Jack The Ripper: Newly Discovered Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Read Online Free Page A

Four
    Insights
     
    Holmes and Watson sat in the small, cold interview room waiting for their first witness to arrive. It was Sarah Colwell.
    “Hello, Mrs. Colwell. Thank you for coming in on such short notice,” Holmes told her as she walked in and sat down.
    “Oh, you are most welcome,” the blonde matron answered. She was small, and appeared nervous—she wrung her hands as she sat down, and repeatedly smoothed her worn skirt. “I have children—I want this murderer caught as much as anyone. I want my little ones to be safe on the street.”
    “Of course you do, ma’am—that’s exactly what we’re trying to do, to make the streets safe. Now, what did you observe on the night of the murder?”
    “I live only about 120 yards from where the murder occurred in Buck’s Row. I heard what sounded like running, and someone shouting ‘murder, police!’ It sounded like the person was running from another person—though I admit I only heard one set of footsteps. Now, my children were the ones who woke me. They said someone was trying to get in our front door and was screaming,” Mrs. Colwell said. “From talking to my neighbors, they also heard someone screaming ‘murder, police’ about five or six times. This happened around midnight.”
    “And that’s all you can tell us?”
    “Yes it is. I hope it helps,” answered the witness.
    “Yes, it does. Thank you very much,” Holmes said as he dismissed the woman.
    “Her story doesn’t sound like it will be of much use,” Holmes told Dr. Watson after Mrs. Colville had left the room. “The murder took place at three-forty in the morning. Whatever Mrs. Colwell heard occurred far earlier—such a ruckus is likely even common-place in an area such as Buck’s Row. And how could she possibly have concluded that the person screaming was running from another person if she only heard one set of footsteps?”
    “You are quite right, old friend. Also, despite Mrs. Colwell’s claims about the neighbors, no one else has come forward saying they heard any commotion—so the noise could be an earlier murder attempt that was thwarted,” said Dr. Watson. “Or it could merely have been a drunk.”
    Next, the two men who had found the body, Charles Cross and Robert Paul, entered the room.
    “Mr. Cross, how did you come to be at the site of the murder?”
    “Well, I leave for work every morning around three-twenty, so I was passing by the alley about ten minutes later. I noticed what I thought was a tarpaulin laying on the ground. Out of curiosity, I walked over to see what it was, and discovered it was a person,” the man said.
    “That’s when he called to me as I was walking down the street in the vicinity,” chimed in Robert Paul. “I walked over to Mr. Cross and felt the woman’s hand—it was quite cold, and I felt no pulse.”
    “You are sure you felt nothing?” Holmes asked.
    “Well, almost positive. I thought she was most likely dead, especially when I noticed all the blood,” he answered.
    “Then what did you do?”
    “We were both late for work, so we left.”
    “Did it not occur to either of you that you should have notified the police immediately?” Holmes questioned, squinting in irritation. “Perhaps the perpetrator was still nearby!”
    “Well, yes, we should have gone to the police right away,” answered Robert Paul, “but we needed to get to our jobs. Work is not so easy to find, you know. We saw a policeman standing at the crossing of Hanbury Street and Baker’s Row and told him what we had seen. He told us his name was Jonas Mizen, and that he would notify the police. We then went on our way.”
    The next witness to arrive was James Hatfield. He was an inmate in the Whitechapel workhouse, employed as a dock laborer. He had been brought to the morgue around 6:30 A.M. to help undress the victim in order for the doctor to make his examination; Donald Hamilton, who had been in charge of the morgue at that time, had accepted the