The Mysterious Deaths at the Painted Lady Inn
Player Instructions - Sherlock Holmes & Dr Watson
Four Unnatural Deaths at the Painted Lady Inn
From The Journals of
Doctor John Watson
During July, and August
Sherlock undertook only minor cases. He was fretting, worrying about what
Professor Moriarty would do next. He was expecting him either to have another
attempt to steal one or more of the Red Chinese Statues, or possibly have
another crack at killing us! In truth it was a very uneasy time for both us and
Mrs Hudson. Then came news of the burgling of the Wittelsbach Bank in Munich in
Bavaria.
“Aha Watson, that will be Moriarty’s
work mark my words! But he will need to transport some of the treasure back
here. That is when we may manage to foil him. I must consult with Hastings of
Scotland Yard!”
When he returned he told me
that a large consignment of the stolen treasure was rumoured to be sent to
London. Much of it was in the form of paper bonds which could best be realised
in the City of London. He alerted all his ‘irregular contacts’, and the Police
and the Customs and Excise service, worked extra shifts hoping to detect the
moving of the consignment. He himself went off in various disguises day after
day to seek information in the docks. Mrs Hudson was in despair as he never gave
any notice of when he would return looking for a meal. I was very glad that he
did not accept my services for this sort of work. Then to his chagrin we heard
that not for the first time, the Occult Verification Society had beaten us to
the punch!
Following an incident when a Customs
Officer had been severely frightened by a ghostly apparition, they accompanied
another one with a police constable to Mallow Towers. As Sherlock complained, by
sheer luck they bumped into the Moriartia carrying the treasure. They also
exposed the ghostly apparition to be a fake. The Customs Officer with them was
shot and seriously wounded but Ronald Helping, Professor Learning and Doktor
Nichtwissen overpowered and captured the two men, with the consignment.
Irritatingly the nearest village to Mallow Towers was named ‘Little London’! So
all Holmes’ vigilance was entirely wasted! The newspapers praised the OVS to the
skies, so Sherlock suggested I might write to them, warning that Moriarty might
seek vengeance against them. I agreed as it seemed that they had been doing more
damage to his schemes than Sherlock, even if it was by chance.
Dear
Mr Helping,
Mr Holmes has suggested
that I write a word of warning to you and your Society. Your recent very
praiseworthy heroics have struck very heavy blows against the Arch Criminal
Professor Moriarty. He thinks and I agree with him that he is likely to send
some of his minions to do you a severe or even fatal mischief. He may try to
prevent you testifying against the smugglers in Court!
Your friend John Watson MD
Ronald Helping replied that
the police had this in hand and he with Doktor Nichtwissen and Manko were
staying in Jeffries Chambers beside Professor Learning. These were habitually
secure and well-guarded, because many were lived in by Barristers. He wrote that
the publicity had given them a deluge of potential cases, most of which they
would turn down. He also said that
as compensation for Moriarty’s enmity, they were to receive a very substantial
reward from the Wittelsbach Bank!
The trial of the smugglers
was heard and the two who had injured the Custom’s Officer were given lengthy
sentences. The French woman caught pretending to be a ghost was sentenced to one
year ,during which she would be extradited to France where there were two
charges of murder awaiting her. Two other men involved received sentences of one
and two years each.
After the trial the OVS
members returned to their former lodgings but were advised to be vigilant by the
police. These were notifying their foot patrols of the possible threat.
However late on the evening
of Thursday 29th October a Telegram arrived from Detective Inspector
Hastings:
Mr Helping’s house blown
up!
One known dead, still
searching.
“This is a most shocking thing Holmes.
They usually meet on a Thursday and may well have all been there! They had gas
both for lighting and heating there. It can be a dangerous medium if not watched
carefully.”
