The group headed back to the Calomnie de Tunis newspaper's offices just as Bernard [Jamie] and Cooper [Ian] slumped down, drooling marmalade.
JK Simmons, the editor, summoned Wonton [Darryl], Jacob [Chris], and Miriam [Jeff] to his office. He had three new reporters, and demanded they joined the group:
- Mezmer the Magnificent [Shane], a mystic from France
- Mario Berlusconi [Kevin], a journalist from Italy.
- Gazala Haddad [Richard], an explorer from Algiers.
Introductions were made, but all eyes were on the 24-year-old Berber girl Gazala, for she was quite beautiful.
 |
| Umar al-Ghaffari |
Ahmed, the proprietor, didn't know of any specific Henri. And "well-dressed French man" did not narrow down his options.
Gazala was dressed in western apparel, similar to Miriam, but unlike Miriam, she wasn't white. So, the locals in the mostly-male coffee shop started making snide "slut", "whore" and "prostitute" comments. Gazala overheard this and she took umbrage, but that only inflamed things. She drew a knife and the other man did too. Ahmed, the proprietor, stepped in. The assailant yelled at her that he would tell her father about his reporter whore, ... or else he'd deal with her himself.
As this was cooling down, Umar, himself, entered the shop, saw the waiting party, and he promptly turned around and walked out. Gazala got up, and quickly followed him.
Gazala had a tracking-tailing skill, and she did it superbly. Umar wound his way into the heart of the Medina, and Gazala stayed on him like a bloodhound. And he never saw her. She spotted him enter an apartment, so she noted its location down, and headed back to the group at the coffee house.
While Gazala was away, Miriam used her underworld connections [skill] to find some "running boys" and sent them out for info on this elusive Henri.
A small boy returned took them all (including Gazala who had returned) to meet a guy who knew of a Henri. But that lead turned out futile.
It was now dark, and the Medina was dangerous after dark, so they returned to the coffee house, clambered into the Citroen, and drove back to their flat (on the top floor of the paper's building).
This was the first night for the new staff, so they were awoken by the noisy generator as it spluttered to life for the one am power-cut
_______________________________________
The next day, they were in the editor's office and one of the receptionists came up. She had taken a telephone call from Inspector Heroux of the Tunis Gendarmes. (Like electricity, telephones were a recent arrival in Tunis, so every call was an event.) Heroux had an urgent message; a story for them.
The group took the Citroen down to the police station Commissariat de police de Tunis.
Inspector Heroux had some disturbing news: the bone dagger that was recovered from the scene of the crime the other day, was missing. It had disappeared from the evidence lock-up during the night. The door to this sealed room had been guarded all night. Two guards were assigned to it. The group interviewed them; they seemed trustworthy and competent. At no time was the guard post left empty.
Why had Heroux called reporters in for an obvious police procedural matter? Well, after the previous murder, Heroux knew the group had certain skills that he wanted to exploit. Plus they were ones who had found the dagger last time.
They were taken into the lock-up and shown the cabinet and shelf where the dagger was housed. Mezmer used his Mythos ability and sensed the presence of mythos - a mystical marker.
 |
| Tunis Police String |
The main door to the apartment was blocked by police string (it was 1930, and plastic tape had yet to be invented). They cut through the string, and went upstairs to the murder room on the top floor. The room was untouched.
Mezmer could still sense mythos traces here, so knelt down in the centre and began a sanctification of the area. This would take an hour.
 |
| Aleister Crowley |
Doctor Jacob and Gazala went to the hospital Hopital Militaire, which housed the morgue that the Tunis gendarmes used. Jacob posed as a doctor with his sexy nurse Gazala, and they got down to the morgue with no trouble.
Safar's headless body (his head had been shot to pieces by Heroux) was in one of the body drawers. Jacob slid the drawer out, and checked the body thoroughly. The cause of death was a slot below the rib cage, and the entry hole matched the bone knife. The thrust was angled upwards to get the heart. Interestingly, it had been pushed in slowly and with a lot of force; in fact, so much force that it almost came out the back of the body.
Also, there was no sign of restraint cuts or bruises on the limbs of the body, so it did not look as if Safar was tied or chained down.
Mezmer finished his cleansing, when there was a loud bang in the room, and it felt like an earthquake. Miriam and Mario, on the floor below, saw the ceiling shake, and plaster dust rained down. They ran up.
Mezmer was there looking rather sheepish and covered in dust.
"I crossed the paths," he said.
Wonton, Jacob & Gazala returned then, and updated everyone on the findings.
Just then, a gendarme arrived; probably he'd heard the bang and felt the shake. He saw that the police string had been broken, and came up, gun drawn.
The group had to explain themselves, and he looked rather relieved.
"Heroux has been looking for you," he said. "There has been another murder. I take you there tout de suite."
He led them through the streets.
It was another three-storey apartment, like last time. The gendarmes were grouped outside the front door, with Inspector Heroux, and nervously watching. All had revolvers drawn.
"I called for renforts," he said. "I am worried there are problems like the last time."
The party didn't wait, they scurried up the stairs, led by Wonton, Mario and Miriam.
On the top floor, Wonton could smell burning wax. He crept up the stairs when suddenly a figure lurched it him. Like last time, it was a naked bloodied body. The skin had been peeled off the face and as Wonton stared at the hideous and revolting visage, he collapsed on the floor as a bout of insanity overcame him. Such was the horror, he was struck blind.
The creature barrelled over Wonton, and ploughed into Mario, then both rolled down the stairs. Miriam deftly side-stepped the two. The figure was trying to claw at Mario and eat his face.
Miriam hurried upstairs, past the blind Wonton, and took the room in with a glance. There was another chalk pentagram drawn on the floor, with five black candles, one at each star point. Like last time, she moved them out of the star and blew them out.
Wonton's psychosomatic blindness lasted eight minutes. After that he was still shaken but physically okay.
When Heroux heard that the corpse was defeated, he and the other gendarmes rushed upstairs. When things had been secured, the brave Inspector was happy to pose next to it for the camera. Gazala took a series of heroic Heroux photographs.
The gendarmes were still finding out who owned this house. Locals nearby had said it was unoccupied.
Also, no-one actually knew who the corpse was.
"Who reported this to the gendarmes?" asked Miriam
"Abdul Khan," came the reply. That was the Tunisian equivalent of "John Smith".
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