Chapt 3. 'Oxford and Sir William'

[Supercape]

"That remains to be seen Ma'am, although I a can assure you that both myself and Captain Carpenter are determined to get to the bottom of this" he said, with an enthusiasm that surprised himself. He was sinking into the mystery.

"It would seem then, that we have our reading cut out for us".

[Mr. Handy]

"I've only just become aware of this now," explains Oliver. "My family never told me about this, and they would whisper whenever they discussed his doings around me. Unfortunately, he passed last year, or I would have simply asked him. Thank you for allowing us to peruse Sir William's library, ma'am. I have one more question. Sir William was spending a lot of time with some chap before he disappeared. Do you know who it was?"

[Priest]

Previously Oliver said:   "Sir William was spending a lot of time with some chap before he disappeared. Do you know who it was?"

Lady Bridget stops moving towards the door at Oliver’s question. “As far as I am aware the only associate that my husband was in contact with in the weeks before his disappearance was Dr Trask. He was with my husband on the day of the disappearance. I believe there is a photograph of William and his associates taken around the time of the Exham investigation it shows Dr Trask amongst the group”

She turns to the maid, “Anna, the top drawer of the desk fetch the photograph within”

Anna opens the indicated drawer and takes a small photograph to her Ladyship. Bridget hands it to Oliver, “There, fifth from the right, in the jumper next to my husband, That is Dr Trask, perhaps your late uncle is also there?”

On the reverse of the photo someone, probably Sir William has written ‘Exham Priory, August 1923’ this is followed by a list of names, one of which is Stephen Daniels standing peering over the back of the group.

[Mr. Handy]

"Yes, that's him," says Oliver, pointing out Stephen in the photograph. "It makes sense that it was Dr. Trask who was spending time with Sir William before he left, seeing as they both disappeared around the same time."

[Priest]

Before you lies what seems an ominous task, library shelves filled with books, the large mahogany desk with at least six drawers and a filing cabinet whose relative modernity seems to clash with the otherwise tastefully period decor of the study.

The maid, Anna, sniffs and subjects you to a haughty expression, "Well...Gentlemen... I will leave you to it. If you require anything you will find me in the kitchen" She turns to leave, stops and looks around, "Should you wish to look in the garage loft you will need the key"

She leaves the room, you are alone.

OOC:   Indicate the area you are searching and I will supply a description of any items you find.

[Supercape]

"Quite the task, Oliver" sighed Maurice.

"However, I think a man's character is best elucidated by his desk!"

With that, he started examining the very same, opening its draws, examining its surface, even its legs and the chair next to it. Aside from odds and trinkets, he looked carefully to see if any impressions had been left on its surface.

[Priest]

Maurice;
Approaching the desk, with a somewhat resigned sigh, you begin looking through the contents. Drawer after drawer seems filled with random sized pieces of paper, some containing neatly typewritten paragraphs, filled with corrections or editing marks, other a bizarre collection of handwritten notes or sketches.

You quickly conclude that this is where Sir William had stored ideas and notes for his books. Some are interesting, others not so, but they all seem to show that he had an extremely fierce love of his subject. From quickly scanning the writings, in search of a reference to either Exham Priory or Trask, you come to the conclusion that Sir William had been obsessed by an idea that he was yet to find real evidence for. Yet there seems to be nothing here to tell you what that idea was.
One piece of paper, roughly torn from a notebook, contains the following phrases written over and over again as if the writer had been contemplating their significance;

An mháthair a chosaint cuid leanaí,
Mae'r fam yn amddiffyn ei phlant,
Mater filiorum tueris,
Modro + sanis + tuklem + esca,
Dhonas’ dholas ort, agus-leat sa!

There is no translation of the phrases, at least on the paper that contains them. You find nothing that mentions either the priory, Trask, or corresponds to the date of the investigation.
You look up from your search to see if Oliver has had any luck, to notice that darkness has fallen outside. An ornate desk clock is showing 5:30pm

[Supercape]

"Hmm, well, look at this, old chap. Looks like Dutch to me" he mused, floating the strange writings at Oliver.

"I'll tell you this, the old boy was gripped by something. Obsessed. Ill be damned if I know what it was though..."

