Tales of the Shadowmen 1: The Modern Babylon

by Jean-Marc Lofficier

  Many people mistakenly believed that the Undertaker’s machine gun was an 1884 Maxim. This misunderstanding always irked Gordon. This fallacy was largely spread by Stanley Corbett’s recent dime novel, The Undertaker’s Big Gun. Djanko was feuding with the Red Scarf Gang, a group of ex-Confederates who took over a Texas town after the Reconstruction. In the dime novel, Djanko had his final showdown with the Red Scarf Gang in a cemetery. Djanko had sought shelter behind a grave that bore the inscription 1889. This was not an error by Corbett. The local gravedigger had gotten intoxicated one day, and transcribed 1889 instead of 1869 on the marker. If Corbett’s narrative was read carefully, it would be noticed that Djanko was depicted as a young man in his late thirties who fought for the North during the Civil War. Also Corbett’s narrative accurately described Djanko’s revolver as an 1873 Peacemaker, a weapon that would have been outdated by 1889.

  Sometime in the 1880s, Djanko had shocked his criminal associates by suddenly becoming gripped by religious fervor. Seeking atonement for all the blood on his hands, Djanko had joined a monastic order in Mexico. Two years ago, Djanko had suddenly broken his vows and returned to a life of mayhem. He had written to Gordon seeking replacement parts for his old Bailey machine gun. Unfortunately, Gordon couldn’t help him because Gordon had retired from the armament business when he reached his 70th birthday. He had no idea whether Bailey was even still alive. Gordon had informed Djanko to try other arms dealers. Despite his failure to satisfy Djanko’s request, he and the old gunslinger continued to correspond. Gordon perused Djanko’s letter.

  Dear Arthur,

  While receiving some replacement parts for my machine gun from a Swedish arms dealer, I received an unusual invitation from some of his associates. It is for the New Orleans Assassins’ Auction, a gathering being held for a rather unique clientele during Mardi-Gras. The items being offered for sale include various weapons that have been used to murder our fellow human beings over the centuries. They even have a Bailey machine gun. I am unable to attend because of other business matters. My Swedish friend suggested I pass on the invitation to one of my friends. I have chosen you because there is an item of fairly recent vintage that will interest you.

  Sincerely,

  Ignacz

  Besides the invitation, enclosed with the letter was a detailed catalogue of items being offered for sale at the auction. One of them immediately caught Arthur’s attention:

  #37 - C96 Mauser Pistol. Formerly the property of the Mute Shootist of Utah, a man who conducted a violent campaign against bounty hunters by either shooting off their thumbs or killing them outright. In good working order. Capable of firing 10 bullets.

  Josephine Balsamo, also known as Countess Cagliostro, was holding the Assassins’ Auction in a large mansion on the outskirts of New Orleans. She was an attractive blonde woman of 32 years. Her personal office had been made virtually soundproof with steel paneling just in case it was necessary to liquidate any customers who refused to pay. Her partner in this unique endeavor was the American known as Aguirre.

  His real name was not Aguirre. After a career as a bounty hunter in Utah, this American decided to leave the state because the Governor had ordered an investigation into his activities. Josephine had christened her partner Aguirre because she believed that only the notorious 16th century conquistador of the same name had matched him in bloodthirstiness. During his travels in the West, Aguirre had been able to locate numerous firearms and knives that belonged to many of the most notorious gunfighters. This huge arsenal would be dispersed at the auction.

  For her own part, Josephine was making contributions to the auction from various different sources. Since the 18th century, her family had engaged in extensive dealings with the secret societies of Italy. Josephine had come into possession of the diabolical inventions of the Camorra, the Red Circle and the Brotherhood of the Seven Kings.

