Sunday, July 1, 2007

The Wolf

If I harboured any doubts as to Miss Paine's metal, I harbour them no longer. Last night, she proved herself more than capable, and she proved herself bravely. I do not have much time to write just now, as evening approaches, and I have business abroad this night. I have developed a means of tracking the "black beast" that has so haunted Caledon and now Babbage. Last night, with Miss Paine's able assistance, I put my method to the test, with results that far exceeded my expectation. While I remained in the laboratory in Babbage, Artemisia traveled to Caledon, to the moors, in anticipation of the "monster's" appearance. We were not disappointed. The creature did show, and its appearance attracted quiet a crowd and, according to Miss Paine, created a terrific stir among the locals.

Employing my system for tracking the fiend, and what I can only call a hunch, Miss Paine tracked it from Caledon, where it escaped capture, back to Babbage, to the estate of Capt. Susenko, very near my own flat. I had detected it in Babbage previously, and suspected that I might predict its return. Unarmed, Miss Paine approached it, and the beast did not attack, just as it had attacked none of the crowd in Caledon. I had equipped Miss Paine with a sort of hovering wet-plate ambrotype camera (I do not have time here to detail its construction). With it, she captured a single ambrotype of the beast on the premises of Capt. Susenko's estate. I am attaching it to this document. The beast is plainly visible in right profile (the photo was taken facing west). I should estimate its height at well over seven feet. Note that Miss Paine's fairie talisman is glowing brightly.



There is so much more to be told. I am quite certain I have discovered the identity of this creature, that it has a human counterpart. I believe I know that man's name, and shortly after this photograph was taken, I met with him on Miss Maerten's estate in the Eyre. He is an alchemist and claims his brother died at the hands of the creature he believes has pursued his from some distant Balkan state. But I believe otherwise. I must end this for now. I think this mystery very nearly solved, and yet, also, I believe that in its solution lies a far greater and, perhaps, insoluble mystery.

No comments: