Session 4 — Places, Please
Session 4 — Places, Please
Off-screen (actor) date: November 2, 2015 On-screen (filmed) date: November 28, 2015
Call Time
The cast is here to film the finale — a two-part episode. On paper it reads bog-standard, almost a rehash of everything that came before: a missing artist, a mystery, the usual Box 13 machinery.
Beckett arrived first. Tara and O'Nay were already on set — Tara laying out coffee and breakfast burritos.
As the rest of the cast filtered in, Tara reminded everyone they were shooting a two-part episode, and that there would be a party at Silverhorn Jack's afterward.
---We
Horselover, "On Hiatus"
Tara asked Daniel whether he'd gotten any texts from Horselover. He hadn't.
She mentioned that HBO had sent out a message: Horselover is "on hiatus." She found this strange — and said so.
Cory — who has the warmest relationship with her — reassured her.
O'Nay Takes the Chair
O'Nay walked in and tapped her hands on the table.
"As you all know, Horselover is on hiatus. I will be assuming his duties. Places please."
On-Screen — The Finale Begins
(The cast is now performing. From here the investigators are their characters: Elias Vance, Det. Jimmy Palmer, Kip Fedora, Mordecai Mordant, Gus Vale.)
The Note at the Door
The investigators arrive at Box 13 HQ — one of them carrying a key. Pinned for the staff is a note in Mr. M's hand:
Staff, Taking Climaxtus to the vet. Hmmm he is acting strange. He did not drink his serving of coffee this morning. That's a joke. No, it's not... Should be back tomorrow. P.S. I did not pay for carry-ons.
See Mr. M's Vet Note.
Inside, it is strangely quiet — no growling dog, no Mr. M. The office is empty.
Mr. M's Desk — Operation ALICE
In the center of Mr. M's desk: a single sheet, something stapled to it, and a receipt book resting on top.
The sheet is a federal retainer — the Cultural Destabilization Taskforce (CDT), FBI, Operation ALICE, signed by Special Agent Marcus. It contracts Box 13 to investigate the disappearance of artist Abigail Wright from the McAllistor Building in New York City. Contractors are to report to a Starbucks adjacent to Summer-Packed Park, NYC, on Nov 29 at 1:00 PM.
Stapled to it: five Spirit Airlines tickets, Dallas → New York, Nov 29, 4:00 AM. The receipt book is for tracking expenses.
Legwork
The investigators split the research:
- Jimmy — the CDT. The taskforce was created in the early 1990s, spawned from another sub-division: the X-Files. Its mandate: destabilize cults and counter enemy cultural attacks. Its Director is Agent Marcus himself — the same man signing the retainer.
- Kip — Abigail's socials. She does visual art and poetry. Nothing about a cult. Identifies as non-religious. Single.
- Gus — the building. The McAllistor Building is owned by Art Life, a company that rents space to artists at low cost. Located at 23rd St & 3rd Ave, East. Run by Cynthia Lechance.
- Mordecai — the art scene. A NY friend confirms there was a New York Post story about Abigail going missing.
- Elias — the office. Checks for anything wrong about Mr. M's absence.
- Jimmy — Abigail, deeper. Several interactions with Thomas Manuel and Lewis Post. Primarily a painter. Age 26.
Off-Screen Intrusion — Alan Is Gone Too
Cory (player) noted that Alan — Mr. M's actor — never made it to set, despite having lines in the finale script. Questioned about it, O'Nay got irritated, said Alan is "out but fine," and told them to make do.
New York — The McAllistor Building
They made the 4 AM Spirit flight and landed in New York at 9:30 AM. Subway to 23rd & 3rd. With time before the 1:00 PM briefing, they cased the McAllistor Building first.
Exterior
A classic brownstone — two stories and a basement by the street read (the floorplan shows Ground / First / Second plus a basement stair). Double doors, a concrete rampart, and cheap gargoyles on the roof. A cornerstone dates construction to 1924. The buzzer lists Abigail Wright in 1A.
