Old Man's Hand



The Old Man's Hand is a small puzzle Harry Mason must solve in Silent Hill. The puzzle is found on the second floor of Midwich Elementary School, within the chemistry lab. The puzzle involves a statue of an old man's hand tightly clutching the Gold Medallion Harry needs in order to progress.

Solution
The only clue to the puzzle is found inside the Reception room on the first floor. The first of the notes written in blood says:


 * "10:00
 * Alchemy laboratory"


 * "Gold in an old man's palm.
 * The future hidden in his fist.
 * Exchange for sage's water."

Being the first of the three notes (with the earliest times) means this puzzle must be solved first before any others. The "Alchemy laboratory" refers to the chemistry room the statue is located in. The "gold in an old man's palm" refers to the statue holding the medallion. The poem states that the medallion must be exchanged with "sage's water". Simply find the purple bottle containing of an unknown Chemical in the 2F Lab Equipment Room, and use it on the statue. The statue will dissolve and the medallion will be free to take.

Trivia

 * There is a flower called the Salvia sclarea, otherwise known as the "clary sage", which has purple petals (the same color as the bottle). This type of flower is used as an essential oil, and is used on old, dry skin to help bring rejuvenation back into into it. There may be a connection with this flower and the use of the Old Man's Hand, with a twist that the chemical actually corrodes the hand, instead of rejuvenating it; however, this remains as speculation, as there is no concrete information on what the "sage's water" refers to.