Play@YSDC

St. Bartholomew's Hospital - London, England
8:00 AM - Sunday, September 8, 1940



The ambulance pulled up at St. Bartholomew's, near the entrance. Irene and Florence got out of the front seats and came around to the rear, where they opened the doors and retrieved the stretcher carrying the dead body of Nell Murrow, allowing Archie to also emerge into daylight.

Archie puts on a brave face. "Right ho, to the morgue."

Morgue,Hopefully, Archie knows the way to the morgue at Bart's?

Once they were inside, an orderly brought in a wheeled gurney to which they transferred the body, where the orderly covered it with a sheet. "We'll leave you to it, then," said Irene. "We've got to get back to our rounds. All too many more like her out there. It was nice to meet you."

"Yes," said Florence. "Have a nice day." The two women left and returned to their ambulance.

The orderly pushed the gurney, following Archie's directions. They took the lift to the basement, where the morgue was located. An elderly doctor with white hair and a beard to match was there. "Good morning," he said. "Another bombing victim?"

Archie shakes his head in emphatic "No" but waits till the orderly departs.

"Good morning Doctor, and blessings on this day."

"I'm afraid this poor young lady was most definitely not killed by the bombing. In fact, what killed her is very much a puzzle I'm hoping you may be able to assist with. It may be she was an unintended victim of some new secret weapon. Or possibly some very strange animal. Which may be the secret weapon."

"Whatever the case, I assure you that something quite strange and wrong has occurred here. I am very keen to obtain your report, which I shall see passed on to Military Intelligence as well as the Metropolitan Police." Archie looks very earnest in his Naval uniform and uncharacteristically serious.

Archie goes on to politely point or the bite marks and ligature marks that Eugene had identified earlier.

"Well, let me have a look," said the doctor, taking a pair of bifocals out of his shirt pocket and putting them on his nose. He examined the corpse with an experienced eye. "Hmm...yes, yes you are quite right. I suspect she died of the exsanguination due to her wounds, but I can see the constriction marks and the bites. Whatever ate her didn't finish the meal, oddly enough. There's still plenty of flesh on her. What sort of predator hunts more to kill than to eat? Of course, I'll know more after a full autopsy. If you'd be so kind as to help me put her on the table, I can get started. Don't feel any obligation to observe, unless you'd like to."

OOC,Doctor's Medicine roll (60% skill) examining the body: [dice]0[/dice]

Archie represses a shudder, squares his shoulders and helps the doctor move the deceased.

"I feel I really should stay, I owe it to this poor lass. Do tell me if you can think of any type out animal that might inflict that sort of damage. I certainly can't."

Archie will reluctantly stay, generally staring at the ceiling and mentally attempting to block his ears.

"Well, a large constrictor such as a python could have caused the ligature marks," said the coroner as he sorted through the tools of his trade, "but that wouldn't account for the bite wounds or the claw marks. I can't think of a single animal that could be responsible for all of her injuries. It looks more like a menagerie's been at her. It's possible that some of those wounds are post-mortem, animals scavenging and such, but I can't imagine such things loose in London. The London Zoo wasn't bombed last night, and they got rid of all the dangerous animals months ago, just in case."

Archie nods. "You will begin to see my concern that this is some kind of secret weapon. Heaven forbid."

"A secret weapon?" said the coroner, frowning. "I can't imagine what sort of weapon could do this. If it were gas or something, there'd be symptoms of that, but I've seen no evidence of it so far. No reports of gas being used at all in the air raid - this time, at least. I'd still keep your gas mask handy, just in case." He removed the dead woman's torn clothing and made a Y-shaped incision in her torso as he spoke.

OOC,[b]Archie[/b], if you want to try to convince the coroner that it's a secret weapon, please roll Persuade.

OOC,Archie's skill is 65% and he rolls... [dice]0[/dice]

Archie marshals his tired wits and presents a logical and pragmatic argument.

"It does make a certain kind of sense," said the doctor. "I don't know what kind of beast could inflict these injuries, let alone how someone could train one. Some sort of terror weapon, I suppose. We don't want word of this getting out. Morale is shaky enough as it is, after last night."

Archie nods glumly. "My intention, doctor, is to pass your autopsy report along with my observations to military intelligence and Scotland Yard, no-one else. I can only hope that someone takes me seriously and passes it on to those who need to know."

"I am distracting you though with my worries. All that matters for now is that you do your work without fear of favour. This young lady deserves no less from us both."

The coroner nodded. "Yes, they'll know what to do with the information," he said, getting back to work. "I certainly don't. All I can do is provide it." He examined the body in more detail. "Several cracked ribs, one broken. Whatever attacked her squeezed her with incredible strength."

Archie ponders this."What sort of strength would that take, I wonder? A strong man? What kinds of animals could do such a thing?"

"Whatever did this is stronger than a man," said the coroner. "As for animals, as I said, a python or some other constrictor is a possibility. However, pythons, like all ophidians, are known for their distinct lack of limbs. That wouldn't account for the claw marks." He shook his head. "I'm at a loss here." He completed the autopsy. "She died from extreme loss of blood, no doubt caused by the vicious clawing and biting. She tried to resist, but she never really had a chance. I can see from her face that she was terrified. Whatever killed her did eat some of her flesh, but left plenty of it - almost as though it was the act of killing itself that drove it rather than feeding. Unusual behavior for a predator. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

Archie thinks. "No, thank you for your good works Doctor. I shall leave you to finish your duties and write your report. If you have no objections, I will ring those who need to know now and make a report of my own, quoting your findings. And blessings on this day."

Archie pauses one last time to offer a quick prayer for the deceased then heads out of the melancholy world of the morgue.

"Thank you," said the doctor. "Good day, Reverend."

It was a simple matter for Archie to find a telephone so he could make his report.

Archie makes another call to Naval Intelligence, advising he is following up on his earlier call about the animal attacks on the Luftwaffe aircraft. He quickly summarises the results of the autopsy, hoping this empirical evidence might add some strength to his no doubt outlandish claims.

Naval Intelligence thanked Archie for his report. Now he needed to decide what to do next.

Archie decides to make his way back to old Giles at St James' church, to see if anything further has come to light from those who were looking at the building where Nell was killed. That professor chap might be interesting to talk to.

He reflects on these strange events but his mind simply cannot find an easy solution. Except that something very nasty may be at large. Archie finally concludes that he should be ready. He catches public transport to his London townhouse, freshens up then unlocks the drawer to his office desk. Archie removes an oiled-cloth wrapped shape. The cloth is unfolded to reveal a well maintained Colt 45 automatic, his service issue firearm from the Last Show. Archie knows he is breaching regs as a chaplain but, heaving a sigh, so be it.

He proficiently removes the magazine, checks the gun's working parts, loads the magazine with rounds from a little box, snaps it back into place and stashes the now loaded gun into the inside pocket of his jacket.

Collecting his gas mask, Archie locks up and makes his way by public transport to St James'.

Archie was able to complete his errands and soon arrived at St. James's Church, where some but not all of those he had met before were still present, along with one older man he hadn't met.

OOC,[b]Archie[/b] is moving to the thread linked below:

Staying Behind