Tuesday 3 March 1925
By the seaside
Daniel Masters and Cecil Goulding are enchanted by the quaint English seaside town with its long pier and stalls selling popcorn (closed), candyfloss (closed) and seaside rock with “Walton-on-the-Naze” embedded through its length (closed). They manage to find a man hiring deckchairs on this cold and drizzly March day, and content themselves with sitting on the beach under an umbrella.
After a cholesterol-packed Full English Breakfast in his B&B, Arthur Bell joins Daniel and Cecil on the beach, where he sits deep in thought as the rain drums on his umbrella. He frets about whether cultists might be infiltrating his company, Beyond the Seas. His secretary Amelia worries that the stress is getting to him—he seems to be acting a little paranoid. Amelia suggests that she should help with finding Misr House. “Hm, yes, sounds like a good idea,” murmurs Arthur, not really paying attention.
Later in the afternoon, Cecil goes looking for an arcade with coin pusher machines, before realising that these would not be invented until the 1960s. He consoles himself by going to the Bingo Hall, delighting himself in this game of chance which has not yet reached America. Make a hard Luck check to see if you win.
Meanwhile, Jude Greyson spends the morning walking along the promenade and talking to fishermen and owners of pleasure craft, looking for someone who could take them up the coast to the other side of the peninsula. He is in luck, and finds Syed, the son of the owner of a 20’ motor launch, who says he knows the way. Jude gathers up Jack, Bessie Simons, Frank Johnson, Raskolnikov and Amelia, and by lunchtime they are on their way.
Dorothy, Basile and Timothy all have colds and spend the day huddled in front of the fireplace in their B&B, with their feet in a mustard bath.
Gavigan’s Estate
The motor launch chugs north along the coast, past the Naze Tower on its clifftop promontory, eventually turning to port and entering a wide inlet. Rounding the promontory, the boat turns to the south and skirts the eastern edge of the peninsula. The land is thickly wooded, but the investigators spot a rooftop poking above the tops of the trees. They decide to tie up the boat and make their way to the mansion on foot.
Unfortunately they fail their Navigation check wander off course to the north, emerging in a clearing. In the centre of the clearing is an 8’ tall stele made of black stone, in the shape of a needle. It is covered with hieroglyphics. Raskolnikov spots a recurring cartouche containing the name “Black Pharaoh”. Disturbingly, there are four shackes attached by chains to the base of the stele.
The investigators retrace their steps and this time find their way to the back of the mansion.
Misr House
A man comes around the side of the mansion and goes into a shed. Raskolnikov tries to listen outside the shed but makes too much noise. The man comes around the shed to find out who is there and starts yelling at Raskolnikov that this is private property. In response, Raskolnikov shouts back at the man, brandishing his revolver. The man threatens to call the police and retreats into the house.
A few minutes later, three men, now armed with sticks, come out of the house and start looking for the intruder. Instead they find Frank hiding in the trees. Frank punches one of them in the face and it’s all downhill from there. There is gunfire : one of the men is shot dead, the second is disemboweled on the end of Jude’s swords and the third is on the ground, seriously injured and unconscious. The investigators drag them into the shed.
There are shouts from the side door of the house, as the inhabitants, having heard gunshots, call out to their comrades. There is no answer. The door slams shut. Lights turn on upstairs.
The investigators spend the next minutes trying to cut the phone wire to the house. Eventually they get a rope from the shed, throw it over the telephone wire, and pull it down where they can reach it to cut it. They see someone watching them from an upstairs window.
Next the investigators break in through the back door. Jude climbs over the wooden fence, slips back the bolt and picks the lock on the door. Passing through a utility room, the investigators find themselves in the hallway. They advance cautiously, but as they reach the bottom of the stairs, the doors to either side burst open, and four men rush at them, screaming: the valet (armed with a poker), the butler (armed with the metal bar for holding the drinks cabinet shut), the groundskeeper (armed with a three-pronged garden fork) and the Egyptian cook (armed with a large cooks’ knife).
Raskolnikov is an image of cold-blooded death. He pulls out both his pistols and empties them into the butler. Jack goes crazy, firing at the cook, killing him. This triggers a psychotic episode where he believes all his friends are in league with the cultists. He empties his remaining rounds into Jude, who slumps to the ground. Frank sustains a serious wound to his stomach when he is impaled with the gardening fork. The valet and the groundskeeper soon share the fate of their comrades.
Syed administers first aid to Jude, but it’s clear that he is in a critical condition. Frank is bandaged up and says he is well enough to drive. There is a box by the front door with a set of keys hanging on a hook inside. Out in front, under a taurpaulin, a Bentley Blue Label tourer is parked. They take it. Raskolnikov, Bessie and Syed remain behind to search the house.
The car drives a mile or so to a metal bridge, before crossing over to an area of dry land surrounded by a dyke and eventually reaching the front gate of the estate, where a single watchman huddles in a shelter. Seeing the car stop by the gate, he comes over to see who it is. He is shocked to see Frank at the wheel, someone he doesn’t recognise. Frank doesn’t give him a chance to think, punching him in the face. As the man staggers back, Frank yells at him to open the gate! Rolls 01 on Intimidate, succeeding for the first time ever. Too stunned to argue, the man opens the gate and the car drives away into the night.
Chelmsford
Chelmsford is a small town with a population of around 20,000.
As Frank drives through the night, Jude lapses once more into unconsciousness. His friends revive him and they make it to Chelmsford and Essex Hospital and Dispensary. Luckily a surgeon is on hand and Jude’s condition is stabilised. Frank also receives medical treatment. Exhausted from their ordeal, they spend the night at the hospital.
Chelmsford and Essex Hospital and Dispensary, New London Road, Chelmsford. This general hospital was erected in 1882-3 as an infirmary and dispensary, and comprised a two-storey administration and ward block with, at the rear, an adjoining single-storey dispensary annexe. Both buildings were of brick, with dressings of stone, and the architect was F. Chancellor. The hospital was reconstructed and enlarged in 1909 by Keith Young, who erected a new, modern ward unit on the site of one of the original wards and greatly improved the sanitary facilities.
Other Chelmsford trivia: In 1899 Marconi opened the world’s first radio factory in Chelmsford. In 1912 he built a new purpose-built factory.