The Devil and the Dark Water

Arent goes to Sammy’s cell and finds him even more terrified than he was before. Though Sammy previously claimed not to believe in Old Tom, he now says that Old Tom whispered to him in the night and knew secrets that no one could know. He tells Arent that it offered him freedom in exchange for killing Haan.

When the two emerge into the passenger’s cabin, they see sick and injured people everywhere. Sammy volunteers to help Sara and Lia care for them, while Arent goes below to work the bilge with Drecht.

Arent works the bilge for hours, unable to stop himself, until exhaustion overcomes him at dusk. As he collapses, he realizes that the ship has stopped heaving and the water in the hull went from waist- to ankle-deep. Sara brings him stew and informs him that everyone they are close to survived the storm.

Crauwels surveys the damage to the boat. He is told that it will take a couple of days to fix it, but they will stay afloat.

He finds Haan and requests the use of the Folly to chart their course. Drecht asks what its purpose is, and Haan explains that it will allow the Gentlemen 17 to navigate and control uncharted territory around the world.

They go to the gunpowder store and lift the box, only to discover Old Tom’s mark burned into the wood beneath it. They open the box and find that the Folly is gone. Angry, Haan drags the constable from the room, intent on blaming and lashing him for taking the Folly.

Arent begs Sammy to help find the Folly to save the constable. He checks the entire room and asks about the keys to the room and the Folly, learning that only Larme and Crauwels had keys to the store, while Haan and Vos had keys to the box. He deduces that Vos must have gotten a key to the room and stolen the Folly. He then removes empty gunpowder kegs, three of which have marks inside from gears, implying that they were used to move the pieces of the Folly.

Arent wants to warn Haan to save the constable, but Sammy tells him to wait. Vos will just deny the accusations, so they need to find further proof.

Haan prepares to whip the constable, informing the crew that he will choose someone new each day until the Folly is returned. Arent comforts the constable, giving him wine and reminding him that he has daughters waiting for him at home.

As Drecht whips him, Arent realizes his actions are going to create further division between the soldiers and the sailors. After, Arent takes the constable to the sick bay.

Creesjie visits Lia’s room and remarks on how perfect her model of the Saardam is. She asks Lia if she truly wants to escape her father or is just doing so to help her mother. Lia points out that, if she stays, she will be forced to marry and be unhappy like Sara. However, Creesjie argues that marriage is not always bad—that it gives women money, protection, and strength in a world dominated by men.

Sara interrupts their conversation to retrieve the model and thanks Lia, then leaves to go with Arent. Creesjie comments on how happy Sara has been lately with the freedom to get away from Haan.

Sara takes the model to Arent, who marvels at its design. He asks who made it, but Sara is hesitant to answer. Arent guesses that it was Lia, noting how everyone tries to hide Lia’s “cleverness.” He also deduces that she made the Folly, based on both its ingenuity and its beautiful design.

Sara and Arent search all the compartments of the ship, but all are empty until the last one. Inside, they find Sander Kers’s body.

Despite Sara’s protests, Arent goes to the deck at dusk to fight Wyck, as nearly everyone aboard the ship watches.

Wyck repeatedly strikes at Arent. He claims he is fighting for Old Tom, and Arent realizes that Wyck is trying to kill him. Arent watches Wyck, learning his movements but earning several cuts. He is finally able to pin Wyck down, demanding that Wyck tell him what “Laxagarr” means. Each time Wyck refuses, Arent punches him in the face, with part of him “reveling” in the act of releasing his pent-up anger and strength. Finally, Wyck relents, telling Arent that Laxagarr means “trap.”

While Sara tends to Arent’s wounds, Larme arrives with gold that Arent won in the fight. They ask Larme about the hidden compartment they saw him in. He explains that he was hiding a piece of the Folly there, but he destroyed it because he thought it was too dangerous.

Sara then asks Larme if he is the one who had Bosey’s tongue cut out, and Larme admits that he did. He explains that Bosey was recruiting sailors to help him with tasks, but Larme did not know what the tasks were. Before the ship set sail, all the sailors who were helping him left.

As Haan meets with Vos, Sara, and Arent get Sammy from his cell. They inspect Kers’s body, which they speculate has been dead for two weeks, but get little information from it.

Arent eagerly asks what they should do next, and the “deference” in his voice surprises Sara. She thinks of how everything they know, she and Arent found out without Sammy’s help, yet Arent still lacks the self-confidence to act alone. Sammy instructs them to follow Vos and see what he does next to discover more pieces of the puzzle.

That night, the bodies of the dead are thrown overboard. The sailors refuse to look at them, as it is considered bad luck. Sara, Lia, and Creesjie stand vigil with their heads bowed.

