No, justsome notes I’mkeeping for mypsychiatrist --

Dorin?

Isuse!

What isit, anyway?Your auto-biography?

Ah, Ican spare acouple. I’vegot aboutthirty here.Thank you,

OCD...

My quarry.A scholar hailing

from Ingolstadt. Anauthority in medicine,science, philosophy,

history --

ViktorFleischer.

squaarkk!

Damn it!That keepshappening! Ha! You’re

getting througha lot of those

tapes, myfriend!

FrigginguselessmachinE...

The Lost TapesOf Roland ChildsWritten by Al Ewing •. Art by Marc Olivent

DORIN?

...Andthen whathappened?

“Jesus.Jesus Christ.”

He ran.He was yellingsomething in

Romanian... Isuse,Isuse Hristoase...

Yeah. Fussabout nothing,if you ask me.

They werejust... I don’tknow, gravemarkers orsomething.

I don’t know... I just

can’t stand peoplewho quit when the

going gets --

Weren’t youabout to quitthe PrivateEye business,

Roland?

Not the samething. I was burned

out -- too many liars.Lying husbands, lyingwives, lying business

partners...

Seemed likeeveryone I dealtwith was lying tosomeone... or lyingto themselves. Igot sick of it.

I representthe Thomas Foundation,Mister Childs. We want

you to track down one ofour ex-employees -a Viktor Fleischer.

Look, I don’tknow how you

got in, love, butthis office isclosed for --

Let’s justsay I’m a

sucker for apretty face.

One thousandof these,

Mister Childs.

And yetyou took onelast case. Whatchanged your

mind?

To startwith.

Anyway, letme rephrase...you felt therewas no reasonto be afraid.

I thoughtDorin was justbeing paranoid.I thought Iwas too.

I’ve been afraidmy whole life,

haven‘t I? That’s whyI spend two hundredquid an hour on you,not that it does

any good --

Now now,Roland. Sessions

like these are vitalfor your mental

well-being.

Let’s getback to the...

“grave markers”.You weren’tafraid?

I waswrong.

Ah yes,the corpses inthe forest. Youdescribed them

vividly in your notes-- you also wrote

about beingfollowed, I seem

to remember.

Well...no...

Fascinating.

This... personfollowing you...

did they ever showtheir face?

“Fascinating”?What’s that

supposed to mean?Are you implyingI just made

it up?

How aboutwhat happenednext? You thinkI imagined that

as well?

Well,let’s checkyour tapes,shall we?

I arrived at an ancient and decrepitgraveyard, and found an entranceto an underground chambeR...

“It was as if the corpses weretreated as toys, or as if they werebeing turned into macabreclockwork dolls.”

“They also exhibited signs ofextensive surgery that was purelythe stuff of madness. They were allfitted with bizarre mechanical parts.

“There were several corpses laidon pedestals. Though they weredecomposed, they do not appear tohave been there long.

Oh God.

“I praythis willnot be mylasT...”

“Just now,there were loud

noises coming fromthe next roomover. I will goinvestigate.”

This isdefinitelygoing on tapE...

“They wereall fitted with

bizarre mechanicalparts. It was asif the corpseswere treatedas toys...”

Nah, Ican do betterthan that.How about...

“...Or as ifthey were

being turnedinto macabreclockworkdolls.”

“...EntrY...”

AAAAAAAAHHHHH!!

Could it be I am delirious fromfatigue? Or am I dreaming this?

You haveto admit, it’s...implausible.What did yousay later?

Lookat this andtell me Iimagined it!

Lookat what,Roland?

Fine, I got abit melodramatic --I know what I saw.Jesus, I hit one ofthem! Cut my hand

on its jaw!

I can’t seeanything.

JesusChrist --

SorrY...for a minuteI thoughtI saW...

Your words.I think you’reexperiencinga delusion,Roland.

I feel like I’m losing my mind...the fear and insanity of thisplace are getting to me...

Anyway, Irecorded thatlater on -- inthe mansion.

GoD... themansion...

I knowwhat I saw,damn it!

What?

I’ve got to get out.Spending any more time herewill surely drive me mad --

...I onlyrememberflashes...

Again --your words.

And now you’reexperiencingmemory loss?

That’s notgood, is it?

Actually,I think your

mind is helping youby blocking out

whatever it is thatreally happened.You’re obviouslynot equipped to

face it.

But I’mnot crazy --

You keepplaying thosedamned tapesback at mE...

That doesactually make

a lot of...

...hang on.

I suggesta nice, long

rest somewhere.A sanatorium,

perhaps.

No, butyou’re under

extreme stress.Unless you lock

yourself away fromthe world for a

while and heal, youreally willgo insane.

I told you,Roland. You’reexperiencing adelusion --

BollocksI am!

I don’tknow what kindof game you’re

playing,Doc --

-- but themachine wasknackered --it kept spittingthem out! I leftthose bloodytapes all over

the place!

How comeyou’ve gotthem now?

--- butI’m gettingout --

--- of herE...

I’m sorry,Roland. I only

tried to help you.And everything Isaid was true.

Wh...what...?

These sessionsare vital for

your mental well-being. And you

are experiencinga delusion...

You rememberwhat happened inthe mansion now,

don’t you?

...a delusionthat’s keepingyou sane... a

delusion that youescaped fromthe mansion...

I’m sorry,Roland. You’llhave to find anew delusionto cling to...

It’s nottrue! Nothinghappened to me!I’m fine! I - I

feel fantastic!I feel --

No! It’snot true!

“...feeeel...”

“...Fan...taaas...tic...”

“I...”