Hangman's Knot

Hangman's Knot is volume eight of Widdershins. It is set shortly after the events of Curtain Call and introduces a new set of characters. It follows Vincent Knott, an apprentice hangman trying to unravel a conspiracy to save the life of accused student wizard William Sharpe, with the help of his best friend Eliza Swift.

Blurb
The first day of a job is never easy, but for apprentice hangman Vincent Knott, it couldn’t be worse.

Nervous, studious and sweet by nature, Vincent is desperate to avoid performing his first execution- even moreso after meeting the charming, foolish and condemned student wizard Will Sharpe, who is set to hang the following morning. But is Will guilty of the despicable magical crime he’s been accused of, or is he a single unwitting thread in a terribly tangled truth?

Aided by his best friend, conspiracy theorist extraordinaire Eliza Swift, Vincent has just one night to unravel the mystery, before he and Will are due their deadly appointment on the gallows.

Plot Summary
Apprentice handman Vincent Knott arrives in Widdershins with his father, George Knott, for work. It’s going to be his first time hanging someone himself and he’s very reluctant to. He visits his childhood best friend Eliza Swift, who he hasn’t seen since her recent transition. She’s an apothecary and keen conspiracy theorist who is her missing neighbour, Harriet Barber, is the new Witch of Widdershins. She warns Vincent that there’s going to be an anti-death penalty protest at the hanging tomorrow led by Councillor Rana, one of the candidates for the upcoming mayoral election. Vincent wonders if he can use that to avoid hanging anyone, but Eliza doesn’t think so. He explains he’s been able to find legal ways to get a reprieve granted for everyone he’s been supposed to hang so far, but he hasn’t been able to find out anything about the person this time so doesn’t have any leads. Eliza says with his sort of ability he should be applying to law school, but he doesn’t want to let his father down by not taking over the family business. Eliza finds a newspaper article saying student wizard William Sharpe has been convicted of crimes against magic, but no other details. Vincent is worried because he doesn’t know anything about magical law, but Eliza says he just needs to talk to his dad and it’ll be okay. She gives him a potion to help him sleep well and he leaves to go and spend the night in the jail, as is tradition.

In Gibbet Stress Gaol, Vincent chickens out of letting his father know his real feelings. He runs into Doctor Flack, the prisoner’s phasmia-psychology lecturer who was visiting him in his cell. She sees Vincent’s law textbook and assumes he’s a lawyer, which Vincent accidentally agrees to.

Vincent visits the cell and meets Will, who is trying to tunnel out of his cell with a spoon. Vincent pretends to be a lawyer here to prove he’s innocent, but Will explains he did in fact write the essay he’s accused of. He explains the basics of phasmia-psychology and his new method to permanently infuse people with spirits as a faster method of therapy, which amounts to mind-control. He presented his paper to the class, but it then disappeared and he was arrested for crimes against magic. The judge ruled because the essay went missing he’d let a dangerous threat into the world so gave him the death penalty to make an example of him. Vincent realises his best chance of saving Will is to find the missing essay, and Will convinces him he needs him there as a guide too. Vincent uses his sleeping potion to knock out the guard and steal the keys to release Will, but handcuffs them together.

Vincent and Will go to Eliza’s shop where she is finishing up her meeting of the Fourth Anchor Society. She demonstrates her theory of where the fourth anchor might be located by shooting a globe with her pistol, but it breaks the globe and the meeting disbands. Inside, Vincent and Will explain the situation and although she’s angry about it all, she agrees to help and becomes suspicious of Doctor Flack. She sends Will to change from his prison uniform into some old clothes of hers and explains to Vincent she’s sensing a conspiracy between the judge and the mayor. Will comes back downstairs and pockets Eliza’s gun as they all head out.

On the way to the university, Will explains most of the university is underground to be close to the Anchor, and below that there’s the Depths, the extra magical and deep parts. They go to search the student rooms first, but are interrupted by the porter who enters a mind-controlled rage when he sees Will and starts attacking them. Will is unable to remember the magic word to reverse the spell. They run away through the kitchens, where the same thing happens with the cook, and manage to escape through an air vent.

They fall from the vent into a staff room and Eliza suggests they search Flack’s desk, but when she tells Will that Flack stole the essay, she triggers the mind-control on Will that amplifies his trust in Flack. Will pulls out the gun and tells Vincent to unlock the cuffs. Vincent tries to reason with him and starts to get through, but isn’t able to convince him. He throws the handcuffs key into the fire so Will has no choice but to bring him with him. He takes Vincent into the air vent with him, leaving Eliza in the staff room. She hides in a cupboard as two lecturers enter and start talking about Flack, leaving papers on her desk.

In the vent, Vincent starts to try and confess that he’s not a real lawyer, but they overhear some of Will’s classmates laughing about his upcoming execution and how none of his family will be there and nobody likes him. Will pretends not to care and explains Doctor Flack is the only person who believes in him and admits she worked on the method with him. Vincent admits he’s really the hangman, causing Will to panic and break the vent. Vincent falls, suspended by the handcuffs, and the spell makes the students start to attack them both. After raiding Flack’s desk, Eliza shows up and fights off the students. Will tosses her the gun and she uses it to shoot the chain connecting the handcuffs. Vincent encourages him to run away, but Will jumps out of the vent to help fight everyone off. They knock out the students and hide behind the desks just as Doctor Flack enters. One of the students with a bucket on his head starts to attack her, thinking it’s Will, and she says the magic word to remove the spell on everyone, including Will.

