CHAPTER 37: JAMESON

Jameson wakes before dawn in London after rare, restless sleep and channels his longing for Avery into two fixations: the Devil’s Mercy and the crucible. He resolves not to confront Toby yet about his growing doubt that Hannah actually wrote the card that drew Toby here.

For over an hour and a half, Jameson and Toby work in focused silence. Jameson researches crucibles—both the literal vessels for melting metals and Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible—cataloging London museums that house historical crucibles and noting opening times.

Linking the clue to broader patterns, Jameson brings up alchemy. Toby sketches the basics—proto-chemistry mixed with esoterica, centered on transmuting matter and metals—prompting Jameson to connect this with the Devil’s Mercy symbol and recurring motifs.

Jameson wrestles with the possibility that Toby’s puzzle and his own may be unrelated, yet he refuses to slow down, driven by absence and urgency. He balances on the terrace railing, courting danger to spark insight, and Toby joins him without judgment.

In a terse exchange, Toby calls Jameson reckless; Jameson calls himself a ticking time bomb. Toby counters with hard-won advice: imagine “her” snuffing the fuse—an anchor to rein in Jameson’s impulse as they prepare to pursue the museum leads at opening.