Chapter 8: A Dark Pursuit of Truth

March 24, 2022·20 min·1 clip

Paul finds Dr. Keenly's journal with Richter Collins' name, proving someone was at the fort.

The episode opens with Paul kneeling beside a box and discovering Dr. Keenly's journal, which contains a patient entry for Richter Collins in a coma of unknown origin. Paul's excitement is immediate and unguarded—he calls Ruth upstairs to share his find. Ruth, confronted with the journal, claims she doesn't recognize it, though the narration makes clear she knows exactly how dangerous this discovery is. She feigns confusion while internally acknowledging that someone has taken the choice from both her and Paul. The narration then delivers an extended interior monologue from Ruth's perspective in which she mourns missed opportunities to leave the Fort when she could have. She describes feeling old her whole life, weighed down by obligations to family and friends she felt beholden to. She concludes that her only remaining act of defiance is her smile and her kindness, which she frames as a knife. Later, Ruth enters an old study where Minnie is carving a miniature bedside table for Paul's room. Their conversation shifts quickly from warmth to tension. Ruth senses that Minnie has been distant since a disagreement about Mother Cyprian. Minnie initially deflects before Ruth names Mother Cyprian explicitly. Ruth argues that everyone Mother Cyprian helps ends up cursed, citing Reverend Albert—a man Mother Cyprian raised—who became obsessively fixated on a childhood crush. Minnie defends Mother Cyprian and accuses Ruth of sounding paranoid. Ruth then describes Riverside Sanatorium as it currently stands: gates locked with chains, grounds overtaken by weeds and bramble, staff absent except for Brigitte, and no patients visible. She contrasts this with a memory of Riverside's former grandeur under Mother Cyprian's leadership. Minnie finds it hard to believe but concedes it would be strange. Ruth pleads with Minnie not to contact Mother Cyprian about Paul, and Minnie eventually agrees. The scene ends with an apparently warm reconciliation, but the narration reveals Minnie is lying—she has already set things in motion that she cannot take back. The episode is produced by Pulp Audio and features Imogen Harris as Minnie, Lydia Nicholas as Ruth McMillan, and Mike LeBeau as Paul Collins.

As heard by us

A slow-burn story where a found name and a tense household make the room feel colder.

Paul finding Dr. Keenly's journal gives the story its first jolt, especially once the name Richter turns up and he calls Ruth upstairs with obvious excitement.

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Why you'd press play

You get one clue in Dr. Keenly's journal, and the house starts turning every polite exchange sideways.

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