The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

Aiden awakens back in the body of the butler, joined by the Plague Doctor. The Plague Doctor explains how he has carefully selected the sequence of hosts that Aiden will occupy. The Plague Doctor has designed an intricate game, even though Aiden questions why Evelyn’s murder is so significant: “She’s one girl […] What makes her death worth all of this?” (185).

The Plague Doctor also reveals that Aiden has cycled through the eight-day repetition multiple times before and failed to solve the murder every time; however, Aiden always retains a small clue from his previous experience. When he began this cycle, he retained Anna’s name. Before Aiden dozes off, the Plague Doctor warns Aiden that his loyalty to Anna will reduce his odds of success and that Anna is going to betray him. Only of them can successfully escape from Blackheath.

Aiden wakes up badly beaten in the body of Jonathan Derby. After being attacked in Stanwin’s rooms, he has been dragged to a new location and left alone. Aiden drags himself to Doctor Dickie’s room and uses his medical supplies to clean and bandage himself.