Sherlock Holmes vs. Cthulhu: The Adventure of the Deadly Dimensions

282 Pages·2017·1.3 MB·English

by  Lois H. Gresh

Contents
Cover
Also available from Titan Books and Lois H. Gresh
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Prologue: Amos Beiler

Part One: The Infernal Machine
1: DR. John Watson
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11

Part Two: The Crest of Dagon
12: Jamison Ludsthorpe
13: Amelia Scarcliffe
14: DR. John Watson
15
16
17
18
19: Lord Wiltshram
20: Peter Smythe-Barton
21: DR. John Watson
22
23
24
25
26: Koenraad Thwaite
27: Peter Smythe-Barton
28: DR. John Watson
29: Marceau Poisson

Part Three: Casta Diva
30: DR. John Watson
31: DR. John Watson
32
33: Khan’aloa Khu Tu Tangh’aroa XII
34: DR. John Watson
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42

Epilogue: Koenraad Thwaite
Acknowledgements
About the Author

Also available from Titan Books and Lois H. Gresh
The Adventure of the Neural Psychoses (2018)
The Adventure of the Innsmouth Mutations (2019)

THE ADVENTURE OF THE DEADLY DIMENSIONS
Print edition ISBN: 9781785652080
Electronic edition ISBN: 9781785652097
Published by Titan Books
A division of Titan Publishing Group Ltd
144 Southwark Street, London SE1 0UP
First edition: July 2017
2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1
This is a work of fiction. Names, places and incidents are either products of the
author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons,
living or dead (except for satirical purposes), is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2017 by Lois H. Gresh. All Rights Reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of
the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other
than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed
on the subsequent purchaser.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
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DEDICATED WITH LOVE TO ARIE BODEK
AND BIG DADDY SAM
WITH GRATITUDE TO ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
AND H.P. LOVECRAFT
PART ONE
THE INFERNAL MACHINE
1
DR. JOHN WATSON
October 1890, London
The night murmured. Leaves tossed themselves to the wet cobblestones of Baker
Street. The overhead lamps leaked a yellow that made the raindrops spark like
fireflies. It was good to be back with my dear friend, Sherlock Holmes, even if I
was only visiting for the evening, and soon would return to Mary and our
newborn son, Samuel.
I peered pensively from the window, as was my custom. Holmes smoked his
pipe and riffled through the newspapers. Despite my mood, I felt at home with
the dense smoke, the crackle of the paper, and Holmes’s derisive snorts as he
scanned the articles.
“Why, look at this, Watson,” he said. “Four more are dead in the East End.
Eviscerated, all of them. In each case, the police find their bones heaped into
bizarre configurations. The intestines, brains, and limbs are smeared around the
scene. According to the reports, the bodies look half eaten. I’d say this is even
more grotesque than Jack the Ripper.” He paused. “Inspector Lestrade of
Scotland Yard has no comment about possible suspects.”

“Yes, I’ve been following the case.” I flipped back my coat-tails and settled
into the armchair across from Holmes. Though the warmth from the fireplace
seeped through my damp clothes and into my skin, I shivered slightly. Holmes
pursed his lips, then tapped his pipe twice on the stem and puffed. Releasing the
smoke in curls, he crossed his legs. He was excited by the mysterious events in
the area of London he visited when desperate for opium. I knew his excitement
meant he would have no need for the needle and drugs he kept hidden in the
mahogany box in his desk.
“What do you make of it, then?” he asked.
As a medical doctor, I’d seen a lot of corpses, but never anything as gruesome
as what was described in the newspapers. “The strangest aspect, Holmes, is how
they say the bones are heaped. The geometries differ, but the precision is always
exacting, and inside each stack of bones is a bizarre—”
“Yes, the spherical objects.” Holmes narrowed his eyes. “Each is about 30