The Language at the Threshold

[Fulci]

Isaiah Bartlett, wise old crazy man

It is 1:00 pm. Isaiah Bartlett concludes his Biltmore Hotel lunch with Arkham Gazette reporter Eddie Sharpe. They set a time to meet again at Reginald's Charter Book Shop that evening. The old man hails a taxi and heads to the BOI office. There he explains his consulting role in the police investigation. He is brought in to see an agent, a Mr. Garrett Holmes.

Isaiah smiles inwardly at the man's last name. How appropriate, but he probably doesn't live up to his namesake.

"Well Mr. Bartlett," says Mr. Holmes with a quick voice. "Thank you for coming in. We're quite busy at the moment, given the murder of one of our own. Lots of pressure now from DC, so we can use the assistance. Now what do you have?"

Isaiah Bartlett is not too well-versed in contemporary popular culture, so the irony of Agent Holmes' name is lost on him.

His exact role as an "outside consultant" wasn't exactly clear from the very beginning - the influential father of Timothy Carver brought him in, so that the G-men wouldn't harass Timothy too much. But so much has changed since yesterday! Now the personal factor of Bartlett's involvement is much higher. He had a slight feeling that he might be facing the same (or a similar) peril as many decades ago... but he wanted to help out an old friend too. Turns out, he cannot do much to help Carver Junior - the boy is both guilty and not guilty of the act, but in such a twisted, hideous way, that his innocence will be hard to prove if the first word to the jury is "you know... black magic is real!"

Of course, he cannot tell much to this unknown agent. Luckily, Holmes doesn't seem to be overly keen on hearing out a minor consultant, and is much more interested in the death of his fellow agent.

"Yes, I've heard about Agent Smith's murder. I'm working together with Agent Baines. Looks like we are facing a band of delinquents with rather, umm... unorthodox methods, hence the ritual killings. The study of their twisted beliefs, which I am helping out with might lead us to them. We also received some rather useful insights from Reginald Wilkins - Timothy Carver's employer."

"I cannot provide any more information right now, but I will report back in a few days time, hopefully with more to say. If you have any questions, please, go ahead!"

[SocraticLawyer]

Reginald Wilkins, bookdealer
Reginald hangs up the phone, mildly frustrated at his inability to get a hold of Baines, Bartlett, or even the reporter Sharpe. His old friend Harold now confirms the existence of a dangerous cult, and the others need to know this information.

And this new book of Harold's will require further study. Somehow, these bizarre tomes hold the answers .... or at least insight into the cult.

"I suppose we're stuck here for the time being," says Reginald. "The others will likely look for me here, so we may as well make the most of it. Let me show you what I've been able to learn so far." Reginald will show Harold the portions of the Pnakotic Manuscripts that he's been able to decipher. He'll attempt to continue his research into that tome.

[Grognardsw]

Meanwhile, earlier and elsewhere...

Bureau of Investigation Headquarters, Washington, DC
Clyde Tolson, Associate Director


"Shit." Tolson hangs up the phone. What is going on up there? Smith dead, reports of dope dealers, murders in three states. This is getting out of control.

Tolson realized this needed more attention. This was more than booze across state lines, or crime bosses flexing muscle. It was bizarre and shocking murders of his own people. With Carver in custody, it must be a group of crazies. And with drug connections at that. Smith's last report and his suspicions must be true. And this Agent Baines fellow, the anomaly theorist...

He picked up the phone again. "I want Garret Holmes in New York!" He paused while the operator patched him through. "Holmes, this is Associate Director Tolson. I want you in Providence right away. Crack the whip, bring more man power, figure out what the hell is going on, or heads will --" he cut himself off realizing the analogy inappropriate. "Or people will be fired!  I'm meeting Hoover in two days and need results!"

[FrankL]

Library Use (60): 55
Occult (5): 30
Mythos (4) 52

[Grognardsw]

"This might be weird but are the Hepcats of Ulthar playing here tonight? I need to speak to their manager, it's an emergency."

"Sorry, theys played here the last couple of nights but moved on to Boston," replies the black woman. "I can pass a message onto their manager. I gots his address."

"Whos you says you is?"

"If you have any questions, please, go ahead!"

BOI Agent Garrett Holmes asks Isaiah Bartlett questions.

"Mr. Smith's last report suggested a cult was at work, responsible for violence if not murders as well as unspecified drug dealing. What is your opinion on this?"

"Have you identified this language used by Carver?"

