The Smoke In The Photograph Read Online Free Page B

hate figure. It was really the Ripper that people hated, but he was a faceless monster. Sam was a visible figure for people to aim the anger and fear towards. He knew that he had done all he could possibly do, that any other detective could have done.
    Yet the words of this woman got through his shield, and cut him. This was because he could not blame her. If the Ripper had been apprehended by now, then her daughter would not be in this situation.
    'Inspector Fluting is doing everything he can to put this animal behind bars,' Claremont said in his defense.
    Sam nodded his appreciation to the doctor for the vote of confidence.
    Mrs Reynolds's face softened slightly.
    'I'm sorry, it's just I can't believe this has happened to my little girl.'
    'I understand,' Sam said. 'I don't want to upset her anymore, but she may have seen something that will help us to catch him.'
    'Of course,' Mrs Reynolds said. 'Will you need to speak to my other girls too?'
    'At some point, probably,' Sam said. 'Not yet though.'
    'Good, because my husband had taken them home.'
    'Like I say, that can be arranged later,' Sam said. 'It's most important that I speak to Victoria.'
    Mrs Reynolds nodded. She motioned for Sam to enter the room. Which he did. Claremont and Mrs Reynolds followed, but they stayed near the door as Sam crossed the room. He sat down in the chair next to the bed, where the young girl was still sitting, gazing out of the window. She did not even notice him.
    'Hello, Victoria,' he said in a soft tone. 'My name is Sam. I'm a policeman, and I just need to ask you a few questions. Is that all right?'
    Again there was no response from the girl for a little while. Then she slowly looked towards him. Her glazed eyes regarded him with suspicion.
    'If you're a policeman, then where's your uniform and hat?' she said with that same, drawn out monotonous tone.
    Sam laughed a little.
    'I'm a special kind of policeman, I don't wear a uniform, and I only work on important cases like this.'
    She still looked suspicious.
    'Plus,' he added. 'I always looked silly in my hat.'
    The girl laughed a little.
    Sam followed suit.
    'Doctor Claremont said that you were very scared of what you saw on the common,' Sam said.
    The girl’s smile faded and she turned away to the window.
    'It was horrible,' she said without looking at him.
    Sam nodded.
    'I know,' he said. 'I saw it as well. Very scary. I think I'm going to have bad dreams tonight.'
    Victoria looked back at him with a puzzled look.
    'But you're a grown up?'
    'That's true,' Sam said, nodding. 'But it doesn't stop something like that from giving me nightmares.'
    'But you must see that all the time?'
    'More than I would like to,' he agreed. 'It never stops scaring me though. The only thing that does stop it from scaring me is knowing that the bad man who did it is in prison and can't hurt anyone else.'
    Victoria looked at him.
    'That's why you catch them?' To stop being scared?'
    'And to stop anyone else being scared.'
    Victoria looked back to the window.
    'Do you think I could catch people like that one day?' she asked
    Sam got up and stood in front of her. He looked at her with his head cocked to the left, his brow furrowed and his lips pursed, as if he was checking if she had what it took. After a few moments he nodded.
    'Definitely. You would make a great detective.'
    Victoria gave him a beautiful smile that stretched from ear to ear.
    'You can start now, by helping me,' he said. 'I want you to think about when you tripped over and fell on that poor lady.'
    Victoria closed her eyes, as if trying to visualise the scene. She screwed up her face and shook her head.
    'I can't, I don't want to think about it.'
    Sam knelt in front of her.
    'That's okay,' he said. 'Think about when you stood up and started screaming. Before you ran to your sister.'
    The girl nodded and closed her eyes.
    'Do you see anything unusual? Something you might have forgotten to tell anyone about?'
    The girl looked absorbed in