Dr. Barbus's House

The Boston home of Dr. Barbus, the ex–Massachusetts Crime Lab administrator whose prints are on The Zielony Invitation. The crew traveled to Boston a day before the Zielony party and staked it out (Session 7). Exterior surveilled; interior not yet entered.

Observations

Neighbors' reports: Barbus is "losing his marbles." One saw a naked woman in the backyard. Others have heard machinery running inside the house.
The yard: overgrown, but only a couple of months untended — nothing otherwise out of order.
Barbus in person: arrived frazzled, smelling of oil and machinery; gave up little.
Overnight watch: he stayed up all night, moving room to room.
The neighbors are watchful of the investigators.

Something Mechanical Is Happening Inside

Unseen **machinery**, a resident who **reeks of oil** and **never sleeps**, and a **naked woman** glimpsed in the yard — in a case whose "people" are part gears, part flesh and whose night floors are full of **mannequins** and a scissor-lift. The house is running something the neighbors can hear but not see.

Open Questions

What is the machinery, and what is it for?
Who — or what — is the naked woman?
What is inside the rooms Barbus paced all night?