Terry slowly came to in the drawing room.
"Oh, she's waking up."
No sooner had Donna spoken before Terry let out a sharp cry.
"Ow!"
"Don't move." The Doctor warned from where he was sitting beside Terry. She ignored him as she struggled to sit up, hissing in pain as the cut in her arm flared up.
"Ow."
"You really shouldn't move." The Doctor muttered even as he helped Terry sit up and let her lean against him for support. She ignored his words again as she instead looked down at her bandaged arm.
"What happened?"
"It seems you were injured and knocked out before the fatal blow was landed on Roger Curbishley." Agatha supplied and Terry grimaced.
"That explains the headache." She mumbled before leaning more heavily against the Doctor. "So, Roger died after all."
"He did." The Doctor confirmed while adding severely in his mind, "What you did was reckless."
"You would have done the same." Terry replied as Donna sighed sympathetically.
"That poor footman, though. Roger's dead and he can't even mourn him. 1926? It's more like the dark ages."
"Not the way you did it, I wouldn't." The Doctor answered Terry mentally.
"Liar." She shot back while Agatha asked Donna, "Did you inquire after the necklace?"
"Lady Eddison bought it back from India. It's worth thousands." Donna explained while the Doctor and Terry continued their mental argument.
"You can't be so reckless, it's dangerous." The Doctor scolded.
"Hello, pot, I'm kettle, yes, we're both black." Terry shot back.
"You could have died."
"You have almost died several times, as have I." Terry pointed out. "I couldn't just stand aside when I knew he was going to be killed. He had a family and someone who loved him."
"And what about how much I love you?"
Terry dropped her gaze. "I just couldn't stand by."
"You could have warned me."
"Not without risking your life, and subsequently Donna's and Agatha's, I couldn't." Terry replied quietly as she looked back at the Doctor. "This Vespiform is playing a game right now because it can. The moment you and I corner it…"
"The game ends." The Doctor murmured, realizing now the true meaning behind Terry's earlier words about the game beginning.
"Doctor? Terry?"
The two Time Lords turned to see Donna watching them.
"What is it?" The redhead asked, looking from one to the other warily. The Doctor and Terry exchanged glances before the Doctor explained, "We were just discussing how this thing is playing a game when it could wipe us all out in seconds."
"Every murder is essentially the same." Agatha answered with a shrug. "They are committed because somebody wants something."
"What does a Vespiform want?" The Doctor wondered aloud, and Agatha raised a hand sharply.
"Doctor, stop it. The murderer is as human as you or I."
It was like a lightbulb went off in the Doctor's head. Terry could see the exact moment when Agatha's words gave the Doctor the clue to stopping the Vespiform once and for all. She leant back in the armchair she'd been resting on as the Doctor rose to face Agatha determinedly.
"You're right. Ah, I've been so caught up with giant wasps that I've forgotten. You're the expert."
Agatha frowned at once. "I'm not. I told you. I'm just a purveyor of nonsense."
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no."
The Doctor shook his head while Donna joined Terry, also watching the Doctor and Agatha intently as the Doctor encouraged the most brilliant mystery writer of all time.
"Because plenty of people write detective stories, but yours are the best. And why? Why are you so good, Agatha Christie? Because you understand."
Agatha's expression changed from doubt to growing wonder as the Doctor continued passionately, "You've lived, you've fought, you've had your heart broken. You know about people. Their passions, their hope, and despair, and anger. All of those tiny, huge things that can turn the most ordinary person into a killer."
Agatha's eyes widened in realization and the Doctor leant in triumphantly.
"Just think, Agatha. If anyone can solve this," he nodded at Agatha. "It's you."
It was in the same drawing room that everyone was finally gathered once more a short time later.
