Silver!
excerpt from Inspector Burr's police report

Esther and Mr. Browning joined me in visiting Madame Sheila. Her little hovel is on the outskirts of town, very shabby.

When I knocked, a shriveled old woman in purple and red clothing cracked the door open and asked who we were. I explained that I was from the police and investigating Mr. Mayburry's murder.

"Ah," she said. "I wondered if you would come." She opened the door and invited us in.

The room was dirty and poorly lit. There was an odd smell, like burnt leather. I asked if she knew Mr. Mayburry.

"He was a client of mine. Needed an item that most folks don't know as to how to acquire."

And what was that item?

"Never you mind. It's nothing to do with your investigation."

Mrs. Sheila, it could be important.

She waved her hand dismissively. "You wouldn't believe me, anyway."

Esther held up Cecil's book. "Does it have anything to do with this?"

I noticed Madame Sheila's eyes widen a bit at the sight of the book. "Oh, so you found that, did you? You best keep that safe. Dangerous people will want it for their own nefarious purposes."

"What is the book for?" Esther asked. "Was my uncle killed because of it?"

"You could say that," said Sheila.

I demanded to know why the book was so important that Mr. Mayburry would be killed for it. Sheila shut up tight. "Silver!" she screeched.

I beg your pardon?

"Silver! Mr. Mayburry paid for my knowledge, and so shall you."

Browning and I were caught off-guard, but Esther quickly and calmly handed over several coins. Sheila inspected each one, then nodded.

"Mr. Mayburry wasn't killed for the book, Inspector. He was killed because of that book!"

What do you mean?

She took the book from Esther and flipped through it until she found a passage. "Here," she said. "This is why he was killed. Read that, Inspector. Read that, and many of your questions will be answered. I will say no more."

Shadow at the End of the Hall

excerpt from Esther's diary

The chapter that Madame Sheila indicated to us took some time to translate. When we finished, I was chilled right to the bone. I had to fetch an overcoat and sip some whiskey before I could calm myself.

"The chapter," I explained aloud to Mr. Browning and Inspector Burr, "speaks of a powerful entity, Hastur, a King in Yellow, a being so hideous that his very image drives one insane."

"The man in the yellow cloak," mused Browning, "could he and his cohorts worship this King in Yellow?"

"It seems likely," said Burr.

I continued. "One section describes a method a summoning Hastur to our world. The ritual involves, I shudder to say, slitting a man's throat and wrists and gouging out his eyes. Just the way my uncle was murdered!"

Burr gasped. "Then he wasn't just murdered--he was sacrificed to this evil diety!"

Browning: "But then why did the yellow-cloaked man return? Why was he looking for that book?"

I: "There is more to the ritual. It seems that whoever slays the sacrificial victim must then slash his own wrists and speak an incantation as he dies."

Burr nodded. "Perhaps they did not know the incantation? They began the ritual, and were unable to complete it?"

"I think so," said I.

Browning said, "But with these sort of ritual, surely the 'magic' or 'power' of the... the sacrifice fades?" He was clearly broken up at the thought of his friend being killed in such a horrid fashion.

I answered, "Yes. The book says that the spell will fade if not completed in a week."

The men looked at each other. "That's tonight," they said simultaneously.

"Yes," I said. "I think they will come again tonight. They will try to get the book and finish the summoning spell."

I shuddered. I believe we all shuddered.

We began to make preparations. I kept a pistol and lantern with me the whole afternoon, and jumped at every shadow at the end of the hall.