Professor Julius Smith

Professor Julius Smith is a 54 year old heavy-set Englishman, a scholar who now devotes himself entirely to research. He is famed for his whiskers and great curling moustaches that give him the air of a friendly walrus. His disgusting preference in tobaccos, his erudite after-dinner stories, and his hearty laugh are trademarks. He has lived and travelled extensively on the Continent. His specialities are European languages and archeology. Now, his attention has shifted to parapsychology, with excellent results. You know that Smith's wife died a few years ago, and these days his manservant James Beddows, who was at once his friend and assistant, was his only companion.

On the night of the 3rd of January 1923, Smith's house was burnt, with witnesses seeing Beddows fleeing the scene. You were summoned by a letter to meet Smith later on the next day at a new address in Cheapside, London. There, a badly burnt Smith and a nervous Beddows told you they were attacked by Turkish madmen because of Smith's studies concerning the Sedefkar Simulacrum. They told you they needed to lay low for a while and had an escape route ready, but they declined to tell you about it and warned you you may not meet again for a long while.

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