IC: Johnny and Timour - A trip to Fleet Street

[Raiko]

The Scoop - Fleet Street, London
4:02pm - Wednesday 28th January, 1925

Johnny and Timour walk across Fleet Street and enter the old Victorian office building. Once inside they ascend the creaking wooden staircase to the third floor office of The Scoop newspaper.

It turns out the The Scoop is a one man show, a weekly tabloid edited and largely written by Mickey Mahoney, a short, stocky, red haired Irishman in his early Forties. Mickey wears a suit that is well made, but also well worn. He sits behind a desk littered with notes, newswires and old copies of The Scoop, as well as today's copies of several of London's more established newspapers. An ashtray on the desk is over flowing with crumpled cigar butts, and the air of the office is thick with their aroma. Outside the office windows, the thick chilly mist still hangs over the streets of London.

Mahoney listens intently as Johnny introduces himself and explains that he represents the Elias estate. The Irishman explains that he was saddened to hear of the Jackson's death, he got the news via the newswire services.

"Was a great shock to me like. A knew Jackson kept dangerous compn'y at times; it's all in tha line o'his work o'course."

Mickey lights a thick cigar and jams it in his mouth while offering one to Johnny and Timour, "A saw him only the other week. Said to me that he had a big story. Something 'bout an evil cult that operates in London. Said that they might be ver' well connected."

Putting the box of cigars away, Mickey shakes his head sadly, "He took a look at a few of ma old articles and then left, I never saw him again. He promised to give me an exclusive, if he found anythin' out, but I guess we'll never know now if poor Jackson was ont' somethin' or not."

**************************************

[OOC: As far as Johnny and Timour can tell Mickey Mahoney is being open and truthful.
Timour notices that Mahoney has been circling parts of various newspaper articles relating to the 'Egyptian Murders']

[Grafster]

"A saw him only the other week. Said to me that he had a big story. Something 'bout an evil cult that operates in London. Said that they might be ver' well connected."

Johnny involuntarily looks over at Timour. He nods for Mahoney to continue while he slowly puffs on the thin cigar.

"He took a look at a few of ma old articles and then left, I never saw him again. He promised to give me an exclusive, if he found anythin' out, but I guess we'll never know now if poor Jackson was ont' somethin' or not."

Johnny pulls out a pad and gnawed stub of a pencil and begins to take careful notes. He addresses Mahoney but his eyes keep sliding down to the 'Egyptian Murders' news articles scattered around the desk. "If it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you go over the details of your last meeting? In as much detail as you can recall?"

Johnny will follow up with the following questions
"What do you mean exactly by... cult?"
"How long have you known Elias Jackson?"
"What were the articles he was looking at?"
"Did he mention speaking anyone else? Did he work with anyone in London?"

[Raiko]

The Scoop - Fleet Street, London
4:10pm - Wednesday 28th January, 1925

Johnny pulls out a pad and gnawed stub of a pencil and begins to take careful notes. He addresses Mahoney but his eyes keep sliding down to the 'Egyptian Murders' news articles scattered around the desk.

"If it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you go over the details of your last meeting? In as much detail as you can recall?"

"Sorry mate, there ain't that much ta tell."

"Jackson was only here for a shor' time. He came late at night - hammering on the door, seemed desperate, you know. An' he made me lock the door as soon as he was inside, babblin' somethin' 'bout bein' followed."

Mickey breathes out a cloud of cigar smoke, "In case, ya don' know the man personally, I'll tell ya that Jackson was the bravest man I ever met. Spooked me quite a bit ta see him like that."

"Anyway he told me he's onto somethin' big - worldwide he said. Said it involved a cult in London!"

"What do you mean exactly by... cult?"

"He ne'r said, sorry. I always imagined it to be some sorta Devil worshippers."

"Anyway where was I? Oh yeah, Jackson asked to browse through my articles, said thayed help his investigation."

"What were the articles he was looking at?"

"Well he looked through them all, but he only seemed ta be interested in four o' them. I'll see if I can dig them out for ya both in a minute."

Mickey notices Johnny glancing at his collection of articles about the Egyptian Murders again, he nods, "Yeah, one of the articles Jackson was interested in was about them killings."

"I wondered if that could be the cult he talked about."[/color]

"How long have you known Elias Jackson?"
"Did he mention speaking anyone else?
Did he work with anyone in London?"

"A've known Jackson since before the war, we share an interest in tha macabre it seems!"

"So far as I know he was workin' alone. Though he's worked wi' a chap called Nathan Moore on a number o' occasions."

"He didn't mention speakin' to no one else, but I overheard him say 'Barrin'ton' when he browsed the files, perhaps he visited Inspector Barrin'ton at the yard."

