The Masks of Nyarlathotep: London part 2

Extracts from the Personal Diary of Dr Elisa Jamieson MD

Thursday July 24^th

While we were discussing the next step we observed Barbara and St John’s arrival. It appeared that Barbara had been absent due to the birthday of one of her children while St John had been a little deficient of funds to make the journey. Anyway this was an aside and was not really a concern as far as the case is concerned.

We briefed them quickly regarding the case so far and also showed them the items we had acquired from Mr Jackson’s bag.

Regarding the evidence I read again the transcript we had received from GCHQ and I was drawn not to Ukrainian ministry of Commerce stamp or even the fact that the receipt was for Plutonium 239 but to the fact that Sir Aubrey was actually signing on behalf of something called Grey Dragon Industries, a company supposedly based in the Peoples Republic of China. This seemed a little suspicious to me as why would a Chinese company assign an English archaeologist and lord to go and buy weapons grade radioactive materials from the Ukraine?

What was even more unusual is that as far as I am aware Ukraine does not have a nuclear capability. I remarked upon this to the others but they for most part thought that I was just making a mountain out of a molehill. My suspicions were overlooked but I decided that I should check into this Grey Dragon Industries and discover what they were about, which probably meant that I would have to have a talk with Chinese Department of Commerce. Being as it was probably the middle of the night in China I chose to put this on the back burner until a more respectable hour.

What to do next: it was decided that we should split up and follow a couple of leads. St John clearly wanted to see Mr Jackson’s body to try to see if he could define anything from his facial injuries which I remarked on in my autopsy report as being rather unusual. This, of course, would require me accompanying him as in my opinion the hospital would not have let him see the body on his own. When St John first examined the body I observed a discernable shiver pass down his spine yet he was unable to identify the markings. St John appeared to suspect that they may have some significance but he would have to hit the books before he could say anything further. With this he set off to the British Library.

Feeling as if I would be just a spare wheel in his investigations, I began my own investigation into the photograph of the yacht in Shanghai harbour. Unfortunately I did not have much to work with but I did have a partial silhouette, I had a colour and I had a partial name ‘DAR…’. With this information I chose to contact the Shanghai harbour masters office and the Yacht clubs for it appears there were two. Obviously again this information would take time to process and it was the middle of the night over there but I prepared everything so that it would be a simple process for me to send the information in time for 10am their time.

I also contacted Ms Atwright at the Harvard Library in hope of finding the name of the book he had inquired about. This turned out to be a very rare book named ‘Africa’s Dark Sects’ supposedly only thirteen copies remain as most where destroyed due to their content. Ms Atwright also reported that the book was still missing and she was unaware as to who had removed it. Odd that such a rare tome could be removed from a library without the librarian’s knowledge but maybe I am just seeing things within something that is totally innocent.

While St John and I were gone the others would go to the Prospero publishing house and question Mr Kensington in hope of ascertaining what Jackson was working on. They discover from Mr Kensington that Jackson was investigating the disappearance of the Sir Aubrey and Mr Robert Carlisle who had gone on an archaeological dig in Egypt and had later resurfaced in Uganda, supposedly murdered by terrorists. I was unaware but this appeared to be a follow up on a Panorama documentary whish had cast doubt upon the evidence and had hinted that there was another reason for the deaths.

Prospero press, smelling scandal, agreed to finance his research, obviously they had inkling that this could be a very profitable venture. Mr Kensington gave Adam a copy of Mr Jackson’s itinerary and allowed the team access to the emails Mr Jackson had sent regarding his progress. This was much more precise than what we had been able to bodge together using the stubs we had found within his luggage. Mr Kensington also reports that he sent the letter as Mr Jackson was not only his client but also his friend and he was aware that sometimes Mr Jackson had a track record for acting recklessly and getting into trouble.

