It was not, however, the recess itself that had riveted the frontiersman’s attention but the object it contained. This appeared to be some sort of glass-fronted cabinet or display case, standing chest-high and supported by an elaborately carved wooden base. From our present vantage point, we could not identify its contents—though there seemed to be but a single, shadowy object enclosed behind its glass-fronted door.

The frontiersman, who was standing to my left, turned his head to look at me. In the flickering glow of the tapers, his face had the lurid cast of a carnival mask.

“I got me a funny feelin’ ’bout that thing,” he said grimly, gesturing in the direction of the cabinet.

I drew a deep, somewhat tremulous breath. “I share in your misgivings. Perhaps we should resume our seats. Our host is bound to return momentarily.”

“That’s a right smart idea, Poe,” said Crockett. “But I aim to have a look at that-there whatnot first.” And having made this pronouncement, he quickly strode towards the little nook, stooped before the cabinet, peered inside—and let out a startled cry!

“Fetch me that candlestick!” he exclaimed, motioning to me with a frantic, beckoning wave.

Obeying—albeit reluctantly—the frontiersman’s command, I stepped to his side and bent before the cabinet, holding the candelabrum close to the glass. All at once, I felt myself tottering on the verge of insensibility. Raising the candelabrum—which I had nearly let slip from my hand—I held the tapers close to the glass and stared in an agony of horrified incredulity at the unspeakable object within.

It was the upper half of a naked—and partially dissected—female cadaver, severed at the waist. One entire side of this poor victim’s face, neck, and torso had been peeled away to expose the underlying flesh—the raw, striated muscles, viscous membranes, sinuous veins, and glistening tissues. By some inexplicable means, however, the corpse had been so perfectly preserved that it possessed an almost uncannily lifelike, even animate, quality!

I turned to gape at my companion, whose own face wore a look of stunned incomprehension. Our shared, premonitory suspicion had just been confirmed in the most appalling way imaginable.

We had stumbled into the lair of a madman!

CHAPTER 11

Had my very life hung upon the movement of a limb or the utterance of a syllable, I could have neither stirred nor spoken—so paralyzed had I been rendered by the fearful sight before me. Even the boisterous frontiersman had been startled, for once, into an appalled and absolute silence. Crouched before the cabinet, we stared aghast at its grisly contents, utterly oblivious of the rest of our surroundings—until a voice behind us said:

“So, you have discovered the gem of my collection!”