In a boat on the River Thames, a fisherman is telling his colleague Captain Derry that he saw a huge, glowing, fish like creature swimming in the Thames. Derry is dismissive and assumes he found a jellyfish, as he’s never known a fish to glow green. Suddenly, the boat is hit by something in the water, then a bloodcurdling roar is heard. Derry orders his colleague to take the wheel while he investigates. Moments later, Derry returns visibly shaken by what he saw. He states that whatever was in the water tried to attack him and took a bite out of the boat’s stern. Derry’s colleague notices that his hands are covered in a green, glowing slime…
Jago and Litefoot are enjoying a drink at the Red Tavern. Jago comments on how his previous pint was a bit…fishy in taste. This description catches the attention of a local barfly, Derry’s first mate from the boat, who assumes they were talking about the monstrous fish rumoured to be lurking in the Thames. The man claims to have seen it and describes it as having the body of a whale and the head of a pike, but most interesting of all…it was glowing. Ellie comes over to their table and corroborates the man’s story, as the papers have dubbed the sighting as ‘The Terror of the Thames’. Litefoot is doubtful of the sightings as the only people to have seen the creature are fishermen and drunks, both of which aren’t known for their credibility in his eyes. Jago agrees with Litefoot…unless someone captures the creature…
Elsewhere, Patsy the mudlark is patrolling her patch on the riverbank of the Thames. She stops to scavenge through the riverbank for items of value. She smells something with an incredibly rotten scent and finds a large dead fish dredged on the edge of the river. She assumes that it could be worth something and tries to move the creature to no avail…
Later that day at the Police Station, Patsy is harassing Inspector Quick for ‘stealing’ her fish. Litefoot steps out of the mortuary to see the commotion. Quick explains to Litefoot that Patsy had seemingly discovered the remains of what the papers are now dubbing ‘The Thames Titan’, and the police had to confiscate it due to it containing evidence to a murder. When the police dissected the creature, they discovered a human hand inside. Patsy mentions that the severed hand was holding onto a pocket watch, but she didn’t mention it as she suspected Quick would confiscate it as well. She begrudgingly hands it over to Quick upon Litefoot’s insistence. Both men discover the watch has an inscription. With all the grime on the watch, Quick sets off to get the watch cleaned. They may have made a breakthrough in the case…
That evening, Jago and Litefoot are enjoying a drink at the Red Tavern. Litefoot explains to Jago that he is waiting for an informant to meet him and Jago, an informant that Inspector Quick was too eager to get off his hands. The door to the pub swings open and the informant in question arrives…Patsy. The Infernal Investigators learn that Patsy had discovered the ‘Thames Titan’ lying on the riverbank on ‘her patch’ whilst scavenging. Before Quick confiscated the creature, Patsy had taken it to a taxidermist to have it stuffed so she could sell it. Patsy explains that when the taxidermist dissected the Titan, a bright green, substance gushed out of its insides…followed by the severed human hand, which led to Quick and the police becoming involved. Litefoot reveals that the inscription on the pocket watch read ‘Henry Warson – London’, which is helpful as the police’s investigation revealed that only one person by that name lives in London. Quick has already provided Litefoot with Warson’s address, so Litefoot suggests to Jago that they investigate. Patsy insists on joining the Infernal Investigators simply because the sooner the mystery is solved, the sooner she can reclaim her fish…
Jago, Litefoot and Patsy arrive at Warson’s home, a rather fancy home. Warson’s maid answers the door and allows the gentlemen inside. Patsy decides to stay outside.
Jago and Litefoot interview the maid, who reveals that Warson had been missing for two weeks before his hand was discovered inside the Titan. The maid states that he was beloved by practically everybody, including the neighbourhood and his household staff. He was constantly donating to the poor. He seemingly had no enemies, rivals, vices or jilted lovers – he was by all accounts a model citizen. Try as she might, the maid can’t fault him at all. With no possible leads to follow, Jago and Litefoot bid the maid good day and leave.
