Case 9 - The Prison of Campe

Leo Winterhold had learned that museum owners came in two varieties: those who collected antiques because they appreciated history, and those who collected them because they wanted to own something nobody else could afford.

The latter tended to be considerably more irritating.

So when a museum owner called to report that several newly acquired Greek artefacts had been stolen, Leo was expecting a tedious investigation involving insurance claims, security footage and a long list of suspects.

What he wasn’t expecting was a missing employee.

Or the fact that whatever had broken into the museum appeared to be several times larger than a man.

He should probably have known better by now.

The museum stood in one of Seattle’s older districts, occupying a converted stone building that had once served as a bank. Its grand entrance and tall windows gave it an imposing appearance, although the police tape stretched across the doors somewhat spoiled the effect.

Leo ducked beneath the tape after showing his identification to the officer on duty.

Inside, the museum owner was waiting beside a reception desk. Dr Helena Voss was a woman in her early fifties, with short auburn hair, sharp features and the exhausted expression of someone who had spent the entire morning explaining the same disaster to different people.

"Mr Winterhold. Thank you for coming.”

“Leo’s fine. I save the formalities for people who are about to sue me.”

She managed a tired smile.

“I was told you specialise in unusual cases.”

“That’s one way of describing it. What happened?”

Helena led him into the main exhibition hall.

Several display cabinets stood empty, their glass shattered across the polished floor. A plinth had been overturned, and one of the walls bore a deep gouge that looked as though something enormous had dragged a claw through it.

Leo stopped beside the damage.

“That’s not your average burglar.”

“No. I don’t believe it was.”

Helena explained that the museum had recently received a shipment of artefacts recovered from an archaeological discovery deep beneath the Aegean Sea, not far from Crete. The objects were believed to have come from an ancient Greek complex that had been submerged for thousands of years.

Among the finds were bronze instruments, carved stone tablets, ceremonial objects and several pieces whose original purposes remained uncertain.

“They were due to go on display next week,” she explained. “We’d only finished cataloguing them yesterday.”

“And now?”

“Most of the shipment has disappeared. Along with one of my staff.”

Leo turned towards her.

“An employee?”

“Sarah Mitchell. She’s one of our research assistants. She was working late last night, checking the inventory before the exhibition opened. We haven’t been able to reach her since the break-in.”

“Have the police found anything?”

“They’ve found no sign of her leaving the building. Her car is still outside, and her personal belongings are in the staff room.”

Leo looked back at the damaged cabinets.

“Then we’d better start with what happened here.”

Helena took him to the security office, where a technician had been reviewing the footage.

The first few hours showed nothing unusual. Staff had left the building, the doors had been secured, and the exhibition halls had remained empty.

Then, shortly after midnight, the lights in the main hall flickered.

A shadow passed across the wall.

Leo leaned closer to the monitor.

It was enormous.

Something moved beyond the camera’s field of view, casting a shape across the floor that stretched almost the entire length of the exhibition hall. A display cabinet shook violently, then toppled over. Glass exploded across the room.

Another shadow swept past.

The camera trembled.

Then came the sound of something striking the wall.

The technician paused the recording.

“That’s where we lose the clearest footage,” he said. “Whatever it was, it knocked the camera out of alignment.”

“Can you keep playing it?”

The recording resumed.

For several seconds, nothing moved. Then a woman appeared at the far end of the hall.

Sarah.

She looked terrified. She glanced towards the unseen presence, then hurried behind a stone plinth, crouching low as something moved past her hiding place.

The camera flickered.

The image dissolved into static.

Leo sat back.

“Well, that explains why you called me.”

Helena folded her arms.

“What was it?”

“If I knew that, I’d be considerably more relaxed.”

He turned back to the screen.

“Can I watch that last section again?”

“Of course. I’ll leave you to it.”

Once Helena had gone, Leo replayed the final minute, slowing the footage and examining it frame by frame.

He watched Sarah hide.

He watched the shadow move.

Then, just before the camera failed, something small and shiny fell into the corner of the frame. It struck the floor, bounced once and disappeared out of view.

Leo paused the recording.

“Now, what are you?”

He enlarged the image. The object was too blurred to identify, but it was clearly metallic.

He checked the floor plan and worked out where the camera had been pointing.

A few minutes later, he was crouched beside the damaged plinth, searching through the debris.

He found the object wedged beneath a broken section of display case.

