He's not yet as evil and self-serving as the EIC, though. George Chichester's tale of what really went down with the Influence (a.k.a. the Cornwallis) is chilling, if not unsurprising. By 1804, the slave trade was illegal for the British, so some in the EIC developed a plot to hire a skeleton crew for a ship they said was empty as it left the port of Cabinda. In reality, it carried twice its capacity, which is why it ran aground. To cover their tracks, the captain ordered that the slaves be drowned in their cages. Oh, and Chichester happens to know one more piece of damning evidence — that Sir Stuart Strange's brother owns a sugar cane plantation in Antigua. How is Strange going to get around this one? Well, he might as well blow up Delaney's boat, just to make himself feel better. I'm pretty sure in the midst of all this, our sweet prostitute spy Godfrey's going to go into cardiac arrest. One casualty no one is mourning: Geary. One might be inclined to pity how he gets his hopes up for his new gig in Australia solving all their problems, only to have them dashed by Zilpha. Then again, abusive spouses love to take their victims to far off, isolating locales to increase their dependency, so good call, Z. Just slip him that hat pin straight to the heart. When she runs straight to Delaney to inform him of this, she says she did it, "just like you said," which surprises him. "When did I...?" he trails off. This could be another hint that there's some kind of evil other thing directing both their actions. I'd still like to think that's what got them back into bed with each other after the funeral, because grossgrossgross. Is it guilt about incest that makes Delaney leave to go play with flint in his gunpowder room? Or guilt about almost strangling his sister while seeing visions of his mother? My skin is crawling either way. Geary's out of the way, but that means little once the EIC blows up the ship on which he was planning to whisk his sis away to America. When he and Atticus slit the throat of the man who was supposed to be guarding the ship, Atticus asks whether the guy sold him out because Delaney cut off his thumb earlier, or if Delaney cut off his thumb because he had a premonition that the guy would sell him out. Delaney has no answer, but lets Atticus keep the heart because he's generous like that. What was the look of relief on Atticus's face after he left? Was Atticus the one who sold him out? Or is he just creeped out by his old buddy and glad he didn't decide to cut his throat on a whim? That's a valid fear. Also, it turns out I was scared for the wrong innocent child all this time. Robert's fine. Winter, not so much. Delaney warns her that he's not fit to be around as he wades into the water in a drunken rage over his lost ship, and then —Mom visions! Wham! — it's morning, and oh, no. She's lying there, practically disemboweled, just like the corpses of his victims she'd found before. Dare we hope someone else framed him for it? Was it an evil spirit possession or a blackout-drunk fit? Is there any difference? I'm not sure there's any explanation that can make me get over this one.