Vladimir Torin’s "The Mystery of 12 Rue Florette" (Summary)

"The Mystery of 12 Rue Florette" is a dark, mystical tale about carnivorous plants skillfully disguised as humans. The novel was written in 2025. Its central theme is the dense atmosphere of the mechanical, foggy city of Gabin, where ordinary houseplants can mutate into gigantic, bloodthirsty monsters that subtly manipulate the minds of careless citizens. The novel is part of the "Mysterious Stories from Gabin" series (also known as "…from Gabin") and is the fifth book in the series. The series also includes such works as "And the Light Goes Out," "My Post-Imago," "Of Noses and Locks," and "The Dead Man from the Street of Blue Chimneys."

Strange illness on the Rue Florette

Young Kitty Brown approaches Dr. Nathaniel Francis Dow. Due to weak bones, she uses steam-powered roller skates. She tells of a terrifying illness that has struck the residents of the old house at number 12 Brilliant Moe Canal. Those infected cough incessantly, their skin turns green, and thick green tears flow from their eyes. Dr. Dow suspects the presence of an unknown "disease-beast."

Together with his nephew Jasper, the doctor goes to the indicated address. Upon arrival, they encounter open hostility from the neighbors. Grandmother Kitty, the stern Mrs. Brown, and the gruff police constable Schnapper categorically refuse to let the doctors in. Schnapper had previously arrested a petty thief, Pip Finlay, in the square and taken him to the house to feed him to the plant.

Nathaniel Doe notices a strange flower under a glass case in the hallway of his house — a "Blood Lily." Crimson sparks of pollen from this flower scatter throughout the building through a crack in the glass. Later, the doctor goes to the abandoned garden of the scientific society GNOPM to meet with Professor Munish. However, the professor turns out to be insane and tries to feed Nathaniel to a giant flytrap. The doctor is saved by a mysterious stranger with a machete.

Jasper also infiltrates house number 12 disguised as a student of Mrs. Pattney, the local music teacher. During a violin lesson, the boy discovers a mountain of clothes belonging to eaten children in her closet. Mrs. Pattney begins to transform into a fanged creature. Dr. Doe manages to tranquilize her just in time. The monster breaks free from its restraints and escapes.

Polly’s Secret Investigation

Polly Trick, the doctor’s housekeeper’s niece, decides to conduct her own investigation. Together with Jasper, she breaks into the apartment of Mr. Drabblow, the reclusive new tenant of the canal house. The children find a suitcase containing cards marking infected people throughout Tremple Tall. They conclude that Mr. Drabblow is a brutal serial poisoner. Suddenly, the tenant returns, and the children miraculously manage to hide in the wardrobe.

Later, Polly goes to the city archives. She pores over old newspaper files and expedition lists, uncovering disturbing details about the house’s past. That same evening, she attends tea with Mrs. Brown. The hostess behaves strangely, and the cake she serves turns out to be filled with live earthworms.

Unable to resist the strange intoxication, the girl drinks bitter tea and loses consciousness. Kitty tries to save her friend, but her grandmother brutally beats her granddaughter and locks her in a room. Polly is carried to a damp underground cellar. There, Mrs. Tiers’s terrifying children guard her sternly, promising to soon feed the captive to the Foremother.

The True Face of Mr. Drabblow

Dr. Dow arranges a meeting with Mr. Drabblow at the gloomy Café Malice. This identity is that of Sir Walter Pembrose, a carnivorous plant hunter exiled by his colleagues whose grandfather was once eaten by a flycatcher. The hunter tells the doctor and Jasper a chilling truth. Twenty years ago, botanist Professor Grant brought back from the Eilan jungle the most dangerous predator in the flora world — Carnivorum grotum.

The professor faked his own death under the name Mr. Carnivorry and took up residence in a locked apartment on the ground floor. He built Number 12 directly over the growing monster. The residents turned out to be parasitic offshoots of the giant plant, masterfully disguised as humans. Mrs. Brown, Schnapper, Captain Blakely, and Mrs. Pattney had been luring the poor into the building for decades and feeding them to the Grandmother. Sir Pembroke deliberately poisoned these creatures with a slow-acting plant poison through the smoke of his "Pride of Grothod" cigarettes.

Awakening of the Mother Goddess

The hunter’s plan falls apart. Feeling threatened with exposure, Constable Schnapper shatters the glass case of the Blood Lily. The released pollen envelops the city in a thick, shimmering cloud. The pollen has a powerful intoxicating effect. Those who inhale it lose their willpower and meekly wander to the canal, willingly stepping into the maw of Carnivorum Grotum.

A massive plant breaks through the walls and roof of the house, spilling out. Bloody chaos ensues. The monstrous residents shed their human shells. A crimson Schnapper flycatcher engages in a deadly battle with Mrs. Brown’s green flycatcher, mercilessly ripping out her pulsating heart tuber.

A crowd of dazed citizens gathers in the vacant lot. The arriving police, led by Sergeant Cruchins, also inhale the pollen, throw down their revolvers, and trudge toward the monster. Reporter Benny Trilby hovers above the scene of the tragedy in a single-seater aircraft, "Horsefly," horrifiedly documenting the carnage.

Battle of the Canal

Sir Pembroke dons his tropical uniform and enters the final battle. He makes his way through thickets of giant vines and climbs a thick, twisted stem of Carnivorum Grotum to a height of almost twenty meters. At the same time, a fire brigade airship, commanded by the brave Captain Darnling, appears over the wasteland.

Firefighters drop a toxic gray mixture on the monster. The creature lassoes the airship with its powerful vines. Firefighters descend on ropes with axes, but the plant brutally destroys Mr. Bonnie’s crew. Realizing the hopelessness of the situation, the captain orders the volatile gas released from the tanks. The airship crashes onto the monster with a deafening roar.

Seizing the opportunity, Sir Pembroke makes his way to the heart of Carnivorum Grotum. The hunter delivers a dozen precise knife strikes, severing the vines and destroying the creature once and for all. He himself dies in this unequal battle. The real Munish, the mastermind behind the plant mutations, goes into hiding. Professor Grant, unable to bear to watch his creation die, crushes the vials of antidote and inhales the pollen, vanishing into the crowd of doomed townspeople.

Saving Polly

Jasper and Constable John Dilby discover a secret underground passage through an abandoned tram station. They are joined by a freed Kitty. Kitty admits that she, too, is part plant, but her humanity proves stronger than her predatory nature. In the dank underground, they find Polly, guarded by a flycatcher in the form of Mrs. Teers.

Jasper tricks the monster by wearing the discarded skin of Mrs. Tiers’s son on his head. They free Polly, but soon something irreparable happens. Kitty begins to painfully transform into a monster against her will. Green vines burst from her fragile body. Begging him not to let her become a monster, Polly asks him to kill her. With tears in her eyes, Polly stabs her friend’s heart tuber with a sharp knife.

City officials keep the incident under wraps. Sir Pembroke is posthumously celebrated as a hero, while the true cause of the disaster is carefully concealed. Captain Darnling and the surviving firefighters are stripped of their pay. Jasper returns to boring lessons and gardening. Survivor Polly locks herself in her room, refusing to come out. She secretly keeps a sprouted flytrap seed in a glass jar and resolves never again to be a weak victim of circumstance.