Arthur and Karen talked with the other Rockwell members, they learned about the Rockwell family. Eventually, the duo excused themselves to talk to each other about the plan.
"Someone dies and you want to steal a vase," Arthur talked in a low voice. Karen completely forgot about the vase's history. Crossing her arms, Karen reminded him, "Ripley doesn't want us messing with time."
Ripley made them swear on their very lives that they wouldn't mess with history if they ever went into the past. Despite the events that transpired, even how horrible they might've been, they couldn't or shouldn't mess with history.
"You can't change fate," Ripley told them repeatedly. "Fate is unkind. Fate is always unfair. Fate always wins."
She always had a look on her face when she told them this and behind those dark eyes, it looked like she wanted to cry. Yet, no tears ever came out.
"I know that, but it just feels wrong, we're taking a vase from a dead woman," Arthur frowned at the implications. They were stealing from a woman who died and expected to leave the estate without anyone seeing or remembering them.
Karen bit down on her lip. "What are we going to do?" she said, unsure of what they're doing.
Arthur rubbed his face as he suggested, "We'll tell them something's come up and we come back to the police box. Then when we get back to the shop, we'll split the money and hopefully Ripley'll forgive us."
They didn't think it through and realized their mistake. Caught up in the panic and the fear, once everything settled, they realized they shouldn't do this.
"What if Ripley won't let us come with them, again?" Karen worried that after this, Ripley would ban them from the police box and refuse to allow them to come with her and Matt.
Arthur sighed and comforted her. "Matt'll clam her down, she'll come to her senses, and let us come back, maybe on a leash," he said thoughtfully.
He led her back to the Rockwell to find members of the family a mix of angry and overjoyed.
A tall man with messy hair stood in front of the doorway with a woman beside him. Apparently, this was Arnold and he brought the woman with him to meet his family.
From what Karen and Arthur overheard, the woman was Polish. Something that most of the family objected with.
Arnold made it clear that this woman was more than a friend and he intended to marry her, whether his family agreed with it or not.
Apparently, there was some history between the family and the woman, they thought she was just a friend, nothing more. It came to a surprise when he announced he started seeing her and grew livid at the idea of him marrying her.
"But what about Catherine?" Aunt Bee asked him.
Catherine was an ex of Arnold's, he broke up with her before he left for Oxford. There were differences between them that he couldn't work with and decided to end the relationship.
She came from old money, like Arnold, and unlike Arnold didn't share the joys of creativity and the sort. All she really wanted, money and the laps of luxury.
"I don't want her, mam, all she thinks about is herself," Arnold rejected Auntie Bee's insistence.
The family argued until Arnold gave them an ultimatum. Either they swallow their pride and opinions and accept that Arnold is marrying Leah or he'll forgo them as family.
He didn't budge and eventually Auntie Bee went to get the food ready for dinner and everyone remained uncomfortably in silence.
Karen and Arthur looked at each other as they realized what Ripley said about the history of the unfinished vase.
When the family moved towards the dining room, Karen and Arthur stayed back and discuss the event they witnessed.
"Remember Ripley said about the vase," Arthur pointed at Karen. "The owner died, right, well, what if they're going to kill Leah?"
Karen called him out on the idea that the Rockwell would kill her. It sounded barbaric and cruel, to kill someone just because they're Polish and not from money like the Rockwell.
"What're we going to do?" Karen asked him. "We can't interfere. Ripley will kill us if set events doesn't first."
The duo realized that they're in a precarious position. If they stayed, they'll witness a murder, and if they leave with the vase, they'll profit from the murder. However, if they meddle with time, there's a chance of consequences for their deed.
"Ripley said if the event is important, we can't interfere, right?" Karen gestured at Arthur. "Is there any impact for changing this event as we know it?"
She theorized that a murder at an estate didn't sound like cause for concern for the integrity of time as they knew it.
If they could get back to the police box and figure out the events that transpired and their significance, they can go from there as to what to do.
"What if we can't change her fate, like Ripley said, what if her fate is sealed?" Arthur remembered what Ripley told them.
He reminded Karen they needed to face the music, if they couldn't change fate, that the woman behind the vase died.
Auntie Bee poked her head into the doorway and asked if they're coming to the table.
The duo went to the dining room and sat at their seats. They noticed an uncomfortable silence among the table and a feeling of resentment.
It's pretty obvious the family didn't like Arnold being with a Polish woman and they're drowning their discontent with alcohol and forcing a cracked smile trying to hide it from Arnold.
Karen and Arthur ended up talking with Arnold and his fiancé, wanting to know what they can about the two.
Leah, soft-spoken, talked to Karen while Arnold talked to Arthur about medical science.
Arthur kept his knowledge to the confines of the period for the sake of blending in and Arnold regaled stories of his time in Oxford.
He pointed at Karen and asked if Arthur planned to marry her at any point.
Arthur quickly said that Karen's his nurse and he brought her along to keep her out of trouble.
"She's a bit of a hothead," Arthur whispered to Arnold, pointing at the side of his head, emphasizing the word "hothead" and Arnold nodded, understanding what Arthur meant.
After dinner, everyone went into the parlor room where Arnold opened his presents that his family got him.
Auntie Bee got him a new suit for his start as a scientist while her husband got him a handmade wooden pipe with a box of handpicked tobacco next to it. The cousins got him some expensive liquor and glass for him to use with it, for when he needs a night cap after all the work he'll do.
Arthur and Karen sheepishly replied that they rushed to get to the estate that they forgot Arnold's gift. Arnold didn't seem to mind this, he was just glad they came.
With his presents, Arnold left with Leah to his room, and the family sat around in the parlor, at a lost.
Karen and Arthur kept quiet while the family talked about how disappointed they were with Arnold.
