretary,
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: Abigail Winters, decided to send the hotel porter, Silas Merritt,
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: to check on Mr. Holloway's welfare. Holloway, according to business
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  Speaker 1: records from his employer, Westmoreland Mining Supply Company of St. Louis,
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  Speaker 1: was 38 years old, unmarried, and considered one of their
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  Speaker 1: most reliable salesmen. He had been with the company for
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  Speaker 1: 11 years, and his quarterly visits to the mining regions
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  Speaker 1: of southern Missouri were a regular part of his territory.
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  Speaker 1: Company correspondence indicates that he was expected to return to St.
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: Louis by October 20th at the latest, having completed his
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  Speaker 1: business in Thorn Creek and surrounding communities. His supervisor described
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  Speaker 1: him as methodical to a fault and a man of
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: unwavering habits, making his sudden disappearance all the more perplexing.
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  Speaker 1: What Silas found, or more precisely, what he didn't find,
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  Speaker 1: would initiate a series of events that would profoundly mark
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  Speaker 1: the memory of Thorn Creek, even though, with the passing years,
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  Speaker 1: many would prefer to forget. As stated in the Sheriff's
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  Speaker 1: Report of October 19, 1898, filed at the Thorn Creek
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  Speaker 1: Sheriff's Office and later transferred to the State Historical Archive,
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  Speaker 1: Silas knocked on the door of room 217 for several
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  Speaker 1: minutes without receiving a response. Noticing that the door wasn't locked,
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  Speaker 1: merely closed, the porter decided to enter, calling out, Strua,
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  Speaker 1: Holloway's name. Miss Winters remained in the hallway, maintaining a
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: proper distance as befitting a lady of her position, but
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  Speaker 1: close enough to witness the proceedings. The interior of the
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  Speaker 1: room was impeccably clean and organized. as if it had
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  Speaker 1: been prepared to receive new guests. On the desk by
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  Speaker 1: the window there was a half-empty glass of water, no
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  Speaker 1: sign of struggle or disorder, no sign of Jeremiah Holloway.
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  Speaker 1: The bed showed no evidence of having been slept in
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  Speaker 1: the previous night. The covers were pulled tight, the pillows undisturbed.
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  Speaker 1: Holloway's valise remained open on the luggage stand, containing neatly
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  Speaker 1: folded clothes and personal items. His sales materials, catalogs, order forms,
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  Speaker 1: and samples of smaller mining equipment parts were arranged methodically
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  Speaker 1: on the writing desk. The sheriff's report, written by Deputy
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: Marcus Tanner under the dictation of Sheriff Bartholomew Quinn, describes
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  Speaker 1: the scene with almost clinical objectivity, but includes a curious detail.
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  Speaker 1: The porter reports that upon entering the room, he noticed
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: that the clock on the mantelpiece was stopped exactly at 3.17,
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  Speaker 1: as was the pocket watch found on the nightstand. Mr.
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  Speaker 1: Merritt states that this detail caused him particular discomfort, though
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  Speaker 1: he couldn't explain why. Miss Winters corroborates this observation, adding
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  Speaker 1: that she checked her own timepiece, which showed the correct
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  Speaker 1: time of 10.43 a.m., confirming that the stop clocks were
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  Speaker 1: indeed anomalous rather than reflecting the actual time. This temporal
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: anomaly becomes even more significant when compared with statements given
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  Speaker 1: by other hotel guests. The registry book showed three other
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  Speaker 1: occupied rooms on the night of October 16, 17. Room 15,
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  Speaker 1: occupied by Clarence Hargrove, the purchasing manager for Thorn Creek
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  Speaker 1: Mining Company. Room 112, occupied by Thaddeus Blackwood, a timber
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  Speaker 1: merchant from Kansas City. And room 201, directly across the
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  Speaker 1: hall from Holloway's room, occupied by Samuel and Margaret Whitfield,
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  Speaker 1: a couple visiting from Chicago. When interviewed, all three parties
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  Speaker 1: mentioned hearing unusual sounds around 3 or 0 a.m. Hargrove's
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  Speaker 1: statement reads, I was awakened by what sounded like someone
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: dragging a heavy object across the floor above me. The
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: noise continued for perhaps five minutes, then ceased abruptly. I
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  Speaker 1: considered calling for the porter, but decided against disturbing the
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  Speaker 1: household over what was likely just another guest rearranging furniture.
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  Speaker 1: I noted the time as approximately three o'clock, give or
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  Speaker 1: take a few minutes, as I checked my watch before
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: attempting to return to sleep. The Whitfields, in their joint statement, reported,
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  Speaker 1: We were both awakened by what Mrs. Whitfield described as
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: whispers in the walls. I heard nothing of the sort,
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: but did notice a strange odor, similar to damp earth.
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: or a root cellar, which seemed to be coming from
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  Speaker 1: the hallway. When I opened our door to investigate, the
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: hallway was empty, and the smell dissipated quickly. Mr. Holloway's
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: door was closed. Our clock showed 3.15 a.m. Blackwood, whose
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  Speaker 1: room was on the ground floor farthest from room 217,
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  Speaker 1: provided the vaguest account. I sleep poorly when traveling, and
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: was awake reading a newspaper when I heard what sounded
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: like someone running through the hallway. I opened my door,
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: but saw no one. The grandfather clock in the lobby
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: was chiming three. I returned to bed shortly thereafter, and
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: heard nothing further unusual. Silas checked all areas of the
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: room without finding the occupant. It was in the closet
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: that he noticed something unusual. An old leather travel case
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: was open, which seemed odd considering that Mr. Holloway was
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: known to be methodical about his personal belongings. The case
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: contained personal hygiene items and a few small objects, a
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: pocket knife, a silver tie pin, cufflinks, all arranged with
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: noticeable precision. The sheriff's subsequent inspection of the hotel revealed
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: unusual architectural features. Unlike typical hotels of the period, which
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: followed a standardized layout, the Epstein Hotel was had been
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: designed with evident attention to unusual details. The floors were
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: laid with imported Italian marble in the common areas and hallways.
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: The walls were covered with a type of wallpaper that,
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: according to specialists consulted years later, contained uncommon dyes that
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: made it exceptionally resistant to fading. Lighting was provided by
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: gas lamps positioned in such a way that, even on
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: overcast days, the interior received sufficient illumination without harsh shadows.
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: Sheriff Quinn's report notes several architectural peculiarities. The building features
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: an unusual number of hidden spaces, storage closets built into
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: walls where one would not expect them, service passages that
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: allow staff to move between floors unseen, and multiple staircases,
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: including a narrow spiral one connecting the kitchen directly to
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: the third floor. When questioned about these features— Mr. Epstein
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: explained that the design was common in European hotels, emphasizing
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: discretion and efficiency of service. Most curious, however, was the
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: division of space in the cellar. Although the hotel occupied
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: a considerable area, the accessible cellar corresponded to only about
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: half of this area. The other half, according to architectural
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: plans of the time, would simply be packed earth. However—
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: The wall that separated the two sections was not aligned
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: with any upper wall of the building, creating an asymmetrical
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: layout that intrigued architects who later studied the case. Even
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: more intriguing was a small, dark, wooden door, almost imperceptible,
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: installed in the dividing wall, always kept locked by Epstein.
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: When questioned about this door during the initial investigation, Epstein
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: provided a mundane explanation. That area contains nothing of interest,
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: merely a storage space for old furniture and personal effects
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: I've accumulated over the years. I keep it locked to
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: prevent guests from injuring themselves among the clutter. Sheriff Quinn,
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: perhaps out of deference to Epstein's standing in the community
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: or simple lack of curiosity, did not request that the
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: door be opened during his inspection. Inside the travel case,
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: Silas found only a small black notebook, apparently a journal,
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: Flipping through it quickly, he noticed that the pages were
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: filled with Holloway's handwriting. However, in the last written pages,
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: the handwriting became progressively more trembling, almost illegible, as if
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: recorded by someone under extreme stress. The porter took the
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: notebook with him and immediately reported the disappearance to Sheriff Quinn.
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: Abigail Winters, who had accompanied Silas to room 217, provided
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: a statement corroborating his account and adding her own observations. Mr.
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: Holloway was expected at our office at nine o'clock sharp
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: to finalize a substantial order of safety equipment for our
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: western shaft. He had never missed an appointment in all
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: the years we've done business with Westmoreland Supply. His absence
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: was so out of character that I felt immediate concern
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: for his welfare. The official investigation into Holloway's disappearance was
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: superficial and brief. After three days of searching without finding
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: any trace of the businessman, Sheriff Quinn concluded that he
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: had probably left to pursue a business opportunity without informing anyone.
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: The case was filed away, and room 217 at the
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: Epstein Hotel was cleaned and made available for new guests.
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: The investigation reports mention a detail that did not receive
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: due attention during the inspections. Deputies found all of Holloway's
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: clothes and personal belongings intact in the room. His wallet
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: contained cash, $ 47. 35, according to the inventory, and business cards,
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: and his gold pocket-watch remained on the nightstand. If the
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: businessman had indeed left of his own accord, he had
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: departed without taking any belongings. A telegraph was sent to
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: the Westmoreland Mining Supply Company in St. Louis informing them
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: of their employee's disappearance. Their response, preserved in the case file,
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: expresses disbelief. Holloway most reliable. Stop 15 years exemplary service.
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: Stop impossible. He would abandon post or company property. Stop
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: sending representative immediately. Stop. The company representative, Vincent Caldwell, arrived
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: in Thorn Creek on October 22nd, but by then Sheriff
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: Quinn had already closed the official investigation. However, the journal
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: found by Silas was never annexed to the official case.
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: Sheriff Quinn claimed to have returned it to the porter,
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: who in turn stated he never received it back. For decades,
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: the whereabouts of this document remained unknown until, in 1964,
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: during the renovation of an old courthouse in Thorn Creek,
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: a carpenter named Emmett Dawson found a wooden box embedded
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: in a false wall. Inside the box, wrapped in black silk,
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: was Jeremiah Holloway's journal. The discovery was initially kept secret
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: by the carpenter, who feared that the object might be
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: related to some unorthodox religious practice. It was only three
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: months later, upon overhearing a conversation about the vanished salesman,
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: that Emmett decided to reveal his discovery to his employer,
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: who in turn informed the county authorities. Emmett Dawson, as
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: reported in a 1964 interview with the Springfield Herald, discovered
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: the hidden compartment while removing damaged wainscoting in what had
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: once been the sheriff's private office. I noticed the wall
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: behind the wood paneling sounded hollow when tapped, Dawson explained.
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: Being curious by nature, I investigated further and found a
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: small rectangular cavity that had been plastered over and then
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: concealed behind the wainscoting. It appeared to have been created
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: when the building was constructed in 1885, not added later.
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: The box inside was made of cherry wood with brass fittings,
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: quite an expensive item for its day. Reverend Josiah Blackburn,
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: responsible for the local parish and serving as president of
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: the Historical Society, took possession of the document and decided
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: to deliver it to the history department of the University
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: of Missouri. However, for reasons never clarified, the journal was
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: filed in the restricted documents section of the university library,
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: where it remained inaccessible to the public for another five years.
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: In a letter to the Bishop of Springfield, Reverend Blackburn writes,
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: Your Excellency will understand my hesitation in deciding the appropriate
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: destination for this document. Its content, especially in the final pages,
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: raises questions that transcend the scope of our common theological understanding.
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: I do not suggest anything of a supernatural nature. I am,
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: as you know, averse to such explanations, but there is
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: in these pages a testimony of something deeply disturbing that
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: that should be studied by minds prepared for deeper psychological analyses.
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: What concerns me is not so much what is written,
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: but the evident transformation in the person who wrote it.
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: The bishop's response, also preserved in the archives, is equally cryptic.
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: I have reviewed the document in question and share your concerns.
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: Some narratives are perhaps better left unexplored by the general public.
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: Your proposed course of action seems prudent. I would, however,
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: caution you to distance yourself from further investigation of this matter.
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: I have observed that those who delve too deeply into
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: certain mysteries often find themselves changed by the experience, rarely
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: for the better. In 1969, Professor Abernathy Crawford, during research
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: on the social history of the Ozarks, obtained authorization to
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: consult the documents. What he found in Holloway's journal disturbed
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: him deeply, leading him to abandon his original research and
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: dedicate himself exclusively to studying this case. Abernathy Crawford was
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: not just a competent historian, but also a meticulous researcher
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: with secondary training in psychology. Born in 1923 in Kansas City,
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: he had briefly served in the Army during World War
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: II before dedicating himself to academic life. His specialty was
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: documenting oral histories and analyzing personal documents, such as letters
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: and diaries, to reconstruct social and psychological aspects of historical periods.
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: When he gained access to Holloway's journal, he was working
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: on a broad study of social transformations in rural Missouri
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: at the turn of the century. The first entries in
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: the journal were dated October 13, 1898, the day Holloway
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: checked into the Epstein Hotel. They were mundane notations about
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: the businessman's day, lists of tasks, records of expenses, occasionally
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: reflections on his sales trip. The handwriting was firm, organized,
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: reflecting the methodical personality that associates attributed to Holloway. An
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: entry from October 14, 1898, offers a glimpse into the
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: routine and mental state of the salesman. October 14, 1898—
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: met today with Mr. Hargrove, purchasing manager for the Thorn
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: Creek Mining Company. The papers are in order, as my
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: company always ensures. The mining equipment, blasting supplies, and safety
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: apparatus remain solid products, sufficient to maintain my commission levels
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: comfortably for the remainder of the quarter. This hotel is
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: curiously grand for such a remote location. The nights are
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: especially quiet. The building seems larger and more empty than
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: its occupancy would suggest. Sometimes I wake thinking I've heard
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: someone walking in the hallway, but upon checking, find no one.
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: The proprietor, Mr. Epstein, recommended a local tonic to help
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: with sleep, but I hesitate. I prefer lucidity to medication-induced confusion.
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: Later that same day, Holloway adds, Dinner at the hotel
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: was surprisingly excellent. Mr. Epstein mentioned that his cook trained
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: in New Orleans, which explains the quality and sophistication of
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: the cuisine. Had an interesting conversation with fellow guest Mr.
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: Blackwood regarding timber resources in the region. He expressed interest
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: in our company's blasting equipment for removing stumps. We'll follow
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: up tomorrow with a proper presentation. Weather remains unseasonably warm
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: for October. Over the following days, the entries follow a
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: similar pattern. A recurring theme is his growing unease with
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: the atmosphere of the hotel, though he attributes this to
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: the isolation of the location and his own fatigue from traveling.
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: An entry from the morning of October 15, 1898, shows
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: the first hints of something unusual. Slept poorly. Dreams were
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: unusually vivid. found myself wandering corridors that seemed to belong
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: to the hotel, but configured differently, with doors that opened
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: onto brick walls and staircases that led nowhere. Woke several
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: times thinking I heard my name being called, but the
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: hallway was empty each time I checked. Must reduce my
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: consumption of coffee after dinner. That same day, Holloway records
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: his first exploration of the hotel's lower level, October 15,
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: 1898 I went down to the cellar today to retrieve
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: a bottle of wine that Mr. Epstein had recommended for dinner.
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: The entrance was difficult to find, hidden behind a service
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: door in the kitchen area. I've never seen such a
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: meticulously organized storage area in a rural establishment. Epstein seems
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: particularly proud of his wine collection, imported from Europe, according
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: to him. Strangely, I found a small door at the back,
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: slightly ajar, though I'm certain it should have been locked.
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: Epstein appeared suddenly behind me, startling me considerably. He seemed
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: disturbed to find me there, though he had given me
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: directions himself. He escorted me back upstairs, his hand gripping
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: my arm with surprising strength for a man his age.
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: This encounter marks the first significant disturbance in Holloway's routine.
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: His description of Epstein's reaction suggests an uncharacteristic loss of
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: composure in the normally polished hotelier. The mention of the
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: small door, left mysteriously ajar, introduces an element that will
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: become central to later developments. Later that evening, Holloway writes,
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: Dinner conversation with Mr. and Mrs. Whitfield from Chicago was
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: pleasant enough, though Mrs. Whitfield seemed distracted. repeatedly glancing toward
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: the walls as if hearing something the rest of us
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: could not. When I inquired if everything was all right,
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: she merely smiled and claimed to be fatigued from travel. Mr.
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: Epstein was particularly attentive to her throughout the meal, refilling
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: her wine-glass with unusual frequency. The Whitfields retired early, around 8.30.
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: I remained in the parlor reading until 10, then returned
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: to my room. The hallways seem unusually dark tonight, despite
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: the gas lamps. However, from October 16th, the tone of
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: the entries began to change subtly. Holloway started recording strange sensations,
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: night noises he couldn't identify, a persistent feeling of being watched,
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: objects that seemed to change position when he wasn't looking.
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: October 16, 1898, morning. Found my shaving-kit arranged differently than
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: I had left it. The razor was placed across the soap-dish,
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: rather than beside it, as is my habit. A small detail,
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: but disconcerting as I am methodical about such arrangements. Mentioned
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: this to Silas, the porter, who suggested that perhaps he
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: had inadvertently disturbed my belongings while delivering fresh towels. Accepted
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: this explanation, though I do not recall requesting additional linens.
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: Later that day, meeting with the Thorn Creek Mining Company
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: board was productive, secured an order for safety equipment that
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: exceeds my quarterly quota, should be cause for celebration, yet
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: I find myself strangely unsettled. On returning to the hotel,
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: noticed that the garden appears different somehow. The arrangement of
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: the neglected flower-bed seems to have changed. though I cannot
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: articulate exactly how. When I mentioned this to Epstein, he
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: looked at me strangely and commented that the hotel adapts
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: to suit its needs. Halpar, an odd turn of phrase
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: that has lingered in my thoughts. That night, Holloway's observations
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: take on a more concerning tone. October 16, 1898 evening.
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: Again that sound, like nails scratching wood coming from the walls.
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: I mentioned it to Epstein, who dismissed it as the
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: old building settling. But why always at midnight? I found
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: my pocket watch on the desk this morning, though I
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: distinctly remember placing it on the nightstand before retiring. The
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: hotel seems unusually empty for a Saturday. I've only encountered
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: one other guest, a pale woman, who never seems to
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: leave her room. When I inquired about her with Epstein,
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: he looked at me strangely and said I must be
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: mistaken— that there were no female guests currently registered. This
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: entry marks a significant shift in Holloway's perception. He begins
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: to question his own observations and memory, a common response
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: to unexplainable occurrences. The mention of a female guest whom
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: Epstein claims does not exist introduces a troubling inconsistency. Either
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: Holloway is experiencing hallucinations or Epstein is deliberately concealing information.
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: In a late-night edition, written in a noticeably less steady hand,
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: Holloway reports, Three, or five a.m., awakened by what sounded
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: like whispering directly outside my door. Opened it to find
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: the hallway empty. As I was about to return to bed,
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: noticed a figure at the end of the corridor, a
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: woman in what appeared to be a white nightgown, standing motionless.
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: When I called out, she turned slowly toward me, but
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: remained in shadow. I began walking toward her, but she
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: retreated around the corner. By the time I reached the junction,
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: the corridor was empty. All doors closed. Checked with Silas
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: in the morning, who again insisted no women were currently
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: registered at the hotel. Mahalaway then reports having seen a
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: dark figure standing at the foot of his bed during
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: the night, which disappeared when he lit the gas lamp.
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: He mentions whispering voices that seemed to come from inside
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: the walls. speaking words he couldn't understand, but which somehow
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: seemed directed at him. The whispers have a rhythm to them,
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: almost like a chant or incantation. Not English, nor any
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: language I recognize from my travels. Yet somehow I feel
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: I should understand it, as if the meaning hovers just
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: beyond my comprehension. Most disturbing is the sense that they
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: are speaking directly to me, calling me by name, though
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: not using it. On October 17, 1898, his final full
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: day at the hotel, he wrote, Morning. I found that
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: photograph again at the bottom of my valise, though I'm
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: certain I didn't pack it. How is this possible? The
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: image seems different now. His eyes seem to follow me
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: around the room. Tomorrow I shall burn it, and this
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: time I'll scatter the ashes outside the property. The photograph
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: in question was never found, and the journal doesn't specify
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: whose image it was. Considering that Holloway refers to the
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: person as HIM in capital letters, Professor Crawford initially assumed
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: it was Epstein. However, later entries cast doubt on this interpretation.
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: A midday entry on October 17th shows Holloway's mental state
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: continuing to deteriorate. Attempted to telegraph the office in St. Louis,
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: but found myself unable to compose a coherent message. The
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: words seemed to rearrange themselves in my mind before reaching
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: the paper. The telegraph operator gave me an odd look
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: when I finally handed him the form. Reading it now,
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: I see why. The message makes no sense. Requested he
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: disregard it and return to the hotel. Epstein was waiting
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: on the porch as if expecting me, though I had
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: told no one of my errand. The final complete entry,
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: written late on October 17th, reveals a man on the
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: edge of panic. Evening? I haven't slept again. The sounds
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: in the walls continue, louder now, more insistent. They no
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: longer seem like scratches, but rhythmic knocking, as if someone,
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: or something, were trying to communicate through a code. I've
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: made the decision to check the cellar again tomorrow. The
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: small door in the back, which seemed ajar during my
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: first visit. Perhaps there's something there that explains these phenomena.
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: The keys are hanging by the cellar entrance. Epstein watches
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: me constantly, though he tries to be subtle. His eyes
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: never seem to blink. I've started keeping this journal with
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: me at all times. If anything should happen to me,
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: let it be known that I suspect Montgomery Epstein is
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: not what he appears to be. There's something wrong with
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: this hotel, something wrong with him. The walls themselves seem
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: alive somehow, as if the building is not merely a
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: structure but an organism. I fear for my safety, yet
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: cannot bring myself to leave before understanding what is happening here.
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: This is the final, complete entry. The subsequent page contains
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: only a few scrawled words, written in a tremulous hand.
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: Door open. Smell. Earth metal. He knows. The walls have—
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: The text breaks off mid-sentence, followed by several blank pages.
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: On the final page of the journal— There is a
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: single sentence written in a surprisingly clear and firm handwriting,
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: so different from the previous text that it raised questions
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: about whether it was written by the same person. I
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: finally understood what he wanted from the beginning. Professor Crawford
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: spent years trying to construct a clearer chronology of events
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: and determine what really happened to Jeremiah Holloway. In his
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: research notebooks, found after his death in 1978, he raises
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: various hypotheses from supernatural explanations, which he himself dismissed as
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: products of a fevered imagination, to more mundane possibilities, an
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: intruder who tormented the businessman, some local person with an
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: interest in eliminating a potential business competitor, or even a
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: case of progressive mental deterioration that culminated in flight or suicide.
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: One aspect that particularly intrigued him was the coincidence between
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: the recurring time in Holloway's journal, 3.17, and the fact
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: that all clocks in his room were found stopped at
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: that same time. This coincidence suggested that something significant occurred
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: at that specific moment, possibly on the night before his disappearance.
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: Crawford's notes include a detailed analysis of this temporal anomaly.
