Taylors and Tailing
When we arrived at the safehouse we found Billy, Patrick and Jones awaiting our
return. They’d apparently been there for some time, employing the comprehensive
library for the purposes of research. Their diligence had unearthed a number of
important facts, in particular that the College campus where we had received our
briefing had been the site of a Neolithic temple to an ancient deity called Hazzur. The
site had been adorned with pillars in a layout that closely resembled that which West
had scawled on the back of his copy of “The King in Yellow”. It seemed possible that
this could be the site where this midnight ritual may occur.
We still didn’t possess enough information to work out what was going on – clearly
West was heavily involved with Lux and his cult but their overall objective was still
shrouded in mystery. To try and pierce this shroud we decided to split up again. We
realised that we must observe the meeting between Lux and West at Taylors but the
task of close observation must fall on Sergeant Jones. Lux had seen Billy and Patrick
and West might well be accompanied by Alice, who would definitely recognise Karl and
I and probably wonder why we hadn’t approached our old college friend.
Billy and Patrick decided to go along with Jones in case he got into difficulties.
Meanwhile Karl, and I decided to take this opportunity to check out the home of West’s
girlfriend, Susie Nichols, rejoining the others at Taylors in time to follow West and Lux
when they left. Agent Scott concurred with this plan but warned us that, although
Susie Nichols shouldn’t be home there was a good chance her flatmate, Sheena, would
be. This could have presented difficulties so I suggested making our way to their flat
and ringing them while we waited nearby, telling Sheena that her flatmate had been in
a terrible accident and had been taken to hospital. When she left to rush to her friend’s
side we’d break in and search the place. Unfortunately it seemed that their phone was
ex-directory, so that plan had to be abandoned.
As we made our way along the city’s night-enfolded highways Karl and I continued to
work on a coherent approach to the problem of the flatmate. We eventually settled on
a solution close to the truth.
On arrival at the flat we knocked and waited for a reply, the moment it was opened Karl
and I quickly presented our Cassandra 23 credentials. Karl informed the alarmed young
lady that we were government representatives and needed to talk to her about her
flatmate. Ushered into a comfortable living room the smooth-talking secret agent
explained that we had reason to believe that her flatmate, Susie had been involved in a
possible breach of national security and we needed to search her room. Not
unnaturally Sheena was unhappy about letting total strangers gain access to her
friend’s belongings but was ultimately persuaded that the consequences of denying our
request would be serious indeed.
We were led up a short flight of stairs and shown into Susie’s room. The room was
then searched by Karl, I assisted with suggestions but didn’t want to get in the way of
the professional. Our search was a little tentative, neither Karl nor I were entirely
comfortable examining the belongings of a woman who might well be totally innocent
of any wrongdoing. The initial examination revealed nothing of relevance to the case
so Fox decided, after a helpful suggestion from Agent Scott, to search around Susie’s
bed. A glance under her pillow revealed a neatly kept diary, which, after only a
moment’s reading, promised to be a valuable piece of evidence against West.
Sheena protested when we tried to remove the diary but was cowed into submission by
Fox who warned her that her friend was in serious trouble and she would be too if she
stood in the way of our investigation. As we prepared to leave I took a last glance
around the bedroom and realised that the banner affixed to the wall above the bed was
very familiar. The sign on it was almost identical to one which West had drawn on the
back of the “King in Yellow” play notes. I began to feel dizzy as I gazed at the strange
ideogram and I remember nothing else for some time.
At this point subject savage appears to have lapsed into sleep.
The following is a transcript of the incoherent babblings he
made during this period of rest.
The Yellow sign. THE YELLOW
SIGN.THE YELLOW SIGN
Lost CARCOSSA. HAzzUR, HAZTAR, HASTUR
…………
THE STARS ARE RIGHT, THE STARS are
RIGHT.
Hail the KING in YELLOW. Fortunate are
those who will serve the Yellow King.
Subject Savage appeared to regain consciousness and the
transcript becomes more lucid.