They bypassed the door lock with a magnet and went in.
The Mailbox
They broke into Abigail Wright's mailbox. Inside: roughly eight weeks of past-due bills. The regular mail had been taken out — the bills deliberately left in.
Abigail's Door — Police Tape and a Microphone
Police tape crosses the door to 1A — the authorities have already processed the apartment.
Sticking out of the rug outside the door: a tiny microphone. Its cord runs to Thomas Manuel's apartment.
Floor Plan
Residents by floor:
| Floor | Apartments |
|---|---|
| Ground | Thomas Manuel · Roger Carlins · Abigail Wright (1A) · old telephone nook · closet |
| First | Michelle Vanatz · Lewis Post ("Louis Posts Apt" on the plan) · two empty apts |
| Second | all empty · door to rooftop |
Interviewing Thomas Manuel
They knocked on Thomas Manuel's door, with Gus taking point — posing as the phone company. The Fast Talk fell apart; Manuel shut and locked the door. An Intimidation push brought him back out.
What he gave up:
- He called Abigail "Laura" — her middle name.
- He thought she "might have moved upstairs." Per the floorplan, the entire second floor is empty.
- He confirmed everyone in the building knows each other.
- Through the cracked door: the apartment held no art and looked almost like a hotel room — conspicuous in a building that rents specifically to artists.
- He claimed to have lived there a few years.
- He honestly believed he had no past-due bills.
To the Briefing
They left Manuel and headed to the Starbucks by Summer-Packed Park to meet Special Agent Marcus.
The Paper Dragon
Looking out the Starbucks window, Gus saw a street performer with a paper dragon. The dragon seemed to leave symbols hanging in the air — and the symbol was the same one carved into the Box 13 roof (Rooftop Symbol, Session 3).
Agent Marcus
Special Agent Marcus arrived with a briefcase. Introductions, then he invited them to sit. The CDT is understaffed, he said — hence consultants. The job:
He knows nothing about Art Life and said he'd work to get them a dossier on the group.
He laid out the support kit, then pulled it back at the end — adding, simply, "Find Abigail Wright."
What the File Says
The case file (full detail on its own page) reframed almost everything:
- Abigail Laura Wright, 26, lived in Manhattan 7½ years; distinguished record; first show at The Mercury gallery on Franklin Street, sold 15 pieces, then took half a year off to paint.
- Reported missing 4 SEP 2015 by her father, Thomas Wright — a Nassau County police officer who pulled strings for an immediate NYPD response.
- Police entered the East 32nd Street, Kips Bay studio on 4 SEP and found a tableau: every surface buried in junk — dentures, a 1940s wheelchair, antique prosthetic limbs, radios, jewelry, thousands of multilingual papers — epoxied to the walls. Floor bare, rug yanked up. No struggle, no violence, neighbors useless.
- 4 NOV 2015: her credit card bought Old Gold cigarettes in Patience, Maryland. Signature was her name in not her handwriting. No cameras.
- Among the debris: a paper with an occult symbol in golden ink — flagged by FBI X-File friendly Sandra Levinson, who reported it to the head of NY's M-cell: Marcus, real name Dr. Marvin Bloom.
Two disappearance windows, three months apart. The file's own math — "first show late last year… six months later she disappeared" — points to June. The police record says September. Either she vanished twice, or one of these timelines is manufactured.
Inside Abigail's Apartment (1A)
The team let themselves into Abigail Wright's apartment with the fresh keys. Three playback devices had been removed from the walls — but every other inch was still buried in the epoxied junk. They came equipped: 5 Polaroid cameras, 100 packs of film, latex gloves, evidence bags. They began an evidence-cataloging montage (Objective 1).
Detective Giuradanda Checks In
Graham Giuradanda of the NYPD knocked as they got started. He'd been instructed to make contact and was "a call away" if needed. He offered to find out who is heading the police investigation into the disappearance. He noted: no other investigations on anyone else in the building — including Thomas Manuel.
