Clue Book

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Consulting Detective Game

CONSULTING
DETECTIVE
Expansion

!
 Extra Case
14 May, 1889
The Mystery of the Hanging Man

LAMBETH
 Area SE message?”
“I tried replacing each number with a letter then adding some
36 SE gaps to make words but I’ve not made any sense of it. It is
Upon arrival at the jeweller’s we are welcomed by a member possible that the numbers represent the letters from a source
of staff who asks how she can help us. When we explain that we document, maybe a book, known to both sender and recipient.
have come about the burglary, she is astonished. “The burglary? But without knowing the book it is impossible to decode the
But the thieves have been arrested and all the jewels were re- message.”
covered.” We thank her and leave the shop, it is clear that this
matter has no link at all to our investigation. 74 SW
When we call at Perry Usher’s address, the butler comes to
66 SE the door. He shows us in and asks us to wait in the library. We
We ring the bell at 66 Wallington Place. The butler informs us spend 10 minutes there, during which we observe that the li-
that the widow of the late Sir Bertram Ordway is not receiving brary contains a huge range of works, from novels to the most
any visitors. influential poetry as well as books on painting and sculpture.
Then a man who introduces himself as Perry Usher, enters
Area SW and shakes our hands. He is in his fifties, slender and distin-
1 SW guished, and has two patches of colour, green and blue, on his
right index finger.
The manager of Rigby & Co. receives us in his office. When “Yes, Harold Usher was my uncle. But sadly I cannot tell you
we tell him that the hanging man he has read about in the morn- anything about his involvement in forgery, that happened thirty
ing papers is his employee Glenville Marshall, he is taken years ago, and all his paintings were destroyed.” We thank Mr.
aback. “He was an ordinary employee, always friendly, and to- Usher and leave the house.
tally trustworthy. He worked as a designer for our high security
bank safes.” Area nw
With some persuasion, he agrees to give us a list of clients:
* Continental 18 NW
* Cox & Co. Sam Parsons gives us a small mysterious sculpture. It depicts
* Drummond a man sitting at a table reading the newspaper.
* Holder & Stevenson On the table, a pipe is carelessly placed in an ashtray.
* Worthingdon
42 NW
2 SW Holmes welcomes us back. “So Wiggins, how is the inves-
At the Societies club, we are told that Langdale Pike is at a tigation going?” We reply that we are having trouble with the
reception at the American Embassy. coded message.
“Remember that Moriarty likes to hide key details in plain
3 SW sight. You realised that it was a message from Moriarty, did
The proprietor of the Criterion Club, a chubby but self-as- you not?
sured man, tells us: “He used to come here, but after running The message is cleverly coded, but the first line gives us, un-
up huge debts I was forced to ban him. Yesterday afternoon, coded, the reference for the document and then the position of
however, he came and cleared the slate. I wonder where he got the text within it. The groups of numbers each identify one let-
that much money.” ter of a word from this text.”
5 SW 67 NW
At the London Library, Lomax answers our questions: “The The manager of Worthingdon’s bank tells us he is very happy
first recorded execution at Tyburn was in 1196. Tyburn was the with the level of security his safes provide and that he has not
main site for public executions from 1388 to 1783, after which noticed anything unusual.
the gallows was moved to Newgate Prison. In 1571, the first
permanent gallows was built, known to all as the Tyburn Tree. 78 NW
It was triangular in shape and twenty-four condemned souls The director of Sotheby’s welcomes us, he is a jovial chap
could be hanged at once.” and quite willing to answer our questions. “Yes, I know your
man, he came a week ago, wanted to appraise a painting that
6 SW he intended to sell. It turned out that the painting was a fake,
On reaching the Diogenes Club, we are informed that Mycroft although a very good imitation. According to our expert, the
Holmes is unwell and has travelled to the country to recover. quality of the fake made him think of the work of a famous
forger.”
13 SW “Could you tell us the name of the forger?” asks Wiggins.
Lestrade welcomes us: “Well Wiggins, how’s your investiga- “Our expert did not tell me that and, unfortunately, he is now
