When the investigators are stalled in the investigation of a crime, their suspicions are drawn to a middle-aged woman of nervous disposition, who seems to have few friends, wears black gloves in spite of the summer heat and frequently excuses herself to ‘powder her nose’. It is eventually revealed that the woman’s hands are continually covered in blood, which no amount of washing can remove.
Possibilities
1 The woman is a witch, and her family has long been suspected by the townspeople of conducting degenerate rituals and blasphemous rites for personal gain and to bring about ill-fortune for those who slight them. However, her recent attempt to summon Azathoth itself went terribly wrong and robbed her of her sanity. In trying to remove the remembered taint, she has developed an obsessive compulsion to wash her hands. She scrubs them so raw that they bleed.
2 The woman is a scientist examining meteorites for signs of life. Her studies involve taking samples from fresh meteorites and incubating them to coax any life-forms that may be present to vigour. Upon analysis, the substance on the woman’s hands turns out not to be blood - at least, not blood in its original form. It is an ichor that seems to have something chemically in common with the faeces of vampire bats. The ichor is in fact the visible manifestation of a parasitic alien organism, which draws the blood into its invisible body and then excretes it. Thus, no amount of washing will make these hands clean.
3 She is suffering from the rare condition of acquired haemophilia, which was triggered by pregnancy. One month ago, she brought a daughter into the world, and her condition has rapidly deteriorated. The pain and stress caused by haemophilia probably contributed to the severe postnatal depression she felt, which led her to smother her baby with a pillow. Although the death was written off as “sudden infant death syndrome” and she has escaped earthly punishment, her guilt has tipped her over the edge. She will not take care of herself and is convinced that her bleeding is not a symptom of illness, but a punishment from God.
© Barbara Robson and Stuart Barrow
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