Prologue-The Circus of Smiles

They called it the Circus of Smiles. A famous circus which travelled the world, bringing smiles to every member of the audience. The performers which caught the audience's eyes were the beautiful sword swallower Natalie, the amazing fire-breather Zohan, the intimidating strongman Hercules and finally, the dashing ringmaster and magician Major Warhol. They were just four of the many performers that made up the Circus of Smiles but everyone would agree that these four and their acts were the best they have seen. Until the Circus of Smiles fell victim to a jealous rival circus. At the dead of a night, after a particularly splendid performance, several performers from a rival circus set alight the tents that were the Circus of Smiles. None survived. Police discovered most of the charred, sad bodies of the best circus in the world. Strangely, the total tally of bodies and parts did not match the full cohort of performers. There were estimated four bodies missing but the bodies they had were too shrivelled to identify who was missing. The case was closed, associated with a freak accident. It was thirty-three years later that the Circus of Smiles was mentioned again and it came about in a most morbid manner.