Earlier this evening, I arrived in Collinsport but wasn’t prepared for the greeting I received from Joe. “No… no… you’re dead. Stay away from me. You’re dead! I saw you!” He had obviously mistaken me for Tom. I told him I wasn’t Tom, but Chris. I asked him if he realized the mistake he’d made and apologized for scaring him.
Since I could get no information out of the doctors, I asked Joe why he was in the hospital. He answered that he didn’t know. They can’t figure out what’s wrong with him.
The conversation then turned to the death of my brother. Joe said it was too bad I couldn’t have gotten there for him. It wasn’t Joe’s fault that he couldn’t find me; I’m never in any one place very long. I then told him I wanted to know how Tom died… what killed him. Like his own ailment, Joe told me it’s still a mystery. He was with him but didn’t tell him anything because he wasn’t conscious most of the time. When he was able to talk, it didn’t make sense.
I then asked Joe about the wound on his neck that the sheriff told me resembled an animal bite… but there are no animals in the area that attack humans. As I grew more animated, Joe realized I thought Tom was murdered. Had no one considered the possibility? There was no evidence of foul play, but Tom died under rather unusual circumstances to say the least!
When I told Joe I intended to satisfy my curiosity about it, he asked if I didn’t think it was a little too late to be doing that. I explained that I had already seen the sheriff, who gave me a list of names of people to see… friends of Tom’s, people he used to work for, even doctors at the hospital. When I mentioned one name, Nicholas Blair, Joe changed the subject abruptly and asked if I had seen my sister yet.
I had not, but asked Joe how she was doing. He said she kind of fell to pieces when Tom died. She needed me then. Right now, she’s at a hospital not far from here, Windcliff Sanitarium. I was shocked to hear this! Apparently, a Dr. Hoffman had her taken there for treatment. Joe said losing the only person in the world that cared anything about her was too much for her and she was in a state of shock.
Speak of the devil, just then this Dr. Hoffman walked into the room. She had the same reaction as Joe: fear and revulsion. When I calmed her by telling her I wasn’t Tom, but his brother, Chris, we exchanged proper introductions. I told her I wanted to talk to her, but she said she had to get back to Collinwood. If she was trying to be evasive, I told her I had a car outside. We could talk on the way, and I could drop her off.
Later, after she thanked me for the ride, I told her I still had a couple questions, so she invited me into the house. She seemed cagy and sometimes contradicted herself as I asked how well she knew Tom, how she came to treat him at the hospital, and what kind of animal caused the wound.
She then turned the tables on me and asked me why I had come to investigate Tom’s death since it’d been over two months since he died. She assumed I came for a different reason… my sister.
I told her I understood how hard she took it and that I planned to go see her in the next few days. Dr. Hoffman confirmed that she took her to her hospital, Windcliff, where she’s being given very good treatment. She also said it would be good for her if she had someone close she could turn to.
Now I was the one growing uncomfortable. I’m sure people don’t understand, but with the kind of life I lead… it’s wrong for her, that’s all. Dr. Hoffman pressed me, and I told her I’m always on the go, moving around a lot, making a living the best way I can. She then rudely said, “You mean you don’t have any responsibilities, and you don’t want to have any responsibilities.” In turn, I rudely replied that I would see Amy first thing in the morning and rushed out of the house…
Before I went back to my room at the Collinsport Inn, I decided to pay Nicholas Blair a visit. I knocked on the door and when he answered, he looked surprised when he saw me, yet he let me in. I shared my theory that Tom was murdered, but Blair seemed preoccupied, watching something out the window. I turned to look and saw something… or someone… move away from the house. Blair then escorted me out and offered his hand, but I did not shake it.
Classic Horrors Club 
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