<span class="bbc_u"><strong>Known Characters.</strong></span>Please accept that all knowledge presented herein is presented imperfectly.  Some characters will know certain facts about characters that other characters will not know.<br/><br/><div class="floatleft">(https://db4sgowjqfwig.cloudfront.net/images/2687978/Smith.jpg)</div><hr/><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong>J. A. SMITH | 54 | PROFESSOR OF LANGUAGES</strong></span><hr/><br/>Professor Julius Arthur Smith, Litt. D., Ph.D., is 54-year-old heavy-set Englishman, a scholar who now devotes himself entirely to research.  He is famed for his whiskers and great curling mustaches that give him the air of a friendly walrus.  His disgusting preferences in tobaccos (especially his favorite, a foul, obsidian-hued Balkan Sobranje), his erudite after-dinner stories, and his hearty laugh are trademarks.<br/><br/>Dr. Smith has lived and traveled extensively on the Continent.  His specialties are European languages and archaeology; his Litt.D. was conferred by the University of Vienna.<br/><br/>Generally, he has helped other investigators by rendering difficult translations.  Now, his attention has shifted to matters parapsychological, with excellent result.<br/><br/>When in London, Smith spends most of his time lecturing at the University of London or reading at the British Museum library.  His country home is an estate not far Macclesfield in Cheshire, England.  Margaret, his wife, died in 1919.  These days his manservant Bedews, who is at once friend, assistant, and confidant, is his only companion.<br/><br/><hr/>