Holmes snorted! “It will be
Moriarty’s doing and I doubt if gas was used. Hastings would not have sent this
if he thought it was just an accident. Blown up seems rather drastic even for
Moriarty! I would have thought a grenade thrown through a window more likely. It
may be that he has only received a garbled account so far. Well get your coat on
and bring your Doctors bag! We do not know what we will find there.”
So we caught a hansom to Rosemoor Street
in Kensington. The traffic being light it took us only twenty minutes. The
street was cordoned off at each end by the police, the constable claiming that
only residents were permitted past. A fact reiterated by three newspaper
reporters beside him. However Holmes claimed that Detective Inspector Hastings
had asked for his services, and we were let through. The reporters all started
scribbling so I expect we shall read ‘Yard Baffled! They call in Sherlock
Holmes! They never say and Dr Watson!
Truly Hastings had not exaggerated for
Helping’s house was now a heap of rubble with the bulk of it to its rear. Whilst
policemen were rooting in the main heap, labourers from William Ray builders
were loading more scattered pieces of debris, clearing the Street.
“A very sad business this!” Hastings
greeted us. “Well we warned them but I did not expect anything like this.”
“Who is dead?” I asked.
“It was a local resident a Mr Solomon
found out in the Street some way from the blast. We have removed his body.
Although we may prefer to think that this was a common gas explosion his body
had bullet wounds in it. So far we have not found any bodies in the rubble. The
kitchen at the rear seems to be almost intact whilst most gas explosions occur
in that area.”
“The OVS meetings took place in the
first floor in a room facing the road.” I mentioned.
Hastings nodded, “That is
where we think the source of the blast was! I suspect it must have been some
very powerful explosive used but we have not yet found any form of a casing. I
understand that the OVS discovered some such to be a rocket blast out in
Rumania. I suppose that there might be a connection to this event?”
“No, this has the smell of Moriarty’s
work!” declared Holmes. There was in fact a distinct smell of scorched woodwork
in the air and dust lay everywhere. “I think Detective Inspector, that if any of
the OVS have survived, it will be as well to pretend that they expired with the
rest?”
“Yes I had thought of that. Assuming
that we do find bodies I aim to spirit them away to a secure place. These
workmen have almost cleared the street so I shall dismiss them shortly. To
minimise possible witnesses! Yes I think that the gas explosion will be the
story most likely to satisfy the press.”
So there being little we
could do we left the police to work on. On the following day we were very
relieved to hear that no more bodies had been found. The house must have been
empty when the explosion occurred! Even the cook who lived on the premises must
have been out!
On the following Monday we
received a note from Hastings saying that most of the OVS were back in Jeffries
Chambers in hiding. They had received a tip off before the attack!
“Those people have the luck of the
devil!” exclaimed Sherlock. “Part of me is glad that they are safe but another
part wishes that they would meet with a well merited disaster of some sort!”
“Mr Helping having his house and
possessions destroyed must be some sort of a disaster for them surely?” I
retorted but he just grunted.
On Thursday 4th
November we received a solicitor, Mr Theo Russell of Didcot and Spalding
Solicitors.
“Mr Holmes my company has a mystery, of
a criminal nature. We need to solve
it in order to obtain probate on a property that we have dealt with for a long
while. We have managed the abandoned Painted Lady Inn in the absence of the
owners for the last eleven years! There have been the rents from a row of houses
owned by the family, to pay our running costs. We hope that you can solve the
mystery to the satisfaction of the Commissioners, as the actual ownership may be
shared with the treasury? This is based on the law that no one may inherit from
the basis of a crime. What do you say?”
Holmes looked at me and I
thought, he is so obsessed with chasing after Moriarty’s Will of the Wisp
misdeeds, that he will say he is too busy. In fact he said “Speak on, your
mystery sounds as though it might be an intriguing challenge.”