tion going?” out of town, but I remember he did say that the forger died
“Actually, we’ve come to see if you have uncovered any new shortly after his imprisonment at the Old Bailey some thirty
evidence,” Wiggins says. years ago. I don’t think there were many famous forgers at that
With a weary sigh, Lestrade replies, “The victim needed time. You should have no trouble finding his name.”
money, that’s clear from the number of valuables he had sold
recently. But we have no idea who he was. I dare say he was 86 NW
mixed up in some nefarious business, for there’s only one per- Mr Marsh welcomes us. “Russell Square! No, that’s not here,
son who can put Holmes into the state I saw him in last eve- we’re close to Cavendish Square.” We leave Mr Marsh to get on
ning.” with his work, apologising for our mistake as we go.
22 SW 95 NW
When we walk into the Criminology Laboratory we make We arrive at the southern entrance to Hyde Park.
Murray jump as he was so absorbed by his work that he had not We ask the warden for any information on the man found
heard us enter. “Oh, it’s you Wiggs, how can I help?” hanged in the park. “It’s at the other end of the park, they used
“My name is Wiggins sir. Have you managed to decipher the the Tyburn Tree. It’s a wretched sight to see. Must be more than
4
a century since there was an execution there. The police have it his account was in the red. We were forced to cut off the flow of
all closed off.” funds and ask him to rectify matters.”
96 NW 29 WC
We arrive near the Tyburn Tree just before nightfall; the po- A man opens the door and tells us his name is James Mar-
lice surgeon is in the process of cutting down the body, a man in shall. When we show him a sketch of the victim he says, “I
his fifties, rather slender, short and balding. The scene is strik- do not recognise him. You say he is called Marshall? Well, he
ing. certainly isn’t a part of my family.”
“Ah, there you are, Wiggins,” Lestrade calls out to us. “Hol-
mes has already gone. He was eager to try to decode this mes- 34 WC
sage. “ We question a dealer at the Tankerville club. “Of course I
Lestrade holds out a sheet: know Mr M., he had been coming here very frequently for the
TT 4.7 1.3.5 last few months.”
“Do you know his real name?” Wiggins asks.
6.3.3 1.1.2 3.6.2 9.1.2 “No, but I think he also frequented the bar opposite.”
1.2.2 5.2.4
39 WC
4.3.1 6.1.2 1.1.5 9.1.1 1.2.1
Glenville Marshall’s landlady is very upset when she learns
4.4.2 5.6.3 6.7.1 4.5.4 of her tenant’s death. “Oh, how awful, he was such a nice gen-
4.4.3 9.2.2 6.3.3 tleman, always pleasant and neat.”
5.6.3 1.3.3 2.3.9 4.3.3 6.7.1 5.2.3 1.3.5 6.3.4 “As far as you know, did he have any problems, any ene-
“We also found this note.” mies?”
Auction “No, I didn’t see any sign of that, he held a good position at
Rigby & Co., although it’s true that life had not been kind to
Sotheby him with his wife dying a year or so ago. Wait a second, there
Pawnbrokers is something actually, he had asked me for extra time to pay his
Hoch Jabez Zebediah rent, it’s the first time he had done that. However, he paid me
“At the moment, we have no idea who the victim is and no yesterday morning so it was fine.”
other evidence has been found.” We go up to Mr Marshall’s rooms and the landlady lets us in.
We take our leave of Lestrade with a copy of the documents. It is a large suite of rooms but not excessively fancy. On the hall-
“Given the late hour, we will resume the investigation to- way table we notice a box of matches from the Criterion Club
morrow,” announces Wiggins. We retire for the night, having at 3 Haymarket. The box features a drawing of a hand of cards
arranged to meet again early in the morning. fanned out with the Ace of Spades visible. The landlady opens
up Mr Marshall’s desk for us and then excuses herself for a mo-
Area WC ment. We take advantage of her absence to have a look through
the desk drawers. There we discover a letter from Drummond’s
5 WC bank, requesting that he contact them with all haste. We get no
We show the cabbies the sketch of our victim but nobody further with our search before the landlady returns. After a few
recognizes him. more questions which do not further our understanding of the
matter, we leave.
14 WC
“A famous forger... thirty years ago. Ah, yes, that must be 68 WC
Harold Usher,” explains Disraeli O’Brian. “I’ll check the ar- At the Continental Bank the manager refuses to answer any
chives.” questions. “Confidentiality is the watchword in my business,“
