Mary Holmes is Missing Part 2

Now Sgt. Breyer is reviewing the information given to him by Ms. Hines he realizes that the Halls had been in the area since the Mayflower landed. The family has always been mysterious and reclusive. They never were in the public for any amount of time. No record of children attending any schools in the area. People knew their ancestors arrived on the Mayflower and just accepted the fact they were wealthy and excused everything else.

There had been several rumors about peculiar behavior of several Hall family members. Again, most people just accepted it as them being very wealthy and from English nobility. One time in the early 1800s Robert Hall (Mrs. Hall uncle) was engaged to a young woman from a noble family the day of the wedding she went missing. Nothing was heard of her again. No one ever saw her again. Vanished, gone, poof end of story. Or when Evelyn Hall (Mrs. Hall mother) who lived in the early 1900s was seen by some of her staff hovering over a newly caught deer eating it raw like a savage. It was written off as some form of mental illness. She was sent away and that was the end of it. Very few people besides their staff were ever allowed passed the foyer of the home. None of the people who worked for them discussed them. Some of the employees also mysteriously vanished.

Sgt. Breyer read a passage in a diary kept by Mrs. Ava Hall (Mrs. Halls sister) who passed in the late seventies just before old lady Hall. “He will never allow her to go.” He could not find anything else to go with the quote. Who was he? Who was the woman not allowed to go? Why did the Halls send money for 30 years to keep the utilities on and pay someone to keep up the grounds? Sgt. Breyer asked Mr. Wells the Executor of the estate could he have contact information for any of the adult living Hall family. Mr. Wells very firmly said no! They do not want anyone contacting them. I get my pay from them monthly, and the return address is a PO Box in San Francisco, CA. The phone number I have is always answered by a service. If I have a question, I leave it with the service and I get a response by mail or email. I have been instructed not to put the property up for sale. When the Village of Oak Ridge wanted to tear down the home a few years ago I sent a message to them. The next thing I hear the village council had decided against tearing it down and the road as well as the new housing development was put in another location. Now Sgt. Breyer was truly befuddled. What am I going to tell the Holmes children? Well, I have other cases to work on for now.

Elise is still looking pale, nervous and her brother and sister have decided to return to school. Todd thinks Elise should see a psychiatrist or get some therapy from a counselor. Janice is also worried about Elise and wants her to go stay with their aunt in the next city over from Oak Ridge. Elise will not have it. She truly feels her mom is alive and just needs them to be here when she returns. Elise agrees to go to therapy and schedules an appointment at the local mental health clinic. Several days pass and then one afternoon just before Elise goes out to be with friends her phone rings. The front of her phone says Mom as she stares at it debating whether to answer it or not it stops ringing. She sighs and then it rings again. This time the name that is on the front of her phone is Roger. The only Roger she knows is her dad and he has been dead for a long while.

She answers it a deep male voice orders her to come and get her mom. You are the only one who can come and get her. She really needs you, Elise. She screams, "who are you? Why are you doing this?" The voice repeats, “come and get your mom Elise you will be safe.” Only you can get her. Now she is terrified however wanting to comply and go to get her mom. She asks, "where is she? Come to the old Hall mansion park on the side street the door will be open. Elise is thinking this could be some type of trap. The house is boarded up and that side of town is abandoned and most of the streetlights do not work. I better call Sgt. Breyer. As she begins to dial the police station there is a knock at her door. When she goes to answer no one is there. A note is nailed to the side of the door, and it reads, "there is so much you do not know. Don’t trust the Halls.”