"He left straight after browsin'. So far as I could tell, he left the building through the back door. Said he'd be in touch."
Mickey hangs his head sadly, "Never heard from him again."

"A'll see if I can dig them articles out for ya now." Mickey goes into a back room for a few minutes.

Outside the windows it is starting to get dark, and the fog is definitely getting thicker.

[Grafster]

Johnny sits back in his chair puffing mechanically on his cigar. He looks very much like a man who's had something sour to eat.

[Raiko]

The Scoop - Fleet Street, London
4:15pm - Wednesday 28th January, 1925

Glancing over the pile of today's newspapers that litter Mickey's desk Johnny and Timour notice that while all of the front pages carry pretty much the same story as The Times, minor details vary. Mickey has circled any names and locations; noticeably The Daily Mail has printed the name of the people who spotted the body, Mr and Mrs Wilson of Alpha Grove, Millwall. Mickey has circled this in pencil. All of the newspapers quote Inspector Barrington stating that this murder bears all of the hallmarks of the previous killings, but none of them detail what exactly these hallmarks are.

The following details are circled in all of the newspapers:

- Inspector Barrington
- Unidentified
- Asian
- Isle of Dogs
- Soho
- 25th Victim
- All the hallmarks

Where '25th Victim' or 'all the hallmarks' are circled, Mickey has often scribbled a large question mark inside the circle

Mickey returns after a few minutes with a collection of articles from the Scoop, "Here they are. As ya can see, one o' them's about the previous Egyptian Murder victim, but none o' the others. These are definitely the articles that Jackson was interested in though."

“IT ALMOST HAD ME!”
by Alan Groot, Victim

It was like turning suddenly, knowing something was there, only to find nothing - a nothing possessing hideous life! The dank water smell of the cloying fog was replaced by a foul scent of smouldering hair which somehow reached out and filled my lungs, driving itself deep into my body. I began to choke. It meant to kill me. I cannot describe the terrible feeling of invasion by those foggy tendrils. And still I could see nothing!
- THE SCOOP

Extract from a larger article ghost-written by Mickey Mahoney. Although Alan Groot escaped with his life thanks to the intervention of a policeman, the story concludes by noting that Groot at present is in a Scotland Asylum (Brown's Resident Clinic for the Insane, Glasgow).

POLICE BAFFLED BY MONSTROUS MURDERS!
Inhuman Killer Shot But Still Alive?

VALLEY OF THE DERWENT RESIDENTS, shocked several months ago by two murders and a serious assault on a third victim, are still without explanation or perpetrator of the dreadful attacks.

At that time, Lesser-Edale farmer George Osgood and resident Miss Lydia Perkins were torn to shreds in apparently-unrelated murders on consecutive nights. On the third night, wheelwright Harold Short was nearly killed but managed to drive off a grisly creature which he swore to be man-like but not human.

Constable Tumwell, also of Lesser-Edale, believes that he shot and killed the beast on the night Mr Short was attacked. Other residents of the region have claimed to have seen the thing since.

Reportedly, Lesser-Edale endures to this hour the bizarre wailings of the beast on nights near the full moon.

Readers of The Scoop are reminded of their esteemed journal’s long-standing Danger Protocols, and are advised that the picturesque cloughs surrounding The Peak have been declared by The Scoop to be a 'Zone of High Danger!'

Residents of the Midlands are advised to remain indoors at night, and to report all mysterious happenings to the police and to The Scoop.
- THE SCOOP

Shocking Canvases Bring Recognition
Local Artist’s Monstrous Scenes Mock “Surrealists”

NOW COLLECTORS CAN BUY savage scenes which rival or surpass the worst nightmares of the Great War, but which are far more exotic than that grim business.

London artist Mr. Miles Shipley’s work is being sought out by collectors, who have paid up to £300 for individual paintings.

This correspondent has seen dozens of the works of artist Miles Shipley, and finds them repulsive beyond belief. Maidens ravished, monsters ripping out a man’s innards, shadowy grotesque landscapes, and faces grimacing in horror represent only a fraction of Shipley’s work.

With all their repellent content, these works are conceived and executed with uncanny verisimilitude, almost as though the artist had worked from photographs of alien places surely never on this Earth!

The artist reportedly is in contact with "other dimensions" in which powerful beings exist, and says he merely renders visible his visions.

Mr Shipley is a working-class man without formal artistic training, who has nonetheless made good where thousands have failed. Art critics say that Shipley provides an English answer to the Continental artistic movement of "surrealism," whose controversial practicioners have still to convince John Bull that the way in which a thing is painted is more important than what is painted.

A tip of the hat to Miles Shipley for exposing those frauds!
- THE SCOOP

Along with this story, The Scoop also printed a reproduction of one of Shipley's paintings, depicting a lurid monster sizing up an unfortunate damsel. Sadly the quality of the photograph is rather poor, making it difficult to fully appreciate the quality of the painting.

