Slow Boat to Cairo

Throckmorton and Cordelia left London for Southampton early the following day. Geoff had been there for some time now, gathering together the supplies they would need for this journey. The boat to Cairo was due to sail at the end of the week, but Throckmorton wanted time to check that all was in order. It was not that he did not trust Geoff, but that he just needed to see everything for himself.

Obviously word of Throckmorton’s impending departure for foreign climes had reached more than a few ears by now. This was no surprise. Bunny Carruthers was an incurable gossip and if he knew, then everyone would know before too long. Upon arrival at their hotel in Southampton, the concierge handed Throckmorton a rather grubby note.

“A ‘gentleman’ left this for you this morning, sir,” he said sniffily. The Colonel could hear the inverted commas around the word gentleman as he said it. Clearly the note-leaver did not fit the concierge’s definition of gentlemen, but he was too polite to suggest that a possible acquaintance of the Colonel’s might not be one.

The note read “Meet me at Mrs Baldwin’s Rooming House at 8pm if you would like to hear something to your benefit about the Nyle” and was signed by A. Friend.

Throckmorton left for the rooming house in good time. Upon his arrival, the presumed Mrs Baldwin directed him to the correct room. She was a formidable lady, typical of those that owned boarding houses in coastal areas of England. Throckmorton did not rate his chances against her in a fight!

As he approached the room, Throckmorton noticed that the door was ajar. He drew his trusty Webley and crept slowly and carefully down the corridor trying to make as little noise as possible. As he got closer to the room he heard stealthy scuffling inside. Sneaking up, the first thing that Throckmorton saw was blood on the floor. He kicked the door open and levelled his trusty Webley at a large, muscular man with a swarthy complexion, dressed awkwardly in a tan suit. The man saw Throckmorton and charged him. Before Throckmorton could react he was thrown to the floor and the man was past him and sprinting for the stairs. Throckmorton leapt to his feet and gave chase. Leaping the bannister rail, the man dropped ten feet to the floor below, landing nimbly despite his bulk and then he was heading for the front door. Mrs Baldwin stepped into the hallway.

"What's all this racket?" She shouted intimidatingly in a voice like a corn-crake, and was promptly thrown to one side by the fugitive for her pains.

Throckmorton reached the front door and peered outside. The man had disappeared as if into thin air. He holstered his .455 and helped Mrs Baldwin to her feet. She was visibly shaken so he helped her back into her rooms and sat her down.

"Might I suggest a cup of tea, Mrs Baldwin," he said, "It will steady your nerves. I always find that tea is the thing after a brush with near certain death."

Throckmorton's attempt to calm and console her only resulted in an outburst of tears and exclamations about the state of the modern world. Taking his cue, he returned to Mr Friend's room to see if there were any clues as to the reason for the missive he had received or the attack by the strange man.

The room was a mess … blood everywhere. A man, presumably Mr Friend, lay in the middle of the room with his throat cut. He was clearly dead. Quickly but efficiently the Colonel searched the room but found nothing to indicate why this man had been killed. Papers in the room indicated that this person had once been Mr Andrew Friend. A military cut khaki jacket indicated that he might also once have been a soldier. Throckmorton was baffled. Perhaps he needed to return to London and ask around there. There was just time, but his investigations in Southampton were clearly a dead end.

Find a person. DF 3( Succeed with complications)
Get the clue. DF 4 (Fail)