“Thank you. The Painted Lady Inn in
Bermondsey was built I believe in the reign of James I and was designed as a
small posting house. It was too small and too far from what became the main
roads. For some decades it became a residential Inn for merchants and Sea
Captains. Then it became more of a drinking tavern. In more recent times alas
much of that area has become dominated by warehouses and the Bricklayer’s Arms
Railway Goods Station. It suffered from too much competition from other public
houses nearer the docks to be very successful. The last straw was the influx of
Jewish families into much of the remaining domestic housing. They do not
frequent gentile taverns! The Inn had for many years been run by the Inville
family, who have employed our firm of solicitors since the eighteenth century.
Back in 1878 the landlord a widower Mr Thomas Inville died. His will left his
estate to be shared equally between his son Rupert and his daughters Geraldine
and Millicent. By then Millicent had married and under the law at the time, her
share went to her husband Benjamin Brownlea. They had a daughter Charity. It was
not a happy place with the custom failing and there being constant friction
between Miss Geraldine Inville and her brother in-law Benjamin Brownlea. In 1879
Rupert Inville had had enough and went to sea. On the 26th September
1881 Mr Benjamin Brownlea, Mrs Millicent Brownlea, Miss Charity Brownlea and
Miss Geraldine Inville all died at the Inn. The Coroner’s Inquest left an open
verdict pending further inquiries by the police. Unfortunately these virtually
abandoned the case as they had other priorities. My firm arranged the funerals
and tidied up the Inn. None of the principals had left a will with us. We took
into our custody a casket found in Miss Geraldine’s room which we suspect might
possibly have a will in it. It was locked and since it was a very valuable item
embroidered in the late seventeenth century, we did not dare force it open. The
key will almost certainly be somewhere in the Inn. We did try to contact Mr
Rupert Inville who had sailed to the Far East without success. With enough
income from the rented out house to cover the Council Rates bills we allowed the
Inn to remain empty for these eleven years. Then Mr Rupert Inville turned up at
our offices on Monday. Finding the Inn long closed and being told that his
relatives were all dead he came to us. He now has a house, family and business
in Hong Kong and wishes to sell his share of the Inn. We told him that with it
not being a going concern and with the stigma of the four deaths it might take a
long time to sell. He laughed and asked if we knew that it was haunted as well!
He agreed that the price should be set low but said he hoped we could dispose of
it by the end of the coming summer. So we put it on the market and to our
immense surprise have already received a potential offer of £190, conditional on
their obtaining an early entry. The question is how much is Mr Rupert Inville’s
share? If Miss Geraldine poisoned Benjamin Brownlea and the others her share
goes to the Treasury. If as it seems Mr Benjamin murdered Geraldine by shooting
her, his share would go to the Treasury less an emolument going to his wife if
she outlived him. This would then go to Mr Rupert. Barring any complications
that might arise from the opening of the embroidered casket, probate should be a
quick formality.”
I could see Sherlock’s mind methodically
assessing all these ramifications, so I asked, “I take it that the prospective
buyers are of honest and reliable repute?”
“Their Agent appeared to be perfectly
respectable and was prepared for a settlement by cheque or cash according to our
desires.”
“Well done Watson! You suspect the buyer
may be an agent of our least favourite person?” Actually that thought never
entered my head but I knew that occasionally unscrupulous persons took
possession of buildings for a short while and then disappeared with the bills
unpaid.
“I suppose it would be wise for you to
check the possible purchaser’s Bona Fides
if you would as part of our contract.” mused Mr Russell. “Their agent is a
Mr Swithin Easy and they call themselves the Occult Verification Society.”
I was completely flabbergasted and even
Sherlock was silent for a few moments. Then he said “You may take our assurance
that these people have adequate money for this purchase. They have recently
received a large sum from the Wittelsbach Bank. Watson with their ludicrous luck
this may have been a lair of you know who for a decade!”
I told Mr Russell, “We have had some
acquaintance with this group and know that they are attracted to ghost hunting.
They are probably looking to set up a new base and having one with resident
ghosts will be an added attraction.”