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: The recurrence of 3.17 throughout this case cannot be dismissed
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: as mere coincidence. Beyond the stopped clocks in Holloway's room,
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: we have the testimonies of three separate witnesses who all
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: report unusual occurrences between 3.00 and 3.20 a.m. on the
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: night of October 16th, 17. Furthermore, Holloway himself notes, waking
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: at 3 or 5 a.m. to investigate strange sounds. What
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: makes this time significant? In Christian numerology, 3.17 could reference John. 3.17.
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: a verse about salvation. In a more esoteric context, some
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: occult traditions view 317 as a thin time when barriers
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: between worlds are weakened. More prosaically, it represents the deepest
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: part of night, when human alertness is at its lowest
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: ebb and the mind most susceptible to suggestion or manipulation.
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: Another disturbing element was the final sentence of the journal.
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: Crawford arranged for a handwriting analysis by Dr. Elias Mercer,
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: a leading expert in the field. Dr. Mercer's report offers
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: a professional assessment. The final entry exhibits significant deviations from
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: the writer's established patterns. The pressure, slant, and formation of
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: key letters differ markedly from earlier entries. While stress or
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: altered mental states can affect handwriting, the degree of difference
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: here suggests one of two possibilities. Either the writer was
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: experiencing an extreme psychological state unlike any evidenced in previous entries,
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: or this entry was made by a different individual attempting
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: to approximate the original writer's style. One of the most
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: intriguing aspects that Crawford discovered was the death records of
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: Millicent Epstein. Upon examining the archives of the old Springfield
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: Medical College, the professor found a medical report that offered
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: additional details about Mrs. Epstein's mysterious ailment. The report includes
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: observations that Crawford considered particularly relevant. The patient alternates between
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: periods of lucidity and episodes of extreme agitation. During moments
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: of mental clarity, she expresses a rational and consistent fear
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: related to an agreement that her husband allegedly made during
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: his trip to New Orleans in 1895. Although reluctant to
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: provide specific details, she mentioned that he acquired an ancient
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: artifact from a merchant in the French Quarter, an object
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: that he now keeps stored in a special compartment in
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: their hotel. More concerning is her insistence that this object
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: is not inanimate. Mrs. Epstein, a woman of education and
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: respectable social position, does not seem prone to superstitions. However,
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: she describes with disturbing conviction that the object changed— after
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: being brought to the hotel, and that it now communicates
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: with her through the walls. When questioned about the nature
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: of these communications, the patient becomes extremely agitated, refusing to elaborate.
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: In the last 48 hours, her physical state has deteriorated significantly.
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: She presents permanently dilated pupils, even under intense light, abnormally
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: low body temperature, and a peculiar odor exists emanating from
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: the skin that does not correspond to any pathological condition
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: known to this physician. There are also unexplained marks on
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: the forearms and neck, similar to bruises, but with a
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: regular pattern that suggests more a deliberate contact than accidental injuries.
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: As a physician, I must record only observable facts. But
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: I confess that this case defies my scientific understanding. If
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: I were a man of lesser education— A peculiar addendum
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: to this report, written in Dr. Wells' hand, but on
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: a separate sheet not officially filed with the Medical College, reads,
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: Patient expired at precisely... 3.17 a.m. At moment of death,
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: all electric lights in the ward flickered simultaneously. Nurse Calloway
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: reports hearing what she described as whispering in a foreign tongue,
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: though no other individuals were present in the room. Body
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: exhibits unusual post-mortem characteristics. No rigor mortis after six hours.
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: Skin unusually pliable. Eyes remain dilated. Mr. Epstein arrived within
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: 30 minutes of death despite no telegram being sent. Insisted
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: on immediate release of body without standard examination. Given his
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: standing in community, request was granted against my professional judgment.
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: Millicent Epstein passed away two days after this report was written.
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: The death certificate, signed by the same Dr. Harrison Wells,
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: lists cardiac arrest as the cause of death. omitting all
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: the disturbing details documented in the hospital report. During his research,
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: Professor Crawford also interviewed several former residents of the area,
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: including Luella Pierce, who in 1898 lived in a boarding
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: house adjacent to the Epstein Hotel. According to her testimony,
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: in those days, nobody talked openly about that hotel, but
• 44:00
  Speaker 1: everyone knew something strange was there. My mother forbade me
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: from passing in front of that building alone. On nights
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: with a full moon, sometimes we would hear sounds coming
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: from there. Not screams, not exactly voices, but a kind
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: of low lament, like someone humming a sad melody. On
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: the morning they discovered that the salesman had disappeared, I
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: was returning from the general store, and saw something that
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: I never told the authorities— I saw a man leaving
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: the hotel very early, before the sun had even risen.
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: He wore a hat that covered his face, and carried
• 44:40
  Speaker 1: something in his arms, wrapped in a dark cloth. At
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: the time I thought it might be a doctor, perhaps,
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: who had been called during the night. But now, thinking
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: about it, why would a doctor leave carrying something like that,
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: instead of simply doing his work and leaving? When pressed
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: for more details about this mysterious figure, Luella's response was,
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: It was still quite dark, just before dawn. Tall, certainly
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: taller than most men in Thorn Creek. Very thin, almost gaunt.
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: The hat was wide-brimmed, pulled low. His coat was dark,
• 45:19
  Speaker 1: possibly black, reaching almost to his ankles. What struck me
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: most was how he moved, fluid but somehow awkward, as
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: if his joints bent differently than they should. I remember
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: thinking it reminded me of a spider. This testimony raises
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: disturbing questions about the events of that morning. Who was
• 45:41
  Speaker 1: the man seen by Luella? What was he carrying? And
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: why did this information never reach the official authorities? When
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: asked why she never reported this sighting, Luella's answer was telling.
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: Sheriff Quinn was in Mr. Epstein's pocket. Everyone knew that.
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: And there was something about that figure that frightened me deeply.
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: I told my mother, who advised me to keep quiet.
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: Some things, she said, are best not noticed. That was
• 46:11
  Speaker 1: how people in Thorn Creek dealt with the strangeness of
• 46:13
  Speaker 1: the Epstein place, by looking away, by pretending not to see.
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: In a later notation to the interview with Luella, Professor
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: Crawford writes, The description of the man seen by L.P.
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: curiously corresponds to reports of a stranger who was occasionally
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: seen visiting Montgomery Epstein in the months preceding his wife's death.
• 46:36
  Speaker 1: According to Silas Merritt, this visitor never identified himself, always
• 46:41
  Speaker 1: arrived after nightfall, and Epstein insisted on receiving him alone
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: in his office or in the cellar. The porter described
• 46:49
  Speaker 1: him as a thin, very pale man, of considerable height,
• 46:55
  Speaker 1: always dressed in dark clothes, and a wide-brimmed hat that
• 46:58
  Speaker 1: shadowed his face. Coincidence? Or would it be possible that
• 47:04
  Speaker 1: the same individual was somehow connected to both the death
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: of Millicent and the disappearance of Holloway, more than two
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: years apart? Crawford's investigation led him to research Montgomery Epstein's
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: background more thoroughly. Birth records confirmed his Philadelphia origins, but
• 47:23
  Speaker 1: there were curious gaps in his history. Between 1865 and 1877,
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: Epstein seemed to vanish from all public records. No tax filings,
• 47:34
  Speaker 1: property deeds, business licenses, or newspaper mentions could be found.
• 47:39
  Speaker 1: His reappearance in 1877 as a wealthy textile merchant in St.
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: Louis was sudden and unexplained. His marriage to Millicent Gardner,
• 47:49
  Speaker 1: daughter of a prominent banking family, occurred in 1878, just
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: one year before their relocation to the Ozarks. Most intriguing
• 47:59
  Speaker 1: was Crawford's discovery of a passenger manifest from the steamship Memnon,
• 48:04
  Speaker 1: arriving in New Orleans from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in February 1895.
• 48:09
  Speaker 1: Listed among the first-class passengers was M. Epstein of Missouri.