SLAUGHTER CONTINUES!
Scoop Offers Reward!

AN UNIDENTIFIED FOREIGNER was found floating in the Thames this Thursday, the 24th victim in a series of bizarre slayings.

Though Inspector James Barrington of the Yard had no immediate comment, sources exclusive to The Scoop agreed that the victim had been beaten severely by one or more assailants, and then stabbed through the heart.

This series of murders has continued over the space of three years, to the bafflement of our faithful Metropolitans. Must we hope that Mr. Sherlock Holmes, though reported by Mr Doyle to he in retirement, will one last time rise to the defence of our majestic isles?

Readers of The Scoop are reminded that this esteemed journal has a standing reward for information Leading to the apprehension and conviction of the perpetrators, in an amount now risen to £24 with the latest death. Be on guard
- THE SCOOP

[Timour Rukov]

Timour's eyebrows raise as he reads the articles along with Johnny, and he hops from one foot to the other uncomfortably. He strokes his moustache as he reads, making little 'hmm' sounds, and finally walks briskly away to the window of the office, lighting a cigarette nervously.

He checks his watch after a moment of staring out the window, then replies, "What time is the sunset this evening? We haven't been in London long."

He inadvertently looks over at Johnny for a reaction to the many articles. It was clear that danger was ever present after dark. His heart thumped with excitement. What strange horrors this city holds....and the last to investigate was murdered with no trace....how awful.....and yet fascinating...

[Grafster]

Johnny doesn't seem to be in a rush to say anything after he finishes reading the articles. He quickly makes notes in his little book of the details of the articles. Once Timour's question is answered he rubs his eyes for a minute.

"Other than attacks upon people there doesn't seem to be much of a thread between these articles, does there? And these paintings are only depictions of such an act."

"Mr. Mahoney, I realize we're taking up a great deal of your time. Perhaps a little bit more explanation is necessary.

As you ascertained yourself from your interaction with him Jackson was in a disturbed state during the last portion of his life, which has made executing his will and properly handling his estate somewhat troublesome. He left something similar to a will, indicating a very fervent desire to have his final researches published. Naturally his executor wishes to fulfill his desires but is struggling some what with a natural desire to avoid exposing a recently deceased person from public ridicule.
I don't suppose you give any credence to the idea of Jackson' that there is some sort of group, like a criminal society, in operation? My impression from his notes is that he believed both the Voodoo Murders in New York and the Egyptian Murders here were related. I don't suppose you have any idea why he thought that?"

<After Mahoney has responded Johnny also asks>
"I don't suppose you know if there were any distinguishing features of these murders? I'm afraid the victims of the voodoo murderers in New York all suffered certain specific sorts of attacks."

[Raiko]

The Scoop - Fleet Street, London
4:20pm - Wednesday 28th January, 1925

"What time is the sunset this evening? We haven't been in London long."

"Tha sunset's just after five o'clock," Mickey grins, "but with today's fog, an' with tha buildin's all around, it'll seem very dark by five. Tha fog gets people nervous, it helps The Scoops circulation though."

"Other than attacks upon people there doesn't seem to be much of a thread between these articles, does there? And these paintings are only depictions of such an act."

"Ah no, there's more t'the paintin's than that. Mr Shipley had an exhibition o' his work last year, it created quite a stir. Tha paintin's depict all sort's of exotic scenes."

"Ya'd need t' visit him at his home now though."

"It's true though, that there doesn't seem to be a connection between the articles."

"Mr. Mahoney, I realize we're taking up a great deal of your time. Perhaps a little bit more explanation is necessary.

As you ascertained yourself from your interaction with him Jackson was in an undisturbed state during the last portion of his life, which has made executing his will and properly handling his estate somewhat troublesome. He left something similar to a will, indicating a very fervent desire to have his final researches published. Naturally his executor wishes to fulfill his desires but is struggling some what with a natural desire to avoid exposing a recently deceased person from public ridicule.
I don't suppose you give any credence to the idea of Jacksons that there is some sort of group, like a criminal society, in operation? My impression from his notes is that he believed both the Voodoo Murders in New York and the Egyptian Murders here were related. I don't suppose you have any idea why he thought that?"

"A'm sorry Jackson n'er mentioned the Voodoo Murders, I agree that he was convinced that there was a global conspiracy or cult at work though."

Looking thoughtful at Johnny, Mickey says, "A'd be more than happy to publish Jackson's work, if nobody else would."

"I don't suppose you know if there were any distinguishing features of these murders? I'm afraid the victims of the voodoo murderers in New York all suffered certain specific sorts of attacks."

