The story picks up immediately where ‘The Final Act’ ended. Jago and Litefoot manage to safely return to Victorian London via Magnus Greel’s time cabinet. Upon exiting the cabinet, they are met by a man in a military uniform who simply calls himself ‘The Colonel’. The Colonel orders them to follow him immediately. mentioning that it is not a good idea to keep Her Majesty waiting.
Sometime later, Jago and Litefoot are on a train travelling to Lowestoft. They share a compartment with a lady called Camilla Tevelyan. Jago has fallen asleep and is snoring loudly. With no one else to talk to, Litefoot strikes up a conversation with Tevelyan and discovers that she is also heading to Lowestoft, as she inherited the management position of a dockyard from her late father. She asks what the purpose of Jago and Litefoot’s visit is in Lowestoft. Litefoot explains that he and Jago have been tasked with the investigation of strange sightings in Lowestoft. Tevelyan asks who they might be working for.
Not long after encountering The Colonel, Jago and Litefoot are in Buckingham Palace’s antechamber preparing to meet Her Majesty Queen Victoria. Both men are excited to meet Her Majesty, particularly Jago who is salivating at the prospect of possible knighthoods and medals of honour for defending London from all manner of supernatural threats. But Litefoot isn’t so sure, as Her Majesty probably isn’t fully aware of the dangers they’ve faced and its not like the pair of them are renowned celebrities. But Jago remains optimistic either way, as he mentions that she has eyes and ears all over London and must’ve heard something about them. The Colonel returns and confirms Jago’s belief of Queen Victoria knowing of their exploits and mentions she has been following them very closely. The Colonel unfortunately denies them the honour of meeting Queen Victoria, but she has relayed her orders to The Colonel. He explains that it is his job to identify and neutralise threats to the British Empire, and as such has summoned Jago and Litefoot as they are experts in combatting the supernatural. The pair’s first mission under The Queen’s command is to investigate mysterious sightings on the Suffolk coast – particularly Lowestoft. He further elaborates by stating that there have been strange fog patterns and people hearing and seeing ghostly apparitions within the fog. Litefoot questions why The Colonel doesn’t just investigate himself, and The Colonel replies that a military presence would draw unwanted attention. However, two civilians won’t be so inconspicuous.
Back on the train, Tevelyan is intrigued by Litefoot’s claim that He and Jago are ghost hunters in service to Queen Victoria. Litefoot mentions a particular concentrated area is a place called Shingle Cove. Tevelyan mentions that thirty years ago, a village was completely destroyed in the Shingle Cove area, but doesn’t know much else as she was only a child when it happened. The guard announces the train’s approach to Lowestoft. Tevelyan bids Litefoot good luck in his ghost hunt and leaves. Jago awakens with a start and rambles about having strange dreams, particularly of the adventures he’s had in the past.
Jago and Litefoot depart from the train. Litefoot informs Jago that he has procured a carriage to take them to the village nearest to Shingle Cove. Jago inquires into the dreams that he had. He remembers Ellie, Sergeant Sacker and Mr Sin. Despite the fact that Litefoot assures Jago that all of those dreams really happened, the memories feel rather vague. Jago suddenly remembers the time cabinet was left on the street when they returned from the sixties, but Litefoot assures him that he has placed it into storage where no one can get to it, but thankfully the return trip damaged it quite severely. Before Jago can think more about the memory business, their carriage arrives.
Jago and Litefoot have dinner at the village inn, which is also their lodging while they investigate the ghostly sights on behalf of The Colonel. The innkeeper asks about what their business is and Jago informs him that they intend to visit Shingle Cove. The innkeeper laughs and informs them they won’t find much as it has been gone for at least thirty years. Just as they tuck into their meal, an elderly man, who introduces himself as Isaac Pawley, approaches the duo’s table and inquires about their visit to Shingle Cove. He claims to know all there is to know about the place and offers to answer any questions the duo may have…as he was there the night it was washed away by a great storm. Litefoot asks what happened on the fateful day.
