Of the Voyage to Marseilles, and the Return of the Amulet
The following papers concern the voyage of the Collective aboard the SS Verona from Tilbury to Marseilles, and certain unsettling developments upon their arrival in that port.
The party boarded the SS Verona at Tilbury on October 19th, where they were welcomed aboard by Captain Otis Mason, First Officer Carleton Willis, and the Purser, Alfred Moore. The Captain asked if his Lordship, Sergeant Tomlinson and friends would do him the honour of joining him at the Captain's table the following night. The party were delighted to accept.
It was plain sailing when the Verona left the Thames Estuary and steamed west along the English Channel toward the Bay of Biscay, where the weather and the choppiness of the sea took a turn for the worse, reducing the Professor and Sergeant within their second-class cabin to vomiting bouts of sea-sickness. The Professor steeled himself and spent as much time on deck as he could, despite the pitching and rolling of the ship and the adverse weather conditions. He also somehow managed to find time to develop his knowledge of Hindi.
In the first-class dining Salon, his Lordship and the Captain found the Purser had seated them with Lord Pembleton and the members of his planned Himalayan expedition, as well as a fellow-officer of the 1st Bombay Light Infantry. Everyone noticed the table at which the vivacious actress Birdie Robinson held court, where two charming young ladies were also sat, who seemed to be all eyes for his Lordship, Captain Leighton, and indeed — if he didn't flatter himself — Sergeant Tomlinson, despite him being seated in the second-class section.
Once reaching Gibraltar the sailing conditions very much improved. The Sergeant developed an intimacy with Birdie Robinson at a dance, causing something of a stir amongst the higher orders. Captain Leighton also found pleasure in the company of an Anglo-Indian debutante, Miss Angelina Habberlain. His Lordship very much resisted the charms of the young lady Edith Cunningham, despite her best efforts to engage him. The Professor took the opportunity of presenting a fascinating lecture regarding the antique history of the surrounding coastline, which was unfortunately not terribly well attended, or indeed very well received — except, it seems, by Sergeant Tomlinson, who escorted Birdie.
The Return of the Amulet
At Marseilles the party disembarked for a couple of hours, taking the opportunity to partake of bouillabaisse and coffee in a harbourside café. Upon returning to his cabin the steward presented the Professor with a package that had come for him via the Blue Train, forwarded on from the British Museum. The package contained a letter from the Reverend Moon of St Michael's of Garway, who was sending him an item that his dog Ivanhoe had dug up in the woods near the Rectory. To his horror the Professor discovered that the item was indeed the strange pendant that had been sent to Captain Leighton before the Garway trip, and to which he attributed the determined attacks of the other-worldly beast at the Railway Hotel, Cardiff.
To the Professor's horror, he discovered the amulet in the drawer of his dresser. Samson became increasingly agitated. The men picked up their gun-cases and left the room, at which point Samson went haring off in the opposite direction to his Lordship's cabin. The Professor decided to retrieve the dog, while the Sergeant would return to his Lordship's as planned.
Unsure of which direction Samson had gone, the Professor went to the deck below, calling for his dog. He drew the attention of a steward, who had indeed heard a dog barking, and escorted the Professor in that direction, whereby they both heard the plaintive barking of Samson on the deck below. The steward said he would descend into the bowels of the ship to retrieve the dog. Taking the Professor's name, he promised to return the dog to his cabin. The Professor tipped him for his trouble.
The Sergeant crashed into his Lordship's cabin, babbling about Samson being lost, before remembering to inform his Lordship that the amulet had appeared in the dresser drawer. His Lordship, fearing for the Professor, decided it would be best to go looking for him below decks rather than holing up in the cabin to await his return.
So: the Professor is alone below decks. Captain Leighton is at the dance with Amin. The Sergeant is in his Lordship's cabin with Spencer.
Only the gods know where Samson is.
The papers note the hour: Wednesday evening, the twenty-fifth of October, 1893. The SS Verona having just left the port of Marseilles.