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: This aligned perfectly with Millicent's claim that her husband had
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: made a journey to New Orleans in 1895, returning with
• 48:21
  Speaker 1: some unusual artifact. What business a hotel proprietor from the
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: Ozarks might have in Haiti in the 1890s remains unexplained.
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: The Epstein Hotel remained open for several years after Holloway's disappearance.
• 48:36
  Speaker 1: In 1905, it was acquired by Randolph Sullivan, a banker
• 48:41
  Speaker 1: from Kansas City, who carried out extensive renovations before reopening
• 48:46
  Speaker 1: it as Sullivan's Ozark Inn. Curiously, Sullivan and his family
• 48:52
  Speaker 1: occupied the property for only five months before moving suddenly,
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: selling the hotel for a price far below market value.
• 49:01
  Speaker 1: When questioned about the reasons for the move, Randolph Sullivan
• 49:05
  Speaker 1: reportedly said only that the building was not suitable for
• 49:08
  Speaker 1: a family with peace of mind. Property records from the
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: county clerk's office confirm this unusual transaction. Sullivan purchased the
• 49:18
  Speaker 1: hotel from Epstein estate, the hotelier having passed away in 1904,
• 49:23
  Speaker 1: for $ 1, 500 in January 1905. After investing approximately $ 7, 200 in renovations,
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: as documented by building permits and contractor invoices, he sold
• 49:36
  Speaker 1: the property in June of the same year for just $ 11. 01,
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: a significant financial loss that makes little business sense without
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: some compelling reason. According to Crawford's notes, Sullivan reported that
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: after approximately a month of living in the hotel, inexplicable
• 49:55
  Speaker 1: events began to occur. At first it was small things,
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: Sullivan reportedly said, objects that disappeared and reappeared in different places,
• 50:06
  Speaker 1: strange sounds in the walls like scratches or rhythmic knocks.
• 50:10
  Speaker 1: My wife complained of a persistent odor in the master bedroom,
• 50:14
  Speaker 1: a smell of damp earth and something metallic that no
• 50:18
  Speaker 1: cleaning could eliminate. We replaced the flooring, checked plumbing, even
• 50:22
  Speaker 1: removed part of the wallpaper, but the smell always returned. Mrs.
• 50:27
  Speaker 1: Sullivan began to speak of voices in the walls that
• 50:30
  Speaker 1: whispered at night. Initially dismissed by her husband as nerves
• 50:35
  Speaker 1: or imagination, Her claims became more troubling when she began
• 50:40
  Speaker 1: to recite phrases in her sleep that the family governess
• 50:44
  Speaker 1: educated at Vassar identified as Haitian Creole, a language Mrs.
• 50:49
  Speaker 1: Sullivan had no knowledge of or exposure to. The construction
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: workers who renovated the cellar reported finding unusual items embedded
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: in the walls, Sullivan continued, small bundles of herbs tied
• 51:02
  Speaker 1: with human hair, animal bones arranged in geometric patterns inside
• 51:06
  Speaker 1: sealed cavities, and, most disturbingly, a collection of daguerreotypes showing
• 51:12
  Speaker 1: the same man, presumably Epstein, at different ages, but always
• 51:17
  Speaker 1: with the same tall, thin figure standing behind him, face
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: obscured by shadow. The incident that finally motivated the move
• 51:26
  Speaker 1: occurred on a night in June 1905. Sullivan's wife woke
• 51:31
  Speaker 1: up screaming, claiming to have seen a dark figure standing
• 51:34
  Speaker 1: at the foot of the bed. When Sullivan lit the lamp,
• 51:37
  Speaker 1: there was no one there. However, on the dresser they
• 51:41
  Speaker 1: found an object that did not belong to them, a
• 51:44
  Speaker 1: small carved wooden box containing a single photograph. It was
• 51:50
  Speaker 1: a photograph of a man sitting at a desk, said Sullivan.
• 51:54
  Speaker 1: Behind him there was something like a shadow, but with
• 51:57
  Speaker 1: a vaguely human form. Most disturbing were the man's eyes.
• 52:02
  Speaker 1: They were completely black, like holes in the image. I
• 52:06
  Speaker 1: immediately recognized him as Jeremiah Holloway, whose portrait I had
• 52:10
  Speaker 1: seen in the newspaper archives. On the back of the
• 52:13
  Speaker 1: photograph was a phrase written, He lives in the walls
• 52:18
  Speaker 1: and wants company. Crawford pressed Sullivan about what happened to
• 52:22
  Speaker 1: this photograph. The elderly man's response was telling, I burned
• 52:27
  Speaker 1: it immediately, but the next morning it was back on
• 52:30
  Speaker 1: the dresser, undamaged. We burned it again, this time burying
• 52:34
  Speaker 1: the ashes in the garden. The third morning, when it
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: reappeared once more, I knew we had to leave. Some
• 52:42
  Speaker 1: things cannot be destroyed by ordinary means. The next morning,
• 52:47
  Speaker 1: Sullivan contracted workers to completely cement over the cellar. A
• 52:51
  Speaker 1: week later, the family left the hotel, never returning even
• 52:55
  Speaker 1: to collect many personal items they left behind. In the
• 52:58
  Speaker 1: years that followed, the property passed through several owners, none
• 53:03
  Speaker 1: remaining for more than two years. In 1952, after sitting
• 53:08
  Speaker 1: empty for almost a decade, it was finally demolished to
• 53:12
  Speaker 1: make way for a small commercial building. During the demolition,
• 53:16
  Speaker 1: as reported in the Thorn Creek Gazette of July 17, 1952,
• 53:19
  Speaker 1: the workers made a macabre discovery. Upon removing the cemented
• 53:26
  Speaker 1: floor of the cellar, they found a small wooden door,
• 53:30
  Speaker 1: sealed with what appeared to be black wax. The foreman,
• 53:35
  Speaker 1: Harold Jenkins, decided to open the door, revealing a small compartment.
• 53:40
  Speaker 1: Inside there were only three items, an old box of matches,
• 53:44
  Speaker 1: a broken perfume bottle, and a faded photograph. The newspaper article,
• 53:49
  Speaker 1: written by local reporter Calvin Finch, describes the discovery in
• 53:54
  Speaker 1: typically restrained terms for the era. Workers engaged in the
• 53:58
  Speaker 1: demolition of the former Epstein Hotel made an unusual discovery yesterday.
• 54:04
  Speaker 1: when breaking up the cellar floor. A small hidden room,
• 54:08
  Speaker 1: apparently sealed for many decades, contained several antique items of
• 54:13
  Speaker 1: little monetary value, but considerable historical interest. These artifacts have
• 54:19
  Speaker 1: been turned over to Sheriff Donovan for potential inclusion in
• 54:23
  Speaker 1: the County Historical Society collection. The only clue to the
• 54:27
  Speaker 1: photograph's content comes from an interview given by Jenkins himself
• 54:31
  Speaker 1: to Professor Crawford in 1968. I'll never forget that image
• 54:36
  Speaker 1: as long as I live. It was a photograph of
• 54:39
  Speaker 1: an elderly man, probably that hotel owner, Epstein, sitting in
• 54:42
  Speaker 1: a chair. Behind him there was an obscure figure, like
• 54:46
  Speaker 1: a shadow with a human form. Most disturbing were the
• 54:50
  Speaker 1: old man's eyes in the photo. They were completely black,
• 54:54
  Speaker 1: as if someone had covered them with ink. And there
• 54:57
  Speaker 1: was a message written on the back of the photograph,
• 55:00
  Speaker 1: but it was so faded that I could only distinguish
• 55:03
  Speaker 1: a few words— Fulfilled. Promise. Inside. Walls. Jenkins, a gruff,
• 55:10
  Speaker 1: practical man with over forty years in construction, became visibly
• 55:14
  Speaker 1: uncomfortable discussing the photograph. I'm not a superstitious man, Professor,
• 55:20
  Speaker 1: he said. I've worked demolition jobs all over Missouri and
• 55:23
  Speaker 1: seen plenty of strange things hidden in old buildings. But
• 55:27
  Speaker 1: that photograph— it felt wrong somehow. When you looked at it,
• 55:31
  Speaker 1: you got the feeling it was looking back at you.
