The Mystery of Pjotr Obermann

Every small town has a house with a history or even a haunted one. Oakville, Illinois, had a house with an odd history. It held a dreadful secret no one knew about. This house belonged to Pjotr Obermann, a German immigrant who came to Oakville with his wife Maria in the 1900s. On the outskirts of town, he built a large ironworks factory. Obermann Ironworks provided for the town during WWII and most of the people who lived in the town worked at the factory. At first, Pjotr and his wife Maria supported the town. Then things began going wrong.

Even though the couple were friendly toward their neighbors, they did not encourage visits nor participated in the town's celebrations. They were easily recognizable. Pjotr at six feet tall walked proudly in somber dark suits, and his wife so much shorter at about five feet tall, wore gray or white clothes, and long old-fashioned dresses. Shopkeepers were often surprised when they greeted one or the other but only received a nod of the head and a cold smile. They held accounts in the grocery, meat, and fish shops and submitted orders for delivery to their home. At first, the women tried to get to know Maria better, but she avoided conversations and told them she had much to do around her home. It made the town talk because the Obermann's were the wealthiest citizens in town. Why didn’t they employ servants to take care of their home?

The Strange German Doctor

Then Pjotr's wife became sick, and he did two things. One, he retired and, having no children, sold the ironworks making sure the name Obermann Ironworks wasn't changed. Two, a strange doctor arrived from Germany to care for his wife. All that may not be so very odd. People get old, retire, and sell their businesses, but they usually let the local doctor take care of them. Dr. Jones was quite taken aback and what added insult to injury was that Pjotr wouldn't even let him meet the newly arrived German doctor. No one knew his name, and no one got to meet him. All the neighbors saw was a short man in a long, black coat entering the Obermann's home.

When kindly neighbors inquired about Maria's health, they were turned away. At first, Dr Jones and the local hospital officials thought about calling in health inspectors, but nothing was ever done. The German doctor lived with the Obermann's for around six months. There were strange noises at night and flashing lights around the house. Pjotr went back and forth to make purchases, but he never stopped to talk to anyone. That is, of course, except for the salespeople who assisted him. So, it was the curious townsfolk who inquired at the stores about what Pjotr purchased.

The druggist, surprised at the chemicals the German doctor wanted, gave them to Pjotr as long as they were legal for a doctor to purchase. The local butcher was surprised at the large amounts of meat Pjotr purchased, but it was not against the law. After six months, one morning the neighbors heard terrible shouting coming from the Obermann’s house. They stepped out onto their porches and waited to see what would happen. Then came the following odd string of events. The curious German doctor in a long, black coat with a black brim hat pulled low over his face and, carrying a suitcase, slammed the house door. He walked down the steps, turned left, went down the block, turned the corner and disappeared. No one saw where he went.

Strange Events

Pjotr informed everyone Maria developed a disability and took to her bed. She couldn’t leave the house anymore. But wasn’t it odd that Pjotr never hired a nurse to care for her? Then late one night, the neighbors were sure it was midnight, a loud noise awoke them. When they rushed out to look, the strange German doctor and Pjotr were doing something on the front porch. When they became aware of having attracted attention, they moved indoors. The next string of strange events began with one of the locals walking home from a late night at Kelsey’s Bar. He insisted that he saw Pjotr and the German doctor upon Cemetery Hill with lanterns and shovels at three in the morning. He rushed home, not wanting to know what was up. However, when the cemetery keeper looked, he saw nothing unusual about it, and none of the graves was disturbed. The German doctor seemed to have moved in again. Then one morning when Pjotr headed for the shops, his neighbor, Mr Wills inquired after the German doctor. Pjotr brashly replied that he had left, but not one single person saw him leave and by what means of transport? As once before, it seemed he just disappeared. Soon afterwards, people insisted they saw the figure of a woman through the windows at Pjotr’s house. Now, if his wife was bedridden, who was the woman who walked about the house?

Perhaps it was because of all the curiosity, Pjotr left instructions at the meat shop to deliver ten pounds of meat once a week and disappeared into his house, never to emerge again. Everyone wondered what Pjotr could do with ten pounds of meat every week. They also discussed that if Maria was alive and an invalid, why Pjotr didn’t have the drugstore deliver medication? What was her illness anyway? Another thing that would have caused talk but was never discovered was the German doctor returned and set up a laboratory in the basement. As with everything, curiosity stops. People have things to do. Pjotr and Maria became the source of strange, spooky tales. His house fell into disrepair. His garden became more and more overgrown. Neighbors on either side of his house, built fences to keep themselves as separate from what was now known as a haunted house as possible. Was it haunted? Who knew? How did Pjotr live? Was his wife still bedridden? Why did people still see the figure of a woman walking about the house and never saw the figure of a man?

For a while, the postman delivered an odd assortment of packages each month and left them on the porch. There were only questions and no answers. People who had originally worked for him became old, some died, but the old folks who still lived in the town remembered Pjotr. By now, there was quite a collection of stories. Noises heard by the light of the full moon, a woman’s figure seen in the downstairs windows, and always by flickering candlelight, but Pjotr never. As time went on, it appeared that the house didn’t have electricity. At night its windows always seemed to be dark and empty. However, the delivery of ten pounds of meat came every Monday. They delivered the box and put it on the porch. Under a rock, they found money for the purchases. Someone took the box, but no one ever saw anyone open the front door.

