"Somehow, the letter came to be posted after Lacey's death and when Havelock read it, it brought back all the memories - the hurt, the guilt - which soon turned to anger. And so he planned his revenge more for his own benefit than for his wretched son. But he was old, he couldn't accomplish what he wanted to himself and so we come to his crowning achievement; he used his own brain-damaged son as the instrument of his vengeance.
"He checked Marley out of the asylum, equipping him to fulfil his own dark designs, while he tracked down the surviving members of the Damocles Club, who Lacey had so helpfully listed in his confession. Chief Inspector Thaw and Sergeant Whately found evidence that Marley had been living with the Reverend Havelock in his quarters at the cathedral."
"Incredible," Lucy said, dumbfounded by the immensity of the reverend's plan. "So what will happen to Marley now?"
"I believe he's been returned to the asylum where he has spent the last thirty-seven years of his life, to live out the rest of it, in the maximum security wing."
Ulysses looked thoughtful for a moment as he studied the patterns the snow had made on the toecaps of his shoes. "It's ironic really."
"What is?"
"This all began because Marley wanted to join the Damocles Club but failed the initiation. And in the end, all the Damocles Club members are dead, and Marley's the only one left alive."
Ulysses turned from his musings to his waiting car.
"I can't tempt you to spend what's left of Christmas Day here, in Oxford?" the young woman asked, looking up at him from beneath the brim of her beret.
"Aren't you spending Christmas with friends or family already? Surely your life isn't all work, work, work. It's not good for you. You must have plans."
"Nothing that couldn't be changed," she said, her cheeks reddening in embarrassment. "I don't know about you but I could quite happily spend the rest of the day in bed, catching up, having not slept at all last night."
Ulysses grinned.
"Thank you for the invitation, my dear," he said, smiling wryly, "but Mrs Prufrock's coming in especially and will doubtless already have the turkey on the go. And besides, my brother Barty would cut a very pathetic figure if I wasn't there. You can't pull a cracker by yourself, can you?"
"You've managed," the young woman smiled coyly.
Ulysses took a deep breath. He gazed up at the clear cerulean sky, savouring the honeyed sunlight and the crisp cold air on his face. And then he turned from the car and returned to Lucy's side.
"Tempting as your offer is, and I may well live to regret this, but if I have learnt anything from the Case of the Christmas Killer it is that the rash actions of your youth will inevitably come back to haunt you one day, so, Merry Christmas, Miss Gudrun."
He lent forward and kissed her on her heat-flushed cheek.
"Well, you can't blame a girl for trying," she said, returning the kiss. "Merry Christmas, Mr Quicksilver."
Back in the security of his own cushion-walled room, he opened the jotter on the table in front of him and creased it flat at a clean page.
For the first time in as long as he could remember, he hadn't written a letter this year, but he hoped it wouldn't matter. Father Christmas would understand.
Pulling a bright red crayon from the box beside the jotter, clenching it tightly in the fist of his right hand, the tip of his tongue protruding from between his lips, he began to write.
Dear Farthr Krissmus,
I'm sorry I not wrote my letter in time this year but I was on holiday with my Dad. It was a lot of fun. I haven't seen my Dad in ages. And I was a good boy, like he said I had to be. I always did as I was told and ate up all my greens, even though I don't like greens.
So now you know I bin good this year and said sorry for not writin in time can I have my present anyway?
I really liked seeing my Dad again so this year for Krissmus I dont want any more crayons or a puppy or nothin like that. I would like to go and stay with my Dad again. Do you think I could do that? I hope so.
Happy Krissmus
Love Marley
THE END
Extract
Indicia
Title Page
Prologue - Catch of the Day
Act 1 - The Curious Case of the Whitby Mermaid
Chapter 1 - Gabriel Wraith Investigates
Chapter 2 - November in Mayfair
Chapter 3 - A Cabinet of Curiosities
Chapter 4 - The Whitechapel Irregulars
Chapter 5 - The House of Monkeys
Chapter 6 - One for Sorrow
Chapter 7 - Flight of the Magpie
Chapter 8 - The Game is Afoot
Act 2 - The Hound of the Hanivers
Chapter 9 - A Word to the Wise
Chapter 10 - The Circus of Wonders
Chapter 11 - A Damsel in Distress
Chapter 12 - The Barghest
Chapter 13 - The Naturalist
Chapter 14 - Red in Tooth and Claw
Chapter 15 - A Death in the Family
Chapter 16 - The Industrialist
Chapter 17 - The Freak
Chapter 18 - An Appointment with Doktor Seziermesser
Act 3 - The Fall of the House of Umbridge
Chapter 19 - The Menagerie
Chapter 20 - Last Supper
Chapter 21 - The Doktor Will See You Now
Chapter 22 - A Fate Worse Than Death
Chapter 23 - The Chimera
Chapter 24 - Fight or Flight
Chapter 25 - The Abbey
Chapter 26 - Gods & Monsters
Epilogue - Plenty More Fish in the Sea
Bio - Jonathan Green
I - Whom the Gods Would Destroy
II - The Dead of Jericho
III - The Body in the Library
IV - The Damocles Club
V - Slay Bells
VI - The Ghost of Christmas Past
VII - Santa Claws is Coming to Town
VIII - Sins of the Fathers
IX - Murder in the Cathedral
X - It's a Wonderful Life
Table of Contents
Indicia
Title Page
Prologue - Catch of the Day
Act 1 - The Curious Case of the Whitby Mermaid
Chapter 1 - Gabriel Wraith Investigates
Chapter 2 - November in Mayfair
Chapter 3 - A Cabinet of Curiosities
Chapter 4 - The Whitechapel Irregulars
Chapter 5 - The House of Monkeys
Chapter 6 - One for Sorrow
Chapter 7 - Flight of the Magpie
Chapter 8 - The Game is Afoot
Act 2 - The Hound of the Hanivers
Chapter 9 - A Word to the Wise
Chapter 10 - The Circus of Wonders
Chapter 11 - A Damsel in Distress
Chapter 12 - The Barghest
Chapter 13 - The Naturalist
Chapter 14 - Red in Tooth and Claw
Chapter 15 - A Death in the Family
Chapter 16 - The Industrialist
Chapter 17 - The Freak
Chapter 18 - An Appointment with Doktor Seziermesser
Act 3 - The Fall of the House of Umbridge
Chapter 19 - The Menagerie
Chapter 20 - Last Supper
Chapter 21 - The Doktor Will See You Now
Chapter 22 - A Fate Worse Than Death
Chapter 23 - The Chimera
Chapter 24 - Fight or Flight
Chapter 25 - The Abbey
Chapter 26 - Gods & Monsters
Epilogue - Plenty More Fish in the Sea
Bio - Jonathan Green
Novella - Christmas Past
I - Whom the Gods Would Destroy
II - The Dead of Jericho
III - The Body in the Library
IV - The Damocles Club
V - Slay Bells
VI - The Ghost of Christmas Past
VII - Santa Claws is Coming to Town
VIII -
Sins of the Fathers
IX - Murder in the Cathedral
X - It's a Wonderful Life