Rupert was awakened from a deep sleep by a knock at the door. "Mr Madasheck. Szeged. This is where you are getting off. Szeged" said an authoritative voice from the corridor. He noticed that the train was still moving. Glancing at his watch, the time was read 2:55.
Rupert produced his ticket and showed it to the conductor. It was clearly marked "Vienne-Budapest-Belgrade-Nish-Athens", with nothing about stopping at Szeged.
"My mistake, sir", apologized the conductor. "I'm terribly sorry. It won't happen again".
Rupert returned to his compartment and was unable to awaken Dan'l. At that point the train slowed and stopped at the Szeged station. Looking out the window, Rupert saw an ordinary-looking platform, with signs in Hungarian and German, advertisements for cigarettes, liquor, and hotels, a few sleepy porters and customs guards, but no man in black.
As the train left Szeged, Rupert knocked at Niles' door but got no response. He then knocked on the door of Alisa's and Nell's compartment - no response. He then went into the next car and knocked at Brother Paul's door. Brother Paul answered the door, half-asleep. Rupert told him that something strange had happened. He had had a vivid dream about disembarking from the Orient Express at Szeged. He, Sister Sarah, Nell, Alisa, and Dan'l had walked through the fog-shrouded streets of a medieval city and met Dr. Huston at its citadel.
Rupert and Brother Paul knocked on Sister Sarah's door, awakening her companion but not her. Brother Paul urged Rupert to wait until morning before doing anything further. Rupert wrote down a prediction that the others would have had the same dream as he did and gave it to Brother Paul.
Back in his compartment, Rupert noticed that the book (Dark Cults of Africa) was undamaged and where he had left it the previous evening. The notes from his journey through Szeged were gone, but a scrollcase containing a papyrus sheet was lying nearby.
Awakening the next morning, Rupert tried to awaken Dan'l and this time was successful. Dan'l remembered getting off at Szeged and traveling to the Citadel. Afterwards he recalled becoming lost in the streets as he attempted to make his way back to the train. Examining his guns, he found that several shots had been fired. There were no purplish stains on his hands from the strange fruit. The two of them then found Brother Paul and Dan'l confirmed that he had had the same dream as Rupert. They were unable to awaken Sister Sarah.
Returning to the sleeping car, they were able to wake up Alisa and Nell. Both remembered Szeged and Dr. Huston. They then knocked on Niles' door - no response. Rupert persuaded the conductor to unlock the door. Niles was in a deep slumber and made no response to attempts to awaken him. Brother Paul summoned the person he was sharing a compartment with ( a medical doctor from Padua, Dr. Luigi Ochelli) who examined Niles and diagnosed him as suffering from "African sleeping sickness". He said that the only thing to do was keep him comfortable until he awoke naturally. He made the same diagnosis for Sister Sarah and promised to check back later.
Maud noticed the commotion and offered to help. She told Nurse Goodbody to tend to Niles, while Nell sat at Sister Sarah's bedside. Alisa ordered hot tea and brandy and copy of the English-language newspaper published especially for the Orient Express and tried to convince herself that it was all a vivid but ordinary dream.
At 9 AM the Orient Express arrived in Belgrade, for a 1 hour layover. Rupert disembarked and found that the station had a small but well-stocked bookstore. He purchased guidebooks for Hungary, Yugoslavia, Greece, and Egypt. He also purchased a bottle of slivovitz from platform hawkers. Alisa also purchased three bottles as gifts for clients.
Examining the Hungarian guidebook, Rupert found that the pictures of Szeged in no way resembled the city he had visited in the dream.
Later that morning, Maud visited Alisa and the two discussed their respective trips through Europe. Alisa told Maud about her strange dream and Maud ordered Nurse Goodbody to give Alisa a massage. Alisa invited Maud and Rick to accompany them to Egypt. Maud agreed, as it would be good for Rick's education.
Travel through southern Jugoslavia was slow, as the train made its way past snow-covered mountains and through narrow valleys. The occasional village was seen.
Lunch was served shortly before the train reached Nish, where it split into two parts: one to travel to Constantinople, and the other to Athens. Sister Sarah and Niles had still not woken up.
Late in the afternoon, near Skopje, Sister Sarah awoke. She also remembered Szeged. Nell noted that her nun's habit had cat hair on it. Brother Paul was unconvinced that anything supernatural had happened. He attributed it to late-night conversation about cults and the Carlyle expedition. Nurse Goodbody and Nell tended to Niles.
After dinner, Rick Grant set up his wireless in the Salon car and was able to contact a ham radio operator in Boston. He offered to relay any messages back to the States. At Maud's request, he informed her when the car was almost empty of passengers, and the group gathered to discuss events.
Nell was convinced that it was a mistake to have left the platform. Alisa argued that the entire episode was just a dream, with no significance. Sister Sarah wondered whether Lya's "death and transformation" had been successful in diverting attention from cultists.
The conversation was interrupted when Greek customs officials entered the car (Rupert had already hidden the bottles of slivovitz). After a thorough inspection of baggage and passports lasting over an hour, the Orient Express resumed its course towards Thessalonika and Athens. At that point the group decided to retire for the night.
