The Watchtower Affair - It Begins Again

Part 1

The Watchtower Affair: Now You See It, Now You Don’t

Bridgette's Diary

Tuesday, 11 February, 1925

 

 

            Dear Diary, as I was sitting down to tea this afternoon what should I spy landing in the field across from my cottage in Cambridge but a cargo plane.

What the devil is a cargo plane doing in a field in Cambridge? That question was answered in a few moments as the door opened and out jumps a man I’ve never met, followed closely behind by Belle Devereaux. Of course, my next question is to wonder why they here in Great Britain instead of over in the United States. The obvious answer is that they’ve come to see me, but I honestly had no idea why. Just then my telephone rings with a call from the States. Curiouser and curiouser. I easily place the voice on the other end as that belonging to Mr. Walter Smith, asking me if Belle had arrived yet. Answering that yes, she had indeed just arrived, I put the phone down to answer the door. Upon my return to the phone, Mr. Smith asks me to please come with her back to America. They have another incident that they are investigating and the thought is that Miss. O’Reilly and I will be of some assistance. He had already spoken with my superiors at University, covering for my absence. After confirming that there shouldn’t be any living sewer tunnels involved and hopefully no metallic vampires, I get off the phone and give Miss. Devereaux a more proper greeting. Introductions are then made between myself and the mysterious gentleman with her – a Mr. Billy Wild. Actually, he seems to be a bit of a proper cowboy, although Belle assures me that he does indeed work for Walter. She then smiles a little sheepishly and says that perhaps Mr. Smith thought her plane a bit slower than it really is in reality.

            Making us some tea, I gather what little information she could tell me about the current problem. Apparently some folks are just going missing in Chicago. And apparently it is indeed the Chicago that I’m thinking of. You know, the one with the mobsters running around all over the place. There were some other details involving a missing building as well as the missing people. It was there and then it was simply gone and Mr. Smith seems to think that the two occurrences are connected. Very curious. I excuse myself to go pack, making sure to tuck an extra flask into the medical bag, just in case of emergencies. While I find myself liking these fellow investigators, the shocks to the psyche seem to come hard and fast when around them. Goodness knows what we’ll wander into this time.

            After I was ready, we took off in Miss. Devereaux’s, er, I mean, Belle’s plane for Ireland and Keira. Belle estimated that we would return to the Washington, D.C. area by that evening if we could keep on schedule. Fortunately, Mr. Smith was attempting to reach Keira right after his call to me, so she hopefully had plenty of warning.

 

            We are currently enroute to Washington, D. C.; I’m going to stop writing now, although goodness knows when I’ll have another chance to record our experiences. And, thankfully, Belle seems a more than competent pilot.