When the group returned to the Hotel Mossop they found the Devil, or close to it, waiting in the lobby. Standing in the lobby, waiting on service was Herr Ludwig von Fell.
Herr von Fell was sixty-eight years of age and stood at a height of five feet and ten and a half inches. He was fairly athletic in build, deathly pale and his hair still retained its black colouration, not a single one even greying. He was square jawed with eyes black as coal and a handlebar mustache that people said had been stolen from Kaiser Wilhelm II, Herr von Fell's former sovereign. Upon his right cheek was a horizontal scar, as if something had slashed. His attire consisted of his uniform from the Franco-Prussian War, pickelhaube excluded at the moment, a monocle that he wore over his right eye and a medal upon the right breast of his uniform's jacket. With him, he had an eagle-headed cane, which Alexander remembered as the thing that Herr von Fell had intended to use to beat him to death when first they met.
With Herr von Fell was his constant companion, that phantasm out of an incubus: the albino chimpanzee Beelzebub. His red eyes were small and beady, his shoulders wide, his front broad, his mouth huge and his white fur stood on end. He was marked from two previous wars, with there being a scar over his left eye and the middle toe of his right foot completely missing. Though standing at a height of three feet and three inches, which was large compared to Alexander and Roxana, Beelzebub was not a massive beast, but one could tell he had been once, now he was little more but an apology of his former self.
The moment Alexander and Beelzebub saw one another, their eyes narrowed. The golden eyes of the caracal stared into the blood-red eyes of the common chimpanzee, both knowing that they looked upon their archenemy.
When Herr von Fell saw Captain Smith, a scornful expression appeared upon the old man's countenance. Staring at this impure mixing of civilized German blood with subhuman Irish blood, the Exiled Herr gripped the head of his cane tightly before, with great effort, putting on a more friendly front.
With arms outstretched as if he was about to give a hug, Herr von Fell stepped forward and said: "Captain Smith, what a pleasure! What brings you and your school here?"
Captain Smith was both younger and taller than Herr von Fell, being forty-five years of age and standing at a height of six feet and four inches. He was a muscular man with three moles to the side of his left eye and two scars on the left side of his face, the most notable of which went through his left eyebrow. His black hair was long and Zeus-like, his handlebar mustache Wyatt Earp-like and his beard a goatee. As his attire consisted of his uniform from the Second Boer War, it consisted of a khaki coat-and-trousers, a white shirt, black boots and a Stetson hat.
Looking upon the Exiled Herr, Captain Smith answered: "We are here for a Halloween celebration at the Royal Ontario Museum for the province's most notable archeologists. What brings you here, Herr von Fell?"
"I am here to show Heinrich to a group of zoologists." Stated Herr von Fell, as he walked past Captain Smith and looked upon Alan. "I say, boy, your head would look marvelous on my wall."
His head? Alexander did not like the sound of that.
"Uh, yes, well…" uttered Alan, not quite sure what to say to that, only to suddenly ask: "Wait a minute, you've seen me before! Why are you only saying that to me now?"
Ignoring him, Herr von Fell then looked at Gemma: "And you, young lady, you would be marvellous in my circus."
"You've seen me before as well, sir." Gemma pointed out. "Why do you only say such a thing now?"
Ignoring her as well, Herr von Fell looked down at Roxana and then Alexander, the latter of whom Herr von Fell had last seen wounded. "They look well, Smith." The growling of Cnut and Emma then caused Herr von Fell to look at the wolfdog and the rough collie with a fearful expression.
Alexander marked well this expression upon the Exiled Herr's countenance, not once knowing that the reactions of canines to Herr von Fell varied with the individuals. Usually, some turned violently aggressive, some turned cautious and some turned outright frightened, but Cnut and Emma it seemed, turned defensive.
"Cnut! Emma! That's enough!" When the two canines ceased with their growling, Captain Smith asked: "Heinrich? The maneless lion you brought back from Tsavo?"
"Heinrich the lion?" Alan asked, incredulous that that was what Herr von Fell had named a lion.
Shaking her head, Gemma replied: "He's German, what do you expect?"
Alexander did not understand what Alan and Gemma were speaking of. He did not know of the twelfth-century Duke of Saxony and Bavaria named Heinrich, whom people called "the Lion". If he had, then the name would have meant more to him.
"A lesser man-eater compared to the Ghost and the Darkness, I will admit, but one I was able to cow nonetheless as one of the beasts of my circus. He is harmless! There is no beast that Herr Ludwig von Fell cannot cow! There is no beast that Herr Ludwig von Fell fears!"
"You looked pretty scared when Cnut and Emma growled at you."
Looking to the students, Herr von Fell espoused an incensed: "Who said that?" None of the students spoke up, causing Herr von Fell to clear his throat and turn his attention to Ms. Lombard. "Have we met? I don't recall ever meeting you."
Herr von Fell looked over the young woman of twenty-eight years. She was five feet and nine inches in height, brown-skinned resulting in, to him, an ambiguous heritage, but to those who knew Ms. Lombard knew here to be half-Cree and half-Swiss. She was slender, brown-eyed, had long black hair and clad in a white dress with shoes of the same colour.
"Herr von Fell, my fiancée Igraine Lombard." Said Captain Smith. "Igraine, this is the Devil, or close to it."
"And the greatest huntsman the world will ever know." Stated Herr von Fell, smiling proudly. "Tiger, oryx, lemur and many another beast have I slain and now their heads and coats are my trophies."
"I've seen you hunt." Commented Captain Smith, while Alexander kept his eyes on Beelzebub. "Your preferred method of killing your quarry is sneak up from behind while they are sleeping."
Herr von Fell glared and growled in annoyance. The moment Herr von Fell pulled a silver whistle from his right pocket, Alexander stared and wondered what the purpose was for the whistle. Upon hearing the excited grunting of Beelzebub, with his red eyes on Captain Smith, the Northern caracal realized what the purpose of the whistle was: Herr von Fell blew it and Beelzebub attacked.
The Exiled Herr was about to blow the whistle when Adolph Marx, a former student of Captain Smith in Herr von Fell's employ and the elder brother of one of the current students Burton Marx, came running into the hotel's lobby, exclaiming: "The maneless lion, sir!"
Quickly looking to the young man, Herr von Fell asked: "Heinrich?"
"He broke free from his cage, slew Mr. Albers and is now roaming the city!"