She rushes inside and calls Sgt. Breyer. I need to speak with Sgt. Breyer I am Elise Holmes. Sgt. Breyer answers his extension, “Elise what is going on?” I just got a note nailed to my door it says, “there is so much you do not know. Don’t trust the Halls.” Sgt. Breyer instructs Elise to stay put he is on his way. When he arrives, Elise has pulled out some of her hair and it is laced between her fingers. Sgt. Breyer says to her, “Elise calm down, sit down and tell me everything that has happened.” She tells him about the phone call and that she was told she is the only one who can come and get her mom. Sgt. Breyer says to Elise do not go to that house! I am going to have one of my deputies stationed in front of your house for a couple of days. Give me your phone I am going to have it analyzed again you can have it back in a couple of days. Try to get some sleep tonight, Elise. Remember, I will have a deputy in front of your house all night. Elise goes and makes tea and pours some of the bourbon her mom had in the cabinet that she used in her homemade cold remedies. Then she turns on the TV and falls to sleep trying to watch a movie. In the morning both Todd and Janice call to check up on her. She tells them what has happened, and they both say they want her to go to stay with their aunt who lives nearby. Janice tells her, “you can go to school from her house and if you get another scary phone call you will not be alone.” He tells her since he is so close to graduation he feels it is better for him to stay in school and after he graduates if things have not changed he will return home instead of going away to find work. Elise says “I will go stay with auntie Lynn and commute to school it is only an hour drive.”

Sgt. Breyer finds some intriguing information in the batch of historical records. The Halls back in the 1700s were accused of being witches and threatened with trial and banishment from the community. A series of very gruesome events involving young women being lured to their home and then never to be seen again. One of them was found in the woods nude with her throat slit. In the early 1800s one of their ancestors was accused of belonging to a blood sucking cult (aka Vampire cult). The relative left the community and the rumors stopped. The family became more and more reclusive until they were hardly seen in public. The children were all tutored at home only taking final exams at the local school. After age 17 none of the young adult Halls were living in Oak Ridge. All were reported to have left to go to England or other foreign countries.

There would be a notice about some of them marrying into nobility in Europe and occasionally birth notices. By the early 1900s there was nothing mention about them except death notices, and no one was ever seen coming or going off the property. In fact, the late Mrs. Hall the last relative to live in the home was only seen a couple of times a year on their property usually picking flowers. The staff all lived in and only came into town to buy groceries once a month or so. Most of the time items were delivered to their mansion with instructions to leave them at the side door.

Just before Mrs. Hall died in the late 70s, she donated part of the estate to the Oak Ridge Historical Society with instructions never to hang or show photos of the Hall family. In fact, there were no photos of the family after 1900 only a few sketches and a couple of portraits. There was one of Mrs. Hall when she was very young about age 4 or so completed in the late 1800s. The painter died shortly after completing the portrait. Her husband Clarence Hall was much older than her he died in the 1950s.

As he searched through the volumes of papers he found a photo of Mary Holmes when she was young standing with Mrs. Hall she had her arm around her waist in a way that seem they were very familiar with each other. As he continued to search he did not find any other mention of her. He then called Ms. Hines to come and pick up the collection of papers and journals she had left with him. When she arrived he asked did she know Mary Holmes and she said yes. Her family is from Brookhaven just up the road. We attended school together in Brookhaven. At one time we were somewhat close. My husband knew Roger Mary’s late husband very well they attended St. Mary’s College together and both were architects. Sgt. Breyer asked, do you know how Mary knew the Halls? Ms. Hines answered not really I just know there is a newspaper article about her working for the Halls back in the late 70s just before Mrs. Hall died.

Sgt. Breyer had one of the deputies go to the newspaper office and do a search for the article and make a copy. The article with a photo of Mary and Mrs. Hall was from 1977 Mary was given an award for being an outstanding volunteer for her job of assisting Mrs. Hall with her daily routine. She was a volunteer with a group called Home Angels. She worked the summer of 1977 assisting Mrs. Hall with getting her daily shower, meals and putting on her clothes. When you look at the photo you can see a very strong resemblance between Mrs. Hall and her. She looks like she could be her granddaughter. Sgt. Breyer began to wonder was Mary a relative of Mrs. Hall that no one talked about.

Elise now is at her aunts in Brookhaven about an hour away from Oak Ridge. She commutes to school in Oak Ridge daily and is beginning to look better. Her skin is not as pale and her hair is not as dull or frizzy. She even looks happier in general. Sgt. Breyer calls her and ask her to come to the police station for a talk. She arrives after her classes end for the day. Sgt. Breyer ask Elise does she know anything about her mom being related to the Halls then shows her the article from 1977. Elise says no however she admits that we only know her mom’s family in Brookhaven and that Mrs. Hall took an interest in them when she was very young. I know my father did not like the Halls he said they were strange and creepy.

To be continued