Folktale Week 2021: Dream//Raven
“JANE DOE SKELETON FORCED TO EAT HER OWN HAT, SAY FORENSICS.”
Day two of Folktale week is Dream. When researching Birds and Dreams in Folklore, I found the Welsh tale ‘The dream of Rhonabwy’, where the knight Owein battles King Arthur in a dream world assisted by Ravens. Ravens are one of my favourite birds, but in most Celtic mythology they are considered a bad omen linked to darkness, and death. Brilliant for Folktale week! I have set today’s story in a bad-dream like scape, conveyed in modern emails, attachments and newspaper articles.
from: Head of UE Forensics <HelenStone@gmail.com>
to: GinaLT@sundayherald.com
date: 18 Oct 2021, 14:14
subject: Additions to final assessment of JD Skeleton.
Hi Gina,
I have some further updates for you regarding the Jane Doe skeleton.
We have been able to date the remnants of fabric fused with the ribcage and conclude the item to have been a hat. Furthermore, the warping of the lower ribcage indicates severe stretching and consequent rupture of the stomach, which would have been certain cause of death. We believe Jane Doe was forcibly or otherwise made to eat this hat whole.
We are stopping further forensic investigation at this time.
Thank you for your patience on this,
Dr. Helen Stone
Forensics Dept.
UE Building 10
Ext: 1022
from: Lead Editor @ the Sunday Herald <JanR@sundayherald.com>
to: GinaLT@sundayherald.com
date: 18 Oct 2021, 17:28
subject: Proof of final article: skeleton JD
Gina,
can you please sign off on this final draft for tonight’s print asap!! – attached below.
thanks,
J
Jan Rouse
Lead Editor at Sunday Herald
(+44)755339504
Attached file: SH_Print236_GinaSkeletonFinal.docx
JANE DOE SKELETON FORCED TO EAT HER OWN HAT, SAY FORENSICS.
The mystery skeleton found by local dog walker last Friday, 15th October, has now been identified as a female aged approximately 70 years old. The forensic team at UE, led by Helen Stone, has discovered remnants of fabric fused to bones near her abdomen, which they have dated to belong to an antique fabric mostly used by milliners and hatters.
.
Furthermore, the ribcage of the deceased was severely distorted, indicating a significant stretch in the stomach. It has been hypothesised that this Jane Doe was made to swallow a hat whole, resulting in her certain death. Forensics have concluded that she washed up from the Island, as traces of the toxins found there are present in her bone DNA. This is the third body to have been discovered since the Island’s Raven infestation 104 years ago, with two 7-year-old twins in 2003 and ‘The blood-drained man’ in 2015.
from: AW <Ann.White64@gmail.com>
to: GinaLT@sundayherald.com
date: 19 Oct 2021, 10:01
subject: Information regarding your mystery skeleton.
To Whom It May Concern:
Many years ago, my grandfather Peter White was a police officer on the island. He died there in unknown circumstances and his pocket notebook was left on my grandmother’s doorstep before she, and the rest of the village, fled. Please see attached notebook entries that might offer some answers to the mystery of your skeleton.
I wish for my name and his to remain anonymous.
Best,
AW
Attached files; PNB13.jpeg
from: Lead Editor @ the Sunday Herald <JanR@sundayherald.com>
to: GinaLT@sundayherald.com
date: 21 Oct 2021, 11:10
subject: FW: Nursery rhyme: Poor man named Peter.
Gina,
Just got this from local historian with particular focus on the island history – I forwarded them the policeman’s notes you obtained and this is what they sent back;
>>On Tue, Oct 21, 2021 at 10:42 PM Kate Freeman <SamFreeman@ravenislandfacts.com> wrote:
Hi Jan,
Thank you for getting in touch and passing on such incredible anecdotal history of the island. As you know, It is shrouded in mystery and only scraps of information made it over here before the island was infested. Our main sources of information came from the local school there, generic textbooks and the like. However, we do have a selection of children’s handwriting with one rhyme that might be of particular note in this case. I have attached said rhyme below.
I hope this can further your investigation, and don’t hesitate to get in touch further.
Thanks,
Sam Freeman
Freelance Island Historian
http://www.ravenislandfacts.com
creepy!!!!
also, drink later?
J x
Attached File: Island_Handwriting34.jpeg