The full itinerary of Mr Jackson’s travels were as follows: on March 18^th he travelled from London to Nairobi, then on March 23^rd he flew on to Kitale where he hired a car form Kitale on April 3^rd he flew on to Torore were once again he hired a car. Then on April 6^th he flew from Torore he flew to Kampala. He then stayed at Kampala for eight days before returning to Nairobi on April 14^th. Then on April 16^th he flew from Nairobi to Mombassa returning on April 19^th. When he returned from this trip however he sent an email to Mr Kensington informing him that he was convinced that there were white survivors from the massacre and that this was very important stating that he thought that this would be his greatest book yet.

Then on April 21^st he took a flight to Hong Kong. Shortly after this Mr Kensington received another email stating that Mr Jackson was convinced that the disappearance was linked to some kind of worldwide conspiracy. He then flew from Hong Kong to Shanghai on April 26^th.

From then on Mr Kensington believes Mr Jackson’s character changed. Before, despite all his previous works, it appears that Mr Jackson did not believe in the existence of genuine magic but he saw something in Shanghai that convinced him otherwise. Whatever he saw also clearly unsettled him and his e-mails show fear. This is obviously when he acquired the photograph and the book of matches.

From May 17^th he eschewed air travel entirely, taking the train from Shanghai to Beijing. After this his emails became even more erratic. Adam and Alex both feel that Mr Kensington is somewhat embarrassed for his friend at this stage. The email from Shanghai appeared to babble on about hideous dreams he was having about air demons and mutterings about the similarity between his dreams and those of Mr Robert Carlisle.

He departed from Beijing on May 18^th on the Trans Siberian express to Moscow. He sent Mr Kensington an email where he appeared to be convinced that it was unsafe to travel by air. In Moscow on May 23^rd he got a train to Odessa where he must have picked up the Pu 239 receipt.

From Odessa May 30^th he took ship to Port Said in Egypt where he sent an e-mail to Mr Kensington stating simply ‘It all started in Egypt’. This may have had something to do with the letter he had in his possession from Mr Najir to Mr Carlisle on June 11^th 2002, which when we checked was about several curios that he felt Mr Carlisle would be interested in as he was seeking knowledge of the land. Mr Najir’s shop was positioned at that time on the Street of Jackals, in the Old Quarter of Cairo; this may need to be looked into, assuming of course that the shop is still there.

Mr Jackson then got on a freighter leaving Port Said June 7^th bound for Limassol, Mr Kensington received an email bemoaning the lack of ships from Port Said to Piraeus at this time. In Limassol on the 8^th June Mr Jackson actually signed onto a luxury cruse ship to finish his journey to Piraeus yet his emails still appear erratic as if he were unable to relax even on a luxury cruise ship.

On the 13^th June he took a train from Athens to Thessalonica and from there he travelled onto Budapest, where he appeared to be still be suffering from his strange nightmares. It appeared that he in a rush to get home at this stage almost as if someone may have been pursuing him for he then got a train to Vienna on the 14^th leaving Vienna the following day bound for Strasbourg, from Strasbourg he then travelled to Paris on the 15^th extensively to follow up on a lead he had acquired in Egypt.

On the 21^st June he obviously felt that something was closing in on him as he mailed all his notes to his publisher. This was also were he sent his final email just before he boarded the Eurostar bound for London on 23^rd and on which he was murdered.

It appeared that the package had arrived at Prospero press that very morning but the notes were the jumbled mess of a madman…

‘Many names, many faces but all the same and towards one end. Need help. Too big too ghastly are these dreams like Carlisle’s? (Must check with Ursula if we can get a release to gain access to Dr Houston’s records) All of them survived. They’ll open the gate, Why? So the power and the danger are real many threads beginning the books are in Carlisle’s safe. Coming for me, avoid the air , but will the earth protect? Ho ho no quitters now. Must tell and make readers believe. Should I scream for them, lets scream together. This is a trap. Egypt warned Paris!’

Because of this it may take some time before we able to define anything useful from his notes. However we did find one item of note a business card from the El Wadi Export Company, which had an address for a man in Paris probably the lead Mr Jackson was following. I list both sides for reference below…

El Wadi Export Company, Silas U’Kwane,

Elgiesh, Ju-Ju house, Les Bosquets,

Abu Qir, Rue Degas,

Alexandria, Clichy-Sous-Bois,

Egypt Paris

As we reconvened my information was still to be compiled so I had nothing yet. St John had been successful in his research as it appeared the injuries were very reminiscent of a cult operating in North Africa named The Cult of the Bloody Tongue, which involved the worship of a god noted for having a long red tongue. St John also informed us that he believed that this was yet another avatar of the elder god Nyarlathotep, who as far as I can see is involved in much of the strangeness we have encountered in our earlier missions.

As an aside, on a quick scan through Mr Jackson’s notes I noted a few things. For one there was a reference to the Cult of the Bloody Tongue but I would require a longer look to ascertain if it had any meaning to the case. There was also mention of another cult which appeared to believe in the worship of the God of the Black Winds and a reference to his power base called The Mountain of the God of the Black Winds. This appears to refer to Mount Elgon in Kenya. This was supposedly the home of the Elgeyo tribe for many years but the followers of the Bloody Tongue may have scared them off.

Mr Jackson also remarks that there was something unusual about the itinerary and that may mean he wanted to look into it in particular when they chose to transfer from what was an archaeological dig to what was to all sense and purpose a safari within a game preserve.

As it is quite late by the time we have disseminated all the information, we decide to quit for the evening. However as we are breaking up Ursula arrives and asks for a progress report. Ursula listens intently before she informs us that some other evidence has come to light, to whit a man has been arrested in regard to the murder of Mr Jackson, a Mr Dahab Kiir, who appears to be a French national. It appears the man was found with traces of Mr Jackson’s blood on his shoes and is known to have contact with the Ju-Ju house in Paris. Ursula thought this was important and has arranged for certain members of our team to travel to Paris and work with the French to find out what is happening in regards to this house.

Barbara and Alex were chosen for this mission as both have law enforcement experience, while the rest of us would investigate the Penhew Institute, an appointment we had made for eleven o’clock the next day. Alex’s daughter was still with the child minder I was led to believe but he threw me his keys and requested that I should feed his cats, obviously seeing me as the most reliable member of the team remaining.

Fortunately Ursula does not leave her usual smoke screen. However, in my medical opinion I must note that she does not look at all well and that she appeared to coughing up blood. Obviously her emphysema is now quite severe. I have not seen her x-rays or her medical files but I would be surprised if she is not dead by Christmas.

Facts we ascertained about the Penhew Institute were as follows: founded in 1985 by Sir Aubrey Penhew who served as director and chief benefactor until 2002 when he stepped down and handed over day to day operations to Mr Edward Gavigan, essentially to take part in the dig organised by Mr Robert Carlisle, which was later to result in their deaths. The Institute moved to the present location, which is a specially designed building on Tottenham Court Road, in ‘91.

Friday July 25^th

After feeding the cats and taking my run I meet the rest of the team so we can go to the Penhew Institute together for our 11am appointment with Edward Gavigan. We report to reception where we meet a very pleasant dark haired young lady named Tracy Brent, who is the receptionist. When we told her we there to meet her boss she quickly contacted June Telson, who we understood later was Mr Gavigan’s personal assistant. Ms Telson escorted us upstairs where a fairly handsome man aged between thirty and forty years old introduced himself as Mr Edward Gavigan.

We informed him that we were the police and that we were here to investigate a lead regarding Mr Jackson because we had understood that the aforementioned Mr Jackson had been in contact with Mr Gavigan regarding the Carlisle Expedition.

I felt that Mr Gavigan was not overly convinced that we were who we claimed to be. Belinda, St John and Adam to be honest they don’t really look the part.

Anyway he asked us to come up to his office. Once there he confirmed what we already knew about the Penhew Institute. However he told us a few things we had not been able to dig up. Many of the exhibits were donated from Sir Aubrey’s own personal collection. He also informed us that funds to maintain the operation of the Institute had been garnered from many private donations, including a surprisingly a large number of prominent Egyptians and this was how the Institute was still able to get items out of Egypt as there is government embargo banning the exporting of artefacts.

It appeared Mr Gavigan knew Sir Aubrey quite well and he could give us a little bit of information about the sort of man he was. Sir Aubrey was a brilliant archaeologist with a strong view on many things. As he described him, I felt that Sir Aubrey was a man very similar in mind set to my own father for he did not suffer fools gladly. Also if he set his mind to something it would be out of character for him to go off on a tangent, such as what happened on the Carlisle Expedition. Sir Aubrey was said to be strong willed and was known to refuse to work with people who disagreed with his own strong view. In fact he had given up a job at the University College of London for this very reason. Sir Aubrey had many projects but his favoured one before his death had been the so-called Black Pharaoh, Nephren-Ka.

Following on from this we then began to question him about the Carlisle Expedition. Mr Gavigan informed us that Mr Carlisle arrived in 2002 offering to fund an expedition to Egypt and that he was willing to pay for it in its entirety. Mr Carlisle appeared to claim that he had several items in his possession that pointed towards the existence of Nephren-Ka within the third dynasty and that he had acquire certain curios that would show Sir Aubrey where to dig. Sir Aubrey was the only European archaeologist on the dig and while this is not unknown it is a little unusual, I am led to believe. The remainder of the Europeans involved were all Mr Carlisle’s friends and associates. The full team were as follows:

Mr Robert Carlisle, an American billionaire and playboy;

Sir Aubrey Penhew, a British Archaeologist trained at Gordonstoun and Oxford;

Miss Hypatia Masters, an American photographer and woman of means;

Doctor Robert Houston, an American psychoanalyst and Mr Carlisle’s personal psychiatrist;

Jack Brady, an ex-marine and mercenary serving as Mr Carlisle’s bodyguard.

The itinerary was as follows…

They left London on November 3^rd 2002 ostensibly to begin a dig at Giza. With all the logistics, including the set up of the camp and hiring of the diggers, they were ready to start on November 16^th. However, despite all the work it must have taken, within a space of ten days they had upped sticks and moved to Saqqara, arriving upon November 28^th.

Again they must have spent more time setting up than actually looking for anything as on December 6^th they moved again, this time to Dhashur, within the shadow of the red pyramid. They stayed a little longer here than the other sites but not by much for on 23^rd January Mr Carlisle moved the entire expedition to Kenya.

Sir Aubrey went with them to Kenya, which I found to be a little out of character for him as in my opinion he wasn’t the sort to change his mind. I brought this up with Mr Gavigan and he couldn’t give a definitive answer, only summarising that he may have followed them in hope of getting Mr Carlisle to change his mind. It must be noted, however, that when they set off the expedition had been widely covered by the press until the big move and then interest had simply died down only raising its head again eight months later when the expedition had turned up in Uganda, supposedly massacred by terrorists.

However, Jackson interviewed a mercenary in Nairobi who claimed that he had spoken to ‘J.B.’ in a bar in Hong Kong after the massacre. This could have been a reference to Jack Brady or it could have been meaningless; without knowing who mercenary was it is hard to judge, but it implies that at least one of the party may have survived the massacre.

Note: Egyptian Pharaohs had many names during their lives, never less than five. As I understand it, there are many gaps in the third dynasty with Pharaohs being added and then removed on a somewhat regular basis. However, there is supposedly no familial link between Zoser and Nephren-Ka, which would indicate that he should not in fact be in the third dynasty at all as that would almost result in an entirely different offshoot during the dynasty one thing everyone appears to agree on is that Huni was clearly the final Pharaoh of the third dynasty.

From what we are told there may have been many Pharaohs throughout the prominence of the Egyptians who may have been of Nubian descent. We also informed that black was not seen as evil as it is in western culture; instead, red was the colour of evil in Ancient Egypt.

