Chapter 2: A Gruesome Discovery

Thursday morning, I was awakened by a furious pounding on our apartment door It was insistent, so I got up to answer it.

"All right!. I'm coming! I'm coming."

The knocking paused, but there was a muffled shout from without. I couldn't make out what was being shouted so I hurried to open the door.

"Now what's all the noise about? Can't you see its only six o'clock?"

It was one of the legal students. He had been reduced to almost a gibbering idiot.

"You've got to come at once! There's a body on the cross."

"Which cross? I asked as I beckoned him into the apartment.

"The body is on the cross over the church door. It's horrible! It looks like a real body with nothing inside it! You've got to come at once!"

"Let me get some clothes on," I said. He could see that I wasn't wearing anything under my robe. "How do you mean there's nothing in it?" I asked as I left him, so I could get dressed.

"It looks like one of those inflatable life jackets when all the air's been let out of it." He shouted at me through my bedroom door.

Sarah had heard the rumpus and was getting dressed as well! A moment later we were walking after him as he dashed out of the building. We found him outside almost dancing up and down.

After arriving at the church, I could see what he meant. The body, or whatever, was tied to the cross at it's wrists, ankles and forehead.

"Has anyone identified it?" I asked.

"It looks rather like James Burrows III." replied one of the other students.

"Has anyone called a Forensic Thaumaturgist?" I asked at large.

"No, Master. I'll get one."

That was one of the students from my stream I saw as she dashed off.

By the time that the Forensic Journeyman reached us, I had organized a ladder long enough to examine the body ... It was James Burrows III. While the journeyman took charge at the crime scene, Sarah and I made for Burrows' room.

We collected the master room key from the house manager. The smell as I opened the door alerted us to what was to be found. There, lying on the bed was a corpse entirely denuded of skin, looking like an illustration from a medical text book demonstrating human musculature. I examined the corpse as closely as I could without touching it. Looking around the room, it reeked of sorcery as did all the rooms. Hundreds of students over the years had ensured that.

There were no obvious signs of illegal entry or of anyone else having been there. As I finished examining the room, the Forensic Journeyman walked in.

"So, this is what's left of the rest of him! I've got the skin down in the morgue for examination. A gurney will be here in a minute."

He examined what was left of the corpse. Taking a thermometer from his bag, he stuck in the corpse's liver. While he was waiting for the reading of the thermometer to settle, he examined the rest of the body. A quiet "Aha!" alerted me to his discovery.

"Well?" I said.

"You realise Master that the findings so far are very provisional."

"And they are?"

"The eyes show signs of petechial haemorrhaging. As you know that indicates some form of asphyxiation."

He removed the thermometer and muttered his calculations to himself.

"What was the time of death?" I asked.

"About one o'clock this morning, give or take an hour."

At that moment, his assistant with the gurney arrived. They gently lifted the body, usung the bedshet, onto the gurney. They then left the room. Sarah and I left, locking the door and putting a do-not-enter spell on the room

I headed towards the office of the head of the Academy and met him coming the other way.

"Ah, there you are, Robert. I was looking for you! We've been doing a head count over the Campus. Everyone has been accounted for, except for one of the grounds men. Here's his name and the master key to his quarters. Its location is on this note." he said, handing the piece of paper and a key.

He was on his way before I could say, "thank you!" Sarah and I hurried off in the direction of the missing grounds man's quarters. On the way we were joined by Molly and Josh.

"On the job training!" panted out Sarah, in explanation, as she was trying to keep up with me.

As we reached the room, I turned to the other three and said "Wait here. Any traces of magic that may be left in the room would be swamped by the presence of all of you, I may need you later to search the room physically."

I entered the room, using the master key, leaving the others outside.

Immediately I could sense the presence of evil. I left the curtains drawn and lit the lamp. I didn't want to dissipate the evil until I had extracted all I could from the ambiance of the room.

A quick search revealed little. His wardrobe was nearly empty, A number of burnt pages lay in the grate. Before I examined them, I cast a spell to preserve them as much as possible. I used my wand to tease any preserved pages out of the whole. One item, although burnt to the extent that it was unreadable was a circular disk of cardboard. Attached to both sides by means of a clip through the middle were two additional disks.

Then I made my discovery. A letter burnt round the edges had been largely preserved by being in the middle of a bunch of papers. It was enciphered and read: