The Death Collector Read Online Free PDF Page A

appointed by, and answer to, a smallcommittee of the Royal Society. A secret committee, just as my Department is secret.’
    â€˜Secret?’ George had echoed. He remembered how Sir William had smiled in reply. And what he had said:
    â€˜No one apart from myself knows about my Department, other than the inner committee of the Royal Society, my immediate superiors at the British Museum and the senior trustees, and my assistant Mr Berry. Except for you.
    â€˜Which is rather ironic I always think, given that it is called The Department of Unclassified artefacts. But it is an apt title, despite the fact that the work we do and the items in the collection itself, are kept secret – not only from the public but also from the majority of the scientific world. Put simply, it is to my Department that artefacts are sent which do not fit in other Departments.
    â€˜At first, it was a catch-all – a home for finds that were genuinely unclassified. But over time its function has changed. Now, the Department is home to those relics and finds which not only fail to fit into other Departments at the Museum, but which do not fit into established archaeology or history or science. Some are items which contradict current thinking. But others are artefacts the existence of which would be simply too frightening for public awareness. Things that should not exist, but do.
    â€˜Most of our artefacts seem innocent enough onfirst inspection. It is only when scientific and historical examination throws up contradictions and paradoxes that they come to us. A tooth might seem normal enough, unless it is the tooth of a vampire. The pelt of an animal of the canine family is unremarkable, unless it was taken from a werewolf. A stone tablet engraved in the Queen’s English is unlikely to cause controversy, unless it was unearthed from a site which is several thousand years old and might be the lost city of Atlantis.
    â€˜Now, I’m not saying that we have any of these items in our collection. They are merely examples of how the apparently commonplace may be remarkable. And of course there are also items which are instantly recognisable as out of the ordinary. Inexplicable. Perhaps impossible, except that they do indeed exist in our vaults.
    â€˜It is the job of the Department, of myself, to acquire and research such artefacts, to discover what they really signify – while knowing that my work may never be made public.
    â€˜So why am I telling you this? For two reasons. First, believe it or not, the work of our small Department is on the increase. Now more than ever science seems to throw up things it cannot – will not – understand. As a result I find myself in need of a second assistant to help Mr Berry. It strikes me from what I know of your work, Mr Archer, and from what I have been told byothers, that you would be ideally suited for the position. If you are interested. If not, then so be it. I have told you of my secret Department and its work, but no matter. Even if you wanted to make my work public, which I doubt, who could you tell who would believe you? But I think you would find the work rewarding – financially and intellectually.
    â€˜The second reason I am telling you this relates to Sir Henry Glick’s diary. It seems that tonight someone has gone to great lengths to acquire the final volume of the diary. It may turn out to be nothing to do with my Department at all, but since I have been in some small way involved, I should like to know why.’
    Sir William was looking at George carefully, his expression grave. ‘And I think,’ he finished, ‘that you would like that same question answered, would you not?’
    Again and again George went over the conversation in his head. Again and again he replayed Sir William’s words. The notion of the Department of Unclassified Artefacts was at once both intriguing and a little frightening. And to be offered a job there …