[Mr. Handy]

Oliver looks up from his own search of the filing cabinet's drawers and reads the writing, scratching his head. "Buggered if I know what it all means," he says. "I don't know about Dutch. Welsh or Gaelic would be more likely considering the region of his interest. And this bit here looks like Latin. Mater means mother, and filorum sounds like it could be son, but I'm not sure what the rest means."

[Priest]

Oliver:
The metal filing cabinet is stuffed with brown manilla folders each filled with many pages of notes and sketches covering his many archaeological investigation, both throughout the British Isles and beyond.
Eventually you find one file Marked ‘Exham Priory 1923’. You open the file, noting its slimness, only to find nothing. It is empty apart from an old manilla envelope that shows signs of once containing a large amount of paper, but has long since been emptied.

At Maurice's query you pause your search and look at the paper he has found. The more you look at it, the more you are convinced that some of it is Welsh, Gaelic and there is a definate Latin component. You are correct about Mother and Child but the rest ecapes your attempt to translate. As for the rest you have no idea but the final sentence does have a ring of familiarity about it. Please make a knowledge Roll +10

[Mr. Handy]

Oliver puzzles over the last sentence. At first he can't place it, but finally something clicks in his mind.

[Priest]

Oliver,In the back of your head the memory of the interview with the shepherd, Jones, rises in response to the last sentence on the paper that Maurice is waving at you. [i] “I still remember the words of de la Poer as they drove him away. Dhonas’ dholas ort, agus-leat sa!. this was followed by some other unintelligible gibberish, and finally as the van door swung shut. Rats, it was the rats I tell you. The Yankees ate Carfax and the rats ate Norrys!!!”[/i] [i]Dhonas' dholas ort, agus leat sa![/i] the very same sentence that Jones had said de la Poer screamed as the locked him into the police van.

[Mr. Handy]

"This bit right here," says Oliver, pointing at the last sentence. "When we spoke to Jones, the shepherd in Anchester, he told us that de la Poer recited those exact words when he was being taken away. But what does it mean? And what does the rest of it mean? Can you translate the rest of the Latin? Mine's rather rusty."

[Supercape]

"Lets have another look then", said Maurice, peering at the paper.

"Latin, then, not Dutch...well, my old school master, Mister Doublehill, took great pleasure in teaching us all Latin. 'Canebreaker' Doublehill, we called him. The nasty bastard. Snapped two or three canes every term from the beatings he gave us. If ever I was to commit murder, Canebreaker Doublehill would be first on my list, and not a tear would be shed. I dare say that their would be a line to dance on his grave. Still, the old bastard did drum into us Latin...."

OOC:

Spoiler:

1d100=40

[Priest]

Maurice,With a modicum of effort you are able to translate the Latin,[i] ‘Mater filiorum tueris’. The mother protect her children[/i]

[Supercape]

"The Mother Protects...no, Protect...her Children"

"Sounds a bit like Freud" mumbled Maurice, who was half convinced the writings were that of a madman. He had read the works of the great man, and was confident he could half understand them.

"Goodness knows what that means. Its like a prayer, or incantation. A plea, maybe...."

[Mr. Handy]

"Hmm..." says Oliver. "Could be some form of Earth goddess worship or something. Some Romans were into that sort of thing. I think we'd best check the loft. We may find something there that will shed more light on the mystery. We'll need to see Anna for the key."

[Priest]

In search of the garage key and access to the loft, you find the maid, Anna, hard at work in the kitchen preparing dinner for her ladyship. She scowls a look of 'have you nothing better to do?' Then wiping he hands on her apron she opens a drawer and hands you a key. “Make sure you return it when you have finished. And don’t go making a mess up there for someone else to clean up”

Taking the key and crossing the gravelled drive to the separate garage building you open the doors, noting the large black ford gathering dust inside. To the rear of the garage a flight of steep, rickety stairs leads up to door. Inside amongst various crates and boxes you find several stencilled ‘Sir William Brinton – Oxford University’ within you find the same manilla folders as you have been ploughing through for the past couple of hours.

There are at least four boxes stuffed with files, some fat, some thin. You reason that this could take you a couple more hours at least.

OOC:   Please roll Spot Hidden please

[Supercape]

Spoiler:

I guess Maurice is also looking through and making a roll? if so: 1d100=8

[Mr. Handy]

Oliver makes a detailed search of the files.