4 June, 1870
(continued)
It wasn't quite dawn when a telegram from the master reached the house. The League has taken lodgings in the town of Gravesend. The boat captain will return them to the city after they have all slept. Dr. Wilson and the Marquis are "alive and none the worse for wear." The telegram indicates that they had not quite reached the mouth of the Thames when they caught up with the runaway balloon.
Much of the rest of the day was quiet while we awaited the return of the household, who arrived shortly after luncheon. Before they arrived Mr. Ramsay called once again. He seemed quite anxious to speak with Miss Whitnell and the master, though about what he did not say. I assured him I would inform of his inquiries the moment they returned.
Everyone was in quite a state as there had been no time to pack before leaving. We were quite busy assisting with changing clothes and getting cleaned up. I was able to piece together much of what had happened from conversations between members of the household, plus rather hurried summaries from the master, Edward, and Salmalin.
Dr. Wilson and the Marquis were the targets of black sorcery during their balloon experiment. Unfortunately, the owner of the balloon paid the ultimate price. The culprit seems to be Baron Blackhall, and the Marquis captured some photographic evidence.
Even more disturbing to the household is that several of them were troubled by very similar, and seemingly oracular, dreams. Mr. Jerrold Moriarty appeared in most of these dreams, quoting literature and apparently trying to communicate. Miss Whitnell seems the most fervently convinced that Moriarty is feeling penitent in the afterlife, and is trying to enlist their aid in preventing his erstwhile subordinates from calling him back to the land of the living.
I scarcely know what to think of this development. One hopes, of course, for the salvation of all souls, but it is difficult to imagine that someone with such a history of violence, cruelty, and murder could so easily be turned to the straight and narrow. I suspect that I am not the only skeptic among those who have heard of the dreams.
The dreams all had certain commonalities. There were allusions in each dream to the marriage between the master and Miss Chigwidgeon. There was a croquet game that either members of the household participated in, or they could see the others participating. They all could see Edward working on one of his machines. They all could see the master and Miss Chigwidgeon enjoy a rowboat ride on a pond. To each of them Moriarty mentioned something about Kali's blood, and how it could save the master and Miss Chigwidgeon.
The League has determined that this latter clue is a reference to certain legendary rubies purported to be solidified from the goddess's blood, and incorporated into ritual devices. Specifically a pair of daggers which Moriarty used, in life, for certain religious ceremonies. After Moriarty's death, George was given two packages which may have each contained one of these daggers to deliver to separate places. George does not remember the names on the package, but one was posted to General Delivery in one of the villages, and the other was delivered to a building in Stepney he is quite convinced he could find again.
Everyone seemed in agreement that locating these daggers was of prime importance. To that end, after notes were sent off to Mr. Ramsay, Sir Anthony, Mr. Frazer, and Inspector McGregor, Miss Whitnell and Mrs. Cuthbert performed another of their locating rituals, to search for the daggers. My understanding is that the spell communicates the direction and approximate distance, but does not yield enough information to lead one directly to the desired item by itself.
They had scarcely completed this activity when we received several visitors. First, Inspector McGregor arrived with the latest news in his investigation of the murders. I had barely had time to poor him some tea, when Lt. Pellew and Lt. Lochsley, of Her Majesty's navy, arrived. Lochsley was calling upon Mrs. Cuthbert, and upon learning of this. Pellew had decided to stop in to present a gift to Edward. He presented the book first to Miss Sinclair, to see if it met with her approval. The book is a fanciful account of the overseas adventures of a Captain Bingfield. Lt. Pellew, who is a navigator, said that receiving the book as a child had started his lifelong passion for geography, and he hoped that Edward might find it equally interesting. Miss Sinclair had scarcely had time to approve the book before Edward had snatched it from her, mumbled a quick 'thank you,' and sprawled upon the floor to begin reading it hungrily.
Later I was able to examine the book myself, and noted that it was printed on very fine paper, bound in tooled, high-quality leather, and appeared to be a first edition from the 1830s. The title page bore two inscriptions, one somewhat faded--apparently written some years ago--and in a feminine hand, the other quite fresh, and in the strong, bold handwriting the the lieutenant. The first inscription read: "To Shadrach, A land does not have to be seen to be real. Love, Mother." The second read: "Edward: Believing is seeing. Lt. Pellew." I was not aware that Edward and Pellew had become so close during their voyage, but I do recall Edward mentioned the "map man" several times--although Edward was most impressed by the fact that this "map man" had given him some very nice paper.
