Disclaimer: See chapter 1.
Chapter 2: In contention
Later on in their acquaintance, Tintin would learn that Doctor Martin and Doctor Fuchs had been elected to work on the project together due to their outstanding credentials and the complimentary natures of their areas of study.
At first glance, he thought the partnership had been established by someone with an elaborate love of sight gags. Martin was as wide as he was tall, with wisps of dark hair surrounding a doughy and rather plain face. Krause, on the other hand, stood easily two heads taller than his companion. He had also been blessed by curly golden hair and chiseled features.
However, the latter was not at his best the moment Haddock and Tintin first saw him, on their approach. The German archaeologist towered over Martin, bellowing in heavily accented French, his face marred by mottled red splotches on his forehead and cheeks. Martin, clearly agitated but silent, simply allowed the man to continue his rant.
"… suggest halting all progress on the other two sites," Fuchs was yelling as the duo entered earshot.
"I do more than suggest it, Benedict! I will do everything in my power to make sure it is done,' Martin replied, voice elevated but even, "I have already contacted the gendarmes."
Fuchs seemed to be winding up for another go, when Haddock decided that he would show an amateur bellower how the professionals did it.
"What in the name of Davy Jones, is going on here?" Everyone within a four yard radius jumped as the Captain's voice jolted them from their concentration on the two lead scholars. Even Tintin startled slightly, much to his friend's amusement.
"Who," demanded Fuchs icily, "Are you?"
The reporter decided this would be a good time to intervene, before the man's ire transferred to the newcomers.
"I'm Tintin, the reporter, Doctor Fuchs. Le Petit Vingtième sent me here, at your specific request. "
Martin raised a bushy eyebrow and turned a sardonic look at the furiously blushing Fuchs.
"Getting a bit ahead of yourself, weren't you? This is why you were worried? You requested one of the most famous reporters on the continent and then you couldn't deliver."
The other did an excellent impression of a flabbergasted fish, mouth opening and closing soundlessly for a few moments. Then, Fuchs seemed to collect his ego reasonably well. In a cloud of insulted dignity, he spun off and entered a nearby tent, giving the entrance flap the closest equivalent to a slam that he could.
The little Frenchman took a handkerchief from his sleeve and mopped his sodden brown, as he watched this over-dramatic exit. He turned to address the young redhead.
"I apologize, my boy. Fuchs is an excellent scientist, but his self-importance often interferes with his work. "He reached out and took Tintin's hand in one chubby paw.
"Doctor Xavier Martin," He said, adding, "I know who you are, son," When the reporter opened his mouth to respond.
Tintin grinned and introduced Captain Haddock, instead. The seaman posed his earlier question again, though decibels lower and more politely, to Doctor Martin.
Again, the handkerchief was produced to wipe away a new deluge of nervous sweat.
"Well, I'm afraid that you've lost your story on the Roman burial grounds." Hesitance briefly flitted over his features , before it was replaced by a steely determination.
"However, I think the scoop I have for you now will be a bit more…dynamic, shall we say."
Moving towards the nearest tent, he motioned for them to follow
T
While large from the outside, the tent was almost cavernous on the inside. This effect seemed to be amplified by the dim lights concentrated in the center of the room, surrounding three slabs. Darkness lurked in around the tops of the support poles and in the corner.
The temperature inside was startlingly colder than the outside, once they had left the sunshine behind. The odor of freshly turned earth and the stale smell of old decay permeated the room. Tintin shivered, it was like being in a mausoleum.
With the flip of a switch by Martin, the lights flared to life, dispelling the sensation. And also revealing something much worse than a chill and a passing fancy.
On the center slabs lay three skeletons, each bone neatly arranged in an approximation of where they would occupy in a living person. The skulls sat at the top of each arrangement, forever fixed in macabre grins.
Having slid his hands into pristine white gloves, the archaeologist beckoned his visitors over. In their defense, their approach signaled nothing of the hesitance that they felt.
"Now," Began the scientist, with the practiced tone of someone used to lecturing students, "We saw nothing amiss when we unearthed the first girl."
"Girls?" The tone of Haddock's voice betrayed that he could not imagine these anatomy class specimens as anything but a pile of bones, let alone something as familiar as girls.
Martin hummed, 'Yes, clearly female and quite young from the looks of things. Now…" He took a horseshoe shaped bone from right beneath the skull of the middle skeleton.
