The Doctor shuffled into the console room the next morning, running a hand through his hair to find Donna waiting and ready. "Morning," he told her, stifling a yawn.
Donna smiled at him. "How's she doing?"
"Better," the Doctor replied. "I still think Messaline got to her."
Donna eyed him. "How about we stick to Earth for this next one?" she suggested. "For her sake?"
The Doctor looked at her. "You'd be willing to do that?"
"Spaceman, she's your wife," Donna told him with a smile. "And my little sister. Of course I'd be willing to."
The Doctor smiled. "Thank you, Donna."
She shrugged. "It's nothing."
"What's nothing?" a sleepy voice asked behind them as Jessie trudged into the room.
The Doctor chuckled, giving her a one-armed hug as she shook her head, clearing it out. "Nothing," he replied with a grin. "What do you think is nothing?"
"Shut up," she yawned.
The Doctor grinned, setting the TARDIS off. "Ready for the next trip?"
"Depends on where it is," Jessie replied. "Where are we?"
The TARDIS landed, and the Doctor shrugged. "Let's find out!" He headed for the door and stuck his head out and sniffed, sighing. "Oh, smell that air!"
Jessie followed him out and smiled. "Grass and lemonade. That's interesting." She sniffed again. "Hang on a minute . . . is that mint?"
"A hint of mint," the Doctor rhymed, and Jessie nudged him a little. He grinned. "Must be the nineteen twenties."
"You can tell what year it is just by smelling?" Donna asked incredulously.
"Oh, yeah," the Doctor agreed.
Jessie shrugged. "I could tell by the big vintage car going up the driveway, but yeah, I suppose he could tell by smelling."
"You take the fun out of it!" the Doctor whined as they headed off towards the manor.
"Good afternoon, Professor Peach," the butler was saying as the driver got out of the car.
"Hello, Greeves, old man," Peach replied as he got out when a bicyclist rode up. "Ah, Reverend!"
"Professor Peach," the vicar replied with a smile. "Beautiful day! The Lord's in his heaven, all's right with the world."
"Reverend Golightly," Greeves greeted. "Lady Eddison requests you make yourselves comfortable in your rooms. Cocktails will be served on the lawn from half past four."
"You go on up," Peach told Golightly. "I need to check something in the library."
"Oh?" Golightly asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Alone," Peach added.
"It's supposed to be a party! All this work will be the death of you."
"A party?" Jessie asked, beginning to grin as she looked at Donna.
Donna looked just as excited. "Never mind Planet Zog! A party in the nineteen twenties! That's more like it!"
"The trouble is, we haven't been invited," the Doctor said sadly before perking up. "Oh. I forgot." He winked, waving the psychic paper. "Yes, we have."
Jessie let out a small cheer and headed back to the TARDIS. She loved it when she got to dress up on these kinds of trips!
***
The Doctor huffed, knocking on the TARDIS doors. "We'll be late for cocktails!" he whined.
The door opened, and Donna stepped out first, showing off the dark brown beaded dress she was wearing, her hair twisted elegantly into a knot at the back of her head. "What do you think?" she asked, hands on her hips and looking smug. "Flapper or slapper?"
"Oh, definitely flapper," Jessie replied, stepping out as well. "You look great, Donna!"
"And so do you," the Doctor added, smiling as he eyed her over. Jessie was wearing a red cocktail dress halfway down her calves, her sleeves on her forearms split, with black heels and her hair tied in a messy bun, bits of her hair framing her face.
"Very Man In The Brown Suit," Jessie remarked.
The Doctor smirked. "You like it."
She smiled. "The party, Sir Doctor?"
The Doctor grinned, holding out his arms, letting the two women take them. "Party indeed, Dame Jessie," he answered, and the three of them walked off towards the manor.
***
"Look sharp!" the Indian housekeeper called as the three approached. "We have guests!"
"Good afternoon," the Doctor greeted them.
"Drinks, sir?" the footman asked. "Ma'am? Ma'am?"
"Sidecar, please," Donna answered.
"Simple water for me, if you will," Jessie answered, eyeing the cocktails being passed around.
The Doctor squeezed her hand, knowing where her mind had gone. "And a lime and soda, thank you," he asked.
The footman left, and Greeves announced, "May I announce Lady Clemency Eddison."
"Lady Eddison," Jessie greeted when an older woman approached.
"Forgive me, but who exactly might you be, and what are you doing here?" Clemency asked in confusion.
"I'm the Doctor, this is the Bad Wolf, and this is Miss Donna Noble, of the Chiswick Nobles," the Doctor replied.
Donna dropped to a curtsey. "Good afternoon, my lady," she said, putting on a posh accent. "Topping day, what? Spiffing. Top hole!"
The Doctor winced. "No, no, no, no, no. No," he told her, pointing at her. "Don't do that. Don't."
"Och, aye!" Jessie giggled, using a worse Scottish accent than when she'd been American. "I've been oot and aboot!"
The Doctor grimaced even worse. "Yeah, don't do that, either."
"Hoots, mon!" she joked, not able to resist.
The Doctor sighed, shaking his head. "You're impossible," he remarked before pulling out his psychic paper and showing it to Clemency. "We were thrilled to receive your invitation, my lady. We met at the Ambassadors reception."
"Doctor, Bad Wolf!" Clemency told them with a smile. "How could I forget you? But one must be sure with the Unicorn on the loose."
"Unicorn?" Jessie repeated, looking around. "I don't see a unicorn."
"Brilliant!" the Doctor agreed, looking around as well. "Where?"
Clemency laughed. "The Unicorn," she corrected. "The jewel thief? Nobody knows who he is. He's just struck again. Snatched Lady Babbington's pearls right from under her nose."
Jessie's eyes widened a little, and she double checked every piece of jewelry she was wearing. She'd chosen the icicle earrings the Doctor had asked be specially made from Gemsamoria, including the necklace with Saleen's, Skye's, and Grant's charms, and the bracelets Jordan had made her. "Oh, dear," she commented.
"Funny place to wear pearls," Donna muttered as she took a sip of her drink. Jessie snorted into hers, and Donna grinned, pleased with herself. She'd managed to make the girl laugh, at least.
"May I announce Colonel Hugh Curbishley, the Honorable Roger Curbishley!" Greeves called.
"My husband, and my son," Clemency introduced, holding out a hand as a young man pushed an older man in a wheelchair.
"Forgive me for not rising," Hugh apologized, shaking the Doctor's hand. "Never been the same ever since that flu epidemic back in eighteen."
"It was horrible," Jessie agreed, trying to fit into character as she placed a hand over her left heart and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Colonel."
Hugh smiled at her. "Not to worry, my dear."
"My word, you are super ladies," Roger remarked, eyeing both of them.
