Litefoot is serving tea to the carpenters who have come to repair his home after the events of Chronoclasm. The front doorbell rings, Litefoot answers to find Jago at the door, who comments that repairs should have been completed while they were away in Brighton. Litefoot invites him in, much to Jago’s reluctance due to the dust. They both agree to retire to the garden, where Leela is waiting, and they pass through the crowded workspace of Litefoot’s own home. Jago asks why repairs are taking longer than expected, Litefoot responds that the carpenters discovered structural damage that could be costly to repair. Jago doesn’t seem to believe him, believing that they are conning him out of money.
The moment Jago enters the garden, Leela brandishes her blade at him, only to sheathe it immediately, mistaking him for one of the carpenters. She mentions that they have been leering at her (and a wolf whistle right on cue!) and threatening them seems to keep them at bay. As her room is uninhabitable, she has been sleeping in Litefoot’s garden under a tree (using an expensive reindeer skin from Litefoot’s hide as cover while she sleeps, much to Litefoot’s chagrin), hence why she is covered in mud. The doorbell rings again and Litefoot trudges back through the house to answer it.
Leela inquires about how Jago is feeling after the events in Brighton, particularly about his feelings for Abigail. Jago shrugs off the questions, but Leela perceives that Jago is deeply hurt after the events, telling him she understands how it feels to lose someone. Jago tries to remain positive and plans to seek her out. Before he can elaborate further; Claudius Darke arrives in the garden. Darke again drops hints that he knows Jago and Litefoot by referring to Litefoot by his first name, much to the latter’s displeasure as he doesn’t recall giving him his first name. Jago is equally as hostile towards the stranger, but Leela naively reprimands the two, claiming that Darke is their friend. Darke also refers to Leela by her name, reassuring her that he is understanding of their distrust towards him as they don’t know who he truly is yet. Jago and Litefoot demand an explanation as to why he summoned them previously. Darke apologises for his lack of explanations when they first met as his enemies had found him and he was short on time, and unfortunately these enemies are now after Jago and Litefoot because they’ve associated themselves with him. The investigators irately state they don’t even know who Darke is! Darke also reveals that he instructed Leela to suggest the idea of travelling to Brighton, so the duo was kept far away from his enemies. Darke apologises for his misdirection but defends his actions by stating that if they stayed in London, the duo would be in much greater danger, but at the same time, Darke’s enemies disappeared with them. Darke offers to make it up to the duo for his lack of forthright by offering to buy them tickets to Oscar Wilde’s newest play.
Meanwhile, Oscar Wilde is watching a rehearsal of his newest play ‘A Woman of No Importance’. He is unimpressed and ceases the rehearsal for a break. Wilde is approached by a strange gentleman. Wilde is quick to comment on the man’s beautiful facial features and air of refinement and asks for his name, the man responds by stating it is of no importance, much like the protagonist of his play, but states he is an appreciator of the arts, particularly Wilde’s work. Wilde’s patience wears thin and states he cannot make this stranger’s acquaintance without a name. The man dodges the question and offers a proposition to Wilde later that evening as he will be attending his play’s premiere. Curious, Wilde accepts his offer to meet with him later. The gentleman departs and Wilde resumes with his rehearsal.