Pawley starts his story: It was the year 1859. I was in a ship out on the ocean when this dreadful tempest rose up from nowhere. Waves as high as a church tower there was. Crashing against the sea wall. There was only a few minutes until it was overcome and the waves swept into the village itself. Not a single soul lived to tell the tale…
Litefoot inquires into the matter of the fog that has swept across Shingle Cove. Pawley is surprised Litefoot knows about it and explains that it usually appears without warning and is so thick that you can’t see your own hand in front of you. He concludes that if one were to venture to Shingle Cove during the fog, one can hear the screams of the villagers desperate to escape the destruction of their village. Litefoot asks Pawley if he can act as a guide for them to Shingle Cove. Pawley is initially reluctant until Jago offers to pay him, to which the elderly fisherman agrees.
Pawley leads the Infernal Investigators to a pathway that leads to the remnants of Shingle Cove. Jago unfortunately is having trouble keeping up and falls behind. Pawley leads Litefoot to a cliff that overlooks the ruins of the town, all the while pointing out the ruins of the houses that once stood there. Litefoot inquires about the possibility of a safe route to the village only to discover that Pawley has disappeared…
Jago is complaining about the weather conditions and openly pines for the Red Tavern. He is approached by a woman who is asking him about why he is so close to the edge of the cliffs. Jago quickly disguises his reasons as sightseeing with a friend. Jago and the woman suddenly notice a thick fog rolling towards the cliffs from the sea…
Litefoot is calling out for Pawley to no response, all the while trying to watch his footing as the ground beneath him is treacherous. The fog begins to roll in and Litefoot thinks that he saw something within it, to which he quickly dismisses it as mental trickery…
Jago is calling out for Litefoot. The woman warns Jago to not fall over the cliff by accident. Jago turns to see the woman has disappeared…moments later a terrified scream echoes in the fog, followed by the woman crying out for Jago. Jago shouts for the woman to keep shouting so he can find her. Unfortunately, Jago doesn’t pay attention to his surroundings and the ground falls apart beneath him, sending him over the cliff…
Litefoot tries to make sense of what he saw…the village and the pathway completely intact. Before he can investigate further, he hears the sound of a man moaning in terror. Litefoot tries to assure the man that he means him no harm. Fortunately, a familiar catchphrase comes from the moaning man, ‘CORKS!’. Litefoot realises the man is Jago. Following his cries of help, Litefoot finds Jago hanging onto a piece of grass while hanging precariously over the cliff. Litefoot rescues his friend by pulling Jago back onto solid ground with his hiking stick. Moments later, Jago realises to his horror that the mysterious woman he was speaking to must have fallen over the cliff. Litefoot finds this strange and questions whether or not Jago is sure of what he saw, because when the fog rolled in, he himself saw something strange within it as well – the village and the sounds of the terrified villagers during the tsunami, just as Pawley said. But there’s nothing there now as the fog as cleared, which is strange as the fog quickly vanished as soon as it arrived. Pawley reappears and inquires into the mystery of the woman that Jago encountered. Jago recalls the appearance of the woman as having a young appearance with long, black hair. Pawley believes her chances of survival are slim, but Jago is adamant that they try to find her. Litefoot instructs the three men to split up and search the cliffs
One hour later, the three men reconvene with unfortunately no success in finding the missing woman. Jago is adamant that they keep searching, but Litefoot sensibly suggests that they have to return to the town and inform the coastguard before nightfall. He further suggests that they return the next day and find a way to reach the bottom of the cliffs. Pawley promises to help by providing a rope ladder before taking his leave. The Infernal Investigators wearily decide to return to the inn to rest
At the inn’s bar, Jago melancholily blames himself for the woman’s demise, but Litefoot reassures his friend he isn’t to blame. Litefoot reminds Jago of The Colonel’s briefing in regard to Shingle Cove – it is renowned for ghostly hauntings, and he still doubts the woman’s existence. But nonetheless, he and Jago plan to return with the coastguard to search for her. The doors to the inn burst open and a sailor enters carrying an unconscious woman dripping wet in his arms, all the while urgently requesting passage through the inn. Litefoot instructs the sailor to lay the woman down by the fire while requesting dry clothes and brandy from the landlord. Jago immediately recognises her as the mysterious woman in the fog, while Litefoot does one better and recognises the woman as Camilla Tevelyan – the woman he met on the train to Shingle Cove while Jago was asleep. Tevelyan slowly regains consciousness and Litefoot helps her to regain her bearings. He asks her about the circumstances that landed her in this situation. Tevelyan recalls walking on the cliffs when she met Jago. Moments later, a fog rolled in and before she knew it, she had fallen over the cliffs. She landed on a pile of rocks and had been calling for help, to no avail. With no way to climb the cliff and her landing cut off by the tide, Tevelyan had no choice but to swim to the shore. Fortunately, while she swam, a passing fishing boat spotted her and brought her back to the shore. Tevelyan mentions that while she was at the bottom of the cliffs after her fall, she saw a man standing where an old sea wall in the ruined village used to be, staring out to sea. She describes the man wearing a fisherman’s garb and had an elderly appearance. She tried to call out to the mystery man and slowly made her way to him only to witness the fisherman disappear like a ghost. Jago and Litefoot begin to have suspicions of their own, but wisely decide not to speculate further and politely ask Tevelyan if she could lead them to the sighting of this mysterious man…
The next day. Jago, Litefoot and Tevelyan trek along the cliffs to Shingle Cove. They ponder upon the whereabouts of Pawley as he had promised to meet with the group to continue the investigation. Litefoot deduces that Pawley must’ve visited earlier in the day as a rope ladder leading down the cliff to Shingle Cove has been left for them, as promised. Jago is pensive about climbing the ladder, but Litefoot decides to lead in his stead and begins his descent down the ladder.
