The Moonstone Second Period, Narrative 3, Chapter 8 Summary

  • Mr. Bruff is sorry that Franklin's meeting with Rachel upset her so much, and asks Franklin not to try to see her again until he's cleared up the mystery.
  • Mr. Bruff has an idea of how to do that:
  • They know that the diamond was pledged for one year to Mr. Luker.
  • All they have to do is stake out the bank and see who comes to redeem the diamond at the end of June.
  • Franklin also decides to call Sergeant Cuff out of retirement (remember, he promised to come out of retirement to help solve the mystery of the Moonstone if they ever asked him to, since Lady Verinder paid him so well).
  • But Sergeant Cuff is out of the country, buying roses in Ireland.
  • Franklin leaves a note for Sergeant Cuff to contact him as soon as he returns.
  • Franklin then receives a note from Betteredge – apparently Mr. Candy, the sick old doctor, has been asking to see him. Franklin will go back to Yorkshire later.
  • Meanwhile, Franklin decides that it would be a good idea to interview everyone who was a guest at Rachel's birthday dinner.
  • So he starts with Godfrey, but learns that Godfrey has just left the country.
  • Godfrey, he learns, got engaged to another girl after breaking up with Rachel, but broke up with the second girl too, after having a disagreement about money with her father.
  • But then he inherited some money from a rich old lady who was involved with one of his charities, and decided to go for a trip.
  • So Franklin heads back to Yorkshire to ask Betteredge for a list of all the guests who were at the birthday party.
  • Franklin goes to see Mr. Candy first.
  • Unfortunately, Mr. Candy's memory has been damaged by his fever.
  • Ever since the night of the birthday, he can't remember anything for longer than five minutes.
  • Mr. Candy clearly has something that he wants to tell Franklin about, but he can't remember it.
  • As Franklin leaves, he sees Ezra Jennings on his way out of the office.