At the Red Tavern, Jago and Litefoot discuss Claudius Darke. While Jago seems pretty taken by the free tickets gifted to them, Litefoot is perturbed by the fact that Darke was able to procure tickets for a play that is rapidly selling out. Leela hands them their tickets, which are for the middle stalls, while mentioning that Darke is good to his friends, further implicating that Leela knows more about this man than she lets on. Litefoot decides not to entertain Darke’s generosity and refuses to attend the play as he has met Oscar Wilde before, claiming he is an arrogant egotist and his play will no doubt star the same sort of people. Jago and Leela now have to find a third person to take Litefoot’s ticket. Luckily for them, Ellie arrives with drinks and mentions she is about to leave to have the night off. Jago excitedly offers Ellie a proposition for the evening…
Elsewhere, the gentleman Wilde spoke with informs a groaning figure that he is attending the theatre and that he doesn’t plan to be late. He comments that he seems weak. The man groans that it’s hungry. The gentleman becomes worried by this, stating that its hunger is increasing. The man groans that he is hungry. The gentleman responses that tonight is important as he may have found their man at last and that he’ll return with something fresh. In the meanwhile, the groaning man must enjoy his reading…At the mortuary, Sergeant Quick arrives to visit Litefoot, who has decided to work late as his house is under repairs and his friends are at the theatre. Quick informs Litefoot that strange bodies have been cropping up, the only common links being that they are all young, attractive men who specialise in art and literature. Litefoot chalks up the links as coincidence until Quick tells him the damning link – none of them are dead. They just stand unresponsive to any stimulation, until they fade away. The bodies don’t have any trauma, injury or infections. What’s more, before they died the victims gave nonsensical locations as to where they were heading. Litefoot agrees to help Quick investigate, as the latest body has arrived at the hospital.
At the theatre, a bored Leela is grateful the show is over. But Jago informs her it’s just the interval, a whole second part has yet to be shown, much to Leela’s chagrin, even going as far as stating that she would’ve stabbed herself if she had a Janus thorn with her. Jago and Ellie are quick to defend the play, but Leela doesn’t see the appeal in watching people talk on and on. Jago leads the ladies for one of his favourite parts of a theatre night out…interval drinks! As he struggles to get the barkeep’s attention, Ellie marvels about the costumes and wordplay, while Leela critiques the actions of the character Lord Illingworth (a rather flirtatious politician in the play), preferring to have killed him for his impertinence, but believes there’s still time for a violent end in the second half. Leela accidently bumps into the gentleman from before, who immediately berates Leela for nearly spoiling his suit by spilling his drink. Leela firmly warns him to accept her apology. Jago returns, disappointed that he was unable to be served and just as the bell sounds to end the interval. Leela mentions that there was something unusual about the rude gentleman, aside from his demeanour. But with the interval ending, Jago says it will have to wait. Her mood soured, Leela openly hopes there’s an explosion in which all the characters die on stage, much to Jago’s disturbed response…
Litefoot and Quick are examining a recent victim at the hospital. As Quick described, the standing victim shows no signs of stimulation. Quick identifies the victim as Ambrose Hutchinson: a bachelor and poet. Before falling victim to this strange affliction, Hutchinson claimed to have gone to visit his mother, only problem is his mother had been dead for years…Quick peruses through Hutchinson’s personal effects, including a notebook with the names of the previous victims as well as a few bankers and their business cards, suggesting he was seeking patronage. Litefoot finds a two-month-old invitation for a housewarming sent to Hutchinson by a gentleman called Warren Gadd. The invitation states that Gadd has a rather large library. Litefoot finds another notebook, which Quick confirms contains Hutchinson’s poems. Litefoot is intrigued by the book and believes that there may be answers within as ‘a poet vents his soul through the quill’.
Back at the theatre, the play has ended. The trio head outside and Jago proudly proclaims he enjoyed the show, even stating it almost makes up for the mysterious Claudius Darke. Ellie noticed that Leela wasn’t as restless as she was in the first half. Leela states she was thinking about the rude gentleman and reveals he had no scent. Jago and Ellie don’t seem to think anything of it, Jago states he doesn’t wear perfume. But Leela clarifies that the gentleman didn’t have a human scent. Every creature has a basic scent, but this man didn’t. Leela spots the gentleman and plans to follow him. Jago urges her not to, but Leela is adamant he is dangerous. The gentleman heads to a house where the actors are hosting a private afterparty. Jago and Ellie insist that they can’t enter, but Leela doesn’t listen, believing eventually this man will become a dangerous threat. Ellie mentions the house belongs to a wealthy aristocrat…and of her servants is a regular at the Red Tavern.
Oscar Wilde is in the house graciously meeting and greeting with his public…and insulting them behind their backs. The gentleman from before approaches Wilde, who congratulations him on his play’s performance. But Oscar comments that two of his actors overacted a tad, but nonetheless it was a triumph. He reminds the gentleman that he had a proposition he wanted to discuss. The gentleman asks a rather strange question. What do you regard as the first duty of the artist?Jago, Leela and Ellie manage to infiltrate the party posing as a waiter and waitresses, upon Ellie’s idea, much to Jago’s chagrin. Meanwhile, the gentleman asks Wilde if he agrees about plans for the next evening. Wilde informs the gentleman that he is being presumptuous, but the gentleman assures Wilde he will be unable to resist. Wilde tells the gentleman to meet him at his club the next evening, the gentleman knows where it is based and agrees to meet him. Wilde takes his leave and prepares to ‘amuse those who are attempting intellectual conversation without him’. The gentleman whispers darkly: ‘Fresh meat…’
Jago reunites with Leela, who has found the scentless gentleman standing behind him. Jago proclaims ‘Egad!’ The word alerts the gentleman who asks Jago how he knows his name. Jago becomes flustered at the awkward situation but the gentleman insistently asks Jago how he knows his name. Jago soon realises the gentleman’s name is Gadd. Gadd recognises Leela as the woman who bumped into him at the theatre, Leela calmly stands up to the gentleman. Annoyed, Gadd decides to leave the party with one of the actors - Arthur. Leela is aggravated that Jago unwittingly alerted Gadd to her presence and quickly decides to resume the chase. Before they give chase, Jago is approached by Wilde, who seems to recognise him. Jago proudly introduces himself to the playwright. Wilde introduces himself to Leela. While she gives him the courtesy of introducing herself, Leela reasserts that they must be going, but Jago is too starstruck to care. He begins to praise Wilde’s work, such as the words and vocabulary. Wilde responds with a rather alliterative critique of his own play in response, which even leaves Jago (a master of alliteration) at a loss for words. Leela is now impatiently telling Jago that they must be going. Wilde asks Leela what aspects she enjoyed about his play. Before Leela could give Wilde a piece of her mind, Jago interjects to prevent her from demeaning his work. Once more, Leela tells Jago that they must go, but Jago warns Leela to not cause a scene in front of Wilde and insists to the playwright that she is an admirer of his work. Jago embarrassingly mistakes the play ‘Widowers’ Houses’ as a work by Wilde, Wilde irritably corrects him that it was written by George Bernard Shaw. In his calm, but visibly annoyed tone, Wilde remembers where he recognises Jago. He served him wine a few minutes before. Jago insists that he has a twin brother, but Wilde isn’t fooled and probes further by asking if the two are actually guests to the party, but Leela now angrily tells Jago that they must go. Jago at his wits end decides to leave and bids Wilde farewell, leaving the playwright rather confused…
Jago and Leela rush outside and spot Gadd leaving on a horse-drawn carriage. Jago tells Leela the man hasn’t done anything, but she abandons him and pursues the carriage. Ellie rushes outside and meets with Jago, who witnessed him and Leela leaving. Jago hopes that Leela is careful…
Later, Gadd is with the groaning man. The man confirms he is feeling better. Gadd states that Arthur is wired in and the groaning man shall be released soon, but they need a permanent solution. Before they continue, Gadd senses that someone is here with them and he leaves to investigate. Gadd confronts Leela, who is startled that he didn’t make a sound. Gadd cockily approaches Leela as she demands to know what he is, brandishing her hunting knife to fend for herself. Gadd laughs and continues his approach, telling her she won’t be able to hurt him. Leela warns him to back off, but Gadd goads her to try and hurt him, after all…she won’t see his blood… Gadd attacks her and Leela screams out…
The next day, Jago and Litefoot are sitting in Litefoot’s garden. Leela hasn’t returned as Litefoot notes that his flowerbed hasn’t been slept in. Litefoot berates Jago for not being able to go out without getting caught up in a mystery. Jago defends himself saying the events were beyond his control and curses Gadd’s name. Litefoot perks up at the mention of Gadd’s name, and hands Jago the invitation Ambrose Hutchinson received from a Warren Gadd. Litefoot proceeds to tell Jago about the case presented to him by Sergeant Quick about people seemingly devoid of stimulation and coincidently…no smell. They deduce that the Gadd in the invitation and the Gadd at the theatre are the same person. Jago gets up and prepares to head for Gadd’s house, but Litefoot advises against it, as Gadd has already met Jago, and mentions he has a plan of his own…