"And that's where my conversation stops," Jessie decided, scooting over to the Doctor's side, him putting an arm around her as he gave Roger a warning look.
"Oh, I like the cut of your jib," Donna told him, patting his cheek. "Chin, chin."
"Hello," the Doctor told Roger with a nod. "I'm the Doctor."
"How do you do?" Roger asked, holding out a hand.
The Doctor shook it. "Very well."
"Your usual, sir?" the footman asked Roger.
"Ah, thank you, Davenport," Roger replied, taking the glass offered. "Just how I like it!"
"How come she's an Edison, but her husband and son are Curbishleys?" Donna asked curiously.
"The Eddison title descends through her," the Doctor replied, taking a drink of his soda. "One day, Roger will be a lord."
"Robina Redmond," Greeves announced.
"She's the absolute hit of the social scene," Clemency told them as a young, dark-haired young woman in red walked up. "A must. Miss Redmond."
"Spiffing to meet you at last, my lady," Robina told her with a smile. "What super fun!"
"Reverend Arnold Golightly," Greeves added.
"Ah, Reverend," Clemency sighed as the vicar entered, and Jessie tilted her head, watching them. "How are you? I heard about the church last Thursday night. Those ruffians breaking in."
"Ruffians?" Jessie gasped, playing the part of a worried housewife.
"You apprehended them, I hear," Hugh added.
"As the Christians Fathers taught me, we must forgive them their trespasses," Golightly spoke before smiling. "Quite literally."
"But they are taken care of?" Jessie asked.
Golightly smiled at her. "Yes, my lady, they have been taken care of."
She nodded and gave a small curtsey. "Well done, Reverend."
Donna watched her in surprise. "Is she always this good with people of the times?" she asked.
"Mmm," the Doctor agreed with a nod, smiling as he watched her. "She's a natural."
"Some of these young boys deserve a decent thrashing," Roger remarked.
"Couldn't agree more, sir," Davenport agreed.
Jessie eyed both of them, how they looked at each other, before shaking her head and joining the Doctor and Donna again. "Well, those two are cozy," she whispered, taking a drink of her own.
"Typical," Donna scoffed. "All the decent men are on the other bus."
"Or Time Lords," the Doctor muttered.
"Now, my lady," Roger said, turning to Clemency. "What about this special guest you promised us?"
Clemency smiled, seeing someone coming up. "Here she is! A lady who needs no introduction."
The thirty-odd blonde woman walking up the driveway ducked her head at all of the applause. "No, no, please, don't," she told them, shaking her head as Jessie tilted her head, trying to figure out who she was. "Thank you, Lady Eddison. Honestly, there's no need." She turned to the three time travelers and held out a hand. "Agatha Christie."
Donna nodded. "What about her?"
"That's me."
Jessie nearly dropped her drink. "No way!" she gasped, eyes wide.
"You're kidding!" Donna gasped as well, just as shocked.
"Agatha Christie!" the Doctor beamed, shaking her hand. "I was just talking about you the other day! I said, I bet she's brilliant! I'm the Doctor. This is the Bad Wolf, and that's Donna. Oh, I love your stuff! What a mind! You fool me every time! Well, almost every time. Well, once or twice. Well . . . once. But it was a good once!"
"You make a rather unusual couple," Agatha commented, looking from the Doctor to Donna.
"Oh, no, no, no, no," the Doctor insisted, shaking his head and pointing to Donna. "We're not married."
"We're not a couple," Donna added.
"Well, obviously not," Agatha chuckled. "It is she who bears the rings." Jessie looked down at her left hand and let the sapphire catch the glint in the light, the Doctor twisting his hand to show his. "It is the two of you who make the interesting couple."
"You don't miss a trick, do you?" Jessie asked in admiration.
"I'd stay that way if I were you," Agatha advised Donna with a smile. "The thrill is in the chase, never in the capture."
"I don't know," Jessie mused thoughtfully. "I still have to chase him everywhere."
"Oi!" the Doctor complained.
Jessie merely patted him on the shoulder as Clemency joined them. "Mrs. Christie, I'm so glad you could come," she told her. "I'm one of your greatest followers. I've read all six of your books. Er . . . is, er, Mr. Christie not joining us?"
Agatha frowned. "Is he needed?" she asked. "Can't a woman make her own way in the world?"
"Don't give my wife ideas," Hugh sighed.
"Now, Mrs. Christie, I have a question," Roger told her. "Why a Belgian detective?"
Jessie smiled a little sadly, looking at Agatha. "I'm going to find the bathroom," she told the Doctor, handing him her drink. "Just . . . clean up a little bit."
The Doctor eyed her for a second before nodding and kissing her. "Be careful," he advised her.
She smiled and nodded, heading for the mansion.
Donna frowned. "She looks fine," she remarked.
The Doctor shook his head. "I think this is hitting close to home," he told her. "She thought she heard a friend of hers call her name from the Adipose incident. Then she thought she saw her friends' faces on UNIT's monitors during the Sontaran problems. The necklace she wears has a charm for each of them. And I know from time in the TARDIS library that Saleen, her best friend, absolutely adored Agatha Christie's books. I think she needs time to herself for a moment."
Donna nodded in understanding. "That's why she was worried about the Unicorn," she realized.
The Doctor nodded. "Exactly." He walked over to Hugh. "Excuse me, Colonel," he asked, looking at his newspaper. Hugh nodded and gave it to her.
"Belgians make such lovely buns," Agatha answered Roger with a wink.
"I say, where on Earth's Professor Peach?" Roger asked, looking around. "He'd love to meet Mrs. Christie."
Golightly shrugged. "Said he was going to the library."
"Miss Chandrakala, would you go and collect the Professor?" Clemency asked the maid.
Chandrakala curtseyed. "At once, milady," she answered, turning and leaving.
"The date on this newspaper," the Doctor mused.
"What about it?" Donna asked.
"It's the day Agatha Christie disappeared."
***
Jessie wrung out her neck as she looked in the mirror, taking a few breaths. "I can do this," she told herself firmly. "I can do this. Saleen would want me to have a good time here." She let out a breath, straightening up and nodding, twisting a little to double check her dress. "Good."
"Professor Peach?" the maid called as she passed by. "Professor?"
Jessie poked her head out, frowning and following the maid.
***
"She'd just discovered her husband was having an affair," the Doctor explained to Donna.
"You'd never think to look at her, smiling away," Donna told him, looking after Agatha.
"Well, she's British and moneyed," the Doctor told her with a shrug. "They carry on. Except for this one time." He pointed at the date. "No one knows exactly what happened. She just vanished. Her car will be found tomorrow morning by the side of a lake. Ten days later, Agatha Christie turns up in a hotel in Harrogate. Said she'd lost her memory. She never spoke about the disappearance till the day she died, but whatever it was . . . "
"It's about to happen," Donna guessed.
