10 July 18—

My dear Mademoiselle Taggart,

Please accept my apologies for the lengthy delay that has preceded this missive. Although I arrived in Constantinople some two weeks ago, I wanted more than just hearsay and rumors before I contacted you with news of your husband's whereabouts. I must admit that I am no closer to learning the truth of his disappearance than I was before I left Nice.

Upon my arrival in Constantinople, I procured the services of a local guide who assured me that he could lead me to the site where Doctor Taggart had gone. After a journey of some two full days, we arrived at the location. Although the countryside leading to the area had been lush with vegetation (relatively speaking, of course), the first thing I noticed when we reached the site was how barren it was. This was no work of grubbing and clearing, either—the site looked as though it had been blown clean of any and all plant life.

Gone, too, were the tents and other trappings of the encampment, all of the tools that Doctor Taggart brought with him, and, indeed, any indication that he or his crew had ever conducted an archaeological dig on this site. My guide spoke little English, but he managed to convey to me his sense of unease at this location. I agreed that we should return to Constantinople. While his intention was to return there permanently, mine was to assemble a group of trustworthy men to conduct an excavation of our own to search for any evidence of the good doctor's expedition.

By week's end I had returned to the site with my team, and we proceeded on our own dig. On the fourth day, just as I was preparing to call a halt to the entire operation due to lack of results, one of the men found Doctor Taggart's journal.

Though I have read his entries from March through May with the strictest attention, I find that I am unable to ascertain your husband's whereabouts. The journal stops near the end of May, with no clear information as to why. The entries leading up to his last are highly peculiar, and I feel that the things they might imply are too far-fetched to accept at face value.

Those I have discussed the site with suggest that Doctor Taggart was foolish to attempt an archaeological dig at this location, which the locals say to be cursed. I am a rational man and want to dismiss such superstitions as folly. But if his own speculations are valid, then I am afraid I may not be able to assist you in locating him.

I send along my transcription of excerpts from the good doctor's journal by this post, so that you might read his observations yourself. I will present you with the journal in person, but I do not entrust it to the mail service in this place. I have procured additional men to assist me in investigating the site and will send you further word at my earliest convenience. The fee you have paid is, at the moment, sufficient to cover these expenses.

Very respectfully yours,

- J

~

From the journal of Doctor Octavius Taggart

 

29 March 18—

After nearly three weeks of work, my men have begun to make progress with our excavations. The vegetation at this site grows at an alarming rate. No amount of hacking at the foliage with machetes has had an impact on its progress. It has only been through the use of fire that my men have been able to hold the vines at bay for more than a few days. The natives that I hired to serve as our cooks tell us that with the end of the rainy season, the plant life will gradually become less active. I hope their estimation is correct.

Our find today was a low wall, less than a meter in length, and a little more than 20 centimeters in height. Nearby landforms suggest that there may be other segments of this wall in close proximity. Now that we have a starting point, I have directed my men to focus on the most likely paths of other pieces of the wall. Once we have established the boundaries of this structure, we can focus on the interior portions, where the goods we find may suggest the function that this place once had.

 

7 April 18—

The segment of wall that my men unearthed just over one week hence has proven itself to be a strange maze-like series of small walls. Their function is no clearer than it was the day we found the first. So far, we have located seven distinct pieces, none more than three meters in length, and varying only slightly in height from one piece to the next. One of my men, a good native chap who calls himself Horace, has been sketching the segments as they uncover them, but his drawings do not yet suggest any pattern to their placement.

I return to Constantinople in the morning, to hire more men. As the size of this excavation expands, the need to keep the vegetation at bay becomes more pressing.

 

13 April 18—

After five days away from the dig, I was astonished on my return to learn that my men have found thirty-seven additional wall segments. My earlier estimation of these pieces as part of a maze seems to be given additional credence by Horace's sketches. I am certain now that these walls did not surround a dwelling, a temple, or any other type of building that I have encountered in previous digs. I have sent word back to Nice, requesting issues of several recent journals that contain papers on the concept of labyrinths in early cultures. I do not recall any such finds in this particular region, but feel that consulting the scholarly record may be illuminating.

 

15 April 18—

Our labyrinth continues to grow. I have sent a group of five of my men in each of the cardinal directions, to a distance of fifty meters, where they are each to dig until they reach a portion of the walls. The labyrinth may not be as large as this, but I feel that our investigations will be benefited by finding the outer boundaries.

My men have asked if we will be digging deeper, rather than wider, to find any treasures associated with this site. For the time being, I have indicated that such remains our ultimate goal. I suspect, however, that the riches of which they dream will not be found in a labyrinth. Inevitably, only my colleagues can appreciate the intrinsic value of this site.

 

17 April 18—

For the past two nights, my dreams have been filled with the labyrinth. We have ascertained that it covers an area approximately 150 meters in diameter. We have located curvilinear walls that appear to be the outer boundaries, and our initial mapping reveals that the labyrinth is a perfect circle. We have not, as yet, located the entrance or exit to the maze.

With regard to my dreams, they have been fleeting. Tonight, I sleep with my journal and pen at my side, so that I might record the details when they are fresh in my mind.

 

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