04/09/2022 – Return to London (17)

Thursday, 14 February 1935

Catching Up with Tiger

Tiger decides to stay off the main road and walk across the fields. After a while he sees headlights approach and then sees Jeziah drive past in the motor car, unable to attract their attention. Jeziah drives up to the house and they see it is burning merrily. They wonder if Tiger survived at all and watch the fire, transfixed by the flames and tragedy. Tiger eventually catches up to them and shocks them from behind, covered in mud and barely looking like himself.

They are very pleased to see him and then turn to considering what they managed to get out of the house. Zalkador / George decides to recover some of the items that he dropped in haste when the monster appeared. He tries the front door, but the fire started in the hallway and is very hot there.

Recovering Items

He remembers leaving some things in the dining room, which the monster smashed its way into, leaving a big hole. The fire is not so strong there yet and Zalkador is able to retrieve the headdress, though he burns his fingers as there are flames near it. He is also able to retrieve the busts Alex dropped and Tiger still has the chronometer from upstairs with him. The paperwork that Alex had picked up was dropped and the flames took them.

They return to the motor car and there is a quiet, subdued journey back to Walton-on-the-Naze. Cassandra is still up and they give her a rather garbled update of what has happened, with talk about the monster dominating the conversation.

Updating Cassandra

Cassandra is pleased to see Joe Quimby has been rescued. She is less pleased about the house being burnt down, as it makes going to the Police much more complicated. She is not sure how to react to their talk of another monster but accepts they are sincere. She wonders where the monster came from and Zalkador says that when he touched one of the busts, he sensed that Gavigan was aware of them and must have sent it.

Jeziah refuses to accept that Zalkador is in anyway genuinely psychic and tells him to stop saying such ridiculous things. Zalkador points out a dragon just attacked them but he cannot believe that he could be psychic.

Tiger discusses whether it would be worth going to the Police anyway. He could use his contacts and lie to them about what they did. Zalkador points out they have committed several crimes and it would not be wise to involve them at all. Cassandra agrees with him. At the very least, the Police may order them not to leave the country and they are clearly going to have to do in the near future.

Their discussion continues until around 3am, when they are all so tired they retire to bed. Cassandra insists that Zalkador covers the strange items they found from the house first.

Friday, 15 February 1935

Joe Quimby’s Story

In the morning, Joe Quimby wakes up and tells Alex he was tortured and forced to give them his address. His fingers show signs of torture and nail removal. He tells how he followed the bus from the Blue Pyramid club north to Essex, past Chelmsford and up to the Naze. He reached the gates before Misr House and there he was ambushed and captured. They had noted he was following them and set a trap.

They took him to the house and locked him in a cell underground first of all, because they were busy doing something at a place near the house, with lots of people holding flaming torches. Then Gavigan came to see him and wanted him to tell everything he knew. Gavigan was wearing the diamond eyes head dress and his eyes were mesmerising. There was something dark in them. When Joe refused to tell where Alex lived, he was tortured until he told them.

Human Sacrifice

They then told him he would be sacrificed to their god. He had missed this month’s ritual, but next month he would die. The Investigators recall the cult had been kidnapping people in Soho, including Mrs McGiven. They must be taking them to Misr House for sacrifice. There must be bodies or bones buried somewhere in the marshes.

Cassandra suggests that Joe does not go home or report this to the Police. The cult is very powerful and would now be after him. Cassandra offers for Joe to stay at Astor Manor and he accepts. They continue discussing what they know, what this cult really wants and what they should do now. Cassandra wants to know who the woman was that Gavigan had dinner with. May be she is important in the cult.

Drive Back to London

The leads they have suggest they will need to travel to Egypt, Kenya, China and possibly Australia, in order to discover what this cult is up to and why they need marine chronometers. They resolve to return to London. The problem is there isn’t enough room in the motor car for everyone and their luggage. Tiger and Alex will take Joe back to London on the train, the rest will take the motor car.

The journey is long but uneventful. They meet up again late in the evening at Astor Manor and have a cold meal, as Jeziah gave the cook that day off. Joe catches up on missed food. He does not want to go back to being a Private Detective and will go live with his brother in Liverpool.

Saturday, 16 February 1935

Gavigan Has Disappeared

In the morning, they contact the private detective watching Edward Gavigan. He tells them that the woman that Gavigan met for lunch runs a shop called Empire Spice, in Soho. The detective also states that he has lost track of Gavigan, as he seems to no longer be following his routine and has not been seen at any of his usual haunts.

In fact, the woman from Empire Spice went to the Penhew Foundation yesterday after Gavigan went there in a sudden hurry. Alex wonders if they have since gone to Misr House. They did things first at the Foundation, perhaps summoned the monster that attacked them. The detective had been watching Gavigan all day and went to bed, so he does not know what Gavigan did over night or where he is now.

Empire Spice

Zalkador and Alex decide to go to Empire Spice and see if the woman is there. Cassandra comes with them and Jeziah drives them. When they get there, they see the shop is stocked with large jars of exotic spices. The shop keeper is a young-looking Egyptian man. Zalkador remembers visiting the shop before when he explored Soho on his own and he recalls there was a woman shop keeper at that point.

There is little else there to see and no sign of a woman, so they buy some spices and leave. Jeziah offers to stay and watch the shop. Zalkador says at some point they will have to break in at night. Cassandra is concerned this seems to be their main activity lately. The rest return to Astor Manor by taxi while Jeziah watches the shop. Late in the afternoon, he notices that a well-dressed Egyptian woman returns to the shop. He then returns to Astor Manor.

End of Episode Seventeen