"Yeah, most of tha killings follow the same pattern. Tha victim is clubbed visciously all about their body, bones are often broken and Barrin'ton suspects that more than one attacker is involved. Once sufficiently beaten tha victim is stabbed through tha heart, tha police think tha victim's still conscious when their stabbed."

"One or two victims weren't clubbed though, they were straggled then stabbed. I've a theory that there's a copycat killer."

[Grafster]

Looking thoughtful at Johnny, Mickey says, "A'd be more than happy to publish Jackson's work, if nobody else would."

It's Johnny's turn to look thoughtful. "Even seen in the best light though his work so far appears to be little more speculation and circumstantial evidence. However suggestive it might be...

I would need to speak with the executor. "

"Yeah, most of tha killings follow the same pattern. Tha victim is clubbed visciously all about their body, bones are often broken and Barrin'ton suspects that more than one attacker is involved. Once sufficiently beaten tha victim is stabbed through tha heart, tha police think tha victim's still conscious when their stabbed."

"One or two victims weren't clubbed though, they were straggled then stabbed. I've a theory that there's a copycat killer."

Hmm. That doesn't sound similar at all to the Voodoo Murderer's pattern. And these poor folks are all Egyptian, no? It's not just a strange gang war?

[Raiko]

The Scoop - Fleet Street, London
4:21pm - Wednesday 28th January, 1925

"No, most o' them are Egyptian, but not all o' them. Four have been Asians, one Chinese, and three Whites."

"One o' tha white victims was strangled, so was one o' tha Egyptians, don't know about this last victim yet."

Looking thoughtful Mickey says, "O' course it could be a gang war, but tha Egyptian part o' town ain't known for such things."

[Timour Rukov]

Timour scratches his head and puffs on a cigar he'd pulled from his jacket pocket.

He speaks up then, "I say these paintings are an interesting clue. Do you know this...Mr. Shipley well? Where does he live? And could you provide us an address that we could visit him?"

His eyes flicker to Johnny's uncertainly, "If these are truly depictions of gruesome scenes, well....we may see pieces fall together there."

[Grafster]

Johnny struggles not to look baffled as Timour's line of questioning continues.
He relights his cigar as the discussion continues.

[Raiko]

The Scoop - Fleet Street, London
4:25pm - Wednesday 28th January, 1925

Mickey nods to Timour's question, "Yeah sure, just a minute."

He searches through some notebooks for a few minutes until he finds Shipley's address, "Here you go, Miles Shipley, Number Six, Holbein Mews."

"It's just off o' Shaftsbury Avenue and Charing Cross Lane, near to Soho."

[Timour Rukov]

"Thanks," Timour says, picking up the piece of paper he slid across the table and studying it for a minute.

"You ever met this bloke yourself? What kind of feller is he?" Timour flashes a concerned look at Johnny, then meets Mickey's gaze again. It's nice to know the sort of people you might meet...sane or otherwise.....before you knock on the door....

[Raiko]

The Scoop - Fleet Street, London
4:25pm - Wednesday 28th January, 1925

"I met him once, went to his house to see tha paintin's for myself."

"He's a little unkempt and eccentric, but he's harmless enough, an' painters often are a bit odd, aren't they?"

Mickey grins, "He still lives with his old mum as well."

[Timour Rukov]

Timour laughs raucously, and shares a knowing glance with Johnny. "Well then, perhaps it'll be amusing to drop in. I won't be worried what the ol' chap might throw at me, hm?"

He grins and tips his hat at Mickey. "Well, Johnny, what'dya say? Heard enough then?"

[Raiko]

The Scoop - Fleet Street, London
4:28pm - Wednesday 28th January, 1925

Johnny smiles at Timour's unspoken joke, but still looks a little puzzled by his interest in the surreal paintings - Why did he - or Jackson Eliasfor that matter - think that these weird paintings could possibly have anything to do with the gang war.

Never mind, humouring Timour and visiting this Shipley guy would only take an hour or two.

Nodding in agreement, Johnny stands up, stubbing out his cigar in Mickey's ashtray, "Yes thank you Mr Mahoney, you've been very helpful."

"We may be back after we've followed up these leads."

Mickey grins, "You guys can drop in any time. Don' forget about Jackson's book, if you still need someone t' publish it, I'd be most happy to."

Fleet Street, London - Across from The Scoop
4:33pm - Wednesday 28th January, 1925

The evening rush is beginning and the foggy Fleet Street is packed with cars, buses and taxis. As Mickey suggested the sun has already sunk below the surrounding buildings, which combined with the fog has brought an early and murky twilight to the streets of London.

Once they are both back in the car Johnny says, "I think we should return to The Ritz, and see if the others have learned anything at the Penhew Foundation before visiting this artist."

"Hopefully Maksim will have arrived by now."

[Raiko]

Hyperlink:

Johnny and Timour arrive back at the Ritz in this post.