He nodded. "Right here, right now."
A sharp scream pierced the air, and the Doctor's head shot up when he recognized it. "Jessie!" he shouted, flinging the newspaper over his shoulder and running towards the mansion, Donna right on his heels. He never called her by her real name unless it was something really bad.
"Professor!" Chandrakala cried as she ran out, the Doctor passing her by quickly. "The library! Murder! Murder!"
***
Jessie stood in the doorway of the library, staring at Peach's body in shock and horror, before the pounding of footsteps made her turn. She did, reaching under her skirt for the knife she had strapped to her leg, when the Doctor ran up the stairs, and she sagged in relief. "You're all right," he breathed, walking up to her and kissing her hard.
She kissed him back, holding his head in place before pulling away and nodding. "I'm fine," she told him, swallowing. "But the Professor isn't."
He walked inside, heading towards Peach's body, and Jessie joined him as the others found their way in. "Oh, my goodness," Greeves gasped.
"Bashed on the head," the Doctor muttered, checking Peach over. "Blunt instrument."
"His watch broke when he fell," Jessie reported, holding up the said watch. "Time of death was quarter past four."
"A bit of pipe," Donna added, holding up a piece and waving it. "Call me Hercules Poirot, but I reckon that's blunt enough."
And there's nothing worth killing for in here," Jessie finished as she shuffled through the papers on the library desk. "Nothing here at all."
"Hold on," Donna said with a grin. "The Body in the Library? I mean, Professor Peach, in the library, with the lead piping?"
"That's two," Jessie remarked with a grin. "And I think Clue's been invented a bit early."
"Let me see!" Clemency ordered.
"Out of my way!" Hugh ordered.
Clemency stopped, seeing Peach. "Gerald?" she whispered.
"Saints preserve us!" Golightly gasped.
"Oh, how awful!" Robina sighed dramatically.
"Someone should call the police," Agatha called.
"You don't have to," the Doctor told them, flipping open his psychic paper and showing it to them. "Chief Inspector Smith from Scotland Yard, known as the Doctor."
"Assistant Inspector Smith from Scotland Yard as well," Jessie addd, showing off hers. "Known as the Bad Wolf."
"Miss Noble is the plucky young girl who helps us out," the Doctor added, ignoring Donna's offended squeak.
"I say!" Clemency gasped.
"Mrs. Christie was right," the Doctor added, nodding to her. "Go into the sitting room. We will question each of you in turn."
"Come along," Agatha told them, ushering them out. "Do as the Doctor says. "Leave the room undisturbed."
"The plucky young girl who helps us out?" Donna repeated with a huff. "She's younger than me!"
"Federal agent," Jessie reminded her.
"And no policewomen in 1926," the Doctor added. "She passes off since she's my wife."
"I'll pluck you two in a minute," Donna grumbled. "Why don't we phone the real police?"
"Well, the last thing we want is PC Plod sticking his nose in, especially now I've found this." The Doctor scraped some gunk off of the floor. "Morphic residue."
"Morphic?" Donna repeated. "Doesn't sound very 1926."
"It's left behind when certain species genetically re-encode," the Doctor explained.
"The murderer's an alien?"
"Which means one of that lot is an alien in human form."
"A murder, a mystery, and Agatha Christie." Jessie laughed, shaking her head. "Why does this always happen to us?"
"Isn't it a bit weird, though?" Donna asked. "Agatha Christie didn't walk around surrounded by murders. Not really! I mean, that's like meeting Charles Dickens, and he's surrounded by ghosts at Christmas!"
"Well," the Doctor drawled out as Jessie burst out laughing, hard enough that she had to lean on the mantle for balance.
"Oh, come on!" Donna protested, looking between the two of them. "It's not like we could drive across country and find Enid Blyton having tea with Noddy." The Doctor raised an eyebrow at her. "Could we? Noddy's not real, is he? Tell me there's no Noddy!"
"There's no Noddy," Jessie choked out through her laughter.
"Next think you know, you'll be telling me it's like Murder On The Orient Express, and they all did it!" Donna scoffed as they left the library.
"Murder on the Orient Express?" Agatha repeated from where she'd been waiting.
"Three," Jessie counted.
Donna nodded. "Ooo, yeah! One of your best!"
"But not yet," the Doctor told her quickly.
"Marvelous idea, though," Agatha told her thoughtfully.
"Yeah," Donna said slowly. "Tell you what. Copyright Donna Noble, OK?"
"Anyway!" the Doctor said slowly. "Bad Wolf, Agatha, and I will question the suspects. Donna, you search the bedrooms. Look for clues."
"Residue," Jessie added in a whisper.
"You'll need this," the Doctor added, handing her a magnifying glass.
Donna looked at him. "Is that for real?" she asked in disbelief.
"Go on," Jessie told her before giggling. "You're ever so plucky."
Donna glared at her, taking the magnifying glass before heading up the stairs. "Right, then!" the Doctor declared, turning. "Solving a murder with Agatha Christie. Brilliant!"
"How like a man to have fun while there's disaster all around him," Agatha muttered.
"Well, I do have two of the smartest women of the time here to help," the Doctor told her with a smile. "Why not?"
"Ignore him," Jessie sighed, holding out a hand to Agatha. "For the sake of justice?"
Agatha nodded, shaking it. "For the sake of justice."
The Doctor nodded. "Yeah."
"But I love the smartest woman of the time part," Jessie told him telepathically. "Pull that more often."
He grinned at her. "Well, now, I definitely will."
***
"Now, then, Reverend," the Doctor told Golightly as Agatha wrote down notes, Jessie sitting down as well, but looking for any lies told. "Where were you at quarter past four?"
"Let me think," Golightly murmured before brightening. "Why, yes, I remember! I was unpacking in my room."
"No alibi, then," Jessie decided.
"You were alone?" Agatha asked.
"With the Lord, one is never truly alone."
Jessie quirked an eyebrow and looked at the Doctor. He merely looked back at her.
***
"And where were you?" the Doctor asked Roger.
"Let me think," Roger replied, closing his eyes. "I was . . . " He opened them. "Oh, yes. I was taking a constitutional in the fields behind the house. Just taking a stroll, that's all."
"Alone?" Jessie asked.
"Oh, yes, all alone," Roger replied, nodding. "Totally alone. Absolutely alone. Completely. All the time." Jessie raised an eyebrow at that as she folded her arms, chewing on the inside of her cheek as she remembered how he'd been looking at Davenport. "I wandered lonely as the proverbial cloud. There was no one else with me. Not at all. Not ever."
Jessie sighed, putting her head in her hands.
That was definitely a lie.
***
"And where were you?" the Doctor asked Robina.
