Hornblower on the case!

Here is the first post of Act II of Jayne Barnard's "The Evil Eye of Africa."

The first post is here.
A list of all the characters is here.

You can get all the posts by clicking on the mystery tag.

Remember that if you think you have solved the mystery email your deduction to:  madamesaffron at gmail.com.
Madame will be drawing from all the correct solutions for some prizes from Tyche Books!

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

"The Evil Eye of Africa"
By Jayne Barnard

A Guess-the-Murderer Mystery in Two Acts 

Act II: Hercule Hornblower Investigates

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From the Case Journal of Hercule Hornblower: 

August 16, 1898


Following the discovery of the remains of Baron von Boddy in England, I am summoned home from Egypt by my present employer, Mrs. Midas-White, to agitate the little gray cells over the baron’s mysterious death. I have discovered much of his last months but am no closer to finding the treasure he sought for Mrs. Midas-White.

Thus far I have assembled in my timetable:

1.    April 1 – Mrs. Midas-White agrees to fund Baron von Boddy’s expedition in search of a Nubian treasure, the fabled Eye of Africa.

2.    April 21 – Baron von Boddy departs England in his solo expeditionary airship, the Jules Verne.

3.    May 3 – Baron arrives in Cairo and pledges Mrs. M-W’s credit for his palatial suite at Shepherd’s Hotel.

4.    May 15 – Baron accepts delivery “on approval” of several expensive items of ladies’ jewellery. A young widow residing in the hotel is seen wearing them.

5.    May 30 – Baron departs Cairo at dusk to disguise his direction over the desert.  The young widow soon vanishes from Cairo along with the jewellery.

6.    June 30 – British Surface Navy Destroyers at the mouth of the Suez Canal sight the Jules Verne a few miles inland.

7.    July 15 – The Jules Verne is spotted free-floating, low over the English Channel off Cornwall. It is boarded and found deserted.

8.    July 16 - Mrs. Midas-White sends me to Cairo to discover the baron’s whereabouts with the treasure, which she feels she has more than paid for.

9.    August 3 – Baron von Boddy’s remains are dragged ashore in Cornwall by a storm tide.

10.  August 10 – I, Hercule Hornblower, am summoned like a dog to damp and chilly Cornwall. Only by baying ferociously at my employer via international cablegram was I permitted to travel in the luxury to which I am accustomed. Never again will Hercule Hornblower work for an American woman who whistles him to heel like a puffed poodle.

Click here for the next installment.

The Evil Eye

Here is the last post of Act I of Jayne Barnard's "The Evil Eye of Africa."

The first post is here.
A list of all the characters is here.

You can get all the posts by clicking on the mystery tag.

Remember that if you think you have solved the mystery email your deduction to:  madamesaffron at gmail.com.
Madame will be drawing from all the correct solutions for some prizes from Tyche Books!



Starting tomorrow  I will begin posting ACT II  as extracts from the journals of the famous inspector Hercule Hornblower, he of the prodigious mustachios.

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

"The Evil Eye of Africa"
By Jayne Barnard

A Guess-the-Murderer Mystery in Two Acts 

Act I: The Headlines Thicken

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The Dover Sole

August 6, 1898

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DID BARON VON BODDY FIND THE EVIL EYE? 

A photograph of a mask that may be the fabled Eye of Africa was found in the trunk that came ashore in Cornwall. Though much damaged by seawater, the now-reconstituted image clearly shows an African mask with a gleaming stone in its forehead. The baron’s housekeeper identified the arm seen above as wearing the baron’s favourite coat, and the settee on which the mask rests as being in the Boddy Manor parlour. Two questions arise: where is the treasure now, and how did the baron and his trunk end up in the English Channel?

One thing is certain: no stick nor stone of Boddy Manor will be left unturned by his heir, in hopes of stumbling upon African jewels of unsurpassed value. “Lady Peacock has been most industrious in seeking it,” Sir Ambrose stated. Professor Indiana Brown claims the papers seen with the mask are his own original drawing and map to the Eye of Africa’s ritual hiding place. Famed investigator, Hercule Hornblower is en route from Cairo to Boddy Manor to investigate both the mysterious death and the whereabouts of the treasure.

Click here for the next installment.

Them bones them bones...

Here is the next post of Jayne Barnard's "The Evil Eye of Africa."

The first post is here.
A list of all the characters is here.

You can get all the posts by clicking on the mystery tag.

Remember that if you think you have solved the mystery email your deduction to:  madamesaffron at gmail.com.
Madame will be drawing from all the correct solutions for some prizes from Tyche Books!

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

"The Evil Eye of Africa"
By Jayne Barnard

A Guess-the-Murderer Mystery in Two Acts 

Act I: The Headlines Thicken

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The Cornwall Cog and Goggles

August 3, 1898

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BODDY’S BODY FOUND – MYSTERY DEEPENS

The mortal remains of Baron von Boddy, thought lost over the English Channel after his airship was abandoned, have washed ashore in Cornwall, only a few miles from isolated Boddy Manor. The remains, much diminished by the action of waves and sea creatures, were lashed to a small, but weighty, White Star Line trunk. Coast Guard say the body may have been in the water only a couple of weeks, as the shad were running in their millions and could have picked the body clean quite quickly.

Those who discovered the body immediately opened the trunk, hoping to be the first to see the fabled Nubian treasure the baron sought in Africa, but were disappointed to find only books and papers, some of them damaged by water seepage. Coast Guard officials say the trunk could not have floated and was probably dragged inshore by the tide. Why Boddy should have elected to abandon ship with a heavy trunk is un-guessable, but local sea-goers, familiar with the baron’s eccentricities in pursuit of his various quests, believe he might have bailed out at low altitude over shallow water and hoped to drag the trunk ashore safely. Whether the tide set against him or the wind was offshore cannot be known unless the time of his entering the sea can be determined by other means.

Click here for the next installment.

Beware the Evil eye!

Here is the next post of Jayne Barnard's "The Evil Eye of Africa."

The first post is here.
A list of all the characters is here.

You can get all the posts by clicking on the mystery tag.

Remember that if you think you have solved the mystery email your deduction to:  madamesaffron at gmail.com.
Madame will be drawing from all the correct solutions for some prizes from Tyche Books!

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

"The Evil Eye of Africa"
By Jayne Barnard

A Guess-the-Murderer Mystery in Two Acts

Act I: The Headlines Thicken

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The Goggles Grapevine – August 1, 1898

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EVIL EYE DIAMOND GLOWS RED SAYS PROF

Professor Plum, seen here vigorously protesting his innocence, was one of the last people to see Baron von Boddy alive before his departure for Egypt last May. Scotland Yard today confirmed there is no case against Professor Polonius Plum for the theft and sale of Henry Brown’s trunk.  “Our only possible witness to any sale has gone missing,” said Chief Inspector Snidely Bellows.  “You know, that chap whose airship was just found floating off the South Coast. Without him or the trunk, we’ve got nothing.”

Plum proclaimed his innocence. “Von Boddy wasn’t going after a mask anyway. Masks in Africa are as common as mutton in England. My friend was on the trail of a unique red-veined diamond, sometimes called a bloodshot diamond.” There followed a long, technical explication of the geological processes by which other rare minerals are compressed into the midst of a diamond. When the American academic’s latest threat was quoted to him, Plum said, “Brown’s yearning to discredit me because I demanded his expulsion from Oxford. If he dares lay a violent hand on me, I’ll have him up on charges. Immediately following a sharp lesson in British pugilism.” The professor is departing today for Boddy Manor in Cornwall. While awaiting news of his friend’s fate, he intends to catalogue the baron’s papers for his university.

Click here for the next installment.

Heavy Metal!

There is something wondrous, and also a bit melancholy, about abandoned buildings and factories.
All the energy, thought, labour, and pride expended in creating these great buildings and their complex machines is apparent even in the signs of decay and collapse.