Sir Aubrey claimed to have extra sources that Nephren-Ka was of Nubian birth and a senior counsellor serving within Zoser’s court and that when Zoser became senile and began to loose his grip Nephren-Ka stepped in. But this did not appear to go down well with the nobility at that time and there was unrest, particularly caused by Zoser’s sons who each began to carve out their own power bases. Nephren-Ka was, however, popular with his subjects. The Black Pharaoh, as far as normal research goes, gained prominence much later with the sixth dynasty. Supposedly a pharaoh only gains deity upon his death but this is unproven.

After imparting all this information to us Mr Gavigan offered to give us a guided tour of the Penhew Institute were he said that he would introduce us to who was presently in attendance. But before we set off I requested a draft of the itinerary of the Expedition, which he was able to provide. We did not meet everyone but the staff was as follows:

Mr Edward Gavigan Director

Mr Mike Charles Curator

Ms Catalina Fuentes-Fajardos Assistant Curator

Mr Abdul Nazif Assistant Curator

Ms Maria McMahon Conservator

Ms Brenda Fullerton Librarian

Ms June Telson Director’s PA & Office Manager

Ms Pat Loftus & Ms Harriet Downley Secretaries

Ms Tracey Bent Receptionist

Mr Mahmoud Al-Naami (aka Mark) Building Manager

Tom Grindle, Ted Waite, Alan Marsh and Sean O’Grady Security

There was nothing unusual we noted during the tour except when we entered the basement level. I noticed a door which Mr Gavigan appeared to overlook maybe it was just a cleaner’s cupboard or the air conditioning room but it nagged at me for I also noticed the basement area was considerably smaller than the floors above it. I kept this to myself until I had checked out my suspicions due to the fact that the space he did not show has nothing important in it and this may all be totally innocent. I decided to attempt to acquire the plans of the building just to be sure. With this in mind I contacted London’s Planning Office. They do have the plans on file but I was unable to acquire them before five o’clock.

When Belinda mentions Sir Aubrey’s death Mr Gavigan says that would be a financial nightmare as the Institute would have to give back the Penhew bequest, much of which involves funds already spent assigned to forthcoming projects. He also says the Institute would like to dispose of Sir Aubrey’s home, Penhew Place, out at Walton-on –the-Maze, but English property law prevents the Institute selling or even giving it away until Sir Aubrey has been legally dead for 7 years.

The rest of the day we just pore over Mr Jackson’s notes in hope of garnering some more clues. Just before five o’clock I excuse my self to go and get the blueprints I had ordered earlier. Lo and behold the basement is shown to be the same size as the floor above and a sizable area is shown. Expecting the question, I also note that generator and air conditioning units are listed as on the roof. Fully armed now with evidence of the mysterious space I bring my suspicions to the attention of the rest of the team. They are sceptical at first but when I show them the plans they begin to see things my way.

We now have to find a way to ascertain what is actually down there, noting that the area in question is directly below the Penhew Institute shop. If this is an innocent oversight we could just ask Mr Gavigan to show us the area, I suppose, but if it is something more sinister maybe we would just be alerting the enemy to our plans. I consider this while I cook what I feel is a nice healthy meal for the group. We have just finished when we receive a phone call from Alex.

Alex reports that he was met at the airport by man who called himself Inspector Georges Duquesne of the French police who then took them to the local police station. Ju-Ju house is in an area that houses many Algerians and there had been a number of riots in this area during the previous twelve months. Ju-Ju house claims on its lease to merely be a curio shop but the French police already suspect illegal going on behind its doors for they are fairly sure that it is also being used as an illegal pawn shop catering to the local Algerians.

The plan appeared to be that a police strike force would raid the shop and then Alex, Barbara and Inspector George would take a quick look around for anything suspicious. This initial part of the plan, according to Alex, went off like clockwork. The shop itself is a perfectly innocent curio shop yet there is an area below the shop that is anything but; a sizeable area had been dug away creating a basement with a large hole in the centre of the floor and alcoves covered with curtains.

Alex is unclear about the incidents within the basement. It appears that when they entered a large back man with a cloak and, judging from his description, four reanimated corpses attacked them. Alex claimed that they were both all right but then went on to say he had suffered an injury to his shoulder and that Barbara was in a French Hospital with abdominal injuries. (What is it about this group and abdominal injuries? Well at least it wasn’t from using the binoculars, which makes a change).

