The Deception Unfolds: Exploiting the Wilkes Family Tragedy

The Encounter on the Steamboat

In this chapter, the narrative shifts as the king and the duke seek to revive their fraudulent schemes. While traveling on a steamboat, the king encounters a young passenger who unwittingly provides them with a roadmap for their next con. This passenger details the recent passing of two brothers, Peter and George Wilkes, and mentions that their surviving siblings—Harvey, a minister from Sheffield, England, and William, who is described as someone who "couldn't hear or speak"—are expected to arrive to settle the estate.

Gathering Intelligence

The king, demonstrating his cunning, manipulates the young passenger into revealing intimate details about the Wilkes family. He learns that Peter Wilkes, a tanner, was "well off," possessing houses, land, and an estimated "three or four thousand in cash hidden somewhere." The king meticulously extracts information about the town and the family dynamics, feigning sympathy for the "poor things"—the daughters left behind—while secretly plotting to exploit their vulnerability. The king’s goal is clear: to position himself and the duke as the long-lost brothers, Harvey and William, to seize the inheritance.

The Orchestration of the Fraud

Upon landing, the king immediately summons the duke, instructing him to "fetch the carpet bags." He relays every detail obtained from the young man, adopting a performative "funny accent" to mimic an Englishman. The king challenges the duke, asking, "How are you at pretending that you can't hear or speak, Bilgewater?" The duke, drawing on his background, confirms he has "acted that way before, on stage." This marks the transition from mere observation to active criminal impersonation.

The Performance of Grief

Upon arriving at the village, the duo executes their plan with chilling precision. When they ask for Peter Wilkes's residence, the villagers inform them of his death. The king immediately pivots into a theatrical display of mourning, exclaiming, "Alas, alas, our poor gone and we never got to see him."

What follows is a masterclass in manipulation. The king and the duke engage in a coordinated performance: the king "blubbering" and the duke using "signs with his hands" to simulate the disability of the mute brother. The villagers, moved by this display of familial grief, offer comfort and carry their bags, oblivious to the fact that they are assisting in a heartless scam. The narrator observes this with a sense of detachment, noting, "I had never seen anything like them in my life." This moment underscores the profound moral decay of the king and the duke, as they weaponize empathy and communal kindness to facilitate their greed.