SKELETON KEY #11

33. Mr. Warm and Miss Honeymoon

34. The Cardinal

35. Abigail Aberdevine

33. Mr. Warm and Miss Honeymoon

The hirsute gentleman named Mr. Warm is the director of a rather unusual club of aficionados dedicated to the study of the infamous Bay Area serial killer known as The Gull Street Ghoul.

The Ghoul Appreciation Society Headquarters (or G.A.S.H.) is located in an old victorian in the very neighborhood where The Ghoul once roamed the night streets and butchered a dozen victims.  There, members hold monthly meetings to discuss and debate all things Ghoul-related.  The G.A.S.H. library contains every book and article written about The Ghoul, who was never caught and whose identity  has been a topic of lively debate among true crime scholars for many years.

Present at all meetings, and indeed present whenever the director speaks, is faithful secretary Miss Honeymoon, who records any and all discussions, and is rarely seen without her memo pad and pen.

It should be noted that certain crackpot types, particularly someone who may or may not be the proprietor of Dr. Erdling's Crime Museum, another unique Bay Area landmark, have whispered some unsubstantiated and rather outlandish rumors about G.A.S.H. -- for example, insisting that those initials actually stand for the Global Association for Sabotage and Homicide and that Mr. Warm, Miss Honeymoon and other members of the club are actually a pack of ruthless assassins for hire, hiding in plain sight.  Luckily most average folks pay no attention to anything so ridiculous and get on with their lives and don't do anything to stir up trouble and mind their own damn business.

(See: The Chuckling Whatsit)

34. The Cardinal

The Cardinal (aka SuperKiller DeathBird)  began his career as a regular superhero, fighting evil, but he grew weary of protecting citizens who, to him, seemed rather ungrateful for all of his efforts.  So he embarked instead on a never-ending spree of violent crime, without any apparent reason or goal other than destruction and murder.

The Cardinal is really Bob Beaker, the modern descendent of Leonardo DaVinci, who unknown to most scholars, was actually the world's first costumed superhero, The Birdman.  DaVinci's famous quote, "The gods create so that man may destroy" becomes The Cardinal's motto.  Also known as SuperKiller DeathBird (while in Japan), he is rarely seen without his trusty machine gun, which he calls "Woodpecker."

35. Abigail Aberdevine

On an assignment for the city's leading newspaper, The Guardian, writer Arthur Broom meets Abigail when he finds her inside the apartment of murder victim Cyril Root,  rifling through the dead man's  belongings.

Abigail convinces Broom not to report her illegal activities. She tells him that she is a student and research assistant at Lone Mountain College, and that she has been hired by a former professor to research the life of an "outsider artist" named Emile Jarnac.  The late Cyril Root had written about Jarnac, and had been working on a book about him when he was murdered.  Abigail is anxious to find Root's unpublished manuscript, because her employer pays very generously for success.  Broom agrees to help Abigail look for the manuscript.

But is Abigail telling Broom the whole truth?  Or will Broom's involvement with her put them both on a path leading down into some very dark territory, where an inhuman, sadistic killer known as The Gull Street Ghoul waits for them?

(See: The Chuckling Whatsit)