  In additions to her assortment of Italian instruments, Josephine had also profited from her brief love affair with the French swindler Ballmeyer. During their torrid romance, the pair had amused themselves by plundering the evidence rooms of leading police departments of the United States. In Baltimore, they had purloined the complete paraphernalia of the mass murderer known as the Butcher. His instruments included a hook, a meat cleaver, a rapier and a single-shot revolver. From the San Francisco authorities, Ballmeyer and Josephine had stolen the seven idols that had been left beside the victims of Professor Malaki. After Ballmeyer deserted Josephine to return to France in 1897, he had left such plunder with her as a token of his affection while absconding with the undivided loot from their joint murder of a New Orleans merchant. Ballmeyer had assumed that he had saddled Josephine with items of questionable value in exchange for a more tangible asset. The trusting Ballmeyer had been totally unaware that Malaki’s statues were made of ivory. Josephine would soon convert Ballmeyer’s legacy into substantial money.

  The final supplier of Josephine’s stockpile of death devices had been the mysterious Dr. Antonio Nikola, a man who had ties to various secret societies in Italy. Nikola had also journeyed substantially in the Far East. In 1898, Nikola had announced his intention to leave Europe and meet his final destiny in an Asian monastery. In exchange for assistance that she had rendered him in the past, Nikola had bequeathed Josephine an assortment of Asian weapons that he had collected during his travels.

  On this morning in 1900, all the participants for the auction had arrived. Before the bidding began, the potential bidders were allowed to view the items in a massive ballroom. Numerous armed guards were present to make sure nothing was pilfered. The guests had been allowed to gather together with one notable exception, Arthur Gordon. He was being held in a separate room by two of Aguirre’s guards because his invitation was not in order. Arthur was clearly not Ignacz Djanko. While he was examining the prisoner, Aguirre sent a guard to inform Josephine.

  Josephine was interrupted in her office as she was perusing an Italian novel that concluded with a violent bloodbath.

  “As you know, Countess, Peterson delivered an invitation to Djanko with our permission” explained the guard. “Then this fellow Gordon showed up with Djanko’s invitation. He claimed that Djanko sent him the invitation because the Undertaker purchased his Bailey machine gun from him years ago.”

  “Could you describe this man Gordon?”

  “A tall, elderly fellow. Must have been an athlete in his youth, but now he looks like he has one foot in the grave.”

  When Josephine was escorted into the prisoner’s presence, Arthur stared at her in shock.

  “Josine, is that you? My God, you are the splitting image of your mother!”

  “And the splitting image of my great-grandmother. This is quite a surprise, Arthur.”

  “You know this man?” queried Aguirre.

  “Yes, Arthur was an old friend of my mother’s in the late 1860s. In fact, he helped my mother to become a hostess in Paris shortly before the Franco-Prussian War. Upon my mother’s tragic death, Arthur arranged that I be properly educated. When I was 12, he paid the cost of my enrollment at the Marie Gilbert School in Paris. When I reached the age of 15, Arthur arranged my transfer to the Fourneau College for Young Women near Avignon.”

  “Josine, I never expected to find you in New Orleans,” Gordon said. “I heard you were in France six years ago.”

  “A dispute with a business partner prompted me to come to America. I recall that you knew the father of my treacherous ex-associate. He’s the son of Theophraste Lupin.”

  “If the son is anything like the father, then he’s the last person in the world that I would ever trust.”

  Josephine had ample reason for hating Theophraste Lupin. He had been indirectly responsible for her mother’s death. Josephine devoted her existence to ruining the lives of his descendants. Her first act of vengeance against the Lupin family had actually transpired at the Fourneau College. The mistress of that school had chosen Josephine to be the senior prefect of all the girls and entrus
ted her with helping run the school. It had initially been very difficult at the Fourneau College for Josephine. She had been exiled there after being put on probation at the Marie Gilbert School for the relatively harmless prank of putting a frog in the bed of a classmate. Discipline was incredibly sterner at the Fourneau College where corporal punishment was not unknown. With grim determination, Josephine had risen to a position of power.

  A younger girl known as Mademoiselle Tupin was later enrolled at the school. Having access to all the school’s records, Josephine uncovered that Tupin was actually the illegitimate daughter of Theophraste Lupin. Tupin was seemingly a variation of Lupin. By the time that Josephine graduated, she had thoroughly corrupted Tupin and recommended her to the headmistress to be the new chief custodian of all the other students. Josephine had been far less fruitful in her efforts to dominate the son of Theophraste.