It appears that both injuries would cure quickly but I feel Alex may need to redefine his reports regarding injuries from now on. Fortunately the raid did not cause a riot, which was a worry.

It appears that a black man was the owner of the shop, a Mr Zehouane and he was killed during the incident in the basement. This was unfortunate as it may have been useful if we had been able to question him.

However the French have collected a few items that may be of interest. They are a rather garish cloak, which appears to have been made of flamingo and kingfisher feathers; an ebony mask depicting a grimacing face, something akin to African tribal masks but baring glyphs upon its inner surfaces; a coronet made of a strange grey metal, which also bore markings and surprisingly looked almost Celtic in form; a copper bowl approximately the size of a large soup bowl, once again marked with the same strange glyphs; a pair of gloves bearing lion claws (that Mr Zehouane used to injure Alex). Under Mr Zehouane’s body they also found a three foot wooden wand marked with a number of hieroglyphs.

Finally, in one of the alcoves they discovered a book entitled ‘Africa’s Dark Sects’ - surely this could not be just be a coincidence? When they checked the book they found that it was marked as belonging to the Harvard library and in fact this was the very book Mr Jackson had enquired about only to be told it was missing.

Alex claimed that the items had been given to a man at the Sorbonne who would investigate the items and give an assessment he and Barbara were due to have dinner with him that evening were he would give his assessment.

Ursula phoned us to ask for a daily report and we told what we had discovered, including the list of items recovered in Paris. It was clear that we needed to discover what was in the basement of the Penhew Institute and Ursula agreed. She also suggested that we should check out Penhew Place and we concurred.

We requested if she could sequester Dr Houston’s records regarding Mr Carlisle, which she believed could be achieved. We also requested that we may need to see the books Mr Carlisle may have in his safe but that may require talking to his sister, which Ursula suspected was less likely of receiving a positive outcome. Ursula then said she would need to contact Alex and the French regarding the items recovered at the Ju-Ju house.

This means we would need to arrange another appointment with Mr Gavigan where hopefully we could then discover what is in the mysterious room. St John claims he can use his divining rods to gain some sort of clue as to what is down there but using his divining rods in the shop may arose suspicion so the rest of us may need to create a diversion so he can complete his task. Anyway it was getting late and it was almost time for us to break up when I received an answer to my enquiry about the yacht.

It appeared Shanghai has two yacht clubs and while one was unable to help the second informed us that the yacht appeared on a regular basis but did appear to associate with any of their members. They also claimed that the yacht was very impressive and several members of club were jealous, as to the vessel’s name they believed it was called the ‘Dark something’.

The harbour master, on the other hand, was slightly more helpful as he gave a detailed report on three yachts, any of which may the vessel in question:

Darling May, registered in Australia;

Dar-Es-Salaam, registered in Tanzania (note. Tanzania is next door to Kenya);

Dark Mistress , registered in the United States.

These vessels will each need to be looked into in more detail over the next few days to hopefully find the owners.

Saturday July 26^th

First thing the next morning I have my breakfast then take my run and after that I ensure that Alex’s cats are fed all before I meet up with the others at nine o’clock. We phone the Penhew Institute when they open at ten and arrange another appointment to see Edward Gavigan at eleven thirty.

As St John wishes to try dowsing the area we ensure that we arrive for eleven o’clock where we once again meet Tracey who appears a little flustered about the fact we are half an hour early. However we alleviate her unrest by stating that we will look around the shop for a few minutes, which seems to please her.

While pretending to look at the wares the rest of us form a distraction while St John gets out his dowsing rods. Adam then appears to go into a trance for a moment before stating that there is definitely something below us - well to be honest this was only stating the obvious as he has already seen the blueprints of the building indicating that there is an area down there.

St John goes over the area a number of times, supposedly dowsing for different things. I thought you could only dowse for water - shows how much I know about dowsing, I suppose.

