James Beddows

James Beddows was the manservant of Professor Julius Smith. He was also at once his friend, assistant and confidant, and these days he was his only companion. You knew him as being honest, trustworthy, and loyal to Smith.

On the night of the 3rd of January 1923, Smith's house was burnt, with witnesses seeing Beddows fleeing the scene. You were summoned by a letter to meet Smith later on the next day at a new address in Cheapside, London. There, a badly burnt Smith and a nervous Beddows told you they were attacked by Turkish madmen because of Smith's studies concerning the Sedefkar Simulacrum. They told you they needed to lay low for a while and had an escape route ready, but they declined to tell you about it and warned you you may not meet again for a long while.

On the 6th of January 1923, a completely skinned corpse, later identified by the police as Beddows, was found in the reading room of the British Museum. It carried the message "The Skinless One will not be denied" sewn on a piece of skin.

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