- This article refers to the case. For the person, see Annabel Ward
- The books and TV adaptation are divided on this topic. The following article will focus on the adaptation version, citing the books only where the adaptation lacks information.
The Annabel Ward Case was a case worked by Lockwood & Co. surrounding the ghost of Annabel Ward, an actress and former society figure who was murdered by her former lover John Fairfax. The case led to the death of John Fairfax and short-term arrest of Hugo Blake, another suspect. Due to the public nature of the discovery and a house fire accidentally caused by Lockwood & Co., DEPRAC was very involved in this case[1].
This case was the main case covered in The Screaming Staircase. It was also the main arc covered by This Will Be Us, Let Go of Me, and Doubt Thou the Stars(E1-E3).
History[]
Annabel Ward[]
- Main article: Annabel Ward
Annabel Ward, as she appeared in Lucy Carlyle's perception of her echo
Annabel E. Ward was a socialite actress and society figure. She resided in 62 Sheen Road until a few years before the problem started, when she was murdered and entombed in her own home by John Fairfax. In her life, she dated Hugo Blake for a short while, before moving on with Fairfax, who would become her end. During their relationship, Fairfax commissioned a locket as a symbol of their love, inscribed with "A W; H. II.2.115", a reference to a play by Shakespeare in which the two acted together.
Annabel Ward was killed by Fairfax in rage, after he saw her come home with Hugo Blake, of whom he disapproved and who was part of a social circle Fairfax had forbidden her from seeing. Her social contacts had let to arguments before, but on the last night of her life Fairfax lost control, striking her to the ground and snapping her neck in a single blow. He would then entomb her in a wall, leaving the locket on her body by accident. Due to lots of iron in the proximity of her source, Annabel's manifestation would only appear around 50 years after the start of the problem, when the room was remodeled by Mr. and Mrs. Hope.
Combe Carey Hall[]
- Main article: Combe Carey Hall
A frontal view of Combe Carey Hall
Combe Carey Hall was, for a long time, considered one of the most haunted buildings in the United Kingdom. It was especially known for the Red Room and the Screaming Staircase, where a powerful cluster-apparition with abilities of a changer and a cluster of spectres were manifesting. It's long history of violence and death lead to incredibly powerful hauntings everywhere in the mansion though, and it's violent nature claimed many lives, including those of Fittes Operatives during a hunt.
With owners ranging from devil-worshiping monks to the Red Duke, who, among other things, tortured his "evening entertainments" and was said to enjoy lighting candles in their skulls, it's connection to the Annabel Ward Case is not too obvious, as it only became a scene of the case due to it's connection to John Fairfax, the owner of the property and the murderer of Annabel Ward.
Discovery of Annabel Ward[]
- The books and TV adaptation are divided on this topic. The following part will focus on the adaptation version, citing the books only where the adaptation lacks information.
Anthony Lockwood and Lucy Carlyle standing in front of 62 Sheen Road, shortly before starting the case
On for what they believed was likely the type one manifestation of the late Mr. Hope, who fell down the stairs during night, Lockwood & Co. agents conducted an investigation in the house to prepare it for sale. Their assumption was not unfounded, as Mrs. Hopes presentation of the haunting seemed to coincide with a weak type one. An echo of Mr. Hopes fall noticed by Lucy Carlyle and a death-glow visible at the bottom of the stairs seemed to confirm this theory.
After taking measurements on the lower floors, the agents went up the stairs to conduct further measurements. They quickly noticed strengthening phenomena of manifestation the further up they went. They conducted some research on the upper floor, but were soon interrupted by the apparition of a young, pretty woman wearing a flowery dress. This, in addition to a second residual death-glow, confirmed the existence of another haunting. In their short encounter with the apparition, it almost managed to throw agent Lucy Carlyle of the landing to likely death, showcasing it's strength. After Anthony Lockwood chased the apparition away, Lockwood & Co. debated the further handling of the case, but ultimately moved on with it.
