Latest / The Mind of a Man / (1867_ West Virginia) The Macabre Ledger of Martha Collins _ Burned After Her Death

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(1867_ West Virginia) The Macabre Ledger of Martha Collins _ Burned After Her Death · The Mind of a Man

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome to this journey of one of the most disturbing
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: cases in recorded history of Randolph County, West Virginia. Before
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: we begin, I invite you to leave a comment about
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  Speaker 1: where you're watching from and the exact time you heard
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: the story. We're interested in knowing where and at what
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: times of day or night these documented accounts arrive. The
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  Speaker 1: winter of 1867 in Harpers Mill, West Virginia was particularly unforgiving.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Frost clung to the window panes of the valley homes
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  Speaker 1: like skeletal fingers, and the wind howled through the bare
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  Speaker 1: oak trees with an almost human-like lamentation. The Civil War
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: had ended just two years prior, leaving scars both visible
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: and invisible across the landscape. But for those living in
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: the aging Georgian mansion at the end of Oak Ridge Road,
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  Speaker 1: the silence came from something deeper than post-war melancholy. The
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  Speaker 1: property belonged to Martha Collins, a widow of 64, descended
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: from one of the original founding families of the region.
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  Speaker 1: The house stood apart from the modest dwellings nearby, with
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  Speaker 1: its imposing façade featuring four white columns, tall windows protected
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  Speaker 1: by intricate iron grills, and a rear garden that neighbors
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  Speaker 1: said had once been magnificent. Now, however, Weeds overtook the
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: abandoned flowerbeds and ivy climbed the peeling walls, creating shadows
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  Speaker 1: that seemed to shift as twilight descended. Municipal records from
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: that period describe the residence as having been built in
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  Speaker 1: 1803 by Jeremiah Collins, Martha's father-in-law, during the prosperous years
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: of early settlement. The architecture blended elements from Jeremiah's European
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: travels with adaptations to the harsh mountain winters. According to
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: documents from the time, The house occupied approximately one acre
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  Speaker 1: of land, and featured two main floors, plus an attic
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  Speaker 1: and an extensive cellar that curiously spanned only half the
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: total area of the construction. It was common for passers-by
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: to quicken their pace when walking past the residence, especially
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: after sunset. There was no specific reason for this behavior,
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: at least not one that could be clearly articulated. It
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: was more of a sensation, a subtle discomfort. as if
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: the house observed those who passed by. Interviews conducted by
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: historian Augustus Harrington in 1952 with former residents of the
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: area reveal that, even before Martha Collins' disappearance, the house
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: already possessed a peculiar reputation. Cordelia Stump, a laundress who
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: worked for several affluent families on the road, reported, That
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: house was always different. Even when Mr. Zachariah Collins was
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  Speaker 1: still alive, There was something strange there. The clothes I
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: washed for them always had a smell. Not common dirt,
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  Speaker 1: but something like damp earth and dried herbs, even the
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: clean pieces. And Mrs. Collins always handed me the clothes personally,
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: never allowing me beyond the service entrance. The official story,
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: the one recorded in municipal registers, was simple. Martha Collins
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: lived alone after the death of her husband, Zachariah Collins,
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  Speaker 1: which occurred in 1859. Without heirs, she devoted herself to
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: managing the assets left by her spouse and was rarely
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: seen in town. Her public appearances were limited to Sunday
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: services at the Methodist church, always dressed in black, always
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: seated in the same pew, always alone. The details of
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: Zachariah Collins' death, though seemingly well documented, present intriguing inconsistencies.
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: According to the official death certificate signed by Dr. Montgomery
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  Speaker 1: Pierce on January 12, 1859, the cause of death was
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: recorded as cardiac arrest resulting from mountain fever. However, a
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: more detailed medical report found in the archives of the
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: Old Harpers Mill Infirmary 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. He reports disturbing visions and insists
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  Speaker 1: that there is something inside the walls, watching him. The
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  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, he occasionally speaks in a language
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  Speaker 1: unknown to this physician. On February 14, 1867, Martha Collins
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: did not attend church service. Initially, no one gave much
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: importance to the fact. Elderly people occasionally fall ill or
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  Speaker 1: simply decide to stay home. But when her absence extended
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  Speaker 1: to three consecutive Sundays, Reverend Samuel Whitcomb decided to send
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: his housekeeper, Millicent Davis, to check on the widow's well-being.
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: Reverend Whitcomb was not a man who easily interfered in
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  Speaker 1: the affairs of his parishioners, especially those belonging to the
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: traditional families of the towns. According to his personal diaries,
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  Speaker 1: kept in the diocesan library, he harbored a peculiar respect
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  Speaker 1: for Martha Collins, mixed with something that could be described
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  Speaker 1: as apprehension. In an entry dated February 1866, he writes,
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: I heard Mrs. Collins' confession today. As always, her confessions
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  Speaker 1: are formal and contained, almost rehearsed. However, today I noticed
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  Speaker 1: something different in her eyes— a feverish gleam that does
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  Speaker 1: not match her usual composure. When I asked about her health,
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  Speaker 1: she only replied that the nights have been long. At
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  Speaker 1: the end, she asked me something unusual. She wanted to
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  Speaker 1: know if I believed the dead could return not by
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  Speaker 1: divine work, but by the force of an earthly promise.
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  Speaker 1: I answered with Scripture, naturally, but the question troubled me
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  Speaker 1: for the rest of the day. What Millicent found, or
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  Speaker 1: more precisely, what she did not find, would initiate a
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  Speaker 1: series of events that would profoundly mark the memory of
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  Speaker 1: the town, even though, as the years passed, many preferred
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  Speaker 1: to forget. According to the police report of March 4, 1867,
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  Speaker 1: filed at the Harper's Mill Sheriff's Office and subsequently transferred
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  Speaker 1: to the State Historical Archive, Millicent knocked at the door
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  Speaker 1: of the house at the end of Oak Ridge Road
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  Speaker 1: for long minutes without receiving a response. Noticing that the
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  Speaker 1: door was not locked, merely ajar, the housekeeper decided to enter,
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  Speaker 1: calling Martha's name. The interior of the house was impeccably
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  Speaker 1: clean and organized, as if it had been prepared to
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  Speaker 1: receive visitors. In the living room, on a side table,
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  Speaker 1: there was a half-empty teacup, already cold. No signs of
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  Speaker 1: struggle or disorder. No signs of Martha Collins. The police report,
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  Speaker 1: written by Clerk Percival Morris, under the dictation of Sheriff
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  Speaker 1: Clayton Montgomery, describes the scene with almost clinical objectivity, but
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  Speaker 1: includes a curious detail. The housekeeper reports that, upon entering
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  Speaker 1: the residence, she noticed that all the clocks in the
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: house were stopped exactly at 3.17, including the wall clock
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: in the parlor, the pocket watch on the desk in
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  Speaker 1: the study, and even the small clock in the main bedroom. Mrs.