One day the figure of a small woman, dressed in black with a wide-brimmed bonnet to hide her face, was seen on Main Street. She placed an order for a strong, red wine at the Wine Shop and ordered oil lamps along with oil and matches at the hardware store. The surprised shopkeepers said her voice appeared unnatural. You could not see her face, and it seemed her eyes looked like two small bright lights looking right at you. They delivered the orders to the Obermann house. Could that woman have been Maria?

Curious Boys

The time came when a new generation stepped in to unravel the mystery. Three blocks over on Oak Street lived four families, each with a curious, young son. There were the Winters—Mr. and Mrs. Winter and their young son Timmy. Brad Winter’s father, Todd, lived with them, who remembered Pjotr as he had worked at the ironworks. He kept his grandson’s ears filled with spooky tales that made his parent’s sigh, but eight-year-old Timmy loved hearing them. Next door was one of Timmy’s best buddies Billy Moore also eight. Across the street was eight-year-old Henry and, next to him, eight-year-old Mickey. Now they were known as the little terrors of the block. All fine boys mind you but full of mischief.

October was moving on, and the boys were all over at Timmy’s pestering his grandfather for more stories about Pjotr. They were curious about how old he was and how such an old man looked. Now Timmy’s grandpa was quite sure Pjotr couldn’t possibly still be alive, or if he was, then surely, he was coming onto a hundred years of age. He had no idea what could have happened to Pjotr’s wife Maria because no one ever heard from her again once she developed a disability. It was odd that now and then, things happened when people passed the house late at night. There were stories of flickering candles and the shadow of a woman by the windows. The four little boys couldn’t contain their excitement. They spoke about it over and over.

The next day as they walked to school, they passed by Pjotr’s house. That afternoon returning home, they stopped and looked at the house. It certainly looked like a haunted house should look. Mickey suggested to his pals that they could ring the bell to annoy the old man and get him to open the door. Then they could get a good look at him and run away. The four of them went up the walk. On either side, the overgrown weeds were taller than the boys. They clambered onto the porch. There was an old tin milk box upon which Mickey climbed and pressed the doorbell. At first, it seemed the bell wasn’t working, and then a strange but shrill sound echoed. The boy got such a fright, Mickey almost fell off of the box. They waited, but nothing happened.

Timmy figured that if his grandpa was getting hard of hearing, surely such an old man must be deaf. Now, if any of the neighbors had seen the boys on that porch, they would have told them that it’s best to leave there. However, boys will be boys, and they pressed their little noses against the long dusty windows on one side of the porch. There was a large, dark living room with no furniture, just some old pictures on the walls and an old, ratty-looking armchair. On the other side of the porch looking in, they saw a dark and dingy looking kitchen. There were cupboards, and there was this old-fashioned refrigerator. What surprised the boys was that there was no kitchen table and chair. Henry was quick to inform his pals that perhaps like his family, Pjotr ate in the dining room. By now, the boys were so excited and interested in this old house that when Henry tripped and fell against the front door, it swung right open.

The boys stared at the open door eyes as wide as saucers. Ever so quietly, they stepped into the wide hallway. Everything was quiet, and they stepped forward. The front door slammed shut, and the boys jumped. Somewhere they heard the ticking of a clock, and then their ears picked up the sound of shuffling feet. Timmy suggested that it must be their imagination, and if it happened to be the old man, they would get out of there before he could do anything. What could an old man of around a hundred do to them? The four of them stood there listening and thinking. Mickey bravely suggested they look around the house. The shuffling appeared to have stopped. They slowly went to the living room doorway to get a look inside, and there in the middle of the room stood the figure of a woman in a long dress with scraggly hair, but the face was that of a skeleton with glowing eyes, The boys froze in fear, and then the figure quickly started to shuffle toward them.

The boys turned and ran for the door but couldn’t get the door handle to turn. They weren’t strong enough to yank the big door open, and they heard the shuffling getting ever faster and ran up the stairs. At the top of the stairs, there were several doors. Opening one, they saw it was full of empty grocery boxes. By now, Timmy had looked down and seen the figure fast approaching the stairs. He urged the others to hide, when they saw a room with double doors at the end of the hallway. Down the hallway, they ran and flung open the doors. Inside was a large bedroom with a blazing fireplace and a large window looking out toward the garden.

Mickey poked Henry, who passed the poke on. That was when they heard the creaking and saw a rocking chair that stood by the fireplace starting to rock ever faster. Billy was close to tears; what with that figure behind them and now this. At that point, a loud, booming voice that seemed to echo throughout the room blasted,” Get out, get out of my house!” That did it skeleton or no skeleton; the boys ran out of the room and raced down the stairs. At the foot of the stairs, they practically collided with the skeletal figure, and for a second, it grabbed Billy’s shirttails and held tight. Billy screamed, and then he was free and ran out and down the porch steps and out onto the sidewalk where his friends waited. When they looked back, the house was as still and as quiet as it had been before. They looked at one another. Then Mickey began to grin. He thought that perhaps the old man knowing that Halloween was coming and that the kids in town liked to dare each other to approach his house, had set up some Halloween delight to scare them off. Who would believe them if they told anyone about what happened? So, they decided to have some fun with the old man.