Lucy Carlyle and Anthony Lockwood escaping 62 Sheen Road, shortly after setting it ablaze
They determined that the manifestation was almost certainly that of a murder victim and thus quickly moved on to the vanishing point discovered by Lockwood. Lacking iron chains, they used filings to set up a rather primitive defence and started breaking open the wall into which she vanished. Right as they uncovered her source the manifestation reappeared, startling the pair that had just fallen on the ground. In a desperate effort to save her fellow agent, Lucy Carlyle threw a magnesium flare, which got rid of the manifestation, but also set fire to the papers stored in the room. Still, Lockwood was ghost-touched in a minor area. They moved on to quickly seal the source, as the apparition already started to reform. Immediately after doing this, Carlyle noticed the locket, not knowing it was the source of the manifestation, and instinctively took it with her.
As the room was now engulfed in flames, the agents had to quickly escape, which was only possible through the window. Without any other options and running out of time they jumped, landing in the garden's bushes. Lucy Carlyle lost consciousness relatively quickly and was only able to see Anthony Lockwood's ghost-touch being treated, after which he immediately tried to get to her side.
Connection with Lucy Carlyle[]
Lucy Carlyle while experiencing an echo of Annabel Ward
After returning to 35 Portland Row, the Lockwood & Co. Headquarters, with Lucy Carlyle, the source of Annabel Ward became active again in the following night. But even before this full manifestation, Lucy had been experiencing echoes of her, floating in a dream-like state and seeing Annabel. During these, possibly because of their connection, she also went into a bathtub, facilitating a liquid-like floating experience she got while in the echo.
In the night then, Annabel manifested again, after the source had slipped out of Lucy's hand while sleeping. Annabel approached her, floating over Lucy's sleeping body, and attacked as soon as she awakened. A fight ensued, during which George Cubbins and Anthony Lockwood helped Lucy defeat the apparition. They also went on to secure the source. Still, they wanted to use the connection Lucy had made and on the following day, they tried to establish it again. During this, she made a connection using her touch on the source, allowing her to experience the feelings Annabel felt shortly before her demise. Due to this intimate connection, Lucy acted out these feelings and Annabel's manifestation threw a chair.
Lucy, Lockwood and George researching at the National Archives
After this experience, Lockwood & Co. decided on a more traditional approach to research at the National Archives. Through their efforts, they found out about Annabel Ward's acting career and about her connection to Hugo Blake. They, wrongly, concluded that he was likely to be her murderer because he starred with her in Shakespeare's "Hamlet" and was arrested by police shortly after the incident. This was further cemented by the fact he was known to have dropped her off after the party which they both attended. Shortly before, the pair had been spotted having a romantic dinner by a local newspaper. Their revival of the case had, unbeknownst to them, already led to the arrest of Blake by DEPRAC, who tried to get Lucy to confirm Blake as the killer based on her connection to Annabel Ward. This did not work however, both because Blake wasn't responsible and because Carlyle refused to work with DEPRAC as it meant reliving the experiences of Annabel once again.
Combe Carey Hall incident[]
Lockwood appearing on TV, talking about the case
Further research[]
The evening after a public appearance by Lockwood, boasting about their work on the case, and directly after their stay at DEPRAC, 35 Portland Row was broken into. The thief wanted Annabel's source, but was unsuccessful, as Lucy had been carrying it on her person. The next morning, Lockwood & Co. examined the ring more closely, as it was now, even more so than before, a focus of the case. They found an inscription on it, reading "A W; H. II.2.115". They concluded that the meaning of this was "Annabel Ward; Hugo Blake(or Hamlet) - Act 2, Scene 2" reading: "Doubt thou the stars are fire, doubt that the sun doth move, doubt truth to be a liar but never doubt I love.".
A "new" case[]
Lockwood & Co. talking to John Fairfax
Still, further examining of the source needed to be put aside, as Lockwood & Co. had secured a new case, commissioned by John Fairfax, head of Fairfax Iron, himself. He wanted them to investigate Combe Carey Hall, one of the most haunted places in the UK. In exchange, he would pay of the £60.000 of debt they owed to Mrs. Hope after burning down 62 Sheen Road. With an offer like that, facing the closure of their agency, Lockwood & Co. had no choice but to agree, especially seeing as Fairfax portrayed the mansion as more of a tame property he owned, not the extremely dangerous place it was.
Lockwood & Co. found out about this during their own research, which showed that Combe Carey Hall was originally a priory of devil worshipers that had committed mass suicide on the premise. This was not the only possible haunting though, as a screaming staircase was also noted, which had claimed lives at a party 30 years prior. The Red Duke, a royal who enjoyed killing and torturing his "evening entertainments" there and the deaths of Fittes Operatives who tried to end the haunting at the start of the problem. The only known survivor of that hunt was Penelope Fittes.
