karohemd | The Adventures of Rupert Bulmer, Esq. - Chapter 3 - "Rise of the Supreme Race"

Previously

With the thug locked up, Michelle taken care of and Nicholas in hospital, the rest of us took a cab back to Professor Seymour's house - or was it the first time we were there? I'm not certain... John met us at the door, clearly not remembering us, but he told us the professor had been taken ill and had passed away the previous evening ... which was different. John nevertheless showed us in. While Dr. Vargas viewed the body we waited outside the Professor's room. The doctor couldn't find anything unusual, by all accounts he had passed away quietly in his sleep from a heart attack as the first doctor to examine him had stated.
We heard a door open so went downstairs we we met a tall man with messy red hair who introduced himself as Paul Seymour, the Professor's son. We introduced ourselves and offered our condolences and then waited in the drawing room while Mr. Seymour talked to Vargas.
A while later, Vargas came in reporting that the son was clearly stricken with grief. Most of us retired for the night while Robert and I decided on a walk around the grounds. However, we couldn't find any evidence of vomiting or dimensional shifts so we went back to the house and retired.

In the morning Nicholas returned from hospital, and the Doctor came down with a plaster on his nose. He told us he had investigated the statuette, opened it and then he babbled about hallucinogenics from the Amazonian rainforest and odd visions he experienced. I showed him the vial with purple liquid from the dead goons. He uncorked it, we heard a faint sound as if pebbles on a beach, but thankfully, no visions. Vargas wet his fingertip, tasted it and recoiled, wobbling a bit on his feet. Apparently, it “packed quite a punch” but there were no ill effects.

We discussed the events that had happened previously and more recently and Nicholas thought it was Bonaparte's book that had transported us back in time as it was called "Invocations and Thought Transference". So, had Bonaparte moved us or the book? Nicholas thought the book had been booby-trapped.
I enquire about Prof. Bonaparte's social standing and public face, considering the chances of starting a police inquiry into his life and work but Dr Vargas thought the chances of us, as outsiders and foreigners succeeding were slim.
I also had a look at the “coins” I had found on one of the tatooed goons. They were all smooth, from a shiny material that looked like metal but was very much lighter. Most curiously, they stayed cool, even after I'd held them in my hands for several minutes. Nobody else could make sense of them, either.

We finally decided to visit the university again to have a look through Prof. Seymour's office and then also Bonaparte's again. This time we even had a cover as Dr. Vargas had been put in charge of putting Seymour's affairs in order. We arrived at the university without problems and gained entry with the professor's keys. We found Prof. Seymour's office upstairs, seemingly undisturbed but Robert pointed out that the room had been searched in the last few days, very carefully. We looked more thoroughly and discovered that notes from about a week's time were missing...
At Bonaporte's office Dr. Vargas noticed that someone had picked that look before we arrived. He picked the lock and we have another look around the office. Nicholas found the book again which Dr. Vargas wrapped in a large handkerchief. I examined Bonaparte's papers and found that notes had been taken from here as well, from the same time period as the ones missing from Seymour's office. Most odd. This clearly pointed at a third party being involved while we had previously believed it was only Bonaparte who had been after Seymour's work.

Vargas then tried to pick the lock of the other of Bonaparte's doors but managed to get his finger stuck in it (Apparently, it was US military issue, unpickable) which he only managed to extract by applying large amounts of soap... Instead, Nicholas shoulder charged the door open. Behind it was a lecture room with nothing of interest inside it.

Slightly disappointed, we left the university.