Arent searches Vos’s cabin but finds nothing out of the ordinary. He waits for Vos to return from dinner and watches secretly as he bids farewell to Creesjie. When Vos sneaks away, Arent follows him into the hold, where Vos begins checking the crates. He stops at one and pries it open, then pauses before rushing down the hall. Arent goes to the crate and plans to take the piece of the Folly he assumes he will find there. However, he realizes too late that Vos has tricked him.

Arent wakes up still in the hold but tied to a beam and gagged. Next to him, Vos carves the symbol of Old Tom into the wood – something he has done three times before. Vos warns Arent not to call for help, then removes his gag.

Arent accuses Vos of being a thief, and Vos does not deny it. However, when Arent mentions the Folly, Vos insists that is not what he stole. He gags Arent again without telling him more.

Vos continues to carve the symbol, talking to Arent as he does so. He tells him that he did not succumb to Old Tom—even though Old Tom promised him Creesjie if he killed Haan. As Vos speaks, Arent sees Bosey approaching with a candle. As Bosey comes closer, Arent tries to yell, desperately trying to save Vos. With Bosey just behind him, Vos pulls out Arent’s gag, and Arent yells at Vos to turn around. As Vos turns, Bosey stabs him.

Bosey then holds the blade in front of Arent’s face. Arent hears him breathing as he traces the blade down his body. He reaches into Arent’s pocket and finds the rosary beads, then pauses as he stares at them in “fascination.” Bosey lets out a growl, stares at Arent for a moment, then blows out the candle and disappears.

Arent stumbles to Sara’s cabin. She rushes to him and realizes that he is burning from fever.

Arent throws a sack down on the floor. He quickly explains what happened with Bosey and tells them that Vos is dead, then explains that Vos stole the articles in the sack. They search through dozens of valuables, and Sara recognizes one as belonging to the Dijksma family. Isabel explains that the Dijksma family was a wealthy trading family nearly 30 years ago, but Hector Dijksma allegedly became possessed by Old Tom.

Arent leaves to go find Sammy for help. Sara follows him into the hall, insisting that he rest. As Arent releases his anger over the case, he collapses to the ground.

In his cabin, Haan looks over the list of names of people possessed by Old Tom and compares it to the passenger manifest. Drecht enters and explains to Haan what happened to Vos. Haan briefly comments on Vos’s betrayal but then moves on.

Returning to the list, he realizes something that he missed. He goes to the passenger cabins, with Drecht following. He leaves Drecht down the hall and approaches a room, knocking on the door and telling the person within that he knows they are “expecting” him. The door opens to reveal a figure seated inside, as the Eighth Lantern out on the ocean “open[s] its eye” (364).

Waiting outside the passenger cabins, Drecht sees Larme go get the captain. Crauwels orders the men to arm themselves and go to the deck, then wait to see what happens with the lantern.

After two hours, Haan comes out of the cabin and returns to his own. Drecht follows him and waits outside as he hears Haan sob within.

Over the next two days, the lantern appears at night, then disappears before dawn. The ship is repaired, and Crauwels orders them to sail in arcs to find land, but they are unsuccessful. Arent remains in the infirmary battling a fever, while Haan refuses to leave his cabin.

At night, Old Tom continues to whisper to the crew, warning them that they need to bargain to save themselves.

For three days, Sara watches over Arent as he battles with his fever, unable to do anything more to help him. She speaks to him about Sammy—whom she is taking care of for him—and says that she believes that Arent is truly a good person. She says that even if Arent does not believe in God or devils, she believes that God is waiting for them.

A large splash disrupts her words. She rushes to the window but sees only waves in the ocean below. She then hears Arent speak behind her.

At dinner, very few nobles are present. The dinner is quiet until Isabel asks Crauwels what the “dark water” is. He tells her that the dark water is “what old sailors call the soul […] and Old Tom is swimming within it” (373). At that moment, the Eighth Lantern lights blood red, closer than it has ever been.

In the sick bay, Wyck considers what he will do now that he lost the faith of the crew, but a commotion above interrupts his thoughts. He runs onto the deck and sees the red Eighth Lantern, as the crew brings out gunpowder barrels and mans their stations. Someone yells that there is a fire, and as Wyck turns to it he realizes that is not smoke but a strange fog. Through it, he sees Bosey carrying a blade.

Wyck runs back into the sick bay and grabs a saw. He turns to face Bosey, who slashes his arm, causing him to drop the saw. He sees Bosey raise his blade as he closes in on him.

