Session 3 (6) - Hitting the Books

Tuesday the 20th Januray, 1925. Evening.
 
We plan to follow our leads in the city today, then book ahead with the carlyle estate to visit tomorrow.
The only option available in the blizzard is to walk, so we walk to the police station, which is closest. Charlie inquires about the negro man who they are holding in custody, and the officer informs us that he killed himself in the cell last night.
 
Charlie knocks on Lt Poole's office door, and is greeted warmly as an acquaintance. They discuss the man's death, he bit his own tongue off and choked on it. The recent murders are brought up in conversation. he mentions an 'unofficial' link relating this same occult symbol to multiple cases, but nobody wants to talk about it.
Poole invited the police contact, Mordecai Lemming - a doctor of folklore, to visit new york and provide his input. The snowstorm prevented Mordecai from reaching the city, but Poole thinks he might arrive by tomorrow.
 
The next closest stop is the library. We decide to look for books written by this Mordecai Lemming... and upon finding them, quickly realise they are utter fiction. When compared to Jackson Elias' books, it is easy to tell that this man has not researched any of his material.
 
The next person to come to mind was Anthony Cowles, the professor delivering the lecture that Jackson Elias attended the day before I arrived in town. His books are mostly about australian folklore - nothing seems related to what we have experienced in new york.
On a whim, Hans calls the university that Cowles works at, on the off-chance that we can contact him. An assistant answers - Louise Land. She is familiar with his research as she helped with his latest book. It is about a bat-worshiping aboriginal cult from hundreds of years ago, that would undergo human sacrifices by hitting the people with clubs with poisoned bat teeth attached to them. She mentions that Jackson and Anthony kept in good contact. She will arrange for prospero press to be contacted via telegram when Anthony returns to the university.
 
The last phone call to try is Miriam Atwright, the woman who wrote to Jackson regarding a book he had been tracking down. She explains that the book mysteriously disappeared from Harvard before Jackson could get a hold of it. The book was called "Africa's Dark Sect" by Nigel Blackwell. There is a book held in London that may have similar information, entitled The "G'harne Fragments". She explains that Jackson was doing some research on an African cult, but he didn't give her any further specifics. Apparently Nigel Blackwell is now deceased.
 
I have heard of the G'harne Fragments before. The book was written by Sir Amery Wendy-Smith, and is a translation of an old African expedition to investigate the G'harne civilisation - who were rumoured not to be human. According to Miriam, this book is held in the collection of the Penhew foundation. I recognise the name as one of the members of the Carlyle expedition.
It's possible that the carlyle estate library has more information, so I make a note to follow up on that tomorrow when we visit.
 
The african artifact store in Harlem was called "The Juju House" and Charlie suggests it could be some kind of front for smuggling, so we head to the nearest speakeasy to get in touch with some of his contacts in the 'underground'. A man called Antonio joins us at a table, remarking that he didn't expect to see me back here so soon.