IV THE LONG VERSION
Tuesday 5th February 1923
An evening at the lodge: Though its after curfew, we manage to return to the lodge without running into military police. Over our evening repast and several shots of rakija, we discuss the day’s events and make plans for tomorrow. Pierre receives disturbing news from home. His brother, left in charge of Pierre’s business has been assaulted and the Paris shop trashed by men described as middle-eastern. Pierre retires early to take care of personal affairs. At reception we book a guided hunting tour to the Kunjevci and make some enquires. We learn that the Rose Garden is a hotel (of sorts); an infamous establishment where rooms are available by the hour—no questions asked. We learn also, that the Bulatovic cement factory, as alluded to by Dr Moric in his notes, is situated about a mile north of Vinkovci.
Wednesday 6th February 1923
Cudoviste stalks Vinkovci: The morning edition of the Cibalis newspaper carries an article about a cudoviste (Croat for monster) seen leaping across rooftops. An eyewitness, a local plumber named Vinko Servenka, described the creature as larger than a man, with long arms and the face of a boar.
The hunting party: Having the previous night booked places on this morning's guided hunting tour, we assemble at the front of the lodge before ten o’clock to join about a dozen other guests. Transports take us all to the Kunjevci Reserve. On arrival our guide gives us a short safety talk and provides shotguns to the hunters. There are six hunting trails. As long as we do not stray from the paths we cannot get lost. We have two hours before we are required to return to our guide.
The right path: It's a cold morning in the forest. Our breath frosts on the air and the hard ground crunches beneath our feet. We choose a path that leads away from the other hunters. Our choice was inspired, for after little more than half an hour’s walking we spy an ominous shape lying in the undergrowth, no more than twenty yards off the path. With trepidation, we rush over to find the body of a man. The dead man has no face—ripped away by a single shotgun blast. A shotgun, with one spent cartridge, lies close by. The man wears a dark suit and dress shoes—not appropriate clothing for stalking forests at any time of year, let alone in winter. Jazmina screams. She recognises the body of her father. Letty moves Jazmina away from the scene and tries to console her.
The scene: Identification papers in his pocket confirm the man to be Dr Dragomir Moric. Intriguingly, Ludwig believes there's not enough blood here to account for the terrible facial wounds. Turning the body, a small calibre bullet hole is found in the man’s back. The shot would have penetrated the lungs causing fatal injury. Also, there were signs that the body had been dragged from the path into the undergrowth. Moric had grey dust on his shoes and grease on his hands. We conclude the dust to be powdered granite from cement and the grease to be hydraulic oil from heavy machinery. Ludwig was certain that Moric had been dead for about three days now. Without doubt, Dr Moric was murdered elsewhere then his body dumped in the forest. The shotgun wound was delivered post-mortem, being a crude attempt to fake accident or suicide. We return to our guide who waits with the transport at the starting point of the hunt. We leave Jazmina with the guide to alert the authorities while the rest of us make ourselves scarce so as not to become embroiled with a murder investigation. We make our own way back to Vinkovci.
Rose Garden: Back in town we pay a visit to the Rose Garden—a pretty name for such a seedy establishment. It’s a large red brick building with several rooms on two floors. Letty and Ludwig, feeling a little discomfited it has to be said, entered the hotel and approached a swarthy man sitting behind a metal grill at the small reception counter. Asking about his clients elicited no positive response. The man was not interested in talking about who comes and goes; well not until Letty fluttered her eyelashes and passed a sum of cash across the counter. The man suddenly recalled a woman who might match the description we provided for Vesna Femic; she would meet a young student type here sometimes. The last time he remembers specifically because the carpet was stolen from the room they hired. This was three days ago. No we can’t hire the room—it’s currently in use. No, he doesn’t know when it might become free.
Dumpster diving: “Oh the degradation! How did it ever come to this? I, Ludwig von Brunveldt the Third searching through the bins at the rear of a common knocking shop!! Outrageous!!!” As a last resort, the investigators go around to the rear of the property and look through the industrial bins. The search was not futile. In one bin we find two rolled rugs. We drag them out and unravel them. We are shocked at the contents. Two naked bodies, one male and one female, both skinned from the neck up and scalped. The woman has her two front teeth missing. Surely these must be Vesna Femic and Lazar Andric! We return the bodies to the bin and hasten away.
We’ve broken Hubert: We while away the remainder of the afternoon at the lodge. We plot to search the house of Dr Belanzada this evening. We suspect he won’t be home until late and we know his niece goes out about five o’clock. It’s dark outside when we prepare to leave the lodge. Hubert’s fear of the dark is growing and his muttering more incessant. Every day he slips ever closer to losing what slender hold he maintains on his sanity. Ludwig administers a sedative and the investigators leave Hubert behind to sleep.
The doctor’s house: We pull up behind the cover of a few trees at the end of Dr Belanzada’s private drive. We watch and wait. Shortly after 5.0pm a motor car comes to the house. The doctor’s niece leaves the house, climbs into the back of the car and the vehicle moves away, passes our hiding place along the driveway and disappears out into the lane. Unless the housekeeper is still here, the house is now empty.
The garage: There is a garage adjoined to the side of the house. Letty opens the lock and we file inside. The garage is empty. There is a door that leads directly into the house. Try as she may, Letty cannot pick the lock. We notice a strange glyph, in the likeness of a waning moon, etched into a metal plate below the lock. Pierre is certain of an occult connection but doesn’t know how to circumvent whatever protection the symbol imbues. We look for an alternative way to enter the house.
Inside: Ludwig climbs onto the garage roof. With a run and jump he can barely get his fingertips onto the nearest window ledge, but it’s not enough purchase to pull himself up. We instead move around the outside of the house and come to the servant’s entrance. As luck would have it, the door is open. We move inside quickly and quietly. In the study, we find only medical texts and history books. In the master bedroom, we discover nothing of worth. Finally, in the guest room we find personal effects of Dr Moric, still left as if he were expected back. There is nothing of interest in any of these rooms.
The parlour: Before we depart the house, we search downstairs for the reverse side of the locked door from the garage with the carved glyph. We discover another internal door etched with the exact same symbol beneath its lock. We deduce that between the two locked doors is a parlour, but try as we might, we simply cannot gain access to the protected room. We hear a car pull up outside the house and a voice giving thanks for the car ride. It’s time for us to leave.
Belanzada’s other place: Forced to leave the doctor's house, we decide to head straight over to his research facility. Its sometime after 6.30pm as we approach the lane where the facility is sited. The night sky is lit up by the glow of light emanating from within the compound. We leave the lane and navigate our car to stop close to the wall at the rear of the facility. The walls are topped with barbed wire, so we throw a thick coat to rest over the wire. Ludwig climbs first and drops inside the grounds, moving swiftly into the cover of the shadows. Cartwright and Pierre follow in quick succession. Letty though, struggles to get over the wall. She is still stuck when the rest of the investigators sneak across open space to reach the nearest building. They soon realise the place is guarded. A single patrolman approaches along the path.
Who goes there? The investigators gasp at the sight of the patrolman. He wields a carbine, but holds it in a decidedly awkward manner. His left arm is normal, but his right arm is long and misshapen—out of proportion to the rest of his body. At this moment there is a thump on the ground close to where we climbed the wall. Letty is lying on there—legs akimbo—having finally managed to drop over the wall, but without any grace or dignity. The patrolman rushes to her position. As she tries to rise, the man opens fire. Multiple rapid shots rip into the turf as Letty rolls away. Cartwright comes up unseen behind the freakish guard and a single thrust of his sword cane is all that’s needed to run him through and silence him forever.
.