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  Speaker 1: Davis states that this detail caused her particular discomfort although
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: she could not explain why. Millicent toured all the rooms
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  Speaker 1: of the house— parlor, kitchen, four bedrooms, study— without finding the owner.
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  Speaker 1: As she later reported to the police, it was in
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  Speaker 1: the cellar that she noticed something unusual. An old dark
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: wood chest, the kind used to store clothing or keepsakes,
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  Speaker 1: was open. Something uncommon, considering that Martha Collins was known
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  Speaker 1: for keeping all her belongings carefully stored— and locked. The
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  Speaker 1: cellar of the residence deserves a more detailed description, as
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: its unusual configuration would later become an object of interest
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  Speaker 1: to investigators of the case. Unlike the typical cellars of
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  Speaker 1: colonial houses of the time, generally simple storage spaces with
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  Speaker 1: packed dirt floors, the cellar of the Collins house had
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  Speaker 1: been built with evident attention to detail. The floor was
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  Speaker 1: hewn stone, the walls coated with a type of mortar, that,
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: according to experts consulted years later, contained unusual components that
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: made it exceptionally resistant to moisture. Illumination was provided by
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: small barred windows at ground level, positioned in such a
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  Speaker 1: way that, even on cloudy days, the environment received sufficient light.
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  Speaker 1: The most curious aspect, however, was the division of the space.
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  Speaker 1: Although the house occupied a considerable area The accessible cellar
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  Speaker 1: corresponded to only about half of this area. The other half,
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: according to architectural plans of the time, would simply be
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: compacted earth. However, the wall that separated the two sections
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  Speaker 1: was not aligned with any upper wall of the house,
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  Speaker 1: creating an asymmetrical layout that intrigued architects who later studied
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  Speaker 1: the case. Even more intriguing was the small dark wooden door,
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  Speaker 1: almost imperceptible, installed in the dividing wall. All was kept
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  Speaker 1: locked by Martha Collins. Inside the chest, Millicent found only
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: a black-covered notebook, apparently a ledger. Leafing through it quickly,
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  Speaker 1: she noticed that the pages were filled with elegant and
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  Speaker 1: precise handwriting, undoubtedly Martha's. However, something caught her attention. In
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  Speaker 1: the last written pages, the handwriting progressively became more tremulous,
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  Speaker 1: almost illegible, as if it had been recorded by someone
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  Speaker 1: under extreme stress or fear. The housekeeper took the ledger
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  Speaker 1: with her and went immediately to the sheriff's office, where
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  Speaker 1: she reported the widow's disappearance to Sheriff Clayton Montgomery. Sheriff
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  Speaker 1: Montgomery was not known for his investigative zeal. At 52,
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  Speaker 1: he held the position more due to his political connections
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  Speaker 1: than professional competence. A former military man of intermediate rank,
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  Speaker 1: he had been appointed sheriff in 1862 after supporting the
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  Speaker 1: winning faction in a local electoral dispute. His record of
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  Speaker 1: solved cases was mediocre, especially when they involved influential families
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  Speaker 1: in the region. A journalist of the time, Frederick Barrow,
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  Speaker 1: described him in a column as a man who prefers
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  Speaker 1: the comfort of his armchair to the discomfort of truth.
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  Speaker 1: The official investigation into Martha Collins' disappearance was superficial and brief.
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  Speaker 1: After three days of searching the property and surroundings, Without
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  Speaker 1: finding any trace of the elderly woman, Sheriff Montgomery concluded
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  Speaker 1: that she had probably traveled to visit relatives in Richmond
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  Speaker 1: without telling anyone. The case was filed, and the house
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  Speaker 1: on Oak Ridge Road was closed, awaiting the owner's return.
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  Speaker 1: The investigation reports, although succinct, mention a detail that did
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  Speaker 1: not receive due attention at the time. During the inspection
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  Speaker 1: of the property, the officers found all of Martha Collins'
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  Speaker 1: clothes and personal belongings intact in the wardrobes. Her jewelry
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  Speaker 1: box contained all the pieces cataloged in her personal inventory,
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  Speaker 1: including valuable items such as a pearl necklace and a
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  Speaker 1: pair of sapphire earrings that, according to witnesses, she greatly
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  Speaker 1: valued as they had been gifts from her late husband.
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  Speaker 1: In the drawer of her desk, a wallet containing a
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  Speaker 1: considerable amount of money remained untouched. If the widow had
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  Speaker 1: really traveled of her own volition, she had left without
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  Speaker 1: taking any belongings or resources. However, the ledger found by
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  Speaker 1: Millicent was never attached to the official process. Sheriff Montgomery
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  Speaker 1: claimed to have returned it to the Reverend's housekeeper, who
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  Speaker 1: in turn claimed never to have received it back. For
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: decades the whereabouts of this document remained unknown until in 1953,
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  Speaker 1: during the renovation of an old parish house in Harper's Mill,
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  Speaker 1: a mason named Bartholomew Jenkins found a wooden box embedded
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  Speaker 1: in a false wall. Inside the box, wrapped in black
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  Speaker 1: silk fabric, was Martha Collins' ledger. The discovery was initially
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  Speaker 1: kept secret by the mason, who, superstitious, feared that the
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  Speaker 1: object might be related to some unorthodox religious practice. It
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  Speaker 1: was only three months later, upon overhearing a casual conversation
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  Speaker 1: about the old mystery of the vanished widow. that Bartholomew
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  Speaker 1: decided to reveal his discovery to his employer, engineer Nathaniel Webster,
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  Speaker 1: who in turn informed the ecclesiastical authorities. Father Zachariah Bowman,
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  Speaker 1: responsible for the parish at that time, took possession of
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  Speaker 1: the document and, after reading its contents, decided to hand
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  Speaker 1: it over to the history department of the University of
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  Speaker 1: West Virginia. However, for reasons never officially clarified, The ledger
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  Speaker 1: was filed in the Restricted Documents section of the University Library,
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  Speaker 1: where it remained inaccessible to the public for another five years.
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: Father Bowman, a cultured and methodical man, educated in theology
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  Speaker 1: at Princeton University, was not given to superstitions or unnecessary alarms.
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  Speaker 1: This makes even more intriguing the content of a letter
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  Speaker 1: he sent to the Bishop of Charleston along with his
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  Speaker 1: request to transfer the ledger to the university. In the letter,
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: partially preserved in diocesan archives, he writes, Your Excellency will
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  Speaker 1: understand my hesitation in deciding the appropriate fate for this document.