Returning to the House

That Saturday, a week from Halloween, the four boys dressed in black snuck out of their houses after dinnertime and disappeared into the night. They arrived at Pjotr’s house with hearts pounding. They would show that old man who was the master of Halloween. They stood looking at the house and decided to go around into the garden and annoy the old man by tossing pebbles against the large back window. It was like a walk in the jungle getting through the overgrown garden. They looked up and saw the reflection of firelight in the window. It was Henry who first started to whimper. He poked the others. They all looked at where he pointed. In the downstairs living room window, they saw the skeletal figure of a woman holding a glowing candle, and boy, they could swear she was grinning.

Halloween or no Halloween, the boys were ready to make a mad dash. At that moment, there was a loud rustling in the bushes behind them. Suddenly two very strong skeletal hands grabbed onto Mickey and Billy. They screamed and couldn’t get loose. Timmy and Henry tore out of there like shooting rockets. They didn’t stop running until, out of breath, they stopped on their block. They were white as sheets, tear-stained dirty cheeks, and they could barely speak. Timmy spoke first and told Henry they had to go quickly and tell his grandfather what happened. He would know what to do to help Mickey and Billy. They ran up onto Timmy’s front porch. It was his father who opened the door. His parents had just discovered he was missing. When his father saw the boys, he quickly told them to come in, but there was shouting in the street before they could do so, and Mickey and Billy came running down the street.

At this moment, Timmy’s grandfather had come to the door to see what the noise was all about. He took one look at Mickey and Billy and told them to come inside quickly. The boys were a sight. They were dirty and pale-faced. Their shirts were torn as they had struggled to break free. Upon each upper arm, they had long, deep, bloody scratches. Well, that was it. Timmy’s father called Doctor Jones and the local police. Timmy’s grandfather went to get the boys’ parents. The doctor and the police arrived simultaneously and walked into a scene of chaos. The boys all spoke at once. Two of them were crying. Once the police officers got control over the situation, they got the full picture of what happened. They said they would look into the matter, and until then, they would announce to everyone in town that the Obermann house and property were off-limits.

Meanwhile, the doctor looked at the wounds and said that the scratches were so deep the boys needed attendance at the local hospital, stitches, and shots if it was a rabid animal. However, the boys insisted that two strong skeletal hands had held them. The more everyone listened, the more it all sounded like a scary Halloween movie. It was still a week until Halloween and full moon time. Things only got weirder the next day. The police had pulled all the records about Pjotr and his wife from the City Hall registry. They had become US citizens. Pjotr had all the right papers to build and run his factory. However, when the police received by fax the Obermann’s birth records, according to their German birth certificates, both Pjotr and his wife Maria had not been a young couple when they arrived in the US. In fact, at the time, they were supposedly already in their fifties, and if that was so, then they should have been dead and buried long, long ago. How could they have looked like a young couple, and why had no one ever requested their German birth certificates before? So now, who was living in that house and what had happened to the boys?

The Discovery

Well, Sergeant Herrmann was going to find out. Skeletons were walking about and beasts in the garden. Ridiculous, or so he thought. The sergeant and three of his men headed on over to Pjotr's house. The neighbors were already standing on their porches, and others stood on the street to get a closer look. The house was quiet, dark and still. Procedures first, stepping onto the front porch, the sergeant rang the doorbell. Just as the boys had said, an odd kind of sound echoed through the house. One of the officers quietly mentioned that the house had no electricity. Next, the sergeant tried the front door, and it swung open. They stepped inside. This time the only sound was the loud ticking of a clock but no shuffling feet. They made their way straight up the stairs.

Just as the boys had told them the officers walked down the hallway to the room at the end. They knocked on the door and opened it. The fireplace was lit and in front of it was a rocking chair. At first, they thought no one was there, but then the rocking chair started creaking. It began to swing back and forth ever faster. The sergeant commanded, "Pjotr or whoever you are, stop this nonsense at once!" You have a lot to answer for." The chair kept rocking. The sergeant walked across the room and grabbed hold of the chair, and swung it around. They all got quite a shock. A skeleton with scraggly hair was in the chair dressed in a flannel shirt, baggy jeans, and boots on its feet. Before they could react, the hollow, empty eye sockets began glowing, and a loud voice was heard, "Get out, get out of my house!" One of the officers jumped and knocked into a night table. From it, a newspaper clipping fell to the floor, and if anyone could read German, they could read the headline "German Doctor Found Experimenting with Human Mortality". The sergeant and his three officers stood there totally confused when the shuffling skeletal figure of a woman appeared in the doorway with a leering grin and said, "Shall I translate that for you?"