A slight change of plans for today.

At Mrs Salmalin's invitation, I will be joining her and Wilhelmina in visiting Sir Matthew Whemple. We will take Emily with us as well, though she seems a bit under the weather.

I sent a note round to Lady Ottoline's requesting a postponement of my swimming lesson. It seems important to interview Sir Matthew about his book, as it has aroused the interest of Sir Anthony's office. I also feel it is necessary to keep an eye on Wilhelmina to ensure satisfactory behaviour.

Meanwhile, we have received some interesting items in the post.

I received a long-awaited letter from Miss Metzger. She seems to be doing reasonably well. Apparently the postal service in her area is very slow. I wrote a reply immediately, and included a parcel with a little blanket and some stockings for her baby (I sent some of the larger ones I have made up--who knows how long the parcel will take to arrive, or how fast her child will grow).

Another, less welcome, bit of post was an anonymous note with a strange warning. It said, "The child you are tutoring is not what he appears," and went on to warn me of a connexion to a criminal organisation, &c, &c. What a waste of paper. I compared the note to the one I had received at the reception, but they didn't match. This one was on inexpensive paper, and seemed to have been dashed off hurriedly, by a reasonably literate but not highly educated man.

While I was puzzling over this, Edward came in and showed me a different note, warning him of an old enemy of his Grandfather's, and offering help. This was on good paper, and looked tidy and efficient, as though it had been written by a skilled clerk.

I commented to Edward that it seems to be all the fashion to write us ominous anonymous notes. He responded by composing a tongue twister.

He was still giggling about this when I sent him away so Wilhelmina could be ready in time for our appointment.

We are expected at Sir Matthew's at noon.

(Continued--late afternoon)

I should have known that our short indulgence of pursuing the seemingly least urgent of our present investigations would actually bring us to the heart of the most pressing matters. That is simply the way of things with the League.

When our little party arrived at "Nile House," Sir Matthew's residence, we found an investigation underway and none other than our own Inspector MacGreggor and my husband at work. Indeed, the Inspector had just sent for us and the rest of the League, but we had happened to leave before his summons arrived.

The police had been summoned this morning when Sir Matthew was found insensible in his study and numerous antiquities had been taken from his collection.

The largest and (to us) most significant item is a reconstructed replica of an ancient artifact, made with a quantity of terbinite, which we know is quite unstable (that is to say explosive) if not handled properly. The other items are various pieces of ancient jewelry.

The household servants had readily accused Davy Hawkins, a young apprentice clockmaker who Sir Matthew had engaged to assist with the reconstruction project. The boy was missing, and the servants assumed that he had called in some accomplices to rob the house. Wilhelmina privately told us that she knows the boy in question, and she adamantly vouched for his character. I would agree that simple robbery is probably not the issue here, as the reconstructed artifact and the notes would not interest the usual run of housebreakers.

Sir Matthew was still insensible when we arrived, staring open-eyed into nothing. The doctor could do nothing for him. Mr Frazer directed my attention to his clothing, laid aside in his room, because it smelled quite strongly of an herbal smoke or incense, which neither he nor I could identify. I had smelled the same scent diffusely about the different rooms about the house.

I took myself to the kitchen, ostensibly to request some refreshment, but also to learn what I could from the household staff (hoping to learn more than they might vouchsafe to the Police). The cook clucked over me, invited me to sit near the hearth, and gave me a cup of tea and some bread with strawberry preserves.
I overheard their various opinions about the shocking occurrences of the day, and not a little perplexity over a strange fit of dozing.

Eventually, the other members of the League arrived and were deployed appropriately. We collectively pried into every crevice of the house, and convened to share our information in an uncharacteristically efficient division of labour.

Mrs Cuthbert managed to rouse Sir Matthew, and he was then able to give some account of what had happened. Sir Matthew and young Hawkins had decided to test their reconstruction, and once it was turned on, its emanations seem to have affected their minds strangely. Sir Matthew then put the crown onto his head, and promptly fell senseless.

The Mystics then sought out a quiet place to do some scrying. They reported seeing the scene as Sir Matthew described it, then in continuation, they saw six or seven black-clad figures appear in the room. Those men took the reconstructed artifact and the other pieces, the notes and journals, and also gathered up the recumbent Hawkins. The Mystics have determined that the boy, and likely the artifacts and the ninjitsus as well, will be found somewhere in the Plumstead marshes.

Mrs Cuthbert believes that her sister, Madame DeVere, is somehow involved with these occurrences, but she is unable to be more specific.

We are back at Charles Street, preparing for our hunt and awaiting some of our partisans, including Sir Cosmo. He has gone to report the worrisome presence of a dangerous quantity of terbinite in the reconstructed device, in the hands of a group of ninjitsus. Sir Cosmo is requesting authorisation for the use of a boat..

Conveniently, Lt Wooster has been given (temporary) command of HMS Rhinoceros following the death of its aged Captain. It will not require a lengthy transfer of command or an excess of explanation for us to be brought aboard and taken through the waterways of the Marshes. I only hope that we will be able to find the boy and the terbinite before something dreadful happens to either or both.

Those ninjitsus are really becoming a nuisance!

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