Litefoot enlists Sergeant Quick to interview Gadd at his house. Litefoot introduces himself as a representative of the Home Office. Gadd is sceptical as asks what his business is. Litefoot covers himself by stating that he is ‘officiating on Gadd’s house’ and asks that he invites himself and Quick in. Gadd does so. Once inside, Quick asks Gadd about his relationship with Ambrose Hutchinson, Gadd states he was a friend of a friend and that he didn’t know him particularly well. Quick probes deeper and asks who the associating friend was. Litefoot is impressed by Gadd’s large library that he spots through a doorway. Gadd informs him it is only a small fraction of his collection. Litefoot notices Gadd’s paintings in the library and asks if he can take a closer look. Gadd alertly demands Litefoot that he doesn’t enter, but quickly composes himself and states that there are rare volumes in the library and he doesn’t wish to see them damaged. He wishes to continue the interview and leads the Sergeant Quick to his office. With Gadd distracted by Quick, Litefoot enters the forbidden library to deduce Gadd’s character from the books he reads. He picks up a volume and reads an extract, only to find the book has a simplistic passage. The dog was in the house. It was a good dog. The house was also good. It was great. Lifefoot scoffs at the childish passage, believing that looking further would only waste his time. But remembers that Gadd immediately turned hostile when Litefoot asked to look around his library, he theorises that Gadd is hiding something here. He then hears a weak voice calling for Gadd over and over…
Quick asks Gadd about his profession. Gadd confirms that he is an artist and author. Quick infers that Gadd must be new to London as he knows someone attended Gadd’s housewarming two months ago. Gadd tries to dodge the implication, but Quick namedrops Ambrose Hutchinson. Gadd calmly pretends he doesn’t recall Hutchinson’s face. He notices that Litefoot isn’t with them and becomes paranoid as he rushes back to find him, with Quick trying to keep him distracted.
In the library, Litefoot encounters a weak, groaning man desperately calling for Gadd. Litefoot calmly introduces himself and asks if he can help. The man repeats Gadd’s name again and demands he comes quickly. Gadd and Quick enter the library, with Quick apologising for failing to keep him distracted. Gadd angrily demands to know what Litefoot is doing with his ‘father’. Before Litefoot can explain himself, Gadd demands the two men leave and shoves them to the door. Litefoot tries to reason with Gadd, but he doesn’t listen and demands that they tell him who they really are. Quick decides the jig is up and reveals its police business, but Gadd isn’t fooled and demands to know if anybody else knows that they are here. Litefoot confidently reveals that everyone they know is aware they are presently at Gadd’s home. Gadd doesn’t believe them, but Litefoot dares him to take the risk. Gadd angrily tells them they have nothing on him before demanding they get out and don’t come back.
In the horse carriage, Quick asks Litefoot why he had to bother Gadd’s father. Litefoot reveals that groaning man wasn’t his father. Quick isn’t convinced, even if the man looked ravaged and decrepit, he had familial resemblance to Gadd. Litefoot thinks the groaning man has too much of a resemblance, even down to minute features such as a mole in the same place on both men’s faces and the same scar on their left hands. Litefoot comes to the incredulous conclusion that Gadd and the decrepit man are in fact the same person. Quick is sceptical of Litefoot’s deduction, claiming the elder man must have been at least 20 years older than Gadd. Litefoot infers the situation seems eerily familiar to one of Oscar Wilde’s most famous plays – The Picture of Dorian Gray. Even more so considering that Wilde is currently in London…
That afternoon, Litefoot tries to explain ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ to Jago (who hasn’t read the book, considering himself a Dickens fan). He explains that in the story, Gray is an aristocrat that owns a painting that carries the ailments of ill health and age in place of the real Gray. Hence why Litefoot finds the case similar to Wilde’s play, he believes the aging husk in Gadd’s library is an avatar made to take on Gadd’s aging and ailments in his place. Litefoot asks what Jago was able to discover at the Somerset House records office. Jago reveals that while Gadd may look like a young man, he was born in 1851, placing the man’s age around his 40s, plus Gadd is an orphan from a poor background in Liverpool whose parents died when he a boy under mysterious circumstances. Litefoot suspects they died the same way as his current catatonic patients.