• 55:35
  Speaker 1: Jenkins also revealed a detail that he omitted from the press.
• 55:39
  Speaker 1: Next to the photograph, they found what appeared to be
• 55:42
  Speaker 1: a small box carved from bone. The box was empty,
• 55:47
  Speaker 1: except for a thin layer of dark powder at the bottom.
• 55:50
  Speaker 1: When asked what happened to this object, Jenkins confessed to
• 55:53
  Speaker 1: having burned it that same night, along with the matchbox.
• 55:57
  Speaker 1: The box had carvings on it. Jenkins added reluctantly when
• 56:02
  Speaker 1: pressed for details. Not any language I recognized. Symbols, spirals,
• 56:08
  Speaker 1: what looked like stylized insects or spiders. When I picked
• 56:13
  Speaker 1: it up, it felt warm to the touch, though that
• 56:15
  Speaker 1: compartment was as cold as a meat locker. The powder
• 56:18
  Speaker 1: inside was fine, almost like soot, but with tiny reflective particles.
• 56:23
  Speaker 1: I didn't look too closely, to be honest. Some things
• 56:27
  Speaker 1: a man is better off not examining. Professor Abernathy Crawford
• 56:32
  Speaker 1: died in September 1978 before concluding his research on the
• 56:37
  Speaker 1: Epstein Hotel case. His notes and collected materials were donated
• 56:42
  Speaker 1: to the university library, but inexplicably a large part of
• 56:46
  Speaker 1: this collection disappeared during a reorganization of the archive in 1972,
• 56:51
  Speaker 1: with only a few field notebooks and correspondence remaining. The
• 56:55
  Speaker 1: university's official explanation for this loss, as documented in a
• 56:59
  Speaker 1: memo from the head, librarian to the History Department chair,
• 57:04
  Speaker 1: cited space constraints and prioritization of materials with broader historical significance. However,
• 57:15
  Speaker 1: this explanation fails to account for the targeted nature of
• 57:18
  Speaker 1: the disappearance. Only Crawford's materials relating to the Epstein case vanished,
• 57:23
  Speaker 1: while his other research papers remained properly filed and accessible.
• 57:28
  Speaker 1: In one of the remaining notebooks, dated August 1970, Crawford
• 57:32
  Speaker 1: records a disturbing personal experience. After months investigating the case,
• 57:37
  Speaker 1: he began to suffer from insomnia and hear strange sounds
• 57:41
  Speaker 1: in his own home, scratches on the walls, footsteps in
• 57:45
  Speaker 1: the hallway when he was alone, the creaking of a
• 57:47
  Speaker 1: rocking chair in his study, although he did not own
• 57:51
  Speaker 1: such furniture. The entry, written in Crawford's typically precise handwriting,
• 57:57
  Speaker 1: but with subtle signs of stress, heavier pressure, more pronounced
• 58:01
  Speaker 1: punctuation marks, details his experience. Third night of unusual phenomena.
• 58:07
  Speaker 1: The scratching in the walls begins precisely at midnight and
• 58:11
  Speaker 1: continues until 3 by 17 a.m., at which point it
• 58:15
  Speaker 1: ceases abruptly. The pattern is identical each night. Three slow scratches,
• 58:20
  Speaker 1: three rapid ones, pause, repeat. My rational mind suggests mice.
• 58:26
  Speaker 1: but the precision of timing and pattern defies zoological explanation.
• 58:30
  Speaker 1: More troubling is the recurring dream, a long corridor with
• 58:35
  Speaker 1: numbered doors, identical to Holloway's description, with room 217 at
• 58:41
  Speaker 1: the far end. In the dream, I know I must
• 58:44
  Speaker 1: not open this door, yet find myself walking toward it regardless,
• 58:48
  Speaker 1: key in hand. In his last known notation about the case,
• 58:53
  Speaker 1: he writes, I dreamed of him last night, Montgomery Epstein
• 58:57
  Speaker 1: was standing in the cellar of the hotel before that door.
• 59:00
  Speaker 1: He looked directly at me and said, You too made
• 59:03
  Speaker 1: a promise, Professor. When I woke up, I found a
• 59:06
  Speaker 1: matchbox identical to the one described in the demolition. report
• 59:10
  Speaker 1: on my desk. I don't know how it got there.
• 59:12
  Speaker 1: My house was locked. Tomorrow I will end this research.
• 59:16
  Speaker 1: There are questions that should not be answered, mysteries that
• 59:19
  Speaker 1: should remain buried. Holloway understood this too late. I still
• 59:24
  Speaker 1: have time. The matchbox, described in detail in a separate entry,
• 59:29
  Speaker 1: was of pre-1900 manufacture, with a label showing the Memnon
• 59:34
  Speaker 1: steamship line logo, the same vessel Epstein returned from Haiti
• 59:39
  Speaker 1: on in 1895. The wood appeared aged but undamaged, the
• 59:43
  Speaker 1: striking surface unused. Inside was a single match and a
• 59:48
  Speaker 1: small scrap of yellowed paper with the words, The Walls
• 59:51
  Speaker 1: Have Eyes. Written in what preliminary comparison suggests is Jeremiah
• 59:57
  Speaker 1: Holloway's handwriting. Professor Crawford formally abandoned his research on the
• 1:00:02
  Speaker 1: Epstein Hotel case soon after this incident. A curious detail
• 1:00:07
  Speaker 1: is that he insisted on burning all his notebooks related
• 1:00:10
  Speaker 1: to the case that were still in his personal possession.
• 1:00:14
  Speaker 1: He began to avoid working after nightfall, installed additional lighting
• 1:00:19
  Speaker 1: in his home, and developed an almost phobic aversion to
• 1:00:22
  Speaker 1: enclosed spaces such as cellars and attics. The most marked
• 1:00:27
  Speaker 1: change in his behavior was his assistant Diana noted in
• 1:00:30
  Speaker 1: a personal letter, was his relationship with walls. He would
• 1:00:34
  Speaker 1: not sit with his back to any wall, would often
• 1:00:37
  Speaker 1: stop mid-conversation to stare at a wall as if hearing something,
• 1:00:42
  Speaker 1: and repeatedly had contractors examine the walls of his home
• 1:00:46
  Speaker 1: for structural irregularities. He also removed all photographs from his house,
• 1:00:52
  Speaker 1: family portraits, academic group pictures, everything, storing them in his
• 1:00:57
  Speaker 1: campus office instead. When I asked about this, he said
• 1:01:00
  Speaker 1: only that images retain impressions of what they've witnessed. The
• 1:01:05
  Speaker 1: truth about what happened to Jeremiah Holloway in October 1898
• 1:01:10
  Speaker 1: remains a mystery. His body was never found. The official
• 1:01:15
  Speaker 1: records continue to list his case as a disappearance. In 1960,
• 1:01:22
  Speaker 1: a journalist from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch named Richard Newton
• 1:01:26
  Speaker 1: attempted to reopen the investigation. He managed to locate and
• 1:01:30
  Speaker 1: interview Silas Merritt, the porter who had found the empty
• 1:01:33
  Speaker 1: room in 1898. Silas, then 85, told Newton something he
• 1:01:39
  Speaker 1: had never officially mentioned. When I entered that hotel room,
• 1:01:43
  Speaker 1: I immediately felt something was wrong. It wasn't just the
• 1:01:47
  Speaker 1: silence or the absence of the gentleman. It was as
• 1:01:50
  Speaker 1: if the room was breathing. The walls seemed to pulse subtly,
• 1:01:56
  Speaker 1: like a heart beating very slowly. and there was a smell,
• 1:02:01
  Speaker 1: not of decomposition or illness, but of freshly dug earth
• 1:02:05
  Speaker 1: and candle wax. The strangest thing was what I found
• 1:02:09
  Speaker 1: in his bedroom. The bed was perfectly made, as if
• 1:02:12
  Speaker 1: no one had slept in it. On the pillow there
• 1:02:15
  Speaker 1: was a single object, an old key, large, probably to
• 1:02:19
  Speaker 1: the cellar, and beside the key, small stains of a
• 1:02:23
  Speaker 1: dark liquid that I preferred to believe was ink. According
• 1:02:28
  Speaker 1: to Newton's notes, Merritt leaned close after the formal interview
• 1:02:32
  Speaker 1: and whispered,' Epstein wasn't human, you know. Not by the end.