Once the trio reach the bottom of the ladder, Litefoot requests Tevelyan that she leads the group to the sighting of her mysterious man. She points out to the old harbour but is hesitant to visit it again as she felt something evil emanating from the man when she saw him after her fall. She asks that she stay behind while the two men go to investigate, to which Litefoot agrees as she can see them from where she is standing.
Jago and Litefoot reach the end of the harbour and find nothing. Jago assumes that the mysterious fisherman Tevelyan saw must’ve been Pawley. They turn back to see something rather startling…Tevelyan has disappeared and so has the rope ladder. Jago looks up to the top of the cliff and sees Pawley standing at the edge. Jago assumes that Pawley must’ve pulled the ladder back up assuming that the investigators hadn’t used it…or that he knew they’d used it and has deliberately trapped them. Litefoot refuses to jump to conclusions and calls out to Pawley, but the fisherman simply walks away without responding. The Infernal Investigators ponder about the whereabouts of Tevelyan and whether or not she climbed up the ladder and left or if she is still at the bottom of the cliff. Before they can go looking, the strange fog begins to roll back into the harbour towards the duo. Litefoot refuses to be intimidated and urges Litefoot that they must reach the ruins and continue their investigation.
Jago and Litefoot reach the ruins of an old inn in the village and call out to Tevelyan to no response. Suddenly, the two begin to hear festive music and general chatter in the air. The ruins begin to take form of a bustling inn filled with patrons…ghostly, skeletal patrons. Jago and Litefoot barely contain their terror of the sight before them, even more so when one of the skeletal ghouls passes through Jago without even acknowledging him. But with the realisation that the skeletons aren’t aware of their presence and that they can’t interact with them, they can’t hurt them. A skeleton enters the pub and shouts a warning to the patrons. The sea wall has been breached and the town is at risk of flooding and they must evacuate immediately via the cliff path. Jago and Litefoot watch on as the skeletons get up and leave the pub. Litefoot deduces that this is a vision of the events that led to the town’s destruction. Jago realises in horror that the cliff path is unsafe and Litefoot solemnly confirms that the cliff path will collapse under the villagers and sweep them into a landslide, killing them all. The duo recalls something they’ve seen something like this before when they first met The Doctor. The entire ghostly visage must be a hologram! With that said, the ghoulish vision fades and the ruins of the inn return. But the worse has yet to come…as Jago warns Litefoot that the tide is coming in and the water begins to lap around their feet. Litefoot tells Jago they’ll have to swim for the shore, but he notices that the fog is beginning to disperse, so they may be able to attract the attention of a fishing boat. With no other options, the two men call for help and surely someone calls back to them – Pawley. Pawley noticed the rope ladder had been stolen and assumed that the two gentlemen would be in danger. With that said, it begs the question – who stole the rope ladder? The old fisherman informs the duo that there’s an old smuggler’s cave in the cliffs that lead up to the graveyard, it’s the safest way back to shore. He agrees to lead them to it.
