The story picks up where the previous story ended with Sergeant Quick announcing the arrest of Professor Litefoot on suspicion of murdering Jago. Litefoot is understandably outraged at the charge, but an apologetic Quick requests Litefoot to come quietly. Litefoot eventually complies in hopes of clearing up any doubt cast upon him at the police station. Quick however reveals that the carriage outside is a black maria – Litefoot is to be immediately transferred to prison. Quick orders his constable subordinate to escort Litefoot to the carriage.
Litefoot doesn’t make things easy for his arresting constable, even more so when Quick states that Litefoot isn’t allowed to communicate with anyone. Litefoot tries to appeal to his former ally by stating that he’s being used, but Quick doesn’t listen to him. Before they leave, Quick instructs his constable to allow him to ride inside the maria with Litefoot so that he can be assured that he doesn’t communicate with anyone while in transit. The constable curmudgeonly agrees and sits on top of the maria. With no one listening in, Quick drops his officious act and quietly tells Litefoot that the constable was sent to watch him on behalf of the commissioner while they carried out his arrest. He namedrops the Colonel as the influencing party behind the arrest. Litefoot is surprised to hear that the Colonel has survived the dockyard explosion and angrily asks how the Colonel survived but Jago died. Quick finally snaps and states that the Colonel has so much power that he is impervious to justice. He reflects on how Jago was a good friend who never looked down upon him or treated him indifferently. Seeing the regret on his face, Litefoot forgives his friend. Both men become more solemn as they think about their fallen friend and the times they shared together. Unfortunately, this brings out the anger in Quick who voices his wish to get his hands on the villainous terrorist for Jago’s sake, but Litefoot calms him down. Quick remembers that he did recover one thing from the dockyards that Litefoot should hold onto – a hipflask with the words H.G.J. engraved on it. The only thing Jago had on him when he died. The maria comes to a stop and Quick tells Litefoot that this will probably be the last time they’ll be able to talk as everything to do with Jago’s death and Litefoot’s arrest is being unusually rushed through, even his trial is to be within a few days with a guilty verdict practically unanimous for Litefoot…
The constable aggressively shoves Litefoot into his cell to await his trial and guilty verdict, even going as far as making a hanging gesture to aggravate the Professor. Litefoot isn’t deterred after his talk with Quick and asks the constable to relay a message to Quick, to which the constable bluntly refuses and leaves Litefoot in his cell.
At the Red Tavern, Ellie is trying to preoccupy herself with her bartending, but her patrons notice that somethings wrong, but Ellie angrily dismisses their questions. Sergeant Quick arrives and Ellie tells him there’s an empty table where they can speak privately. Ellie asks if the rumours about Jago’s death and Litefoot’s arrest are true, to which Quick confirms. But thankfully he doesn’t believe any of the accusations against the Professor are true and that this is all the work of the Colonel. With Jago dead and Litefoot incarcerated, the only people left to stand up to the Colonel are Quick and Ellie, and Ellie makes it very clear that she intends to kill the Colonel…
At the prison, Litefoot is served a rather unappetising pile of slop on a plate for his meal. He refuses to eat it. The constable opens the cell once more to tell Litefoot he has a visitor. To Litefoot’s surprise, the Colonel enters the cell. He dismisses the constable on duty, assuring him that Litefoot isn’t a violent man, even if he is a murderer. Litefoot darkly calls the Colonel a murderous swine. Despite the Colonel’s former claim about Litefoot, he warns him that should he try to get violent, he has no problem with executing him on the spot and points his pistol at him. With nothing else to lose, Litefoot challenges him to do so, but the Colonel refuses stating that it further complicate matters. Litefoot loses patience with the villain and demands to know his true reason for visiting. The Colonel simply states that he wishes to gloat and make sure Litefoot knows that there’s nothing he or anyone else can do to stop his plans. After all, Litefoot will hang for the murder of Jago. Litefoot angrily reiterates that The Colonel was to blame for the death of Jago. The Colonel loses his cool and angrily states that Litefoot is just as guilty for Jago’s death as much as he is, the exception being that the Colonel will walk free while Litefoot will hang. If the infernal investigators had not interfered with his plans, they would both be alive and well today. He bids farewell and prepares to meet with the police commissioner, before telling Litefoot that he will be watching his trial and his execution with great interest.
