It was October...

Chapter 15: A cop, a boat, and a dangerous bird

It had been almost a week since the incident in the kitchen.
After discovering all the clocks and watches had stopped Annabelle has requested each of her servants to recount their experience of the events.
Mrs. Mordeaunt and Mr. Cole had been in the Kitchen while Wendy the house maid and Winston the butler had been on the upper floors of the house, carrying out their duties, when they had heard a scream from the kitchen.
Mrs. Mordeaunt had been the first to see the horrifying creature. Long limbs and thin body covered in a thin layer of bristly black hair, a rat-like tail protruding from its rear, and the hideous head, reminiscent of a fox or coyote, adorned with large ears pointing upwards. The eyes, they all agreed, had been the most terrifying thing about the beast: large and pale yellow without a pupil.
Wendy and Winston had hurried into the kitchen to find Mr. Cole shielding Mrs. Mordeaunt from the prowling creature and Winston had told the women to go upstairs while he and Mr. Cole would try and battle the creature. The idea had not been a bad one, but the intruder seemed to have had a measure of intelligence, because rather than continue to threatening the defenseless women it had reared around and attacked Winston as he dashed to the knife block. He and Rob had only managed to escape because Rob had grabbed a heavy cast iron skillet and thrown it at the creature, hitting it squarely in the head. He and Winston had fortunately made their escape and had then barricaded the door leading up to the rest of the house.

Annabelle sat at her uncle's desk, the splatter of November rain loud on the window panes.
After sending her servants home or to retire on the day of the incident she and Mr. Gaunt and Mr. Wright had continued to discuss the events, in particular the shape of the attacker.
Gaunt had declared he would head over to the archives of the Petrie museum the next day, explaining he had a few ideas of what to look for.
Wright had very quickly found his way to the conclusion that he needed to mull things over and was not at all certain this was quite his pay grade, and had taken his leave.
Annabelle had found that she had not been sorry to see him go. 
She reached across the desk and picked up the volume of the Encyclopedia Britannica she and Mr. Gaunt had found the small key in that had lead them to the unidentifiable gem stone.
Despite her best efforts over the past five days she had not been able to make heads nor tales of much of her uncle's notes in his 'experimentation records', as Morgenthal had called it. Most of the jottings didn't seem to relate to the gem or the experiments at all...
She flipped open the back cover of the book she had picked up and looked at the small flap she had cut into the end-paper. Flipped it open again and hesitated. There, on the inside of the flap, were faint pencil markings she had previously overlooked. Annabelle got up, grabbed a magnifying glass, and took the book over to a lamp. She closely examined the tiny writing, clearly in her uncle's hand. 
Suddenly there was a knock on the door.
"Come in" Annabelle called and closed the book.
Winston stepped into the room.
"Excuse the disturbance, Madame, but there is a police officer downstairs to see you" he looked concerned.
She frowned.
"Did he mention what this visit is about?"
"No, Madam, but he does not seem to be in a hurry."
"Well, let's find out what he wants, then" and she strode past the butler and off down the stairs.

The officer waiting for her in the entrance hall was unfamiliar.
"Good day to you, Madam, apologies for the intrusion. My name is George Heartley, I'm a constable with Scotland Yard" he introduced himself with a bow.
"Annabelle McAllister, pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. Heartley" she returned the formality with a slight curtsy "But do tell, what brings you here today?"
"Again, apologies, Miss McAllister, there's been some disturbance at a warehouse in the Docklands. We were unable to trace a name to the property, but the owner's address was given as 12 Portman Square, so..."
"The Docklands?" she interjected.
"Yes, Miss. We thought it had to be an error, but need to investigate further" he seemed uncomfortable.
"Well. If whatever occurred at that warehouse lead you to this address I believe I had better go and take a look for myself" she said and he seemed relieved at her reaction.
"If you would wait just a moment, I will gladly accompany back to the site."
"It would be my pleasure, Miss" he nodded.
Annabelle excused herself and returned to her private rooms to prepare herself.
She changed into a walking skirt with matching jacket and, remembering the uneven streets in the Docklands, chose a pair of comfortable, well worn shoes. She also, as a precaution, slipped her little two shot derringer in her pocket.

"I am ready, Mr. Heartley" she announced as she arrived back in the entry hall.
"Excellent, I have a hansom waiting outside" the constable replied heading towards the door.
"I will be right along" she said and turned to the butler.
"Winston, I would like you to send for Mr. Gaunt and ask him whether he is free to take dinner tonight, we may have a new development to discuss."
"Certainly, Madam. Do you want me to take any precautions in the event of your prolonged absence?" he asked meaningfully, aware the police officer might still be within earshot.
Annabelle nodded.
"Should I not be back by 4pm I would like you to contact Mr. Wright and reschedule our appointment" she said with an equally meaningful look.
"Very well, Madam" Winston replied with a bow and Annabelle headed out to join officer Heartley in the hansom.