"What is your opinion of Agent Baines?"

"We are considering a BOI raid on some of the locales in this investigation. We may want you and your colleagues to join. For your fresh first-hand perspectives of course. You'll be well shielded and set back from possible danger."

"I think this would be a good time to speak to agent Baines, don't you think, Mr Bartlett?"..."

Arkham Gazette Reporter Eddie Sharpe is disappointed but not surprised Baines isn't at his office when Isaiah Bartlett called him. Eddie considers how to follow up on the new piece of information gained at his lunch with Isaiah Bartlett: Ambrose Carcosa, the manager of the Hepcats of Ulthar, who played recently at Club Zothique. The reporter knows Baines tried, or has, talked with Carcosa. Perhaps a visit to the Club would uncover something?





Reginald Wilkins and Dr. Harold Matthers pursue bibliomysteries. The book dealer provides his old friend an overview of the dense Pnakotic Manuscripts translations from the Greek. They spend the remainder of the afternoon in study.

On the origin of the aforementioned city whose name is borrowed in the title of the manuscripts:

The Lost City of Pnakotus (also called the Library City, The Lost City of the Archives and Pnakotis) is the primordial city where the 'Great Race' housed their enormous library. The library of Pnakotus held the Pnakotic Manuscripts, a legendary tome containing a detailed chronicle of the Great Race's history, among other things. Copies of this manuscript would later be passed down through the ages, eventually falling into the hands of sinister cults which would guard them into modern times.

Puzzling references which relate to real world locale:

"No man had scaled to the home of earth's god since the time of Sansu, who is written of with fright in the moldy Pnakotic Manuscripts. Now it is told in the moldy Pnakotic Manuscripts that Sansu found naught but wordless ice and rock when he did climb Hatheg-Kla in the youth of the world. Yet when the men of Ulthar and Nir and Hatheg... scaled that haunted steep by day in search of Barzai the Wise, they found graven in the naked stone of the summit a curious and cyclopean symbol... like to one that learned men have discerned in those frightful parts of the Pnakotic Manuscripts which were too ancient to be read."

Consultation with ancient cartographies reveals Hatheg-Kla is in present day Turkey.

"The Pnakotic Manuscripts mention the subterranean gulf of 'Zim', but all scholars from de Galimatias and Zu Dumkopf onward have agreed that this is really a reference to the Vaults of 'Zin'. "

[Anders Molin]

Eddie Sharpe, reporter
Eddie walked into the offices of the Providence Journal and found his spot in the corner of the main newsroom, where his old mentor Sevellon Brown had been kind enough to lend him a desk and a phone. Hanging his suit jacket on the back of the chair, Eddie sighed and sat down. Leafing through his notebook in the hopes of finding inspiration for his continued story, he realized he had not been thinking about this story as a story in a couple of days - rather, as a case that needed to be solved. His thirst for answers needed to be slaked, but reporting printable news to his editor at the Arkham Gazette was what would put bread in his belly. What's with me and all these food metaphors? Eddie pondered. Maybe I should start writing fiction instead - or maybe I just need to grab a bite to eat.

Shaking his head, Eddie turned his mind back to the task at hand: call in a story to his editor, something to justify him staying in Providence for the time being. He started by making a quick telephone call to the Providence police, asking for an official comment on the fact that a BOI agent had been gruesomely murdered and the obvious implication of a conspiracy, since the Providence suspect Mr Carver was presently in custody. Next, he called the Arkham Gazette newsdesk and gave his story to a newsroom clerk. He started the piece off with the news of the murdered agent Smith, paraphrasing (without plagiarizing) the report from this morning's Journal. He added a few hundred words of non-commital speculation, hinting at a drug ring without being too specific. I can't hold this up for much longer, Eddie thought. Pretty soon I'll need to give the boss something meatier, with a solid Arkham connection. I need to return to the Freak Show in a couple of days - perhaps I could convince Bartlett to join?

After finishing his telephone call, he grabbed his jacket and headed out into the streets again. Hailing a cab, he told the driver to take him to Club Zothique. Better follow up on the leads I have, if nothing else, just to cross them off the list.

Sorry for the long radio silence

[Fulci]

"If you have any questions, please, go ahead!"

BOI Agent Garrett Holmes asks Isaiah Bartlett questions.

"Mr. Smith's last report suggested a cult was at work, responsible for violence if not murders as well as unspecified drug dealing. What is your opinion on this?"

"Have you identified this language used by Carver?"

