Read Online 1 A Motive for Murder by Morgana Best - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Morgana Best
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the film about - oh I can't think of its name - with Kate Winslet, wasn't it?"
Douglas was looking out the window again, but at my question walked over to me. "Yes, the film was Enigma. Actually Bletchley Park's not far from here. Beth was pretty much obsessed with symbols and signs. Have you found that missing page yet?"
That made me suspicious. Why was Douglas so keen to find the page? I now suspected, no believed, that Aunt Beth had been murdered for the page, and Douglas was quite clearly keen to find it. I would have to tread carefully. I thought before I answered. "No; I've started tidying up that messy room, but I haven't found any loose pages."
"That's a shame. Would you like me to help you look?" Without waiting for my reply, he turned to look on Aunt Beth's bookshelves. "Have you looked through any of these?"
I forgot for a moment that Douglass had been heading up my short list of murder suspects. Well, so far he was the only one on the list. "Aunt Beth's books? No."
He handed me a dusty looking, leather encased book. I read the title page aloud. "De Natura Rerum, by Paracelsus. Wow, it says the First Edition was 1572, and this book is 1872!"
Douglas took the book back and sat down in a chair. I followed cue and sat down in the one opposite. It was a horrible squeaky sound and I hoped Douglas didn't think it was me.
However, he seemed distracted and asked me a question. "What do you know about Ceremonial Magick? Have you ever heard of the Homunculus? Did Beth ever mention the subject?"
"No, what does it mean? Oh hang on, do you mean like in Full Metal Alchemist?"
It was Douglas's turn to look confused. "Full Metal Alchemist?"
"Yes, it's anime. If someone tries to revive dead person with alchemy and fails, the dead person becomes a homunculus. It is forbidden to revive dead person." I stopped, fearing I was being boring due to my tendency to recite facts, but Douglas appeared interested.
"So in Full Metal Alchemist, a homunculus is a dead person who was revived, but not revived fully?"
I shook my head. "I'm not really sure; I don't know a lot about it."
Douglas nodded as if he understood what I was saying. I wasn't even sure that I did. He opened the old book. "Have you heard of Paracelsus, the author of this book?"
I shrugged. "I only know he was some ancient dude."
Douglas nodded again. "A Swiss chemist, to be exact. In this book Paracelsus said that a homunculus is an artificial person made by the alchemists. To make one, Paracelsus says you need to use alchemy, then you seal the stuff in a glass bottle, and then place it in horse manure for forty days."
I thought that was funny, and burst into a fit of giggles. I tried to stop but that just made my semi-hysterical laughter worse. The fact that Douglas seemed deadly serious didn't help. I managed to get out the words "jet lag" followed by "stress" and Douglas merely nodded. When I got myself under control he continued.
"After forty days, it will begin to live and move. Then you have feed it for forty weeks with the elixir - a potion - of human blood. Paracelsus says that will produce a living child who looks just like any normal human child."
I had taken few deep breaths so was now able to speak. "Well that's all very interesting, but what does this have to do with Aunt Beth's missing page?"
"Rest assured, I'm getting to that! Have you ever heard of Aleister Crowley?"
I gathered my thoughts. "Yes, I did an article for the magazine on him about a year ago. Fascinating man. Famous early twentieth century English occultist and famous for the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn - Ceremonial Magick and all that."
"Quite so. Have you heard of his novel Moonchild?"
I shook my head. "A novel? No, not that I remember. I knew he wrote fiction, though."
"Moonchild was about the creation of a homunculus; in fact, Moonchild was the name of the type of homunculus. Crowley gave instructions for the creation of the homunculus in the book. He gave a lengthy
Douglas was looking out the window again, but at my question walked over to me. "Yes, the film was Enigma. Actually Bletchley Park's not far from here. Beth was pretty much obsessed with symbols and signs. Have you found that missing page yet?"
That made me suspicious. Why was Douglas so keen to find the page? I now suspected, no believed, that Aunt Beth had been murdered for the page, and Douglas was quite clearly keen to find it. I would have to tread carefully. I thought before I answered. "No; I've started tidying up that messy room, but I haven't found any loose pages."
"That's a shame. Would you like me to help you look?" Without waiting for my reply, he turned to look on Aunt Beth's bookshelves. "Have you looked through any of these?"
I forgot for a moment that Douglass had been heading up my short list of murder suspects. Well, so far he was the only one on the list. "Aunt Beth's books? No."
He handed me a dusty looking, leather encased book. I read the title page aloud. "De Natura Rerum, by Paracelsus. Wow, it says the First Edition was 1572, and this book is 1872!"
Douglas took the book back and sat down in a chair. I followed cue and sat down in the one opposite. It was a horrible squeaky sound and I hoped Douglas didn't think it was me.
However, he seemed distracted and asked me a question. "What do you know about Ceremonial Magick? Have you ever heard of the Homunculus? Did Beth ever mention the subject?"
"No, what does it mean? Oh hang on, do you mean like in Full Metal Alchemist?"
It was Douglas's turn to look confused. "Full Metal Alchemist?"
"Yes, it's anime. If someone tries to revive dead person with alchemy and fails, the dead person becomes a homunculus. It is forbidden to revive dead person." I stopped, fearing I was being boring due to my tendency to recite facts, but Douglas appeared interested.
"So in Full Metal Alchemist, a homunculus is a dead person who was revived, but not revived fully?"
I shook my head. "I'm not really sure; I don't know a lot about it."
Douglas nodded as if he understood what I was saying. I wasn't even sure that I did. He opened the old book. "Have you heard of Paracelsus, the author of this book?"
I shrugged. "I only know he was some ancient dude."
Douglas nodded again. "A Swiss chemist, to be exact. In this book Paracelsus said that a homunculus is an artificial person made by the alchemists. To make one, Paracelsus says you need to use alchemy, then you seal the stuff in a glass bottle, and then place it in horse manure for forty days."
I thought that was funny, and burst into a fit of giggles. I tried to stop but that just made my semi-hysterical laughter worse. The fact that Douglas seemed deadly serious didn't help. I managed to get out the words "jet lag" followed by "stress" and Douglas merely nodded. When I got myself under control he continued.
"After forty days, it will begin to live and move. Then you have feed it for forty weeks with the elixir - a potion - of human blood. Paracelsus says that will produce a living child who looks just like any normal human child."
I had taken few deep breaths so was now able to speak. "Well that's all very interesting, but what does this have to do with Aunt Beth's missing page?"
"Rest assured, I'm getting to that! Have you ever heard of Aleister Crowley?"
I gathered my thoughts. "Yes, I did an article for the magazine on him about a year ago. Fascinating man. Famous early twentieth century English occultist and famous for the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn - Ceremonial Magick and all that."
"Quite so. Have you heard of his novel Moonchild?"
I shook my head. "A novel? No, not that I remember. I knew he wrote fiction, though."
"Moonchild was about the creation of a homunculus; in fact, Moonchild was the name of the type of homunculus. Crowley gave instructions for the creation of the homunculus in the book. He gave a lengthy
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