In the sewers beneath London, Inspector Quick is being led by a sewer worker called Arthur Pike through the sewers. Pike shows Quick a dead body he had discovered only an hour prior, clogging up the sewer waterflow. Pike identifies the body of that of one of the mudlarks, claiming that they often venture into the sewers. Quick is disgusted by the sight, as it looks as if the body had been almost torn in half…
The next morning, Quick informs Litefoot of his sewer discovery, stating that the body was discovered near the location of the Thames Titan’s body. Litefoot is about to get to work on an autopsy for the savaged victim, when Jago and Patsy come barging in. Litefoot pulls back the sheet on the mortuary slab to show his friends the victim and proceeds to explain how the victim’s throat wasn’t slit with a knife or a razor, but was in fact dragged open forcibly by a sharp implement. Patsy suggests a hook, and there’s only one person in London who could’ve done such a gruesome act – a man called Jeremiah Castle…
At the Red Tavern, Jago and Litefoot try to prise information out of Patsy with alcohol regarding the identity of Jeremiah Castle. She explains that once upon a time, Jeremiah Castle was the self-proclaimed King of Jacob’s Island – a rookery known for being a lawless part of London, home to gangs, thieves and killers, not even the police would venture there. Castle was known for being a vicious killer with a penchant for rusty hooks to carve up his enemies. Patsy thinks back to the day thirty years ago when she first met Jeremiah Castle…her Jeremiah…
Patsy explains how she was once in a relationship with a wealthy gambler called Montague Fitch. Fitch had visited Jacob’s Island to do some high stakes gambling. He had an encounter at a gambling table with Castle. Fitch had lost all his money and similarly prized possessions to Castle at the table, but he couldn’t stop himself from playing. Castle played on his addiction and stated that he should bet his girlfriend Patsy. With nothing else to bet, Fitch reluctantly did so and promptly loses a game of dice. Despite winning, Castle wasn’t satisfied with Fitch’s attitude about giving away Patsy like a trinket, and demands he continue playing. He offered to give Patsy back, but if he loses, he’ll chop off a finger each time. While Fitch lost most of his games, he left Jacob’s Island with several lost fingers as a warning to others from Castle. As for Patsy, Castle had claimed her as his Queen for ten years. As a means of surviving, Patsy had to continually curry Castle’s favour. One day, a gambler called Cuthbert Puddlewack arrived at Jacob’s Island to gamble. Unfortunately, Puddlewack lost his life in Castle’s deadly games of chance, but what no-one realised was that he was the heir to a pie-making company. Puddlewack’s father placed a £500 bounty on Castle’s head, and the entire island turned on him to claim the money. Castle was quickly captured and hung at Neckinger Wharf. After he was confirmed dead, his body was discarded into the Thames. Not long after his death, the police flushed out the denizens and gentrified the area. It’s now a site filled with warehouses.
Patsy fears that Jeremiah Castle has returned from the dead. Coincidently, Neckinger wharf where Castle was hung is close to where the torn-up body was discovered… With a new lead, Litefoot suggests they investigate the wharf. Patsy offers to help as she has knowledge of the area.
The trio arrive at the former site of Jacob’s Island. Patsy tells the group that the wharf is mostly deserted aside from one building – Gride and Son’s Tannery. With no other business around, Litefoot suggests that they visit Mr Gride.
The Infernal Investigators enter the tannery to discover it completely devoid of activity. A figure with burns on his face emerges from the darkness and introduces himself as Mulberry Gride. Litefoot in turn introduces himself and Jago as unofficial advisors to the Police. Litefoot asks if Gride knew Warson, as he was last seen in Neckinger Wharf near the tannery. Gride isn’t satisfied with their questions, especially when the Infernal Investigators fail to provide sufficient I.D. and summons a large man to throw the trio out of the factory.
With their eviction, Litefoot is certain that Gride is hiding something from them, considering how the tannery didn’t have any staff and the presence of the bodyguard means Gride was expecting trouble. They resolve to enter the tannery again, except the next approach will be more clandestine…
Ten o’clock that evening, Jago and Litefoot are staking out the tannery. They see the lights are still on inside, so Gride is still there. Litefoot recounts the information he was able to ascertain from Inspector Quick. Gride moved to London two years ago after his previous factory in Yorkshire was destroyed in a fire, which explains the burns on his face. His business ventures only moved to tannery when he arrived in London. They see a barge travel into the tannery and begin to unload several cargo crates onto the wharf. Litefoot decides that he and Jago should commandeer their own vessel to investigate.
