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Welcome to the world of Annabelle Underwood, a audio fiction full of mystery, adventures and exploration set at the beginning of the 20th century.
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Through letters, memories, and fragments of stories, we follow Annabelle Underwood in each of her investigations, each one more incredible than the last.
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Sit back and let yourself be drawn into this new story called Sandy Snow.
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I will now summarize the first part for you, but if you want to listen to it, you can find the link in the description.
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In July 1911, Annabel Underwood joins an expedition to the North Pole.
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Moreover, their progress is abruptly halt when the vessel becomes trapped in the pack ice and suffers severe damage during an Arctic gull.
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Just as repairs are nearly complete after days of labor, a stray ice flow violently strikes the ship once more, watering the bridge as a various new blizzard set in.
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Trapped inside a growing vessel under crushing ice pressure and with moral at rock bottom, the crew desperately seeks an escape from the anxiety.
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The captain then asked Annabelle to recount one of the finest cases to divert their minds, prompting her to begin the tale of the investigation she solved the previous year in Egypt.
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So now I'm reading the letter again.
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Let us stay back in time together, if you will.
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I shall try not to point the finger at the Cupid too earthly, as I am so often prone to do, and as you so frequently reproach me for, yet you know how quickly the connections form in my mind.
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The criminals' guilt often strike me as plain as day.
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Like a clock tricking noon in my head, the cupid's identity reveals itself almost instantly.
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Not always, of course, to her is human after all, but often enough.
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And as you well know, I hate being wrong, I despite it.
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Yet I cannot help but admire the rare criminal capable of outwitting my deductive facilities.
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But I digress, as always.
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Let us return to the matter at hand and begin with the opening chapter of this singular affair.
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Cast your mind back to Egypt late last year.
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I have received an invitation, the grand opening of a magnificent hotel in Heliopolis in early December 1910, the Heliopolis Palace Hotel to be exact.
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A sparkling complex boasting over 400 rooms, a breathtaking establishment, through to be completely candid, I used the occasion primarily to visit a dear acquaintance residing in the country, Professor Yassin Hassan.
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I had met him years earlier during a lecture on Pharaohic Egypt at Imperial College London.
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He had come to present his research on the role and significance of various Egyptian deities across the Pharaohic dynasties, a monumental, thoroughly engrossing study that had kept my mind pleasantly occupied for many afternoons.
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He had once served as an excavation assistant to the renowned professor Hadmed Kamal, a distinguished Egyptologist and senior member of the Egyptian Antiquities Service.
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Yassin himself had been attached to this service for several years, tracking the illicit trade and disappearance of ancient artifacts.
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A thrilling occupation for one that left him precious little time for his personal scholarship.
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Since our first meeting, Yassin and I correspond regularly about our respective adventures and discoveries.
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The hotel opening was therefore the perfect opportunity to reunite in Egypt.
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I arrived in early December 1910 just in time for the opening gala.
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The evening was delightful, but what truly captivated me was exploring the neighbor archaeological sites in Yassin's company over the days that followed.
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We spent about a week surveying the ancient ruins near the hotel.
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The journew by.
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She showed a keen interest in pharaohing Egypt and spent a good part of the evening conversing with Yassim.
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And once the conversation turned to his fiery deity, there was no stopping him.
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Indeed, while Yassim had studied the entire Egyptian pantheon, his true passion lay with the goddess Sekmet, the lion head deity, unbodying destructive fury, war and vengeance, but also healing and the divine protection of Pharis in battles.
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But I digress, I am no Egyptologist.
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The journey through the temples promised to be extraordinary.
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The vessel was to take us up to Abu Simbel before making a leisury return downstream to explore the great lands of upper and lower Egypt, Aswan, tabes with Luxor Karnak and the Valley of the Kings, followed by the extensive stay in Amana, the ancient city of Akinaten, where numerous excavations were underway, before concluding with ascends through Memphis and Cairo.
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In truth, the trio behaved rather poorly, doing little credit to the aristocratic standing and showing controversies for the historical sites.
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They act like small children touching everything, climbing over winds and growing quickly bored at the slightest historical
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explanation.
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Even Brianna, who had initially seemed enthusiastic about the excavations, soon grew as listless as the two others, preferring to lounge on deck rather than accompany us on sight.
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But if I recall correctly, she had once been engaged to a young English archaeologist, Lord James Miles, who had tragically perished a few months prior after becoming lost in the western desert.
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The harsh calimates had claiming only his watch and sinnering had a low skeletal remains to be identified.