"What is your opinion of Agent Baines?"

"We are considering a BOI raid on some of the locales in this investigation. We may want you and your colleagues to join. For your fresh first-hand perspectives of course. You'll be well shielded and set back from possible danger."

"Yes, there is an organized group, followers of twisted, satanic beliefs, a cult if you wish. I have no opinion on their connection to the drug dealing, but I know that Agent Baines is following this lead and he has an assertion that it is an important part in the cult's trade. A person, a certain Carcosa, is probably a high-ranking member of this group. Timothy Carver, it seems, is just a puppet - most likely he was under the influence of some strange substance.

I identified the language he used, as it resembles certain words I've encountered in, ehm, other cases, where false churches were involved. It's not a known modern or ancient language. I don't know what the words means..."

"Prayers to unholy entities!" he wants to shout, but he knows better. This agent must not question his sanity.

"It's quite possibly a made-up language used by the cult leaders to mesmerize their followers. It can be also used as a secret code."

Some of the question, especially the third one, gives Isaiah the feeling, that there is a power struggle inside the BOI, possibly between various factions or field offices. This makes him nervous, he doesn't want to get involved in such a war. Nevertheless, he answers the agent's questions to his best knowledge.

"I've only spent a single day with Agent Baines, but from what I've seen, he is a qualified and capable operative. A bit over-worked, though, so it's good that you and your other colleagues are here as well. This cult, or maybe even conspiracy, seems to be very wide-spread.

Yes, I'm ready to join any possible raids, as long as my defense won't draw away too much of the BOI's resources and manpower!"

[thesniperknight1]

Baines sighs, "Never mind, he isn't there. Thanks anyway", he walked away abruptly, unusual for the ordinarily chivalrous Baines. He looks around the club for anyone he recognizes as part of the group who sang along the last time he was there.

[Grognardsw]

BOI Agent Garret Holmes nods his head in response to Isaiah Bartlett's answers.

"Thank you, we value your assistance," he says. "I suspect we'll do the raid I mentioned tomorrow. If so, I'll leave word at your hotel to meet us. In the meantime, stay clear of Club Zothique."





BOI Agent Baines looks about the empty Club Zothique. He sees a few cleaners and on a lark asks... (PRIVATE VIA PM)

Leaving the club, Baines remembers that later that afternoon he is suppose to meet with Reginald Wilkins, Isaiah Bartlett and Eddie Sharpe at Charter Book Shop. He knows they'll be asking about those letters he took from Carcosa's place.





"I wonder what those Carcosa letters say," thinks Arkham Gazette reporter Eddie Sharp. He gets to work on his story. First he calls the Providence police for comment on the murder of BOI Agent Ezekial Smith.

"Yes, given Timothy Carver is in custody, the murder and dismemberment of Ezekial Smith was done by another," says the police spokesperson. "As to conspiracies, it is too early to tell, even though the method of killing is the same. The BOI are also investigating the murder. As this is an ongoing investigation, we cannot comment further."

After filing his story with the Gazette via telephone, Eddie catches a taxi to Club Zothique. The taxi is parked across the street. As Eddie is paying the driver, he sees that Agent Baines has just left the club!





Reginald Wilkins and Dr. Matthers pour over the Pnakotic Manuscripts, sharing opinions about the fantastic content therein. Reginald finds himself getting increasingly disturbed.

Soon it is late in the afternoon. Isaiah Bartlett, Eddie Sharpe and Agent Baines should be stopping by soon to Reginald's shop.

Reginald Sanity loss [1d4] = 1 Reginald looses one San. for the skimming and reading thus far of the terrible tome.

[Fulci]

Isaiah Bartlett, wise old man

Isaiah Bartlett eats at the same diner, then rests at his hotel room until it's time to meet Reginald Wilkins and the other investigators. He cannot sleep (also, he rather not, in fear of nightmares) and thinks about the raid Agent Holmes mentions. On one hand, he is delighted that the BOI are taking action, but on the other hand, what if they are heading into a trap? What if there are legions of ungodly frog creatures waiting in the basement of that club?..

Tortured by doubt, Isaiah Bartlett arrives to the bookshop.

[Anders Molin]

Eddie Sharpe, reporter
To see the BOI agent come out of the club, Eddie guessed he too was following up on leads - or was he batting for the other team? After their last run-in, when Baines had tried to destroy the reporter's photographic film, Eddie could not be sure. But since that old geezer Bartlett seemed to trust Baines, and Eddie trusted Bartlett (for some strange reason which Eddie could not quite pin down), it seemed to follow that he should trust Baines too.

