“The Corpse Charm”

After a week of thunderous rain and constant gusts of wind, the drenched town was finally granted some peace from the heavens.  On the evening the rains finally left, a fog settled over the town, blanketing the buildings, bay, and countryside in an eerie silence.  Few ventured out onto the dimly lit cobblestone streets, and many stayed inside their homes, comforted by surrounding loved ones all gathered around a warm fireplace.  Almost every home, apartment, or flat had the same setting, all except one.  A figure stood almost motionless in the dimly lit window of 16 Rue Street.  A dying fire barely illuminated the seemingly destitute room and the man leaning against a small table by the window, puffing away at his pipe.  His features were sharp and attentive; steel gray eyes set in an austere face.  He glanced down at his gold timepiece and exhaled, slightly irritated and impatient.  With his left hand he gently drew back the curtains only enough to spy on passing persons in the swirling fog.  Finally he could see a little lamp on a carriage as it drew near.  He emptied the contents of his pipe onto the nearly extinguished fire, and tucked the pipe into his coat.  With a single swift maneuver he clutched his hat on the rack, turned the lock on the door and shut off a lamp illuminating a sign that read ‘Dr. W F Scott’, and closed the door to his flat.  His long, black coat flowed behind him as he strode towards the carriage driver fiddling with his cap.

            “So sorry guv’.  Didn’t mean to keep you waitin’ an’ all like that.  Its me horse Duncan, bit of a stubborn brute tonight.”  He jerked his head towards the black stallion on the left who replied by stomping his hoof and neighing in annoyance.  “Oh pipe down you jack a—“

            “Quite alright Stephen. We should leave at once.”  William replied, and hopped into the carriage.  The smaller man mounted and with a click of his tongue the carriage jerked then continued on to their destination.  William removed a folded envelope that had been hidden in another pocket within his coat.  It had been slipped under his door several nights ago.  He unfolded it and read the fine handwriting in which his name was impressively printed.  Upon opening the envelope, he could detect a slight perfume scent.  Of course, he knew this had been sent by a woman, the penmanship had clearly given that away. 

            Mr. W.F. Scott,

                        I cannot delve into much detail at this time, and so I ask that we arrange a meeting immediately as I am in need of your assistance in solving a most inexplicable event.  I will come to your office on Wednesday.

                                                                                                            M.E.M.B.

            He folded the paper and replaced it in its envelope, then returned it to his pocket.  She had delivered the note to him on Monday night, and on Wednesday, a faint knocking at his door stirred him from his study.  As soon as he had opened the door, a thin woman slipped in quickly and folded her umbrella.   

“Mr. William Francis Scott, my name is Madeleine Bourdeshire.”  She extended a gloved hand and grasped his tightly.  Instantly William knew this was not just any woman.  “I cannot stay long as my mother is waiting for me at home.  We had a most upsetting burglary a few days ago, and I have a very clear description.  I’ve heard you are more than able to solve mysteries, and I’m sure this is one you will find much interest in.  My address is on this paper.  I must leave now, good day.” With that, she opened the door and slipped out once more.  The door clicking in the frame brought William back to his senses.  He shook his head and glanced down.  She had been there only a few moments, and he thought he’d been imagining the meeting.

The ride was uneventful, save for the fact that a black cat nearly scurried across their path. 

            “Bad luck an’ all you know guv’.  Wouldn’t want anything to ruin plans for tonight, eh?”  Stephen joked when they had reached their destination.  A woman slowly and cautiously emerged from her home and hurried them into the warm library.  She sat quickly, obviously troubled. 

            “Miss Bourdeshire, this is my...er…assistant Stephen.”  William began.

            “G’day Miss…”  He gave her a low bow and a soft kiss on her hand.  She withdrew and replied with, “Hello.” 

            “Miss Bourdershire-“

            “-Please, call me Madeleine, Mr. Scott.” She interrupted.

            “…And I’m Stephen, at your service,” Stephen cut in with another low bow.

            “Well, if we shall assume a first name basis, I ask that you call me William.  Now please Miss- er, Madeleine, please inform me of all the details of your current situation.”

            “Its terrible M…William.  I had just returned from the market with my mother who has been staying upstairs, and we found the whole first floor here in complete disarray.  Mother started rearranging paper and books from my desk that had been scattered all over when we heard a soft thump from her room.  It’s directly above us.  She went next door to find aid, and I slowly crept up the stairs to see if I could find out whom the intruder was…. No sooner had I rounded the corner, I was met with…. with….” Her eyes widened, recounting whoever or whatever her attacker had been, and then dropped her head into her hands and sobbed lightly. 

            Stephen appeared at her side on the seat at once and patted her shoulder lightly.  “There there lit’le Miss, no need to cry now, keep goin’, right?”

            She sniffed a few times and continued slowly.  “I…it was…oh, they were horrible.  The most disgusting smell offended my senses and then I looked into a pair of eyes.  Blood red, like death they were.  The thing had a cloak on, but the hood slightly fell from its …head.  The skin, oh the skin looked terrible.  I don’t even think one can appropriately call it skin.  There were parts where flesh had rotted away, and bone was exposed… simply horrifying.”  Once again she shut her eyes and gave a slight shudder.  “I simply fainted away after that.  I woke up to find a constable huddled over me with mother.  The only evidence they could find was a small streak of some dark substance near the cellar door.”

            William pulled out his pipe and searched for a match.  His mind was already swimming with thoughts.  The description of the creature was very accurate, seeing as how he had come in contact with one only a few days ago. 

            “Madeleine, what did you say you do again?”

