The Brood of Dr.Chen: Murder at Midnight

Chapter 1: Murder at Midnight

On a stormy Boston night, Lester Donovan sat near the gas heater in the solarium of the old house he'd rented for the summer and read over the transcription of an ancient text that had suddenly become pertinent. The so-called “Book or Zor” had been unearthed to little interest on Malta fifty years before. The book fit into no timeline of religion, culture, or empire, it was written off by the archeologists of the day as so much rubbish.
Donovan gathered his silk robe about himself and peered with interest at the translated words:

“ ...and that night, Gundar's third reign was to end. His executioners bribed their way into his inner sanctum and did cut the god-king down in his sleeping chamber. These unbelievers all swore that no sooner had the daggers cut out the king's life than did the body of Gundar vanish and the sound of divine laughter flooded the chamber. And yet the blood remained on their blades...”

History never recorded a god or king called Gundar and no other record mention the Book of Zor, and yet the text alluded to the fact that this being, whatever it had been, had died and been reborn throughout the eons and each time had ruled over civilization itself.
To Donovan this might have seemed like so much fantasy or so much old news, but more recent headlines gave him pause: “Kaiser Wilhelm Abdicates”, “Czar and Family Slain”, “Scientist Challenges Death”, “Meteor Stolen from Boston Museum”, and now “Dr. Chen Vanishes”. Yes, the puzzle did seem to be coming together.
Lester stroked his young face, like a porcelain mask, an equally beautiful face for a man or a woman, and took another drink of brandy, puzzling if this all meant what it appeared to.
Just a day before he'd chanced to be in the Department of Natural History when the body of Councilman Denby's son was recovered from where it had been planted the night before. The innocent face of the young man was still frozen in terror, small wounds dotted his white flesh and ropes still clung to his wrists. Donovan overheard one of the police inspectors say “It's another cult killing. What else could it be?”
The recent headlines were a parade of mystery and murder and the only thing that came close to sense seemed to be the scrapbook that sat here on the small table and perhaps...
Lighting flash across and sky and a peal of thunder rattled the windows. Donovan said to himself “Could Cedric know? Does he suspect?”
An impression came to his mind, the psychic suggestion that he was watched. He peered out the rain-streaked glass and saw only stillness.
Cedric returned to his thoughts, his longtime friend and companion who'd been close with him since their days at Swiss boarding school. Cedric Nyles, student of culture, of criminology, and lately on assignment in Hong Kong. Just yesterday Lester thought he'd spied his old friend here in Boston, but it was only a glance and he couldn't be sure.
He crossed the sitting room to the telephone and picked up the receiver. Before he could dial the door opened and in the entry, soaked in rain and sopping raincoat, stood the electrifying figure of Cedric Nyles. He stared at Lester, an expression of great resolve in his large emotive eyes “Lester, old friend,” he said. “You've seen it.”
“Cedric! You've been following the paper as well?”
“Yes,” Cedric closed and door and draped his coat over a chair, revealing a festive silken shirt underneath. “And there's more to it than that, my boy. I followed a line of inquiry all the way from Hong Kong and it's lead me right to Dr. Chen.”
“Yes, but now Chen is missing and the son of one of his most powerful enemies is dead.”
The old friends embraced. “Yes, I knew you'd follow the track that far. You ought to get dressed, man, we're going out and we haven't much time!”
Nyles accompanied Lester to upstairs and narrated while he dressed “Yes, the meteor is part of it as well. Chen is no ordinary scientist, laws and nations don't exist for him. The doctor would never let trivialities such as these stand between him and his goal. I traced a lead to house of prostitution here in Boston and one of the boys working there told us that Dr. Chen next plans to dispose of Professor Eli Von Braun, a criminologist who also got the track on him. We've got to get over there now.”
“But, a taxi...”
“Is waiting outside, old boy. Come on.”

Cedric directed the driver to an address on the other side of The Common.
To Lester it was almost unreal; in a whirl his old school chum whom he hadn't seen since last summer and dragged him into what now appeared to be a vast conspiracy. But what could be behind such a thing? A man on the street corner might blame Bolshevik spies or anarchists, but that wasn't where the arrow seemed to point.
“But, surely,” Lester asked. “Chen is just another victim in these cult killings?”
“If only it were true. You're right though, there are more players in this game. You remember Chen's announcement that he had a way to create life from its base elements?”
“Yes, but...?”
“That was mere days after the meteor was stolen from the museum by unseen assailants. The police still aren't sure how it was done. One thing is sure, the six foreign tourists who vanished around that time will never been seen again.”
The cab pulled up to old townhouse, so out of place that it seemed the fire of '72 had only just missed it. A handful of policemen stood out front with a couple of men dressed like detectives, one of whom leaned into the window of the parked cab and nodded in recognition when he saw Nyles.
As they got out, Donovan asked “My God, are we too late?”
“These men are here for Professor Von Braun's protection.”
“You're working with the police?”
“And the Secret Service. Wait here for a moment while Sgt. Wilkins brings me up to speed.”
“Are you sure they need me here?”
Cedric looked Lester in the eye and smiled warmly “I need you here, old boy.”
The rain began to taper off and Lester wandered on the walk in front of the old house. His pocket-watch read precisely midnight. Sudden motion in front of a neighboring house caught his attention: four figures emerged from a small service entrance and moved up a flight of steps to the street. Despite the distance and the poor light, Donovan made out a tall and imposing man in a bowler hat and long coat, accompanied by three beautiful head-shaven Chinese boys with braids of black hair trailing down their backs. A glint of light from a passing car fell on the lead figure's face and Donovan saw an eerily intelligent face with Oriental features and a long mustache look briefly back at him. The next instant the whole party melted into the night.
A shout from behind him brought Lester back to the business at hand. The police were rushing in and out of the house now and a withered old butler emerged and sat sobbing on the front step of the house.
Cedric ran back out and came up to Lester “It's Von Braun! He's been murdered!”
“When? How?”
“Just now, some kind of dart launched through a hole in the wall... what were you staring at?”
Donovan shook his head, trying to gather his wits. “In front of the other house, just now... I think I've seen Dr. Chen!”