Exiting the cab, Eddie took a few quick steps towards the BOI agent. "Age... Mr Baines! I... What a coincidence to run into you here! I'm on my way to check out some of the local jazz talent," Eddie said with a low-key smile. "Look... I know you don't trust people in my line of work, and I kinda see why, and I don't expect you to trust me for no reason. But here's a friendly suggestion. I filed a piece which goes into print in tomorrow's Arkham Gazette. Call a colleague in Arkham, have them read the piece to you, and then you can decide if I divulge too much information to the public, or if I can be trusted to act responsibly. Then, maybe we can start over? Because, whether you like it or not, I'm going to keep shaking this tree and take some hard looks at whatever falls out of it." Eddie glanced at the agent while flicking a cigarette from a half-empty pack and lighting it.

[thesniperknight1]

Gwen Baines - BOI

Baines was startled by Sharpe's sudden appearance, he thought for a second that he was following him around but he was sure that he would have noticed that. He half listened to him explaining himself to Baines and half thinking about all the things he must do.

He smiled, "Eddie Sharpe, my memory never forgets a newsperson, I am running on an extremely tight schedule that I am honestly lost at the moment", he seemed to be deep in thought for a few seconds, "fine, I will take your word for it, I honestly don't think that it would make that much of a difference if we work together but oh well, if you insist then we can definitely cooperate. At least I can keep an eye on you this way", he looks at his watch in quite a hurry, "Now sorry, I have to run, very busy today", he turns to leave but stops and looks back with a smile, "We are meeting together, me and your old friends, to discuss a few things, you should join us Eddie Sharpe", he tells him the place and time before leaving quickly.

Baines is usually very hard to change his mind, once he has a specific thought, he would stick to it. Changing his mind about Sharpe was very strange that even he himself thought of it as weird, maybe it was the stress of the case or the recent loss of his partner but he felt himself....changing somewhat, be more open minded I suppose.

He leaves to go back to his office, checks his messages, takes Carcosa's notes and goes to the planned meeting place.

[Anders Molin]

Eddie Sharpe, reporter
Eddie looked as the agent hastened on and then entered the club, cigarette dangling from one corner of his mouth.

[Grognardsw]

"Baines! In my office, now!"

No sooner than Agent Gwen Baines returns to the BOI office than he is called into meet the new head of the investigation, a Garret Holmes. Baines has heard of this guy, a hot shot from DC whose in tight at headquarters. A bit of an asshole, thinks Baines. The gruesome death of Ezy Smith sent a shock wave through the Bureau, and now many eyes are on the case. Baines sits down in front of Holmes' desk. He notes that Carosa's letters are sitting there in a pile.

"Baines, Hoover himself is watching this case and demanding answers. We can't have agents going around getting killed like this. I've reviewed what notes you have, and the Carcosa letters, and talked with the old man from the consultants. I'm hearing drugs and cults. What's your latest thoughts? Is that alleged 'anomaly theory' of yours making connections? How in darnation could Ezy get killed with you on the same floor?"





Arkham Gazette reporter Eddie Sharpe walks into Club Zothique. It is afternoon, so the place is empty. He sees a bar area, tables, a connecting room with booths and tables, and adjacent dance hall with stage. There are a few cleaners sweeping floors. A black woman is behind the bar stacking glasses.

"Can I help you?" she says with an accent - West Indies, Jamaica? Eddie isn't sure.





Bookdealer Reginald Wilson and engineer-cum-occultist Dr. Matthers rub their eyes. For the past several hours they've been pouring over the Pnakotic Manuscripts, taking notes and trying to formulate theories connecting the tome's contents with the real-life case before them. They return to the pictures... many of them have a woman featured. What can that mean...?

Pictures

[FrankL]

Harold rubbed his eyes and looked over his notes again. Oh, how he wished he could declare the whole ordeal in Emberhead a bad dream and let it go. After all, Emberhead didn't exist anymore. They wouldn't be turning innocent travelers into roasted sausages anymore. But no, this was bigger than Emberhead. Reg had talked about cultic-style murders. What had he said, 16 bodies connected to the case? The manuscripts Reg was working through now were translated from Greek. Harold wished he had studied Greek instead of German in his course work. Then again, he used German much more frequently than Greek in his engineering.