Everyone gets back in the vent and Will explains that Doctor Flack actually created the mind-control method and he was just assisting for extra credit. He presented the paper to the class because he didn’t do his homework that week, but he must have interrupted her plans somehow. Eliza shows them the note she found in Flack’s desk for a secret 6am meeting with Mayor Robert Hackett in the Depths and they decide to spy on the meeting for evidence. Despite the lead, Will is still upset about everything, but Vincent cheers him up by apologising for letting him down and promising he’s going to make sure he’s ‘not someone worth disappointing’. Will says he can lead the way to Doctor Flack’s laboratory, but the Depths are mysterious and changeable.

In the depths, Flack and Mayor Hackett argue about the method as Flack prepares a magic circle hidden under a rug. Councillor Rana shows up as she’s been invited, and unknowingly sits in the circle. As Flack casts the spell to magnify her complacency, Vincent sneaks under the desk to try and steal the essay with the instructions from her bag. Hackett pays Flack for taking care of his political opponent. Flack catches Vincent with his arm in her bag and tries to push him over the edge of the pit, but Eliza emerges with her gun. Will begs Flack to let Vincent go, but Flack realises he cares about him and holds a blade concealed in her fan to his throat. She makes Eliza hand over the gun, and then tries to shoot her, but Will knocks her out of the way. Hackett shoves them over the edge of the pit. Flack is furious, saying the “inventor” of the method needs to die publicly or people might be suspicious, but says she has a plan.

Will and Eliza wake up on the floor in the Depth, with Will’s arm broken. Will is very upset and worried he’s a bad person because he keeps letting down his family, but Eliza gives him a pep talk and says there’s nothing wrong with him, and Vincent wouldn’t like him so much if he was bad. Will resolves to go and save Vincent and together his and Eliza’s focus causes a staircase out to materialise.

Back at Gibbet Street, Vincent’s dad George can’t find Vincent, so tells the policeman he’ll do the job himself. He finds Doctor Flack in the cell with Vincent dressed in prisoners clothes and a hood over his head, so he doesn’t recognise him. Will and Eliza show up at the hanging having worked out Flack’s plan, and try to warn George, but their voices can’t be heard over the crowd. Will tries to make a scene but is intercepted by Doctor Flack, who tries to convince him to run away, but he decides Vincent is worth risking his life for. He runs up to the scaffolds and stops George just as he’s about to pull the lever, revealing himself as the real William Sharpe and Vincent as the hooded prisoner. The police arrest Will, and Eliza and Rana lead Captain Nicola Barber to arrest Doctor Flack and Mayor Hackett. Nicola explains Will has to go back to jail while everything is sorted out, but she suspecting hanging will stop in the city after all this. Eliza asks Nicola about Harry and if she’s the witch, and Nicola dodges the question but asks Eliza to join her new detective department.

A month later, Vincent stops by Eliza’s shop on his way to studying at the library for the law entrance exam. He finds Will working in the shop and is relieved to see he’s okay. Will starts to ask him on a date, but Eliza has clearly already completed the most important aspect of her police training as she interrupts the romantic moment coming downstairs ready for her first day as a detective. She offers to walk Vincent to the library, but first Vincent doubles back to accept Will’s offer of a date and kiss him.

Characters

 * Vincent Knott
 * Eliza Swift
 * William Sharpe
 * Dr. Esther Flack
 * George Knott
 * Robert Hackett
 * Yasmin Rana
 * Nicola Barber

Cameos / Minor Characters

 * Charles (Fourth Anchor Society Treasurer)
 * Adeline (Fourth Anchor Society Archivist)
 * Sylvia (Fourth Anchor Society Senior Investigator)
 * Percy (Fourth Anchor Society Junior Investigator
 * my (Mez's) ex lol
 * Sidney Malik & Gren



Locations

 * Swift's Apothecary
 * Gibbet Street
 * The University of Widdershins

Website
The website bonus content for after Hangman's Knot was a one-page summary of Eliza, Will, an Vincent's roles in the Modern AU, and two pages of character Q&A.

Print
The print and PDF releases of the book included 5 bonus pages of 'The Official Notes of the Fourth Anchor Society'. It shows the notes the society had collected on the events of the first 7 books.

Release
The Kickstarter campaign for the print release of Hangman's Knot ran from 27th August - 26th September 2019 and £13,571 was pledged by 548 backers. The unique reward for this campaign was a Fourth Anchor Society pin.

Easter Eggs / Trivia

 * Eliza's newspaper has a headline reading 'Reopening of the Royal Theatre?' suggesting it closed (again) following the Sin incident in Curtain Call, probably because of damage done by Envy.
 * The back of the newspaper also has a headline reading 'More reconstruction planned at the Anchor'. The roof of the Anchor still hadn't been fixed from the damage done by Pride when we saw it last in Curtain Call.
 * Gibbet Street jail has a WANTED poster for Lei Feng. She escaped the jail during the events of Curtain Call.
 * The student information board in the dorms has a notice reading 'Mirrors to be replaced next week'. All the mirrors in the university were broken during Curtain Call.
 * The gang pass through the hallway with a visible empty space where a mirror used to hang. This is where Verity Cunningham got trapped during the confrontation with Pride during Curtain Call. The mirror broke when she escaped so has been removed. You can tell it's the same hallway because of the painting to the right of it.
 * Sid can be seen walking Gren in the background outside Swift's Apothecary.