They meet with Quick who confirms the actor Gadd left the party with has also disappeared. The trio decide to raid Gadd’s home and arrest him. Quick even prepares a revolver, claiming that he isn’t going into the house of a mass murderer unarmed, even though Litefoot reminds Quick that the evidence against Gadd is purely circumstantial at the moment. Jago reassures the Professor that it is better to be safe than sorry…
Gadd breaks into Wilde’s club. Wilde is surprised to see him as he recalls that they were due to meet later in the evening. Gadd claims that Wilde’s wife Constance let him in and comments on her attractiveness, but alas, she unfortunately doesn’t know the truth about Wilde… Gadd asks Wilde if he left the party with a handsome gentleman called Lord Alfred Douglas. Wilde reminds Gadd that they promised to collaborate on an artistic project. Gadd confirms this, but time is working against him and they must hurry. Wilde’s internal alarm bells ring and he demands to know what Gadd wants. Gadd lowly demands Wilde to come with him…
Jago is uneasy about breaking into a man’s house, but Quick reassures the two he will claim responsibility for any wrongdoing. Litefoot leads the two into the library in hopes of finding Gadd’s avatar. After a considerable amount of time, they soon realise that the library is more extensive than it appears, Jago presumes the library goes on forever. But Quick soon alerts them to a painting, the painting they saw when they first entered the library. They’ve been going around in circles. Jago notices that the painting isn’t the same as the one they saw when they entered. The flowers were green, but they are now pink. Before they can ponder further on the possibility of two identical paintings, they hear a familiar female voice – Leela. The trio run further into the library to find her.
In a carriage, Wilde asks Gadd about the nature of their collaboration and why he felt he needed to be forcibly coerced. Gadd excitedly informs him it is of immense beauty and that he will understand when he sees his library – his museum of the imagination. They are nearly there…
Jago, Litefoot and Quick find Leela trapped inside a cage. Quick attempts to free her by hitting the lock with the butt of his revolver. While he does so, Jago and Litefoot look around and realise the scale of the library, it has many floors and branch ways. Impossible to fit inside a small house like Gadd’s. Litefoot theorises that they must be inside a hub where the branches and paintings must expand to a possible infinity. Quick eventually manages to break Leela out of the cage. They turn and Jago discovers the corpse of the actor that Gadd left the party with in the same state as the other victims, thus confirming that Gadd is behind the murders. They see that the actor’s corpse is wired into a strange machine. Leela states that Gadd tried to use the machine on her, but it didn’t work because she was ‘too literal minded’. She further states that Gadd is more dangerous than he appears, she attacked him in self-defence but couldn’t hurt him. Which begs the question, how did Gadd get the scar on his left hand? And more pressingly, how can a gigantic library fit inside this house?
Gadd leads Wilde into the drawing room and tells him to wait while he attends to his ‘house guest’. Wilde asks if he a say in the matter, to which Gadd responses simply that he doesn’t.