“Very well! Then to start you off here
are our notes as taken at the Coroner’s Inquest back in 1881 concerning the four
deaths.”:
Coroner’s Inquest Notes
as prepared by Didcot & Spalding Solicitors
Inquest into the deaths of
Mr Benjamin Brownlea, Mrs Millicent Brownlea nee Inville, Miss Charity Brownlea
and Miss Geraldine Inville Held on Wednesday 21st October 1881.
Witness Mrs Cavatina
Holt, nee Tidworth. Was a barmaid at
the Painted Lady Inn for eight years finishing on Friday 25th
September 1881. That evening the Brownlea’s laid on a party at the Painted Lady
in her honour. It was a happy occasion. She married her husband Dilbert Holt the
next day and went on to a honeymoon at Southend on Sea. On Saturday 17th
October having returned and having visited her mother, she decided to call at
the Inn to see her old friends. On the Inn front door hung the ‘Closed’ sign so
she stood on a beer crate to peer through a kitchen window. She could see Miss
Geraldine sitting at the table leaning back against the wall so she rapped on
the pane to attract her attention. But she did not move even though her eyes
were open. Mrs Holt rapped again with no result and then noticed lying on the
floor Mr Brownlea and realised he must be dead. She screamed and screamed but no
one came, so she went to look for a constable. There were few people about, most
of the population here now being Jewish and this being their Sabbath. She found
Police Constable Emmerson in Southwark Park Road. He fetched Sergeant Humbrol
and the three of them went back to the Inn. The main door and two courtyard
gates being very strong they force entry via the old stable door and the door
from the courtyard to the coffee room. Establishing that the two bodies were
there as she had said, they permitted Mrs Holt to return to her mother’s house.
Witness Sergeant Humbrol
With Constable Emmerson I established that first Mr Brownlea and then Miss
Inville were not only dead but had been dead for a considerable time. We opened
some windows to clear the smell. Mr Brownlea was lying face down with a
discharged single shot pistol in his right hand. Miss Inville was sitting in a
chair slewed back to lean against the wall. She had been shot in the chest. On
searching the rest of the building we found the debris left from a party,
deflated balloons, streamers and such in the Coffee room and the dining room. In
the latter we found two more bodies, later identified as Mrs Millicent Brownlea
and her eight year old daughter Charity. They were sitting slumped over the
table with the mother having her arms around the child. Their eyes were all
open. From the unmade beds upstairs it seemed that there were no other people in
the house. Old Scotland Yard’s Detective Office was contacted and eventually the
bodies were removed for examination by the Police Surgeon.
Witness Detective
Sergeant Yates
The scenes were as Sergeant Humbrol
described with the bodies starting to decompose. They had been having breakfast
as the plates were still on both the table in the kitchen and the dining room.
They had had porridge followed by fried sausage and eggs. Slices of very mouldy
bread in the kitchen indicated that these would have been followed by toast. The
porridge pot had three red berries in it. From the aspect of the bodies I
suspected that poison might be the cause of the deaths of three with the shot
wound in her chest indicating that might be that of the fourth. It is common
knowledge that Mr Brownlea kept two percussion cap pistols behind the bar in the
Coffee room for keeping order. The other was in its place.
Witness Police Surgeon
Makepeace Whittaker He examined the
bodies of all four of the deceased. He estimated their times of death as at
least two weeks ago. The stomachs of all four indicated that they had eaten
porridge sweetened with red berries, followed by fried sausages and egg washed
down with tea. The red berries contained the barbiturate seconal and this was
the poison resulting in the deaths. The bullet that struck Miss Inville passed
through her heart and lodged in her spine which would cause death almost
immediately.
Witness Elias Jones
Dairyman He was on duty at the
Buttercup Dairy in Willow Walk on the morning of 26th September 1881.
At around half past eight Miss Charity Brownlea came to collect a quart of milk
in a jug that she brought as she did on most mornings. This had not yet been
paid for! {Didcot & Spalding note, this bill now settled}
Though other witnesses were
called Mr Jones was the last person to see any of the four deceased alive.
