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Tony Stewart’s

THE NIGHT OF THE DARKNESS

EPISODE 55       (new)

The small group which consisted of William, Martin and Joseph were not quite ready for Raji’s arrival.  For some strange reason they had expected to receive a rather pudgy, perhaps penguin shaped character more at home in the early part of the twentieth century, suited in grey or tweed, extremely officious in his manner, serious to the core, and complete with a one track mind; taking possession of the statue of Rangor: the Punjaniti.  And, to boot, a small gang of protectors, equally suited to early twentieth century culture, accompanying him.
  Instead, Raji arrived exactly at eight, his dress sense more suited to the Bahamas or the West Indies than rural England, and to Joseph’s further surprise he arrived alone and approached the group in a totally casual manner as if they were all old friends. 
  “Good morning,” Raji’s cheerful voice rolled off his tongue bearing no sign of an accent, or malice for that matter, as he walked up to the table where they were seated. 
  “I am so pleased to finally meet you all.  Your reputations have been undervalued, considering how fast you recovered the items.  But where is?  I thought she was now part of your little group?”
  Martin and William rose to greet their visitor, however Joseph remained in his seat and stared deep into Raji’s slightly confused eyes.   
  “She has been held up, or so it seems.  I have no idea.”  Joseph replied drily as he continued to remain seated and stared hard at his visitor.”
  “That is a shame.  I would have loved to have met such an attractive and adventurous young lady.”
  “Why was there an attempt on our lady friend’s life last night?  And why did the professor’s brother have to die?”  The words hissing out of Joseph’s mouth.
  The smile disappeared from Raji’s face, replaced with what appeared to be genuine sorrow and confusion.  “I am afraid that we are not responsible for either one.  Nor were we responsible for Professor Tuscanni’s condition.  It was purely coincidental that we had something to trade for the statue, but it had not been set up that way I can assure you.  If one of your group has been injured then that is regrettable, but it has nothing to do with us.  We have kept our word and allowed you freedom in your search.  As far as the professor’s brother is concerned, I am not aware of his death.  When did he die?”
  “It is immaterial if you had nothing to do with it.”  The tone in Joseph’s voice was terse,  “Do you have the antidote?”  
  “Yes.”  Raji opened the briefcase and pulled out several small vials, which he placed on the table, “I have some good news for you.  I have been instructed by the Punjani to place some trust in you.  My clients believe that you have been honest in your search to date; if you say that you have found the statue, then they will take your word for it.  They did not tell me why they were willing to do this, but I am of the understanding that time is getting away from them and playing games on payment are not in their interests.  They have given me permission to give you the antidotes once you have told me where to find the statue and the knife.    
  This offer, however, is only offered in the clear understanding that if the statue is not located where you think it should be … then you will continue to search for the statue.  But if you try to renege on the agreement … well, I believe you are men of honour.  So there is no need for me to go any further in the matter.”
  “I get the drift.  Thank you, Raji, we accept your conditions.”  Joseph agreed as he restrained himself from punching the air, instead rising to shake hands with Raji, “Though I am reasonably certain that I am right.  You will find the knife in the lounge room underneath the possibly still smouldering rubble.  You should be cautioned that if the fire still seems active, then it is.  How you get it out is your problem, but I advise that you use extreme caution if the embers are still glowing.  We believe there is a possibility that the Punjaniti is responsible for the carnage that is in the room, and the power he produced is still active.  And we are under the assumption that any contact with the small electrical discharges that mysteriously appear out of nowhere that make contact with the flesh of anybody entering the fiery circle of embers will be lethal.  My suggestion is that you attempt to locate a long handled metal rake and try to spread the embers far enough apart that you can see the knife and use the prongs to pull it out of the circle without your flesh being exposed to the spurts of power that will attack it.  Mind you, I won’t be surprised if you can’t get it out, even though I would expect the Punjani to have had special training for such a situation.  Just remember to use things that won’t burn easily, and don’t forget to be protect your skin.” 
  “Thank you for the warning, Joseph.  We will work something out.  But the statue … where is it?                                                                                       
  “The statue is in the barn.”  Joseph replied in a slow, methodical, voice, “It is located underneath the old tractor that sits in the darkness in the middle of the barn.”
  All eyes in the room turned and looked at Joseph in disbelief.
  ‘What are you doing, Joseph, are you going mad?’ Martin asked inwardly as he stared in horror at Joseph, “We will not have time to revive both Rosetta and her father quickly enough to get them to somewhere safe before Raji and his cronies are back knocking on our door baying for blood.  Of course it will be good to have Rosetta and her father back in the land of the living, but it’s also just as well they have already allowed us to continue searching if the statue is not where you say it is.  And god knows, we will have to find it quickly because they are not going to find it under that damned tractor.  That would be next to impossible.  What are you playing at?’
  As if connected to Martin’s train of thought, Raji also had concerns for Joseph’s answer.
  “How could they move that tractor to hide something underneath it?”  Raji asked in instant disbelief, “It is old, and rusty, and could not possibly be started.  There were only two of them at the farm.  They could not possibly have moved it by themselves, and if they had help brought in, my observers would have seen them arriving and leaving.”
  Joseph sighed as he sipped on his coffee.  “The statue was always in the barn.  It used to be flat on its back on a specially constructed stand and was covered with hay whenever it wasn’t being examined, which was most of the time.  They had taken enough scrapings and photographs before they shipped the artifacts here to last them for some time.  They only needed it when they were double checking on some new information that they had come across.  There was not much that they could learn from the statue itself.  There were no ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics or their ilk stamped on it.  Most of their time was taken up with online research and studying some books they had obtained on loan from the British Museum.  When they were warned by an on line friend that it would be advisable to move it to a new location for safety reasons, they applied some simple engineering skills and did what was suggested.  They didn’t need help from anybody, just a few tools and a bit of time.  I will explain to you, step by step, how you will be able to retrieve it from under the tractor.  Don’t worry, though, the professor and his brother have been kind enough to set up a modification to a pulley system that was already in place that will allow you to lift the tractor off its treasure with ease.
  You are right, the tractor can’t be driven: it has no engine … it is really no more than a shell.  However, all you need do is winch it up from the front until it is completely vertical and retrieve the statue.  You will need help, but I assume you have a crew with you.  If I am wrong we will be more than able to assist you.

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Joseph proceeded to explain how Raji and his crew were to use the pulley system, and when he was finished Raji was in wonder of the simplicity of it all.  “He is a clever man. And so are you, Joseph, I don’t think that anybody else would ever have worked that out.  But please tell me one thing before I go.”
  “And what is that, Raji?” 
  “You advised me we should use four people to retrieve it, how was the professor going to get access to it if he needed to if there was only two of them?”                                  
  “He was never going to reveal it again until the day the museum’s vehicle arrived to collect it.  When that day arrived he could utilise the driver and his off-sider to get easy access to it.  He had no real need to have the statue at his beck and call anymore; he just had to make it safe until it was collected.”
   “It was as simple as that.”  Martin said, adding his admiration at his friends lateral thinking, “Joseph, you never fail to amaze me.
  “Well, think you all for your co-operation.”  Raji offered in a clearly sincere tone, “I hope one day our paths will cross again in more pleasant circumstances.  Goodbye.”

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CHAPTER 56 COMING SOON