Black X2

"Black Pearl/Black Ice" are the second and third stories in The Faceless P.I. by Thom Brannan.

Black Pearl


Simon d'Argent and The P.I. are in Chicago, Illinois, to attend the funeral of a friend and colleague of Simon's and to wrap up any loose ends he may have had laying around. Through the late Dixon's effects, Simon and Lucas Agrippa (another colleague) work up a hypothesis of what Dixon was working on last. The P.I. is suspicious of Lucas.

Working with Charles French (Lucas' assistant) the P.I. finds both a ghoul and an inert Shoggoth in the old Chicago tunnels.

Simon discovers what the secret of the Black Pearl is (an item in Dixon's strongbox) and they set off to tie up loose ends.

Black Ice


The P.I. returns to Chicago to tie up other loose ends from the Dixon case, this time accompanied by Io. They are looking for an artifact that a rogue, ex-colleague of Simon's is after. The chase leads them all over Chicago, from site to site, where Io and the P.I. encounter monstrous entities and Io shows his prowess.

The climax of the stories brings them up against a manifestation of Mordiggian, the dark god of the ghouls.