At the Red Tavern, Ellie and Quick try to devise a plan to fight the Colonel, but aren’t sure as to who would believe them or who is in the Colonel’s pocket. Their luck turns for the better when a familiar face greets them – Agatha Worthing. Ellie is shocked to see her again as she believed her to be dead after the dockyard explosion. She recruits the two of them in her crusade to bring down the Colonel and states their first mission is to rescue Litefoot from prison. Quick tells her that Litefoot can’t communicate with anyone and only one person has clearance to talk with him – the Colonel. Agatha smiles and states that won’t be a problem and calls for the Colonel to join them. Except it isn’t the real Colonel…this Colonel has a very familiar upper-class voice…
At the prison, the constable informs Litefoot that he has a visitor. Litefoot is perplexed as he believed he wasn’t allowed visitors, but is dismayed when the visitor turns out to be the Colonel. Litefoot angrily asks if he’s returned to gloat some more. The Colonel orders the constable to leave them alone as he wishes to talk with the prisoner alone. Litefoot gasps as he instantly recognises the voice and his use of alliterative but says nothing while in the presence of the constable. The constable suspects nothing and allows the ‘Colonel’ to continue his business. Once the cell door closes, the ‘Colonel’ drops his act and reveals his true identity to Litefoot – Henry Gordon Jago in disguise! Litefoot is elated to see his friend once more and jokes about how different he is in appearance to the real Colonel (who doesn’t actually have a beard, but Agatha urged him to hide as much of his face to avoid suspicion). Litefoot asks Jago how he survived the dockyard explosion.
Jago recounts how he passed out from inhaling the smoke from the fiery explosions. Agatha had found him unconscious and dragged him out of the danger zone. She managed to take him to a brothel to recover and regain consciousness where he immediately assumes he had died and gone to heaven.
Litefoot deduces that the dead body discovered at the dockyards was that of the Colonel’s thug Drucker, who after being caught in the explosion was scarred beyond recognition. When the police found his body and the hipflask with the initials H.G.J. on it, they immediately assumed the body to be of Jago.
Litefoot assumes that Jago and Agatha have a plan to break him out of prison. Unfortunately, Jago tells him that their plan is to actually leave him in prison for the moment and allow Litefoot to stand trial. Litefoot is in disbelief but Jago tells him that the Colonel is nowhere to be found, but if they proceed with the trial, the Colonel will no doubt show up and they can capture him. Litefoot deduces the only way to escape is via the courtroom but unfortunately, Jago has no idea how to carry out such a daring plan. Litefoot is incredulous and reminds Jago that he will be hanged if they can’t get him out. In fact, Litefoot isn’t allowed contact with his lawyers and that a barrister will be appointed on his behalf. Jago reassures his friend that Agatha has procured the finest lawyer to represent Litefoot in court. After going through a few names of the possible candidates, Jago eventually reveals that he will representing Litefoot as his defence attorney, which sinks Litefoot’s optimism of getting a not guilty verdict…
A few days later, the trial is underway and Litefoot confidently pleads not guilty. Ellie and Agatha watch on in the jury, unfortunately neither of them have spotted the Colonel yet. The prosecutor, Mr Morpeth, opens the case by stating that Litefoot is undoubtedly guilty of murder and is keen to provide witnesses that can attest to the murder of Henry Gordon Jago, whom he describes as a second rate impresario of dubious repute. This comment gets under the skin of Litefoot’s defence attorney ‘Mr. Humble’ (Jago in disguise) who vocally raises an objection and tries to defend himself from the slanderous witness statements that Morpeth presents as evidence. The judge settles that the character of Jago is undoubtedly suspicious and allows Morpeth to proceed.
The trial proceeds with Morpeth presenting various character witnesses who proclaim to have seen Litefoot around the dockyards, in pubs and various other places seemingly plotting his murder plan. Ellie and Agatha notice the Colonel seated in the opposite gallery, Agatha tells Ellie to keep a low profile as they will follow him when he leaves.
Humble proceeds with the questioning of Litefoot – which is that he simply asks Litefoot to confirm that his reason for being at the dockyards was to thwart the plans of the Colonel. Litefoot confirms this and Humble promptly ceases his cross examination. Morpeth simply asks Litefoot one last question – what possessed Litefoot to murder Jago? Litefoot protests at the notion, but Morpeth presses Litefoot by stating that he murdered Jago and set fire to the adjacent buildings to cover his tracks. Litefoot continues to deny murdering Jago, but Morpeth begins to twist Litefoot’s statements to make him appear even more guilty, much to the disgust of Humble and Litefoot.
Later, the Judge and Morpeth appeal to the jury to discuss the case so that they may come to a verdict. But they don’t hide the fact that they are trying to influence the jury to vote guilty. Without even retiring to discuss the matter, the foreman announces that the jury has unanimously decided that Litefoot is guilty of murder. Ellie is horrified by the sentence, but Agatha notices the Colonel leaving the gallery and the two women proceed to follow the villain.
Agatha and Ellie follow The Colonel outside the courtroom and see him entering a cab. Agatha hails her own cab to follow him.
The judge asks Litefoot if he has anything to say before passing sentence. Litefoot defiantly states that he didn’t murder Jago and states that he can actually prove it. The judge bangs his gavel and refuses to listen, but Litefoot goes onto state that he couldn’t have murdered Jago, but before he can give his reason. Mr. Humble takes off his disguise and reveals himself to be Jago alive and well! Mr. Morpeth however states that this doesn’t change anything as it merely means that the police misidentified the body, Litefoot could’ve just murdered someone else instead. Furthermore, Jago has withheld vital evidence from the court until after the hearing, making him guilty of contempt of court and to add insult to injury, several witness statements pin Jago with Litefoot at the warehouse at the time of the murder, making him an accomplice and just as guilty! The judge has heard enough and orders the bailiffs to arrest Jago for contempt of court and Litefoot to be remanded in custody.
The infernal investigators are led outside to a black maria, where they are greeted by Sergeant Quick. While Litefoot is surprisingly cooperative towards Quick, Jago is outraged that their former friend would oversee their arrest and pleads to be released. Litefoot notes Quick’s wink and tells Jago through emphasis of words that Quick won’t let them escape. Jago finally catches on and follows through with the pretence. Quick dismisses the two officers on the maria to take messages to two separate police stations while he escorts the two prisoners.
Later at the Red Tavern, Quick reveals to the two infernal investigators that he had actually sent some false messages about transferring the two prisoners to two separate police stations, thus both stations will be caught in a wild goose chase, but it will provide enough time to take the heat off them. Unfortunately for Quick, once the mix up is resolved, he’ll be in trouble. Ellie arrives and is overjoyed to see the two men free at last, but Litefoot reminds her that given the circumstances, their freedom may be short lived. She gives them permission to use the backroom to hide for the moment.
Ellie talks about how Agatha is hoping to get a royal pardon for Litefoot once the Colonel is brought to justice. Unfortunately, Litefoot reveals that he was found guilty of murder, Jago reveals that he’s guilty for contempt of court and Quick is guilty for aiding and abetting two criminals. Ellie mentions how the Colonel attended the trial and left as soon as he believed Litefoot was found guilty. Ellie and Agatha followed the terrorist and the trail led them to the Statchford Observatory, where it is presumed the Colonel has established a base of operations as he was seen talking to soldiers on duty. Agatha is keeping watch of the base and awaiting the group. With the Colonel’s location now confirmed, the four heroes set out to find the Colonel and end his diabolical plans once and for all.
The group arrive at the observatory and are undercover of the bushes. They hear a faint voice call out to them, and discover it belonging to Agatha. Agatha confirms that the Colonel is indeed inside the observatory, but doubts that he is using it to stargaze. She notes that the Colonel is lacking in firepower in this base due to secrecy, which gives the group an advantage. Agatha asks Quick to accompany her so that they can take out the guard on duty at the entrance.
Quick approaches the guard on duty and states that the police have received several noise complaints. The guard tells him that its secret government work, Quick assumes as such and asks the guard to sign a document. While at first hesitant to do so, the guard eventually complies. With his head down, Agatha sneaks up from behind and knocks the guard out. With the entrance open, Agatha urges the heroes to come out of hiding and inside the observatory.
Inside, the group discover that the observatory has been gutted to become another factory for the production of the Sentinels, only on a much larger scale. With the size of the building in mind, Agatha recommends that the group splits into groups of three. Ellie and Sergeant Quick will take the right, Jago and Litefoot will take the left and Agatha will approach directly down the middle.
Elsewhere in the observatory, The Colonel is discussing Jago and Litefoot’s escape from the courtroom with the prosecutor Morpeth. From hiding, Jago and Litefoot spy upon the two villains. They also notice Ellie and Quick in position to attack on the other side of the factory, but there’s no sign of Agatha. As they get closer, Jago accidently trips over something that makes a loud noise. Unfortunately, this draws the attention of the Colonel and Morpeth. Morpeth aims his pistol at the two investigators. With the two men caught, Jago assumes that the villains will simply turn them over to the authorities, but the Colonel and Morpeth have other plans. Morpeth has used his influences to start unsavoury rumours and bribed certain individuals to make sure that the Infernal Investigators are to blame for the Colonel’s greatest act of villainy – the assassination of Queen Victoria! Jago notices how some of the Colonel’s men are loading huge artillery shells into the telescope. The observatory isn’t an observatory…it’s a huge cannon! The Colonel explains how he is using the Babbage Engine to calculate the trajectory needed to shoot several artillery shells right into Buckingham Palace, obliterating Queen Victoria and any of her closest ministers inside. With them all dead, The Colonel can swoop in, take advantage of the power vacuum and claim power over the British Empire.