"This is the hyoid bone. Do you see the fracture in it?" Peering closely, Tintin admitted that the fracture was difficult to miss.
"It takes a great deal of force to injure that bone and such a break usually indicates strangulation was the cause of death." Here, he paused for a moment. "Still, we did not feel much cause for alarm. Such violence has occurred throughout history, especially towards unprotected groups, such as slaves."
He replaced the hyoid and reached for the third skull, almost reverently. "Then we found this."
The back of the skull was turned towards Tintin and the Captain, so that they could see an almost perfect circle, with small cracks radiating off of its epicenter. The former swallowed, mouth dry, he had a very good guess at what had caused that, but waited for the archaeologist to confirm. Martin did not disappoint.
"I worked," The man said slowly, "On the recovery of bodies from mass graves following the war. I have no doubt what this was. This young woman was killed execution-style, by a bullet to the back of the head."
Silence descended, as both the Captain and Tintin stared at the small hole. Something almost innocuous looking, that had brutally cut short a life.
The young man finally found his voice, "And Doctor Fuchs was upset that you halted the dig over this?"
"Yes, he believed that the other two skeletons are legitimate finds, unrelated to the third. Yet, when we dug further, we found this underneath the second."
From a silver bowl, he produced two circular objects, one black and the other red, though both had a good layer of dirt still dulling their colors. After leaning into peer closely, Haddock rocked back on his heels to regard the chubby man.
"Is that," He questioned, unbelievingly, "A casino chip?"
"Not exactly a Roman artifact," Tintin murmured, still looking closely at the chips. Martin agreed, with no small amount of irony in his voice.
"I am the head of this project, so I called for a stop and had just called the authorities when Fuchs confronted me. Well, you saw the rest."
Tintin nodded absently, though his best friend could see the gears turning furiously underneath that ridiculously tufted coif of his.
"Very peculiar," He said quietly, hand moving to rub his chin. And just like that, Archibald Haddock knew that he had just become completely embroiled in this mess. The lad once he got hold of an idea could be worse than Snowy with a nice, juicy bone.
Finally, he raised his gaze up to their host.
"Doctor Martin, if I may. We're not the police or any authority, really. Why are you telling us all this?"
"Mysteries around you have a tendency to be suddenly solved, Monsieur Tintin. Or at least, you can get the word out about these have been found."
He stared at the skull is his hands. "From the looks of her spinal column, this…child couldn't have been older than seventeen or eighteen."
Looking up, he explained in a solemn voice, "Someone must be missing their little girl."
A/N: Well, since I uploaded chapter 1 early, I'm still technically on schedule for updates...pleasedon'tkillme. Last week kind of came up behind me and clobbered me with two major tests, an oral presentation and trying to organize a Thanksgiving dinner for the Americans in my town. I really am very sorry, and I'll try to get the next chapter out as fast as possible, since this week will hopefully be less stressful. Knock on wood.
Review replies:
Etoile-de-saphir: Je t'assure que ton anglais est beaucoup meilleur que mon français! Merci bien ! C'est rassurant de savoir que je ne suis pas la seule avec cette tendance ! XD
loskav: To say it's a relief to get this written down would be an understatement. Heaven knows there's only so much room in my peanut brain. I live for small details, which sometimes throws my writing off when I have to remind myself to quit Jane Austen-ing about and get on with the plot! Oh, you may want to stock up on Dramamine, because this is going to be one twisty road!
Bella: Thank you and I'm glad I could update early. The thing was practically writing itself!
Brazeau: You have no idea how good it feels to hear (read?) that I have their characters down. Bad characterization is my biggest pet peeve. I'll try to get the chapters out at a pretty steady clip!
MegElemental: I hope I'm delivering the quality! Tintin backstory, coming right up!
GoldenFlither: Thank you! Well, I definitely got my inconsiderate on in my update of this chapter. I am shamed.
JellyFish: I'm currently living in the Rhône-Alpes region of France and I went down there for the most recent vacation. Marseille and Aix were definitely a huge inspiration for this story! Well, you made it farther than I do with my research. Usually I'm like, "Aaaand, Facebook!" for three or four hours. Your aunt's school trip sounds way more exciting than any one I've ever been on, any trauma aside.
Ravenwood85: Thank you, I'll try to provide!