Manor Hints: The Ghost of Merivale Manor

Multiple accounts report strange noises at night. The Guide to Spectral Legends mentions unearthly sounds coming from Merivale Manor. Similarly, Tewkesbury’s email notes strange noises from the third floor. 

Have you accessed the webmail yet? If not do that first before continuing with more hints here. 

Familiarize yourself with Tewkesbury’s letters in the webmail. Pay attention to the structural quirks Merivale Manor may possess.  

Tewkesbury’s letter that he received from the NYSHPS states: “records show that the back shelf of the library has always been along the back wall, after the third skylight…are you sure your memory of the room being shorter and only having two skylights is accurate? “

The Merivale Manor Guide shows that the library has 3 skylights. 

It seems a little odd that Tewkesbury specifically remembers two skylights being in there. 

Crack the coded letter. If you need help, be sure to refer to the hints section for “the coded letter”. 

In the coded letter we learn that Astrid has found the door to the secret room behind a revolving bookcase in the study, and she knows that is where the noises are coming from!

Who might be in there? 

A newspaper clipping shows that Clarence and Margaret had a son called Elijah who died when he was young, but his body was never found. However, another piece of evidence suggests that he might still be alive!

An email from James Kemble says that Clark’s dying words (during World War II) were “When Eely joins me up there, I hope he can forgive me”. 

We know that Clarence IV died in the 1944 Battle of the Bulge (see the guide to spectral legends document). His wording certainly makes it appear that at the time of Clark’s death, “Eely” was still alive! 

Eely is a nickname for Elijah! 

If Eely was alive, is there a reason he might have been kept in a secret room? 

In the book review, it states: 

Until now Hugo was said to have been born stillborn, but Williams reveals that Hugo was born alive but deformed. The DeCourseys, so concerned with maintaining their glamorous image, kept his existence a secret, locking the poor boy in his room rather than have the public know their son had been born the way he had…this story is all too common from in this time period – family members swept under the rug because they don’t fit in with how the family wants to present themselves.

The Merivales were a very proud family, and conscious of their image with the public. This story about how the DeCourseys treated Hugo is exactly how the Merivales treated Elijah.

Can you find an alibi for Eli? 

In an email from R Jones, it states: “When they moved one of the bookcases, they found a host of strange messages that had been scratched into the wall behind. Most notably one that read “There was no need for her to die”. Who it was that scratched the messages and why/how/when they did it remains a mystery”. 

 We also know from the coded note that a key was required to access the secret room.

To further cement the fact that Elijah wasn’t the murderer, in the email from James Kemble, Clark was reported to have said “When Eely joins me up there, I hope he can forgive me for everything, including the horrific things he heard on that fateful day”. We can be sure that Eli only heard the murder take place and did not play a part in it.