It was a ring, fashioned from dark metal and covered in tiny Greek inscriptions. One side had been bent out of shape, and a small attachment on its outer edge looked as though something had once been fixed to it.

Leo turned it over in his palm.

The metal was cold.

Not ordinary cold, either. It carried a faint, unpleasant sensation that prickled against his skin.

He slipped it into an evidence bag and continued searching.

A few feet away, half-hidden beneath the plinth, he found something else.

A curved, dark object about the length of his thumb.

A claw.

It was harder than bone, with a polished surface and a sharp tip. Ancient markings ran along its length, matching those on the ring.

Leo held the two objects beside each other.

“Well, that’s interesting.”

He had a feeling these weren’t ordinary museum pieces.

And if they were connected to whatever had entered the building, he was going to need to find out how.

Back at his office, Leo spread the photographs and notes across his desk.

The ring and claw sat beside the image of the damaged exhibition hall. He’d already run a few searches on the artefacts recovered from the Aegean, but the information was frustratingly incomplete.

Several records mentioned a bronze automaton associated with the island of Crete.

Talos.

According to Greek mythology, Talos was a gigantic bronze guardian who protected Crete from invaders, circling the island and hurling stones at approaching ships. Different accounts described him as a creation of Hephaestus or a gift from Zeus to King Minos.

Leo stared at the photograph of the claw.

A giant guardian.

Ancient Greek artefacts.

A creature powerful enough to tear apart a museum.

It was a connection, though hardly a definitive one.

“Right,” he muttered. “Let’s see who else was in the building.”

He returned to the security footage and began searching the cameras outside the museum.

The official system showed very little, but Leo had other methods. A little digging into the building’s network gave him access to a separate camera feed that hadn’t been included in the police’s review.

At 11:47 p.m., a woman appeared on the pavement outside the museum.

She was dressed in a long Greek robe, its pale fabric covering her from head to toe. Her face was hidden beneath a hood, and she moved with an unnerving stillness, barely seeming to disturb the rain falling around her.

She stopped beneath a streetlight.

Then she disappeared.

Leo blinked.

He rewound the footage.

There one moment.

Gone the next.

He watched it again, looking for a cut in the recording or a technical fault. There was nothing. The timestamp continued uninterrupted.

Several minutes later, the woman reappeared at the edge of the frame.

This time, she was carrying a large bag over one shoulder.

It hung at her side as though it contained almost nothing.

She walked away from the museum without looking back.

Leo followed her across the available camera feeds, tracking her through several streets before she disappeared from view near an abandoned industrial district.

He leaned back in his chair.

“Teleportation, invisibility, or a very impressive talent for avoiding cameras.”

He wasn’t particularly keen on any of those possibilities.

A few more searches led him to a derelict building at the edge of the district. It had once been used as a storage facility, but the property had been abandoned for years.

Locals referred to it as the Croft.

Leo checked the address, grabbed his coat and slipped the claw and ring into his pocket.

If the mysterious woman had taken the stolen artefacts there, he intended to find out why.

And if Sarah was still alive, he was bringing her home.

The Croft looked even worse in person.

The building was a squat structure of weathered stone, with boarded windows and a roof that had partially collapsed. Weeds grew through cracks in the paving, and the main entrance hung slightly open.

Leo approached cautiously.

There were no obvious signs of recent activity, but the air around the building felt strange. The closer he came, the more he could sense a faint magical presence, like a pressure building behind his eyes.

He pushed the door open.

Inside, the building was almost entirely empty. Dust covered the floor, and old wooden beams lay scattered beneath the collapsed roof.

At the rear of the building, he found a staircase descending into darkness.

He activated Noctivida and began making his way down.

The stairs continued far longer than he expected, spiralling beneath the Croft until the air grew cold and the smell of damp stone became overwhelming.

Eventually, he reached the bottom.

The passage ended at a solid wall.

Leo frowned.

He ran his hand over the stonework, searching for a seam or a hidden mechanism. The wall was smooth and unbroken, apart from a shallow indentation near the centre.

He stepped back.

“Of course. A secret entrance. Why would anything ever be straightforward?”

He took the claw from his pocket and examined the indentation.

It was almost the right shape.

He carefully placed the claw into the recess.

Nothing happened.

Leo tried pressing it further into the stone, but it refused to move.

He withdrew it and examined the ring.

The markings on both objects seemed to share the same pattern. He turned the ring over, noticing a small notch on the inner edge that matched the base of the claw.

