Crossover of the Week

December 1896

CUT THE BRANCH

Appearing or mentioned are: the Black Coats; Joséphine Balsamo; the House of Crafts; Dr. Antonio Nikola; Catarina Corbucci; Count Salvatore Corbucci; Professor James Moriarty; Madame Fourneau’s College for Young Women; Norman Head; Noel Moriarty; Irina Putine; the Chupin Detective Agency; Urania Caber; the golden ram crest of the Cagliostro family; the Gentlemen of the Night; Orianne Coyatier; Rochelle Moreau; Ramirez; Professor Chavain; Madame Sara (aka Sarah Warrender); Colleen Pegler; the White Lodge; Frank Moran; Colonel Sebastian Moran; Patrick Dickson; Hamish Webb; Stangerson’s Disassociation of Matter Through Electricity; the Brotherhood of the Seven Kings; Gordo Reloj; Pilar; Aguilar; the All-Father; Dominick Moriarty; Marga Sandorf; Aristide Orlowsky Sandorf; Baron Von Schulenberg; Manny Bennet; Solly Bennet; Corben Caine; Wilmot Rogers; Jefferson Gonzales; the Lanky Gunman; the Yankee Whistler; a friend of Gordo’s; Dupont-Verdier (aka Satanas); Jillian Blake; Leonard; Etienne Cressy Raimond D’Arcourt; Sharita; the Duchy of Strackenz; the Thuggee cult’s alliance with Naga worshippers; Achmet Genghis Khan; Gruesome Clayton; Carfax Abbey; Dracula; and Ballmeyer.

Short story by Rick Lai in Sisters of the Shadows: The Cagliostro Curse, Black Coat Press, 2013. The Black Coats are a criminal conspiracy featured in novels by Paul Féval. Orianne Coyatier is the granddaughter of Jean-François Coyatier (aka the Marchef), who acted as the Black Coats’ executioner. The All-Father is the leader of the Black Coats. The Gentlemen of the Night are from Féval’s The Mysteries of London. Joséphine Balsamo battled Arsène Lupin in Maurice Leblanc’s The Countess of Cagliostro. Leonard is also from that novel. The House of Crafts is an allusion to the criminal organization known as Krafthaus in John Buchan’s The Power-House. Dr. Antonio Nikola is a scientist and criminal mastermind featured in novels by Guy Boothby. Catarina Corbucci is meant to be Madame Koluchy from L. T. Meade and Robert Eustace’s The Brotherhood of the Seven Kings. Norman Head is also from Meade and Eustace’s novel. Madame Sara is from Meade and Eustace’s The Sorceress of the Strand; her alias of Sarah Warrender is meant to imply she is the mother of Miss Warrender from Arthur Conan Doyle’s “Uncle Jeremy’s Household.” Achmet Genghis Khan was identified as Miss Warrender’s father in Doyle’s tale. Count Salvatore Corbucci dueled with A. J. Raffles in E. W. Hornung’s “The Fate of Faustina” and “The Last Laugh.” Professor James Moriarty is Sherlock Holmes’ archenemy. Noel Moriarty (whose full name is James Noel Moriarty) is the Professor’s younger brother mentioned in The Valley of Fear. Colonel Sebastian Moran is Professor Moriarty’s second-in-command from “The Adventure of the Empty House.” In The Power-House, the Krafthaus’ leader Andrew Lumley lives in a house called the White Lodge; the implication of the White Lodge reference in Lai’s story is Lumley is actually Noel Moriarty. Madame Fourneau’s College for Young Women is from the Spanish horror film La Residencia. Irina Putine is an alias for Irene Tupin from the same film. Professor Chavain is based on Madame Fourneau’s reference to her former student, a noted botanist. The Chupin Detective Agency, run by Victor “Toto” Chupin, is from the works of Emile Gaboriau. Urania Caber is meant to be Urania Moriarty, the Professor’s daughter, whose existence was revealed by Philip José Farmer in Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life. Jillian Blake is based on a reference to a Jill Fagin who married a Blake in Farmer’s book. The golden ram crest of the Cagliostro family is from the animated Lupin III film The Castle of Cagliostro. Rochelle Moreau is the daughter of H. G. Wells’ Dr. Moreau and the niece of Bernard Moreau, who is mentioned in La Residencia. Tuco Benedicto Pacifico Juan Maria Ramirez is from the film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. “Colleen Pegler” is an alias for Peg Cullane from Louis L’Amour’s The Man Called Noon. Frank Moran is Francis “Colt” Moran from the film Today It’s Me…Tomorrow You! Patrick Dickson is meant to be Tricky the Gambler from the movie The Fighting Fists of Shanghai Joe. Hamish Webb is meant to be James Webb from the movie Black Killer. Stangerson’s Disassociation of Matter Through Electricity is from Gaston Leroux’s first Rouletabille novel, The Mystery of the Yellow Room. Ballmeyer is Rouletabille’s father. Gordo Reloj is meant to be Gordo Watch from the film Arizona Colt (aka The Man from Nowhere); “reloj”is Spanish for “watch.” Pilar and Aguilar are from the film A Stranger in Town. Dominick Moriarty is meant to be Dominick Medina from John Buchan’s The Three Hostages. Marga Sandorf is the niece of the title character of Jules Verne’s novel Mathias Sandorf. Aristide Orlowsky Sandorf is meant to be the Hungarian villain Orlowsky from the movie Django Strikes Again. Baron Von Schulenberg is from the movie The Big Gundown. Manny Bennet is meant to be Manuel from the film Cemetery Without Crosses. Corben Caine and Wilmot Rogers are Ben Caine and Will Rogers from the same film. Solly Bennet is Solomon “Beauregard” Bennet from the movie Face to Face. Jefferson Gonzales is from the film Ringo and His Golden Pistol. The Lanky Gunman is Hank “Lanky” Fellows from the movie A Taste for Killing. The Yankee Whistler is the title character of the movie Yankee. Gordo’s friend is Frank Talby from the movie Day of Anger. Satanas is from Louis Feuillade’s film serial Les Vampires; in the English language translation of the serial, Satanas’ real name is given as Claude Dupont-Verdier. Etienne Cressy Raimond D’Arcourt and Sharita are from Gardner F. Fox’s novel Woman of Kali. The Duchy of Strackenz is from George MacDonald Fraser’s Royal Flash; here, it is implied to be the same country as the Duchy of Cagliostro from The Castle of Cagliostro. The alliance between the Thuggee and Naga worshippers is from Emilio Salgari’s Sandokan novels. Gruesome Clayton is Sir William Clayton from Farmer’s Tarzan Alive and Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life. Carfax Abbey is from Bram Stoker’s Dracula.