As they rolled into the docklands in the gloomy November light Annabelle shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
"Almost there, it's right around the next corner up there to the left" Heartley said cheerfully.
"It's hones'ly a bit of an odd one" he remarked, but didn't elaborate and Annabelle was in no mood to entertain his need for attention.
They pulled up outside a huge warehouse, bustling with police, constables and inspectors alike.
Mr. Heartley climbed out of the carriage and offered a hand to Annabelle before paying the driver.
Before the cab could pull away Annabelle quietly handed the cabby an extra penny.
"If you'll come along, Miss, the inspector is just over here."
Annabelle followed the officer into the cavernous space of the warehouse.
"Miss McAllister, this is inspector David van Lier, he's overseeing the investigation here. Inspector, Miss Annabelle McAllister, currently inhabiting 12 Portman Square" Heartley introduced them.
Inspector van Lier, a short, portly man with broad shoulders and a wide mustache, reached up to touch his hat as he gave a little bow upon being introduced.
"Pleasure to make your acquaintance."
"The pleasure is mine" Annabelle replied as she again gave a little curtsy.
"But please, inspector, do tell what is going on. Mr. Heartley wasn't able to provide much information beyond this being a rather uncommon situation" she probed.
Van Lier twitched his mustache.
"'Uncommon' is perhaps putting it mildly" he said "If you will please follow me" and he lead the way off further into the warehouse.
This wasn't like the ones Annabelle had encountered on her last visit to the Docklands. While those warehouses had been filled with crates and boxes, this one seemed to contain mostly vehicles of various descriptions and sizes. At the front near the entrance were carriages and coaches, standing neatly lined up and looking like they were used regularly. Behind them and further into the huge space were more coaches and carriages, but these were placed much closer together and covered with a variety of sheets.
Then they came to a stone basin divided by a pier where small yachts and other sailing boats were tied up in neat order.
Van Lier lead them to a particularly handsome vessel with the name 'Bonny-Belle' emblazoned in white letters on the dark hull.
Annabelle stumbled as she saw the name of the boat.
"Oh, careful there, Miss, the floor here might not be the smoothest" van Lier exclaimed as he reached out a hand to her to steady herself on.
"So I notice!" Annabelle gave back, doing her best to sound flustered.
"Well, this is the location of our conundrum" the inspector started to explain, indicating the 'Bonny-Belle' "Early this morning we received notice from the warehouse reporting a break in. We immediately sent a sergeant and two constables out to deal with the situation, but what they found was much stranger than a mere burglary" his brow furrowed as he continued "Our men reached the Bonny-Belle here after determining her as destination of the intruder and took a look inside and,... well... um..." he hesitated, took off his hat and smoothed over his graying auburn hair with his palm before replacing the hat.
"What is it, inspector?" Annabelle asked, a sinking feeling in her stomach.
"Well. The intruder seems to have been... taken out" van Lier finished.
"'Taken out'?"
"Yes..."
"When you say 'taken out', what exactly...?"
"Well. From what we can tell so far, the poor man was... pecked to death" the inspector was sweating now, despite the chill.
"Pecked" Annabelle was confused.
"Yes. I know it sounds outrageous, but it looks like this man was pecked to death by a bird or birds. We might be able to be more specific once the coroner has had some time with the body, but for now..." van Lier looked somewhat helpless as he looked over at the boat.
"We don't have a name for the owner, only an address" he said "You wouldn't possibly know..."
"Well, this is certainly not my boat" Annabelle replied "I have only arrived from America just over a month ago, however, my uncle used to own the house on Portman Square - I believe constable Heartley was expecting to meet him rather than myself... But sadly my uncle passed away earlier this year" she explained.
"Oh, my condolences. I assume he left the house to you, then?"
"He did indeed."
"But no mention of a boat?" 
"Not at all. Not in his will nor in the documents I have at the house."
Van Lier scratched the back of his head.
"Inspector, might somebody just have given a false address?" Annabelle asked.
"Hum. Not impossible..."
"Well, I will go through the documents at the house again and contact you should I find anything."
"That would be most appreciated, Miss McAllister. And apologies for any inconvenience" van Lier gave another bow.
"Not at all inspector."
He inclined his head.
"Officer Heartley will see you back to your home."