“You’re a key, aren’t you?”

He slid the ring onto the claw’s base and returned the combined object to the indentation.

This time, it fitted perfectly.

A deep rumble echoed through the passage.

The wall shuddered.

Then the stone began to move, sliding sideways into the darkness and revealing a staircase descending even further beneath the earth.

Leo stared into the newly opened passage.

“Well, that’s reassuring.”

He stepped through.

The wall closed behind him.

The staircase descended into an enormous underground complex.

Leo emerged onto a narrow stone platform overlooking a vast chamber, and for a moment, he simply stood there, taking it all in.

It was a prison.

Not the sort of prison built to hold ordinary criminals, but an ancient fortress designed to contain things that should never be allowed to escape.

The walls were constructed from enormous blocks of dark stone, their surfaces carved with Greek inscriptions and images of chained figures. Iron gates divided the chamber into rows of cells, each secured by thick bars and heavy locks. Some cells were empty. Others contained strange objects covered in chains, their shapes barely visible in the darkness.

Walkways crossed the chamber at different levels, connected by narrow staircases and stone bridges. Iron rings had been fixed into the walls, and enormous chains hung from the ceiling, disappearing into the shadows above.

At the far end stood a raised platform surrounded by pillars. Strange symbols had been carved into the floor, forming a series of overlapping circles around a central stone altar.

Blue flames burned in wall-mounted braziers, casting an unnatural light across the chamber.

There were no guards.

No obvious signs of life.

Yet the place felt occupied.

Leo stepped onto the nearest walkway, his boots echoing against the stone.

“Right,” he whispered. “An underground prison filled with mysterious artefacts. Nothing about this suggests a terrible idea.”

He began searching the cells.

Some contained broken pottery and rusted weapons. Others held stone tablets covered in inscriptions. One cell contained a collection of bronze fragments that seemed to shift whenever he looked away.

He didn’t touch anything.

He’d learned that lesson the hard way.

After several minutes, he heard a faint sound from a cell near the back of the chamber.

A voice.

“Hello?”

Leo hurried towards it.

A young woman stood behind the bars, clutching them with both hands. She looked exhausted, with dishevelled brown hair and a tear-streaked face. Her clothes were dirty, and there was a bruise along her forehead.

Sarah Mitchell.

“Sarah?”

She stared at him in disbelief.

“Who are you?”

“Leo Winterhold. I’ve been hired to find you.”

She looked as though she might collapse with relief.

“You’re real?”

“I certainly hope so. I’d hate to discover I’ve been hallucinating this entire investigation.”

Sarah let out a shaky laugh.

“What is this place? Where am I?”

“That’s what I’m trying to work out. Are you hurt?”

“Nothing serious. She brought me here after the break-in. I don’t know why.”

“Who?”

“The woman in the robe. She took the artefacts and brought me down here. She said they were dangerous and that they couldn’t be allowed to remain in the hands of ordinary people.”

Leo glanced towards the surrounding cells.

“She has an interesting way of making that point.”

Sarah gripped the bars more tightly.

“She said I had no idea what I’d been working with. I was just cataloguing the shipment. I didn’t even know what half the objects were.”

“I believe you.”

“Can you get me out?”

Leo examined the lock.

“Yes. But first, I need to find out who she is and what she intends to do with the artefacts. Stay here, and keep away from anything that looks unusual.”

Sarah gave him a weary look.

“Everything here looks unusual.”

“Fair point. Just don’t touch anything.”

He turned away, intending to search the rest of the complex.

He’d taken only a few steps when a voice spoke behind him.

“Who are you, and why are you in my prison?”

Leo stopped.

He turned slowly.

A woman stood on the walkway above him, looking down with an expression of mild curiosity. She wore the same ancient Greek robe he’d seen on the security footage, although now the hood was lowered, revealing a pale face and dark hair that fell over her shoulders.

She looked almost human.

Almost.

There was something about her eyes that made Leo uneasy. They were too still, too ancient, and they held a faint golden glimmer that seemed to catch the light from the braziers.

She descended the staircase without making a sound.

Leo watched her approach.

“I could ask you the same question.”

“You are in my prison.”

“And you’ve kidnapped a museum worker.”

“She is not a prisoner in the same sense as the others.”

Leo glanced towards Sarah’s cell.

“She seems to disagree.”

The woman studied him.

“She brought artefacts into the world that mortals cannot safely contain. They belong here, where they can be guarded.”