Terry remained in her seat with Donna beside her. The redhead was eyeing her friend's wound intently, as if she could speed the healing process just by willing it. Lady Eddison sat on the sofa beside them, eyes still red from crying, while her husband sat grieving in his wheelchair beside them. Greeves watched his master with stoic support from the doorway while Reverend Golightly sat quietly on the last remaining sofa. Miss Redmond meanwhile had elected to sit by the poker table in front of the Reverend, creating the last link of the circle before the Doctor, who stood before the fireplace and beside Agatha herself.
Once the group was gathered and ready, the Doctor began.
"I've called you here on this endless night, because we have a murderer in our midst. And when it comes to detection, there's none finer."
He gestured toward Agatha.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you, Agatha Christie."
Unlike the first time she had been introduced earlier that very day, Agatha was met by a tense silence as she took centre stage in front of the fire while the Doctor moved to take a seat beside his companions.
"This is a crooked house." Agatha began in a low voice. "A house of secrets."
The group remained silent. Everyone watched Agatha with shielded eyes as the author looked around at each of them while she continued.
"To understand the solution, we must examine them all. Starting with you," Agatha started to turn toward Lady Eddison only to abruptly change direction. "Miss Redmond."
The pretty young woman in question looked up in surprise while the others all stared at her in shock.
"But," Miss Redmond protested as she looked around at the group for support, "I'm innocent, surely?"
"You've never met these people, and these people have never met you." Agatha pointed out calmly, before her eyes sharpened. "I think the real Robina Redmond never left London. You're impersonating her."
Immediately, Miss Redmond scoffed. "How silly. What proof do you have?"
She smiled as sweetly as a flower but Agatha was not fooled.
"You said you'd been to the 'toilet'." She reminded the younger woman.
Miss Redmond blinked before she became flustered, especially when Donna piped up, "Oh, I know this. If she was really posh, she'd say 'loo'."
Nodding slightly, Agatha picked up the small leather case she and Donna had found earlier in the gardens.
"Earlier today," she explained for the rest of the group's benefit. "Miss Noble and I found this on the lawn, right beneath your bathroom window."
She looked at Miss Redmond again. The younger woman took a sip of wine as though fortifying herself (or thinking of an excuse) while Agatha pressed on, "You must have heard that Miss Noble and Miss Storm were searching the bedrooms, so you panicked. You ran upstairs and disposed of the evidence."
"I've never seen that thing before in my life." Miss Redmond denied, but there was a quickness to her voice that rang untrue.
"What's inside it?" Lady Eddison asked curiously.
"The tools of your trade, Miss Redmond." Agatha answered as she opened the case to reveal its contents to everyone else. "Or should I say, the Unicorn."
Several gasps escaped the room's occupants. Donna's jaw dropped too and she turned to her friends accusingly.
"You knew!" She hissed. The Doctor and Terry nodded (not that it surprised Donna that Terry knew, she knew everything already), before hushing Donna as Agatha continued strongly.
"You came to this house with one sole intention. To steal the Firestone."
Miss Redmond - or rather, the Unicorn's - hands fisted tightly before she finally snapped in a much huskier and accented voice, "Oh, all right then. It's a fair cop."
Standing with a flourish, she admitted in her thick Cockney accent, "Yes, I'm the bleeding Unicorn. Ever so nice to meet you, I don't think."
The others stared at her in shock and the Unicorn sneered.
"I took my chance in the dark and nabbed it."
She pulled Lady Eddison's necklace from her dress.
"Go on then, you knobs. Arrest me. Sling me in jail."
She tossed the necklace at the Doctor, who caught it simply before he started examining it while Donna questioned, "So, is she the murderer?"
"Don't be so thick." The Unicorn scoffed. "I might be a thief, but, well, I ain't no killer."
"Quite." Agatha agreed with a nod before she turned to survey the rest of the group once more.
"There are darker motives at work. And in examining this household, we come to you," she seemed to look at Lady Eddison once more before she once again abruptly turned away. "Colonel."
The Colonel started while the Unicorn stalked back to her seat in a huff. Lady Eddison didn't notice as she gazed at her husband in utter shock when the Colonel glanced around the room before he huffed.