"I just think we should talk to him about it," Aunt Matilda looked at them. "It doesn't seem right, you know?"
Cousin Emily threw up her arms and asked Aunt Matilda, "Come on, mam, it's 1902, so what if he's marrying a Polish girl?"
Cousin Ron pointed out none of the family really hated her until they found out she was Polish and only when they gotten used to her, they didn't really think much about her.
Aunt Christine pulled on his ear for this and Uncle Johnathan told them to calm down, maybe Arnold will come to his senses and see a British mistress.
"Beatrice, what are we going to do?" Aunt Christine asked Auntie Bee. "He's got a career ahead of him."
Auntie Bee frowned and didn't answer her, the family continued to talk about it until Karen excused herself and went to use the lavatories.
On her way, she overheard a voice complaining about the family's audacious requests.
She snuck towards the kitchen and spotted the family cook looking over the plans for tomorrow.
"If that twit tells me my business one more time, I swear, I'll put pepper in his biscuits," cursed the cook as he flipped through the book.
Lee Charles, the cook executed for the murder, and he wasn't happy with one of the family members.
However, he specifically mentioned a male family member. The victim was a woman, so his monologue didn't mean much for Karen.
She moved away from the door quickly when he turned around and found the lavatories.
Her and Arthur had to watch out for Lee, as he will kill someone. They needed to make their way back to the police box and figure out how they can handle this situation.
It wouldn't be too hard, they could easily tell the family they booked a hotel.
Finishing, Karen made her way back to see Arthur and Arnold bonding over stories.
"Oh, she'd never forgiven me," Arthur held a hand over his face as he embarrassingly told Arnold the time, he and his friends went out drinking. Arthur stumbled back to his flat and fell face first into a cake Karen baked for her mum.
Arthur ended up buying a cake to replace it, but didn't check it properly and ended up giving Karen's mum a cake made with prunes.
Karen's mum didn't think much about it, she didn't initially taste the prunes, but she felt it much later. She never forgave Arthur for it.
"You two are worse than a sewing circle," Karen poked Arthur as she sat beside him.
Arnold talked about the time one of his colleagues ended up in a tree and needed help getting down as his uniform gotten tangled in the tree.
He ended up in his pants and stumbled trying to put on his trousers amid everyone laughing their arses off.
"Shouldn't've drunk, but he'd never listen," Arnold shook his head. "I told him plenty, but I don't think heard me."
Arthur forgotten the time because he continued to exchange stories and the like with Arnold, that Karen poked him, and told him that they needed to leave for the hotel.
"Oh, one more story," Arthur raised a finger. He wanted to tell Arnold the time he and his mates played a trick on their professor.
Auntie Bee told her that there's plenty of rooms for the two to stay at the estate, which Karen smiled and told her that they'd weren't sure if there was room and wanted to book rooms just in case.
"I'm sure Johnathan can reimburse you for the rooms," Auntie Bee put a finger on her chin.
Karen modestly declined and she subtly poked Arthur to get his attention. He realized they needed to leave for the police box and figure out their plan.
He shook Arnold's hand and got up. The two said their goodbyes to the family and Leah, before heading out of the estate.
It was dark, it took time, but the two managed to find their way back to the police box where they discussed the matter in depth.
"What are we going to do?" Karen paced around the police box. "What's important about this murder?"
Arthur shrugged and informed her, "Well, whether it's important to us or not, we can't just change time."
Karen asked him the alternatives, if they can't save the woman in question.
"It don't make any sense to think much, the cook did it," Arthur shrugged.
They already knew who killed her, however Karen reminded him the cook pleaded for his innocence just before his death.
"If the cook didn't kill her and she has to die, then where does it say we can't find her killer?" Karen asked him.
They may not change the fate of the woman who died, but they could at least prevent the death of an innocent man.
Arthur rubbed his eyes as he pointed out, "Look, even then, how're we going to solve the murder if it hadn't happened yet?"
Karen recalled the murder happening on the 4th and checking, she realized they're on the 2nd day.
In two days, the murder will happen, and the chef'll be executed for the murder.
"Karen, what if he, by chance, is the murderer?" Arthur pointed out the possibility that the cook did in fact kill the woman. "Problem is, I don't think Ripley told us the woman's name."
They stopped and realized they never caught the woman's name and they only have two days before the murder happened.
"Well, whoever has the unfinished vase, is the victim," Arthur shrugged. "We just have to play along and hope we can goad someone to tell us they're in possession of an unfinished vase."
Once they pinpointed the victim, they'll have to work to find the killer, the motive, and bring justice. If on the off chance that the cook did do it, they weren't sure what to do about it.
"Ripley said the poison was in his room, right, proof he did it," Arthur pointed out the detail.
Karen reminded him the possibility that someone framed him.
"What was the motive?" Karen tried to remember the motive for the murder.
Arthur shrugged and said the cook never gave one and insisted he was innocent.
"You don't think it's Leah, is it?" Karen suggested the victim is Leah. Arthur shook his head and said that Leah didn't have the vase.
Karen asked him how he knew and he told her what Arnold told him. Leah preferred a pen and paper to clay.
"Then who made the vase?" Karen rubbed her eyes and they discussed the plan.
Karen tried to use the police box, but she didn't know how to use it and neither did Arthur, and rather risk stranding them or breaking something important, she left the console alone.
It gotten late and the duo went to sleep in the police box. Tomorrow they'll go back to the estate and figure out the murder.
If they couldn't prevent a murder, then they'd at least prevent the execution of an innocent man.
Then afterwards, once the murderer's been apprehended, Karen and Arthur will take the vase, leave, go back to their proper time, and hope Ripley didn't notice anything off about the vase.