Chapter 16 (Volume 1, Chapter 16) (Instalment 10):

Mrs. Joe's diseased condition

Synopsis of Chapter 16 (Volume 1, Chapter 16) (Instalment 10)

The attack on Mrs. Joe is described as if from a series of witness statements. The weapon is a leg iron, identified by Pip, to his horror, as his convict's discarded shackle, which he thinks must have been in the possession either of Orlick or of the man who showed him the file (Chapter 10). The police (‘the Bow Street men') are incompetent. Mrs. Joe is left speechless and an invalid. Biddy moves in to care for her, and Mrs. Joe eventually gives them to understand that Orlick was her attacker, though she seems almost pleased to be in his company, so altered is her nature by the attack.

 

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