While Edward was examining his book, Lochsley apologized for having arrived earlier than planned. He said that he and Pellew had meant to drop in on their old shipmate, Lt. Wooster (who, I am given to understand, had to be returned to his cell after an unauthorized leave before the Inspector could officially set him free). Alas, Wooster had company. His brother was at his house, and they were expecting the arrival of their sister for tea and a discussion of "family business" at any moment.
Lochsley and McGregor had just begun to tell the tale of Wooster's release from jail, when Mr. Ramsay arrived, quite out of breath and clearly agitated. He had received a note from Young Mr. Graham which indicated that Graham had seen Mr. Xanthus somewhere in the city and was following him.
The household became, understandably, concerned. Everyone seemed to have an idea for how Mr. Graham could be saved. While Mrs. Cuthbert attempted, through her spiritual means, to locate Graham, the master began to explain a plan he had concocted for dealing with the problem of the criminal organizations fighting for control of London. He proposed that the League attempt to form an alliance with Mr. Xanthus against the more dangerous Baron Blackhall, Claude Moriarty, and Master Tandu factions. I must say this for the master's proposal: it left everyone, momentarily, speechless. Even Miss Sinclair seemed hard pressed to articulate her objections to the plan. I couldn't tell whether Miss Chigwidgeon was angry or just very surprised when she asked, "Isn't he the man that wants to kill you?"
Fortunately, Inspector McGregor was able to offer an alternative plan without specifically saying he thought the master's proposal was madness. It seems that the matriarchs of the Billingham and Molloy families have some sympathies for the intended nuptuals of Charlie Billingham and Charlotte Molloy. McGregor had the impression that the women of the two clans might be persuaded to talk some sense into the menfolk, and that some sort of alliance could be made between the families. Since neither family is interested in political intrigues, assassinations, nor mystic machinations, they would represent a more manageable problem for the Metropolitan police than any of the other factions.
Mrs. Cuthbert announced that Graham was in Southwerk, in a pub across the street from one of the clubs that the league has had to visit in recent days. When it was suggested that a small group, such as McGregor, Cuthbert, and Dr. Wilson, go to retrieve the boy, the women became insistent that the entire League should go along, in case Mr. Xanthus was travelling with his own entourage. So, Mr. Salmalin was charged with sorting the group out into the three carriages and the gig, and everyone, including Lochsley and Pellew, raced acrossed the city.
They returned in good time, with young Graham in tow. Mr. Graham and not seen Xanthus in the flesh, but rather in another of his oracular dreams. At some point in the near future, Xanthus is going to visit a cabaret going by the unlikely name of Les Fantastiques. Which just happens to be the establishment where Miss Chigwidgeon's half-brother is employed as an entertainer. It also, coincidentally, is where McGregor expects to meet a young woman who was a witness to the murder of the French diplomat, Le Rothierre.
Once it became clear that the League planned to returned to the club in the evening, Edward proposed going ahead as an advance scout, as he could rally the help of friends in the area. Surprisingly, Miss Whitnell and Miss Sinclair agreed, so long as George and Miss Bertilde accompanied him. As the three of them set off, I noticed that Lt. Pellew ambled out of the house, following a discreet distance behind them. Inspector McGregor took his leave at this time, as well, to follow some other leads in the case.
After consuming an early supper, the League, along with Mr. Graham, Lt. Lochsley, and Mr. Frazer, set out for Southwerk.
5 June, 1870
The League arrived home quite late. Some members were more scandalized than exhausted. Edward, Miss Bertilde, George, and Pellew were not with them, having remained behind to watch for Mr. Xanthus. Xanthus had appeared, briefly at the club, but had disappeared into the labrynth of connecting business establishments. Mr. Graham had returned with the League (some might describe his status as being in custody; certainly the ladies have taken him in hand 'for his own good'), and I was asked to make up a guest room for him.
Miss Chigwidgeon endeavored to explain what had transpired in Southwerk, though her acocunt was not exactly linear. It seems that before the League arrived, Claude Moriarty confronted Edward yet again. While he was accompanied by a number of his thuggee minions, they were still no match for Miss Bertilde, George, Edward, and Lt. Pellew. Claude barely survived the encounter, and wouldn't have lived long enough to be questioned thoroughly by Mr. Frazer if Mrs. Cuthbert had not healed the worst of his injuries.
Most of the League waited inside the cabaret for the arrival of Mr. Xanthus. Before he did so, three other gentlemen of interest made an appearance. Miss Sinclair's ne'er-do-well cousin, Peter, and two foreign gentlemen of unknown origin. According to Miss Whitnell, all three of the gentlemen are vampires. And they are the same three beings whom young Graham has been having disturbing dreams about since the death of Lord Feverstone's son. Somehow, Miss Whitnell contrived to spike the vampire's wine with holy water, which had a rather dramatic effect upon Peter Sinclair, setting him on fire, but did not seem to harm the other two.
Mr. Xanthus arrived after this unexpected commotion, and met briefly with a Mr. Dorian Grey, who was in a private box overlooking the stage.
That was the extent of what I learned until early morning, when Mr. Salmalin filled in a few more details. And a bit later, after Edward and the others arrived home and were able to tell me the rest.
Claude, it seems, is not Moriarty's son. He is, instead, simply one of Moriarty's henchmen who was attempting to parlay his physical resemblance to the Cobb into a position of power in London's underworld. Lt. Pellew, it transpires, is actually Jerrold Moriarty's son. When the League was travelling on H.M.S. Griffen, Pellew had noticed Edward's unusual feet, and deduced that Edward was a relative of some sort. After returning to England, he was able to confirm that Edward was his hitherto unknown son. So he came to visit and renew the acquaintance as a way to have some place in his child's life. He had not yet decided how to broach the subject, when Claude made his move and forced Pellew's hand. Edward seems quite pleased that Claude is not his father. Miss Bertilde confirm's that Pellew has prehensile feet similar to Edward's.
Most of the League waited inside the cabaret for the arrival of Xanthus. This seems to have scandalized Miss Sinclair to no end. Although I'm not yet certain which upsets her more: that she may have been seen inside such an establishment, or that Miss Chigwidgeon's brother sings on stage in a gown.
As soon as members of the household began to awaken, Pellew sought out Miss Whitnell to explain about a small difficulty. He had shown Edward Jerrold Moriarty's old ring. While looking it over, Edward had slipped the ring on his finger. The ring had immediately shrunk, somehow, to fit Edward so snugly, it could not be removed. Miss Whitnell examined the ring and pronounced it as possessing Kali's aura. Edward was sleeping quite soundly through most of this examination. He awakened with only the greatest reluctance.
The household had just sat down to breakfast when Sir Phillip arrived. His man came to the door and announced that Sir Phillip had news for the master from Sir Anthony. The master excused himself and stepped outside to conduct the interview in Sir Phillip's coach. At a suggestion from Miss Whitnell, Dr. Wilson has offered young Graham the job of Corresponding Secretary. Dr. Wilson's fan mail has become quite prodigious, and the ladies believe that young Graham's talents are better suited to work with the League than his current employment. Since Graham idolizes Dr. Wilson so, this seems to be a good arrangement. He set to work immediately going through the pile of unopened mail.
Over breakfast there was talk of new dreams. Miss Whitnell, Miss Chigwidgeon, Mrs. Cuthbert, Miss Sinclair, and Edward had all had similar dreams, again, though not as similar as before. Miss Whitnell said that she dreamed mostly of her deceased Great Aunt, her advised her to take the initiative in the current conflict with Lady Miranda and her allies. Miss Sinclair had a dream of a strange tea party, "Right out of that ridiculous book, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland!" Though she was upset about the part where Edward had become chained to the table, and one of the mad tea partiers had talked of cutting out his heart. Miss Chigwidgeon said she had dreamed of being invited to the Queen's for croquet, and that Edward had been in playing chess in her dream, and the Nigel had made some ominous predictions about the future. Mrs. Cuthbert dreamed of speaking with a caterpillar who told her that the League was wasting time chasing the puppets when they should worry who the puppetmaster was. She said the dream then revealed that the "cheese man" was the puppet master. Edward only mentioned that he had played a game of chess with Miss Chigwidgeon and Lady Miranda, and that Lady Miranda cheats.
There wasn't much agreement as to what the dreams meant, but everyone seemed to think that the next logical course of action should be to rescue Miss Brody (Miss Wilhelmina's mother). Inspector McGregor had learned that Miss Brody was being kept inside "Bertie" Molloy's home, much to the displeasure of Mrs. Molloy. It is believed that Molloy hopes to broker some sort of deal with Lady Miranda and Baron Blackhall, since Miss Brody is necessary to their plans for re-incarnating the Cobb.