He got up and paced the room for a few minutes. Too bad you couldn't force a flash of insight. He looked over the drawings from Timothy. So many featured women (but all of the people investigating these murders were men. Interesting.). Beauty in the middle of chaos? Beauty tames the beast? Even Carver's twisted mind had a tranquil place that recognized beauty? No. The women were more than just a symbol in the pictures. They were important to them. Something tickled the back of his mind. He got this feeling in the lab sometimes. It meant he might be on to a breakthrough. Of course, it might be nothing in the end, but he had learned to follow these hunches. One of them had let him see that Silas' bus breakdown was expected. "Reg, how many of the murders were women? I'm wondering if they use women to placate this Azathoth and his emissary. Or even the opposite. Could the women be speeding something up, drawing Azathoth and Nyarlathotep in, you might say? Were any of the women arranged like the poses in these pictures?"

[thesniperknight1]

Gwen Baines feels disgusted, he hates authority figures and chain of commands, "as if I will work to solve this murder harder because some old man is watching over my shoulder", he thought. He found it insulting that he is presumed to lack the motivation to solve his own partner's murder, when he even blames himself greatly for what has transpired, it truly made him sick to his stomach but he bit his teeth and persevered, "I am sorry, what has happened to Ezy....was...well, there is no other way of putting it other than unfortunate, he was a great man, a religious man....but I suppose we don't have time to mourn him, do we? I already have a suspect for his death and it tights in very well with the case, if you want something substantial to put a nice article of the heroic battle that the BOI is leading", he said sarcastically with a hint of discontent.

Baines lowers his back in the chair and puts his hands to his chin, "Me and Ezy worked close in this one, we interviewed Carver who gave us nothing but a confession and some gibberish that no one seems to understand, so we went to his apartment, we found a couple of clues leading us to various places that Carver visited, none of them shed much light on the situation but the club, we found out that Carver was taking some drugs from this new drug ring leader called Carcosa, who you already know as the possessor of the letters. Oh by the way, did you read them all? What was there?", he waited for him to answer then continued on.

"When we met with Carcosa, Ezy was made, they stole his money and his badge, at this point I thought it was too dangerous for Ezy to come near Carcosa again, since they found out he was BOI, who knew what those bastards would have done....well, I guess we know now", Baines was silent for a moment, "So we decided it was best to split up, I would go after Carcosa and he would interview Carver's roommate among other leads, I went to meet Carcosa disguised as an interested buyer to find out more about him, now I am not sure how but....I think Carcosa made me too, probably not as a BOI agent but he probably thought I was an informant of Ezy, so he probably followed me to the hotel. It was Carcosa, I am certain, there is no one else insane enought o off a BOI agent! That man isn't right in the head, you should have seen the crime scene in his apartment, it was.....revolting", flashes of the crime scene results in clear disgust shown in Baines's face.

He wondered if he should have told him of the big picture, the cult and how it holds power over what he presumed the whole world. But he would have been thrown into an asylum like what they did to the old man. Not that he would have cared either, the boss only cared about pleasing the superiors, Baines sighed, "Now if there is nothing else you wish to discuss with me, I am going to meet with the consultant that you sent for me, it is important for the higher ups that I tend for whomever they throw at me", Baines smiled sarcastically at Holmes indicating that he himself is just another person who is simply wasting his time.

[Grognardsw]

Dr. Harold Matthers applies his library research skills among the volumes and notes in Refignald's study, trying to correlate female connections (which you can read at:  
viewtopic.php?p=177112#p177112 )





BOI Lieutenant Garret Holmes listens to Baines and seems to ignore his passive aggressiveness.  

"Carcosa's letters, besides the usual mundane bills and such, were to a variety of poeple in the States and abroad. In the U.S., people in Long Island, New Orleans, Phoenix. Abroad, an import/export business in Amsterdam, an obsure church in London, someone in Turkey. The contents ranged from discussions of trade goods, behavior of certain people, travel plans, review of books, archeology, and astronomy. Many of the letters had large parts written in a different language. Now we only got the letters today, so we're still going over them."

"What about cult theories?" Holmes asks.