            “I’m a writer.  I studied at Cambridge…and I’m currently writing a book on my theory of creation and evolution to this point.” 

            “…Interesting.  I imagine you must have few friends around here due to your beliefs.”

            “Yes…well they aren’t accepted by regular folk anyway, only by most members of the scientific community.”

            He found a match and turned back towards her, pacing slowly.  “Yes, I believe you are correct in saying that.  I believe you mentioned something else though.  Remember, in my office a few days ago?”

            “Oh yes…I guess you could say I’m an amateur historian. I’m also interested in archeology, and particularly in history and artifacts from other countries…ah, William, not in the house please.”

            William’s gray eyes met her stern hazel gaze just as the flame was near the pipe.  “Right, pardon me.” He shook the match and extinguished the flame, then continued.

            “Yes, I remember reading about your return from Egypt in the newspapers last fall.  Come to think of it…there were several articles in which you mentioned the several artifacts and relics you had collected and brought home with you.”

            “Oh…” her gaze fell to the ground.  “Yes, I did have them…a few of them were collected by representatives from the British Museum.”

            “A few of ‘em eh?  So that means you’ve gotta have som’more?”  Stephen joined in.

            “I…I had…two.”  She said slowly, her eyes remained fixed on a certain point in the rug.”

            “Had implies that your possession of them is in the past.  They were stolen, weren’t they?”  William leaned on a bookshelf and stared intently at her.

            “By that thing right?”  Stephen added.

            “Yes…I had a small ankh.  Not too much value there, but still important all the same.  Then there was…my amulet.”  Her hazel eyes flashed oddly when she looked into William’s eyes.  He noted her tone had changed when she had said ‘my’.

            “What was it used for?”  His interest was more than piqued by this new information.

            She stood and walked to her desk, shuffled with some books and papers, and then drew out a leather-bound notebook.  “It was used in rituals to guide the akh, or spirit, back into the living world.  The Egyptians believed that life everlasting was a journey made by the life force, the ka, and the soul, the ba.”  William looked at drawings of temple and tomb pictures, and rifled through the many pages of hieroglyphs.  Madeleine pointed to several pictures; A mummy, a sarcophagus, a falcon-headed being guiding a spirit to a hall where a jackal-headed being kneeled next to a large scale on which a heart was being weighed against a feather.  He looked up as she paced the room explaining the beliefs of the ancient Egyptians.  “The feather on the scale is the maat; Things as they should be.  The heart is weighed because they believed it was where the conscience resided within the body.  A monster devours it if is it too heavy or too light.”  He noticed a beast with a lion’s mane and upper body, a crocodile’s toothy and dangerous grin, and the hind part of a hippo.  “Quite odd…” He muttered under his breath.

            “If the heart balances with the feather, the ba and the ka are reunited and form the akh—“

            “Right, the spirit.”  Stephen cut it.

            “Yes.”  She continued.  “The amulet was said to hurry up the process so the spirit could return to the world sooner.  It was like a one way ticket back to the living world.”  She ended and sat at her desk.  He hazel eyes were now fixed on William.

            He noted a shortened version of the events, complete with a drawing of the amulet; an ankh with a stone set in the middle, on a chain.  When he looked closer he noticed each ring in the chain seemed to resemble outlines of eyes.  As he leaned in to examine it more closely, the book was lifted from his lap and tucked under Madeleine’s left arm. 

            “I must say, that was most informative, however, why do you think it was stolen?”  He stood and followed her towards the main hallways.  Stephen followed.  She turned and opened the door revealing the bleak, night scene outside.  Her features stiffened and she stood holding the door and clutching the book.

“That, Mr. William Francis Scott, is exactly what I’d like to know.”

 

-           -           -           -           -           -           -           -           -           -           -           -

 

            The following day, Stephen arrived at William’s home and office in the carriage.  He was carrying a wriggling burlap bag and struggling to make his way up the steps.

            “Stephen…Stephen!  What is in that thing?”  William asked slightly irritated as he allowed the man to cross the threshold with his load.

            “Sorry mate, I couldn’t just leave ‘im along the side of the road.”  Stephen entered the library and untied the top of the bag, revealing the silly grin of a large black Labrador pup. 

            William turned around and started to walk away slowly.  “No…no.  No.”  Stephen wrinkled his brow and cast the corners of his mouth down; the puppy-dog face.  “No Stephen, don’t look at me like that.  I cannot allow a dog in the office or in my home.  It’s going to be too much of a nuisance!” Stephen continued to fake a saddened expression, and held the pup’s head near his.  When William turned back around, both man and dog wore the same expression.  He threw his arms into the air and sighed in frustration.  “Fine!” 

            “Oh guv’!  You’re a good man!”  Stephen bounded over to William, who found himself trapped in Stephen’s enthusiastically painful embrace.  The pup hopped towards William and was now yipping excitedly.

            “Yes…thank you.  Stephen…get…off!”  Stephen let go and William drew in a few breaths of air thankfully.  “Stephen…we may keep him as long as you promise to take care of him.”

            “Right guv!”  Stephen said quickly.  The pup added its own input with a few more assuring yips.

            “Right then…what will we name…him?”  William bent down to pick off some of the hairs the dog had left on his pant leg.

            “Oh…I think it’s a her, Will.”  Both men looked down at the pup who was grinning with its tongue lolled to one side.  After a moment Stephen said, “It looks like a lit’le lady, don’t ya fink?” 

            “Hm…perhaps.  We may want to take her…or him, to Mr. Goldwater on Bell Street.” 

            Just then, there was a