Play@YSDC

St. James's Church- London, England
8:00 AM - Sunday, September 8, 1940

Story, Elizabeth, and Brook led the way back to the church, followed by Benjamin, Seamus, John, and Tinker. Now that the sun was higher in the sky, they could see the destruction that had befallen the East End. While the worst damage was down by the river, plenty of bombs had fallen on warehouses and residential buildings. Some buildings were piles of rubble or burned-out husks. They passed through the shadow of a barrage balloon that was moored nearby, designed to deter low-flying aircraft. This made bombing less accurate, but the bombs still had to come down somewhere.

As the group of seven people arrived at the church, so did Lord Rufus Colville and Anna Jerkins at around the same time, coming from the west. They all entered more or less together, where they found Phyllis Cruckshank, Maggie Duncan, Laura, Reverend Giles Curry, and a middle-aged man they hadn't seen before, most likely one of the reverend's flock.

“Hello.” Anna said, making a small wave.

"Hey miss", John said in his deepest accent.

"How have you been since last night?"

Elizabeth nods and smiles a greeting in response to Anna's wave. She looks around the people gathered with interest, recalling those she remembers, and wondering about the unfamiliar face.

"I suppose it went well, had a rough night's sleep. A patient escaped last night during the bombing. She's locked in for violent crimes, it may be possible that she's out there causing harm even at this very moment. So...I'd say it's certainly not great, but definitely could've been worse." Anna said, half-grumbling.

"Really now? What does this patient look like?"

"She's Catherine Exter, of average height and middle-aged. Plain appearance. Her escape was documented in the paper, actually. Quite perplexing, she couldn't possibly have found any earthly method of escaping through locked room with only one possible exit, yet she escaped. Lord Colville suspects that she's behind a violent murder commited last night. The time the assualt happened was after her escape." Anna said, revealing what little she knew. "A few years back, she was involved in a violent crime in the British Museum. In a few hours, I suppose I'll have to visit the museum staff to see if they could offer any enlightening knowledge to us."

"Oh."
John's somewhat disappointed the description doesn't match the dead girl from the warehouse.
"I don't supposed she had razorsharp claws, did she?"

Anna shrugged. “I’d suppose not. But the victim found by Lord Colville had violent wounds. Beast-like violence, I was told. It’s one possibility, after all, London has its fair share of criminals anyways, not every crime committed during the raid are done by one person, after all.”

“Some context would be welcome.”

Mrs Cruikshank speaks up, "Did Miss Exter escape early enough to attack Nell Murrows? " She pulls a small book from her bag. "I've got Nell's diary here, it seems she was walking out with an RAF pilot." She looks at John. "He was a married man. He might have been the last person to see her alive, maybe you might know how we could find him?"

John raises his hands to ward off any accusations.

"I was airborne for most of the night, ma'am, that is, until I wasn't anymore."

He smiles and straightens his jacket.

"Does it say who this pilot was and where he was stationed?"

"I think I remember reading about the British Museum case years ago," says Elizabeth, looking towards her friends part way through as she speaks. "Maybe there's no link, but if she was involved with another violent assault after escaping ..." She pauses. "Might the daughter be open to other people going to approach her? We could go and talk to her, if that might help. And yes, following up the RAF pilot would be good, if that could be done."

Brook nods to Elisabeth, also remembering.

"Exeter was the daughter's maiden name," added Anna. "Her married name is Madeline Steadman."

Mrs Cruikshank looks at John and smiles, 'We didn't suspect you because Nell's beau only has one leg; he lost the other in action. And she was out with him last night so her landlady says.' She thumbs through the little book, 'Here is the last entry in her diary,

"September 6th, I met the most darling man today! Jimmy is quite dashing and handsome, an RAF pilot. He lost his leg and nearly his life defending our country from the Jerries. He's married, which is not unusual for my clients, but it does mean I may not be able to keep him for myself. Still, I'll enjoy his company while I can. He's awfully shy when I bring up business, which is also not unusual, but I'm sure he'll partake of the forbidden fruit in the end. They always do. He said he'd like to see me some evening."

'Do you think you could find out Who Nell's pilot is from that? I'd have thought he must be stationed quite close with just the one leg to peddle about on.'

John listens intently to Mrs Cruikshank's description and his eyes widen.

"I..., I might have an idea where to look..."

He clears his throat, and head, and speaks up.

"I'm going to go and see about this one-legged Jimmy, but I'd like to know what you find out about all of this too. Will we meet up here later on?"

"Of course. I'll visit the museum first and see if you could offer any further insights to Exter's story before heading back here anyways." Anna nodded. "Quick question: how far was the body found relative to the sanitarium. Is it humanly possible for Ms. Exter to be behind this?"