He returns, half an hour later, carrying a dusty file. he asserts vigorously.
“He painted such authentic Vermeers that he fooled all the
experts. He was arrested on charges of high treason for having 73 WC
sold the paintings to the nation’s enemies. To avoid the death At the Punch & Judy bar, the bartender is initially reluctant
penalty he had to admit that they were all fakes, and to prove it to talk to us. But, when we mention the hanging man, he briefly
he painted another one in his cell in front of six witnesses. He relents. “Yeah, I know him, he lives on the corner, near Russell
was sentenced to a year in prison for the forgeries, but died of Square.”
natural causes three weeks after the ruling. According to this “Do you know his name?”
document, his only family consisted of a brother who visited “I reckon it was Marsh. He must have been mixed up in
him every week. Unfortunately, his first name is illegible.” something dodgy, he sometimes met a man who was always in
the shadows and they whispered. I wonder if it could have been
17 WC Moriarty. Now, get out of here, you’re making my customers
At Somerset House, the clerk informs us that the name of nervous” he growls. We leave without further ado.
Harold Usher’s brother was Matthew, but he’s been dead now
for ten years. However, Matthew Usher had a son named Perry Area EC
Usher. 30 EC
22 WC At The Times we are told that Henry Ellis is on assignment
At the Cox & Co bank we learn that they suffered a break- abroad.
in at the end of March. The safe had been opened without any 35 EC
force being used. “One would think that the thieves knew the
combination, which is absolutely impossible,” the manager as- We find Quintin Hogg in his office surrounded, as always,
sures us. by dozens of files. We ask him if he knows anything about the
poor chap in Hyde Park. “The hanging man? Drop it, you’ll
26 WC never solve that one, neither you nor Holmes. In any case, I’m
We speak to an employee at Drummond’s bank who tells us, not interested in that case, I’m still looking into the mysterious
“Mr Marshall had banked with us for a very long time but in the burglary at Cox’s bank.”
last year his withdrawals became more and more frequent until
5
 36 EC Holmes, he becomes less guarded. “We have suffered a burglary.
At the Old Bailey we manage to find Edward Hall. “Gentle- It’s unbelievable, I’m the only person who knows the combina-
men, I have no time to talk, I’m due in court in 10 minutes.” We tion and yet our safe was opened without being forced.”
insist nonetheless. The manager is unable to tell us anything more of interest.
“A forger, locked up here 30 years ago! But my friends, I We thank him and leave the bank.
don’t know every case that has passed through this court over 71 EC
the last 30 years. You’d do better to visit the archives - Disraeli
will surely be able to find you that information. Please excuse We receive a friendly welcome from Anatole Usher in his
me, I am awaited,” he says as he strides away. garden.
“Harold Usher… Oh yes, the forger, he fooled everyone in
38 EC his day.”
The Chief Medical Examiner, Sir Jasper Meeks, sees us in “Are you related to him?”
his office. “Ah, the hanging man. Well, there isn’t much to say. “No, not at all, but I am interested in fine art and particularly
Of course it was strangulation, but he was actually hanged after the baroque style, that is why I have heard of him.”
death, presumably as a message for somebody or to make a fool 72 EC
of Scotland Yard. I have found no other evidence on the body.”
Phillip Usher tells us that he does not know anybody by the
52 EC name of Harold Usher.
At the “Raven & Rat” public house we show Porky the 73 EC
sketch of our victim. “Lads, I believe he has been visiting vari-
ous gambling dens over the last few months. Try the Criterion At Jabez Wilson’s we learn that our man pawned a gold wed-
or Tankerville clubs. On a different note, I have some news that ding ring and several items of jewellery a few months ago. “He
will amuse Holmes. It seems that Moriarty has been double- came in to pay and reclaim his items yesterday morning. In just
crossed by one of his own gang.” Wiggins replies, “Thanks a few days the jewellery would have been sold off. I wouldn’t
Porky, we’ll tell him.” be at all surprised if he were involved in some shady or even
criminal dealings.”
69 EC
The bank manager of Holder & Stevenson meets us, but is
initially reticent. When we explain that we work with Sherlock

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