• 1:02:36
  Speaker 1: Whatever was in those walls. It got inside him, too.'
• 1:02:41
  Speaker 1: His eyes changed. I saw him once, late at night,
• 1:02:44
  Speaker 1: thinking no one was watching. He was standing in front
• 1:02:47
  Speaker 1: of a mirror in the lobby. Just. Standing there, not moving,
• 1:02:52
  Speaker 1: not blinking, for over an hour. When he finally moved,
• 1:02:55
  Speaker 1: it wasn't like a person moves.' It was like something
• 1:03:00
  Speaker 1: wearing a person, learning how the parts work. Silas also
• 1:03:05
  Speaker 1: revealed to the journalist a detail he had omitted from
• 1:03:08
  Speaker 1: the police in 1898, out of fear of being considered
• 1:03:11
  Speaker 1: superstitious or mentally unstable. When I went down to the
• 1:03:15
  Speaker 1: cellar to check if Mr. Holloway might be there, I
• 1:03:18
  Speaker 1: noticed that the small door at the back, the one
• 1:03:21
  Speaker 1: that Mr. Epstein always kept locked, was ajar. The strong
• 1:03:25
  Speaker 1: smell of damp earth came from there. I approached with trepidation,
• 1:03:30
  Speaker 1: but something compelled me to look. The compartment beyond the
• 1:03:34
  Speaker 1: door was small, like a closet built into the wall,
• 1:03:38
  Speaker 1: but seemed to extend deeper than the structure of the
• 1:03:40
  Speaker 1: hotel would allow. The interior walls were of packed earth,
• 1:03:45
  Speaker 1: not masonry like the rest of the cellar. In the
• 1:03:48
  Speaker 1: center there was an object that I couldn't immediately identify.
• 1:03:51
  Speaker 1: It looked like a small carved box made of some
• 1:03:54
  Speaker 1: material that was neither wood nor metal. Beside it, a
• 1:03:58
  Speaker 1: photograph turned face down. I didn't touch anything. Something about
• 1:04:02
  Speaker 1: that place caused me an instinctive dread, something I can't explain.
• 1:04:08
  Speaker 1: I closed the door, ran up the stairs, and never
• 1:04:11
  Speaker 1: returned to that part of the hotel. Richard Newton's article
• 1:04:16
  Speaker 1: about the case was published in July 1960, but it
• 1:04:20
  Speaker 1: did not generate the interest he had hoped for. A
• 1:04:23
  Speaker 1: disturbing coincidence was the sudden death of Newton— just three
• 1:04:27
  Speaker 1: months after the publication of his article. According to the
• 1:04:31
  Speaker 1: death certificate, he died in his sleep, victim of a
• 1:04:34
  Speaker 1: heart attack, at 43 years of age. A newsroom colleague, however,
• 1:04:39
  Speaker 1: confided to Professor Crawford that in the weeks prior to
• 1:04:43
  Speaker 1: his death, Newton had become increasingly paranoid, claiming to hear
• 1:04:48
  Speaker 1: strange sounds in his apartment and feeling constantly watched. This colleague,
• 1:04:53
  Speaker 1: James Harrison, He elaborated in his interview with Crawford. Rick
• 1:04:58
  Speaker 1: changed after that trip to Thorn Creek. He'd always been
• 1:05:02
  Speaker 1: a light-hearted guy, quick with a joke, but he came back, different, quieter.
• 1:05:08
  Speaker 1: Started covering the mirrors in his office with paper, saying
• 1:05:11
  Speaker 1: the light reflections bothered his eyes. Jumped at small noises.
• 1:05:16
  Speaker 1: About a week before he died, he showed me something
• 1:05:19
  Speaker 1: he'd been keeping in his desk drawer. An old photograph
• 1:05:22
  Speaker 1: he claimed had appeared among his research notes, though he
• 1:05:25
  Speaker 1: had no memory of collecting it. It showed a man
• 1:05:29
  Speaker 1: seated at a desk, face partially obscured, but recognizable, as
• 1:05:34
  Speaker 1: the salesman from his article. Standing behind him was a tall,
• 1:05:37
  Speaker 1: thin shadow that... Well, it didn't look quite right. The
• 1:05:42
  Speaker 1: proportions were wrong somehow. Rick had sealed it in an envelope,
• 1:05:47
  Speaker 1: which he then placed inside a metal box. It keeps
• 1:05:50
  Speaker 1: getting out, he told me. Today the sight... where the
• 1:05:55
  Speaker 1: Epstein Hotel once stood houses a small department store, the
• 1:05:58
  Speaker 1: older employees sometimes comment on strange nightly occurrences, merchandise that
• 1:06:05
  Speaker 1: changes position, sounds of footsteps on the upper floor when
• 1:06:08
  Speaker 1: the establishment is empty, and occasionally the persistent aroma of
• 1:06:13
  Speaker 1: old perfume that seems to emanate from the walls. The
• 1:06:18
  Speaker 1: current manager, Margaret Reynolds, reports that these occurrences intensify during
• 1:06:23
  Speaker 1: certain periods of the year, particularly in October, the month
• 1:06:27
  Speaker 1: of Holloway's disappearance. It's something that everyone who works here
• 1:06:31
  Speaker 1: for some time eventually notices. It's not frightening. It's more uncomfortable,
• 1:06:38
  Speaker 1: as if you're never really alone in the building, even
• 1:06:40
  Speaker 1: when you clearly are. Some employees refuse to close the
• 1:06:44
  Speaker 1: store alone, especially on Mondays. The air gets heavier, like
• 1:06:49
  Speaker 1: before a storm, and that smell of old perfume appears,
• 1:06:53
  Speaker 1: a sweet aroma, but with an underlying note of damp earth.
• 1:06:58
  Speaker 1: And sometimes, just for an instant, you have the sensation
• 1:07:02
  Speaker 1: of seeing someone from the corner of your eye, usually
• 1:07:05
  Speaker 1: near the stairs that once led to the cellar. When
• 1:07:08
  Speaker 1: you turn, there's no one there. Reynolds, a practical woman
• 1:07:13
  Speaker 1: with little patience for supernatural speculation, nonetheless implemented certain unwritten policies.
• 1:07:20
  Speaker 1: No employee works alone after sunset. The storeroom that occupies
• 1:07:25
  Speaker 1: the space above the old cellar is used only during
• 1:07:28
  Speaker 1: daylight hours. We don't discuss these rules with customers until
• 1:07:33
  Speaker 1: they've been here long enough to understand why they exist. Recently,
• 1:07:38
  Speaker 1: during a renovation of the store's floor, workers found, embedded
• 1:07:42
  Speaker 1: in the concrete, a small silver medallion with the inscription M.E. 1898.
• 1:07:48
  Speaker 1: The object was donated to the town's historical museum, where
• 1:07:52
  Speaker 1: it remains on display. Curiously, the museum employee responsible for
• 1:07:57
  Speaker 1: cataloging the piece, Howard Matthews, reported a strange incident related
• 1:08:02
  Speaker 1: to the medallion. According to him, on the first night
• 1:08:06
  Speaker 1: after the item was placed on exhibit, the museum's security
• 1:08:10
  Speaker 1: cameras recorded an inexplicable failure precisely at 3.17 a.m. lasting
• 1:08:16
  Speaker 1: exactly seven minutes. When the system began functioning again, the
• 1:08:20
  Speaker 1: medallion had moved inside the display case, rotating 180 degrees.
