Returning to Hethercombe
The already grey, overcast day was turning even more unpleasant. Jacobs recommended departing for the manor in order to reach it before dark. The investigators agreed and proceeded in the coach with Jacobs driving.
Slightly over an hour into their journey, they spied a stranger out on the moors. He was dressed like a rambler and carrying binoculars, The stranger greeted the travelers with a cheery wave and bright smile before asking for directions back to Moreton-Hampstead.
Stone informed the man that he would not make it back to the village before dark. He asked what the man was doing out on the moors alone. The stranger introduced himself as Clancy Trombley, a solicitor from London down for a few days to spot birds. Ornithology was a hobby of his and one which could get rather obsessive at times. He had lost track of time as well as his bearings. Sir Jonathan suggested that he return with them to Hethercombe for the night. Trombley accepted their offer reluctantly, but Sir Jonathan insisted that it would be no trouble and that he was welcome.
At the Manor
On arrival at Hethercome, the team relaxed in the study while Jacobs saw to the dinner preparations and a room for Trombley. While they were waiting, Trombley asked about the case that they were investigating in an indirect manner. Neither Sir Jonathan, Stone or Warren had any experience loading bullets. It turned out the Trombley had experience from his military service in reloading shells. He volunteered to make the bullets for them.
Over dinner, Trombley realized that they were at the home of the deceased Lord Cotterill and that they were investigating his death. He probed for their theories on the case. When informed that the requested bullets were to be made of silver, Trombley admonished the investigators for caving in to superstitions. Sir Jonathan replied that all precautions were valid, even seemingly nonsensical ones.
After dinner, the solicitor took to the work of creating the silver bullets. Warren noticed that Trombley was very dexterous for an attorney. When he probed for their newcomer’s background, Trombley confessed to being a British intelligence agent, though he had no credentials to prove it, of course.
He was looking into the murder of Lord Cotterill, The telegrams between Burtle and von Steinhagen were intercepted. German interest in Cotterill’s designs had not gone unnoticed and his murder raised the question of assassination in order to gain the new weapons.
Stone advised Trombley that the safe had already been burgled. The agent was distressed. He added that the team did not believe that the escaped asylum inmate was responsible for the theft, though he may have had something to do with the murder. Stone explained that some tradecraft had been employed to effect entry and exit from the study with stealth.
Stone added that their next course of action was to investigate the asylum. Trombley pressed for their cover story. They could not mention any relationship to Lord Cotterill without arousing suspicion and possibly placing the asylum staff on their guard. Warren replied that they would use the cover of investigating the disappearance of Willy McTavish from the facility as the local constabulary was overwhelmed and somewhat inexperienced.
Trombley said that he was not able to do much more than observe since his arrival two days previously as interest in the matter by the British government would be scandalous if it got out. However, he volunteered to accompany the investigators and offer his pistol to their cause.
At Brackaton Asylum
After breakfast the following morning, they took the carriage to Brackaton Asylum. The gate to the grounds was padlocked from the inside. Stone pulled the bell pull several times, but it was a few minutes before a guard in a crisp Prussian style uniform approached with a baton in hand.
The guard was clearly a German, and spoke English with a clipped, officious accent. He asked for the nature of their visit. Warren informed him that they were investigating the escape of the inmate. The guard was impertinent until Warren intimidated him and they were admitted. They were escorted to main building.
The grounds were ill-tended and overgrown, the grass tall and unweeded. Gravel paths wound throughout the sanitarium’s estate, past the barren remains of flowerbeds or vegetable gardens. Copses of sickly-looking trees loomed over the grounds, casting spidery shadows on the pale grass. The rain had churned the ground to mud.
They guard knocked on the front door to the mansion and waited until a smiling figure dressed in a dark coat and vest opened it. The man was pale and exceedingly gaunt. Dark eyes glimmered from his sunken sockets, and his yellow grin was reminiscent of a skull. He introduced himself in perfect English as Dr. Lowe.
Warren was again intimidating and demanded to know if he was the director. Lowe replied that he was Dr. Muelhoffer’s associate, and then asked what their business was. Warren responded that they were investigating the escape of Willy McTavish and demanded to see all the asylum’s records. Lowe seemed cowed, and took them to a waiting room while he collected the requested materials and informed Dr. Muelhoffer of their arrival.
As soon as Lowe closed the door, Warren noticed that there was no door handle on the inside of the door. Others noticed gas jets placed periodically throughout the room.
After a few moments, Sir Jonathan beleived that he was turning into a werewolf. A bestial rage and animalistic hunger overcame him, but the sudden metamorphosis overwhelmed him and he fled to the far corner of the room. At the same time, Stone was paralyzed when he heard heavy, hoofed footsteps outside the room and the hideous bleating of some abominable goat. Trombley, on the otherhand, was compelled to action as he smelled smoke, and the walls began to feel warm. He was convinced that asylum was on fire!
Warren was surprised when his colleagues began acting strangely, until he also heard the bleating. Suddenly Sir Jonathan attacked Grant ineffectually. The knight was not an effective melee fighter. Trombley pulled his pistol, shot through the door and the handle mechanism, and broke own door. Leaving the others behind, he ran for the exit.
Once the door was open, the effects of the gas faded. Stone grabbed Sir Jonathan and pulled him toward the door. However, Warren and Stone then found themselves compelled into a rage to attack the nearest target, with Sir Jonathan between them. Warren failed to harm him, but Grant scored several hits before Trombley reappeared and noticed Dr. Lowe watching.
By this time, the delusions passed. Grant and Trombley each took shots at Lowe, who had failed to cast a spell at them. The psychiatrist ran off. The team followed cautiously. As he rounded the corner, Warren saw a door close down the hallway. The approached, and when ready, Warren kicked in the door.
Warren and Sir Jonathan were immediately grappled by octopus-like tentacles that were grafted to the torso of a deranged man. The monstered squeezed tightly, crushing the breath from their lungs. Lowe hid in the back of the room, which was a laboratory of sorts. As well as all the glass tubing, small oil lamps, textbooks, and other accoutrements of a mad scientist, there was also an operating table, organs preserved in glass jars, and a small library.
Stone and Trombley shot at Lowe. Lowe cast his spell again and Stone was incited to rage and attack Trombley until they were also grappled by the tentacle man. With his opponents incapacitated, Lowe ran away. The investigators fought back, repeatedly breaking free of the tentacles and getting grappled again. Ultimately they all managed to break free and shot tentacle man dead.
The Heroes
- Inspector Alabaster Warren, Scotland Yard
- Gravner Stone, notorious playboy and consulting detective
- Sir Jonathan Dennis Braun of Eatin-over-Heywoods, peer of the realm and wizard
- Clancy Trombley – British Intelligence Service