The Second Startling Story!
THE HAND OF THE DEMON
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Cover for "The Hand of the Demon"
- Part 1 - Graves in the Mist
Their investigation in Vienna over, our Intrepid Explorers briefly part ways to work on private projects. Dr. Bermuda and Lord John Stevens return to London, where the former holes up in his lab to finalize plans for the rocket plane he and Dr. Henri Coanda had begun working on while the later gives a series of short (and poorly received) lectures on animal rights. Charlie Desgrange visits Helga Dietrich, the young wife of his enemy Reinholdt, in Berlin to see if she can shed light on the German air ace's current activities. Though she tells her paramour everything she knows, Charlie finds his best information from a series of photos of Rienholdt and friends and a flight log-book in the man's study. Meanwhile The Rabbit, acting on his growing suspicion of his employers, begins to track down some of the men who've worked for them over the years and since left, meeting with mixed results. Finally, Brendan Lewis Cook heads for Constantinople where he gets in touch with several acquaintences to pave the way for the next leg of his and his friends' journey.
Their individual exploits complete, the group gathers together in Romania, where they hope to meet with Ruthven Vaneko, a man that Rabbit met at Dippel's party in hopes of learning more about Dippel. Though Ruthven is easy to find and makes the group welcome in his home, it's clear that the boyaris a little... off. Our heroes meet him first in his family cemetary, kneeling at the foot of a massive angel statue that marks the grave of his parents. Nearby is a second grave, this one open, that Vaneko explains is waiting for him. As Vaneko leads the investigators back to his manor, a clock strikes midnight, even though it's only half past eight. Vaneko reveals that the clock was his fathers and later elaborates that it was broken the night his parents were murdered and he leaves it in that state as a reminder of the impermanence of time.
Things get no more normal once inside Vaneko's manor, where a heated iron mud-grate at the entrance seems to open onto a pit that serves as a kennel, judging by the sounds of the howls (even though Vaneko claims to have no pets), a rear hall contains the reconstructed bones of a Tyranosaurus (labelled Dracul, or "Dragon") and our heroes meet Vaneko's five adopted orphan children (3 boys, 2 girls, aged 8 through 16, all with black hair and hollow eyes). In the hour leading up to dinner, Vaneko is happy to talk about his past association with Dippel. He had provided Dippel with abundant amounts of sulfur from his mines in exchange for the Doctor's promise that he would find a way to raise Vaneko's parents from the dead. When Dippel seemed to have abandoned this project, Vaneko cut off his sulfur supply, to Dippel's rage. Vaneko now believes that Dippel wants him dead.
Dinner over, Vaneko excuses himself to take care of business, promising to collect the investigators the next day for a tour of the mine. Meanwhile, he says, they can have the run of the house. John Stevens takes him at his work and attempts to pry loose the mud-grate in the main hall. He strains his arm, however, at the thing's weight and gives up for the evening.
- Part 2 -
Terra Occulta
- The First Fantastic Feature! - THE SEED of MADNESS
- The Second Startling Story! - THE DEMON REVEALED
- The Third Terrific Tale! -