“She was cataloguing a shipment. She didn’t know what she had.”

“That does not make the objects less dangerous.”

“No, but it does make locking her in a cell seem a little excessive.”

For the first time, the woman’s expression changed. A faint smile touched her lips, though it held no warmth.

“You speak boldly for someone who has entered my domain without permission.”

“I’ve been told it’s a character flaw.”

She moved closer.

Leo felt a wave of power roll through the chamber, so strong that the flames in the braziers flickered. The ancient symbols on the walls seemed to darken, and the chains hanging from the ceiling began to sway.

He had met powerful supernatural beings before.

This woman was different.

Her magic didn’t feel like something she’d learned. It felt like something she was.

Leo studied her face, the ancient robes and the unnatural stillness with which she moved.

Then he remembered the records he’d read about the artefacts recovered from the Aegean.

The ancient Greek prison.

The impossible strength.

The claw and ring that had opened the entrance.

He felt a cold certainty settle over him.

“You’re Campe, aren’t you?”

The woman tilted her head.

“That name is not often spoken by mortals.”

“That’s generally a good sign.”

She regarded him for a long moment.

“Yes. I am Campe.”

Leo had heard the name before. In Greek mythology, Campe was a monstrous guardian associated with Tartarus, the prison beneath the world where the Titans and other dangerous beings had been confined. Ancient accounts described her as a fearsome creature appointed to guard the prisoners of the underworld.

The stories disagreed on the details of her appearance, but they all agreed on one thing.

She was not someone to be taken lightly.

Leo looked around the prison again.

“Let me guess. This is your little project?”

“These chambers were built to contain beings whose power threatened the world. The gods entrusted me with their custody. Over the ages, the prison has changed, but my purpose has not.”

“And the artefacts?”

“Many are remnants of ancient powers. Others are keys, weapons or fragments of things that should never be reassembled. They are safer here than in a museum.”

“Then perhaps you should consider explaining that to people before you lock them up.”

Campe’s smile widened slightly.

“You have an unusual understanding of authority.”

“I’ve found that people who insist on it tend to be hiding something.”

For a moment, the chamber was silent.

Then Campe laughed.

It was a low, unexpected sound, and something about it made the hairs on Leo’s arms rise.

“You are either very brave or very foolish, Leo Winterhold.”

“Usually a little of both.”

She looked towards Sarah’s cell.

“You have come to retrieve the woman.”

“That’s the general idea.”

“And what would you offer in exchange?”

Leo reached into his pocket and removed the ring and claw.

Campe’s expression changed.

She stepped closer, her golden eyes fixed on the objects.

“Where did you find those?”

“In the museum. They were left behind during the theft.”

He held them out.

“The ring and claw appear to be connected to the prison’s entrance. I’m guessing they’re yours.”

Campe examined the objects without taking them.

“The claw was once part of me. The ring was made to command the entrance to these chambers. Together, they allow a worthy bearer to pass through the outer seal.”

Leo glanced at the claw.

“Part of you?”

“Yes.”

He considered that for a moment.

“That’s a rather unpleasant way to lose a fingernail.”

Campe laughed again.

“You are entertaining.”

“I’ve been told.”

Leo reached into his other pocket and produced a small bronze object he’d recovered from the museum debris. It was shaped like a narrow, curved plate, with a tiny groove running down its centre. He’d picked it up after noticing the same markings on the photograph of the stolen artefacts.

He hadn’t been certain what it was, but the symbols had reminded him of the descriptions of Talos he’d found during his research.

“This was also taken from the museum. I suspect it has something to do with Talos, though I haven’t worked out exactly what.”

Campe’s gaze settled on the bronze object.

For the first time, she looked genuinely surprised.

“Where did you find that?”

“In the exhibition hall. It was overlooked in the confusion.”

She held out her hand.

Leo placed the object in her palm.

Campe turned it over, studying the markings with an expression he couldn’t quite read.

“This is a fragment of a binding mechanism. It was designed to regulate the power of an ancient guardian. Without it, the artefact it belongs to could become unstable.”

“Then I suppose it’s a good thing I found it.”

“Indeed.”

She looked back at him.

“You offer me the means to restore something dangerous, and you ask only for the release of one mortal?”

“She didn’t do anything wrong.”

Campe considered him for a long moment.

Then she nodded.

“Very well. The woman may leave.”

Leo exhaled quietly.