"Damn it, woman. You with your perspicacity. You've rumbled me."
With that, the Colonel stood up from his wheelchair. The Doctor blinked, genuinely surprised, while Lady Eddison gasped incredulously, "Hugh, you can walk. But why?"
"My darling," the Colonel sighed deeply. "How else could I be certain of keeping you by my side?"
"I don't understand." Lady Eddison confessed, still very confused.
"You're still a beautiful woman, Clemency." Colonel Curbishley explained in a loving voice as he caressed his wife's hand. "Sooner or later some chap will turn your head. I couldn't bear that."
Touched, Lady Eddison took her husband's hand and she squeezed it while he admitted, "Staying in the chair was the only way I could be certain of keeping you."
"Oh," Donna sniffled at the couple's obvious love for one another while Colonel Curbishley turned back to Agatha.
"Confound it, Mrs. Christie," he said dejectedly. "How did you discover the truth?"
"Um," Agatha shifted awkwardly on her feet. "Actually I had no idea. I was just going to say you're completely innocent."
Donna coughed back a snort while the Colonel blinked.
"Oh. Oh." He mumbled embarrassedly and Agatha nodded.
"Sorry." Agatha said sheepishly.
Colonel Curbishley glanced around before he said awkwardly, "Well. Well, shall I sit down then?"
"I think you better had." Agatha agreed.
Thoroughly embarrassed, the Colonel sat back down in his wheelchair although Terry knew his honesty would not be in vain. Especially not if the way Lady Eddison kept a loving hold on his hand was any indication.
"So he's not the murderer." Donna checked with another look toward her friends and Agatha.
"Indeed, not." Agatha agreed before she turned to look at the Doctor.
"To find the truth," she held out her hand. "Let's return… to this."
The Doctor handed Agatha the Firestone necklace and Agatha held it up for all to see.
"Far more than the Unicorn's object of desire."
The Colonel frowned in confusion, and it was Lady Eddison's turn to stiffen slightly as Agatha went on.
"The Firestone has quite a history. Lady Eddison." At last, Agatha turned to look at her hostess. Everyone else did the same too, and Lady Eddison flushed at the attention.
"I've done nothing." Lady Eddison protested. But there was an edge to her voice and a fear in her eyes that told them all that she was not being completely truthful.
"You brought it back from India, did you not?" Agatha queried. "Before you met the Colonel."
Lady Eddison closed her eyes and folded her lips tightly as Agatha went on, listing out all the clues that had helped her piece together the truth.
"You came home with malaria, and confined yourself to this house for six months, in a room that has been kept locked ever since, which I rather think means-"
"Stop, please." Lady Eddison cut the blonde off pleadingly. But Agatha shook her head.
"I'm so sorry. But you had fallen pregnant in India."
Another shocked gasp went around the room and Lady Eddison covered her mouth while Agatha continued softly, "Unmarried and ashamed, you hurried back to England with your confidante, a young maid later to become housekeeper. Miss Chandrakala."
"Clemency," Colonel Curbishley whispered. "Is this true?"
At her husband's question, Lady Eddison cracked.
"My poor baby." She sobbed a little. "I had to give him away. The shame of it."
"But you never said a word." The Colonel protested, still stunned by his wife's secret.
"I had no choice." Lady Eddison answered bitterly. "Imagine the scandal."
She grabbed her glass of strong alcohol.
"The family name. I'm British. I carry on."
She took a fortifying gulp of her drink, only to pause when the Doctor suddenly chimed in in a low voice, "And it was no ordinary pregnancy."
Agatha glanced at the Doctor, while Lady Eddison's whole body tensed. Lowering her glass she looked at the Doctor.
"How can you know that?" She asked quietly. The Doctor rose.
"Excuse me Agatha," he stated politely. "This is my territory."
Agatha gestured for him to continue and the Doctor turned back to Lady Eddison.