Inside the cave, Jago asks why Pawley didn’t tell them about the caves beforehand. Pawley tells him the caves are a hidden family secret and he’s the only one who knows of its existence. While trekking through the cave, Litefoot ponders something rather peculiar – why is Shingle Cove called such a name when the beach doesn’t have any shingle? He elaborates that for such a place to have a name, it must’ve had some before. Litefoot explains that if there wasn’t any shingle during the calamity that destroyed the village, nothing could’ve stopped the waves from obliterating the village as the shingle would’ve absorbed the force of the waves. So, the question is…who removed all the shingle? Litefoot enquires Pawley of his opinion, to which the old man reveals he’s been trying to discover the truth since the tragedy occurred, but he could never find the answers. In fact, it’s the reason why he was quick to offer his help to Jago and Litefoot – they could help him solve the case. Litefoot now knows there’s only one person they haven’t got an account from who could offer an insight into the case…
The three men emerge from the caves in the graveyard and find Tevelyan waiting for them, who appears unscathed. She reveals that she couldn’t bear to wait for them, so she climbed back up the rope ladder and waited for them in the graveyard. She knew that the gentlemen were in danger when she returned to the edge of the cliff later on and found the rope ladder was missing. Plus, with the storm closing in, she took shelter while she waited. But enquires as to how they managed to climb the cliff without the ladder. Jago and Litefoot reveal that they had help from Pawley. Tevelyan is shocked to recognise the elderly man as the ghostly man she saw the day before. But dismisses her sighting as just another man in similar clothes. Litefoot asks Tevelyan about the lack of shingle in the area. He further recalls how Tevelyan mentioned her father was a member of parliament, so he must have some old records that might detail the missing shingle. Tevelyan agrees to allow the gentlemen to take a look and leads the men to her cottage.
Tevelyan leads the men inside her cottage, offering the men to warm themselves up by the fireplace to dry off from the storm. Tevelyan retrieves correspondences from her father’s writing desk and hands them over to Litefoot. She offers to fetch some more paperwork from storage upstairs and some brandy to help warm up the men, to which Jago enthusiastically accepts. Litefoot flicks through the paperwork and discovers a construction plan for a dockyard in Lowestoft – the same dockyard that Tevelyan currently owns and operates. Litefoot discovers that while Tevelyan’s father was an MP, he also oversaw the planning permissions for construction companies in Lowestoft. One small detail in particular catches Litefoot’s eye, a small note that states the dockyard’s construction needs a large number of stone to be dredged from Shingle Cove! Jago presumes that Tevelyan’s father couldn’t have known the danger, but Litefoot disagrees and reveals more paperwork including a report from a surveyor warning Tevelyan’s father of the danger the dredging would impose on Shingle Cove. Even the villagers held a deputation to protest his actions. Nonetheless, Tevelyan’s father went ahead as planned and removed all the shingle and used it to build his dockyard. His illegal and selfish actions caused the deaths of many innocent villagers! Before they could ponder whether or not Tevelyan knew of her father’s actions. The sound of a gun cocking confirms their suspicions. Tevelyan enters the room armed with a pistol trained on the three men. She reveals that she had been trying to stop the Infernal Investigators all this time from discovering the truth. Thanks to the building of the dockyard with the shingle acquired from Shingle Cove, the Tevelyan family became rich. Pawley is sickened by the amount of human lives it cost, but Tevelyan simply states that the villagers should’ve left when they had the chance. Litefoot assumes that they aren’t the first people to try and uncover the truth, and Tevelyan mentions that those who had tried met with ‘unfortunate accidents’, and she plans to dispose of the trio as well. Pawley stands up and threatens to reveal the truth, but Tevelyan coldly shoots him through the chest, killing him instantly. Jago and Litefoot are shocked and appalled, but Tevelyan assures them they will be next to join him unless they cooperate with her by disposing Pawley’s dead body over the cliff.
