Opening
As police close in on a modern-day researcher and constables hunt an 18th‑century apothecary, two timelines tighten like a noose. Caroline Parcewell faces arrest in a London hospital, while Nella Clavinger runs for her life through the city’s alleys. Their stories collide around a single question: what must be sacrificed to protect the truth—and whom.
What Happens
Chapter 26: Quantities of non-poisons needed to kill
In a fluorescent interrogation room at St. Bartholomew’s, officers slide Caroline’s notebook across the table, the page open to “Quantities of non-poisons needed to kill,” alongside a note about arsenic. Her husband, James Parcewell, lies in critical care, and the officers’ questions sharpen: Why the research? Why the secrecy? They probe the cracks in her marriage, revealing that James has already shared their troubles with the nursing staff.
Caroline weighs revealing James’s infidelity but realizes it would cast her as vindictive. Instead, she insists she came to London alone and that James’s arrival is a surprise. The explanation doesn’t land. As an officer unlatches his handcuffs, the room narrows—Caroline recognizes how swiftly Secrets and Deception can transform curiosity into a crime.
Chapter 27: The book will be safe here
In 1791, the hidden shop stands silent as Eliza and Nella pack to flee. Eliza Fanning urges Nella to take the apothecary’s register—the ledger of every woman she has served and every poison she has dispensed. Nella nearly burns it to protect them all, then stops. To destroy the register would erase the women it holds. She decides to leave it hidden, preserving their names and giving their lives permanence—an act that enshrines The Power of the Past and History.
Seeing Eliza as the daughter she never has, Nella refuses to blame her; her anger rests with Lady Clarence. They step into Bear Alley intending to split up. Three constables appear at the far end. Without speaking, they run south toward the Thames.
Chapter 28: I can validate all of this research
Back in the hospital, an officer reaches for Caroline’s wrists—then her phone rings. Gaynor, the librarian, calls to check on her. Grasping at the only lifeline, Caroline asks Gaynor to come to the ward and tells the officers her colleague from the British Library can corroborate her research. Gaynor arrives and takes in the uniformed presence with alarm.
The lead officer places Caroline’s notebook in front of Gaynor, a damning catalog of poison notes Gaynor has never seen. Caroline braces for denial. Instead, Gaynor lies cleanly and completely: she confirms the projects, produces her staff card, and offers to pull security footage. Her intervention embodies Female Solidarity and Empowerment, knocking the wind out of the officers’ certainty. A call from the ward interrupts—James is awake and asking for his wife. Caroline is escorted to him, leaving Gaynor steady and unflinching.
Chapter 29: Let the men follow me into the river
Nella and Eliza sprint through alleys and squeeze into a dark stable. Nella, fading as the frankincense wears off, instructs Eliza to deny everything if they’re caught. Men gather outside, voices too close. Nella climbs the rear wall first to draw attention, Eliza scrambling after her.
They veer for Blackfriars Bridge—a direct but perilous route. Near the center, Eliza whispers that enough time has passed; her secret tincture is ready. She presses the vial into Nella’s palm, believing it can “fix everything.” Nella refuses. She tells Eliza to vanish into the crowd and reveals her plan: “let the men follow me into the river.” The scarred constable from Lady Clarence’s estate closes in, his eyes on Eliza as Nella prepares to step over the edge.
Chapter 30: Apothecary Killer Jumps from Bridge, Suicide
Caroline enters James’s room with officers in tow. James immediately states he ingested eucalyptus oil by accident and that Caroline bears no blame. The officers’ case deflates; they leave a card for confidential contact and exit. James squeezes Caroline’s hand—“We’re not meant to be apart”—but she pulls away, overwhelmed by relief and the sting of Betrayal.
In the waiting room, Caroline crumples under the day’s weight and the dawning clarity of Self-Discovery and Identity: she and James have been happy, but not fulfilled. Gaynor finds her, offers food, and Caroline breaks the cycle of secrecy—confessing the affair, the solo trip, and the discovery of the apothecary’s register, which she shows in photos. Later, Caroline gets her period and feels a surge of relief; one major complication lifts. She unfolds the second newspaper Gaynor gave her and reads the headline dated February 12, 1791: “Apothecary Killer Jumps from Bridge, Suicide.” The past hits like a tide. Nella’s fate appears sealed.
Character Development
The chapters force each protagonist to choose: conceal or confess, run or surrender, preserve legacy or protect oneself.
-
- Calls in help under pressure and accepts an ally’s lie to survive the moment.
- Confronts the cost of secrecy and chooses radical honesty with Gaynor.
- Recognizes the gap between happiness and fulfillment, recalibrating her future without the added weight of a pregnancy.
-
- Refuses to erase the women in her register, privileging memory over safety.
- Channels dwindling strength into strategy—drawing danger toward herself.
- Frames suicide as control and protection, a final act to shield Eliza and the shop’s secrets.
-
- Moves from client to accomplice, matching Nella’s pace and risk.
- Clings to “magick” while also thinking tactically in the chase.
- Learns to accept Nella’s grim logic even as she tries to save her.
-
Gaynor:
- Stakes her credibility to protect Caroline, trusting instinct over procedure.
- Models a modern sisterhood that echoes the apothecary’s covert network.
Themes & Symbols
Secrets accelerate into danger as Caroline’s research notes and James’s affair almost produce a wrongful arrest. Once exposed, secrecy corrodes trust and narrows choices, while sharing the truth—Caroline’s confession to Gaynor—begins to restore agency. In parallel, Nella’s refusal to destroy the register reframes the past not as a burden but as a testament, insisting that erased women be remembered and that records can outlast violence.
Across both timelines, solidarity among women becomes survival. Gaynor’s intervention buys Caroline time the way Nella’s ledger buys her clients a voice. These chapters also press the question of identity: Caroline realizes contentment without purpose is a trap, and Nella chooses how her story ends when the law leaves her no path but surrender or the river.
Symbols:
- The Apothecary’s Register: A ledger turned memorial, asserting that women’s hidden lives and acts deserve permanence.
- The River Thames: A boundary between capture and escape—and, for Nella, between exposure and control.
Key Quotes
“Quantities of non-poisons needed to kill.”
- The phrase reframes mundane substances as potential weapons and makes Caroline’s curiosity look criminal. On paper, it supplies motive and method—evidence that can be misread when stripped from context.
“Let the men follow me into the river.”
- Nella chooses the terms of her end, redirecting pursuit away from Eliza. The line fuses sacrifice with strategy, revealing a woman seizing agency in a world that denies it.
“We’re not meant to be apart.”
- James’s plea attempts to restore intimacy by declaring inevitability. Caroline’s recoil shows how a relationship can feel emotionally intact yet fundamentally misaligned.
“Apothecary Killer Jumps from Bridge, Suicide.”
- The headline presents history’s verdict in stark, sensational terms. It seems to resolve the chase while raising a larger question: whose version of events gets preserved, and at what cost.
Why This Matters and Section Significance
These chapters serve as a twin climax. In the present, a near-arrest pushes Caroline toward honesty, community, and a clearer sense of self. In the past, pursuit on Blackfriars Bridge compresses Nella’s world to a single choice, transforming death into an act of protection and legacy.
The section knits timelines through consequence. Caroline’s research tangibly intersects with Nella’s fate, proving that records can both reveal truths and ossify misunderstandings. As the headline closes around Nella, Caroline opens her own life—choosing candor, reclaiming direction, and preparing to decide what story she will write next.