"When you heard that buzzing sound in the dining room, you said, 'It can't be'."
Everyone else realized the truth of his words at the same time. Lady Eddison meanwhile appeared to be frozen in her seat and she looked almost afraid as she stared at the Doctor while he surveyed her.
"Why did you say that?" The Doctor questioned and Lady Eddison swallowed.
"You'd never believe it." She whispered.
"The Doctor has opened my mind to believe many things." Agatha prompted encouragingly.
Lady Eddison glanced between the two before she took a deep breath.
"It was forty years ago," she admitted quietly. "In the heat of Delhi, late one night. I was alone, and that's when I saw it. A dazzling light in the sky. The next day, he came to the house. Christopher, the most handsome man I'd ever seen. Our love blazed like a wildfire. I held nothing back."
She took another fortifying sip of her drink before continuing.
"And in return he showed me the incredible truth about himself. He'd made himself human, to learn about us. This was his true shape."
Lady Eddison took a deep breath.
"I loved him so much, it didn't matter. But he was stolen from me. 1885, the year of the great monsoon. The river Jumna rose up and broke its banks. He was taken at the flood. But Christopher left me a parting gift. A jewel like no other."
She nodded at the Firestone.
"I wore it, always. Part of me never forgot. I kept it close, always."
"Just like a man." The Unicorn muttered bitterly. "Flashes his family jewels and you end up with a bun in the oven."
Terry's eyes moved to the side, just as Agatha suddenly murmured, "A poor little child."
The others all turned back to her as Agatha explained, "Forty years ago, Miss Chandrakala took that newborn babe to an orphanage. But Professor Peach worked it out. He found the birth certificate."
"Oh, that's maiden." Donna realized. "Maiden name."
"Precisely." Agatha nodded and Donna looked at Lady Eddison.
"So she killed him?"
"I did not." Lady Eddison protested indignantly.
Agatha was quick to intervene. "Miss Chandrakala feared that the Professor had unearthed your secret. She was coming to warn you."
"So she killed her." Donna stated, convinced now.
"I did not." Lady Eddison answered, sharper now. Again, Agatha was quick to interrupt.
"Lady Eddison is innocent."
Lady Eddison sighed in relief, knowing she was believed in. Bowing her head, she wiped at her tearful eyes as she regained herself after the emotional night she'd had so far.
Agatha meanwhile turned to the Doctor as she prompted, "Because at this point, Doctor."
'Thank you." The Doctor patted Terry's shoulder once before he moved to stand by the fireplace once more.
"At this point, when we consider the lies and the secrets, and the key to these events, then we have to consider… it was you, Donna Noble."
The Doctor suddenly pointed at Donna, who stared at him.
"What? Who did I kill?" The redhead demanded and Terry patted her friend's hand. Only to wince as it caused her arm to flare in pain again.
"He's not accusing you of murder, Donna."
Donna looked slightly appeased as the Doctor explained, "You said it all along, Donna."
He strode up to his companion.
"The vital clue. This whole thing is being acted out like a murder mystery, which means it was you, Agatha Christie."
The Doctor whirled around to point at Agatha suddenly. The author stared at him indignantly.
"I beg your pardon, sir?"
"So she killed them?" Donna asked, bewildered, while Terry groaned.
"Doctor, stop being so dramatic."
"Ah, but it's always dramatic, isn't it, Agatha?" The Doctor answered as he looked back at the confused author. "You wrote them. Those brilliant, clever books, you wrote them all. And who's her greatest admirer? The moving finger points at you, Lady Eddison."
The Doctor pointed at the lady, who just sobbed, "Don't. Leave me alone."
"So she did kill them." Donna said triumphantly, only to deflate when Terry said sternly, "Doctor."
"Sorry, angel." The Doctor retracted his finger sheepishly and Terry took over.
"Lady Eddison." The lady looked over with a sniffle. "Remember what you said earlier today? About last Thursday night?"