To Combe Carey Hall[]
- Main article: Combe Carey Hall
Combe Carey Hall, with Lockwood & Co. arriving
Still, facing no other options, they had to try their best and went to the Hall. In the early evening they received a briefing by John Fairfax and his chauffeur and assistant Ellie, who quickly left the premises before night fell. The hunt began, with Lockwood & Co. starting out with temperature measurements around the mansion, before finally heading into the red room. They suspected that old parts of the mansion were hidden away, possibly through hidden corridors, as Combe Carey Hall was built on the priory and from multiple other parts of older and newer buildings. With this knowledge, they moved on to search the room for hidden areas, as it had no obvious points of interest or manifestations aside from a chimney and white walls. They also noticed that nothing in the room had a red color, which had them wondering about the name.
The Red Room[]
- Main article: Red Room
The cluster of the red room manifesting.
This peace did not last too long though. While they examined the room, they noticed a knocking sound and retreated back to the iron chains they had laid out for protection in the middle of the room. The knocking came from ectoplasm dropping from the ceiling, wearing the guise of blood. The room quickly filled with it, painting the ceiling and walls red. Even worse, the door closed, leaving them to fight the cluster head-on. They hastily resumed their search for a hidden exit and managed to find one, hidden behind a panel on the wall. With only seconds left before the deadly blood would encapsulate the room, they jumped in, finding themselves in a part of the former priory, left seemingly untouched since then.
The priory[]
In the old halls, their measurements showed a considerable drop in temperature, indicating that the red room wasn't even the original haunting, painting what was to come in a grim light. But, without any other options, they moved on through the corridor and were soon greeted by the ghost of Sam Pandey, one of the original agents that had died in the very place his ghost now tried to warn them of. They took the stairs anyway and only then realized they were standing on the actual screaming staircase. Scrambling to get down the stairs they noticed faint chants that continued in the hall at the bottom of the stairs, screaming "Mors Gloria. Salvete Satanas", translating to "Glory through death. Hail Satan.". They were quickly attacked by these very monks who slowly made their descent down the staircase to a well in the back of the hall, down which their dead bodies fell. The cluster radiated a powerful ghost-lock that managed to subdue Lucy Carlyle. In this state, she tried to jump down the well, just like the monks had done hundreds of years ago, but was pulled back and saved by Lockwood. This also ended the ghost-lock and helped Lucy realize that the source was down the well. In response to her discovery, Lockwood threw an industrial-strength flare down the well, ending the haunting in an instant and blowing the well up, sending the three agents flying.
The final confrontation[]
Fairfax confronting Lockwood & Co.
They slowly regained consciousness after the explosion, Lucy being the first to come to her senses and look after the others. Waking up, they realized that the whole hunt had been a death trap set out by Fairfax, who was the actual murderer of Annabel Ward, having also been an actor and her boyfriend. He had brought them to the house to make their demise seem like an accident and to get rid of the ring that incriminated him. Now out of immediate danger, they managed to find a way out of the old priory back into the modern halls. Before they could escape the house however, they found themselves staring down the barrel of Fairfax's shotgun, who originally wanted to get the ring from their dead bodies, but prepared for more eventualities. Along with Ellie, who still had her talent and could protect the two from ghosts, they confronted them in the dining hall. During this, Lockwood concluded that Ellie had also been the one to break into their home, trying to steal the ring. In the following standoff, where Fairfax showed his intention to kill them, Lucy managed to throw the ring at him, which she had stolen from the safe at 35 Portland Row. Annabel Ward manifested and quickly moved to avenge herself, ghost-touching Fairfax and quickly killing him.
The Conclusion[]
DEPRAC at Combe Carey Hall, with the deputy commissioner arriving
Now outnumbered and outmatched, Ellie tried to make a run for it, but was met by DEPRAC operatives in front of the house, who had been alerted by Anthony Lockwood in case something went wrong. Lockwood & Co. were arrested for handling the case without DEPRAC's approval, but were quickly released after signing an NDA, allowing DEPRAC and Fairfax Iron to preserve public order and appearances. This was arranged by the deputy commissioner, likely also on behalf of the Orpheus society. Nevertheless, the case was solved and Lockwood & Co. had been paid.
References[]
- ↑ [citation needed]