Party Split (Knowingly)
They split up — fully aware it's the horror-movie mistake. Palmer and Mordant went to check the rest of the building; Vance, Gus, and Kip stayed to sort evidence.
First Search — Three Diagrams
The evidence sorters' first pass turned up three drawings:
- Gus — a cocktail-napkin diagram. Looks mechanical. Unidentifiable.
- Kip — a map on Hotel Broadalbin stationery. A room marked "JL Bottle," a hallway corner marked "WL," a legend noting the basement and a marked elevator. Heavy linen bond, stamped manufactured 1933 — yet in pristine condition.
- Vance — a drawing of this very building on butcher paper: the Night Floors Map.
The Building Pair — Manuel, Round Two
Palmer and Mordant went back to Thomas Manuel — this time flashing FBI credentials, and notably without Gus, the one who'd spooked him earlier. He opened up, and his story shifted:
- He never spent time in her apartment. They met in the parks; she came to his place sometimes.
- He is a painter — keeps his work in a basement studio, which the night manager, Mr. Kasine, lets him use.
- Pressed again on "she moved upstairs," he went cloudy — said he just thinks she did, "for some reason." He has never been upstairs.
While Mordant kept him talking, Palmer searched the room:
- Pages from a play (cf. The King in Yellow).
- A recording device tucked behind the bookshelf — Palmer left it in place.
- All the food in the fridge is expired.
Final Search in 1A
Back in Abigail Wright's apartment for one more pass.
Kip kept hearing people in the hallway laughing and crying — but each time he checked, nothing was there.
The 10-B Receipt
Mordant found a rent receipt for Abigail Laura Wright — dated Sept 3, 2015, $850.00, for apartment 10-B. The receipt form is a type not used in 50 years, and forensics confirm it is genuinely 50 years old.
The Purson Seal
Palmer found a seal on parchment in gold ink — letters ringing a complex sigil. When he lifted it off the wall, a blast of sound came with it: a cab honking, someone yelling at the cab. A search identified it as the symbol of a demon of Hell.
The Carcosa Song
They also found a piece of sheet music — handwritten notes over staves, with lyrics:
Let the red dawn surmise / what we shall do, / when this blue starlight dies / and all is through.
The Wrap & the Cast Party (Off-Screen)
(Cameras down — back to the actor layer. Delivered as a mid-week Keeper update.)
Amy O'Nay called the wrap shortly after the apartment scenes and the second evidence sweep — to visible relief after a long, hard day. Crew struck equipment; actors changed out of costume. Tara waited for Cory by his car.
Silverhorn Jack's
The party ran at Silverhorn Jack's, an Irish-style pub on the outskirts of Dallas near the production office: pool tables, dartboards, a floor-to-ceiling bar, and its namesake mounted over the pool tables — a massive stag's head, antlers leafed in silver that caught the light. The mood was pleasant but awkward.
Who Wasn't There
- Phil Horselover — absent. Everyone noticed. Nobody mentioned it.
- Amy O'Nay — absent too; reportedly in HBO meetings about the show's future.
Alan Returns
Alan — Mr. M's actor — arrived late and tired. Over a drink, he explained missing the shoot: a medical episode at the Box 13 office. He stepped into the stairwell and was overwhelmed by vertigo — "or something like that," he admitted, visibly frustrated that the memory wouldn't hold. Ill enough to lose the whole day. He apologized and changed the subject.
The Patio — Three Tells
A cold, clear November night, stars over Dallas (cf. Horselover's telescope). Inside, two things were playing:
- The jukebox: "Queen of Old Argyle" — see Queen of Old Argyle.
- The TV over the bar: Tyson Fury vs. Wladimir Klitschko, a real heavyweight bout fought 28 November 2015.
"For a few hours, things almost felt normal." Filming resumes in the morning. No one is looking forward to it.
(Sitting concluded — continues in Session 5 — The Tenants Stir.)