"At a quarter past four," Robina murmured, looking thoughtful. "Well, I went to the toilet when I arrived - " Jessie blinked at that. "And then, er . . . " She perked up. "Oh, yes! I remember! I was preparing myself. Positively buzzing with excitement about the party and the super fun of meeting Lady Eddy."
"We've only got your word for it," Jessie told her.
Robina shrugged. "That's your problem. Not mine."
Jessie rubbed her forehead. "This is definitely one of the most interesting cases I've had," she muttered to the Doctor. He snorted in amusement.
***
"And where were you, sir?" the Doctor asked Hugh.
"Quarter past four? Dear me, let me think . . . " Hugh did for a few seconds before he nodded. "Ah, yes. I remember. I was in me study, reading through some military memoirs. Fascinating stuff." His eyes glazed over, and Jessie swore his eyes flicked over to her before he continued. "Took me back to my days in the army. Started reminiscing. Mafeking, you know. Terrible war."
"Colonel?" the Doctor asked, not liking the way he kept looking at Jessie. "Snap out of it!"
"I was in my study," he began again.
"No, no, no," the Doctor told him. "Right out of it."
Hugh blinked. "Oh, sorry. Got a bit carried away there."
Jessie sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose and shaking her head.
Definitely one of her most interesting cases.
***
"And where were you at quarter past four, my lady?" the Doctor asked Clemency.
"Now, let me see . . . " Clemency nodded. "Yes, I remember. I was sitting in the Blue Room, taking my afternoon tea. It's a ritual of mine. I needed to gather strength fr the duty of hostess. I then proceeded to the lawn where I met you, Doctor, and I said, who exactly might you be and what are you doing here? And you said, I am the Doctor, this is the Bad Wolf, and this is Miss Donna Noble."
"We were there for that bit, thank you," Jessie told her.
"Of course," Clemency agreed before hiccuping. Jessie's eyebrows shot up, and Clemency put a hand to her heart. "Excuse me."
"Afternoon tea, eh?" the Doctor asked Jessie.
"Doubtful."
***
"No alibis for any of them," Agatha muttered. "The Secret Adversary remains hidden."
"There's four," Jessie remarked.
Agatha gave her an odd look as the Doctor just grinned. "We must look for a motive. Use ze little grey cells."
"Oh, yes, little grey cells," the Doctor agreed. "Good old Poirot. You know, we've been to Belgium."
Jessie grinned. "I remember that!"
The Doctor nodded. "We were deep in the Ardennes, trying to find Charlemagne. He'd been kidnapped by an insane computer."
"Doctor?" Agatha asked in an odd voice.
He blinked. "Sorry."
"Charlemagne lived centuries ago."
He shrugged. "I've got a very good memory."
"For such an experienced detective, you missed a big clue."
"I'm not the one with the most experience," the Doctor countered.
"And if you're talking about the paper you took out of the fire, yeah, we saw," Jessie finished.
Agatha blinked. "You were looking the other way!"
"I saw you reflected in the glass of the bookcase," Jessie said easily.
Agatha shook her head. "You crafty woman." She pulled out a bit of paper from her purse. "This is all that was left."
The Doctor squinted at it. "What's that first letter?" he asked before grinning at Jessie. "N or M?" he asked.
"Five!" she squealed.
Agatha frowned between them. They really were an odd couple. "It's an M. The word is maiden."
"Maiden!" the Doctor said loudly before pouting. "What does that mean?"
"No idea," Jessie replied.
"We're still no further forward," Agatha huffed. "Our Nemesis remains at large. Unless Miss Noble's found something."
"And six."
"DOCTOR! BAD WOLF!"
"Speak of the devil!" Jessie shouted, running out of the room and heading up the stairs. She stopped short when she saw Donna in the hallway, staring at a door . . . with a giant stinger stuck in it. "What in Frigga's name?" she breathed.
"It's a giant wasp!" Donna gasped out.
"What do you mean, a giant wasp?" the Doctor asked in confusion when he and Agatha arrived.
"I mean, a wasp that's giant!" Donna insisted.
"It's only a silly little insect," Agatha brushed off.
"When I say giant, I don't mean big," Donna seethed. "I mean flipping enormous!"
"Yeah, I'd say the sting is flipping enormous," Jessie agreed, tilting her head and looking at it. "That's new."
"Let me see," the Doctor told her, opening the door to see the other side.
Jessie checked out the window. "It's gone," she decided before smirking. "Buzzed off."
"Oh, nice," the Doctor told her with a grin.
"Thanks!"
"But that's fascinating!" Agatha breathed, looking at the stinger.
"Don't touch it," the Doctor warned her, stopping her from touching it. "Don't touch it. Let me." He pulled out a test tube and a pencil, then scraped some of the gunk on the end of the stinger inside. "Giant wasp. Well, tons of amorphous insectivorous life forms, but none in this galactic vector."
"I think I understood some of those words," Agatha told him. "Enough to know that you're completely potty."
"Well, that's one way of describing him in a nutshell," Jessie told her. "Congratulations."
"Lost its sting, though," Donna pointed out. "That makes it defenseless."
"With a creature this size?" Jessie shook her head. "It's got to be able to grow a new one."
"Can we return to sanity?" Agatha demanded. "There are no such things as giant wasps!"
There was a scream from outside, and Jessie grabbed onto the Doctor and Donna. The Doctor quickly took Agatha's arm, and Jessie phased them through to the ground. She landed firmly and took off running outside, and Donna shouted, "How do you do that?"
"Do what?!"
"The heels, the . . . whatever that was!"
"Not now, Donna!" the Doctor told her.
Jessie skidded to a stop next to a stone gargoyle on top of Chandrakala. "The poor little child," the woman whispered before she died.
Jessie looked up when she heard a buzz. "Oh, hello," she remarked when she saw, indeed, a huge wasp fluttering about. "Oh, and you have a new stinger," she sighed. "Bloody fantastic."
"Come on!" the Doctor told her when the wasp took off.
"Hey, this makes a change!" Donna joked as they ran. "There's a monster, and we're chasing it!"
"It can't be a monster," Agatha gasped. "It's a trick! They Do It With Mirrors!"
"And seven!" Jessie called.
The Doctor stopped, seeing the wasp in the corridor. "By all that's holy," Agatha breathed.
"Oh, but you are wonderful," the Doctor complimented, but held up his hands when the wasp tried to approach. "Now, just stop. Stop there."
The wasp lunged, but Donna called, "Oi! Flyboy!" and she wielded the magnifying glass up, and the wasp retreated.
"Don't let it get away!" the Doctor shouted as they ran after it. "Quick, before it reverts back to human form!" They stopped in the corridor, seeing nothing down it. "Where are you?" the Doctor called. "Come on. There's nowhere to run. Show yourself!"
Every door opened, and a human stepped out. Jessie groaned. "Oh, come on!" she whined.