Leela doesn’t feel fazed by the idea of a building that is bigger on the inside than the outside, as she has travelled in time and space in The Doctor’s TARDIS, a machine with similar dimensional properties. Jago takes out a book and reads a passage: A man walked down a street. He was a hairy man. He was tall. He liked to do things. He concludes that it is nonsense. Litefoot refers to the passage he read during his previous visit. He picks up another book and reads its nonsensical passage: A man walked down an avenue. He was a hairy man. He pauses when he realises that it is exactly the same passage as the book Jago picked up except the word ‘avenue’ replaces ‘street’. Jago picks up another book and discovers it has the same passage except the word ‘short’ substitutes ‘tall’. They conclude all the books have the same passage with only small changes to the words. Jago realises that this applies to the paintings in the library. Litefoot then comes to a startling conclusion, the books they find are nonsensical because the library contains practically every book that could ever be written. Every possible combination of words conceivable. Litefoot continues that there are currently a quarter of a million words in the English language, multiply that number over and over and you’d have a near infinite supply of books. Jago deduces the principle must apply to the paintings, every possible combination of colours imaginable. But the question remains: where is he getting all these possible combinations from? Gadd enters the library and confronts the group. Quick open fires on Gadd, only for the bullets to bounce harmlessly to the floor. Gadd casually mentions he is unbreakable. Quick panics, claiming to have shot him and fires again only for the same result. In a last-ditch effort, Quick throws the pistol at him to little effect. But he refuses to give in and tries to punch him, but his attack doesn’t faze the villain. He grabs Quick by the neck and lifts him off the ground. The investigators demand Gadd to let him go. He complies and throws Quick to the floor. He coolly admits that he can’t take the four of them at once, but he can’t let them go either, so he elects to show them around his library…all of it at once. The group suddenly feel an overwhelming pain resonate through their heads, knocking them all out.
Jago and Litefoot awaken to find themselves strapped into the strange machine that Gadd used to kill his victims. Quick and Leela are nowhere to be found, but Gadd’s gruesome familiar is also strapped to the machine, calling out for him. Gadd reveals the attack that rendered them unconscious was a psychic projection of his entire library beamed straight into their heads. Gadd assures them Quick and Leela are unharmed, he gleefully admits they are ‘tied up elsewhere’. He only has two chairs for his machine, but they’ll be next. Gadd’s avatar is also tied to the chair as it does become agitated during the process. Gadd reveals he was born with powerful latent mental energy. The library is a figment of his mind created inside a conceptual space when he was a child as a place he could retreat to. A place where all the things he could have and couldn’t have were possible, but it all had to come from somewhere. Gadd further reveals that the library claimed his parents as its first victims to sustain itself, but he wasn’t aware that their minds had been drained as it had done it slowly and its process was unrefined. But now it is using Gadd as it’s supplement. To circumvent this, Gadd sought out great intellectuals and fed their minds to the library. The more minds it consumes, the bigger the library gets. The advantage of having a conceptual space is that it can move with its owner, so when Gadd came under suspicion, he would simply disappear and set up elsewhere to feed more minds to his library elsewhere. Jago realises that with an infinite space that is constantly hungry, it will eventually consume everything in the universe, but Gadd doesn’t care. It will give birth to the most exquisite artistic creation in history. Jago and Litefoot begin to feel faint. They realise that Gadd had started the mind feeding process when they were knocked out. Gadd gloats that he will be able to read his books and appreciate his artworks as he has found someone who will continue his work when he is eventually consumed – Oscar Wilde. Fortunately, Wilde enters the library, much to the displeasure of Litefoot. Wilde doesn’t obey extortionists and plans to judge Gadd not by what he hasn’t done but by what he has done – including murder. Gadd is shocked that Wilde objects to his artistic vision. The two artists engage in a philosophical debate about the beauty of art, while Jago desperately tries to draw Wilde’s attention to the machine. Wilde shuts down Gadd by stating that Gadd has no concept of beauty and he has seen his books, pictures and music and concludes that they are just streams of information without elegance or craftsmanship. In essence, Wilde could spend a lifetime searching through Gadd’s library and find nothing of worth. He further drives the hypothetical blade into Gadd’s ego by stating he is no artist and he claims virtues and talents that he doesn’t possess. To top it off, he proclaims Gadd an ignoramus and a philistine. This is enough to distract Gadd while Wilde frees the infernal investigators from the machine. Jago is grateful to Wilde, but Litefoot won’t allow his pride to admit that Wilde saved him. But Gadd isn’t finished yet. Jago quickly asks Litefoot how was Dorian Gray killed? The painting was destroyed. Putting the dots together, Jago takes Quick’s gun and shoots Gadd’s rotting avatar…
Gadd disappears, and the bullet from the gun is suspended in the air, inches from the avatar’s face. Litefoot believes he’s made a mistake. In fact, Gadd was the real avatar created to take on the real Gadd’s troubles, and his rotting avatar was the real Gadd all along! He was a mental projection, like the entire library. He sacrificed the energy from the avatar to stop the bullet from hitting him, and without his avatar, the library will now consume the energy from him. If the avatar dies, the library will collapse upon itself and take everything with it. The avatar hisses at them angrily, caught in an impossible trap that will spell doom for it no matter what it does. In a last-ditch effort to kill everyone, the avatar decides to expel the energy in the library to collapse it, taking them with it as a last-ditch revenge effort. But before they leave, they demand to know where Leela and Quick are. As if on cue, Leela and Quick emerge from the library free of their bonds (Leela was able to chew through the ropes). With everyone accounted for, the group flees through the library with Leela leading the way using her senses to lead them. Leaving Gadd to laugh maniacally as the library collapses around him.