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  Speaker 1: Its content, especially in the final pages, raises questions that
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  Speaker 1: transcend the scope of our common theological understanding. I am
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  Speaker 1: not suggesting anything of a supernatural nature. I am, as
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  Speaker 1: you know, averse to such explanations. But there is in
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  Speaker 1: these pages a testimony of something profoundly disturbing that I
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  Speaker 1: believe should be studied by minds prepared for deeper psychological
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: and historical analyses. What concerns me is not so much
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: what is written, but the evident transformation in the person
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  Speaker 1: who wrote it. In 1958, Professor Harrison Blackburn wrote, during
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: research on the social history of West Virginia in the
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: early 19th century, obtained authorization to consult the document. What
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: he found in the yellowed pages of Martha Collins' ledger
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  Speaker 1: disturbed him deeply, leading him to abandon his original research
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: and dedicate himself exclusively to the study of that case.
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: Harrison Blackburn was not merely a competent historian, but also
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: a meticulous researcher with secondary training in psychology. Born in
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: 1911 in Charleston, he had served briefly in the Army
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: during World War II before dedicating himself to academic life.
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: His specialty was the documentation of oral histories and the
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: analysis of personal documents, such as letters and diaries, to
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: reconstruct social and psychological aspects of historical periods. When he
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: gained access to Martha Collins' ledger, he was working on
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: an extensive study of social transformations in Appalachia at the
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: turn of the century. The first entries in the ledger
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: dated from January 1859, soon after Zachariah Collins's death. They
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: were mundane notes about the day-to-day life of a widow,
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: lists of chores, expense records, occasionally reflections on solitude and loss.
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: The handwriting was firm, organized, reflecting the methodical personality that
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: acquaintances attributed to Martha Collins. An entry from March 1839
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: offers a glimpse of the widow's routine and mental state
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: at that time. March 17, 1859. Today I received a
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: visit from Mr. Wainwright, solicitor, to deal with pending matters
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: of the inventory. The papers are in order, as Zachariah
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: always kept them. The house, the lands in Pickens County,
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: and the shares in the mining company remain as solid assets.
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: sufficient to maintain me comfortably for the rest of my days.
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: I feel grateful for this, but would trade all this
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: material security for a few more years by his side.
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: The nights are especially difficult. The house seems larger and emptier.
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: Sometimes I wake up thinking I have heard his voice
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: calling me from the study, as he did when working late.
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: The doctor recommended that I take valerian drops to help
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: with sleep, but I hesitate. I prefer the lucidity of
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: pain to the confusion induced by medicines. Over the following months,
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: the entries follow a similar pattern, documenting Martha's gradual adaptation
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: to her new reality as a widow. She mentions occasional
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: visits from acquaintances, decisions about the administration of her assets,
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: and reflections on mourning. A recurring theme is her reluctance
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: to modify any aspect of the house or dispose of
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: her husband's belongings, as if preserving the physical environment could, somehow,
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: keep his presence alive. A curious entry from August 1859
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: mentions the cellar of the house for the first time.
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: August 22nd. 1859. I needed to go down to the
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: cellar today to fetch some wine bottles for dinner with
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: Judge Wainwright. I had not entered there since Zachariah's death.
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: He always insisted on being the only one to handle
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: that particular wine collection. Strangely, I found the small door
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: at the back ajar, although I am certain it should
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: be locked. The key, which Zachariah always carried with him,
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: was in the lock. I did not dare to look
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: at what lies beyond it. I never entered that compartment.
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: Zachariah said it was merely a storage for old family objects,
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: things of no value, but which he did not have
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: the courage to discard. I closed the door, removed the key,
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: and now keep it with me. Tomorrow I will ask
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: Absalom to check if there is some external entrance that
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: might explain how that door came open. However, from November 1866,
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: the tone of the entries began to change subtly. Martha
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: started to record strange sensations, nocturnal noises that she could
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: not identify, a persistent feeling of being watched, objects that
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: seemed to change places when she was not looking. November 16, 1866.
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: Again that sound. like nails scratching wood coming from the walls.
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: I asked Absalom to check for possible rats, but he
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: found no trace. Perhaps it is just the old house settling,
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: as he suggested. But why always at midnight? Absalom Decker
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: was the gardener and handyman who worked for Martha three
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: times a week. According to municipal employment records, he left
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: service at the house on Oak Ridge Road in December 1866,
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: claiming to have found a better position at a farm
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: on the outskirts of town. However, when Professor Blackburn managed
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: to locate a relative of Absalom, Josephine Decker, in 1958,
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: she told a different story. Absalom never talked about that house,
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: nor about the old lady. When we asked why he
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: had left a stable job in town to work so
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: far away, he just said that there were things that
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: money couldn't compensate. On the night before leaving for the farm,
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: I heard him tell his wife that the walls of
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: that house had eyes and ears. We never understood what
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: he meant by that. Josephine also revealed to Professor Blackburn
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: a disturbing detail that does not appear in any official record.
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: Her father... a previously healthy and robust man, began to
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: waste away soon after leaving employment at Martha Collins' house.
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: It was as if something consumed him from within, she described.
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: He lost weight, lost his appetite, and at night suffered
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: from nightmares so intense that he would scream until he
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: was hoarse. Before dying just six months after leaving that house,
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: he was delirious about something that lived between the walls
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: and repeated, I shouldn't have looked, shouldn't have opened that door.
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: The entries in the ledger became more disturbing as December progressed.
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: Martha reported having seen a dark figure standing at the
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: foot of her bed during the night, which disappeared when
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: she lit the lamp. She mentioned whispering voices that seemed
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: to come from within the walls, speaking words that she
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: could not understand but that somehow seemed directed at her.
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: On January 2, 1867, she wrote, I found that photograph
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: again at the bottom of the dresser drawer, although I
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: am certain I burned it three days ago. How is
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: this possible? The image seems different now. His eyes seem
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: to follow me around the room. Tomorrow I will burn
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: it again, and this time I will scatter the ashes
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: in the garden. The photograph in question was never found,
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: and the ledger does not specify whose image it was.
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: Considering that Martha refers to the person in the photograph
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: as HIM in capital letters, Professor Blackburn initially assumed it
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: was her late husband. However, later entries cast doubt on
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: this interpretation. On January 5th, she writes, I did not
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: sleep again. The sounds in the walls continue louder now,
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: more insistent. They no longer seem like scratches, but rhythmic knocks.
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: As if someone or something— was trying to communicate through
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: a code. I have made the decision to check the
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: cellar tomorrow, the small door at the back which has
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: remained locked all these years. Perhaps there is something there
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: that explains these phenomena. The key is still with me,
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: kept in the jewelry box since that day, in 1859.
