The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

Plague Doctor explains that every day Aiden will wake up in the body of a different host. Aiden realizes with shock that “It wasn’t a dream after all, it really happened. I lived the same day twice in the bodies of two different people” (67). Aiden’s true appearance and identity have been stripped from him and won’t be returned until he leaves Blackheath. In order to escape, he has to find a murderer, but the Plague Doctor does not yet give him any details about the crime or victim. The day will repeat eight times, so Aiden will have eight chances to try and solve the crime.

For this third day, Aiden is now in the body of Donald Davies, a wealthy young man. Aiden is panicked, and even though it is the middle of the night, he gets dressed and begins to drive away from Blackheath. However, he encounters the Plague Doctor on the road, who scolds him for trying to get away. The Plague Doctor also reveals another detail of the game: There are two other individuals who, like Aiden, are trying to solve the crime. Only one of them can escape, and it will be whoever solves the crime first. Furious, with his car broken down, Aiden continues to walk away from Blackheath.

Aiden wakes up in the body of Lord Ravencourt; the previous day, he collapsed after walking for hours in the woods, and losing consciousness bumped him into the body of a new host. Aiden now accepts his reality: “[T]he Plague Doctor was telling the truth. There’s no escape from Blackheath” (75). Charles Cunningham, who works as Ravencourt’s valet, reveals that Ravencourt has a meeting scheduled with Lady Helena Hardcastle, and Aiden thinks that this meeting might help him to solve the murder.

Aiden leaves a note asking for any of the other players in the game to reveal themselves and meet with him. He also asks Cunningham to ask around and try to find out if anyone in the house has a plague doctor costume. Then, Aiden falls asleep on the library sofa, waiting for someone to make contact.

Aiden wakes up in agony. Although he can’t see anything, he can hear a woman’s voice. She explains that he is now back in the body of the butler after Gold attacked him, and that is why he is in so much pain. She also explains that Aiden has to spend a full day in the body of each host, and “if one of your hosts falls asleep before midnight, you’ll jump back into the butler and carry on living this day. When the butler falls asleep, you’ll be returned” (85). Aiden drifts off.

Aiden wakes up back in the library in the body of Lord Ravencourt. Daniel Coleridge is there as well. Daniel has answered the summons of the note, and he explains that he will be Aiden’s final host in four days. Thus, Daniel effectively already knows everything Aiden will learn during that time. Daniel also gives Aiden a new piece of information: Evelyn Hardcastle is the victim of the murder they must solve. Aiden immediately wants to try to warn her, but Daniel argues that “trying to save Evelyn is a waste of time” (89). Aiden thinks back to Evelyn’s fear that her parents were planning to punish her in some way at the ball. Daniel also explains that Anna is another player in the game, and that the Footman is hunting them all. Aiden goes to warn Evelyn that her life is in danger and is startled to find that Evelyn does not seem to be surprised by this news.

Aiden tells Cunningham the whole story of the game and asks for his help. Cunningham initially declines, but Aiden intuits that Cunningham has some sort of secret and threatens to find and reveal it if Cunningham doesn’t cooperate. Cunningham reluctantly agrees to go and look at the note that Aiden knows Evelyn will find hidden in the rocks (Aiden has already observed Evelyn finding the note on his first day while he was in the body of Sebastian Bell). Aiden also orders Cunningham to look for a plague doctor costume in the room of any guest. Left alone, Aiden hears menacing footsteps and giggling, feeling the threatening presence of the Footman who promises that “We’ll meet soon, little rabbit” (102).

Aiden wanders into the portrait gallery, where he finds a young maid named Lucy. Lucy is the woman who was bullied by Ted Stanwin; she tells Aiden that someone named Mrs. Derby has been asking questions about the maids, leading Aiden to suspect that Mrs. Derby might know something about the crime or the game. Lucy also reveals that Evelyn and her maid Madeline were attacked in the woods that morning. Aiden decides to speak with Madeline, as he is still determined to save Evelyn. Once Aiden is alone, Anna sneaks up behind him and asks him to stop looking for her, since the Footman is also hunting her: “[I]f you keep looking, you’re going to lead him straight to me” (108). She also explains that she believes she knows his true name: Aiden Bishop.