Outlander Book Club: The Fiery Cross Chapter 52 breakdown

Just the Outlander chapter

The chapter starts with Claire and Jamie doing the autopsy. Well, Claire does the autopsy and Jamie watches with suspicion. Claire understands that her husband is a Highlander and a Catholic. He has some strong opinions about the desecration of a corpse, but she needs to figure out if it was murder.

There is a chance for Claire to show Jamie some things in the human body that he wouldn’t normally get to see. She also explains gas and how some body parts can twitch. Jamie already knows that dead bodies can move, and he tells a story of after Culloden. When he was smuggled home, he saw the body of a Highlander sit upright in the fires burning his body. Jamie knew he was dead, so figured that dead bodies can move.

Claire works her way through the autopsy. She finds things that could suggest murder, but nothing concrete right away. However, while Jamie is getting her a jar, she feels some sludge in Betty’s abdomen. She wants to collect it, but they’re interrupted by Philip Wylie walking in.

And not just Wylie. Stephen Bonnet is with him! Jamie rushes after Bonnet, and a small fire accidentally starts. Claire uses it to her advantage to hide what she was doing and makes the fire bigger. One thing she does know is that Betty was murdered.

When outside, Claire needs to quickly clean all the blood off her hands. She can’t have anyone see her like that, especially close to the barn. Once respectable, she makes her way back to the house where Stanhope sees her. Stanhope is fully dressed and notes that Claire is too. Both are shocked about that.

Claire makes up a story, but then there’s a scream from within the house. Stanhope rushes inside, and we know Claire is going to follow.