That made her feel oddly insulted.

Anne was horrified. By the violence. By the shouting. And then by her father being arrested. She wanted to call for Elijah to let him go, but even Anne could not justify in her head what had just happened and she knew a policeman certainly could not. Her father had attacked a man in public.

She looked up at Lory instead.

"What's a sodomite?"

How was Ben beating Mr. Meijer up for that just after Tobias had accused him of trying to seduce his wife?

It was as confusing as it was shocking. Tobias avoided looking anyone in the eye as he focused intently on holding Ben's arms instead so Elijah could put on the handcuffs.

Ben did not resist the handcuffs. In that moment he was not thinking about the future or the humiliation. But he did shove into Elijah with his shoulder. "And what about people exploiting other people, huh?" he said in an angry half whisper. "That animal deserves it, Elijah..." And in a lower tone. "Simon."

Tristan was surprised to see so little damage after the violence he had just witnessed. So little physical damage at least. Mr. Meijer looked quite broken in spirit.

Something cold and wet landed on the back of his head. Ew, was that spit? Not that he had never been spat at by a mad man before. And by some apparently sane men too.

And then came the accusation. He looked at Mr. Meijer's bashed up face, though the man did not make eye contact. Was Mr. Meijer predatory? Had Tristan not suspected the same when he had encountered Mr. Meijer in the pub some weeks ago when that young French stranger had been looking for a job? Perhaps. But he would not stand for another man being outed and possibly dragged to prison for what should never have been a crime in the first place.

If anything, the way Mr. Meijer tried to send him out of harm's way, only fed his determination to deal with this swiftly.

He rose and spun round.

"Mr. Crane. I believe this man is suffering from a temporary episode of madness." He spoke louder than usual, so that any curious bystanders could hear. "Please take him away before he does more harm. I will come to the police station later to assess him, but I must first look to his victim."

Elijah thanked Tobias and had him cuffed swiftly. He grabbed his arms to guide him away to a cell but had his shoulder knocked into. He didn't want to make more of a scene but frowned. "I have no idea what you think he did. But you should be angry at that man who drove him to murder. That isn't him." He said gesturing with his head to Zechariah.

He looked to the doctor and gave a small nod. "Alright. I'll bring him in. Please just take care of Mister Meijer." He looked at the man that had been attacked feeling very apologetic but had to take care of the one thing he could help with. "Come on, Ben. You know this was bound to happen." He pushed him forward to start walking. He had truly hoped he'd learn his lesson, and it made him regret not doing it sooner.

Mehmet stroked his goatee and nodded in agreement.

“Who on earth could that sodomite prey on? The git looked helpless on the boat and even more hapless on land.”

“A man who be--” Lory paused, glanced to innocent, vomit-reeking Anne, and cleared her throat, “a man who loves other men as a man might love a woman.”

Her eyes narrowed, lingering on the scene. Did this man do something to Simon? Something worse than even her uncle? Had he led him down a life of debauched luxury?

She shifted in her nice sailing dress.

Though still prone and crumpled on the ground, Zechariah bared teeth when he saw Ben shoulder Elijah.

“Him, too?” Zechariah snarled up at Ben. “Is he black and blue, just like a son to you, too?”

At that, Zechariah struggled to his knees, one sleeve still undone and rolled up. He made it to his feet, right bejeweled fist clenched with rage in his eyes.

His chest still rose and fell rapidly. If anyone deserved to die--

Elijah said something impersonal, appropriate for a large audience. There was a crowd. It was the appropriate thing to say.

One second longer, and he might have been handcuffed too.

Anne frowned at looked back at her father and the man he had just beaten up. That made no sense in the context of him allegedly seducing Alice. "Why's 'e callin' 'im..."

But she stopped when Mr. Meijer's comment about a black and blue son cut through the air and hit her like a bullet. She had no difficulty understanding that comment.