[thesniperknight1]

Baines sighs, "Well this might confirm it I guess.....me and a few others who are working on the case seem to think that these killings are being done by a cult whose web spread further than simply a town, a district or even a country. It's all over the world, blending in with society, there might even be a few of them within the BOI", he sighed again, "Go ahead, call me insane, that I have been walking with these sorts of case for much too long but isn't that why you always stick me with them? I find the unseen, the unheard of, I connect the dots and you call me crazy, but you end up calling for my help once again", Baines seems to be quite angry, maybe it was the lost of Ezy or something else but he was just tired, "Now, if you aren't going to throw me in an asylum, strip me of my badge or shoot me here for being disrespectful, I need to go. I am late, I don't like being late, especially when it's because of office politics"

[SocraticLawyer]

Reginald Wilkins, bookdealer

Harold rubbed his eyes and looked over his notes again. Oh, how he wished he could declare the whole ordeal in Emberhead a bad dream and let it go. After all, Emberhead didn't exist anymore. They wouldn't be turning innocent travelers into roasted sausages anymore. But no, this was bigger than Emberhead. Reg had talked about cultic-style murders. What had he said, 16 bodies connected to the case? The manuscripts Reg was working through now were translated from Greek. Harold wished he had studied Greek instead of German in his course work. Then again, he used German much more frequently than Greek in his engineering.

He got up and paced the room for a few minutes. Too bad you couldn't force a flash of insight. He looked over the drawings from Timothy. So many featured women (but all of the people investigating these murders were men. Interesting.). Beauty in the middle of chaos? Beauty tames the beast? Even Carver's twisted mind had a tranquil place that recognized beauty? No. The women were more than just a symbol in the pictures. They were important to them. Something tickled the back of his mind. He got this feeling in the lab sometimes. It meant he might be on to a breakthrough. Of course, it might be nothing in the end, but he had learned to follow these hunches. One of them had let him see that Silas' bus breakdown was expected. "Reg, how many of the murders were women? I'm wondering if they use women to placate this Azathoth and his emissary. Or even the opposite. Could the women be speeding something up, drawing Azathoth and Nyarlathotep in, you might say? Were any of the women arranged like the poses in these pictures?"

Reginald, too, wishes he knew more Greek. But as a grad student, he was most interested in the Egyptians, in part because they were the oldest civilization known to man. The ability to reach back, to the oldest known humans, to communicate as they did .... The Greeks were practically modern, by contrast.

Reginald shakes his head briefly and focuses his thoughts. "You know Harold,"says Reginald, "you just might be on to something. I don't recall whether all of the victims were female. I'll check with Agent Baines, but I think Timothy's victims were all members of a small family. But the bodies had been mutilated into a flower-like shape. That must be significant. Although I don't see any flowers among the pictures in this book." Reginald sounds almost exasperated. "Carcosa was interested in moon goddesses, as well. I expect that reading the Testament of Selene will shed more light. But I want to spend more time on this volume before digging into another."

[FrankL]

Harold walks among the bookshelves. "Maybe some time away from those books will help," he thinks. He browses through the chemistry books, taking them off the shelf, flipping through them, and putting them back. Reg doesn't have many in this section. Why should he? It was his store, he didn't have to stock what he didn't want to stock.

Slightly stunned, Harold looks at the last book on the shelf. Charles D. Hodgman's Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, eigth edition. It's the book to have for any serious chemist (and one of three for chemical engineers). Not only a noted chemist himself, Hodgman was something of a journalist of chemists. Reg could always surprise him. Harold looks at the book for a moment and then steps away. Really, he needs to figure out what was happening with these bodies. Chemistry wouldn't do that. Still, he doesn't want to go back to those tomes yet.

He went around a few shelves to the mythology section. "Ah, here it is." Bulfinch's Mythology. A myth section wasn't complete without it. Harold takes one copy down and opens it at random. Interesting, the Greek moon goddesses were Hecate, Artemis, and Selene with Selene being the personification of the moon.

Moon goddess. Goddess. Selene. Harold smacks his forehead. "The Testament of Selene!" He rushes back to the counter where Reginald still stands. "Pictures of females along side those monsters. How could I have not seen it! That's what I need to read, Reg. The Testament of Selene. Isn't it true that more cultures have seen the moon as a goddess than a god?" He points to the stack of manuscripts. "The Pnakotic Manuscripts talk about sites of moon worship. Hypatia was under the influence of Selene's oracle mists. That's what it goes back to. Moon worship."

"One more thing. I need to find out if these murders occurred on specific phases of the moon or other astronomical phenomena such as conjunctions, comets, anything. If that can be determined, that is. I suppose we'll have to wait for that investigator to find out."

Harold takes the Testament of Selene from the pile of books, pulls a notepad close, and digs into the book.

If needed:
Library Use (60): 32
Occult (5): 84