Lady Eddison looked puzzled but Terry continued encouragingly, "Tell us what you were doing that night."
"Er, I was," Lady Eddison wiped her eyes as she thought about the question. "I was in the library. I was reading my favourite Agatha Christie, thinking about her plots, and how clever she must be."
She paused before asking helplessly, "How is that relevant?"
"Just think." The Doctor interjected as he looked around the room once more. "What else happened on Thursday night?"
The Time Lord suddenly turned to Reverend Golightly. It took a moment for everyone to realize who the Doctor was looking at, and all eyes turned to the Reverend as he asked in confusion, "I'm sorry?"
"You said on the lawn, this afternoon." The Doctor reminded him. "Last Thursday night, those boys broke into your church."
"That's correct." Reverend Golightly replied slowly. "They did. I discovered the two of them. Thieves in the night. I was most perturbed. But… I apprehended them."
"Really?" The Doctor arched a brow. "A man of God against two strong lads? A man in his forties? Or, should I say… forty years old, exactly?"
Reverend Golightly stiffened but everyone else looked puzzled. Everyone but one.
"Oh, my God." Lady Eddison gasped, dropping her handkerchief as she stared at the Reverend.
No one else seemed to understand yet. At least, until the Doctor asked brusquely, "Lady Eddison, your child, how old would he be now?"
"Forty." Lady Eddison breathed, still stunned as she stared at Reverend Golightly with new eyes. "He's… forty."
Donna's eyes widened while the Doctor announced softly, "Your child has come home."
It was a stunned silence that met his words. Reverend Golightly glanced around before he scoffed.
"Oh, this is poppycock." He tried to smile, but it was strained.
"You said before that you were taught by the Christian Fathers," Terry reminded him, her eyes still trained on the man as they had been since before the revelations had begun. "Meaning, you were raised in an orphanage."
"My son." Lady Eddison murmured. "Can it be?"
Reverend Golightly glanced at her while the Doctor said in a low voice, "You found those thieves, Reverend, and you got angry. A proper, deep anger, for the first time in your life, and it broke the genetic lock. You changed. You realised your inheritance. After all these years, you knew who you were."
The Doctor paused, before adding in a suddenly lighter voice, "Oh, and then it all kicks off."
Donna tensed at the Doctor's light tone, recognizing it along with the darkness in his eyes as he continued to stare at the man who Donna now realized had likely been the one to attack Terry.
"Because this," the Doctor grabbed the Firestone back from Agatha, "isn't just a jewel. It's a Vespiform telepathic recorder."
He held it up and Reverend Golightly swallowed, giving away the first sign of distress.
"It's part of you, your brain, your very essence. And when you activated, so did the Firestone. It beamed your full identity directly into your mind. And, at the same time, it absorbed the works of Agatha Christie directly from Lady Eddison."
Reverend Golightly twitched while the Doctor continued for the benefit of the group.
"It all became part of you. The mechanics of those novels formed a template in your brain. You've killed, in this pattern, because that's what you think the world is. It turns out, we are in the middle of a murder mystery."
He settled on the sofa armrest beside Agatha.
"One of yours, Dame Agatha."
Agatha frowned, puzzled by the title. "Dame?"
"Oh." The Doctor realized his mistake and shrugged. "Sorry, not yet."
"So he killed them, yes?" Donna looked at her friends for confirmation. "Definitely?"
"Yes." The Doctor answered while Terry nodded.
But her eyes never left Reverend Golightly as he spoke quite calmly, "Well, this has certainly been a most entertaining evening."
The Reverend smiled around at the room but it was clear no one believed him. Horror and fear were clear in the eyes of the Colonel, Greeves and the Unicorn while Lady Eddison's gaze was filled with pity and remorse.
It was perhaps this last emotion that pushed Reverend Golightly to chide, "Really, you can't believe any of this surely, Lady Eddizzon."
Agatha's brows shot up while the Doctor pounced immediately.
