07/11/2021 – Breaking Into the Foundation (12)

Friday, 08 February 1935

The Investigators resolve to break into the Penhew Foundation, overcoming Cassandra’s concerns about breaking the law due to the lack of alternative proposals. She refuses to go with them though.

Cassandra does suggest that Tiger speaks to the Inspector he had good relations with about this suspicions about the Blue Pyramid Club and prompt them to raid the place.

Tiger does this, but nothing happens that day or night. They decide to wait until Saturday night and see if the Police raid happens then.

Saturday, 09 February 1935

Breaking In

Jeziah watches the Blue Pyramid Club and that evening is pleased to see the Police turn up at the Club in big numbers. He meets up with Tiger, Alex and Zalkador and they approach the Penhew Foundation, finding it quiet with just one guard on duty at the back.

Tiger climbs over the fence and ambushes the guard, overpowering him. He steals the keys and lets them into the building. They realise there is another guard in the building and Tiger resolved to punch him out, but his trick fails and he gets into an extended punch up before overpowering this guard too. The two guards are locked in a room.

They head for Gavigan’s office and search his desk. Alex finds a photograph of a large old manor house titled “Misr House” and decides to keep. Zalkador finds a telegram, from Dr H Clive in Egypt, telling Gavigan that plans are going well and thanking him for his help.

There a row of closets at the back of the office, which lead to a storage area. Suspicious, they search and find a secret panel that leads through to a hidden warehouse area at the back of the building.

There is a lot of dusty old crates here and it does not look like the place is used much, but footprints in the dust betray a trail leading to a mummy case which is in an alcove created by other crates.

Basement

It looks less dusty than its surrounding and they attempt to open it, but initial attempts fail. Zalkador then presses one of the eyes and an electric motor lifts the top of the case, revealing some steps to a basement.

They find a light switch and find the basement has nice furniture, a carpet, boxes and crates, an ornate chest, a book case and several odd pieces of art on the wall. In a desk are bullets and a lot of money, totalling £2,000. They decide to keep this, along with invoices and receipts for installation of a safe at Henson Manufacturing in Derby.

There is also a business card for Empire Spices, a shop in Soho near the Blue Pyramid club. Zalkador visited the place a while back, when he was exploring the area around the club.

Zalkador finds an odd statue of a winged creature with a tentacle face, approximately one foot high. It felt odd when he touched it and he decides to keep it.

Foreign Crates

They check some of the crates and find many are marked Ho Fang Import / Export, 15 Quaoyang Street, Shanghai, China. Inside a smaller crate is a statue of a weird, bat-like creature with a mailing address from Randolph Shipping Company, Port Darwin, North Territory, Australia.

The artwork on the wall includes a picture of a serpent-man in wizard-style clothing and another picture that depicts a huge monster beside a mountain with a huge red tentacle for a face. Feeling a little overwhelmed and deciding they have found enough, they take what they can and make a hasty retreat.