"That's just cheating!" the Doctor agreed.
***
"My faithful companion," Clemency wept as the Doctor explained what happened. "This is terrible!"
"Excuse me, my lady, but she was on her way to tell you something," Davenport told her.
"She never found me. She had an Appointment With Death instead."
"Eight," Jessie whispered.
The Doctor nodded. "She said the poor little child. Does that mean anything to anyone"
"No children in this house for years," Hugh replied. "Highly unlikely there will be."
"Mrs. Christie, you must have twigged something," Clemency brought up. "You've written simply the best detective stories."
"Tell us, what would Poirot do?" Golightly asked.
"Heavens sake!" Hugh growled. "Cards On The Table, woman! You should be helping us!"
"Geez, that's nine," Jessie muttered.
"But I'm merely a writer!" Agatha protested.
"But surely you can crack it!" Robina told her. "These events, they're exactly like one of your plots."
"That's what I've been saying," Donna told her. "Agatha, that's got to mean something."
"But what?" Agatha asked with a sigh. "I've no answers. None. I'm sorry, all of you. I'm truly sorry, but I've failed. If anyone can help us, then it's the Bad Wolf and the Doctor, not me."
***
Jessie slowly approached Agatha outside in the gazebo before she sat down next to her. "Your books really are brilliant, you know," she told her. "I think they could turn into something more."
Agatha smiled. "Thank you. I appreciate you trying to be kind, Bad Wolf, but Miss Noble was right. These murders are like my own creations. It's as though someone's mocking me, and I've had enough scorn for one lifetime."
Jessie nodded. "I know what that's like." She held out her hand. "What I did, taking us down here? I'm different than others. So different, that I was made fun of so much. And I thought I loved someone once. Childhood crush, nothing more. I ended up abused and a mess after a drunk incident. But I moved on afterwards. I found the Doctor. He changed me, made me better. There's someone else for you."
Agatha eyed her. "I see. Is my marriage the stuff of gossip now."
"No," Jessie said quickly. "That's not what I was trying to say."
Agatha sighed. "No matter. The stories are true. I found my husband with another woman. A younger, prettier woman. Isn't it always the way?"
Jessie grinned. "Donna? Her fiancé was with a huge spider, but I suppose that's the same difference."
"You and the Doctor talk such wonderful nonsense," Agatha told her.
Jessie sighed. "Agatha, people love your books. They really do! They're going to be reading them for years to come. My best friend, Saleen, she's the one who got me into yours."
"If only," Agatha sighed. "Try as I might, it's hardly great literature. Now that's beyond me. I'm afraid my books will be forgotten, like ephemera." She blinked. "Hello. What's that?"
Jessie looked over before noticing something and narrowing her eyes. "Weren't those flowerbeds straight when we arrived?"
"Exactly," Agatha agreed, standing up and walking over. "And now some of the stalks are bent over."
Jessie grinned when Agatha picked up a small case from inside. "Now, see that right there?" She grinned. "That is what I call brilliant!"
***
"Ooo," the Doctor admired when they opened the case to reveal lock picks. "Someone came here tooled up. This sort of stuff a thief would use."
"The Unicorn," Agatha realized. "He's here."
"The Unicorn and the wasp," the Doctor mused.
"Your drinks, ladies," Greeves told them, coming in and handing them drinks. "Doctor."
"Very good, Greeves," the Doctor replied, nodding.
"How about the science stuff?" Donna asked. "What did you find?"
"Vespiform sting," the Doctor replied. "Vespiforms have got hives in the Silfrax galaxy."
"Again, you talk like Edward Lear," Agatha told them.
"But for some reason, this one's behaving like a character in one of your books," the Doctor added, looking at Agatha.
"Come on, Agatha," Donna encouraged her. "What would Miss Marple do? She'd have overheard something vital by now, because the murderer thinks she's just a harmless old lady."
"Clever idea," Agatha mused as Jessie's hand made jerking motions across her throat at Donna before she stopped and face palmed. "Miss Marple? Who writes those?"
"Er . . . " Donna winced. "Copyright Donna Noble. Add it to the list."
The Doctor looked at his drink oddly. "Donna . . . "
"OK, we can all split the copyright," Donna sighed.
"No," the Doctor told her. "Something's inhibiting my enzymes - argh!"
"He's been poisoned!" Jessie gasped, catching him as he nearly bent over.
Agatha looked into his glass and took a sniff. "Bitter almonds," she told them. "It's cyanide. Sparkling Cyanide!"
"There's ten!"
The Doctor ran out, heading for the kitchen. Jessie ran after him to see him grab Davenport. "Ginger beer!" he shouted at him.
"I beg your pardon?" Davenport sputtered.
"I need ginger beer!"
"The gentleman's gone mad!" someone shouted.
Jessie quickly found the drink and handed it to the Doctor, who gulped it down instantly.
"I'm an expert in poisons," Agatha told him. "Doctor, there's no cure. It's fatal!"
Jessie bit her lip before crying out and doubling over when seconds later, something began to crawl inside of her. "Bad Wolf!" Donna cried.
"Dear God!" Agatha gasped.
"I'm connected to him, even in death," Jessie gasped out. "He dies . . . I die!"
The Doctor instantly spat out the ginger beer. "Not gonna happen," he ground out, straightening. He was not letting her die like this. Not because of him. "I can stimulate the inhibited enzymes into reversal. Protein. I need protein."
Donna held out a bag. "Walnuts?" she offered.
"Brilliant," he told her, gulping it all down before miming to Donna.
Donna shook her head, supporting Jessie next to her. "I can't understand you. How many words?" The Doctor held up a finger. "One. One word . . . " The Doctor began making a hand motion. "Shake. Milk shake?" The Doctor shook his head. "Milk? Milk?" The Doctor shook his head even more. "No, not milk? Shake, shake, shake . . . cocktail shaker! What do you want, a Harvey Wallbanger?"
"Harvey Wallbanger?" Jessie repeated incredulously.
"Well, I don't know!" Donna huffed.
"How is harvey Wallbanger one word?!"
"What do you need, Doctor?" Agatha asked.
"Salt!" the Doctor finally managed to say after he swallowed the walnuts. "I was miming salt. It's salt! I need something salty!"
Donna found a bag nearby and offered it to him. "What about this?"
"What is it?"
She checked. "Salt."
He shook his head. "No, too salty."
Donna rolled her eyes. "Oh, that's too salty!"
"What about this?" Agatha asked, finding a jar.
"What's that?" the Doctor asked.
"Anchovies."
He grabbed it and started downing it before he started miming something else. Jessie tuned Donna out as she stared at the Doctor, clutching her stomach as he tried sending her something through her mind. Her eyes widened when she realized what he needed, and she stood up, grabbed his tie, and slammed his mouth down on hers. She kissed him long and hard before concentrating and putting her other hand between his two hearts. "Sorry, Kasterborous," she whispered in his mind before giving him a sharp electric shock.