On the wharf, Arthur the sewer worker encounters a shadowy figure. The figure demands to know who dares to walk his streets without his permission. The sewer worker reels in horror when the figure emerges from the darkness and introduces himself as the King of Jacob’s Island…
Jago, Litefoot and Patsy have commandeered their own barge. They steer it close to the wharf while cutting the engine to maintain silence. They notice that the suspicious barge workers are using trawling nets to dredge the riverbed in search of something. Jago immediately hails the workers. The spooked workers immediately throw their catches overboard and start to speed away in their barge. They don’t get far as the investigative trio easily manage to catch up and board their suspicious barge. Unfortunately, they don’t find anything that hasn’t been already thrown overboard…aside from a large, strange rock. Litefoot decides to take the rock to the police station for analysis.
The next morning, Jago, Litefoot and Patsy begin to start their analysis of the rock when Inspector Quick arrives and informs them of another murder. This time the sewer worker Arthur Pike is the victim. Litefoot begins to scrape away samples of the rock and Patsy states that it smells like coal. From this information, Litefoot deduces that this rock didn’t originate in the sea…but fell from the sky! It’s a meteorite! He taps on the meteor and discover that it is completely hollow, which is not a common attribute among meteors. Which could only mean it contains something inside. Litefoot proceeds to cut through the outer shell of the meteor with surprisingly relative ease, which means it’s not made of rock, but is rather the biproduct of something organic…like an egg. Suddenly, the group hears a commotion out in the reception of the police station. Quick excuses himself to help diffuse the situation. Patsy recognises the voice in the reception as the taxidermist she commissioned to stuff her fish…
The group enters the reception and find the taxidermist ranting and laughing madly. Patsy notes that he usually doesn’t act like this and assumes he’s had a few to drink. The desk sergeant warns the group to keep their distance from him as they discovered him trying to stuff one of his own customers…
As the police lead the raving lunatic away, Litefoot takes note of a phrase he shouted: ‘You will bow before the Darkling Façade’. Quick comments that he is the second person they’ve discovered who had gone completely insane. The other person is in the cell…Captain Derry. With the commotion over, Litefoot returns to the mortuary to resume his investigation into the mystery egg.
The Infernal Investigators and Patsy return to find something rather disturbing…the egg has hatched. They hear a faint slithering noise behind a set of drawers. Both men look behind to check and suddenly a small eel-like creature shoots out from underneath. To stop it from escaping, they each split up into a pincer movement to try and catch the creature. They manage to surround it, but as they pounce on it, the creature spits bile at Patsy before Litefoot manages to catch it. The creature stops moving and seemingly becomes inert, Litefoot deduces that the bile was an all or nothing defence mechanism. Patsy isn’t too pleased and describes the slime as being the same as what was in the Thames Titan. With this discovery, Litefoot has all he needs to pin the blame on Mulberry Gride, and so he and Jago resolve to get to the bottom of the mystery.
