A Clutch of Engineers

From Cardington to Newcastle

7th July 1929, Cardington

The Investigators decided that descending en-mass on whoever lived at the house in Cardington might be a bad idea and decided to send a smaller group. Basil, Carl and Jimmy set out, Basil having worked out a cover-story about a mysterious inheritance to explain their visit. On arrival, Jimmy remained outside to keep watch while Basil and Carl knocked on the door. They were greeted by the occupant, Sam Miller, who turned out to be an aerospace engineer working on the R101. Sam, a friendly talkative type, invited them in and over cups of tea they managed to find out that Sam had also been contacted by Elder's group.

Sam was enthusiastic about his work, eagerly sharing what his did, and the work on the R102. He lamented the fact that technical issues had stopped the planned circumnavigation of the globe by the 101 earlier that year. He also mentioned some interesting gossip about some people in the Drawing Office who had several changes in behaviour and attitude over the last year. They had been acting secretive and also, despite never really socialising much together before, had begun heading off together on trips to Durham and hiking trips to the Yorkshire Moors. Sam mentioned a friend of his Stephen Wilkinson who had highlighted the changed and followed along on one of the hiking trips but sadly been lost on the moors, though a body had never been found. About six months ago however, after the announcement of the deals the strange activity had ceased. Basil also noticed that at some points Sam's gaze went blank as if there were gaps in his memory, though Sam himself seemed unaware! Reconvening with the others in the pub, the Investigators decided it might be worth checking out the Drawing Office at the site.

Fortunately security at "RAF Cardington" was factory level rather than military, with only a couple of night watchmen mon the site on a Sunday. They managed to get in easily enough, finding the main door open where, judging by the cigarette butts on the ground, the two guards met up for fag-breaks. There was initially little of seeming interest in the Drawing Office til Paul spotted a filing drawer that looked to me manufactured from a different material than the others. This drawer was also the only locked one and proved resistant to being opened until Billy touched the front at which point the front panel lit up and the drawer soundlessly opened. Within they found several interesting papers. A loosely-bound set of papers covered in a series of calculations. A folder full of cuttings. The most prominent is a newspaper article dated January 1929 announcing a planned circumnavigation voyage by the Graf Zeppelin. There are follow-up articles, cut out of Flight and other journals, giving more details including a newspaper dated May 15th , reporting the Graf Zeppelin aborting its first around the world attempt. Most interestingly there was a set of papers relating to work on the No 2 Airship shed and a company called Timon Engineering based in Newcastle. Included with these papers were two handwritten letters addressed to "My friends in the South" that looked extremely incrimination and seemed to hint at involvement in whatever was going on. Narrowly avoiding discovery by Bert the night-watchman, they returned to their hotel in Bedford.

8th July 1929, London

After a leisurely breakfast the Investigators decided to try and get someone knowledgeable to look a the sheaf of calculations they had discovered. They took the train to London. Basil and Billy headed off to try and find out what they could about Timon Engineering while Paul and Jimmy and headed for one of the university's where Jimmy, under cover of doing a story, persuaded one of the professors to have a look. The professor advised that the calculation related to a series
of calculations covering distances, weights, fuel, payload and so on for long-distance flights achievable by the R101. A second set of calculations for another airship, with similar aims to the notes above. Reconvening at their hotel, they decided their next action should be to investigate the link to Timon Engineering.

9th July 1929, Newcastle

After arriving in Newcastle, the Investigators booked into a local hotel then, after replacing their stock of ingredients for the Cast Out Shan ritual, headed for Roland Timon's abode, a large Victorian in the expensive part of town. They watched the house for a while, but nothing seemed out of place. Around seven o'clock the saw the servant leave for the day, presumably leaving Roland Timon alone. After waiting a little bit the headed up and knocked on the door.

It is fair to say they their reception was not welcoming, Timon being belligerent, abusive and eventually angrily slamming the door in their face. Basis, his temper frayed by recent events, kicked in the door and thrust his revolver towards Timon's face. Timon immediately launched into an angry tirade, which Basil sensed was not really in keeping with the actions of the canny businessman he had read about back in London. Sensing that this behaviour was being driven, he urged Paul and Billy to start preparations for the ritual and the two headed for the cellar. Unfortunately the cellar was not unoccupied and they were attacked by a loathsome scabrous bestial creature that almost killed Billy before succumbing to a double-blast from Mac's trusty shotgun!

Once the ritual was completed and Timon recovered some of his senses, the engineer was horrified by the huge gaps in his memory dating back nearly eighteen months. Securing his cooperation they Investigators found som interesting papers locked in the safe. As well as another set of calculations, similar to the ones they had already found, there was a strange sheet referencing pyramids and airships. There was also a document that explained why the conspirators had switched attention from the R101 to the Graf Zeppelin - mainly due to reliability and less political interference. The last item of interest was a letter from someone named John Carrigan with an address in Whitley Bay. The letter contained one section that caught their attention particularly: "Your place has been secured, in the usual manner via temporary agents. The Carrier has been selected. You will only substitute if the Carrier is damaged beyond use."