Introduction
A group of intrepid investigators assembled in New York to meet with Jackson Elias, an author who had been researching the story of the Carlyle expedition. Elias had sent a telegram to his friend, Lya Brighter, asking her to assemble a team of investigators. Lya then sent out a telegram to frinds and associates she considered reliable investigators, inviting them to join her in New York. The group consisted of: Lya Brighter (reporter for Enigma magazine who had been originally contacted by Elias), Alisa Blankstone (stockbroker from Boston), Eleanor Adelaide Parker (photographer from Cincinnati), Professor Mills Fairwether (NYU climatologist), and Sergeant Dan'l Boom (formerly U.S. Army, now running his own demolition firm). Scott Theobald (engineer and antiquarian) and Rupert Madasheck (newspaper publisher) had also been contacted but were not in the NY area.
From research at the Boston Globe, Lya and Alisa learned that the Carlyle expedition had been organized by a New York playboy and socialite in 1919, with the support of the Penhew Foundation. The expedition traveled to London and then to Egypt, for unspecified archeological work. After several months, the Carlyle expedition then traveled to Kenya for a photo safari (sort of a break from the archeological work). Somewhere near the Great Rift Valley the group was massacred by unfriendly natives. The bodies were never recovered, and Carlyle's sister eventually had to travel to Kenya to get her brother declared legally dead.
Thursday, Jan. 15
After arriving in New York, the investigators visited Elias' publisher, Jonah Kensington of Prospero Press. He informed them that he did not know when Elias would arrive but advised them that he would call when he heard anything. Later that day, a message arrived from Elias asking them to meet him at his hotel that night at 9 PM.
After dinner at the Tavern on the Green, the group took a taxi to the Chelsea Hotel and knocked on Elias' door. There was no response. Lya went downstairs to wake up the security guard, while Mills and Daniel forced open the door.
Inside they found three thugs ransacking the room. Two of the thugs attacked the investigators while the third tried to escape via the fire escape. Alisa fired a warning shot with her derringer but the thugs were not deterred. Mills killed one of them with his handgun, while the other thug wounded Daniel with a knife. Mills shot the other thug in the leg. Meanwhile, Alisa and Eleanor subdued the third thug and tied him up in the window curtains. While Eleanor sat on the unconscious villain, Alisa gathered up the documents the thug had been carrying and hid them in her purse.
Lya returned with the hotel manager and discovered the body of Elias on the bed. He had been stabbed to death and a strange symbol carved in his forehead. Lya went temporarily insane at the horrific sight. Mills recognized the symbol as that associated with an African death cult.
The police eventually arrived and noticed that the second thug had bled to death. Impressed by Alisa's demeanor, they realized that the investigators were innocent bystanders. Alisa learned from Lieutenant Martin Poole that there had been eight other similar murders in the past year Eleanor watched the police photographer in action and observed that the thugs had broken into the room from a window leading to the fire escape. An ambulance was summoned. Lya was sent to Mt. Sinai hospital for sedation and overnight observation, while Sgt. Boom was also sent to the hospital for stitches.
Shaken by their brush with the death, Mills, Alisa, and Eleanor decided to go to a speakeasy. There Alisa ordered a bottle of Cutty Sark, while Eleanor and Mills shared a pitcher of martinis. They danced the night away to the tune of "Desert Caravan" by Duke Ellington.
Friday, Jan. 16
The next day the group assembled at Mt. Sinai hospital and found that Daniel and Lya were all right. They examined the material taken by Alisa and found: a letter to Roger Carlyle from a man in Cairo, a business card from the Penhew Foundation, a matchbook from the Stumbling Tiger bar, a grainy photograph of a Chinese harbor, a business card from Emerson Exports in New York, a letter from a Harvard librarian, and a notice describing a lecture to be given at NYU about Australian folklore.
The group split up to pursue these leads.
Sgt. Boom managed to find that the Stumbling Tiger bar was located in Shanghai, China.
Mills phoned the Harvard librarian and discovered that Elias had attempted to borrow a rare book on African cults but had been unsuccessful, due to the fact that the book had been stolen. He then returned to NYU and located the professor giving the lecture on Australian folkore and invited him to dinner that evening.
Alisa and Dan'l want to Emerson Exports, posing as a married couple. They noticed many crates from Mombasa, Kenya. They also learned that Elias had intended to visit a store in Harlem called "Ju-Ju House" that imported many objects from Africa.
Lya and Eleanor went back to Prospero House and obtained a rundown of Elias activity during the past few months. He had traveled to Hong Kong, Kenya, Egypt, and London and was convinced that the Carlyle expedition had survived the massacre and were still alive. Elias had taken passage aboard a tramp freighter (the Phalarope) in Liverpool. Jonah gave Lya and Eleanor Elias' notes and asked them to continue the investigation. He also ordered the locks changed at his office.
Lya and Eleanor then went to the police station where Lya charmed the duty officer (O' Shawnessy) with a tale about his cousin in Boston. She discovered that the surviving thug had hanged himself in his cell, and that the thugs had been cocaine addicts. She also got a list of the other murder victims.
The group met again back at the hotel room, when there was a knock at the door. A bellboy had a fruit basket, allegedly from a business acquaintance of Alisa's. Alisa gave the bellboy a generous tip (under the door) and asked him to leave the basket in the hall. The group carefully examined the basket but it seemed to be normal.
The group then left the hotel and went to Sardi's for dinner. There they met Professor Cowles and his daughter Eva. Cowles told them about his research into Aboriginal folklore. The group was particularly intrigued by his story about "living winds that overthrew the gods who had lived in cities beneath the desert, clearing the way for the Father of All Bats". Cowles also told about his travels to San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, and New York. He planned to continue his lecture tour to Arkham, London, Durham, Edinburgh, Brussels, Berlin, Rome, and then back to Sydney. The group decided to attend his lecture at NYU the next night. As usual, Miss Blankstone picked up the tab for everyone.
After returning to their hotel room at the Seneca, Alisa, Nell, and
Lya sat up discussing the situation. Alisa bribed the bellboy to bring
back a bottle of French champagne. The main question: how did "they" find
and kill Elias Jackson so soon after he arrived in New York? The role of
Erica Carlyle also seemed enigmatic. Alisa suggested calling Madame Blivetsky
back in Arkham to arrange a séance to contact Elias and see if he
had any ideas. Lya and Nell wanted to go to the Ju-Ju House in Harlem.
