Maria Pook

• Student of Professor Demir in Constantinople. Young woman, perhaps in her twenties. Ink-stained fingers
• Volunteered to follow Menkaph from Constantinople to London when Menkaph came into possession of The Blood Red Veil
• Surveilled Menkaph’s cult as they staked out 3 Blithering Lane, Rotherhithe (the veil collector’s house). Kept a journal hidden in her mattress at her flat in Lambeth (4A, top floor)
• Decided to steal the Blood Red Veil from Menkaph’s lodgings while Menkaph was in Rotherhithe. Professor Demir warned her against it. She was confident no one saw her
• Mrs-Leeds brought her to 5 Durward Street under the opium cover story. The veil was placed on her face and left to grow into her skin
• Julia-Smith identified her by name after the veil fell away at the moment of death
• Died at the stroke of midnight, January 1, 1893. Reanimated as a corporeal dark thing that bit half of Dr. Hobbs’s face off. Amelia destroyed it with two revolver shots
• Body is headless, skin in tatters, left in situ at 5 Durward Street with Mrs. Grim
• A photograph recovered from her flat shows her as she was: a beloved daughter. Her parents sent it in an envelope
• Demir has not been informed of her death