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Judging by her carefree demeanour, Brianna appeared to have recovered quite swiftly from the tragedy.
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Neither the three of them nor the circle of about ten companions show much in your interest in the historical itinerary.
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All the better first, Yassin and I were left free to spend interrupted days absorbing the wonders of each site in peace.
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And what a civilization, what a captivating culture.
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Yassin's notebooks were soon filled with intricated notes and inquisit watercolours captivating with remarkable precision the vibrant frescoes adoring the temple walls.
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I arrived too late to witness what had happened, but the tense expressions signaled something grave.
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Charles and Olivia did not share a cabin that night.
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She returned very late to bunk with one of her acquaintance, a certain Elodie Dubois.
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The following morning, at breakfast, Olivia explains that she had coached her lady's maid, red-handed, stealing a precious jewelry.
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Charles has attempted to defend the poor woman, claiming Olivia was letting her imagination run wild with far-fetched details.
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A search of the entire staff was ordered, and during the inspection, Olivia discovered one of her missing earrings in the maid's apron pockets.
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Humiliated, the maid surrendered the jewel, resigned on the spot and fled into the night to catch a first passage back to England.
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Olivia wished to put the sordid business behind her, let the matter rest and allow her to leave.
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Through, she remained fierce with Charles for doubting her words.
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He spent the entire breakfast attempting to make amends and smooth things over.
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The atmosphere along the three remained excessively stained.
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To our surprise, they decided to join us for a scheduled temple visit that afternoon, without any doubt, to clear the air and avoid being trapped together aboard the vessel.
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The entire entourage follows suits like a flock of sheep.
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Thus, our usual quiet Jew swell into a party of nearly 20 wandering the temple ruins.
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They listen with only half a year to the commentary provided by Yassine and our guide.
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After an hour and a half, the guide left us to explore the grounds at our leisure.
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Charles and Brianna says the opportunity almost immediately to begin climbing the ruins.
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With complete disregard for the ancient monstery, they scramble up statues and pillars soon appearing as distant silhouettes perched some 30 feet above the ground.
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Their recklessness astonished me.
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They seemed ultimately oblivious to the mortal danger of scaling those ancient stone ruins.
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Even so, I could not help but admire Brianna's agility.
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Neither a restrictive skirt nor a delicate frame throw her ascent.
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I am not certain I could have climbed so swiftly myself, and I am reasonably nimble.
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Yasin and Rudon Gar shot for them to come down, but that warning fell on deaf ears.
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Reaching the top of the colossal statue's head, the pair gestured, waving down at us and taking in the panoric view.
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When incidentally, Brianna lost her footing and plunged.
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The silence and her fall fell both agonizingly endless and brutally instantaneous.
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Olivia, Yassing, Charles, and I watched in steer horror as her body shattered against the flag stones, her face taking the brunt of the impact.
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Across the massive stone slab of the temple, the young woman's blood began to pool and spread slowly.
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Looking up, I saw Charles still leaning forward, his arm outstretched over the void.
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Had he desperately reached out to catch her or had he punched?
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In that fleeting instance, it was impossible to discern the meaning of the gesture, saver or assassin.
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It was far too distant for me to read the fleeting expressions on his face.
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Murder or the butchered rescue, it was far too early to tell.
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Within seconds, life slipped away from Brianna before our stern eyes.
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Charles cried out from the top of the monument while Olivia collapsed at her feet, her tears striking her dark mascara down her cheeks.
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The rest of the party stood paralyzed, unable to utter a sound.
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Except for Elede, who, beneath our artwork shock, could not entirely suppress a subtletical smoke, and she was not alone.
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While Sarah's onlookers were generally startled, the display of grief was plainly performative.
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Around me, virtually no one seems truly devastated by Brianna's demise.
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There were possible actors, but hardly skilled enough to deceive a train eyes like mine.
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The scene carried an almost theoretical air, reminiscent of the Greek tragedy.
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Olivia's tears seemed excessive for a woman so self-centered.
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Or was it genuine shock at the ghastly sight?
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For the scene was gruesome indeed.
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A broken body and a scattered remains.
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Once again, too early to draw a firm conclusion.
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Stepping closer to the body, one detail struck me immediately.
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The trauma to the face was so severe that visual identification was ultra impossible.
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Only the distinctive closing indicated that the disease was indeed Brianna.
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And that's all for today.
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I really hope you like this story.
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If you do, please follow us and share it to the world with your friends and your family.
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Thank you and see you soon for more adventures with Annabelle on the road.