The master returned and announced that Claude has been cooperating with the authorities. Between the information Claude has provided, and what Edward, Pellew, and Miss Bertilde witnessed while following Mr. Xanthus, the police are prepared to arrest Xanthus on various charges. They also now know who hired Claude to harm Lord Clarendon and "take action against a French official in such a way to to cause both the French and Bristish government's to distrust each other." The Foreign Office is going to deal with this other person. Sir Anthony wishes the League to settle the Cobb factions problem.
Dr. Wilson returned home (he had stepped out on a matter of business) with a new companion. He introduced us to Mr. Seamus O'Flaherty, an even more moutainous individual than even Mr. Chigwidgeon. Mr. O'Flaherty has been hired by the Stein brothers to guard Dr. Wilson (or, more accurately, their investment in Dr. Wilson's laboratory and research). Mr. O'Flaherty is American, of Irish ancestry, and appears to come from solid, working class stock. He is certainly a more practical-minded man than Dr. Wilson.
Mr. Weasely, who has been corresponding with Miss Whitnell, arrived to discuss the situation with Baron Blackhall. It seems that the Office of the Lord High Warlock (I could scarce imagine such a thing exists! Yet, now I know that it does, as both Sir Anthony and Mrs. Godwin have confirmed it!) is quite interested in taking the Baron into custody. Once he was apprised of the current situation, he assured Miss Whitnell and the master that office would be able to provide protection for Miss Brody while efforts continued to thwart Baron Blackhall and Lady Miranda.
The League set out, therefore, to extricate Miss Brody from the Molloy home. Mr. Weasely agreed to wait at the house, and asked to be able to send a message to his superior. The master sent off a note to Sir Anthony, asking for validation of Weasely's credentials, and Miss Whitnell sent similar notes to Mr. Ramsay and Mrs. Godwin. Their replies arrived before the League returned.
The League arrived back home rather sooner than I had expected. They had a strangely subdued Miss Brody with them. They proceeded, with Mr. Weasely, to take Miss Brody to a more secure location. They said they would pass through Stepney on the return trip in an attempt to locate the building to which George delivered one of the packages after Moriarty's death. While they were away, a note arrived by special messenger for the master. I recognized the Sir Phillip's seal upon the envelope.
They arrived some time later, with a large box which contained one of the missing daggers. They had also, it seems, decided to perform a seance to speak directly to the spirit of Moriarty. He confirmed that he had been trying to warn them of the plans of his fellow associates. He also explained to them the identity of the "cheese man." Some mythological creature from hindu folklore, though I didn't quite understand it. This was explained to me only hurriedly, because the master had scarcely begun to read Sir Phillip's note when Mr. Weasely arrived again, this time in the company of his superior, Mr. Poppins.
Baron Blackhall, Lady Miranda, and several of their associated had been seen unloading suspicious items to a warehouse on Bishopgate Road. Sir Phillip's letter contained similar information. Mr. Poppins suggested that the League join his Office in the attempt to capture the Baron.
Everyone agreed.
~later~
The League has returned home. We have another guest. Mr. Fong Chigwidgeon, Miss Chigwidgeon's brother, will be spending the night. If the Cuthberts are not able to move into the house next door soon, we may have to start putting up guests in the music room!
Several members of the League have been wounded. The most serious injury seems to be a gunshot wound sustained by Mr. Cuthbert. Edward tells me that Baron Blackhall's odious coachman, Parrington, was the culprit. Parrington was foolish enough to think that a wooden crate full of handblown bottles would be an adequate shield against Mr. Cuthbert's rifle. It was not. Parrington will no longer be corrupting the morals of young ladies or cheating at cards, I'm afraid.
But I am getting ahead of myself. Lady Miranda, Baron Blackhall, and a group of six hindi women (who appear to be the group Mr. Frazer's informants referred to as "the Widows") were preparing to perform some sort of magickal ritual. They had been trying to summon Moriarty's spirit, despite not having the mystical daggers, nor all the persons who had been involved with his death. Perhaps they intended to perform the ritual in stages. In any case, they had abducted Fong Chigwidgeon, apparently having mistaken him, in his costume for his next singing performance, for his sisters. The sorcerer and sorceresses were being guarded by a rather large group of thuggees.
Master Tandu and another group of thuggees arrived at nearly the same time as the League. Apparently Master Tandu had not been informed of the ritual, and had come to demand an explanation from his colleague, Lady Miranda.
There was no time for anyone to explain. Salmalin asked the others to leave Master Tandu to him, and he charged toward Tandu's group. Dr. Wilson, Mr. O'Flaherty, the Marquis, Edward, the master, Miss Chigwidgeon, George, Miss Bertilde, and Mr. Cuthbert took on the other group, while the mystics began their own ritual to try to undo the other ritual in progress. Inspector McGregor stood guard over the mystics, firing at any thuggees who approached.