In the chaos, Creesjie goes to Haan’s cabin. Drecht waits outside, smoking a pipe, and seems disinterested in her. She passes him and goes inside, where it is completely dark. She calls for Haan, but he doesn’t answer. She feels around until she finds him, his skin cold. She yells for Drecht, who comes running and scrambles to find a light. They discover that he is dead with a dagger in his chest.

Everyone is rushing around the ship in a panic. Crauwels and Arent run below deck, where the fog is clearing. Arent finds Wyck’s body, completely gutted. He tells Crauwels that they need to find Isabel immediately because the air smells of paprika.

Hearing Creesjie’s screams, Sara and Lia go to Haan’s cabin and find him dead. Sara feels a strange sense of pity, seeing her husband dead and frail, his wealth and power having abandoned him in death. She does not grieve but rather coldly notes that his death is the third unholy miracle.

She begins searching the cabin for any sign of how someone got in, as Drecht explains what happened in the passenger cabin. Sara asks Lia to check over the list of names on his desk to see if she notices anything unusual. As Sara checks for trapdoors and begins checking the ceiling, Lia interrupts her to point out something no one else has seen: One name on the list is “Haviland”—which is “Dalvhain” with the letters rearranged.

They rush to Dalvhain’s cabin, which they find empty except for a rug on the floor and the writing desk. Sara finds the daemonologica on the desk. However, when she opens it, the inside is different. There are drawings that document the events, starting with Pieter watching a mob burn a home while Old Tom sits on his shoulder. The drawings include their boarding of the Saardam, the death of the cattle, and Sara’s husband’s death. She turns the page to see what happens next and finds the ship aflame with Old Tom carrying passengers to an island. She feels that Old Tom is staring out of the book at her. The final image is of Old Tom’s mark on the ocean, the Saardam beside it. She realizes that in the final image, Old Tom is an island, and she concludes that “Old Tom was taking them home” (390).

Arent gets Sammy, then confronts Isabel about the smell of paprika. He smelled it on Isabel, then on Wyck during their fight, and then on Wyck’s body. She admits that she was seeing Wyck in private and that they have known each other for years, with Wyck promising to help her when they got to Amsterdam.

Sara comes into the room and explains what happened with Haan. As Sara comforts Arent over Haan’s death, Sammy revisits the facts of the case. He says that de Haviland must have been using Bosey to terrorize the ship and keep her identity a secret.

Crauwels interrupts their conversation to say that none of it matters. What matters is that three unholy miracles have been performed, and they need to find de Haviland immediately.

Arent, Sammy, Sara, Lia, Creesjie, Crauwels, Larme, and van Schooten meet to discuss what to do next. Van Schooten is fixated on finding de Haviland, but Sammy tells them that she has so meticulously planned everything that she will not be found. Instead, there are three important questions to answer: What links the three miracles, how was Haan killed, and why did the leper let Arent live? In response, Crauwels points out that solving a murder will not save them from the Eighth Lantern, then storms out. Van Schooten and Larme follow to get the crew back to sailing, leaving the rest to work on the mystery.

Arent and Sammy go to Haan’s cabin to investigate. Arent is overwhelmed with grief and guilt at not having been able to protect Haan, but Sammy forces him to focus. He discovers that Haan had been dead for several hours, meaning that he had likely died during dinner. Everyone was present at dinner except for Arent, who was unconscious, Sammy, who was in his cell, and Sara, who was with Arent.

He pulls the dagger from Haan’s body and gives it to Arent. Arent recognizes it as the same dagger Bosey had.

Sammy pours out Haan’s wine. He finds sediment in the bottom. Arent tastes it and realizes that it is the sleeping draught, again pointing to Sara’s involvement.

The two return to the group, where Sammy asks Sara if her husband was taking a sleeping draught, and Sara openly admits to drugging her husband. She tells him that she gives him the draught, then Creesjie steals parts of the plans for the Folly. She gives them to Lia, who copies them one piece at a time. Their plan was to sell them to Creesjie’s fiancé in Amsterdam, then buy passage to France and escape Haan. She points out that, with this plan, she had no reason to kill her husband.

As van Schooten contemplates their dwindling supplies, Drecht hammers on his door and demands entry. Drecht forces van Schooten to show him Haan’s secret cargo. Van Schooten takes Drecht to the cargo hold, where he opens one of dozens of crates to reveal chalices, jewelry, and plates—treasure like that which Vos had.

Van Schooten turns on Drecht, blaming him for protecting Haan. Drecht simply draws his sword.

Dorothea is below deck with the passengers when Eggert comes down, panicking. He tells the passengers that they need to find safety—mutiny is coming. The constable agrees to fit as many women and children as he can in the gunpowder store but warns the men to arm themselves.