On police recommendation an
open verdict was declared pending their further enquiries.
“Only as I mentioned there
were no further inquiries” said Mr Russell when we had read this. “I think some
of the witnesses are still available if you need them.”
“Good, but first it will be a good idea
if we visited the Inn to see where these unfortunate people died! Where exactly
is it?”
“Of course. Tomorrow morning perhaps? It
is at the junction of Balaclava Road and Fort Road against the Longfield Estate.
I can obtain our spare key from my office. The Occult Verification people have
the other one and I think they will be inspecting the premises sometime tomorrow
also.” This was waving the red rag at a bull!
“Could you manage as early as eight
o’clock Mr Russell? I would prefer to view the premises before the OVS start
tramping all over it.” Oh well at least I would not miss dinner, just have an
early start.
“I shall meet you there then.”
After dinner whilst Holmes
read and re-read the Inquest notes I sallied out to the library. Holmes had
asked me to look up red berries that might provide the poison. Off-hand I could
think of Hemlock, Yew and some of the laurel family. Woody nightshade berries
were red but their poison would not have been strong enough. I really wanted to
go to the Library to look up “The Haunted Inns of England” in the hope that it
might mention the ‘Painted Lady’. I was lucky in that it did. Apparently there
had been reports in the 1670s of the apparition of Lady Lysle Longfield. With
London becoming a Parliamentarian stronghold Sir Rupert and his wife fled to
Oxford leaving Lysle to hold Longfield house for them. The parliament quartered
a troop of roundheads in the house to the discomfiture of Lady Lysle and the
other residents. Some of them ordered her to make them some punch one evening.
Soon they were slumping down unconscious and others accused the Lady of
poisoning them, so she fled to the Painted Lady Inn. They followed and cornered
her, she trying to fend them off with an old sword. Sergeant Speaktrue Hammond
shot her dead with his pistol. So those that claim to have seen her allege that
she brandishes a sword at them before fading away. The four troopers who had
taken the punch died and a Mistress Mabel Tipster, testified that Lady Lysle put
Daphne berries into the punch.
During the Restoration
entertainers coming to Longfield House would often stay at the Inn, returning
there after their performance was done. Thus it was that two rival musicians met
there, drinking late into the night. A quarrel sprang up between Charles Hoodman
the mandolin player and Orpheus Jones the lyre player. Encouraged by their tipsy
friends they agreed to a duel. This was fought around midnight in the courtyard
in bright moonlight. They soon slew one another which was a tragedy for their
dependants. Hoodman’s wife and two children starved to death and Jones’ sister
Apha was forced into prostitution and catching the French disease died mad!
These had been seen and caused a lady to faint hence the Inn was nicknamed the
Fainted Lady!
Sherlock Holmes
Act, LEA, Mo 6”, Fa 2/3/5, Ag +2, Th +1, Me +2, revolver Bst –2.
Firing 3” 4+ Pst 0,
6” 5+ Pst 0, 11” 6+ Pst 0, 18” 7+ Pst –2, 5 rounds Magnifying Glass
Class VI, PI
Respectable, Charm M0, F+1, Coercion
+1. MC £5 – 12s – 9d
Police whistle 24”,
Penknife, Watch, Bullseye lamp
Speaks Latin,
French, German, Spanish, Chinese (P)
Dr Watson Activist, Vle, Mo 5.5”, Fa 2/3/5, Ag +1, Th +1, Me +1, revolver Bst –2.
Firing 3” 4+ Pst 0, 6”
5+ Pst 0, 11” 6+ Pst 0, 18” 7+ Pst –2, 5+10 rounds Doctors Bag 1st
Aid Class VI, PI Respectable, Charm
M+1 F+2, Coercion 0. MC £3 – 10s – 8d, Watch
Speaks Latin, French,
Urdu (P), Persian (P) Hindi (P)