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: Zachariah made me promise never to open it, but he
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: is no longer here to protect me from whatever lies
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: on the other side. And what if what torments me
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: is precisely there? On January 6th, the entry is brief
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: and disturbing. I went down to the cellar today. The
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: key was no longer in the jewelry box, although I
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: am certain I left it there last night. I found
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: it in the lock of the small door, as if
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: someone had placed it there. The door was ajar. The
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: smell that came from inside— I cannot describe it adequately— a
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: mixture of damp earth, mold, and something else, something metallic
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: like old blood or oxidized iron. I did not have
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: the courage to open the door completely or enter. I
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: locked it again and brought the key with me. Tonight
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: I will sleep with it under my pillow. On January 15th,
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: Martha reports a recurring dream, the same dream, for the
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: third night in a row. I am standing before that
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: door in the cellar, the one I always keep locked.
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: In the dream I know I should not open it,
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: but my hands move against my will. When the door opens,
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: I see only darkness, and feel an intense cold, coming
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: from within. Then, from the depths of this darkness, I
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: hear that voice, not Zachariah's, but the other one, the
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: one who promised to return. I am fulfilling my promise,
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: says the voice. And then I wake up, always at 3.17
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: in the morning, with the sensation that there is someone
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: sitting on the edge of my bed. The reference to
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: the other voice and the promise of return is particularly intriguing,
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: as there is no previous mention in the ledger of
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: such a promise or who might have made it. Professor
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: Blackburn dedicated considerable time trying to discover if there might
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: be some secret door or hidden room in the cellar
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: of the house on Oak Ridge Road. But when he
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: finally obtained permission to examine the property— In May 1958,
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: he discovered that the cellar had been completely cemented during
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: a renovation carried out in 1916 when the house was
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: briefly occupied by a family of merchants from Baltimore. This family,
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: the Harringtons, remained on the property for only seven months,
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: a remarkably short period considering the substantial investment they had
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: made in renovating the house. Winston Harrington, patriarch of the family,
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: was a successful merchant who had built a prosperous importing business.
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: In 1916, at the age of 52, he decided to
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: acquire a residence that reflected his social status, and Martha
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: Collins' old house, which had remained closed for years, presented
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: itself as an opportunity. Records of the time show that
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: Harrington hired architect Frederick Lawrence to supervise an extensive renovation
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: of the property including modernizations such as electrical installation and
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: internal plumbing. A curious detail appears in the architect's notes,
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: preserved in the Public Municipal Archive. Client insisted on complete
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: cementing of the cellar after incident with the workers. I
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: suggested keeping at least one section as a wine cellar,
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: given the favorable climate, but Mr. Harrington was adamant. I
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: want that space permanently sealed, were his exact words. The
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: incident mentioned is not detailed in the official notes, but
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: Professor Blackburn obtained some information through an assistant of Frederick Lawrence,
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: the architect who worked on the renovation. According to this
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: assistant who accompanied the project, two workers who were removing
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: debris from the cellar discovered a small door embedded in
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: the back wall. Curious, they forced the lock and found
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: a narrow compartment, no larger than a closet. What they
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: saw inside was never fully clarified, but both men abandoned
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: their service on the same day, refusing to return even
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: when offered double pay. One of them, it is said,
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: moved away from the town the following week. As the
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: end of January approached, the entries in the ledger became
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: more spaced out and fragmented. The handwriting began to show
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: signs of deterioration, with words crossed out and stains that
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: could be tears or spilled ink. On January 27th, there
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: is a particularly disturbing entry. I can no longer sleep.
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: When I close my eyes, I feel his presence in
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: the room. The walls are damp now, although it has
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: not rained. The moisture forms patterns that look like faces watching.
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: The smell. That same smell of wet earth and something else.
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: Something I recognize but cannot name. I should have burned
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: all those objects when I had the chance. Now it
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: is too late. Zachariah knew he tried to warn me.
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: An entry from January 29th contains an even more disturbing account. Someone,
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: or something, has been walking through the house during the night.
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: I hear the footsteps above my room, in the attic
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: that has remained locked for years. The creaking of the
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: floorboards is unmistakable. Last night I gathered courage to go
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: up and check. The attic door was locked, as always,
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: the key kept in the drawer of my desk. But
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: when I placed my ear against the wood, I clearly
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: heard breathing on the other side, heavy and irregular. Even
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: more disturbing was that as I moved away, the breathing
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: stopped abruptly, as if whatever was in there knew I
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: was listening. I returned to my room and locked the door.
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: At dawn I woke to the sound of scratching at
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: my door. It was not like an animal trying to enter,
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: but something deliberate. Three slow scratches, followed by three faster ones.
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: Then a pause, and the pattern repeated. I remained motionless,
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: in bed, without the courage to check. The scratching continued
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: for nearly an hour, then ceased. In the morning I
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: examined the door. There were no visible marks on the wood.
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: On January 31st, Martha makes a cryptic reference to a
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: past event. I have thought much about that night, the
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: last in which Zachariah seemed truly lucid before the illness
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: consumed him completely. He called me to the study late
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: at night and gave me the key to that door
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: in the cellar, making me swear never to open it.
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: What we did was wrong. Martha, he said. I should
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: not have brought that into our house. I should not
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: have made that agreement. I never knew what agreement he
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: was referring to. Zachariah always dealt with his business privately.
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: But I remember that in 1857, after returning from a
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: trip to Philadelphia, he changed. He became more reserved. spent
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: hours alone in the cellar, and occasionally I heard him
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: conversing down there, although I never saw anyone enter or leave.
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: It was after this trip that the compartment at the
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: back of the cellar was built, officially to store important documents.
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: Now I wonder, what is really kept in there? The
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: last regular entry is dated February 9, 1867. I found
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: marks on the cellar floor today, as if something heavy
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: had been dragged toward that door. I did not enter there.
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: I cannot. But I know I must face him eventually.
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: The voices are louder now, almost clear enough to understand
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: what they say. I think they are calling my name.
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: Or perhaps it is just the wind. Tomorrow I will
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: go to the church to speak with Reverend Whitcomb. Perhaps
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: he can help. Thus, there is no record that Martha
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: Collins actually sought out Reverend Samuel Whitcomb. According to the
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: Parish Visitation Book, preserved in Diocesan Archives, her last confession
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: took place on January 26, 1867. However, there exists an
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: intriguing document in the Reverend's personal archives, a handwritten note
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: on high-quality paper signed by Martha Collins and dated February 10, 1867.
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: Reverend Whitcomb, I beg forgiveness for not attending our meeting
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: scheduled for today. Unforeseen circumstances... require my presence at home.
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: The matter about which I intended to consult you has
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: become more urgent than I imagined. I request your prayers,
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: as I fear I am facing something that transcends my
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: understanding and perhaps the very doctrine of the Church. If
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: we do not see each other again in this world,
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: know that I departed at peace with my conscience, though
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: not necessarily at peace with what inhabits these walls. May
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: God protect you, Martha Collins. Reverend Whitcomb never mentioned this
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: note publicly, and it was only discovered after his death
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: in 1905, among his personal documents. After the entry of
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: February 9th, there is an interval of almost a month
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: without annotations. Then, on March 10th, four days before her
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: absence was first noticed, there's a final entry. The handwriting
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: is almost unrecognizable, tremulous and hasty, as if written by
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: someone on the verge of collapse. It is here, in
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: the house, with me. It is not Zachariah. It never was.
