After destroying the female creature and receiving the wedding night threat, Victor must dispose of the body parts. That night, he loads the remains into a basket, takes a small boat out to sea, and dumps them in the ocean. Exhausted, Victor falls asleep in the boat. When he wakes, currents have driven him far off course. He lands in Ireland, hoping to find help, but is immediately surrounded by hostile villagers and arrested.
A man has been murdered, and Victor arrived at the suspicious time. He's brought before a magistrate who takes him to view the body. Victor sees with absolute horror that it's Henry Clerval, his best friend, the man who nursed him through fever, who accompanied him on this journey with nothing but kindness and joy. Clerval has been strangled, with the creature's fingerprints on his neck. The creature's revenge for Victor breaking his promise is immediate and devastating. Victor collapses into a violent fever, raving about monsters and murder.
He's imprisoned and spends months delirious, sometimes wishing for death, sometimes screaming in agony. When he finally recovers enough to understand his situation, he learns he's being tried for Clerval's murder. The evidence seems damning, he arrived right after the murder, his boat matches witness descriptions. But Victor is eventually acquitted when his presence in Scotland (far from Ireland) at the time of death is established. His father arrives to take him home, but Victor is destroyed by Clerval's death, his innocent friend murdered because of Victor's choices. This chapter shows how Victor's broken promise costs the life of the best person in his world.
Coming Up in Chapter 25
Victor embarks on his final, obsessive hunt across the globe, pursuing his creation to the ends of the earth in a deadly game that will test who truly has more to lose Victor is imprisoned in Ireland, accused of Clerval's murder. Witnesses testify about finding the body and seeing Victor's boat..
