Dyer Property Investigation - Mon, Nov 19, 2018

• Dr. Raymond Kessler (the coroner on William Tavolin’s “overdose”) had quietly noted it looked like a homicide, then was ordered by higher-ups to strike the homicide assessment. Pressed by Booth’s badge and persuasion, Kessler agreed to fast-track Jaz Ihejrika’s autopsy and deliver results off-the-books over coffee on Monday morning.
• Personal fallout: Philomena described a prior attack that left marks on her neck—“a murmuration that moved like one mind” then dropped dead mid-flight. Booth’s old cat bite flared. McCarter told Philomena his truth about being “chosen.” Justin labeled the force behind it “the Hushfather.”
• Justin’s digging into Franklin Dyer (“the Southside Tiger”) painted that all victims were restrained and mutilated, but the pattern suggested Dyer may have been trying to “save” them from self-destruction rather than torture them. The wounds matched Ihejrika’s death too closely to ignore. Dyer’s house sits just blocks from Ihejrika’s apartment. Anise Walker’s widower confirmed fears: LASD’s “slug squad” (Marlin, Sutton, Gully, and Sains) overdosed Anise and threatened her husband into silence.
• The team was now waiting for Ihejrika’s autopsy results.

Sunday evening: the team drove past Franklin Dyer’s former house (4261 3rd Avenue).

• Exterior observations: a clear “Private Property / No Trespassing” sign hung on the front door; no car in the driveway; no decorations or exterior furniture; house looked empty but otherwise normal for the neighborhood.
• Records check: the property was being sold through probate (handled by the county, not a realtor/MLS). Several auctions had produced winning bids (initially over market, later slightly below), but sales never finalized; another auction was scheduled in a couple of months.
• Justin found a post by an entrepreneur who wanted to buy the house and convert it into a macabre museum; after an auction, the local homeowners association blocked the plan and the buyer gave up.
• Security: the house prominently advertised a security system; the signage and indicators (e.g., window/door sensors, interior motion sensors with red indicator lights) were obvious and likely intended to deter intruders.

Late night plan: the team chose to break in after midnight rather than pursue slower official channels.

• Approach: they waited until the street was quiet and moved up in the dark (street lights present but not bright). The front door was visible from the street; a fenced backyard likely had a back door, but they proceeded at the front.
• Security bypass: Justin competently disconnected the security system and inserted a small battery-powered relay to keep it “happy” and silent. Booth picked the front door lock (no roll required given the basic lock).
• Ground floor sweep: single-story layout (approx. two bedrooms, kitchen, living room), hardwood floors, dusty and empty; signs of a past repaint. No power to the house circuits (security system on its own power). No furniture. No obvious stains or damage.
• Descent to basement: wooden stairs creaked; concrete floor with a central drain; washer/dryer hookups present (appliances removed). A few cleaning tools (broom, mop) suggested periodic caretaker visits.

Basement olfactory effect and reactions:

• Philomena smelled something oddly appetizing, like kimchi simmered in brown gravy—“weird but savory.”

• Justin and Booth smelled an extremely unpleasant odor: feces infused with cinnamon with a stinging peroxide/ammonia tang that irritated the nose and made eyes water.

• HUMINT checks:

  • Justin and Frank failed, distracted by the smell.
  • McCarter critically failed and became fixated, prowling the basement and gravitating to an unfinished wall area without conscious thought.
  • Philomena succeeded; she clocked that Justin and Frank were repulsed while she was not, and she noted McCarter’s odd, driven behavior.

• Smell source hunting: the odor was generally pervasive but notably stronger around the floor drain.

McCarter begins demolition:

• Choosing not to expend Willpower to “act normal,” McCarter grabbed a claw hammer and started tearing into the basement walls.
• Handler clarification of construction: the basement was finished—drywall over fresh studs; behind that, the original concrete foundation wall. Once drywall panels came off, the team saw the older concrete stained and darkened.
• Stain description: a strange yellow-brown “blooming/blossoming” stain pattern on the concrete, as if steam/smoke had risen and discolored the wall; it looked unsafe and appeared to be the primary source of the smell. Attempts had been made at some point to scrub/bleach (and even grind) it off; eventually someone just finished the basement and covered it.
• Philomena and Justin withdrew from the room due to their respective reactions to the smell. Jay shadowed McCarter without interfering and checked in with Booth about letting it play out; Booth agreed.

