A puzzling headline begins a front-page article found in the Times of London. Three men, all identical in identification, were found dead in the same room of the Chelsea Arms Hotel. Then the home of a valued friend burns to the ground, severely injuring him in the process. It is the beginning of "Horror On The Orient Express" a European campaign set in the winter between January and March of 1923. Over the course of the campaign, the investigators are trying to collect the various pieces of an ancient statue called the Sedefkar Simulacrum. Night falls early then, and each night is long and cold. The campaign is made up of 11 scenarios, taking place in seven nations, the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Italy, The Kingdom of Serbs Croats and Slovenes, Bulgaria, and Turkey. All are stops on the path of the Simplon-Orient Express.
Archie notes in medical tests that the Fenalik patient had very low blood pressure and hypothermia for several days. It is strange, but not impossible, that he survived in those conditions even a few days.
Leroux shakes his head in response to Felicity.
"Oh no ... I think you are the first people I meet interested in this character."
Responding to Clarence, Ledoux says that the institution has indeed an important history and prestige in the treatment of mental illnesses. He hopes that mental illness will one day become a relic itself and a nightmare of the far past not yet achieved by progress and rationality.
The secretary accepts Andrew's help. The crates are carried to the archives room, the same where the other investigators are. They see Madame Rogniat and Andrew walk in with the boxes in hand. Madame Rogniat she keeps an inspection eye on Andrew, looking worried that the detective might snoop too much. Andriew while trasporting the crates, can quickly catches a peek at the title of a text and the first few lines of a page.
The Journal of Dr. Delplace
ENTRY—A dismaying event last night. A male nurse, one Guimart of 4th Ward, entered the cellars without authorization, and there, after suffering a painful wound to his right arm, collapsed. Another nurse.....
OOC: Andrew needs to distract her if he wants to get the book and be unnoticed.
As they approach the archive and Andrew hears the sound of the others and Dr Ledoux, he stumbles and loses his grip on the box he is carrying, emptying it onto the floor, the contents flying about in disarray.
'Oh my gosh. I am awfully, awfully sorry. Let me collect those up for you.'
"I suppose more people would be interested in the Marquis de Sade, who was also here around that time," says Felicity. "I wonder if they knew each other."
Clarence hears the crash and wonders what on Earth Andrew is up to. He attempts to engage the Doctor’s attention,
“Yes the Marquis de Sade. I suppose you have read the records of patients from that time hmm, Doctor?”
The secretary gets distracted and Andrew manages to take Delplace's notebook without her and Leroux noticing.
But Leroux didn't like to see the detective with those crates in hand. He knows something of De Sade, and engages in a discussion of circumstance with the investigators, while maintaining a cold and distant tone. He begins to be visibly annoyed by this visit.
"Well, gentlemen. I hope I have been helpful with your historical research. I wish you a good continuation of your study."
It is the end of the afternoon. The sunset light begins to penetrate almost horizontally through the large arched windows of the old Parisian mental health building. The director briskly accompanies the foreign visitors to the exit and wishes them a pleasant stay in Paris. As soon as enough leaves are removed from the institute, the investigators can calmly see the notebook they found.
Once they leave the big gate of the institute behind, the investigators calmly see the notebook that Andrew has managed to steal from the secretary's eyes.
Most of the records are common patient reports, including symptoms and drug dosages. However, the last part of the paper relates something interesting about the last days of the psychiatrist's life.
ENTRY—A dismaying event last night. The male nurse Guimart of 9th Ward hadn't left his place and the hospital for two days. The other nurses have been restless and reluctant to go and search for him.
Eventually, another nurse, P. Mandrin, investigated Guimart’s absence and, after some time, discovered Guimart on the floor of the 9th ward, in severe shock. Guimart collapsed after suffering a painful wound to his right arm. Treatment was prompt and efficacious, but upon regaining consciousness this morning, Guimart began raving to me about being attacked by a dead man.
For the moment, I have placed him in room 13, and notified his landlady of his indisposition. Alas, with Guimart was another man, one unknown to this institution, and in tragic physical condition. Many grave questions must be answered.
ENTRY—I began to question Guimart about the stranger. He does not appear on the hospital´s records. Is he a patient? What is his name? How long had Guimart kept him down there? Had Guimart kept the stranger there for a long time? Had he given him nourishment? How had he survived? I am moving the stranger to my private wing, for the moment treating the man as an inconsequential derelict until more evidence is found.
ENTRY—Even in a fresh bed the stranger’s appearance is horrifying.
Its skin is hardened, tending to a color between gray and greenish. The face has strange deformities. Given small amounts of broth, he merely regurgitates it. He takes no nourishment, yet lives in a catatonic state. Would electroshock revive him?
ENTRY—After several applications, the stranger woke, but so weakened that he could not move. He whined and begged in different, and very old forms of Greek and Latin... tales of cities crumbling, and of other, darker things. What a mystery man! It is almost easier to think we have tapped some form of group mind or racial memory.
After a few inconsequential notations, the journal ends. All the entries quoted are dated just before Delplace’s death.
"How fascinating," says Felicity. "We should see what we can find out about the police report on Dr. Delplace's death. Perhaps this stranger had a hand in it."
Furrowing his brow, Andrew reads over the account of the mysterious patient again. 'And there is no record of Count Fenalik ever leaving the asylum?' he asks.
“Fenalik was catatonic, the stranger was catatonic, looked dead, the nurse raving about a dead man, one might almost think... no, that would be preposterous, hmm.”
Clarence paces up and down, deep in thought.
"Preposterous like being pulled into another world by a model train?" asks Felicity. "I think we've all had our horizons broadened. It's not so unreasonable to think that Fenalik could still be alive, after a fashion."
"Preposterous. Hospitals can forget to document a lot of details, but it's difficult to believe they didn't put something somewhere about it, and I am not sure I buy the bit about the body being buried in a pauper's field."
Previously said: "How fascinating," says Felicity. "We should see what we can find out about the police report on Dr. Delplace's death. Perhaps this stranger had a hand in it."
At the police station, the French officers are quite reluctant to give detailed information on Dr. Delplace's death, especially when the applicants are curious strangers. This information is strictly confidential.
OOC:
1 dot Cop talk spending + a reasonable justification
Andrew explains to the French police officers that they are tracking a murderer from London and have reason to suspect he may have been admitted to the asylum. They are concerned that he may have been involved in the doctor's death.
He offers for them to get in contact with the intelligence desk at the embassy in Paris to confirm his credentials.
OOC: 1 point of Cop Talk spent. Andrew is confident his contacts in the intelligence service will back up his story.
Andrews' words are convincing to the inspector, who demands no credentials.
"So ... from what we were able to judge it was indeed an accident. Doctor Delplace was killed by an electroshock device... one of those things they use ... it seems it was old and defective. The device even overheated and the internal circuits burned out. Doctor Delplace was probably trying to get it working again. He was alone. All the patients were in their rooms, watched by the nurses."
"The new director doesn't want this story out there. You know how it is. People don't like to know that the asylum still uses certain methods. But there´s no dangerous killer on the loose inside the asylum, Mr. Murray. Your murderer is somewhere else."
Archie shakes his head. "You know, that electroshock therapy holds a lot of promise, and it may still find a place in treating the brain. But these are early days and it has been abused."
"It does sound to me like there must have been someone else in the room. I'm not sure that I'm buying he was just doing maintenance."