Before going to sleep Rupert began studying the spell, "Cast out demons".
Rupert was awakened from a deep sleep by a knock at the door. "Rupert, Dan'l - we're at Szeged. We've got to get off here". Opening the door, Rupert saw Niles standing in the corridor, fully dressed. Dan'l glanced at his watch. It was 3:10 AM.
Rupert pulled Niles into the compartment and closed the door. He explained that there was no need to get off at Szeged and that they would be in Athens in the morning. When Niles became insistent, Dan'l tried to subdue him. Niles evaded Dan'l and pulled the brake cord, stopping the train and throwing everyone to the ground.
When the night conductor came to investigate, Rupert and Dan'l explained that Niles was not in his right mind and needed to be sedated. Dr. Ochelli was summoned and administered a powerful sedative. After an examination of the train, the journey continued.
At breakfast the next morning, the principal topic of conversation had been the sudden stop in the middle of the night. Many passengers were convinced that the train had been attacked by brigands.
The Orient Express reached Athens about 30 minutes late, shortly after noon. Ignoring the crowd of potential guides and touts, Nell rounded up three taxis (driven by two brothers and their cousin) and led the group to the Acropolis Hotel, followed by their baggage. Rupert noted that the front desk displayed both the Gregorian and Julian calendars. The group obtained a suite (for Alisa, Nell, and Sister Sarah), two double rooms (for Rupert and Dan'l, Maud and Nurse Goodbody), and a single (for Rick Grant). Brother Paul obtained lodging at a Catholic mission.
Nell then telephoned the American embassy and obtained a recommendation for a doctor with a private clinic who specialized in "nervous disorders". Nell, Rupert, and Nurse Goodbody then took Niles (still sedated) there and had him admitted. Nell explained to the doctor that Niles had suffered a severe shock and that all his babbling about Szeged was a fantasy. It must have been a relapse of that terrible incident during the Great War, she theorized. She left a sizable deposit to cover the expenses.
Nell then sent a telegram to New York, informing Niles' younger brother of his condition and that he would be returning at the first opportunity.
Rupert visited an English-language bookstore and purchased a copy of Budge's dictionary of Egyptian hieroglyphics. He spent the rest of the afternoon examining the papyrus but was unable to translate it.
Alisa contacted her office and informed them that she would be leaving for Egypt next week. Any correspondence should be forwarded to Shepheard's Hotel in Cairo. She then purchased tickets for the group on the Khedivial Mail Line steamer, Rhadames, leaving Athens on Tuesday and arriving in Alexandria on Thursday. Maud also purchased tickets for herself, Rick, and Nurse Goodbody.
The next day Nell visited Niles at the clinic and found that he was calm and lucid. She explained to him that it had all been a dream and that he was the only one affected. She convinced him to return to New York where he could get the best possible treatment.
Nell then booked first-class passage on an Italian steamship to New York via Genoa for Niles.
Rupert spent the day at the University of Athens where he enquired about getting the Szeged scroll translated. He was referred to an American graduate student from NYU, Sydney Bedard, who had studied Egyptology and archeology. She was willing to translate the scroll but informed Rupert that she would be leaving for Egypt on Tuesday on the Rhadames. What a coincidence, replied Rupert. He briefly explained the strange circumstances surrounding his acquisition of the scroll. Syndey was quite interested in the Szeged episode and told Rupert of her own investigations ino the occult.
(Sydney was in Athens for a brief stop-over on her way to Cairo. She had been hired by an American art dealer, Oswald Van Dreisen, to assist him while in Egypt.)
Dan'l cleaned and inspected his guns.
Alisa, Maude and Rick visited the Acropolis and the archeological museum.
Sister Sarah spent the day writing up her experiences.
Alisa sent a telegram to Independent Investigations in London, instructing them to stop whatever they were working on and come to Cairo immediately.
That evening Rupert and Dan'l visited a taverna recommended by the hotel. Alisa wanted to accompany them but was dissuaded by Nell, as it might be damaging to her reputation. She inquired about the Athens Opera but was informed that the Opera House was being used as temporary housing for war refugees. She decided to spend the evening at the hotel instead - dinner with Maud and Rick.
Rupert spent the evening listening to war stories from the Salonika front (Great War) and the recent Greco-Turkish war.
Nell spent the evening at an upper-class British club near the University, where she obtained the names of several people "of the right sort" to contact in Cairo.
The next morning Rupert received a telegram sent from the Hotel Dolder in Zürich by Harry Letchwell. He sent a telegram in reponse to Harry at the Hotel Adlon, then wired his office in New York to transfer funds to the Bank of Alexandria.
Sister Sarah attended Catholic Mass.
Rupert, Alisa, and Dan'l visited the Acropolis.
Syndey worked on translating the Szeged scroll.
Nell and Nurse Goodbody accompanied Niles to Piraeus, where they put him on the Italian liner Cristiforo Colombo and made sure that he would be well cared for.
Sydney continued working on the Szeged scroll translation. Oswald purchased some Byzantine icons and arranged for them to be shipped back to the U.S.
Rupert, Dan'l, Maud, Rick, and Alisa took an excursion to the ruins
of the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi.