Jackaby

Abigail settles into a temporary room she’s bartered for housekeeping services, preparing to search for a job. As she begins, she remembers her only experience with true employment: an anthropological expedition where she hoped to follow in her father’s footsteps and uncover dinosaur bones. The dig was a disappointment, and Abigail prepared to return home. On her way, however, she decided to continue onward to America instead. She informs her parents by postcard.

In New Fiddleham, Abigail enters a general shop looking for work. She helps the shopkeeper, who is struggling with heavy sacks, and assists a customer. However, the shopkeeper tells her there isn’t enough work for another person. Wandering the streets, Abigail looks and finds an advertisement for an investigative assistant. She follows the address to Jackaby’s house. While there, she upsets a magical frog, and she and Jackaby are forced to leave.

As Abigail rushes to follow Jackaby, she inquires about the position. He tells her it has been filled five times already. He tells her about his business and reveals that he assessed her at their first meeting based on supernatural creatures that had tagged along on her clothes or left their mark on her. Jackaby explains that clients pay him to deal with supernatural threats. Abigail questions Jackaby’s poor taste in clothes, and he tells her his unusual hat was a special gift from a wood nymph friend. They suddenly arrive at Jackaby’s destination, a site filled with policemen.

Jackaby attempts to talk his way into the crime scene, but one of the policemen stops him. Calling for his attention, Abigail pretends to faint. The policeman helps her, and Abigail claims to be dizzy with exertion. She thanks the policeman and catches up with Jackaby, who is unwillingly impressed with the charade. They discuss the nature of deception and illusion, which Jackaby used to find his way through the house where a murder occurred. As they proceed, he explains his gift of second sight. He encourages her to use her senses to take in the scene.

As Abigail and Jackaby reach the third floor, they meet a young policeman, Charlie Cane, to whom Abigail is immediately attracted. Charlie allows them to pass by, and they find a man dead in his apartment. His upper body is covered in blood. Jackaby examines the room. He and Abigail compare observations. Abigail pays particular attention to the man’s wastebasket. They deduce that the man had a visitor before his death, and Jackaby prompts her about the man’s body. Another policeman, Chief Inspector Marlowe, arrives. Jackaby explains that there should be more blood around the body than there is. Marlowe and Jackaby argue about Jackaby’s methods. Marlowe warns Abigail away from Jackaby and then asks Charlie to escort them out.

As they leave, Jackaby inquires about a name Marlowe dropped: Henderson. Charlie explains that he’s a neighbor who complained of distressing cries that no one else can hear. Jackaby detours to visit Mr. Henderson’s room.

Mr. Henderson is visibly distressed, and Jackaby asks him to describe the sound he’s hearing. He takes out a tuning fork and uses it to make a vibration that calms the man. Henderson tells him it’s a woman’s voice coming from the floor above. When further prompted, Henderson says he also heard a metallic clinking noise around the time of the murder. Before they leave, Jackaby lends Henderson the tuning fork. He, Abigail, and Charlie ascend to the next floor. Abigail comments on the numbers on the mailboxes downstairs, which impresses Jackaby.

On the next floor, Jackaby knocks on an apartment door and meets an Irish woman named Mona O’Conner. Seeing that she’s human, Jackaby proclaims her “simply a woman” (54) and moves on, which irritates Mona. Jackaby’s protestations only make her angrier until she punches him in the face. She introduces herself, and Jackaby recognizes the name, deducing that Mona has an elderly relative sharing her apartment. Mona invites them in. As Abigail waits, she assesses Charlie. Mona introduces Jackaby to Mrs. Morrigan, an old woman who appears to be screaming silently. Mona explains that Mrs. Morrigan has had spells like these all her life, similar to seizures, and that they have found no cause or cure. Jackaby whispers something to Mrs. Morrigan, which helps her relax slightly. The group leaves, and Jackaby tells Mona the spell will pass later that night.

Once outside the apartment, Jackaby explains that Mrs. Morrigan is a banshee keening the impending death of Mr. Henderson. Abigail assumes that means Mrs. Morrigan is the killer, but Jackaby tells her that banshees aren’t malevolent; they remain with the same family for generations, mourning the deaths of the household and those around them. Charlie wants to do something to protect Henderson, but Jackaby tells him it’s no use.

Jackaby and Abigail leave the building. Abigail sees Marlowe taking notes as he talks to a mourning woman, and Abigail thinks that Jackaby should have a notebook too. Charlie warns Jackaby that Commissioner Swift is on his way. Jackaby wonders why the commissioner is getting involved in the crime, and Charlie tells him Swift is involved in politics. The dead man, Arthur Bragg, was a reporter helping Swift with his publicity. Jackaby and Abigail duck into an alleyway, and Jackaby dismisses her. He tells her she can have the assistant job on a trial basis. Jackaby explains that he admired her observation skills, including looking in the wastebasket and noticing mailboxes. She asks him about detective notebooks, and Jackaby tells her they’re useless because his writing is illegible. He sends her back to his office while he breaks into the building to revisit Arthur Bragg’s apartment. Abigail struggles with feelings of abandonment.

As she returns to Jackaby’s, Abigail sees Commissioner Swift. The man is pompous and ornamented but walks with a limp and has his legs in metal braces. He tells Inspector Marlowe that he wants the killer found right away.