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: The door in the cellar is open now. I was
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: not the one who opened it, the sounds it makes
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: as it moves through the walls. I can no longer stay,
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: but where to go when he is everywhere? The photographs,
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: all of them, even those I burned, have returned. The
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: faces in the photos have changed. They all have his
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: eyes now. I need to end this. There is only
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: one way. This is the last clearly legible entry in
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: the ledger. In the final pages there are only incoherent
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: scribbles and what appear to be frustrated attempts to draw something,
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: perhaps a face or a symbol. On the last page
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: there is a single phrase written with a surprisingly clear
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: and firm handwriting, so different from the previous text that
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: it raised questions about whether it had been written by
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: the same person. I finally understood what he wanted from
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: the beginning. Professor Harrison Blackburn spent the following years trying
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: to construct a clearer chronology of the events and determine
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: what really happened to Martha Collins. In his research notebooks,
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: found after his death in 1966, he raises several hypotheses
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: ranging from supernatural explanations, which he himself dismissed as the
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: product of a lonely, elderly woman's fevered imagination, to more
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: mundane possibilities, an intruder who tormented the widow, some distant
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: relative with interest in her inheritance, or even a case
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: of progressive mental deterioration, culminating in flight or suicide. One
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: of the aspects that most intrigued the professor was the
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: coincidence between the recurring time in Martha's dreams, 317, and
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: the fact that all the clocks in the house were
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: found stopped at that same time. This coincidence suggested that
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: something significant occurred at that specific moment, possibly on the
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: night before her disappearance. Another disturbing element that Blackburn highlighted
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: in his notes was the final phrase of the ledger.
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: The handwriting of this last entry, so different from the rest,
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: raised questions about its authenticity. Would it be possible that
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: someone else had written that line? And if so, who?
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: And what would be the meaning of that understanding mentioned.
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: One of the most intriguing aspects that Blackburn discovered during
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: his investigation were the death records of Zachariah Collins. According
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: to the official document, he died of natural causes on
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: January 12, 1859. However, when examining the archives of the
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: old Harper's Mill infirmary, the professor found a medical report
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: that offered additional details. Collins had suffered from a mysterious
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: ailment that caused severe hallucinations in the weeks prior to
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: his death. The responsible physician, Dr. Montgomery Pierce, described that
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: the patient frequently spoke about something that lived inside the
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: walls and insisted that he had made an agreement that
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: he could not fulfill. This medical report, dated January 10, 1859,
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: includes additional observations that Blackburn considered particularly relevant. the patient
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: alternates between periods of lucidity and episodes of extreme agitation.
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: During moments of mental clarity, he expresses a rational and
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: consistent fear related to an agreement he would have made
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: during his trip to Philadelphia in 1857. Although reluctant to
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: provide specific details, he mentioned having acquired an ancient object
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: from a merchant in Philadelphia, an object that he now
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: keeps stored in a special compartment in his residence. More
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: concerning is his insistence that this object is not inanimate. Mr. Collins,
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: a man of education and respectable social position, does not
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: seem given to superstitions. However, he describes with disturbing conviction
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: that the object changed after being brought to his house,
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: and that now it communicates with him through the walls.
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: When questioned about the nature of these communications, the patient
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: becomes extremely agitated, refusing to elaborate. In the last 48 hours,
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: his physical state has deteriorated significantly. He presents permanently dilated pupils,
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: even under intense light, abnormally low body temperature, and a
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: peculiar odor emanating from the skin that does not correspond
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: to any pathological condition known to this physician. there are
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: also inexplicable marks on the forearms and neck, similar to contusions,
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: but with a regular pattern that suggests more a deliberate
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: contact than accidental injuries. As a physician, I must record
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: only observable facts, but I confess that this case defies
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: my scientific understanding. If I were a man of lesser education,
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: I might suggest that Mr. Collins is under some type
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: of malevolent influence. As I am not, I limit myself
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: to documenting his condition and administering the prescribed sedatives to
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: alleviate his suffering, although I fear the outcome is inevitably fatal.
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: Zachariah Collins died two days after the drafting of this report.
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: The death certificate, signed by the same Dr. Montgomery Pierce,
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: lists cardiac arrest as the cause of death, omitting all
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: the disturbing details documented in the hospital report. During his research,
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: Professor Blackburn also interviewed several old residents of the area,
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: including Adelaide Stokes, who in 1867 was a young woman
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: of 19 who lived two houses down from the Collins residence.
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: According to Adelaide's testimony, recorded in 1958, in those days
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: no one spoke openly about the old lady's house, but
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: everyone knew there was something strange there. My mother forbade
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: me to pass in front of that house alone. On
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: full moon nights we sometimes heard sounds coming from there,
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: not screams, not exactly voices, but a kind of low lament,
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: like someone humming a sad melody. On the morning they
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: discovered she had disappeared, I was returning from the bakery
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: and saw something I never told the authorities. I saw
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: a man leaving the house very early, before the sun
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: had even risen. He wore a hat that covered his face.
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: and carried something in his arms, wrapped in a dark cloth.
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: At the time I thought it might be a doctor, perhaps,
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: who had been called during the night. But now think
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: about it, why would a doctor leave carrying something like that,
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: instead of simply doing his work and leaving? This testimony
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: raises disturbing questions about the events of that morning. Who
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: would the man seen by Adelaide be? What was he carrying?
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: And why did this information never reached the official authorities.
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: In a note following the interview with Adelaide, Professor Blackburn writes,
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: The description of the man seen by A.S. curiously corresponds
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: to reports of a stranger who was occasionally seen visiting
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: Zachariah Collins in the months preceding his death. According to
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: Millicent Davis, this visitor never identified himself, always arrived after nightfall,
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: and Collins insisted on receiving him alone in the study
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: or in the cellar. The housekeeper described him as a
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: thin man, very pale, of considerable height, always dressed in
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: dark clothes, and a wide-brimmed hat that shadowed his face.
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: But coincidence! Or would it be possible that the same
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: individual was somehow connected to both the death of Collins
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: and the disappearance of his wife, eight years later? The
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: house on Oak Ridge Road remained closed for many years
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: after Martha Collins' disappearance. In 1916, it was acquired by
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: Baltimore merchant Winston Harrington, who carried out extensive renovations before
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: moving in with his family. Curiously, the Harringtons occupied the
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: property for only seven months before suddenly moving, selling the
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: house for a value far below market. When questioned about
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: the reasons for the move, Winston Harrington reportedly said only
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: that the house was not suitable for a family with
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: peace of mind. During the interview he gave to Professor
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: Blackburn in 1958, Winston Harrington, then 94 years old and
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: residing in Pittsburgh, showed extreme reluctance to discuss his brief
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: occupation of the house on Oak Ridge Road. Only after
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: much insistence did he agree to provide some details with
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: the express condition that the conversation not be recorded. According
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: to Blackburn's notes, Harrington reported that In the first weeks
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: after the move, the family was enthusiastic about the new residence.