The group manage to find their way out of the library into Gadd’s drawing room. Wilde is quick to take credit for saving the day, reasoning that if he didn’t show up, Gadd would’ve drained their minds without anyone to stop him. But Litefoot refuses to owe any gratitude to the playwright, stating that Leela would’ve saved them instead. Jago and Litefoot conclude that Gadd is trapped in his machine inside his conceptual space for the rest of his days until the library consumes him. Worst of all, he’ll be unable to see his paintings or read any of his books. Wilde and Litefoot take pity on the villain’s fate, but he was a murderer who received what was coming to him.
The group go to the train station to see Wilde off. Jago tries and fails to persuade Wilde to try and perform a stint at the Regency Theatre. He admits over the past few days he has seen things that frighten him and admits he cannot live in Jago and Litefoot’s world. He is also aware that Leela didn’t enjoy his play but doesn’t take any offense. He bids the trio farewell and boards his train for a seaside destination. Litefoot is grateful the playwright has left, much to Jago’s disappointment who reminds his friend that Wilde saved their lives. But Litefoot won’t listen and states that he isn’t obligated to like a man because he saved him.
With the mystery solved, the Infernal Investigators return home. Except there is one thing that puzzles Jago. Why did the victims cover up where they were going? And why did Gadd specifically target young men? Litefoot infers that Gadd preyed on particular sorts of young men, blackmailing them with a certain personal reason that they wouldn’t want to go public for fear of persecution, hence why they used nonsensical destinations before they died. Jago gasps when he realises what Litefoot is implying but denies his assumption immediately afterwards. Litefoot solemnly reveals that Gadd preyed on ‘love that dare not speak its name…’ and hopes that in the future, these sorts of people will be able to do what they wish without fear of reprisal. What Leela finds stranger is how Sergeant Quick informed Litefoot of the strange case on the same day Jago and Leela encountered the villain. The three begin to suspect that someone or something is leading them all together…
Before they can ponder the situation further, the two mysterious gentlemen from Brighton approach the group. One casually laments that they’ve been found out, but nonetheless compliments his partner’s plan to set Gadd upon Oscar Wilde. Leela asks who the men are. Litefoot deduces their names from their casual addressing of one another as Kempston and Hardwick. The men reveal they are searching for Professor Darke, further revealing that their plot to spirit Wilde out of history should’ve attracted his attention and bring him out into the open, especially when the two men eliminate Jago and Litefoot – his closest associates. Unfortunately for them, their plan was foiled. Leela refuses to tell them where Darke is. With no other option the two men prepare to take an undisclosed course of action. Leela tells the group to run, they do so and split up to confuse the men. Leela instructs Jago and Litefoot to stay together while she draws the men away. Unfortunately, her distraction fails, and the two men give pursuit of Jago and Litefoot. Litefoot suggests they head for the London Underground, reasoning that they’ll lose them on the train. The duo manages to board a train that was just about to depart. But Kempston and Hardwick aren’t the least bit perturbed. In fact, they wanted Jago and Litefoot to catch the train. Or perhaps…it caught them…
