The Adventures of Phineas Frakture by Joseph Gatch

die?”
    The inspector threw a pile of photographs onto the table showing various shots of Cavanaugh in his repose. “His throat was crushed. From the looks of it, it was a wrench of some kind,” replied Manifold.
    “And where was he found?” asked Phineas, picking up one of the photos and turning it every which way.
    “At the Exposition Theater. He was lying in a mummy’s casket.
    “On top of the mummy?”
    The inspector looked confused. “There was no mummy; however, we did find a trail of bandages leading out the door.”
    “Well, there’s your motive,” said Phineas. Find the mummy, and you find the killer. He had an assistant…Burke, I think his name was. You should check with him, he might know something,”
    “Well, if you don’t mind my saying,” interjected William, “his throat was crushed with something like a wrench…there were mummy bandages leading out the door and no sign of the mummy…so it sounds to me,” William swiped some pancakes from Manifold’s plate, “that the mummy’s curse is real.”

Episode
6
    “A mummy’s curse!?” exclaimed Mrs. Popkiss. “Posh! That’s nothing more than a story from a penny dreadful.”
    “A curse? Now we’re getting somewhere,” said Manifold. “What are we talking about here? Plagues? Flying cows?”
    “Despair,” William said, once again with his mouth full.
    “Despair? What sort of curse is that? For the record, I will put it down as locusts…more dramatic, you see. The higher-ups love a good hullabaloo.”
    “Whatever you wish, inspector,” dismissed Phineas. “Are we finished here? I really need to sleep.”
    “Yes…yes, I think that we can rule you out as a suspect for now.” Manifold waggled a finger at him. “But don’t you be going anywhere. We might need to question you further.” He turned to Mrs. Popkiss. “Would seven in the morn be too early?”
    “That would be fine,” replied the housekeeper, knowing full well what he meant.
    “Noooo!” wailed Phineas in response. “If you need to see me, you can come to the university. Now, take this lot and get out! Come on, all of you! This isn’t a meeting house!”
    Scooping up as much food as they could carry, the constables, William, and Abigail filed out of the house. Phineas stopped William as he passed and shoved a piece of paper into his breast pocket.
    “Pick these up for me, if you will, and have them here by the time I wake up.”
    William muttered something unintelligible through a pastry in his mouth and followed the others. Once the front door was closed, Phineas dragged himself up the stairs to his bedroom and collapsed.

    William had just left the university library. His arms were full of the books that Phineas had asked him to retrieve, and he grumbled that they all happened to be the largest in the library’s collection. After passing a pastry shop and exerting a brief act of willpower by denying himself a look into the shop window, he stopped and turned slowly at an alley, reconsidering the merits of an afternoon snack. However, he never got the chance to act on his desires.
    Hands quickly grabbed the assistant, hauling him into the alley, away from enquiring eyes. He was thrown up against the brickwork, causing him to lose his breath and drop the books. A gloved hand clamped over his mouth, and a pointy-faced man with very bad breath held him against the wall.
    “Not a word, Mr. Patterson,” he said. “Now, if you promise not to shout, I will remove my hand. If you do decide to call for help, you might not like what happens next. I just want to talk. Do you understand?”
    William nodded his head, and the man stepped back. Once he was free, the first thing William did was cough and wave his hand in front of his face, trying to get the man’s breath out of his nose. “What do you want?”
    “Your friend, Professor Frakture, is playing with a new toy. We want it and all of his research.”
    “And just who the devil are you?”
    The man produced an