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: The renovation had been extensive, modernizing the house without compromising
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: its historic character. However, after approximately one month, inexplicable events
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: began to occur. At first they were small things, Harrington
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: reportedly said, objects that disappeared and reappeared in different places,
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: strange sounds in the walls— like scratches or rhythmic knocks.
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: My wife complained of a persistent odor in the main bedroom,
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: a smell of damp earth and something metallic that no
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: cleaning could eliminate. We replaced the floorboards, checked plumbing, even
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: removed part of the wall covering, but the smell always returned.
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: The incident that finally motivated the move, according to Harrington,
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: occurred on a night in July 1916. His wife woke
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: up screaming. claiming to have seen a dark figure standing
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: at the foot of the bed. When Harrington lit the lamp,
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: there was no one there. However, on the dresser, they
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: found an object that did not belong to them, a
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: small carved wooden box containing a single photograph.' It was
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: a photograph of an elderly woman sitting in a chair,'
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: said Harrington. Behind her there was something like a shadow,
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: but with a vaguely human form. Most disturbing were the
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: woman's eyes.' They were completely black, like holes in the image.
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: I immediately recognized her as the former owner, Martha Collins,
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: whose portrait I had seen at the county clerk's office
• 43:25
  Speaker 1: when we signed the purchase papers. On the back of
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: the photograph was a phrase written, He lives in the
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: walls and wants company. The following morning, Harrington hired workers
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: to completely cement the cellar especially the hidden compartment that
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: had been discovered during the renovation. A week later, the
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: family left the house, never returning even to retrieve many
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: of the personal belongings they left behind. In the years
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: that followed, the property passed through several owners, none remaining
• 44:00
  Speaker 1: for more than two years. In 1942, after remaining empty
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: for almost a decade, it was finally demolished to make
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: way for a small commercial building, which initially housed a
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: pharmacy and and later a fabric store. During the demolition,
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: as reported in the Harper's Mill Gazette of July 17, 1942,
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: the workers made a macabre discovery. As they removed the
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: cemented floor of the cellar, they found a small wooden door,
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: sealed with what appeared to be black wax. The foreman,
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: Joshua Campbell, decided to open the door, revealing a small compartment,
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: no larger than a closet. Inside, there were only three items,
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: an old matchbox, a broken perfume bottle, and a faded photograph.
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: The report does not offer details about the content of
• 44:50
  Speaker 1: the photograph, mentioning only that it was handed over to
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: the authorities. However, there is no record of this photograph
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: in police archives of the time. The only indication of
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: its possible content comes from an interview given by Joshua
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: Campbell himself to Professor Blackburn in 1958. I will never
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: forget that image as long as I live. It was
• 45:13
  Speaker 1: a photograph of an elderly woman, probably the famous Martha Collins,
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: seated in a chair. Behind her there was an obscure figure,
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: like a shadow with human form. Most disturbing were the
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: lady's eyes in the photo. They were completely black, as
• 45:30
  Speaker 1: if someone had covered them with ink. And there was
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: a message written on the back of the photograph. But
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: it was so faded that I could only make out
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: a few words. Fulfilled. Promise. Inside. Walls. Campbell also revealed
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: a detail that he omitted from the press at the time.
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: Beside the photograph, they found what appeared to be a
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: small box of carved bone, similar to an ancient reliquary.
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: The box was empty, except for a thin layer of
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: dark dust at the bottom. When asked what happened to
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: this object, Campbell confessed to having been disturbed by the
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: discovery of and decided to burn it that very night,
• 46:11
  Speaker 1: along with the matchbox. The photograph, being potentially relevant to
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: the old disappearance case, was the only thing he handed
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: over to the authorities. Professor Harrison Blackburn died in September 1966,
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: before concluding his research on the case of Martha Collins.
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: His notes and collected materials were donated to the University Library.
• 46:36
  Speaker 1: But inexplicably, much of this collection disappeared during a reorganization
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: of the archive in 1968, leaving only a few field
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: notebooks and correspondences. The inexplicable loss of these documents, ironically
• 46:51
  Speaker 1: similar to the disappearance of Martha Collins's original ledger from
• 46:55
  Speaker 1: police records, was attributed to an administrative error by the
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: library management. However, Amelia Webster... The professor's assistant, who helped
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: him catalog the material before the donation, expressed doubts about
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: this explanation. We meticulously organized the entire collection related to
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: the case. There were more than twelve notebooks of annotations,
• 47:19
  Speaker 1: photographs of the house before demolition, copies of official documents,
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: transcriptions of interviews, everything cataloged in three file boxes with
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: clear labels. The professor was extremely methodical. It is simply
• 47:34
  Speaker 1: impossible that all this material was lost through a common
• 47:38
  Speaker 1: bureaucratic error. In one of the remaining notebooks, dated August 1959,
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: Blackburn records a disturbing personal experience. After months investigating the case,
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: he began to suffer from insomnia and to hear strange
• 47:55
  Speaker 1: sounds in his own home, scratches in the walls, footsteps
• 47:59
  Speaker 1: in the corridor when he was alone, the creaking of
• 48:02
  Speaker 1: a rocking chair in his study, although he did not
• 48:05
  Speaker 1: own such furniture. In his last known note about the case,
• 48:09
  Speaker 1: he writes, I dreamt of her last night. Martha Collins
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: was standing in the cellar of the house on Oak
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: Ridge Road before that door. She looked directly at me
• 48:19
  Speaker 1: and said, You too made a promise, Professor. And when
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: I woke, I found a matchbox identical to the one
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: described in the demolition report on my desk. I don't
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: know how it got there. My house was locked. Tomorrow
• 48:33
  Speaker 1: I will end this research. There are questions that should
• 48:36
  Speaker 1: not be answered, mysteries that should remain buried. Martha Collins
• 48:41
  Speaker 1: understood this too late. I still have time. Professor Blackburn
• 48:45
  Speaker 1: formally abandoned his research on the case of Martha Collins
• 48:49
  Speaker 1: soon after this incident, returning to his previous studies on
• 48:52
  Speaker 1: the social history of West Virginia. He rarely mentioned the subject,
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: and when questioned, said only that he had lost interest
• 49:01
  Speaker 1: in the story. A curious detail documented by his assistant, Amelia,
• 49:06
  Speaker 1: is that the professor insisted on burning all his notebooks
• 49:10
  Speaker 1: related to the case that were still in his personal possession.
• 49:14
  Speaker 1: The assistant also reported a change in his behavior after
• 49:18
  Speaker 1: abandoning the research. He began to avoid working after nightfall,
• 49:22
  Speaker 1: installed additional lighting in his home, and developed an almost
• 49:26
  Speaker 1: phobic aversion to enclosed spaces such as cellars and attics.
• 49:31
  Speaker 1: The truth about what happened to Martha Collins in February 1860, Savon,
• 49:36
  Speaker 1: remains a mystery. Her body was never found. No concrete
• 49:41
  Speaker 1: evidence of crime was established. Official records continue to list
• 49:45
  Speaker 1: her case as a disappearance. In 1960, a journalist from
• 49:50
  Speaker 1: the Harper's Mill Gazette named Wallace Kent attempted to reopen
• 49:54
  Speaker 1: the investigation, fascinated by the urban legend that had formed
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: around the widow's house, as it was locally known. He
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: managed to locate and interview Millicent Davis, the reverend's housekeeper
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: and who had found the empty house in 1867. Millicent,
• 50:14
  Speaker 1: then 83 years old, showed signs of senile dementia, but
• 50:18
  Speaker 1: in moments of lucidity told Kent something she had never
• 50:21
  Speaker 1: officially mentioned. When I entered that house, I immediately felt
• 50:26
  Speaker 1: that something was wrong. It wasn't just the silence or
• 50:29
  Speaker 1: the absence of the lady. It was as if the
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: house were breathing. The walls seemed to pulse subtly, like
• 50:36
  Speaker 1: a heart beating very slowly, and there was a smell.
• 50:39
  Speaker 1: Not of decomposition or disease, but of freshly dug earth
• 50:44
  Speaker 1: and candle-wax. The strangest thing was what I found in
• 50:49
  Speaker 1: her room. The bed was perfectly made, as if no
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: one had slept in it. On the pillow there was
• 50:55
  Speaker 1: a single object, an old key, large, probably to the cellar,
• 51:00
  Speaker 1: and beside the key, almost imperceptible against the white of
• 51:04
  Speaker 1: the sheet, small stains of a dark liquid, that I
• 51:07
  Speaker 1: preferred to believe was ink. Millicent also revealed to the
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: journalist a detail she had omitted from the police in
• 51:15
  Speaker 1: 1867 out of fear of being considered superstitious or mentally unstable.
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: When I went down to the cellar to check if
• 51:23
  Speaker 1: Martha Collins might be there, I noticed that the small
• 51:27
  Speaker 1: door at the back, the one she always kept locked,
• 51:30
  Speaker 1: was ajar. The strong smell of damp earth came from there.
• 51:34
  Speaker 1: I approached with trepidation. but something urged me to look.
• 51:39
  Speaker 1: The compartment beyond the door was small, like a closet
• 51:42
  Speaker 1: built into the wall, but it seemed to extend deeper
• 51:46
  Speaker 1: than the structure of the house would allow. The inner
• 51:49
  Speaker 1: walls were of compacted earth, not masonry like the rest
• 51:53
  Speaker 1: of the cellar. In the center there was an object
• 51:56
  Speaker 1: that I could not immediately identify. It seemed like a
• 51:59
  Speaker 1: small carved box, made of some material that was neither
• 52:03
  Speaker 1: wood nor metal. Next to it, a photograph turned face down.
• 52:07
  Speaker 1: I touched nothing. Something about that place caused me an
• 52:11
  Speaker 1: instinctive dread, something I cannot explain. I closed the door,
• 52:16
  Speaker 1: ran up the stairs, and never returned to that house.
• 52:20
  Speaker 1: Wallace Kent's article about the case was published in a
• 52:23
  Speaker 1: Sunday edition of the Harper's Mill Gazette in July 1960,
• 52:28
  Speaker 1: but did not generate the interest he expected. The story
• 52:32
  Speaker 1: had become just another urban legend among so many others
• 52:36
  Speaker 1: that populated the town's imagination. Kent himself soon moved on
• 52:40
  Speaker 1: to other subjects, and the mystery of Martha Collins was
• 52:43
  Speaker 1: again relegated to oblivion. A disturbing coincidence, not publicly recorded,
• 52:49
  Speaker 1: was the sudden death of Wallace Kent just three months
• 52:52
  Speaker 1: after the publication of his article. According to the death certificate,
• 52:57
  Speaker 1: he died in his sleep, victim of a heart attack,
• 53:00
  Speaker 1: at the age of forty-two, A colleague from the newsroom, however,
• 53:04
  Speaker 1: confided to Professor Blackburn that, in the weeks prior to
• 53:07
  Speaker 1: his death, Kent had become increasingly paranoid, claiming to hear
• 53:11
  Speaker 1: strange sounds in his apartment and feeling constantly watched. He
• 53:16
  Speaker 1: also mentioned having found, without explanation, an old matchbox on
• 53:20
  Speaker 1: his desk, similar to the one described in the demolition
• 53:23
  Speaker 1: report of the house. Today, the site where the Collins
• 53:27
  Speaker 1: house once stood houses a small department store. The oldest
• 53:32
  Speaker 1: employees sometimes comment on strange nocturnal occurrences, merchandise that changes places,
• 53:39
  Speaker 1: sounds of footsteps on the upper floor when the establishment
• 53:43
  Speaker 1: is empty, and occasionally the persistent aroma of old perfume
• 53:47
  Speaker 1: that seems to emanate from the walls. The current manager,
• 53:51
  Speaker 1: Dorothy Jenkins, who has worked at the location since 1956,
• 53:55
  Speaker 1: reports that these occurrences intensify at certain times of the year,
• 54:00
  Speaker 1: particularly in February, the month of Martha Collins' disappearance. It's
• 54:05
  Speaker 1: something that everyone who works here for some time ends
• 54:08
  Speaker 1: up noticing. It's not frightening. It's more uncomfortable, as if
• 54:15
  Speaker 1: you're never really alone in the building, even when you
• 54:17
  Speaker 1: clearly are. Some employees refuse to close the store alone,
• 54:22
  Speaker 1: especially on Mondays. I don't know why specifically on Mondays,
• 54:25
  Speaker 1: but that's when the strange things seem to happen more frequently.