"Lady who?"
"Lady Edizzzzon." Reverend Golightly repeated, only the buzzing was much more noticeable.
"Little bit of buzzing there, Vicar." The Doctor said lightly, and Reverend Golightly glared at him.
"Don't make me angry." The Reverend growled as he stood up and walked around the sofa.
"Why? What happens then?" The Doctor taunted and finally, Reverend Golightly lost his temper.
"Damn it. You humanzz, worshipping your tribal sky godzz. I am so much more."
Eyes widened all around as the confession continued to spill from Reverend Golightly's lips.
"That night, the universe exploded in my mind. I wanted to take what wazz mine. And you, Agatha Christie," he glared at the writer, "with your railway station bookstall romancezz," he began to glow purple, "what'z to stop me killing you?"
Agatha's eyes widened in both shock and fear when suddenly there was movement from the corner.
"Me." Terry answered as she stood up and moved to stand in front of Agatha. Reverend Golightly's gaze darkened.
"You. You've already gotten in my way once. You were lucky before, you won't be again."
"Oi, stop threatening her!" Donna got to her feet as well while Lady Eddison sobbed.
"Oh, my dear God. My child."
She stood, reaching for the Reverend. It was the wrong move. Reverend Golightly snarled.
"What'zz to stop me killing you all?"
The Unicorn also slowly got to her feet, moving out of the way as the Reverend transformed, turning into the giant wasp. Greeves's eyes widened and he ran from his place by the door while everyone in the room ducked out of the way.
"Forgive me." Lady Eddison begged, continuing to reach for her son.
Colonel Curbishley grabbed his wife hastily and he pulled her out of harm's way. "No, no, Clemency, come back. Keep away. Keep away, my darling."
"You almost killed my angel. Twice." The Doctor meanwhile shouted at Reverend Golightly accusingly.
"Doctor, look out!" Terry warned as the wasp buzzed and swung its sting at the Doctor.
He ducked out of the way, when Agatha suddenly cried out, "No."
The blonde held up the Firestone threateningly.
"No more murder. If my imagination made you kill, then my imagination will find a way to stop you, foul creature!"
"Agatha!" Terry yelled but it was too late as Agatha rushed out of the room.
The wasp buzzed furiously, and the Doctor shouted, "Come on!"
He grabbed Terry's hand and together with Donna, they ran after Agatha with the wasp hot on their heels.
"Great, now it's chasing us!" Donna shouted as they ran.
"Just run!" Terry ordered.
They ran out onto the driveway and the Doctor shoved the front doors shut in the hopes of slowing down the wasp for even a few seconds. Terry meanwhile spotted a car with its engine running and she pointed.
"There!"
The Doctor whirled around in time to just make out Agatha's form in the dark. The door suddenly burst apart behind them, however, as the wasp crashed through.
"Duck!" The Doctor yelled as he, Terry and Donna ran for cover and away from the wasp.
The wasp was distracted from them however as Agatha hooted her car horn and shouted at the wasp, "Over here! Come and get me, Reverend!"
"Agatha, what are you doing?" The Doctor cried.
"If I started this, Doctor, then I must stop it." Agatha answered grimly before she shifted her car into drive. Tires screeching, she drove off with the wasp right behind her.
"Come on!" The Doctor shouted at his friends as he ran for one of the cars parked in the driveway.
Donna chased after him but Terry gasped as she was enveloped in a gold light.
"No!"
"Terry!" The Doctor shouted, pausing as he was about to climb into the car. Donna had stopped beside him and Terry tried calling in her mind.
'I don't want to go!'
But Daemon just answered in her low voice. 'It's time.'
As the light grew brighter, Terry shouted at the Doctor.
"Doctor, go!" Terry cried as he continued to hesitate. "Go, save her! I'll meet you next time."
The Doctor nodded and Terry just managed to see him sonic the car before her vision was completely covered in gold. And then, she was gone.