Die Satansmesse in den Ruinen von Pompeji (The Satanic Mass in the Ruins of Pompeii)

# Catalog Entry

This German-language penny dreadful installment from July 2, 1908, features two serials. The primary story, "A Girl's Abduction" ("Ein Mädchenraub"), presents Sherlock Holmes investigating the mysterious disappearance of Countess Ada Ventura from her locked room on Capri. A letter from her distressed father reaches Holmes in Naples requesting his assistance. Upon visiting the Ventura palace, Holmes interviews the grieving parents and examines Ada's chambers, discovering a pearl-and-diamond cross with broken beads near the window, bloodstains in the gallery, and evidence that one of Ada's evening gowns is missing. The police remain baffled. Holmes notes the door to an old tower—supposedly sealed and impassable—and questions the Count's confident assertions about the girl's abduction, suggesting complications beneath the surface.

The second serial, "The Satanic Mass in the Ruins of Pompeii" ("Die Satansmeſſe in den Ruinen von Pompeji"), is referenced in the header but text is too corrupted to describe its content.