Act Three, Part Three

Miss Jones closed the book and smiled upon her acolytes. "Let us begin! Each of you is to bear a stone." She waved at the table, at the thirteen moonstones, some smaller, some larger, that were arranged upon it. As the robed women moved forward, each to take up a stone, Miss Jones added, "And, let us see… Aquarius. Of course, it is but fitting that you should bear the chalice." The tallest of the women nodded and reverently took up the exquisitely bejeweled golden goblet as well as a moonstone.

"As for the final item…" Miss Jones looked about at her acolytes, then smiled. "Ah, yes. Gemini. You shall bear this." She lifted the remaining item and held it out.

"Gladly, my Lady!" Gemini responded, her eyes shining within the depths of her hood. She received the ancient, gold-encrusted object, cradling it in her hands.

"Excellent!" said Miss Jones as she herself took up the final moonstone from the table. "Now we shall rehearse the ritual until we have conned it perfectly, and once we have, we shall make a short journey with our dear Adonis and perform the rite in earnest. Places, my acolytes! And, Aquarius, fetch the water. Fill the golden chalice precisely half full."

Aquarius moved toward the font, then paused. "Half full, my Lady?"

"Yes, my dear, precisely half. Were you not listening? The remaining half of the chalice is to be filled with, ah, with the most precious wine which any of us shall ever imbibe." And she grinned a toothy grin.

…

Artie tried in vain all through the trip to the museum to get the professor to spell out what he was in such a dither over, but Koltien only shook his head, his restless hands twisting together until he at last tried to settle them by pulling out his pipe and packing it with his favorite dark, aromatic shag. He was so nervous, however, that he spilled the tobacco, and in trying to rectify that, he managed to break his pipe.

"Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!"

"Please don't worry, Prof Koltien," said Artie soothingly. "I'm sure everything's going to be all…"

Koltien let out a horrified gasp and pointed at the sky. "Is… is that…? Oh, do tell me that's not a full moon! A day before full perhaps, or the day after?"

"Well, no." Artie pulled out the paper again. "See here? Phase of the moon, exactly full. In fact, as I came out of the train after I woke up from my day-long sleep, I saw the moon rising just as the sun set. Classic definition of a full moon."

"No!" Koltien pleaded. "Oh, please…"

The carriage pulled up in front of the museum and Koltien bolted from it on shaky legs. Artie leapt out after him, tossing the cabbie a coin before rushing to catch up with the old man. Koltien reached the doors and started hammering on them just a second before Artie got there. "Phillips!" the professor cried. "Phillips, open up!"

A dark figure approached from within, unlocked the door, and pulled it open. "Why, Reuel!" said a man who looked uncannily like a much older version of Mr Phillips, "whatever are you doing here?"

"Clive!" For a brief shining moment Koltien's face broke out into a relieved smile. "You're awake! You're all right!"

"Well, I… Ah, and Artemus! Please come in, both of you." Dr Clive Welis held the door open for them, then locked up again behind them and started toward his office. "I'm awake now, thanks to the fact that someone dumped a basin of water onto my face. The doctors aren't sure how long I would have slept if no one had thought of that."

Artie grinned to himself, then murmured, "Try twenty-four hours or so."

"What's that?"

"Oh, nothing. But Prof Koltien thinks there was more to the theft than the missing moonstones."

"Yes! Yes, that chalice. The golden one, sacred to Hecate, part of the Ketterley collection. Is it missing?"

Dr Welis stopped in his tracks. "Why, I've no idea! The moonstones were so obvious, but the Ketterley chalice isn't on display right now. Let me send…" He stepped into his office and gestured the others inside, then turned to the assistant curator who was already in the room. "Phillips! Prof Koltien thinks the Ketterley chalice may have been stolen as well. Will you go check on that?"

"Yes sir, right away."

"And the golden blade?" put in Artie.

Blanching, Koltien added, "And the Maegnas dagger as well?"

"Yes sir," said Phillips and hurried away.

"Have a seat, Reuel, Artemus," said Dr Welis, taking his own seat behind his desk. "And please tell me what's going on. Does this…?" Frowning, he turned to Artie. "Does this have anything to do with your visit last night?"

"Last night!" Koltien exclaimed and glanced at Artie.

"It might," Artie replied, not really relishing the thought of having to convince someone - again - that last night was really the previous night. "There was a young lady with me…" He let his voice trail off into a lower pitch, just barely avoiding it rising instead to indicate a question.

"Oh yes, beautiful young woman, and so interested in our displays here! A Miss, ah… Cynthia Jones, wasn't it?"

Artie nodded and caught the look in Koltien's eyes. Yet another name associated with the moon!

"A pity that you had to leave us shortly after introducing her to me, Artemus. I'm sure you would have enjoyed the private tour of the museum I gave Miss Jones." He smiled at the memory.

"And when did she leave?" Artie asked casually.