Mr. Cuthbert's first bullet was aimed at the large knot in the rope which bound Fong Chigwidgeon to a chair inside the mystic's circle. He then began picking off thuggees. Edward did not participate in the fisticuffs. Instead, he stopped in mid run and began chanting in hindu. Edward remembers none of this. Miss Chigwidgeon tells me that Jerrold Moriarty possessed him, and used the powers of his ring to assist the mystics. Mr. O'Flaherty laid into the villains with his bare fists, and seemed as capable of defeating enemies as Mr. Salmalin or Miss Bertilde. Baron Blackhall used his black magic to knock Dr. Wilson temporarily senseless. He was then set into a similar situation by Moriarty. Miss Chigwidgeon fired her rocket parasol at Lady Miranda. Fong Chigwdigeon did get loose, thanks to the damaged ropes, and took hold of one of the large bronze candle sticks surrounding the ritual area and laid into the sorceresses. The remainder of the sorceresses were rendered senseless by the spell from the mystics. As soon as the evil mystics were defeated, Moriarty left Edward's body, and his ring returned to its normal size, falling to the floor.
There were still a number of thuggees to deal with, which took several more minutes. Before he had been bewitched, Dr. Wilson had fired one of his rockets into the underground passage from which Tandu had emerged. Unfortunately, the explosion started a fire, which was fueled by the coal gas pipes under the warehouse. During all of this time, Salmalin was fighting most of Tandu's group single-handedly.
Miss Chigwidgeon described that portion of the fight in great detail. Salmalin moved too fast for her eye to follow, at first. He did not use his punch daggers. Instead, he started disarming the other thuggees, all the while urging them to surrender and "return to the truth path of Kali." The more furiously they fought, the faster he seemed to become. At one point, Miss Chigwidgeon claims, when Mr. Cuthbert fired at one of the thuggees, Salmalin moved so swiftly that he knocked two of the other thuggees out of the path of the bullet. It was apparent to the league at this point that Salmalin was trying to defeat them without killing them.
Eventually, it was down to Salmalin and Tandu. The rest of the League (and Mr. Poppins' assistants) had been busy carrying the unconscious people outside, and loading them into police wagons. The mystics had been trying to magickally subdue the fires below the warehouse to ward off an explosion.
Tandu refused to surrender. Salmalin refused to be beaten. Miss Chigwidgeon was so excited at this point of her narrative that she slipped into her native tongue on several occasions, and then had to translate for me. Of course the two men were speaking to each other in that language, so that is how she remembers it. Tandu vowed to kill Salmalin. Salmalin asserted that it would not be a victory. "You will kill me, but you will not defeat me," is how Miss Chigwidgeon translated it. Finally, Tandu fled into the underground basement, right into the raging flames. Salmalin followed, but then, as more small explosions occurred, he came back. Everyone retreated from the warehouse. The rest of the mystics eventually were able to put out the fire.
Miss Chigwidgeon then told me that she asked Salmalin how he had been able to move so fast. He told her, "You told me how to do it. You said we were all connected." She wasn't sure she understood what he meant. I confessed that I don't understand the magickal arts or spiritualism or any of that, but I promised her that if I had any brilliant revelations on the subject, I would tell her about them.
Mr. O'Flaherty, the Marquis, Dr. Wilson, Mr. Cuthbert, and George all had wounds which required bandaging in the least, and some spiritual attention from Mrs. Cuthbert. Mr. Salmalin said that he was only bruised. However, after the rest of the household had gone to bed, he required some assistance getting undressed. George and Stuart were helping him when I came in with a towel and a basin of water. There was hardly an inch of his skin that was not purple! I sent Dennis off to draw a hot bath, and then we carried Salmalin to the tub.
While I was attending to the nastiest-looking wounds, Salmalin remarked, "I shall have to tell Miss Chigwidgeon and Miss Whitnell. They will accuse me of being less than honest with them." He had an odd twinkle in his eye, so I simply made a non-committal noise and continued my work. He added, "I didn't mean to be. I hadn't quite realize how bad it was."
There was some commotion upstairs during this. I didn't hear what it was. Patsy had been making the spare bed, and apparently heard whatever it was, but she wouldn't divulge anything, other than to say, "Some men are too stubborn to see the nose on their own face."
I am quite at a loss as to what she means, but I am sure that it will sort itself out eventually.
Proceed to 7. Perhaps some sort of nightmare
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