  “Is your uncle here as well?” wondered Gordon.

  “Yes, Uncle Leonard is working in the showroom.” Turning to Aguirre, Josephine asserted, “Please release this old family friend. His presence at the Assassins’ Auction is most welcome.”

  When Gordon entered the showroom, he was immediately struck by a large metal Chinese abacus on display at one of the tables. According to the catalogue, it had once been the property of the Bookkeeper, a member of the Ten Killers of the Underworld.

  Next to the abacus was a large circular metal object that that looked like some sort of hatbox. Blades extended from the side of the object almost making it resemble a buzz saw. Gordon looked up the item in the catalogue:

  #235 - Flying Guillotine. This weapon was created on the orders of Emperor Yung-Cheng (1722-35). Execution squads armed with multiple versions of this device roamed the Chinese countryside inaugurating a Reign of Terror similar to that which transpired in the French Revolution. This instrument is not only designed to behead the victim, but to capture his head as a grisly trophy for the executioner. According to Kegan Van Roon’s Secrets of the Shaolin Temple’s Thirty-Sixth Chamber (New York: Golden Goblin Press, 1897), Yung-Cheng was slain by rebels who had captured one of these Flying Guillotines. The Manchu Dynasty allegedly obfuscated the assassination by pretending that the Emperor had died a natural death. This particular model offered for sale was used by a blind assassin who reported directly to Yung-Cheng.

  “I see that you are admiring the glorious handiwork commissioned by the enlightened Yung-Cheng,” remarked a small Chinese gentleman dressed in Western attire. Accompanying the diminutive Asian, who appeared to be his fifties, was a fellow Chinese attendee, a tall thin man in his very late thirties. The older man identified himself as Hong Chen and his younger companion as Huan Tsung Chao. Both identified themselves as the envoys of an enigmatic Dr. Natas. They neglected to mention that Natas was an alias adopted by the powerful Governor of the Chinese province of Honan.

  “I must confess that I am appalled by the misleading representation of this artifact in the catalogue,” complained Hong Chen. “Did you notice the glaring historical error, Mr. Gordon?”

  “I am afraid that I haven’t.”

  “Does not the description imply that the Emperor ordered the creation of this instrument in order to emulate the guillotine introduced into Europe with the French Revolution?”

  “Yes, it does.”

  “When was this Chinese artifact invented?”

  “In the early 18th century.”

  “When was the guillotine invented?”

  “Well… It must have been manufactured during the early years of the French Revolution. Let’s see … The Bastille fell in 1789… I see your point. The guillotine didn’t originate in France until decades after the reign of Yung-Cheng.”

  “In our country, this device is known by another name that would more properly translate into English as the ‘Flying Executioner’,” noted the younger of the two Chinese aristocrats. “The term ‘Flying Guillotine’ was completely a concoction of Kegan Van Roon, a mountebank who pretends to be a serious scholar.”

  “It is regrettable that such an error occurred in the catalogue considering the ancestry of our hostess,” interjected Huan’s older colleague.

  “I don’t understand your comment, Mr. Hong,” replied Gordon.

  “Her great-great-grandfather, Count Cagliostro traveled extensively in Asia. There he encountered Yung-Cheng’s great contribution to the science of capital punishment. Cagliostro became obsessed with our Flying Executioner. Upon his return to Europe, he tried to persuade others to create a similar wondrous means of death. Initially, he prevailed upon the Brotherhood of the Seven Kings to investigate the practicality of an equivalent device. Unfortunately, that Italian secret society could only achieve decapitation with a rather crude Iron Circlet. The Brotherhood’s creation is another item on display in this showroom. Cagliostro didn’t achieve his dream until he met Dr. Joseph Guillotin, and ordered him to propose that France manufacture a decapitation machine in the Constituent Assembly.”

  “But I also thought that Cagliostro was a mere confidence trickster. You talk about him as he was a personage of incredible influence.”