Apparently the mere sight of the … Yellow Sign … temporarily unhinged my mind.
According to Karl I spent the next ten minutes or so babbling incoherently to him as he
and Scott led me towards Taylors where we were to rendezvous with the others.
Eventually I shook off the madness that had gripped me and regained my senses. I
had not, however, emerged unscathed from the experience, for the world around
seemed colder and more hostile and casual looks from strangers sent shivers down my
spine. Memories of Borneo came flooding back and with them a feeling of dread that I
should encounter such madness in the urbane streets of Cheltenham.
Karl told me that diary we had found contained disturbing material concerning Lux and
West but he felt it would be better to read it through carefully when we met up with the
others. That decided we hurried to the rendezvous at Taylors bar.
While we were searching Susie’s flat the others had made their way to Taylors and a
later meeting with the other three agents allowed me to fill in the details of what
occurred before we arrived.
While we continued our careers as burglars the other agents made their way to Taylors
to await the arrival of Lux and his compatriots. The plan was for Jones to wait in the
main area of the bar, watching the door for the Cult leader’s arrival, while the other
Cassandra 23 agents would go to a side area and wait for Jones to fill them in on what
was occurring.
While Patrick and Billy were waiting two strangers, one a seductive young American girl
and the other a personable local, joined them at their table. The Irishmen quickly
struck up a rapport with the two newcomers and Billy in particular was taken with the
young woman, who seemed very taken with him, continually taking hold of his arm and
stroking his hand.
Meanwhile Jones had decided that the best way to blend into the background was to
get a drink in hand and watch the bar’s television. Unfortunately the RAF soldier
became so engrossed in his role that he failed to notice Lux and the others entering the
bar.
The first the two other agents knew of the cult’s arrival was when they sat down at a
table directly behind the two of them. This caused a good deal of alarm as both Patrick
and Billy had assumed that Jones would warn them of Lux’s arrival in good time.
Shortly after this their conversation with the two newcomers also took a disturbing turn,
when Patrick asked the woman her name. She replied that she was called Alice.
Patrick realised that this might be the same woman who had sparred with Karl and I
only an hour earlier – Billy seemed oblivious to this fact as he continued to chat with
the two strangers. Not wishing to raise a false alarm the cautious historian used their
mobile to contact Karl, gaining a description of Alice from the spy. It confirmed
Patrick’s worst fears and he quickly extricated Billy and himself from a situation that
was becoming very disturbing. He phoned Karl and I to inform us of their plans and
then the three of them left Taylor’s.
It was after eight when Karl and I arrived outside the plush exterior of Taylors and out
arrival was timely for moments after Billy, Patrick and Jones emerged from the bar,
closely followed by Lux, West and a number of others whom I later learned were other
cultists. After a quick conference we decided to follow them, splitting into two teams to
watch from either side of the road as they moved off. It was at this point that Agent
Jones tried to get in front of them by cutting down a side street, unfortunately his
limited knowledge of the city’s streets played him false and he became lost for a short
while.
Left short handed the remainder of the cell continued to tail the cultists, using what
cover there was to avoid being seen. Although our quarry made no effort to lose us the
wide and well–lit streets of Cheltenham provided little cover for the pursuers and we
were often at risk of losing them as we dropped back to avoid being observed. Our
numbers decreased further when Karl had to go back to locate Jones and re-unite him
with the rest of the Cell, leaving only Billy, Patrick, Heather and I to continue the
pursuit. Heather and I kept as close as possible to the cultists as they followed their
winding path through the darkened streets while the two Irishmen hung back. At a
corner they turned down a narrow alleyway and I hurried to catch them.
Given the shock I had already received I was beginning to feel a little on edge and the
site of this narrow alleyway with ample spots for anyone waiting in ambush began to
worry me intensely. My fears grew when it appeared that Patrick and Billy, who had
been only a little behind Heather and I apparently disappeared – we waited as long as
we could but were eventually forced to renew our pursuit, now unaware of the location
of the rest of the Cell.