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

body.
    “Tell me about undressing the body,” Holmes requested. “No detail is too small.”
    “I removed her overcoat and cut the bands of her petticoat to remove it; her dress I pulled down with my hands,” Hatfield said very nervously. “She also had on a chemise, which I removed as well.”
    “Were you instructed not to touch the body?”
    “I don’t remember that,” Hatfield said. “I undressed her, but I do not recall if I touched the body except to remove her clothes or not. My memory is not very good.”
    “Was she wearing stays?” Holmes asked.
    “I do not recall. Mr. Hamilton said she was when we talked later, but I can’t say I have any personal recollection.”
    This man’s demeanor seemed a little suspicious to Holmes and Dr. Watson, but it was unlikely he had had anything do with the murder. He was just a pauper forced into the workhouse by London society, and there could have been many reasons why he acted so oddly. They still did not know if he had inadvertently ruined any evidence.
    The next witness, Emily Holland, was a woman in the same profession as Mary. She was tall and thin, and seemed to be a little nervous and exhausted. She admitted to being a friend of Mary’s and even stayed in the same lodging house at 18 Thrawl Street. Indeed, she was the person the police had called to positively identify Mary, so she had already been to the stationhouse once that day.
    “I ran across Mary in the street after I returned from seeing a fire at the dry dock about 2:30 A.M., and I noticed that she was very drunk,” Emily told them. “I was in the same shape and suggested that we go to my kitchen and sober up, but Mary refused.”
    “What did she say to you?”
    “She told me how much money she had earned that night and also how much she had spent on drinks. She said she wished she could find a man to stay the night with,” the woman said. “After a few minutes, we said ‘goodnight’ and parted ways. That was the last time I laid eyes on Mary.”
    “Did she mention anyone following her?” Holmes asked, thinking back on the woman who heard yelling and knocking on doors.
    “No, not a word. She seemed fine to me…just drunk.”
    “Thank you for your help—we’ll be in touch if we require anything further.”
    Emily’s eyes began to water as she stood up, and Dr. Watson noticed she was trembling. “I hope you can find the monster who killed Mary soon,” Emily said. “There’s too many of us out there in the nighttime with no protection against such evil.”
    “We will do our best,” Dr. Watson said. “That we can promise you.”
    Holmes got up to stretch his legs. “Would you like some tea, Doctor?” he asked.
    “Yes, that would be splendid,” Dr. Watson answered.
    Holmes went over to the teapot and fetched two cups of steaming, hot tea. As he leaned over slightly to hand one to his friend, Watson heard a slight cracking sound.
    “My back is so stiff,” Holmes said. “This is not at all like sitting in my comfortable chair in my study.”
    “No, and we do not have dear Mrs. Parker to bring us coffee and sandwiches,” answered Dr. Watson. “But we are doing important work, so I suppose stiff backs and growling stomachs are part and parcel of the experience.”
    “Sagacious as always,” Holmes answered as he looked down at his witness list. Next on the list was Harriet Lilley; he called out for her to be sent in.
    “Mrs. Lilley. Where do you live?” asked Holmes as he started another page in his notebook.
    “I live at 7 Buck’s Row, right across from where the murder took place,” she said. “I happened to be sleeping in the front of the house and could hear everything that took place in the street. I heard a moan and a few faint gasps. On that street it is not uncommon to hear some of those sounds late at night—it gets to be so you don’t think anything about them. I also heard what sounded like voices coming from right under my window,” she continued. “I