  “I can not fault you for your lack of knowledge, Mr. Gordon. You and most of the world have fallen victim to the Masonic campaign to hide the true facts of history.”

  “What in Heaven’s name do the Freemasons have to do with all this?”

  “Cagliostro was the secret Grandmaster of the Masonic Lodges. In this role, he orchestrated the French Revolution from behind the scenes. The Cagliostro family is famous for hatching convoluted schemes in which others are manipulated. The Count later instructed his Masonic minions to alter all the historical records concerning him when France nearly conquered all of Europe. All the so-called facts about Count Cagliostro are false. These distortions involve his physical appearance as well as his death. Only the great French novelist Alexandre Dumas was aware of the truth. He portrayed the real Cagliostro in a series of novels.”

  “Why didn’t the Masons murder Dumas if he was revealing their secrets?”

  “Not being a Mason, I do not know. Possibly they concluded that most readers would simply surmise that Dumas was spinning wild yarns from his own imagination.”

  “I would never have envisioned that a Chinese Emperor was indirectly responsible for the adoption of the French guillotine as a means of execution. I guess that Van Roon’s account of Yung-Cheng’s death is false.”

  “You are correct,” inserted Huan Tsung Chao. “The story is simply the legend that Shogun Ietmitsu of Japan was beheaded by one of his own Yagyu assassins transposed to a Chinese setting. Our lord, Dr. Natas, was particularly inflamed by Van Roon’s lies concerning the Emperor’s death. Our noble master swore that if Van Roon ever set foot in China, he would meet with a violent death. Please excuse us; we want to express my grievance considering the depiction of the Flying Executioner to one of the managers.”

  The pair left Gordon and approached a grey-haired Frenchman at the other side of the vast showroom. Gordon recognized the man as Josephine’s uncle. The Chinese duo was expressing their outrage in a loud manner that caught the attention of many spectators. Gordon suddenly heard an old familiar voice. “Well, Arthur, it looks like our old friend Leonard has been captured by the Chinese.”

  “Good Lord! Count Bielowsky. I though you would be dead by now.”

  “That’s a strange comment coming from a man who is 12 years older than me.”

  The speaker was dressed in the uniform of an officer of the Second Empire. His face sprouted whiskers in the style of Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary. His hair was parted in the middle. Both his hair and his whiskers had been dyed dark brown.

  “When Napoleon III abdicated, you suddenly disappeared from Paris. Where did you go, Count?”

  “I have been serving as an aide-decamp at the court of Antinea, the Sultana of Ahaggar.”

  “Ahaggar? I never heard of such a kingdom. Where is it located?”

  “You are better off not knowing.
The Sultana believes in keeping the knowledge of her kingdom’s existence confined to her loyal subjects. The Sultana is a woman of unusual pursuits. She has dispatched me here to bid on one particular item, a group of small statues, apparently of Sumerian origin, that materialized in San Francisco a decade ago. Queen Antinea suspects that they were actually plundered from the tomb of the wizard Surama in her own kingdom. I am somewhat concerned that I may not been able to acquire the idols. One of our fellow attendees is Oliver Haddo, a man rumored to be the purchasing agent of a wealthy consortium of occultists. Haddo has also expressed an interest in bidding on the idols. But that’s enough about my commission. Do you still live in Germany during the summer and in France during the winter?”

  “Those days are long gone. Like you, my fortunes were severely depleted by the consequences of the Battle of Sedan. I tried to borrow money from my son Wilkie, the heir to the Chalusse millions. That spoiled brat refused to have anything to do with me. I was forced to return to Texas where my son John helped me establish a munitions business. I haven’t been in Europe since except for a few trips in the 1880s to sort out some family matters.”

  “I wasn’t aware that Hermine bore you another son.”

  “She didn’t. Hermine wasn’t the only woman that I married.”

  “Wilkie’s behavior towards you was really quite extraordinary. I generally find daughters to be more considerate of their parents than sons. It’s too bad that you never had a daughter.”