Lord John Grey unravels the final mysteries of the exploding cannons in Lord John and the Haunted Soldier Part 3B. He doesn’t get the answers that he wants.
It’s very clear that Stoughton is guilty. However, because he gets himself on a Naval vessel, he is able to get away with what he’s done. On top of that, it turns out the Navy is in on some of it. This angers John, especially considering soldiers lives were lost, but he does make sure Jones can continue with his investigations.
John also gets to the bottom of the Annie situation, but it’s not the way he’d like that to turn out either. This is one of those stories that doesn’t really come with the closure that you’d like.
We pick up on the ship, where Stoughton has managed to get. With it being a Naval vessel, it means that Stoughton can’t be taken. The Navy is higher than the Army, and it would take someone of a higher rank than the Navy captain. Sure, Captain Hanson is that, but it turns out that Stoughton has a letter from a vice-admiral.
It’s clear that people higher up are involved in all of this. As John sees what is in the portmanteau, he hands Jones the last bit of the shrapnel that was taken from his chest. It will allow Jones to continue his investigation, but there is nothing he can do about Stoughton. It’s clear that the Navy took some of the copper Stoughton sold. It looks like copper is worth more than the gunners’ lives.
However, John does manage to get Gormley free from the prison ship. It’s one small victory for everyone.
As John meets with Harry at the Beefsteak about it all, they both discuss the situation. It turns out that Hanson’s boson’s mate, Appledore, was involved in everything. This helped to get a vice-admiral to sign the letter, which means Stoughton can get to France.
It’s likely that Stoughton wasn’t acting out of treason, but he was money-motivated. Considering how much the Commission of Inquiry tried to put the blame on John and then others, it’s likely that one of the three were involved in it. It could have been all three, but John doesn’t believe that Twelvetrees was involved. It comes to either MArchmont or Oswald.
The problem is John can’t prove anything in a court of law. All he does know is that Stoughton had a medal that Oswald was previously wearing. Stoughton either stole it or was given it. There’s no way for Oswald to deny that it is his as his father’s name is engraved on the back.
Sadly, the idea of justice of closure isn’t going to happen. Oswald will never face trial for what he was involved in. He will resign though, allowing Edgar to serve the remainer of the term. John has to accept that the war office is corrupt.
Of course, there was another mystery to the book. It’s about finding Annie and her baby for Lister’s father. John sees Captain Fanshawe, who explains that Anne is dead, and he was the reason for her demise.
Fanshawe wanted to kill Philip Lister, but he didn’t want Anne to suspect foul play. He was making some high-grade experimental powder. Some of it accidentally dropped and that led to Fanshawe’s accident. Lister then died at Crefeld, so Fanshawe just wated for Anne to become destitute. He could then rescue her, and she’d marry him despite the way he looked.
He waited too long, though. Anne died of fever in a brothel.
What of the baby? Fanshawe doesn’t answer. Instead, he throws a grenade at John, who catches it and throws it over a wall before it explodes. Fanshawe runs off, but he did leave a sack behind. In that sack is the baby. Theya re so shocked at the baby that they don’t really hear the explosion in the distance. Fanshawe kills himself.
John writes everything down in a letter and seals it. This letter will go to Jamie Fraser.
Will this chapter be used in a TV adaptation?
If this story is used in a TV series, then part of it would need to be used. I still don’t see the Fanshawe/Lister/Anne storyline to be used. If a Lord John Grey series was created, I could see the cannon explosions and the Commission being used only.
That would mean the first part of this chapter would be needed. We’d need to see Stoughton effectively get away with what he did. We’d need to see that there wouldn’t be any justice. Not real justice.
This doesn’t seem like a great story, though, does it? I’ll admit that I was underwhelmed by this short story, and I just wouldn’t mind all of it being skipped if there was ever a Lord John Grey series.
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