• 54:30
  Speaker 1: the air becomes heavier, like before a storm, and that
• 54:33
  Speaker 1: old perfume smell appears, a sweet aroma, but with an
• 54:38
  Speaker 1: underlying note of damp earth. And sometimes, just for an instant,
• 54:43
  Speaker 1: you have the sensation of seeing someone out of the
• 54:46
  Speaker 1: corner of your eye, usually near the staircase that once
• 54:49
  Speaker 1: led to the cellar. When you turn around, there's no
• 54:52
  Speaker 1: one there. Recently, in 1965, during a renovation of the
• 54:58
  Speaker 1: store's floor, Workers found, embedded in the concrete, a small
• 55:03
  Speaker 1: silver medallion with the inscription MC 1867. The object was
• 55:09
  Speaker 1: donated to the town's historical museum where it remains on display,
• 55:13
  Speaker 1: a silent reminder that some secrets resist the passage of time. Curiously,
• 55:19
  Speaker 1: the museum employee responsible for cataloging the piece, Montgomery Davis,
• 55:23
  Speaker 1: reported a strange incident related to the medallion. According to him,
• 55:28
  Speaker 1: On the first night after the item was placed on exhibition,
• 55:32
  Speaker 1: the museum's security cameras recorded an inexplicable failure precisely at 3.17
• 55:38
  Speaker 1: in the morning, lasting exactly seven minutes. When the system
• 55:42
  Speaker 1: resumed functioning, the medallion had moved inside the display case,
• 55:47
  Speaker 1: rotating 180 degrees. Technicians examined the system and found no
• 55:53
  Speaker 1: explanation for the failure. What really happened to Martha Collins
• 55:57
  Speaker 1: in that house on Oak Ridge Road? Was she the
• 56:00
  Speaker 1: victim of a common crime committed by someone interested in
• 56:03
  Speaker 1: her fortune? Did she succumb to madness and isolation, fleeing
• 56:08
  Speaker 1: or taking her own life? Or is there something darker
• 56:11
  Speaker 1: in the story, something that official records and rational explanations
• 56:16
  Speaker 1: cannot completely capture? Perhaps the answer lies in the last
• 56:20
  Speaker 1: legible words of her ledger, I finally understood what he
• 56:24
  Speaker 1: wanted from the beginning. What would this late understanding be,
• 56:29
  Speaker 1: and who, or what, was he? Professor Blackburn, in his
• 56:33
  Speaker 1: final notes on the case, offers an intriguing perspective. After
• 56:38
  Speaker 1: months of investigation, I find myself contemplating possibilities that my
• 56:43
  Speaker 1: academic training hesitates to accept. The patterns are undeniable, the
• 56:48
  Speaker 1: black eyes in the photographs, the persistent smell of damp
• 56:52
  Speaker 1: earth and metal. the sounds in the walls, the specific time, 3.17,
• 56:56
  Speaker 1: that appears repeatedly, the sensation of being watched, the progressive
• 57:03
  Speaker 1: mental deterioration of people who delve into the mystery, and,
• 57:07
  Speaker 1: most disturbing, the obscure figure described consistently by witnesses separated
• 57:13
  Speaker 1: by decades. There is an element in this case that
• 57:16
  Speaker 1: resists conventional explanations, something that seems to persist beyond the
• 57:21
  Speaker 1: demolition of the house— beyond the death of the original witnesses,
• 57:25
  Speaker 1: beyond even time itself. Like an echo that refuses to dissipate,
• 57:31
  Speaker 1: or a presence that has found a way to transcend
• 57:33
  Speaker 1: the physical limits that should contain it. I dare not
• 57:37
  Speaker 1: fully articulate what I suspect. But the last phrase in
• 57:41
  Speaker 1: Martha Collins' ledger, I finally understood what he wanted from
• 57:45
  Speaker 1: the beginning, continues to resonate. What did she understand? and
• 57:51
  Speaker 1: why did this understanding coincide with her disappearance? There exists
• 57:56
  Speaker 1: an old concept in Appalachian folklore, rarely discussed openly, called
• 58:02
  Speaker 1: a soul-buyer, a being who is not exactly human, who
• 58:06
  Speaker 1: makes agreements, grants wishes, but eventually returns to collect a
• 58:10
  Speaker 1: payment much more valuable than the beneficiary initially perceives. Would
• 58:16
  Speaker 1: it be possible that Zachariah Collins— during his mysterious trip
• 58:21
  Speaker 1: to Philadelphia, encountered something of this nature, something that he
• 58:26
  Speaker 1: brought home, confining it in that sealed compartment in the cellar,
• 58:30
  Speaker 1: only to discover too late that some entities cannot be
• 58:34
  Speaker 1: truly contained? Pure speculation, naturally. The most probable explanation remains
• 58:40
  Speaker 1: a conventional crime or a tragic case of mental instability. However,
• 58:45
  Speaker 1: I cannot ignore the chill I feel when re-reading the accounts.
• 58:49
  Speaker 1: nor the persistent sensation that, in investigating this mystery, I
• 58:54
  Speaker 1: have attracted some kind of unwanted attention. Some stories have
• 58:59
  Speaker 1: no definitive conclusion, only echoes that resonate through the decades,
• 59:04
  Speaker 1: reminding us that not all mysteries were meant to be unraveled.
• 59:08
  Speaker 1: The case of Martha Collins is one of those echoes,
• 59:11
  Speaker 1: a whisper from the past that, even after more than
• 59:14
  Speaker 1: a century, still makes us look with suspicion at old
• 59:18
  Speaker 1: walls and dark cellars, wondering what might be hidden beyond appearances,
• 59:23
  Speaker 1: and if, by chance, You find yourself walking through the
• 59:27
  Speaker 1: historic streets of Harper's Mill at dusk and feel a
• 59:30
  Speaker 1: sudden chill as if being watched. If you perceive a
• 59:33
  Speaker 1: vague aroma of old perfume in the air, perhaps it
• 59:38
  Speaker 1: is merely coincidence, or perhaps it is a reminder that
• 59:42
  Speaker 1: some presences never truly leave. Some promises, once made, are
• 59:47
  Speaker 1: impossible to break. There is an old saying in West
• 59:51
  Speaker 1: Virginia— Not all stories end when the person dies. In
• 59:57
  Speaker 1: the case of Martha Collins, it seems the story only
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 1: began with her disappearance, and perhaps, in some sense we
• 1:00:05
  Speaker 1: do not completely understand, it still continues to this day.
• 1:00:09
  Speaker 1: And you who now know this story. Have you checked
• 1:00:13
  Speaker 1: the walls of your house today? Have you paid attention
• 1:00:16
  Speaker 1: to the sounds that come from them when everything is silent?
• 1:00:20
  Speaker 1: And if by chance you wake up at 3.17 in
• 1:00:23
  Speaker 1: the morning, perhaps it would be prudent to avoid looking
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 1: at the dark corners of the room. Some things, once seen,
• 1:00:30
  Speaker 1: cannot be forgotten. Some stories, once known, become part of us.
• 1:00:36
  Speaker 1: As the old folks used to say, knowledge is power,
• 1:00:40
  Speaker 1: but some knowledge is also a burden. And some doors,
• 1:00:44
  Speaker 1: once opened, can never be truly closed again.