Murder, Murder!

 

The morning of the twenty-sixth, Watson burst into 221B, startling Erik and me.

“Holmes, Erik! Sir Danvers has been murdered!”

Erik leaped to his feet and I sat up straighter in my chair, saying, “Murdered? Come, sit down. Tell us everything you know.”

As he took a seat on the couch, I could tell Watson was thoroughly shaken by his knowledge. His countenance was pale and fine tremors ran up and down his arms, making his fingers tremble against his knees.

“I was awakened very early this morning to frenzied knocking at my door. It was an inspector, the one who had been called to the scene. He wished for my input in an examination and autopsy of the body. As we hurried to the mortuary, he explained that the normal physician who does this was out of town, and someone suggested me since they knew I was nearby, caring for my wife’s cousin.” He stopped, taking a deep breath.

“Are you sure you’re quite well enough to repeat this?” Erik asked him.

“Yes,” he forced out. “Yes, I have to be. For it - whether directly or indirectly, I don’t know - ensnares Jekyll.”

“Jekyll? What do you mean? Speak quickly now, Watson!” I instructed.

“A maid witnessed the murder last night. She was two houses down and saw it from a second-story window. Sir Danvers was walking away from the house she was in, on the same side of the street. She said it was almost midnight and, from a distance, a second man approached from the opposite side of the street. Apparently, Sir Danvers appeared to recognize the second man and raised his hand in greeting. The other saw him and stopped. When Sir Danvers walked over, the maid saw the second fellow push back the cloak he had around his shoulders and pull out a thick wooden cane. He bludgeoned Sir Danvers repeatedly, and so violently that when he was done, the cane was in two pieces. He left the body where it fell and threw the one half of the cane away.”

“The police found the cane, I assume?” I asked.

“Yes. Well, half of it. It was with the body when I got there to examine it. And this is what ties Jekyll in. Holmes, the cane was his.”

“His? Of course, it was the one he received for his accomplishments, correct?”

“Yes, exactly. One of the policemen I spoke to said he remembered being at the ceremony.”

“Yes, I have notes about his procurement of the instrument in my file.”

“Might I see it?” Watson asked.

“Of course.” I told him where he could find the thin file and Watson found it, quickly scanning the words. “Yes, the initials of recognition are the very same.”

“I suppose there is no chance the cane was stolen from Jekyll’s residence,” Erik said.

“That was the inspector’s speculation. I was questioned briefly when I was with them. It seems only the three of us have entered Jekyll’s house aside from Sir Danvers, Miss Emma, Utterson, and Poole in almost a month.”

“Indeed? Are we needed for questioning, then?” I asked.

“I’m uncertain. The police seemed satisfied with my answers, but they may call on you. Nothing was reported by anyone else about the house being burgled.”

“Hmm . . . this poses two possibilities, then. Either the man in question - ”

“Holmes? Why did you stop?” Watson asked.

“This maid. Did she get a description of the attacker? Anything distinguishing about his person?”

“Unfortunately, no. All the maid could see was that he was wearing a black cloak, black trousers, and black boots, and a black top hat with a white stripe. She thought he had longer hair, but couldn’t be sure; it could have been a shadow across his face.”

“Nothing definitive about his gait?”

“That was the odd thing. The maid mentioned there seemed to be some kind of deformity or malformation about him, though she couldn’t pinpoint specifically what it was.”

I rubbed my chin thoughtfully. “Then there are three possibilities. This man is either a friend or colleague of Jekyll’s. Someone to whom he would entrust a possession. Or he is someone with information with which to blackmail Jekyll. Perhaps he’s become aware of intimate details of the experiment and that is why Jekyll spoke nothing of a stolen possession. Lastly, this man wants to discredit or frame Jekyll and did not foresee a witness coming forth.”

“Stride,” Erik said. “What better way to attempt to utterly destroy Jekyll than by murdering his fiancée’s father? Not only that, but if Jekyll was successfully framed and therefore removed, Stride could swoop in to claim Emma.”

“Likely,” I said, steepling my fingers in front of my face, my elbows on the arms of the chair. “We must find out if Stride has an alibi for last night. He did threaten Jekyll and told Miss Emma that she would regret rejecting him.”

“I think visiting Jekyll would be a wise idea,” Watson said. “But if he’s heard about this, I doubt he will admit anyone to his quarters. I was told the man was like a father to him, and Sir Danvers himself told me he viewed Jekyll as a son.”

“Leave Jekyll to me. I’ll confront him somehow. Erik, can you find Stride? I believe of the three of us, you will succeed in intimidating him the most.”

Erik gave a wicked smile beneath the mask and went to the door. “I’ll return in an hour. I’ll also find out what I can about gaining entrance to Jekyll’s house.”

“Thank you.”

Watson watched Erik leave, then turned back to me, a look of incredulity on his face.

“Yes, Watson?” I said, stifling a laugh. He looked quite ridiculous.

“Holmes . . . normally you would be the one intimidating Stride.”

“Erik is more than sufficient to perform that duty.”

“I don’t doubt it, but Holmes, you are content to let him take the action?”

Sighing, I closed my eyes and said, “No, I’m not. But I feel I have no choice at the moment.”

“Holmes, what are you speaking of?”

“On the afternoon of the twenty-second, I had another episode with my leg, much like the one I described to you that happened to me after coming out of the melancholia following the opera house case.” I opened my eyes and looked at him.

Watson’s eyes widened. “I’m so sorry, Holmes. Are you all right? I apologize for not being here to help.”

“Please don’t. You needed to be with your wife. Your practice and your wife’s family are important as well. Erik gave me a concoction of his own making and it took the pain away very effectively. However, I promised him I would rest my leg so it potentially won’t happen again for a long while. I only agreed because . . .”

“Because . . . ? Holmes, because what?”

Closing my eyes again, I rested my forehead on my fingertips and said, “Because I’m afraid of being fully crippled.”

Watson, blissfully, said nothing, merely putting a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

 

***

 

When Erik returned, he assured us that Stride had an alibi for the time Sir Danvers was murdered. He’d checked with the constables, who were also aware of Stride’s threat and had already interrogated the man.

“The alibi holds. Stride was on a train coming back from visiting relatives.”

“How long has he been away?”

“Over a week now.”

“Which means that he can’t be Jekyll’s victim,” Watson said.

“Yes, I’d already nearly thrown out that possibility because of Jekyll’s words. It’s good we now have confirmation.”

“”Which brings us back to it being the father,” Erik said.

“Indeed, it does,” I agreed. “Were you able to learn anything about Jekyll?”

“He has locked himself in his lab and will see no one, not even Poole or Utterson. I knelt down by that boarded-up window again, and I could hear Jekyll crying within, repeatedly sobbing ‘why?’”

“We shall not attempt to see him for a day or two. However, we mustn’t wait too long. In his state of grief, he may, if pressed, give something away.” I pulled out my pipe, simply running my fingers over the smooth wooden surface. “I will go there tomorrow. This time, Jekyll will answer to me.”