Before we arrived St John had told us the Penhew Institute was not on a ley-line so at least he wasn’t looking for them. St John gives up his dowsing when we note that Tracey is getting suspicious and he reports that there is definitely wood, steel and paper in the area and also that there is a machine of some kind which appears to him to be following a track.

We return to the reception just as Mr Gavigan arrives from his office. Once again we go with him back to his office and inform him that we would like to take a look at Penhew Place. He seems a little puzzled by this but agrees to allow us to do so. However it appears that the keys have gone missing and we hear him exchange a number of angry words with his personal assistant, June Telson, resulting in him sending her out too look more thoroughly.

In the meantime we bring up the mysterious door in the basement. Mr Gavigan appears genuinely taken aback when we mention this, (either he is a good actor or it was a genuine oversight in my opinion). He thinks for a moment and then he states that the area is in fact Sir Aubrey’s personal apartments, which he used when he was in town. Mr Gavigan readily agrees when we ask to be able to see inside but once we get to the door we find a locked and key carded door.

Mr Gavigan then tells us that Sir Aubrey was the only one with a key and that even Mr Gavigan’s own passkey would not let him into this area. Mr Gavigan surmised that there was possibly a second key at Penhew Place. Well it would make sense that there is a second key card somewhere as key cards are notorious for going wrong.

Being stymied by the door we return to Mr Gavigan’s office to find that Ms Telson has found the keys to Penhew Place yet she still appears reluctant and somewhat annoyed at both Mr Gavigan and the team when handing them over. We also request the security code for the alarm system so as not to cause undue issues, which again he hands over to us with the proviso that we lock up and reset the alarm when we leave.

Even though we really only need the post code to find the place Mr Gavigan insists on giving us directions to the house. We thank him for his time and inform him that if we find the key card we will return.

After leaving the Institute we make our way to MI13 where we intend to requisition the two cars we would be taking to Penhew Place. However, when we arrive we are informed that Barbara and Alex are on their way back from France and that we should pick them up at the airport. When we arrive we note that both are bearing wounds and Barbara certainly looks the worst for wear. Maybe this would be an opportunity to test out the healing spell, however Adam steps in and uses his Reiki on her and while this may help the mental side I am not overly sure if does anything for the physical.

Alex and I would be driving on the way to Penhew Place and the rest of the team split between the two cars: Barbara and St John come with me while Belinda and Adam go with Alex.

Now the trip to Walton on the Maze would normally take about two hours but the traffic is horrendous and it ended up taking us four. But this did give us time to find out what had happened in Paris the previous evening and Barbara was of course was only too willing to tell us. The professor informed them about the items they had recovered.

The flamingo and kingfisher robe is old and of East African origin. It was in a reasonable state but in his opinion it would require repair. The lion claws were also quite old and were either Central or East African in origin

The Spirit Mask ias linked to Enkai Narok but it appears there are two versions one is Enkai Narok ‘the Black’ who is a good god, while the other is Enkai Narok ‘the Red’ who is evil.

The three-foot sceptre is clearly African in origin as it made of acacia wood yet the hieroglyphs are clearly not Egyptian in origin but the professor gave a rough translation as ‘Ajok, thy power mine’ what ever that means.

The metal bowl he described as a labour of love for it is filled with runes some of which he claimed were repeated within the mask. The bowl itself is not made from copper but is instead made from an alloy known as ‘Copper from Above’.

Finally the grey metal coronet is clearly not African but he suspects that it is Celtic in origin and it bears sigils upon a band within its inner surfaces. Something is strange about; it the professors exact words were ‘it is familiar but not familiar’. Pictures of the lettering were sent to Belinda as she is our Celtic expert and she confirmed his suspicions; the symbols are clearly not Northern Celtic and while similar in syntax the lettering is clearly not Ogham.

As to the book, Africa’s Dark Sects, it has clearly been read through and certain passages have been marked in some way. The French are very eager to return this to Harvard but we would really like to have a look at it before they send it back.

What the professor said next came as no surprise to me following on from what Barbara had previously reported, as he had proceeded to talk about the reality of magic and the concept of ‘true names’. Suggesting that it is possible to ascertain a true name as both the essence of who you are and a description of the recipient.

True names it appears can change as circumstances change, thus a woman’s true name changes if she marries or has children. While on the other hand a man’s name may change with promotion.

With this knowledge he also felt that it might be possible to call the priest back and he implied that he could teach us this ability. He also claimed that he even may be able to assist us in creating a vision either by use of a crystal or even a corpse. As a final offer he even offered a spell which he claims can open locks, though it would not disable alarm systems. All we have to do is visit him at the Sorbonne and he will train us.

Well in my opinion the French appear to have their own version of MI13 and clearly both the professor and Inspector George are aware of supernatural entities.

With the long drive dragging on someone chooses to Google Penhew Place and we discover that it was built in the nineteen-twenties by Sir Edmund Penhew, who was Sir Aubrey’s grandfather. The house is built in Art Deco style and has a central atrium with two wings forming a flying V pointing southeast. The house is on the coast and has its own jetty.

As we approach the house we note that the grounds are well maintained and it is clear that even after Sir Aubrey’s supposed demise a gardener is still retained to work on the grounds. We park on the turnaround just in front of the main entryway and we get out of the cars. Before we enter however Alex feels that we should take a look around first and I concur. Adam on the other hand decides to stay by the cars.

We take a leisurely walk clockwise around the building and spot nothing except that the windows appear to be cleaned regularly and that the curtains for the most part are closed. As we return to the cars we find Adam sitting cross-legged on the floor near the entryway and he appears convinced that there is someone or something in the East wing and he also feels whatever is there is clearly unnatural in origin.

Noting this, we approach the house. Adam is somewhat reluctant. We unlock the front door and enter and I notice no beeping noise; when we check the alarm we surprisingly find that it is deactivated. Maybe Adam is right and there is someone in the house?

Slowly but surely we begin our search of the house. Barbara suggests we split up but I don’t think the rest of us are too keen on that. Somehow I feel more relaxed knowing that we brought weapons for Alex, Belinda and Barbara. I of course have brought my ubiquitous EMT kit with me.

Most of the search is uneventful as the state rooms are covered in dust sheets. However, St John’s dowsing confirms Adam’s suspicions that there is something residing in the southwest corner of the library. Oddly enough however the centre of the aura is not on the floor but high in the corner.

The only other item of note we find is in the map room as on the wall there is what appears to be a campaign map of Napoleon’s Expedition to Egypt 1798-1801, which we note also shows Giza, Saqqara and the red pyramid at Dhashur. The map is clearly made of leather but, despite the enquiry, not of human skin. The map appears very well preserved and has no notable cracks or damage of any sort on its surface.

Finally we have one last room to check and that is the library where the unnatural aura resides. Alex takes the lead here and opens the door to what at first glance appears to be an empty library. We look to where the aura is supposed to be only to see nothing. However there is a strange noise akin to a ghoulish tittering which emanates from that point. Also we notice a desiccated husk of a man lying near the door dressed in a shirt and jeans.

Even before we see the body the sinister tittering decides us to leave but there is clearly something in that room so hideous our sanity will not allow us to observe it.

However, as we are making our way towards to the front door we observe a figure outlined in the doorway. Before we can even speak the figure raises its arm and a pistol is clearly visible within its hand. We swiftly take cover just before the figure fires and then Alex begins to return fire. However the figure has clearly got the superior ground so we decide discretion is the better part of valour and that we need to find another way out.

In the end our exit is through the French windows to the rear of the house, which Alex shoots out for us. Several of the team suffer minor injuries from the broken glass but they are mostly minor and superficial and should swiftly heal.

What worries me more is that as we are retreating the sky darkens. As we look up we can clearly observe the moon passing in front of the sun to create a solar eclipse. Surely this kind of event would have been well reported in the press had it been a natural occurrence in a similar way to eclipse in ninety-nine? But there has been nothing in the papers. Are we really combating a group that has magic capable of this? If so I suspect we may well be out of our depth.