Monsters, Magic, and Machines (The SteamGoth Anthology Book 1)

by Jonathan Baird

  Captain Barclay was used to being the master of his ship, but the events this evening had proven otherwise. In desperation he turned to Ian Grey in the hope that he can sort this out quickly, before things really get out of hand.

  Ian stood still and appraised the large crewman standing before him. “You have to excuse me, Captain; however, Captain Roycroft has a good point. The violence done to the poor girl is extraordinary, and the few people I can fully trust to be innocent of the crime are those who were in the lounge with me the entire time.” Ian paused, he needed to tread carefully or suspicion could lead to more violence and more innocents could get hurt or worse. “You have a name crewman?”

  The crewman was afraid to take his eyes off of Roycroft’s pistol in case he might get shot if he looked away. “Engineer’s Mate William Budd, sir. Though everyone calls me Big Bill,” Big Bill may be afraid of the pistol, but his voice was strong and clear with a strong Liverpool accent.

  Ian Grey regarded Big Bill for a moment. He certainly lived up to his nick name; the Engineer’s Mate was dressed in the standard white and red striped shirt worn by all of the crewmen, and a pair of blue grey coveralls. Both the shirt and coveralls were covered in oil stains and his arms bore several raw scratches. “Where did you get those cuts on your arms?”

  Big Bill looked down at the offending scratches before answering the question, “Well sir, as Engineer’s Mate I spend a lot time in the engine room, just beyond that door behind you. As you can imagine the engine room was not made with me in mind, so I tend to catch on bits and pieces of machinery, I don’t even pay attention to it anymore.”

  Half convinced by Big Bill’s answer, Ian immediately launched into a more important question, one that if Big Bill did not answer correctly would more than likely result in Captain Roycroft putting a bullet in his head. “Fair enough, Bill,” Ian started slowly, “Perhaps, for everyone’s benefit, you could tell us your whereabouts for the past hour and a half?”

  Big Bill looked back at his captain, who gave him a curt nod to answer the question, “I was in the crew’s mess sir!”

  Ian Grey cocked his head slightly and raised an eyebrow, “For the whole hour and a half? That seems to be an awfully long time to have one’s supper.”

  Big Bill licked suddenly dry lips, “You don’t understand sir. I had my supper hours ago; the crew’s mess is one of the few places we go between watches. I was just bidding my time until my next watch started. A bunch of us were there playing cards.”

  Neither Ian Grey nor Captain Roycroft responded to Big Bill’s statement. In desperation Big Bill continued, “I had been there since 9 this evening. You can ask any dozen of the crewmen who was there with me. Pete’ll testify to that sir, you can ask him!”

  Captain Barclay decided that it was a good moment to intervene on behalf of his crewman, “Colonel Grey, I can assure you that if my man says that he was in the mess hall during the time he said, and with witnesses to back him up, then he was in the mess during that time. I run a tight ship sir, and if twelve of my men ransacked the cargo hold and killed the young girl, I will personally see to it that they were thrown overboard from our current height.”

  “I think,” Ian Grey replied, “That we can trust our large friend in what he says. Do you agree Captain Roycroft?”

  Roycroft nodded his head and lowered his pistol, “I reckon you are correct there.”

  Ian nodded to the Big Bill, “If you would be so kind as to take the body of young Miss Amelia Brinks to the sickbay and when you are done, please return here for further instructions.” Big Bill nodded and bent down to pick up the body wrapped up in the canvas tarp. In life, Amelia Brinks was barely five feet four inches, wrapped as she was and carried in the big man’s arms, she gave the appearance of a small doll wrapped up for Christmas. Big Bill carried his small bundle and made his way out of the cargo hold with Dr. Felton and Lady Victoria in tow. Ian stopped Victoria for a moment and whispered something in her ear. Victoria nodded and proceeded to follow Dr. Felton to sickbay to further examine the body.

  Ian brought his attention to Captain Barclay, “Captain, I think it is advisable that the remaining passengers remain in their staterooms for the time being.” Captain Barclay nodded in agreement and gave the room to Ian Grey and his newly created “investigation team”.

  Ian made a slow and complete circle, and his eyes scanned every inch of the surrounding area. “It appears,” he began, “that Miss Brinks surprised the person or persons as they were in the process of opening the container that held your mummy Sir Jasper.”

  Roycroft walked over to Ian’s left and crouched down on the ground with his eyes fixed on the spot where Amelia Brinks had been found. “I reckon your lady doctor will find bruises along Amelia’s right arm. She came down this corridor and her attacker grabbed her and whipped her into the outer wall. There is a spot of blood on that girder what looks like it matches up with the cut over her left eye.”

  Ian completed Roycroft’s assessment, “And while she lay dazed on the floor her attacker snapped her neck to silence her and then apparently twisted it all the way around for good measure.”

  Roycroft stood up, “I still think that great ox is our best culprit for that bit of work. It takes a mighty strong fellow to twist someone’s neck around, even a little wisp of a girl like poor Amelia.”

  Ian made his way over to the container and the mummy within, “Not necessarily. Once the neck is broken there are ways to twist the head around like that.”

  Roycroft looked sideways at his new companion, “I suppose they teach you how to do such a thing in that defense service of yours?”

  Ian gave the container the same slow and thorough viewing that he performed on the initial scene, “There are ways.”

  Roycroft was not satisfied with Ian’s answer but let the matter drop for the time being. “Well anyhow, good thing I had my iron with me just in case the big guy was our killer.”

  Ian looked inside the container, “Yes thank you for that, Captain Roycroft. Colt Lighting is it?”

  Roycroft brushed his hand against the grip of his pistol, holstered under his coat, “You know your guns sir. Yup a .38 short Colt double action. And Eddie will do just fine, I don’t hold onto my rank too much. If it is not too much, I would suggest the next time you come loaded for bear as well.”

  Ian gave a half turn to Eddie Roycroft and snapped his right arm quickly. A metallic click heralded the arrival of an odd pistol that suddenly materialized into his hand. “A gift from an inventor friend of mine,” Ian commented holding the pistol up for Roycroft to see, “It is attached to a vanbrace on my forearm and can fire five shots of the same .38 ammunition as your Colt Lighting.” Roycroft gave a low whistle in appreciation as Ian made another motion with his arm that caused the weapon to retreat back up his sleeve. “And you can call me Ian, those under my command call me Colonel.”

  “So I am not under your command, huh?” asked Roycroft.

  Ian squinted his eyes at something buried in the straw next to the sarcophagus, with another quick motion; he produced a thin folding knife and opened it with a distinct ‘crack-crack-crack’ sound.

  “Well, aren’t you full of surprises Ian,” commented Roycroft, “A gypsy navaja knife?”

  Ian grinned and then began to probe the straw with his knife. “You know your knives, sir.” Ian’s prodding was rewarded with sound of metal on metal, and reaching in he produced one of the two ankhs that were missing from the mummy’s hands. “What kind of thief breaks into a crate, removes the artifacts, kills someone over them and then does not even take them away?”

  Sir Jasper and Yussef moved closer to examine the ankh that Ian pulled out. “Someone who knew that if they were caught with the stolen items would also be linked to the murder?” offered Sir Jasper.

  “No,” countered Yussef, “This was not about theft of ancient Egyptian treasures.” His voice barely above a whisper, “This, my friends, was the theft of something much more dangerous. S
omeone broke into the sarcophagus to release the demon.”

  All three men turned and looked at the Egyptian historian. Ian was the first to speak up, “Now really Mr. El Sadek, you cannot seriously believe that someone is actually trying to release a demon?”

  Sir Jasper placed a hand on Ian’s shoulder, “Whether or not we believe that there is a demon trapped in the mummy or not is irrelevant, whoever broke in here may have believed just that and sometimes belief is enough to spur men to do just about anything.”

  Still not convinced Ian Grey continued his counter argument, “Sir Jasper, you said yourself that hardly anyone had even heard of this Nes-min priest, why would anyone suspect a demon was trapped inside the mummy, let alone try to release it?”

  “Ah!” Yussef proclaimed punctuating his cry with a raised finger, ‘There are signs that someone tried to do just that. See,” he continued using his finger as guide, “the ankhs were removed from his hands. Normally a mummy may have one ankh and a crook but Nes-min held two ankhs. His own writings stated that they were used to complete a circle so that the demon would not be able to leave the body.” Yussef became more animated as he went on. “And with the burial mask removed, we can see that someone has recently cut away the wrappings around his head. Also the neck cuff that was said to be buried with him is missing. And finally there are these two cuts along his mouth.”

  The last statement was met with quizzical looks from his companions, Yussef rolled his eyes in exasperation, wondering why the others could not see it as plainly as he could, “A demon may be non corporeal but it still must enter and exit through an opening in the host body, which almost always is the mouth..” Again Yussef pointed to the two cuts on either side of the mouth, “In order to let the demon out, the mouth had to be opened.”

  Ian took a closer look at the cuts, he had seen similar ones before made by thugs in some of the darker parts of London, but they were usually ragged affairs, these were sharp and clean. Ian crossed his arms and mulled over what Yussef said and tried to reconcile it with what he saw. “So what you are saying is that someone onboard this ship broke into the cargo hold and desecrated the mummy in order to release a demon that may or may not have been trapped over two thousand years ago. And that Amelia Brinks was what? Sacrificed? Or was she in the wrong place at the wrong time?”

  Yussef looked about the room before giving his answer, but Ian held up his hand to stop him. “I am not saying I agree with you Yussef, but it does not make much difference. Someone killed that girl and there are only a limited number of people who could have done it. All we need do is find out who was missing during the time of the murder and go from there. It would be best if we start with the crew. If we can eliminate them as suspects it will make our investigation all the easier.”

  Ian proceeded to divide the men into groups with specific instructions: Sir Jasper, Harish Singh, and Yussef El Sadek would continue to search for the remaining artifacts as this would allow them to know for certain if theft was the main motive or not. Ian Grey and Eddie Roycroft would begin questioning the crew as soon as possible. As Ian gave out his instructions a visibly upset Captain Barclay strode over to where they were standing. “Captain, I need you to round up..,” Ian began before he was cut off by Captain Barclay.

  “I am afraid I have some rather bad news Colonel. I have received word from the bridge our instruments have stopped working.”

  Ian pinched his nose and squeezed his eyes shut to cut off an impending headache, “How exactly do you mean the instruments are not working Captain.”

  Captain Barclay lowered his voice, “Our wireless call box is giving us the same shrill like scream that the inner ship tubes did. All of our navigation equipment has either stopped working altogether or is giving us nonsensical readings and it appears that even the compass is just spinning around as if it cannot find true north.”

  “You see,” exclaimed Yussef, “We are now cursed by the demon.”

  Ian let out a sigh; his eyes still screwed shut, “Mr. El Sadek it would help greatly if you would refrain from tossing about that the ship is cursed.”

  Captain Barclay was not quite finished delivering bad news. “Colonel you may want to look at your watch before you dismiss the man’s assessment.”

  Ian opened his eyes and reached into his pocket to pull out his watch. Flipping the cover up, he blinked several times at the time piece. Against all known reason the watch hands were moving forward far too quickly as if the watch was being adjusted by someone else. “Electrical Magnetic Interference,” Ian said simply. As he gazed at the blank stares around him, Ian elaborated, “Something, more then likely a device of some sort is interfering with all of the systems on this ship. I have seen such devices used that can produce many of the same effects. All in all this changes nothing, we still have a killer to catch.”

  __________________________________________

  The sickbay was little more than an empty storage room adjoining Dr. Felton’s cabin. Big Bill entered the room, while Dr. Felton bustled around the room producing a folding table for the large crewman to gently place the girl’s body on.

  “If there isn’t anything else you’ll be needin’ Doctor, the Colonel wanted me back down in the cargo hold right away.”

  Dr. Felton’s back was to Big Bill as he opened a cabinet built into the wall of the room. Bill waited a few moments as he was not quite sure if had been dismissed yet.

  “Thank you Mr. Budd,” Lady Victoria said on Dr. Felton’s behalf, “We have everything in hand and will take good care of Miss Brinks. You may go now.”

  Big Bill looked at the body on the table one last time and nodded to Lady Victoria before he returned to the cargo hold.

  Dr. Felton muttered to himself as he placed various medical instruments on a small silver tray while Lady Victoria carefully un-wrapped the tarp to reveal Amelia Brinks’ face, her eyes were still wide open. Victoria suppressed an impulse to close them for now.

  Dr, Felton suddenly appeared beside her, his entire demeanor changed once they entered the sickbay. Where he was slow and a bit uncertain at the scene of the murder, he was now quick and sure in what he considers his own domain. Dr. Felton handed a leather apron to Lady Victoria, “Here my dear, this should keep your clothes relatively clean while we go about our business.” Lady Victoria took the garment and noted that it was clean and well cared for, either due to lack of use or diligence on the part of Dr. Felton she could not say. “If you do not mind my asking,” Dr. Felton began, “but where did you earn your medical degree?”

  Lady Victoria finished tying her apron on as she spoke, “I finished my degree at the University of Edinburgh and mentored under Dr. Joseph Bell at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.”

  Dr. Felton stood and gaped at the young woman in front of him. “I was there as well. Oh to be sure it was before your time, when I was a student there the Royal Infirmary was over in High School Yards.”

  Lady Victoria nodded, “And it was still there when I attended. It moved to Lauriston Place two years after I graduated.”

  Lady Victoria judged that by the look on the doctor’s face that his estimation of her own skills in medicine had grown exponentially. She finished removing the tarp from the corpse, the body was lying stomach down with the head still twisted backwards.

  “Well the first thing we will need to do,” began Dr. Felton, “is to bring the poor girl’s head round the correct way. I should have thought to ask young Big Bill to help us with that.”

  Lady Victoria pulled gently took the girl’s head in her hands and slowly twisted it first to the left and then to the right. “It does not matter doctor, rigor mortis has not set in yet. And besides,” Lady Victoria continued as she gave the head a sharp twist to the right with a meaty crunch, “I do not think Mr. Budd really wanted to be involved in this process.”

  “Well done Doctor Dallas,” Dr. Felton beamed.

  Victoria found herself blushing slightly at the high compliment from the ship’s doctor. �
�Thank you sir, praise indeed. Now that her head is on right, would you care to give me a hand and bring her face up, so to speak?”

  Amelia Brinks barely weighed over a hundred pounds and easily turned over on the table for Lady Victoria and Dr. Felton. Once her body was positioned correctly they were able to examine her in earnest.

  Lady Victoria lightly ran her hand over the body examining the dead girl’s hands, fingers, arms, neck and then down her legs to her feet. “This attack was sudden.” Victoria commented as she continued looking over the body, “So far I can only detect three injuries: the dislocated shoulder, the cut over her eye possibly from when she was swung into the wall, and the twisting of her neck that is the most obvious cause of death. We will have to remove her clothes in order to determine any other injuries.”

  Dr. Felton agreed and brought out a second folding table to hold the dead girl’s clothes when they were removed. As he completed the task, Lady Victoria continued to examine the dead girl, and noted how her eyes, open and lifeless, still showed the fear she must have felt in the last moments of her life. Her red hair, which only a few short hours earlier had been dressed up neatly while she ate dinner with Victoria and the others, was now a disheveled mass. But it was her lips that drew Lady Victoria’s attention now. The set of her mouth was out of place for some reason, lips tightly pressed together as if she was trying to keep a secret. Carefully, and using her thumb and forefinger, Lady Victoria opened the mouth as wide as it would go. Something small and shiny glinted at the back of the girl’s mouth.

  “Doctor, come take a look at this, there appears to be something in the back of her throat,” Lady Victoria said.

  Dr. Felton leaned forward to stare in the open mouth. “Yes, I see something back there,” he replied. Dr. Felton then produced a pair of forceps from the silver tray and reached into the mouth to extract the item. “I believe I have got it. Could you retrieve one of the small pans from the cabinet my dear?”