He staggered back, smoke coming from his mouth. Jessie held out her arms, balancing as the sickness left her stomach, and she sighed, licking her lips and smiling at him. "Feeling better?" she asked.
"Much," the Doctor replied, looking a little flustered. She imagined she didn't look much better. "That was detox. I must do that more often." She quirked an eyebrow. "Both," he told her with a smirk. "Nice technique."
She swatted him in the chest. "Shut up."
"Doctor, Bad Wolf, you are impossible," Agatha told them. "Who are you?"
***
"Loving the Yellow Irises," Jessie whispered to the Doctor as she eyed the flowers on the table as she examined the soup course in front of her, thunder and lightning crashing outside in the dark of night.
"That makes . . . eleven?"
"Eleven, yeah."
He nodded before looking around at all of the guests. "A terrible day for all of us. The Professor struck down, Miss Chandrakala taken cruelly from us, and yet we still take dinner."
"We are British, Doctor," Clemency told him. "What else must we do?"
"And then someone tried to poison my husband," Jessie told them with a glare. "Any one of you had the chance to put cyanide in his drink. And I don't like it when someone tries to kill him. But it gave me an idea."
"And what would that be?" Golightly asked.
"Well, poison," Jessie replied with a 'duh' tone. "Drink up!" Everyone stopped what they were doing, which was eating the soup, and looked at her in shock. She rolled her eyes. "It's pepper."
"Ah," Hugh nodded. "I thought it was jolly spicy."
"But the thing is, the active ingredient of pepper is piperine, which is traditionally used as an insecticide." She smirked at them. "Who's getting the shivers?"
There was a crash of thunder, and the windows blew open, and the candles blew out. "What the deuce is that?" Hugh demanded.
"Listen," the Doctor told them, holding up a finger. "Listen, listen, listen . . . "
A furious buzz began to rise, and Clemency blanched. "No, it can't be!"
"Show yourself, demon!" Agatha demanded, rising to her feet.
"Nobody move!" Jessie ordered, holding out her hands. "Stay where you are."
The wasp appeared, and everyone began to scream. "Out!" the Doctor demanded, repeating the word.
"Well, we know the butler didn't do it," Donna remarked, eyeing the man with them out in the hall.
"Then who did?" Jessie asked as they went back into the dining room.
"My jewelry," Clemency gasped, her hand clutching her throat. "The Firestone. It's gone! Stolen!"
"Roger!" Davenport gasped out.
Jessie's eyes widened when she saw the young man with his face in his soup, a knife in his back. "My son!" Clemency sobbed, hugging him. "My child!"
***
"That poor footman," Donna sighed as she sat down with the Doctor, Jessie, and Agatha. "Roger's dead, and he can't even mourn him. 1926? It's more like the dark ages."
"Did you enquire the necklace?" Agatha asked.
Jessie nodded. "Lady Eddison brought it back from India. It's worth thousands."
"This thing can sting," Donna told them. "It can fly. It could wipe us all out in seconds. Why is it playing this game?"
"Every murder is essentially the same," Agatha told her. "They are committed because somebody wants something."
"What does a Vespiform want?" the Doctor wondered.
"Doctor, stop it," Agatha sighed. "The murderer is as human as you or I."
"You're right," the Doctor agreed before straightening. "Ah! I've been so caught up with giant wasps that I've forgotten. You're the expert."
"I'm not . . . I told you - " Agatha stared at him in shock. "I'm just a purveyor of nonsense!"
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no." The Doctor shook his head. "Because plenty of people write detective stories, but you're the best. And why? Why are you so good, Agatha Christie? Because you understand. You've lived, you've fought, you've had your heart broken. You know about people. Their passions, their hope, and despair, and anger. All of those tiny, huge things that can turn the most ordinary person into a killer. Just think, Agatha. If anyone can solve this . . . it's you."
Agatha stared at him before nodding firmly.
***
"I've called you hear on this Endless Night," the Doctor began.
"Twelve."
The Doctor spared Jessie a quick look, seeing her smirk before he continued. "Because we have a murderer in our midst. And when it comes to detection, there's none finer. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you . . . Agatha Christie."
Agatha took his place in front of the fireplace, looking at everyone gathered around. "This is A Crooked House," she told them.
"Thirteen."
The Doctor nudged Jessie as Agatha kept speaking. "A house of secrets. To understand the solution, we must examine them all. Starting with you . . . Miss Redmond."
The woman started. "But I'm innocent, surely?"
Agatha shook her head. "You've never met these people, and these people have never met you. I think the real Robina Redmond never left London. You're impersonating her."
"How silly," Robina snorted. "What proof do you have?"
"You said you'd ben to the toilet," Agatha replied.
"Oh, I know this," Donna said with a grin. "If she was really posh, she'd say loo."
Agatha nodded, picking up the locksmith case. "Earlier today, the Bad Wolf and I found this on the lawn, right beneath your bathroom window. You must have heard that Miss Noble was searching the bedrooms, so you panicked. You ran upstairs and disposed of the evidence."
Robina eyed it. "I've never seen that thing before in my life!"
"Liar," Jessie sang, standing up.
"What's inside it?" Clemency asked.
"These," Jessie replied, taking the case and examining it. "Are the tools of your trade, Miss Redmond. Or should I say . . . " She looked at her hard. "The Unicorn?" She smirked when the woman started. "You came to this house with one sole intention. To steal the Firestone."
She glared. "Oh, all right, then," she snapped, her posh voice disappearing and turning into a cockney one. "It's a fair cop. Yes, I'm the bleeding Unicorn. Ever so nice to meet you, I don't think." She pulled the Firestone necklace out of her dress and held it up. "I took my chance in the dark and nabbed it. Go on then, you knobs. Arrest me. Sling me in jail."
"So, is she the murderer?" Donna asked as the Unicorn threw the necklace to the Doctor.
"Don't be so thick," the Unicorn snorted. "I might be a thief, but, well, I ain't no killer."
"Quite," Agatha agreed. "There are darker motives at work. And in examining this household, we come to you." She turned. "Colonel."
Hugh glared at her. "Damn it, woman," he growled. "You with your perspicacity. You've rumbled me." And he actually stood up.
Clemency gasped. "Hugh, you can walk. But . . . why?"
"My darling," he told her, cupping her cheek. "How else could I be certain of keeping you by my side?"
"I don't understand!"
"You're still a beautiful woman, Clemency," he told her. "Sooner or later, some chap will turn your head. I couldn't bear that. Staying in the chair was the only way I could be certain of keeping you." He looked up at a perplexed Agatha. "Confound it, Mrs. Christie. How did you discover the truth?"
"Er . . . "
"We had no idea," Jessie admitted. "We were just going to say you're completely innocent."
Hugh blinked. "Oh. Oh."
"Sorry," Agatha apologized, a faint blush on her cheeks.
"Well . . . " he blubbered. "Well, shall I sit down, then?"
"I think you better had."
"So he's not the murderer," Donna concluded.
"Indeed not," Agatha told her. "To find the truth, let's return to this." She pointed at the Firestone. "Far more than the Unicorn's object of desire. The Firestone has quite an interesting history." She turned to Clemency. "Lady Eddison."
"I've done nothing!" Clemency protested.
"You brought it back from India, did you not?" Agatha asked. "Before you met the Colonel. You came home with malaria, and confined yourself to this house for six months, in a room that has been locked ever since, which I rather think means - "
"Stop, please," Clemency begged.
"I'm so sorry," Agatha apologized, "but you had fallen pregnant in India. Unmarried and ashamed, you hurried back to England with your confidante, a young maid later to become housekeeper. Miss Chandrakala."
Hugh looked at Clemency in shock. "Clemency, is this true?"
"My poor baby," Clemency whispered. "I had to give him away. The shame of it!"
"But you never said a word!"
"I had no choice! Imagine the scandal! The family name. I'm British. I carry on."
"And it was no ordinary pregnancy," Jessie added.
Clemency blinked. "How can you know that?"
"If you would excuse me, Agatha?" Jessie asked, and Agatha nodded, letting her take point. "You heard that buzzing sound in the dining room, you said, 'it can't be.' That means you've heard it before."
"You'd never believe it," Clemency told them.
"The Doctor and the Bad Wolf have opened my mind to believe many things," Agatha told her.
Clemency took a deep breath. "It was forty years ago, in the heat of Delhi, late one night. I was alone, and that's when I saw it. A dazzling light in the sky. The next day, he came to the house. Christopher, the most handsome man I'd ever seen. Our love blazed like a wildfire. I held nothing back. And in return, he showed me the incredible truth about himself. He'd made himself human, to learn about us. This was his true shape."
"The wasp," Jessie guessed.
She nodded. "I loved him so much, it didn't matter. But he was stolen from me. 185, the year of the great monsoon. The river Jumna rose up and broke its banks. He was Taken At The Flood."
"Fourteen."
Jessie nodded at the Doctor when he spoke the number this time as Clemency continued. "But Christopher left me a parting gift. A jewel like no other. I wore it always. Part of me never forgot. I kept it close, always."
"Just like a man," the Unicorn huffed. "Flashes his family jewels, and you end up with a bun in the oven."
"It's a wonder I never did," Jessie whispered to herself, but the Doctor heard her, judging by the hard look in his eyes. It wasn't just her that took her past of sexual abuse hard. If possible, he took it almost worse.
"A poor little child," Agatha recalled. "Forty years ago, Miss Chandrakala took that newborn babe to an orphanage. But Professor Peach worked it out. He found the birth certificate."
"Oh, that's maiden," Donna realized. "Maiden name."
"Precisely."
"So she killed him?"
Clemency blinked. "I did not!"
"Miss Chandrakala feared that the Professor had unearthed your secret," Agatha continued. "She was coming to warn you."
"So she killed her."
"I did not!"
Agatha shook her head. "Lady Eddison is innocent. Because at this point . . . " She turned to Jessie. "Bad Wolf?"
"Thank you," she said with a nod, rubbing her hands together. "At this point, when we consider the lies and the secrets, and the key to these events . . . I'm sorry, then we have to consider it was you . . . " She pointed at Donna. "Donna Noble."
Donna blinked. "What?" she asked. "Who did I kill?"
"You said it all along," Jessie told her. "The vital clue was that this whole thing is being acted out like a murder mystery. That means . . . " She turned to Agatha. "That it was you, Agatha Christie."
Agatha blinked. "I beg your pardon, madam?" she asked.
"So she killed them?" Donna asked.
"No," Jessie replied with a smile, shaking her head. "But she wrote. She wrote all of those brilliant and clever books. And who in here is her greatest admirer. The Moving Finger, at fifteen, points - " She used the said finger to point at Clemency. "At you, Lady Eddison."
"Don't!" Clemency pleaded, shaking her head. "Leave me alone!"
"So she did kill him," Donna said, sounding confused.
"No," Jessie said, shaking her head. "But I want you to think for a second. Last Thursday night, what were you doing?"
Clemency thought. "I was . . . I was in the library. I was reading my favorite Agatha Christie, thinking about her plots, and how clever she must be. How is that relevant?"
"Everything is relevant," Jessie told her before bracing herself . . . and turning to Golightly. "Because what else happened on Thursday night?"
Golightly started. "I'm sorry?"
"You said on the lawn, this afternoon. You said last Thursday night, those boys broke into your church."
Golightly nodded. "That's correct. They did. I discovered the two of them. Thieves in the night. I was most perturbed. But I apprehended them."
"Really?" Jessie asked with a snort. "A man of God against two strong boys like them? A man in his forties? Or . . . how about forty years old exactly?"
Clemency's eyes widened. "Oh, my God!"
"Lady Eddison, your child, how old would he be now?"
"Forty. He's forty."
Jessie smiled, bowing with a flourish. "Your child has come home."
"Oh, this is poppycock!" Golightly snorted.
"Oh?" Jessie countered, folding her arms. "You said you were taught by the Christian Fathers. That means you were raised in an orphanage."
"My son," Clemency whispered. "Can it be?"
"You found those thieves, Reverend, and you got angry," Jessie told him. "A proper, deep anger, for the first time in your life, and it broke the genetic lock. You changed. You realized your inheritance. After all these years, you knew who you were. And this is where the fun begins." She held out her hand. "If I may?" The Doctor handed her the Firestone, and she held it up with a smile. "This isn't just a jewel. It's a Vespiform telepathic recorder. It's part of you, your brain, your very essence. And when you activated, so did the Firestone. It beamed your full identity directly into your mind. And, at the same time, it absorbed the works of Agatha Christie directly from Lady Eddison. It all became part of you. The mechanics of those novels formed a template in your brain. You've killed, in this pattern, because that's what you think the world is. It turns out, we are in the middle of a murder mystery." She nodded at Agatha. "One of yours, Dame Agatha."
Agatha looked at her in confusion. "Dame?"
Jessie blinked before sighing and sitting down on the Doctor's knee, him snickering a little. "Sorry. Not yet."
"So he killed them, yes?" Donna asked. "Definitely?"
"Yes," she confirmed with a confident smile.
Golightly laughed nervously. "Well, this has certainly been the most entertaining evening! Really, you can't believe any of this surely, Lady Eddizzon."
Jessie leaned forward, cupping her hand around her ear. "Sorry, say that again?"
"Lady Eddizzzzon," Golightly tried again.
"Little bit of buzzing there, Vicar," the Doctor told him.
"Don't make me angry," Golightly warned.
"Why? What happens then?"
"Damn it," Golightly spat, his face twisting in anger. "You humanzz, worshipping your tribal sky godzz. I am so much more! That night, the universe exploded in my mind. I wanted to take what wazz mine." A purple glow started emitting from him. "And you, Agatha Christie, with your railway station bookstall romancezz, what'z to stop me killing you?"
"Oh, my dear God," Clemency cried. "My child!"
"What'zz to stop me killing you all?" Golightly asked, turning into the wasp.
"Forgive me!" Clemency sobbed.
"No, no, Clemency, come back!" Hugh told her as she tried to approach the wasp. "Keep away! Keep away, my darling!"
"No," Agatha decided, snatching the Firestone from Jessie and dangling it in the air. "No more murder! If my imagination made you kill, then my imagination will find a way to stop you, foul creature!"
She ran out, and the Doctor, Jessie, and Donna followed. "Well, now it's chasing us!" Donna quipped.
There was a car honk, and they ran out to see Agatha wave the Firestone at the wasp. "Over here!" she shouted. "Come and get me, Reverend!"
"Agatha, what are you doing?" the Doctor shouted.
"If I started this, Doctor, then I must stop it," Agatha replied before she drove off.
Jessie leaped up into the next car. "Come on!" she called to them, and the Doctor got in on the passenger's side, Donna in back.
"You said this is the night Agatha Christie loses her memory!" Donna told the Doctor.
Jessie blinked. "Is it really?"
"Time is in flux, Donna," the Doctor told her. "For all we know, this is the night Agatha Christie loses her life, and history gets changed!"
"But she's heading for the lake," Jessie told them as she drove past a sign. "What's she doing down there?"
They found Agatha dangling the Firestone in front of the wasp, backing up to the lake. "Here I am, the honey in the trap," she told it. "Come to me, Vespiform."
"She's controlling it," Donna realized.
"Its mind is based on her thought processes," the Doctor told her. "They're linked."
Agatha nodded. "Quite so, Doctor. If I die, then this creature might die with me."
"Don't hurt her," the Doctor told the wasp. "You're not meant to be like this! You've got the wrong template in your mind!"
Donna shook her head. "It's not listening to you," she told him before grabbing the Firestone, and she threw it into the lake. The wasp dove down into it. "How do you kill a wasp? Drown it, just like his father."
"Donna, that thing couldn't help itself!"
"Neither could I."
Agatha watched the water bubble purple. "Death Comes As The End, and justice is served," she declared.
"Sixteen," Jessie remarked.
"Murder at the Vicar's Rage," the Doctor mused before grimacing. "Needs a bit of work."
"I'll count seventeen."
"Just one mystery left, Doctor, Bad Wolf," Agatha told them, turning. "Who exactly are you?" She doubled over in pain suddenly.
"It's the Firestone," the Doctor said, taking her. "It's part of the Vespiform's mind. It's dying and it's connected to Agatha." The woman glowed purple for a second before she fell unconscious. "He let her go," he whispered. "Right at the end, the Vespiform chose to save someone's life."
"Is she all right, though?" Donna asked.
"Of course!" the Doctor said with a grin. "The amnesia! Wiped her mind of everything that happened. The wasp, the murders."
"And us," Jessie added. "She'll forget about us."
"Yeah, but we've solved another riddle," the Doctor told them with a grin. "The mystery of Agatha Christie. And tomorrow morning, her car gets found by the side of a lake. A few days later, she turns up in hotel at Harrogate with no idea of what just happened."
***
Jessie sighed as she watched Agatha walk up to the hotel. "No one'll ever know."
"Lady Eddison, the Colonel, and all the staff," Donna pointed out. "What about them?"
Jessie waved a hand. "Shameful story. They'd never talk of it. They're too British."
"The Unicorn does a bunk back to London Town," the Doctor added. "She can never even say she was there."
"What happens to Agatha?" Donna asked.
"Oh, great life," the Doctor assured her. "Met another man, married again. Saw the world. Wrote and wrote and wrote."
"She never thought her books were any good, though," Donna said sadly. "And she must have spent all those years wondering."
The Doctor shook his head, heading inside the TARDIS and digging under the grating. "The thing is, I don't think she ever quite forgot. Great mind like that, some of the details kept bleeding through. All the stuff her imagination could use. Like, Miss Marple."
"I should have made her sign a contract," Donna muttered.
"And . . ." The Doctor frowned. "Where is it, where is it . . . hold on. Here we go!" He pulled out an old wooden chest. "C. That is C for Cybermen . . . " He tossed a head up to Jessie, who quickly threw it away in disgust. "C for Carrionites . . . " Jessie smiled happily at the ball, giving a small wave to the witches inside before setting it down. She watched the Doctor set a bust of Caesar aside before he pulled out a paperback book. "And Christie, Agatha. Look at that."
Jessie smiled at the book, Death in the Clouds, with a huge wasp on the cover. "Eighteen," she said.
"She did remember!" Donna gasped.
"Somewhere in the back of her mind, it all lingered," the Doctor told her. "And that's not all." He gave it to her. "Look at the copyright page."
Donna flipped it open and read it. "Facsimile edition, published in the year . . . " She blinked. "Five billion!"
"People never stop reading them," the Doctor told her with a grin. "She is the bestselling novelist of all time."
"But she never knew," Donna said sadly.
"Well, no one knows how they're going to be remembered," Jessie told her with a smile. "With me, they honored me on the Wall of the Valar. I never knew that they would try and kill the Doctor for revenge. No one ever knows. We just hope for the best."
"Maybe that's what kept her writing," the Doctor suggested. "Same thing keeps us traveling." He beamed at Donna. "Onwards?"
Donna nodded with a smile. "Onwards."
***
Jessie's dress during this episode to the side.
Who else really loved how Jessie kept counting whenever an Agatha Christie book was mentioned? And how she showed off how she was a federal agent by putting her skills to work in here? That's what I love about this incarnation of her. She's snarky, she's fun, but she's deadly serious when she needs to be. Plus, I just love Teresa Palmer matching up to David Tennant. ;)
So this book is officially off of hiatus now that I've finished the first book of "Apocalypse Rising." And I can tell you . . . I can't wait to throw at you what I have planned for "Silence in the Library"/"Forest of the Dead"! :D
But here's something else I wanted to ask: who would like for me to post a separate story dedicated to each OC Time Lady I create in the order they were made? Would it be easier to keep track of them then? Let me know in the comments below. What I would put would be:
- the actress
- outfit
- theme song
- personality
- stories they're in
Would that help people out any?
Stay tuned for the interlude before "New Earth" for Apocalypse Rising!