Ellie and Quick watch on as the Colonel elaborates his plans to the Infernal Investigators. In a coded message, Litefoot orders Quick to fetch the police, to which the Sergeant understands and sets off to do so. As he leaves, Agatha shows up out of hiding and points her gun at the two villains, threatening to kill them should they try anything. The Colonel calls her bluff and dares her to try before his soldiers shoot her first. Unfortunately, Agatha is shot and fatally wounded. Before dying, she urges the group to stop the Colonel and save Queen Victoria. Ellie retrieves her pistol and hands it to Litefoot. The Colonel orders the heroes to surrender as nothing can stop him from fulfilling his assassination. But with all the firepower trained on them, they can’t get near the cannon to stop it from firing. But Litefoot has an idea, he tells them that they just need to stop the Babbage Engines from calculating, thus stopping the cannon. The Colonel gloats as he watches the heroes retreat, believing that he’s won. After all, where can they run once they’re wanted for assassinating the Queen?
Once they reach the Babbage Engine, Jago and Ellie turn back to find Litefoot…lying on the floor. Both of them fear that he’s been shot. Jago instantly believes that he’s dead. Ellie opens up Litefoot’s jacket to look at the wound only to find…nothing. The Professor instantly wakes up and laughs about how much being shot hurt. He thanks Jago for saving his life as his hipflask he was carrying in his jacket took the hits for him, much to Jago’s chagrin. Litefoot explains how they plan to stop the cannon from firing…they won’t. All they need to do is alter the trajectory and allow it to hit something else, but the problem is where is a suitable target that can’t hurt anyone? Jago has an idea and begins turning the calculating cylinders to a suitable target, but warns the group once he’s done his deed, the three of them must run as fast as they can as he’s set the target…for the observatory. With a loud clunk, the Babbage Engine has completed its calculations and is about to fire…
Inside the observatory, Morpeth and the Colonel are giddy with anticipation as the Babbage Engine has finished its calculations and is about to fire. Morpeth however is nervous as to why the barrel is still elevating upwards, have the infernal investigators somehow tampered with the machine? The Colonel is dismissive of his concerns and claims the Babbage Engine is infallible. The cannon finally fires and the Colonel declares his victory. But unfortunately for him, the shell comes crashing back down towards the observatory and detonates in a huge explosion, killing the evil terrorist once and for all…
Jago, Litefoot and Ellie watch as the explosion consumes the observatory. The day is saved and the Colonel done for, the trio decide to retire to the Red Tavern to celebrate, even if it’s after hours.
At the Red Tavern, Jago explains that by turning the elevation of the cannon by 90 degrees, it didn’t matter what the Babbage Engine calculated, it would fail to hit the palace and save the Queen. A knock at the door sounds, Ellie answers it to find Sergeant Quick at the door. His subordinates are currently digging through the observatory mess. He explains that he comes bearing good news and bad news. The good news is that the Colonel and Morpeth perished in the explosion, ending their terrorist plot for good. The bad news is that the homes of Jago and Litefoot have been raided by the police as they are acting on a tip off from an anonymous source. Litefoot remembers Morpeth stating that he had left evidence that would implicate the Infernal Investigators as the masterminds behind the plot. According to the tipoff, Agatha Worthing, Morpeth and the Colonel died heroically trying to prevent the assassination attempt orchestrated by Jago and Litefoot. The only person who could’ve given the Queen concrete evidence of their innocence and a royal pardon died trying to bring down the Colonel. The only people left who believe in their innocence are Jago, Litefoot, Ellie and Quick. But unfortunately, no one will listen to them. But Quick tells them there is worse news, Queen Victoria is devastated by the death of Agatha Worthing and has announced that there is a bounty on the heads of Jago and Litefoot – the terrorists behind the plot on her life and the murder of Agatha Worthing. They are to be brought to justice…dead or alive. Quick informs them that the police are at Litefoot’s mortuary and Jago’s theatre and are mostly likely on their way to the Red Tavern. At that moment, a police whistle sounds followed by an officer barking orders to surround the building. Ellie and Quick urge the investigators to escape via the back quickly, to which they do so. They find Quick’s black maria parked behind the Tavern. They quickly take the reins and set off into the night followed closely by the police. Both men conclude that now they are wanted fugitives, they must use new names. How about…Jagfoot and Lifgo?
