The Inventor's Son

Chapter 16: In Which a Tinkering Comes in Quite Useful

ETHAN RETURNED TO THE FLAT with Sophia and Cora a short while later. As he opened the door, Ethan could hear Liam in the kitchen, speaking loudly and using rather colorful language. Then, he heard a bang and Ethan raced in to see Liam leaning against the wall beside the telephone, shaking his head.

"What is wrong?" Ethan asked with dread creeping into his throat.

Liam gazed at Ethan sadly. "Marlowe's dead."

"Dear God! How did Kearney manage to kill him?"

"Lad, we cannot lay Marlowe's body at his oversized feet."

"It makes no sense! Who would kill him?" Ethan asked, and then, just as the words left his lips, he knew. All that blather at Madame Bonheur's place finally made sense. "How did you hear?" Ethan asked.

"You know that smarmy bloke Castile found this flat, as I suspected he would. He's the one who found out about Marlowe's murder. So, I called the Yard. Remember the terrible things happening at Charing Cross station while we took off? Needless to say, that kept many of us busy for a couple of days, but Marlowe's absence was noticed, and one of the lads took the time to return to your old house. That's where they found him..."

Ethan had to sit down. "You're telling me that someone else died in that terrible house that very same day?" Liam did not answer. "You're also saying that Kearney couldn't have killed Marlowe, on account of his alibi being that he was slaughtering the poor fellows in the ticket booth?" he asked.

"Well, it's not even that simple. Let us just say, Marlowe's death was quite unlike any of Kearney's many other victims," Liam answered.

"In what way?" Sophia asked, and she appeared quite shaken, though she did not know the man well.

Liam shook his head, as though he did not want to answer her. Instead, he said, "Look, what this all means for us is this. I never got the clearance to take you out of the country before the investigation of the murder in your old house was completed, on account of the fact that Marlowe was supposed to help me with that. They want us back in England. But I cannot take you back there knowing what danger you are in."

"Inspector Huntington, I cannot expect you to get into serious trouble because of me!" Ethan told him.

All Liam could do is shake his head. "Never mind that. The damage is done. Well, did you get what you needed, lad?" he asked after a while.

"What I got was a wand, a warning, and a rather large headache," Ethan complained. Then he sighed. "Perhaps that's a bit unfair. I mean, the lady was old enough to be my grandmother's grandmother, but she was still able to do this..." And with that, Ethan gave Liam a glimpse of his new wand. It still smelled from the stain she'd used.

"Wow. Sort of like Mrs. Ballard's, isn't it?" Liam commented. "But the stones are...darker, aren't they?"

Sophia gasped as though she had only just recalled Madame Bonheur's grave prophesy. "Inspector Huntington, Ethan is in terrible danger!"

"Please, Inspector Huntington has enough to worry about-"

"-No, she's right, lad. What is going on, Mrs. Ballard?"

Cora hiccuped and told Liam, "A Sep--hic--Septième is after Master Ethan!"

Ethan finally lost his patience. "Cora, you don't even know what they were talking about!"

Liam joined right into the panic. "What's a Septum, some sort of monster? Was that what killed Roderick Marlowe?"

Ethan grit his teeth. "Septième. It's French, for 'seventh!'"