Resurrection City 2: The Adventure of the Iron Knives

[Andrew D. Gable]

"I was wondering about one other thing. Mr. McCarthy, you said of the candles 'No idea what they might've used so many of 'em for.' Don't you suppose they used them for, you know," he waves a hand around vaguely and gives McCarthy a conspiratorial smile, "thingy?"

"Well," he chuckles, "an odd way of puttin' it. Yes, I think I might be knowin' what they did with 'em. Said they 'ad a way of talkin' to each other through 'em, don't ask me 'ow they did that. Far as I'm knowin', Cartwright, Oldacre, Smythe, and Yesset, all of 'em bought boxes o' candles from me quite a bit. Fact, Mr. Robinson, here delivered some to Mr. Smythe yesterday mornin'."

McCarthy follows Robinson's gaze and catches sight of the gold box. "It's nothin'," he says, answering the inquisitive look on Robinson's face. "Cigar box, picked it up up at the market."

 

[JimAde]

Macallistair walks deliberately across the small room, his boot heels thumping ominously. He stands near McCarthy and says quietly, "That's a lot of trouble for wealthy men to go to," he observes. He leans very close, almost whispering now, "All for some candles. Is there, perhaps, something special about them?"

 

[Andrew D. Gable]

"All for some candles. Is there, perhaps, something special about them?"

"Well, there was a certain way they were bein' made," McCarthy says. "But it's mostly I'd gotten a good word put in for me from Yesset, is all. Since I had agreed to play caretaker for 'im, as it were."

 

[JimAde]

Trevor nods and says, "I see. What special way was that?"

 

[Andrew D. Gable]

"Well, Yesset was never quite tellin' me. 'E gave me this little jar of somethin', 'e did. Looked like dirt, an' all grainy, like sand. 'E told me to put some of that in the candles. But only one little grain of it, 'e said, more than that wouldn't be good at all. Said whenever I was needin' more of it to be gettin' a hold of either 'im or Smythe."

 

[JimAde]

"Well, Yesset was never quite tellin' me. 'E gave me this little jar of somethin', 'e did. Looked like dirt, an' all grainy, like sand. 'E told me to put some of that in the candles. But only one little grain of it, 'e said, more than that wouldn't be good at all. Said whenever I was needin' more of it to be gettin' a hold of either 'im or Smythe."

"Ah," Trevor says as if he understands. "So you have some about, then?"

 

[Old Fezziwig]

Diggory watches quietly from the doorway, keeping a close eye on McCarthy. Say, Baron Walsingham's not half bad at interrogation...

 

[ShortAssassin]

"Well, Yesset was never quite tellin' me. 'E gave me this little jar of somethin', 'e did. Looked like dirt, an' all grainy, like sand. 'E told me to put some of that in the candles. But only one little grain of it, 'e said, more than that wouldn't be good at all. Said whenever I was needin' more of it to be gettin' a hold of either 'im or Smythe."

Robinson leaned over to Diggory and said quietly "Do ye think that candle the Cartwright fella used at that inn was special too? It be lookin' that candles are a little more than light to some people."

 

[Old Fezziwig]

Diggory nods and replies in hushed tones. "It could be. Maybe we could get a look at the powder."

 

[Andrew D. Gable]

"So you have some about, then?"

"I do, matter o' fact," McCarthy says. He steps towards where Diggory stands and beckons the group. "This way, step over to me shop." He leads them out the front door, past the stinking entry arch to Miller's Court that Diggory knows very well, and into another building. He walks past shelves filled with rows and rows of candles of every size and color, and steps into a back room. In this room, he sits at a desk and looks through a drawer. After a few moments, he pulls out a small jar, and lays it on the desktop. "There. That be it. Says somethin' on it, but I can't be makin' heads nor tails of it. Mayhaps you educated men can."

The label on the jar reads 'Radix pedis diaboli'.