"Are you all right?"

It's hard not laugh out of the sheer horror of it all and sound incredibly callous.

"I'm fairly alright. Just... not so much other people. If I get arrested for a murder in Clare Melford-- well, at least you'll know what actually happened."

"I know a very good lawyer, darling, he got me out of it last time there was a mixup at a public bathroom."

"If it comes up, I may have to avail of his services."

He does not make a joke about said lawyer presumably being good at coming up with palatable explanations for things, even if it's very tempting.

"Surely you could just tell them about the dangerous flying things."

"And get put in asylum myself? ...it's probably better than hanging."

"Can't they-- go to the place where the flying dangerous things are and get attacked by them? Or you can describe it to a member of the Royal Society and they can identify it. There aren't animals in Britain no one knows."

"Getting a pre-eminent scientist nearly killed would be one way to prove my innocence.

But I really don't think it could have been described before, or we would have heard about it. You don't get secret man sized aggressive flying things."

"It's lucky that I know you're a reasonable person."

"Could Roby have-- released them somehow? From darkest Africa?"

"The teeth seemed to be drawing them in, somehow."

"I'll have to admit my investigations were not as thorough as they could have been, but I'd like to think I had an excuse."

"Due to the flying things."

"Attacking us aggressively, yes. ...there was one drawn by a whistle, but I didn't even directly see that one, so I can't be as sure as I'd like about that one."

🤨

"It tried to crash through the window, and gave Terrence and Oscar an awful fright, but I was trying to make sure the building wasn't collapsing."

Everything about Clare Melford sounds insane when he tries to describe it out loud!

🤨 🤨

"...so you're going to get Roby out and then ignore all of this going forward, right?"

"Well, first I was going to let you know, so I could tell you you were right to trust your gut and not go to Clare Melford.

...as for Roby... I don't want him out until we know more at the very least. But I'm not sure if I can convince Dr Aarons."

"Because if he's out he might put more dangerous flying things places?"

"Even the ones that are out there are bad enough! There's some... mad things about whistles, too, which Roby seems associated with."

"Oh?"

"There are some whistles that supposedly 'increase your magical power.'"

Ruby may read that as however sarcastic as she wishes to read it.

"They keep popping up around Roby. There was even the sound of one the night his family died."

"I suppose someone might blow them before they commit a murder. If it's a human sacrifice, or something like that."

"...I hadn't even thought of that. God, I hope not.

It'd be so much nicer if this was all some sort of... callous accident."

"Someone released mysterious dangerous flying creatures by accident?"

"Or didn't realise they were so dangerous, or... something."

"A lot of occult people are interested in the deviant.

Most of them are just posturing, trying to look cool. Using it as a way to trick other people into bed with them."