Pook’s unearthly scream plunged the cramped garret into darkness. The investigators braced themselves, recalling Madame Zorba’s tarot warning of lingering peril. Pook lurched at Dr. Hobbs, transforming into a ghastly creature with an elongated tongue, and tore into his neck.

Chaos erupted as the investigators struggled to dispatch the monstrosity. Gunshots rang out in the darkness before Pook finally collapsed dead onto the bed. With the creature vanquished, Professor Smith revealed Pook’s role guarding the mystical blood-red fez in Constantinople. The investigators decided to conceal the circumstances around Pook’s death from police.

Smith mutilated Pook’s bizarre corpse to hide its nature. The next day at the Oriental Club, Smith implored the investigators to take the fez to his colleague in Constantinople, as he could not go himself. They agreed to travel on the Orient Express funded by the Austrian occultist Baron von Hofler. Before departing, Smith disturbed them further by demonstrating the fez could not be destroyed by fire.

Key Events
  • Pook attacks and kills Dr. Hobbs
  • The investigators dispatch the creature
  • Smith reveals Pook was tasked with watching a man named Menkaph who had a mysterious blood-red fez
  • Pook tried to steal the fez and went missing before ending up in his current state
  • The group decides to conceal the circumstances around Pook’s death from the police
  • Smith mutilates Pook’s body to hide its bizarre nature
  • The next day, Smith asks the investigators to take the fez to his colleague Professor Damir in Constantinople
  • Smith cannot go himself due to assassins seeking him in Constantinople
  • The Austrian occultist Baron von Hofler has funded their travel on the Orient Express
  • Before departing, Smith disturbs the investigators by showing the fez cannot be destroyed by fire