• 1:08:25
  Speaker 1: Technicians found no explanation for the failure. We initially suspected vandalism,
• 1:08:31
  Speaker 1: Matthews explained, but the case was locked, the alarm system
• 1:08:35
  Speaker 1: showed no entries, and no other exhibits were disturbed. Most
• 1:08:39
  Speaker 1: peculiar was that the security camera shows no evidence of tamperings.
• 1:08:44
  Speaker 1: Yet during those seven minutes, the image shows only static,
• 1:08:48
  Speaker 1: as if something was interfering with the signal. Even more
• 1:08:53
  Speaker 1: unsettling was Matthews' personal experience the following morning. When I
• 1:08:58
  Speaker 1: arrived to open the museum, I immediately noticed the medallion
• 1:09:01
  Speaker 1: had changed position. As I approached the case, I distinctly
• 1:09:05
  Speaker 1: heard what sounded like scratching coming from inside the wall
• 1:09:09
  Speaker 1: behind the display. Maintenance found nothing, no rodents, no wiring issues,
• 1:09:14
  Speaker 1: no structural problems. But for several weeks afterward, staff reported
• 1:09:20
  Speaker 1: hearing the same sound always beginning at opening time and
• 1:09:23
  Speaker 1: continuing until precisely 3.17 p.m. What really happened at the
• 1:09:29
  Speaker 1: Epstein Hotel in October 1898? Was Jeremiah Holloway the victim
• 1:09:35
  Speaker 1: of a common crime? Did he succumb to madness and isolation?
• 1:09:40
  Speaker 1: Or is there something darker in this story, something that
• 1:09:44
  Speaker 1: official records and rational explanations cannot completely capture? Professor Crawford,
• 1:09:50
  Speaker 1: in his final notes on the case, offers an intriguing perspective.
• 1:09:54
  Speaker 1: After months of investigation, I find myself contemplating possibilities that
• 1:09:59
  Speaker 1: my academic training hesitates to accept. The patterns are undeniable.
• 1:10:05
  Speaker 1: The black eyes in the photographs, the persistent smell of
• 1:10:08
  Speaker 1: damp earth and metal, the sounds in the walls, the
• 1:10:12
  Speaker 1: specific time, 3.17, that appears repeatedly, the feeling of being watched, and,
• 1:10:18
  Speaker 1: most disturbing, the obscure figure described consistently by witnesses separated
• 1:10:24
  Speaker 1: by decades. There is an element in this case that
• 1:10:27
  Speaker 1: resists conventional explanations, something that seems to persist beyond the
• 1:10:32
  Speaker 1: demolition of the hotel, beyond the death of the original witnesses,
• 1:10:36
  Speaker 1: beyond even time itself, like an echo that refuses to dissipate,
• 1:10:41
  Speaker 1: or a presence that has found a way to transcend
• 1:10:44
  Speaker 1: the physical limits that should contain it. I dare not
• 1:10:48
  Speaker 1: fully articulate what I suspect. But the last phrase in
• 1:10:52
  Speaker 1: Holloway's journal, I finally understood what he wanted from the beginning,
• 1:10:57
  Speaker 1: continues to resonate. What did he comprehend? And why did
• 1:11:01
  Speaker 1: this comprehension coincide with his disappearance? There exists an ancient
• 1:11:06
  Speaker 1: concept in Ozark folklore, rarely discussed openly, called the soul broker,
• 1:11:12
  Speaker 1: an entity that is not exactly human, that makes agreements,
• 1:11:17
  Speaker 1: grants wishes, but eventually returns to collect a payment much
• 1:11:21
  Speaker 1: more valuable than the beneficiary initially perceives. Would it be
• 1:11:26
  Speaker 1: possible that Montgomery Epstein, during his mysterious trip to New Orleans,
• 1:11:31
  Speaker 1: encountered something of this nature? My research into Haitian folk
• 1:11:35
  Speaker 1: traditions suggests parallels with certain Vodou concepts, particularly that of
• 1:11:41
  Speaker 1: the Jabbe, not the simplistic devil of Western interpretation, but
• 1:11:46
  Speaker 1: a complex entity capable of granting wealth and power in
• 1:11:50
  Speaker 1: exchange for service and eventual possession. The timing of Epstein's
• 1:11:56
  Speaker 1: visit to Haiti, followed by his wife's illness and death,
• 1:12:00
  Speaker 1: followed by Holloway's disappearance. The pattern suggests a progression. Pure speculation, naturally. However,
• 1:12:09
  Speaker 1: I cannot ignore the chill I feel when re-reading the accounts,
• 1:12:14
  Speaker 1: nor the persistent sensation that, in investigating this mystery, I
• 1:12:19
  Speaker 1: have attracted some kind of unwanted attention. Some knowledge is
• 1:12:24
  Speaker 1: too dangerous to pursue. Some entities should not be acknowledged,
• 1:12:29
  Speaker 1: for attention is a form of invitation. I leave this
• 1:12:33
  Speaker 1: final note as a warning to any who might continue
• 1:12:36
  Speaker 1: this research. there are mysteries that, once noticed, begin to
• 1:12:41
  Speaker 1: notice you in return. Some stories have no definitive conclusion,
• 1:12:47
  Speaker 1: only echoes that resonate through the decades, reminding us that
• 1:12:51
  Speaker 1: not all mysteries were made to be unraveled. The case
• 1:12:55
  Speaker 1: of the Epstein Hotel is one of those echoes, a
• 1:12:58
  Speaker 1: whisper from the past that, even after more than a century,
• 1:13:02
  Speaker 1: still makes us look with suspicion at old walls and
• 1:13:06
  Speaker 1: dark cellars, wondering what might be hidden beyond appearances, and
• 1:13:11
  Speaker 1: if by chance you find yourself walking through the historical
• 1:13:14
  Speaker 1: streets of the Ozarks at dusk and feel a sudden
• 1:13:17
  Speaker 1: chill as if you were being watched, if you perceive
• 1:13:21
  Speaker 1: a vague aroma of old perfume in the air. Perhaps
• 1:13:25
  Speaker 1: it's just coincidence, or perhaps it's a reminder that some
• 1:13:29
  Speaker 1: presences never really leave, some promises once made are impossible
• 1:13:34
  Speaker 1: to break. There is an old saying in the Ozarks,
• 1:13:38
  Speaker 1: not all stories end when a person dies. In the
• 1:13:42
  Speaker 1: case of the Epstein Hotel, it seems that the story
• 1:13:45
  Speaker 1: only began with the disappearance of Jeremiah Holloway, and perhaps
• 1:13:50
  Speaker 1: in some sense that we don't completely understand, it still
• 1:13:54
  Speaker 1: continues today. And you, who now know this story, have
• 1:13:59
  Speaker 1: you checked the walls of your house today? Have you
• 1:14:02
  Speaker 1: paid attention to the sounds that come from them when
• 1:14:05
  Speaker 1: everything is silent. And if, by chance, you wake up
• 1:14:09
  Speaker 1: at three to seventeen in the morning, perhaps it would
• 1:14:12
  Speaker 1: be prudent to avoid looking at the dark corners of
• 1:14:15
  Speaker 1: your room. Some things, once seen, cannot be forgotten. Some stories,
• 1:14:20
  Speaker 1: once known, become part of us. As the old-timers used
• 1:14:24
  Speaker 1: to say, knowledge is power, but some knowledge is also
• 1:14:28
  Speaker 1: a burden, and some doors, once opened, can never be
• 1:14:31
  Speaker 1: truly closed again.