That evening, Jago visits the tannery and knocks on the door. He comes face to face with the large thug that threw him, Litefoot and Patsy out before. He tells the thug to tell his employer that he has problems with his pipework…
Meanwhile, Litefoot and Patsy are trudging through the sewers. Litefoot explains that Jago is serving as a distraction to Gride and his bodyguard, while he and Patsy will sneak into the factory via the sewers to investigate. They notice how the sewer is full of the luminous slime from the fish. They then hear a sound of metal scratching on the wall of the sewer, they fear that they’re not alone…
In the factory, Jago is distracting Gride by telling him that he’s been receiving complaints about his drains. But Gride doesn’t show an ounce of care, even when Jago threatens to have the tannery closed. Gride tells him he isn’t actually running a tannery and invites Jago to see what operation he’s truly running…
Gride leads Jago into the factory and shows him several water tanks filled with hundreds of creatures similar to the eel-like creature in the mortuary, all swimming around in putrid green slime. Gride describes the slime as amniotic fluid that provides nutrients to the creatures so they will soon subjugate humanity…
In the sewers, the scratching sound grows ever closer and a rotting corpse of a man with a huge hook emerges from the darkness towards Litefoot and Patsy. Patsy draws back in fear at the man…Jeremiah Castle. Litefoot tries to talk his way past Castle, but Patsy urges him to run while they can, to which he does…
Gride introduces the eels as the Darkling Façade and that he is a part of them. They crashed on Earth into his textile factory in Yorkshire two years ago. The egg’s landing burned his factory to the ground, but a slither of slime from the egg had splashed onto Gride and he ran back into the burning fire to rescue it, feeling an intelligence ebbing at his mind. For the past two years, he has been cultivating the Darkling Façade so they can claim Earth for themselves. Jago is mildly bemused that Earth is threatened by space eels, which wanes on Gride’s patience. His patience wears so thin that he orders his bodyguard to throw Jago into the tank…
In the sewers, Litefoot and Patsy are running from Jeremiah Castle, who is shouting all sorts of threatening obscenities as he gives chase.
Gride’s bodyguard is holding Jago over a water tank. Just as Gride prepares to give the order to throw Jago in, Litefoot and Patsy barge into the factory. Gride doesn’t seem too fussed by their intrusion, but his attitude soon changes when Jeremiah Castle enters the factory. Patsy tries to appeal to her former lover, but he notices how old she’s gotten, much to Patsy’s chagrin. Gride sets his bodyguard on Castle, but Castle rips out the bodyguard’s throat with his hook, killing him instantly. Castle reiterates that Gride is on his island now, before he was hanged. An event that Castle recalls very well…
Castle recalls how the entire island turned against him. How he was carted to the gallows like an animal. He watched the crowd cheering and laughing as he spent his final few seconds swearing revenge on everything he saw. Then the noose tightened around his neck and he seemingly died from hanging. The next thing he remembers, he was underwater gasping for air. His lungs were filled with water and yet he couldn’t drown. He struggled to free himself from the river until he finally managed to get out. He emerged and found Jacobs Island had completely changed. After murdering a man, he made a home for himself in the sewers and amused himself by butchering anyone who ventured into his island’s sewers, plotting his plans to retake Jacob’s Island for himself.
Litefoot deduces that the amniotic fluid from the tannery somehow resurrected Castle, and Jago notes that it has also been turning the fish luminous green. Gride laughs and reveals that with Castle’s resurrection…he’s a part of the Darkling Façade. He tells Castle to listen to the voices in his head, he must protect his newfound brothers and sisters by killing anyone who would do them harm…by starting with Jago, Litefoot and Patsy. Patsy appeals to Castle by making him remember who she is and what they used to get up to. This seems to do the trick as Castle angrily proclaims that nobody tells him what to do, and he grabs Gride and throws him into the water tank where the Darkling Façade devour him. Castle begins to angrily argue with the voices in his head as he tries to think straight. He starts to smash the tanks in the factory with his hook and hand. He tells Patsy and the Infernal Investigators to get out while they can. Before they can get away, Castle manages to shatter one of the tanks and the slime spills out on the floor and covers the group. They look back in astonishment as they watch Castle brutally attack one of the Darkling Façade, proclaiming they won’t take him. Litefoot suggests they leave while they still can and return later to clean up…
At the Red Tavern, Litefoot relays the information he received from Inspector Quick. The tannery was up in flames not long after they left, most likely the work of Castle. But more pressingly, was that there was another factory not far from the tannery also owned by Gride that had barrels full of the amniotic liquid. Thankfully, Quick’s men have secured the factory, but are yet to dispose of the fluid. Patsy wonders if Castle is really dead this time, but Litefoot can’t say for certain as he didn’t die the first time, so who knows? But he got the impression that Castle was keen to die. More pressingly though is that the fluid the eels secreted seemed to have some influence over those it infected. Litefoot theorises that they landed in London because the Thames does run through the most populous city on Earth, so they can consider this not just a victory for London but for the World! They propose a round of drinks for themselves and laugh in their victory…until Patsy starts to laugh rather madly…
