In a left luggage locker at a local mainline station there is a large carpet bag containing 19 intricately carved and extremely devious puzzle boxes...
The key to the locker is found on the body of Dr Allen McNair. Dr McNair is found dead at his desk in his surgery, with the twentieth puzzle box open in his hands. McNair’s body is in a state of some discomposure and the expression on his rotting face can only be described as one of surprise and fear.
There is considerable debate as to how long McNair has been dead; the state of his body suggests some considerable time, but many patients swear they were treated by him during surgery only yesterday.
Possibilities
1 McNair has been killed by a violent and extremely virulent fungal infection, the spores of the fungus were released directly into his face as he successfully opened the ancient puzzle box. He purchased the boxes whilst on vacation in India from a lone street trader, believing they would make good presents for friends and colleagues.
Unfortunately, the street trader was a servant of darkness and has laced the puzzle boxes with a toxic fungus. The fungus is now starting to spread, infecting all who have come into contact with McNair’s body.
2 McNair was the unwitting victim of a bacterial agent released from within the puzzle box. The boxes were being used by an old friend of McNair’s, Alaistair Mickleson who was using the boxes to smuggle the bacterial agent (a weapon developed by an unscrupulous bio technology company).
Mickleson had asked McNair to place the bag in the luggage locker for him fearing he was being followed, he never dreamed that McNair would open a box.
3 The puzzle boxes were purchased by McNair on a recent trip to New Orleans. The seller had no idea what they contained and had never managed to open one, but knew they were connected to the local Voodoo culture.
McNair is dead, but the powerful magics in the puzzle boxes mean that in two days time he will rise from the dead, a zombie hungry for sustenance!
© Derek Mayne
The key to the locker is found on the body of Dr Allen McNair. Dr McNair is found dead at his desk in his surgery, with the twentieth puzzle box open in his hands. McNair’s body is in a state of some discomposure and the expression on his rotting face can only be described as one of surprise and fear.
There is considerable debate as to how long McNair has been dead; the state of his body suggests some considerable time, but many patients swear they were treated by him during surgery only yesterday.
Possibilities
1 McNair has been killed by a violent and extremely virulent fungal infection, the spores of the fungus were released directly into his face as he successfully opened the ancient puzzle box. He purchased the boxes whilst on vacation in India from a lone street trader, believing they would make good presents for friends and colleagues.
Unfortunately, the street trader was a servant of darkness and has laced the puzzle boxes with a toxic fungus. The fungus is now starting to spread, infecting all who have come into contact with McNair’s body.
2 McNair was the unwitting victim of a bacterial agent released from within the puzzle box. The boxes were being used by an old friend of McNair’s, Alaistair Mickleson who was using the boxes to smuggle the bacterial agent (a weapon developed by an unscrupulous bio technology company).
Mickleson had asked McNair to place the bag in the luggage locker for him fearing he was being followed, he never dreamed that McNair would open a box.
3 The puzzle boxes were purchased by McNair on a recent trip to New Orleans. The seller had no idea what they contained and had never managed to open one, but knew they were connected to the local Voodoo culture.
McNair is dead, but the powerful magics in the puzzle boxes mean that in two days time he will rise from the dead, a zombie hungry for sustenance!
© Derek Mayne
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