Booth and Jay discussion; envelope review:

• While others searched the garage for heavier tools, Booth and Jay stayed in the basement. Jay observed that Justin had been genuinely grossed out, while the “British lady” (Philomena) had likely pretended to be grossed out; his read was that she was masking her reaction.

• Booth opened an envelope of materials (some addressed to Philomena Cowles-Farrington). Inside:

  • A thick stack of handwritten notes in Cyrillic (tight script), with diagrams and drawings; a corresponding English sheaf in handwriting Booth recognized as Graham Drummond’s.
  • The English front page framed the Cyrillic notes as belonging to a Russian woman named Yelena Kalamatiano, described as “a monster, figuratively and literally,” with the hope that the notes would explain what she was and why she did what she did.
  • A stained and burned pink folder with a Hello Kitty sticker containing photographs. Booth opened it, made a SAN check (success), and chose to close it immediately (accepting a 1 SAN loss) rather than continue viewing. He repacked the materials, intending to study them later in detail.

Heavier demolition attempt and sample collection:

• The detached garage yielded a sledgehammer. Booth warned that striking the foundation would be extremely loud; McCarter insisted he needed to “get rid of it.”
• Athletics roll: McCarter failed (92 over 54). After 5–6 heavy swings (loud, with sharp reverberation), he cracked out a few nickel-sized pieces from the stained concrete.
• Stain depth: examination of the broken edge showed the discoloration had permeated a bit over a quarter inch into the concrete—thorough and consistent, but not deeply penetrating beyond that.
• The team collected concrete fragments from the stained area as samples.
• Scene hygiene: Booth used criminology savvy to wipe down the sledgehammer, doorknobs, and other touched surfaces to minimize fingerprints/trace.
• Withdrawal: around 2:00 a.m., the team departed quietly; with sensors disabled and no frequent visits expected, discovery might be delayed.

Monday late morning: meeting with Dr. Kessler at a coffee/donut shop near the coroner’s office.

• Kessler avoided lingering conversation, sliding over a folder with the full autopsy package (report pages plus photographs). He had rushed toxicology and blood work, and he had additional brain tissue analysis performed.

• Booth immediately checked toxicology:

  • Only trace amounts of marijuana and Lexapro were present.
  • No stimulants, amphetamines, or other agents that would induce a psychotic break; no unknown synthetic drugs detected.

• Blood chemistry (toxicology highlights):

  • Unusually high mercury—enough for heavy metal poisoning symptoms.
  • Zinc sulfate and antimony at toxic levels.

• Brain/CSF findings (Kessler + report; Jay’s medical read of the write-up):

  • Cerebrospinal fluid at time of death was flooded with amyloid-beta (Aβ) and tau proteins, the residues of neurological decay, at concentrations far higher than refrigerated storage could explain.
  • BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) levels were extremely elevated—greater than would be seen in an infant, let alone a 31-year-old adult—indicating intense neurogenesis/growth signaling.
  • Myelin sheaths around cerebral nerves were more damaged than the worst multiple-sclerosis cases on record; functionally, the brain should not have supported walking, talking, or basic autonomic coordination at death.
  • Jay summarized the paradox: the brain was simultaneously tearing itself apart and being rebuilt.

• Injection site:

  • The autopsy documented three needle punctures arranged tightly in a triangle near the first lumbar vertebra (L1), barely livid and hardly clotted—indicating injection very shortly before death.

• Cause of death:

  • The report effectively concluded cranial trauma; it stated clearly that no overdose can make a person rip their own head off—the act was biologically impossible by normal means.

• Identification handling:

  • For official paperwork, the body remained John Doe to avoid drawing attention, although Kessler had matched it off-the-books to the unique decapitation case the agents referenced.

• Philomena’s occult insight:

  • On an Occult check (success), she recognized the compounds by their alchemical names: zinc sulfate as “white vitriol,” and antimony oxychloride as the “powder of Algaroth,” both common medieval alchemical ingredients.

• SAN checks:

  • The implications of the brain findings prompted SAN checks. Failures lost 1 SAN; successes lost 0. (Justin failed; others’ outcomes were not all specified in the transcript.)

Closing state:

• With autopsy results in hand (toxic heavy metals; triangular L1 injections; paradoxical brain degeneration plus explosive growth; “biologically impossible” self-decapitation), the team had substantial new data to process alongside the Dyer basement stain samples and the Kalamatiano/Drummond documents.