“Excellent. I was hoping we’d reach the sensible part of the conversation.”

Campe extended the hand holding the claw and ring, then seemed to reconsider. She pushed the ring towards him and kept the bronze fragment.

“Keep the claw. My kind does not suffer from the same limitations as mortals. It will grow back.”

Leo looked at the claw in his hand.

“That’s good to know. I was beginning to worry I’d need to find a replacement.”

Campe stepped aside.

“Take the woman and leave this place. Do not return without cause.”

“Trust me, I have no intention of making this a regular visit.”

He turned towards Sarah’s cell.

Behind him, Campe spoke once more.

“Leo Winterhold.”

He paused.

“Yes?”

“I suspect we shall meet again.”

He glanced over his shoulder.

“Is that a threat?”

Her smile returned.

“Not necessarily.”

Leo wasn’t entirely reassured.

Sarah was free within minutes.

Campe had unlocked the cell herself, and the young woman hurried out, looking around the chamber as though she expected the walls to close in on her at any moment.

“Are we really allowed to leave?”

“Apparently,” Leo replied. “Try not to question it too much. I’m worried she’ll change her mind.”

Sarah followed him towards the entrance.

They climbed the stairs in silence, the ancient prison disappearing behind them as the hidden wall sealed itself once more.

When they emerged into the Croft, Sarah stopped to catch her breath.

“Who was that woman?”

Leo considered his answer.

“Someone who takes her job very seriously.”

“That’s all you’re going to tell me?”

“For now.”

She looked at him for a moment, then nodded.

“I don’t think anyone would believe me if I told them what happened.”

“Probably not. And if they do, I’d recommend finding a different museum to work at.”

Sarah gave a weak laugh.

“I think I might find a different career entirely.”

“Understandable. Have you considered something less dangerous? Accounting, perhaps?”

“I’ve never been good with numbers.”

“Neither have I. It’s why I became an investigator.”

For the first time since he’d found her, Sarah smiled properly.

They made their way back to the museum just as the police were preparing to leave.

Helena rushed towards Sarah the moment she saw her.

“Sarah! Thank God. Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” Sarah replied, though her voice was still shaky. “I’m just glad to be back.”

Helena embraced her, then turned towards Leo.

“What happened? Where were you?”

Leo glanced at Sarah.

She looked at him, waiting.

He gave a small shrug.

“The artefacts are gone. Whoever took them had a reason for doing so, and I don’t think you’re going to get them back.”

Helena’s expression fell.

“But Sarah?”

“She’s safe. That’s what matters.”

The museum owner looked as though she wanted to ask a hundred questions, but something in Leo’s expression stopped her.

“Thank you,” she said quietly. “I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t found her.”

“Let’s hope we never have to find out.”

Sarah stepped forward.

“I won’t tell anyone what happened. I don’t think I could explain it even if I tried.”

“That’s probably for the best.”

Leo gave her a reassuring smile before turning towards the exit.

Behind him, the museum continued its slow return to normality. Police officers gathered their equipment, Helena began making calls, and Sarah was led away to receive medical attention.

The case was closed.

At least, as far as anyone else was concerned.

Back at his office, Leo sat at his desk and examined the claw Campe had allowed him to keep.

It was an unusual souvenir.

He’d collected strange objects before, but this one felt different. There was a faint magical resonance within it, something ancient and powerful that seemed to respond whenever he touched it.

He placed it beside the ring and began making notes about the prison, the artefacts and Campe herself.

There was a great deal he still didn’t understand.

Why had Campe allowed him to leave so easily? What exactly was she guarding beneath Seattle? And how many other objects had been hidden away in her prison over the centuries?

He suspected he would eventually discover the answers.

He wasn’t sure he wanted to.

A movement caught his eye.

Leo looked towards the office window.

For a brief moment, he saw a woman standing on the pavement outside, dressed in an ancient Greek robe. Her dark hair stirred in the breeze, and her golden eyes were fixed on him.

She was smiling.

Leo stood and moved towards the window.

By the time he reached it, she was gone.

He looked down the street, searching the passing pedestrians and the shadows between the buildings.

Nothing.

Leo remained at the window for several seconds before slowly stepping back.

“Well,” he muttered, returning to his desk, “that’s not ominous at all.”

He sat down and looked at the claw.

Then he looked at the empty window.

He had a feeling Campe hadn’t finished with him.

And, judging by the smile she’d left behind, he suspected she was rather looking forward to whatever came next.