Firefight on the Funicular

Episode 3: Firefight on the Funicular
Date: May 24-26, 1937

Click here for the New York Times front page for May 24, 1937

Locations:
 * Paris, France
 * Marseille, France

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Clues Obtained
The thief that stole Livingston's journal (and later committed suicide with cyanide) has a crude tattoo on his neck with the following design which may be Germanic in origin (see right).

The first entry in Livingston's journal

 * Dr. Livingston's journal reads like the ramblings of a man obsessed with ancient cartography.


 * Highlights from the first journal entry:


 * Pytheus was the first geographer to visit Hyperborea
 * He lived in Massalia
 * The lost work of Pytheus is in the hands of a legionnaire of Julius Caesar who died in the siege of the fortress bonne mere.
 * There is also a detailed color sketch accompanying this entry


 * For a PDF (which includes the sketch) of the first entry in Livingston's journal, click here.

From research at the Mazarine Library in Paris

 * Hyperborea


 * Hyperborea: "hyper-" means "beyond" and "-borea" comes from "Boreas", Greek god of the north wind
 * In ancient Greek mythology, the Hyperboreans were a mythical people that lived “beyond the North wind”
 * The Third of the Twelve Labors of Heracles (Hercules to the Romans) was to capture the female golden-antlered hind (a giant deer) for Artemis. The hind was so fast it could outrun an arrow. Heracles chased the hind through Greece, Thrace, and to Hyperborea.
 * An antlered doe was unknown in Greece. A female reindeer, however, has antlers.
 * Homer placed Boreas in Thrace. So according to him, Hyperborea would’ve been north of Thrace.
 * Other ancient writers said the home of Boreas was the Riphean Mountains.
 * Some authors identify the Hyperboreans with the Gauls (modern-day France), and others (like Hecataeus) identify Hyperborea with Britain


 * Riphean Mountains
 * According to Aristotle, they lay on the borders of Scythia.
 * According to Noah Webster, the Riphean Mountains are the Alps.
 * Later historians and philosophers identify the Riphean Mountains with the Ural Mountains.


 * Massalia
 * Massalia was a Greek settlement, established in 600 BC.
 * It was one of the largest ancient port cities on the Mediterranean.
 * The Greeks called it "Massalia". The Romans later called it "Massilia". And the French call it "Marseille".
 * Massalia was besieged by the legions of Julius Caesar in 49 BC

From Pierre Laroche at the Musee d’Archeologie Mediterraneenne

 * Pytheus
 * The works of Pytheus no longer remain. However, they were referred to by other ancient :*historians and geographers (like Strabo and Pliny) and must’ve been well known in ancient times.
 * His work is referred to sometimes as “Description of the Ocean” and sometimes as “Sail :*Around the Earth” and it’s not known if these are the same work or two separate works.


 * Fortress "bonne mere"
 * "Bonne mere" (meaning "good mother" in French) is the nickname by which all locals in Marseille refer to Notre Dame de la Garde
 * The cathedral Notre Dame de la Garde sits atop a tall hill south of the Old Port.
 * The cathedral was built on the ruins of a fort that has existed there since ancient times. Caesar certainly may've besieged that fort (among others) in 49 BC.

Episode Summary
So as not to be caught red handed with a dying man in the streets of Paris, Nick, Zhang, and Dick carry their captured quarry back to the apartment that the quarry had fled. He has been poisoned by cyanide and is deceased well before they get him inside. They search his body to find the object which they'd been seeking: Livingston's journal! The man carried nothing else, not even a form of identification. He does have a tattoo on his neck, a simple and crude tattoo in the shape of a pitchfork (see right).

When Nick Danger sees the symbol he suspects it may be Germanic in origin.

Since Zhang rushed out on the bound and gagged man earlier, he promptly returns to the bedroom to check the man's status. The man is alive and conscious. Zhang cautiously removes the man's gag but the man is unable to speak because his mouth is so dry. Zhang hands him his flask of rice wine and this helps rouse the man enough that he can speak. Zhang learns that this is in fact the security guard from the museum. Two nights ago the guard noticed a man following him home from work in the pre-dawn hours, and was hit over the head as he opened his apartment door. The guard was bound, gagged, and locked in the bedroom, where he's remained for the last two days. The assailant never spoke to him and the guard never saw the assailant after that initial encounter, though he did hear him moving around occasionally in the apartment. Zhang unties the guard and allows him to shower since he'd soiled himself during the two days that he was imprisoned in his own bedroom.

Satisfied that they got what they came for, the three decide to leave the man's apartment and let him call the police to handle the clean up. The man thanks them for saving his life and, with some firm nudging from Zhang, agrees not to reveal information about who it was that had helped him.

Returning to the hotel with the journal, the cast of characters sits down together and carefully reads through the first entry (see Clues above). Deciding they need to learn more about the content of Livingston's ramblings, Milo suggests that they visit the Mazarine Library, the oldest public library in France with more than 60,000 historical volumes. It is situated on the South Bank of the Seine, just across from the Louvre.



However, on the way to the library, Zhang decides to make a pit stop to refill his flask (and have a few drinks more). Nick agrees to join him. Milo then can't resist joining them at the bar (failed Self Control roll) even though it was initially his idea to visit the library. So Ellie goes to the library and Dick -- who can't turn down some alone time with a pretty girl -- visits the library with her. The three carousers have their drinks and arrive at the library thirty minutes later.

At the library they obtain some help from the librarian and do a fair amount of research on their own. Gary has some remarkable luck (critical success) finding a detailed ancient map of Massalia. (For a list of the clues obtained via this research, see Clues).

When going through the guest room where Dr. Livingston had been staying, Adway had come across a matchbook. The matchbook was from the "Hotel Bellevue" and inside the cover was scribbled a name in ink: "Pierre Laroche".

They now learn that there is a Hotel Bellevue both in Paris and in Marseille, so which one was the matchbook from? The first visit the Paris hotel and quickly see that its matchbook and insignia are different. They make a long distance call to Marseille to verify that there is indeed a Hotel Bellevue there, and decide to pay it a visit.

While traveling to Marseille by train, Nick Danger introduces his new comrades to a gesture and hand sign language that they can use to communicate secretly during tactical situations.

The Hotel Bellevue is on the north wharf of the Vieux Port ("Old Port"). The entrance is easy to miss: a door sandwiched in-between two harbor-front cafes leads up to a tiny reception desk perched on the first floor landing. The foyer is dominated by a central staircase made of wrought iron. The receptionist is a young male that Ellie manipulates into revealing that Dr. Livingston had indeed stayed at the hotel prior. They reserve the same room that Livingston had stayed in. Swooning over Ellie's charm, the receptionist persistently inquires whether he could come visit Ellie in her room later, though she firmly rejects him. The hotel room has a view of the Old Port and, beyond, the hill upon which sits the basilica of Notre Dame de la Garde (see image).

Ellie returns to reception and inquires about whether any messages had been left for Livingston. There was a message left from someone named Laroche (the name in the matchbook!), and the message was sent from the Musee d’Archeologie Mediterraneenne ("Museum of Mediterranean Archaeology"). The Museum is located at the top of a hill in the Panier district and they go pay it a visit.

It turns out that Laroche is one of the museum archaeologists, a colleague of Livingston. They find him sitting at his desk in his office. The protagonists learn from Laroche that Livingston had been in Marseille actively pursuing one of the missing works of Pytheus, called "Description of the Ocean". When they ask about Livingston's journal's mention of the fortress "bonne mere" they learn it is the common nickname the locals use for the Notre Dame de la Garde cathedral. Laroche explains that the cathedral was almost certainly built on top of an ancient Roman fortress that once occupied the strategic spot at the top of the mountain. Laroche offers to take them there and meets them out front of the museum with his car.

The best way to get to the cathedral is by a passenger funicular to the top of the mountain (see poster and photo). Laroche drives everyone to the end of Rue Dragon where they can board the funicular. (Historical note: the funicular was demolished in 1969 because it was rendered obsolete by automobile traffic.) The funicular consists of two carriages, each capable of carrying over a dozen passengers. They are attached to each other by a cable that runs to and from the top, and one carriage ascends while the other descends. The carriages are equipped with water tanks. To start the funicular to moving, the uphill carriage is filled with water to make it heavier than the downhill carriage, and so the uphill one begins to descend and the downhill one begins to rise. Once at the bottom, the full water tank is emptied and to start the next journey water is added to the carriage that's now at the top.

Laroche suggests that everyone board the funicular and he'll stay here and wait for everyone to return. Skeptical of this, the group questions the archaeologist as to why he doesn't want to join in their archaeological expedition. Ellie feels he is hiding something, but Laroche eventually agrees to come with them when he is convinced that whoever killed Livingston will have just as easy of a time locating Laroche as the protagonists had. Deciding to stay with heavily armed protection, Laroche agrees to come along.

The heroes share their carriage with about a dozen other travelers. During the ride up in the funicular, however, they quickly notice something is wrong with the downward-moving carriage: it is rapidly leaking water. By the time the two carriages are at roughly the same altitude, the ruptured water tank is empty and the funicular suddenly halts, as if an emergency brake had been thrown.

Our protagonists quickly realize they have been caught in an ambush as three burly men in trench coats exit the downward-traveling carriage and leap from its loading ledge onto the loading ledge of the other carriage. Two more men have posted up next to the upstairs windows of the downward-carriage and proceed to kick the glass out and take aim with rifles.

While the innocent bystanders duck and cover, the heroes snap into action. Nick draws his two pistols and shoots through the window, hitting and killing one of the attackers. Milo runs out onto the carriage ledge and charges one of the men and knocks him off -- nearly falling off himself -- but the man grabs the ledge and with one hand and dangles there. In a show of acrobatics, he then does a pull up onto the ledge and back flips onto the other car.

Ellie fires several shots but misses. Beverly also charges out onto the ledge and fires a shot, but misses and hits Milo -- ever the unlucky one -- while his back is turned. Injured but not out of the fight, Milo grapples with one of the attackers and in a savage display of strength (critical success) ends up snapping the man's neck.

The third attacker grabs Beverly's gun and turns it into tug of war. Beverly breaks free, he grabs it again, she breaks free, only for him to grab it again. This goes back and forth until Beverly decides the gun is replaceable and so she throws him over the edge as she lets go of the gun, sending the assailant -- still holding the pistol -- tumbling down the mountain. Nick tosses Beverly one of his guns as a replacement.

Three of the ambushers are dead and/or overboard, but two still remain upstairs in the other carriage taking sniper shots at anyone standing close enough to the downstairs windows. Gary gits hit from one of the snipers and he goes down.

Deciding to deal with the sniper threat, Zhang goes out onto the ledge, climbs up to the roof of the carriage, and jumps over to the other carriage in a flying tackle, ultimately restraining one gunman with an armlock.

Adway drags Gary out of sight of the snipers, then jumps over to the other car, rushes up the stairs, and charges the last gunman, knocking him out the window.

The ambush has been foiled. But who were the ambushers and why were they shooting to kill? Will the one surviving assailant spill any information? And with the funicular dead in the water, how will they get out of this literal cliffhanger? Tune in next time to find out... same pulp time, same pulp channel!

Memorable Quotes

 * Ellie: Does he look heterosexual?


 * Milo: This is France. No one does.

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