Probably the most melancholy though, are abandoned power plants.

These are places where man manipulates the basic forces of nature into forms that can be used for human purposes. Whether those forces come from rushing water, coal, oil, or even the fundamental building blocks of matter itself, these are the places where we have molded them and converted the energy they contain into standardized human designed forms.

This collection of 32 amazing photos collected on Scribdol evokes the lost power of these places.

7 Most Incredible Abandoned Power Plants

Here are a couple of shots to "wet yer whistle".

Keep your sightglass full your firebox trimmed and your water iced.

KJ

Wedding Mischief

Here is the next post of Jayne Barnard's "The Evil Eye of Africa."

The first post is here.
A list of all the characters is here.

You can get all the posts by clicking on the mystery tag.

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

"The Evil Eye of Africa"
By Jayne Barnard

A Guess-the-Murderer Mystery in Two Acts

Act I: The Headlines Thicken

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The Foghorn Afloat

July 29, 1898

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ROMANTIC AIRSHIP-BOARD WEDDING

Photo: Sir Ambrose Peacock and his beautiful bride On his recent trip to Egypt, Sir Ambrose Peacock lost an uncle but gained a bride. Meeting her on a stopover in Venice, the English knight lost no time in winning the fair lady’s hand. They were married aboard an airship en route back to London. “Lady Peacock knew my uncle in Cairo,” said Sir Ambrose, when the pair disembarked from a small commercial airship at the Jamaica Inn in Cornwall, the closest regular stop to Boddy Manor. “He spoke of me so frequently and warmly that she fell half in love with me before we ever met. No, he didn’t tell her where he was going.”

Sir Ambrose’s uncle, Baron von Boddy, was on a quest for a fabled Nubian treasure when his airship was found adrift over the English Channel. In response to questions directed at his lovely new wife, Sir Ambrose replied for her. “Yes, I’m sure she will enjoy living in my uncle’s isolated manor in Cornwall. No, I’m sure she won’t find Bodmin Moor in the winter at all uncongenial. I hope my uncle gets declared dead soon so I can sell off a few things.” As this reporter turned away, Sir Ambrose grasped my sleeve. “I don’t suppose you could lend me a fiver? My wife and I have excess baggage charges and the airship won’t unload our trunks until we pay up.”  Photo: mine house on moor, with airship overhead, reputed to be the Jules Verne

Click here for the next installment.

A Contretemps in the hallowed halls

Here is the next post of Jayne Barnard's "The Evil Eye of Africa."

The first post is here.
A list of all the characters is here.

You can get all the posts by clicking on the mystery tag.

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

"The Evil Eye of Africa"
By Jayne Barnard

A Guess-the-Murderer Mystery in Two Acts

Act I: The Headlines Thicken

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The University Times

July 27, 1898

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INDY BROWN’S CASE AGAINST PROFESSOR PLUM

Photo Indiana Brown and Professor Plum nose to nose in Balliol Fellows dining hall A new wrinkle arose in the mysterious case of the missing baron, when American adventurer Henry “Indiana” Brown levelled a public accusation at Professor Polonius Plum for the theft of his research into the fabled Eye of Africa mask. “We both attended the annual meeting of the Association for Archaeology in Academia a couple months back, in New York City. We came on to England on the same trans-oceanic airship,” said Brown. “I showed him the map. I put it into my book trunk right in front of him, and next day the whole trunk vanished.

“As soon as I heard that Baron guy was on the trail of the Eye of Africa when he got lost , I knew the Professor had shanghai’d my research for him. And I’ll prove it, by gum, or my name isn’t Henry Walton Brown, Junior.” In terms not suitable for newspaper publication, Brown expressed his intent to follow the professor to Cornwall, where the latter hopes to curate Baron von Boddy’s papers for the Balliol Library. Said Brown, “And when I catch up to him, I’ll punch him right in the schnoz!”   Hand-drawn facsimile of mask Brown claims to have researched thoroughly

Click here for the next installment.