Platypus of Truth

Where did Randolph Carter go that mysterious night when he walked into the woods behind the old house?  Some say that he used The Silver Key and was caught in the webs of Yog Sothoth before being hurled to an alien planet utterly remote in time and space.  Others say that he passed into the Dreamlands and won through many adventures until he became king in Ilek-Vad.  There are two men who are purported to know the answer, but they aren't exactly the sort that police listen to.

Randolph Carter of Boston was last seen exiting his car and walking in the direction of the old Carter homestead in the hills outside Arkham Massachusetts.  Investigators said that the ruins of the ancestral home had been disturbed and that a man's handkerchief had been found just outside a natural cave locals call "The Snake Den".  Recent storms have left investigators with little hope of finding footprints that could lead to the discovery of Carter's ultimate whereabouts.

What kept Randolph Carter up so late pondering over antique maps?  One of the hotel staff reports hearing mysterious bells ringing in Carter's room at around midnight.

A stop for lunch in Hartford on the way back to Arkham and a chance to ponder.

The museum curator had some trouble finding the box, but after a sufficient "memory aid" was able to produce it.  He is sure that the contents would not be missed were an "accident" to occur. The business in Shanghai concluded, Carter returns to New England where there has been some unusual digging in several of Providence's grave yards. A few discrete inquiries were made regarding one "Joseph Curren" or "Curwen". 

Carter's journey continues in this morning's pictures  What was in the box that old Aunt Mary always kept locked away at the back of her private writing desk?  Friendly advice from an Orientalist at Kingsport suggests a sudden change of plans? What secrets did Carter learn amid forgotten tomes that finally drove him all the way to Shanghi?

Armed with the Eldar Sign, Randolph Carter is ready to set out into the Dreamlands whatever machinations of Nyarlathotep may await him there. Of Interest: The Items on Carter's Desk A Thousand Miles Up the Nile  by Amelia B. Edwards (2nd Ed. 1890) Through the Dark Continent  by Henry M. Stanley (1st American Printing) A Dagger from the Kameroons Several Fossils (Including a Trilobite) Qing Dynasty Coins Late Roman Coins A Nice Fountain Pen A Replica of King Tut's Burial Mask A Replica of A Terracotta Warrior A Salt Crystal A Native American Arrowhead A Piece of Fool's Gold A Bottle of Shells From Venice A Bottle of Earth From Cork. Ireland A Bottle of Assorted Gemstones An Irish Wood-Carving The Base of a Tiffany Lamp