New York City, U.S.A:
18:02 PM:
First we had the name of the bar in Hong Kong where Jackson met Nails and was told that Jack Brady was still alive. However he is most assuredly long gone from this location now.
Secondly, and marginally more useful, Jackson mentions Carlyle’s lover “Anastasia” for the first time. Can Irma check press society pages on this? We had previously thought Carlyle’s love interest on their doomed expedition was Hypatia Masters.
More pressing items may arise but deserves some additional scrutiny.
19:00 PM:
Coffee was brewed and then yet another sheaf of notes was brought out by Jonah. These are a lot less ordered and more roughly written. These are Jackson’s London notes and were written just weeks before his return to New York and his untimely death.
The key item is a very scrappily written note.
The Investigations Begin:
18:20 PM:
Irma, Joseph and Gupta continue to go over Jackson Elias’s notes at the offices of Jonah Kensington’s Prospero Press.
After careful perusal and endless re-readings of the same documents again and again and again, and which oddly seemed to get more and more long winded and detailed every time they were read, a couple of additional pieces of information were gleaned from the Nairobi notes.
First, we had the name of the bar in Hong Kong where Jackson met Nails and was told that Jack Brady was still alive. However, he is most assuredly long gone from this location now.
Secondly, and marginally more useful, Jackson mentions Carlyle’s lover “Anastasia” for the first time. Can Irma check press society pages on this? We had previously thought Carlyle’s love interest on their doomed expedition was Hypatia Masters.
More pressing items may arise but deserves some additional scrutiny.
18:40 PM:
Coffee was brewed and then yet another sheaf of notes was brought out by Jonah. These are a lot less ordered and more roughly written. These are Jackson’s London notes and were written just weeks before his return to New York and his untimely death.
The key item is a very scrappily written note.
(SEE HANDOUT 22) – The Nairobi notes by Jackson Elias given to Irma by Jonah Kensington:
After careful scrutiny, Jonah and the Investigators deduce that the note reads as follows:
JACKSON ELIAS: LONDON NOTES – UNDATED
Many names, many forms, all the same and to one end. Need help. Too big, too ghastly.
These dreams – dreams like Carlyle’s? Check that psychologist’s file.
All of them survived. They will open the gates. Why? To whom? To what? Therefore, the power and the danger are real.
They…(blank line follows)
Many threads beginning. The books are in Carlyle’s safe.
Coming for me, will this ocean protect?
Ho Ho no quitters now. Must tell and make readers believe.
Should I scream for them? Let us scream together.
There are 40 pages of this in an extremely agitated and nervy style. Some are barely legible and attest to the fragility of poor Jackson’s state of mind at this point.
Leads:
Might have to go to Carlyle’s house in Westchester, up-state New York though not sure if we will be able to access the books. Need to speak to Erica Carlyle who is now running the family business and who returned to USA after travelling to Africa to trace her brother in May 1920.
Not sure, to which Psychologist Jackson is referring but we to try to find out. Could be that it refers to Erica Carlyle’s dreams and not Roger. Need to find out. Maybe the shrinks name is recorded somewhere. Maybe it is Dr Robert Huston, but an arrogant dominating buffoon like him would have them sealed. Therefore, I would query how Jackson would have got access to them.
18:48 PM:
Meanwhile, Trent nervously waits it out for the cops in room 410 of Hotel Chelsea sitting in a room containing 3 corpses contemplating the accidents of fate. The man at the window is still alive. Seeing that he has blood on his lips Trent considers emptying his trench gun in the guys face but decides that he must be kept alive and only thumps his unconscious body with the butt of his gun.
It does not assuage the venom and hatred he feels inside but he feels better for doing it anyway. Not like the guy needs ribs to speak and he’s got at least one good lung so Trent figured he could happily puncture the other one. He noticed track marks on the man’s arm. Same dangerous habit as Greg. Trent has been meaning to have words with his old comrade about that, but nothing that cannot wait. Taking a slug from his hip flask, he drinks to Jackson’s memory, lights a Havana and waits for New York’s finest.
He stares at the body but is unable to discern anything from the strange pattern cut into Jackson’s head.
Eventually 3 cops burst through the door pointing their service .45s at Trent. Unfazed Trent calmly stands up, raises his hands and points out the corpse on the bed and then to the blood on the lips of the unconscious man.
Two of the officers puke at this horrible scene and then roughly manhandle Trent down-town to the 23rd precinct house. The unconscious assailant is kept under guard and taken to a New York hospital.
Trent does not want to give the cops anything and does not mention Gupta, Irma or Joseph.
In time, they will work out that Trent’s unfired .38 did not kill any of the assassins, much to Trent’s acute embarrassment.
The unskilled detective quizzes Trent but it is clear that Trent did not do it and he walks out. Then another detective walks in with a pile of case files. His name is Chief Martin Poole. He hesitates at first but then shows that he has down his research and is aware of several of Trent’s previous cases. He then admits that this is the 9th person to be murdered with this symbol on his face. The majority of the victims have been Negro but there are Caucasian victims too. Trent is allowed to look over the case files.
Among others, the 6 named victims are a Reverend Elijah Johnson, a distinguished churchman from Harlem; Walter Van Buskirk a down at heel New York private eye; Roberta Barlow, a young Negro schoolmistress and the only female victim; Adolf Thermond, middle aged Negro; Michael Conolly and Rickie Cedanicci a low level bootlegger from a rival operation to Donelly’s gang. The other two victims remain unidentified. All were murdered in Manhattan and all were stabbed, probably with Prangas or other large knives, and all had the same symbol cut into their heads.
This is the symbol of the Bloody Tongue. Trent shares this and informs the chief that the knives were probably Kenyan in origin.
Possible Leads:
1. It might be worth speaking to church colleagues of Elijah Johnson, to see where his church was and whether he had had any run-ins with suspicious types recently.
2. Similarly, if Van Buskirk was on the PI register it may be possible to track down his case notes and find out what he had been working on recently?
3. Joseph may even be able to sniff around the bootleggers and find out if there had been any trouble recently.
4. As Trent was questioned and as Chief Poole had been really honest with him, Trent comes clean about Donelly having accompanied him at the apartment. On the 16th, Joseph goes to the police station and gives a short statement after that both men are free to go. Happily, Irma and Gupta are not brought up and asked for questioning. Chief Poole knows Trent’s style and firmly orders Trent to do every by the book and report back to the Chief with anything he might find.
5. The man on the window ledge died in the night screaming in his hospital bed. Seems his weakened heart gave out in the throes of some terrible nightmare. Could be cultists, we know Ozymandias the Ghoul affected our dreams in the past.
While Trent was being questioned, Greg contacted his old work colleagues down at the Manhattan morgue. At midnight, he was able to see the body of Jackson Elias.
6. It is confirmed that Chief Martin Poole is dealing with these cases and that Jackson is the 9th such homicide. Poole is well regarded, honest and hard working but is understandably being pressured to break the case.
7. Also on the night of the 15th / 16th January Gupta, Irma and Joseph drive by the offices of Emerson Imports. A business card of theirs had been found in room 410 earlier.
8. It was a well kept, well ordered if nondescript warehouse with 2 new trucks outside a large loading area and an upstairs office. No one seemed to be around. Taking a big chance Irma used his climbing skills to shimmy up a drainpipe and break into the upper storey office. Looked for any pertinent files but found nothing to help our investigations.
In the morning of the 16th with Joseph due to report to the 23rd precinct, Wesley and Trixie head off to Harvard University to speak to the librarian, Miriam Arkwright. They will then head on to Arkham to enquire about the lecture by Professor Anthony Cowles. They are following up leads relating to handouts 16 and 17.
Having had no bad feelings from Emerson’s office; Irma, Gupta, Greg and Simon resolve to visit the office and speak to the man in charge.
19:00 PM:
Greg and Gupta stay outside with two bulging sports bags while Simon and Irma visit.
Mr Emerson is very approachable and most sorry to hear about Jackson’s demise. He confirms that Jackson did visit just a few days ago trying to locate the US agent of a Kenyan importer called Ajah Singh based in Mombasa. Emerson was happy to confirm to confirm just as he had told Jackson previously, the US agent was a Silas N’Kwame of Ju-Ju House, Ramson Court; Harlem. At junction of 13th and Lennox.
Emerson could not put his finger on it but just did not like Silas N’Kwame. He said they did not do much business just two or three tea chest sized sealed crates delivered in the last few months. All labelled miscellaneous tribal curios and antiques. All deliveries have been from Africa. Mr N’Kwame has never sent anything back.
Ju-Ju is an African word for witch doctor magic and this business name immediately raised suspicions with the investigators.
Emerson confirmed Jackson had told him he was going to visit Ju-Ju House and so this location could be one of the last places Jackson went before his murder.
19:10 PM:
It is now early evening and Wes and Trixie have arrived at Harvard. Miriam the librarian is most helpful and confirms that Jackson was looking for a book called “Africa’s Dark Sects” written by Nigel Blackwell and self-published. Purchased for the university library by a London agent. As it was an obscure one-of-a-kind book, it was retained in the reference section of the library and should never have been removed.
However, when she went to look for it for Elias Miriam had found that the book was missing and that there was an odd smell around the shelves where it was kept. A smell akin to a wet dog or rotting meat.
As they were already at the Harvard library, one of the best in the US, Wes and Trixie decided to look for any references to the Cult of the Bloody Tongue. After several hours all that Wes can glean is that the cult is centred on Kenya but may have originated elsewhere.
It has been a while researching and the pair resolve to stay overnight at Harvard and travel on to Arkham the following day. This will on the 17th January 1925.
19:23 PM:
Meanwhile Simon Gupta Greg and Irma leave Emerson Imports and drive to Harlem to check out Ju-Ju House.
It is a small shop in a quiet Harlem street. The Investigators watch as over the course of a couple of hours three or four customers enter and exit the shop.
They get restless and despite Greg’s urging for more backup; they enter the shop. Greg carries a bulging tool belt under his overcoat a doctor’s bag, which is larger than the one he has used of late and a sizeable backpack. The others are less guarded and enter with shoulder and ankle holsters.
It is a small shop with seemingly no stockroom. All the stock is on the shelves laid out in quite a chaotic fashion but looks pretty authentic.
Irma poses as a film-maker who wants props for his new film. The elderly shopkeeper introduces himself as Silas N’Kwame from Kenya. As Irma outlines his needs for the film, he drops Jackson Elias and The Cult of the Bloody Tongue into the conversation. Irma also shows Silas an illustration of the symbol carved into Jackson’s head. Silas N’Kwame seems unreactive to these names or to the picture. He must be very circumspect and have good self- control but no one thinks Silas is an innocent. He explains that he lived in Kenya and has moved to New York only quite recently.
Greg examines several Prangas and asks Silas about them. However, they are quite blunt and do not appear to have been used at all recently.
The investigators leave and plan their next move. Greg’s adrenalin is up. It is time for Jackson to be avenged.