As Jago and Litefoot carry Pawley’s corpse, Litefoot deduces that Tevelyan had been trying to kill them since they arrived at Shingle Cove, to which she confirms. She reveals that her screams in the fog the day before were her attempts to lure Jago over the cliff to his death. When she had learned that Jago had actually survived, she crafted a dramatic entrance with the unwitting help of a local fisherman by pretending to drown so she can get close to the investigators and gain their trust through empathy. Plus, her story about seeing a ghostly man at the old harbour was a ruse to trap them in the tide while they investigated. She had in fact climbed the rope ladder after the investigators left and untied it. But what she didn’t account for was Pawley noticing the ladder had been stolen and going down the hidden cave system to rescue the two men. Tevelyan reveals that she plans to throw Jago and Litefoot over the cliffs to their deaths, she will pretend to discover their corpses while out for a walk and be ‘suitably traumatised’ so she isn’t immediately suspected. Tevelyan reveals that this isn’t the first time she’s murdered people, even callously admitting that the more murders she’s committed, the easier it is to deal with emotionally. Litefoot still has one question though, what is the fog and how is it connected to the voices and spooky skeletal apparitions that it conjures? Tevelyan claims ignorance and believes it to be an old fisherman’s tale. After a bit of walking, Tevelyan instructs Jago and Litefoot to put down Pawley’s corpse and roll it off the cliff, threatening to shoot them both and do it herself if they refuse. The two men regretfully do so and Pawley’s corpse tumbles over the cliff and into the ocean with a distant sounding splash. Tevelyan aims her gun at the two men and prepares to carry out the vile deed, but the Infernal Investigators warn her that more people will come looking for answers. Especially those at Scotland Yard, who will be wandering where their assigned investigators have disappeared to. Before she can shoot, the fog begins to roll into the cliffs. Tevelyan is delighted at the sight so she will have no witnesses to her cold-blooded crime. Litefoot suddenly realises why they saw the skeletal spectres in the fog…it was evidence of murder! Suddenly, the skeletal beings emerge from within the fog and slowly stalk behind Tevelyan. Jago and Litefoot try to warn Tevelyan, but she refuses to be distracted, even with the sounds of screaming to which she chalks up to just trickery of the wind. The skeletons surround the now terrified Tevelyan and slowly force her towards the edge of the cliff. Tevelyan panickily tries to shoot the ghostly holograms to no effect as they continue their advance and eventually, she stumbles over the edge and into the sea to her death. With Tevelyan dead, the skeletons and the fog begin to disperse into the air. From the fog emerges a familiar figure – Pawley! He explains that he isn’t a ghost and he hasn’t been resurrected miraculously. But he offers to lead them down the cliffs so he can show them something.
Jago and Litefoot try to make sense of how Pawley can be here when they clearly disposed of his body. Pawley responds that he isn’t a mortal anymore, but rather…a recording device. He was responsible for the ghostly visages that recreated the village. While he was out on his boat during the storm that destroyed the village, he witnessed the deaths and recorded it all. Jago enquires as to why everyone looks like skeletons. Pawley explains that his machinery functionality makes him perceive light differently – so he saw everyone as skeletons and recorded them as such. Ever since that fateful day, he played back the recording of the village’s destruction to anyone who came visiting the ruins in hopes that someone will find out the truth and bring the perpetrator to justice. Thanks to Jago and Litefoot, he can finally rest. Pawley thanks the two gentlemen for solving the case and its time for him to go. He turns towards the sea and walks out until he fades away with the last vestiges of the fog. Jago realises and explains to Litefoot that Pawley and the fog were never seen at the same time. Whenever the fog appeared, Pawley made a miraculous disappearance and would only reappear once the fog had dissipated. In fact – Pawley and the fog were the same being! Jago decides that it was time to go. As Pawley had said, their work is done now.
That evening, Jago and Litefoot are riding a train back to London. Jago is fast asleep; but begins to talk frantically and warning something to get away from him. Litefoot awakens his friend from his nightmare and informs him that they are nearly at their stop. Jago tells him that he was dreaming about being on the Planet Venus, to which Litefoot dismisses as Jago having too much cheese before sleeping. Strangely, Litefoot dismisses the dream as if it had never actually happened to them before. But nonetheless, they have to meet with The Colonel at Buckingham Palace to give their report.
At Buckingham Palace, Jago and Litefoot meet with The Colonel. The Colonel states that Queen Victoria has personally read their report into Shingle Cove and is pleased with the outcome of their investigation. He further reveals that with Camilla Tevelyan dead and no one to take over the dockyards – the ownership will transfer to the government, which is useful considering the real reason why Jago and Litefoot were sent to investigate the ghostly sightings in the first place was because the military had been carrying out top secret tests on a new warship along the coastline of Lowestoft and were concerned the ghostly sightings were some sort of side effect of the tests. He requests that the military tests be kept a secret – to which the investigators gladly agree and they request in return that The Colonel inform Queen Victoria that she can call upon them at anytime. The Colonel agrees to their instruction as after all – Her Majesty may need their services again in the future…
