Wake to Dream

Upon arriving to the house, Mr. Frost requested that Delilah remain in the car so that he could go inside and determine Alice’s mental state. He explained that if Alice was off balance, Delilah’s sudden appearance could present a potential problem. He further explained that Alice blamed abuse by her family for many of the problems she was experiencing.

When Mr. Frost returned to the car, he advised that Alice was, in fact, having an episode and he felt it best that Delilah remain out of sight until the following morning. According to Mr. Frost, a tree had fallen in the garden as a result of the storm and had revealed a skeleton from one of the grave plots beneath the ground. Alice had discovered the skeleton earlier that day, and Mr. Frost believed it was a catalyst for the episode she was experiencing when he returned home. Delilah agreed to remain out of sight until the following morning and Mr. Frost was able to get her settled into an efficiency apartment space he was renovating in the basement of the home.

The following morning, Delilah heard screaming upstairs, but chose not to investigate until such time as Mr. Frost requested her to come up to see Alice. Within a half hour, Mr. Frost retrieved Delilah from the apartment and was walking her up the stairs to see her sister. Alice attacked Mr. Frost, taking both he and Delilah by surprise.

Delilah was unable to provide additional details regarding the events immediately following the attack because she was knocked off balance and fell down the stairs. Due to trauma to the head, Delilah lost consciousness. She additionally severed her spinal column as a result of the fall, and is now confined to a wheelchair due to paralysis of her legs.

Lydia Beaumont was able to provide me with police reports regarding the incident. According to the reports, Alice Beaumont called the emergency line and was able to give them her name, her address, and additionally request an officer to appear on scene due to several murders in her home. The police arrived on scene at approximately 1:29 p.m. on Thursday, June 9, 2016. When they entered the house, they located Delilah Beaumont at the base of the stairs in the basement, and immediately rendered care.

A bloody trail led from the basement door out into the garden area of the home. Following the tracks, the police located Maximilian Frost’s body in a shallow grave in the small family plot that lay beyond the iron fence. Per the medical examination, Mr. Frost died from trauma to the head, neck, shoulders and chest with a cleaver.

Police then discovered Alice Beaumont’s body in the third floor bathroom that was set off from the master bedroom. Water had overflowed from the tub and soaked the carpet in the bedroom in the vicinity of the bathroom door.

Alice Beaumont was deceased at the time the police arrived. Per the medical examination, Ms. Beaumont died from self-inflicted wounds to her wrists and subsequent blood loss. Additionally, there were varied bruises on her body, both recent and old, that the Medical Examiner opined were common injuries associated with domestic violence.

Police investigated the scene per the claims made by Alice as to murders that had allegedly occurred on the property. No evidence was found indicating any such events had occurred, excluding the death of Maximilian Frost. However, evidence was discovered that indicated someone had been bound in varied locations in the home. Police suspected Alice had been the person bound per the ligature marks evident on her ankles and wrists.

Pursuant to the timing of the phone call Alice made to the police, the time of her death was listed as 12:41 p.m.

It was my opinion, based solely on the information presented to me by Lydia and Delilah Beaumont, that Alice had become non-compliant with her medications during her marriage to Mr. Frost. Lydia Beaumont further admitted that in Alice’s childhood, her father had been abusive due to his frustration with Alice’s disorders. The abuse by her father typically triggered a worsening of the severity of the disorders. We theorized that the physical altercations between Max and Alice might have had the same effect.

Prior to leaving the meeting, Delilah pointed out that, had her sister not called the police, Delilah would have most likely died, as well, due to her injuries and her inability to call for help. She was tearful when making that point, and she claimed that her sister’s last act in this world was finding the strength to make the call and save Delilah’s life.

This concludes the addendum regarding Alice Marie Beaumont. It saddens me to have discovered such a tragic and untimely end for a patient I’d enjoyed treating when she was a child.



Dr. Harold C. Chance, M.D., Ph.D.




THE END

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