"Oh well, she…" Now it was Welis' voice that trailed off as a formidable frown creased his brow. "Hmm. Curious you should ask me that, Artemus, for I… I don't…"

Artie leaned closer. "What do you remember?"

Welis looked baffled. "I remember meeting with you, and then being introduced to Miss Jones. After that she said good night to you, as did I. Then I walked off with her arm in mine to show her… to show her…" Again his voice trailed off. "Why, that's deucedly peculiar! I remember everything distinctly up until that point, but just as we were entering the Gems Room, I… I…" He shook his head in complete befuddlement. "Why, I just can't remember! The entire rest of the evening, right up until someone threw the water on my face - it's blank!"

Artie nodded in complete understanding. "Join the club," he muttered.

…

Miss Jones clapped her hands together. "Excellent, my acolytes! Well done. Well done indeed! And now," she consulted a delicate gold watch on a thin chain about her neck, "yes, ten-thirty. It is time to go. We shall have just enough time to reach the site for the ritual. My acolytes, let us awaken our Adonis!"

…

A knock came on Dr Welis' door, and the assistant curator entered.

"Yes, Phillips? What of the items the professor mentioned specifically?"

Phillips shook his head. "I can't find either of them, sir. They're both missing, the same as the moonstones."

"No…!" moaned Koltien. "What…?" His face pale, he looked up at them all. "What time is it?"

Each man consulted his pocket watch; nearly 10:30.

"Oh dear!" said Koltien again. "Midnight comes on apace!"

Artie shifted his chair closer and leaned toward the old scholar. "And what happens at midnight, Professor?" he asked.

"It's in the Fra Jubilatus, my boy. At midnight when the moon is full and at its zenith, that's when the ritual must take place."

"Ritual?" frowned Dr Welis. "What ritual?"

"The ritual for which we believe Miss Jones co-opted the moonstones," Artie replied. "But go on, Professor. What does the ritual entail?"

Koltien shifted uncomfortably in his chair, his face contorting. "Well… First, it must take place within a cypress grove at a place where three ways meet, for such a place is sacred to Hecate, you see. There must also be a freely flowing stream, for they will need living water to… to mix with the, ah… the, the wine." His voice caught on that last word.

"Go on, Professor," Artie said gently, encouragingly.

"Well…" The old man swallowed hard. "That's what the chalice is for, you see. Each participant, bearing a moonstone, must drink from the chalice of gold filled with the diluted, er, wine drawn…" He spoke further, but his voice dropped so low no one could make out his words.

"I'm sorry, Professor. Would you repeat that? Wine drawn…?"

Koltien's eyes winced shut. "Oh, Artemus! It's speaking euphemistically, of course. The wine is to be drawn, using the golden blade, from the heart of Adonis!"

Dr Welis made an impatient noise. "Wine drawn from the heart of Adonis?" he scoffed. "Whatever is that supposed to mean?"

"You know, don't you?" Koltien whispered to Artemus.

And indeed, the federal agent's face had gone white, sheer white. "Jim…!" Instantly Gordon leapt to his feet. "A cypress grove where three ways meet - where is there such a place around St Louis?"

"What are you talking about?" Welis demanded, even as Phillips said, "I know of a few places like that. Four, at least."

"Would you draw me a map?" asked Artie briskly.

"Yes sir!" Phillips hurried to the desk and, fetching out ink and paper, set to work.

"See here!" cried Welis. "What is this all about?"

"This," said Artie as he waited impatiently for his map, "is about Miss Various-Moon-Goddesses Jones intending to perform a ritual to ensure to herself - and to twelve companions, apparently - eternal youth and beauty by plunging a knife into the heart of Adonis." He shot a grim look at the curator. "And keep in mind, Dr Welis: James West is missing."

"What?" Welis leapt to his feet. "But… but that's madness! What sane man would ever believe in such a thing? Surely you don't think this is in any way feasible, Artemus!"

"Of course, I don't. But whether I believe the ritual will work or not doesn't make a bit of difference. The point is that Miss Jones evidently does believe it will work, considering how much effort she's put into both collecting everything she needs to carry out the deed and covering her tracks, making sure that each of the four men with whom she interacted these past few days would not remember what happened during those interactions."

"And because she believes this ritual will grant her what she craves," said Koltien miserably, "she's going to follow it to the letter and…" He blanched and fell silent.

"Except I'll be there first to ensure she doesn't get that far," Artie said grimly. "Phillips, do you have the map ready?"

"Yes sir." The young man blotted the ink hastily and handed over the sheet of paper.

Artie looked it over quickly, asking questions about anything that looked unclear. He then folded the page and slipped it into a pocket. "Thank you, Phillips," he said as he grabbed his hat and bid them all a hasty farewell. He hurried from the museum to the hitching rail outside where his gelding stood placidly cropping some grass. "We've got our work cut out for us tonight, Henry," said Artemus as he swung himself into the saddle. "And not much time either. Let's go!"

End of Act Three