REALMcRollers and Readers, the amazing Super Sammy is still not feeling up to par, so I'm pinch hitting again.
If you're reading this, please send her some love at realmcroll at yahoo dot com or in a review that I can forward.
Thanks as always for being your awesome selves.
Sammy - we love you so much! Feel better soon :)
Ilna - Thanks for the late night proof and the pinching of your own (look a baseball term) and doing all the tumbling.
Empathy
Catherine placed a slice of pizza on a plate as her husband's footfalls indicated he was approaching the staircase.
Steve put the baby monitor on the side table, sat heavily next to Catherine on the sofa and lifted an arm for her to lean into his side for a kiss. Practically inhaling the first slice and grabbing a second - he'd missed dinner but got home in time to give Angie a bath and read her a story - he downed half a bottle of water and tilted his chin at the TV screen. "What 'cha watching?"
"A documentary on Jack the Ripper." She shifted to get more comfortable and smiled as he grabbed a handful of popcorn. "Grace was telling me about a book she read called The Name of the Star that's based on the case and I got curious so I downloaded this."
They watched for a few minutes in silence before Steve said, "Wait, they washed the wall at the crime scene? I knew a few details about the case, but …" he trailed off, listening incredulously as the narrator explained how, as one of the victims of the Ripper awaited autopsy, a well-meaning Whitechapel workhouse inmate removed her clothes and scrubbed off all traces of blood. His job normally included making sure a body was properly cleaned before burial.
"That's just … there went any chance."
"There was definitely at least one witness," she added. "A man named Lawende said he saw Catherine Eddowes with someone the night she was murdered. He described him as 30, with a fair complexion and a mustache. She was dead ten minutes after Lawende spotted her with that man. His description was pretty close to similar ones given by other witnesses in the other murders."
Steve fed Cammie a bite of pizza crust and placed the crumpled napkins and plates on the table's corner. "There's no way he didn't leave DNA on a least a few victims. Except for the one, he dissected them in the streets. He'd have been caught today. Probably after the second kill."
"Yeah. Grace was saying that earlier. How you and Danny would've had him." She gave a little nod remembering their niece's words: "The team would've caught that case for sure. They'd have gotten him right away."
Steve smiled at Gracie's confidence in them as Catherine continued, "And the other victims wouldn't have been killed." She sighed. "People in the East End were terrified, but not enough to cooperate with an investigation. The living conditions …" She shook her head at the squalor that permeated Whitechapel and its surrounding area in 1888.
Steve squeezed her fingers. "And you, the way you feel for the victims, and your way with witnesses - you'd have gotten more insight than any male cop in those days ever could."
She ran a hand over Cammie's head, which rested on her jeans-clad knee. "I always thought the Ripper case was especially sad. He obviously considered the women disposable; whether he thought he was cleaning up society on top of the psycho-sexual reason or he just hated women, he kept choosing people on the fringe of society." She grimaced. "Their absence wouldn't have warranted an investigation if they hadn't been murdered by a serial killer, but they had friends. Had families once." She gestured to the screen. "She wasn't in contact with her family anymore and was an alcoholic, but Mary Ann Nichols had a father and she had five kids. The only reason anyone knows their names is because Jack the Ripper was the first serial killer that created an international media frenzy."
Steve saw her eyes cloud slightly as she watched the the images of the victims that accompanied the narrative on their lives. Even long dead, they evoked her empathy. He kissed her temple and smiled against her skin.
"What?" She glanced at him, then back at the television.
"Nothing. Just, you'd have been relentless trying to research every corner of their lives to find a next of kin."
"Hmm."
"I know that look." He let it hang because she understood. She'd have also found a way to get them decent burials. And if there was no one to mourn she'd have gone herself. Once again he marveled at her compassion. And the kindness that never diminished even after all the ugliness she'd seen.
"Everyone deserves that." She shrugged. She couldn't disagree, he knew her far too well.
Steve remembered her arriving home late one Monday evening several years ago. It wasn't long after they'd closed a multiple murder case. One of the victims was a young homeless man whose body wasn't claimed. There was no next of kin and Catherine not only helped arrange the man's burial, she attended the brief cremation service after work.
When Steve had run into the young HPD officer who'd first discovered the body, he realized the rookie had attended along with Catherine.
Officer Kahikina began to speak, then hesitated a bit. "The lieutenant came to the cremation, Commander."
Steve nodded. "She told me you went. Nice gesture, Kahikina."
The young man's dark eyes sparked a bit at the compliment from the task force commander. "Thank you, sir. I … he … it was my first … ah…"
"First body's the hardest."
"Yes, sir. I just wanna say … I mean I told Lieutenant Rollins I thought it was really nice of her and then when the funeral director said what a kind thing she did…" He shook his head. "I realized she covered the extra cost. For the plaque and all." He caught Steve's eyes. "She's a great cop, sir, but she's a really nice person. I just wanted to say so, sir."
Steve nodded and his mouth twitched in a slight smile. "Yes she is. Thanks, Kahikina."
"Thank you, sir." The young officer nodded in return and moved out of the lobby towards his patrol car, leaving Steve to once again ponder how amazing Catherine was.
"I'm glad their names are still out there," Catherine said as the narrator mentioned the victims' names again and their birth and death dates flashed on screen. "No victim should ever be discounted."
She'd arranged a fund to bury murder victims through the governor's office last year. Each state had its own such fund, but it was often depleted early in the calendar year and Catherine found that having the dead unburied or not interred for months unacceptable. Thanks to her efforts an additional victims' compensation fund had been started. More than a few funeral directors had even donated services after meeting with the governor's compassionate chief of staff who had such empathy for everyone, even the dead.
Steve laced their fingers and smiled. "As long as there's people like you, they won't be."
# End. Thanks for reading!
Find all our stories (in chronological order!) on our website: marirealmcroll dot wixsite dot com backslash real-mcroll
Or in the McRoll in the REAL World community here on fanfiction dot net Find us on Tumblr: mcrollintherealworld dot tumblr dot com
You can join our mailing list by emailing us realmcroll at yahoo dot com with: Add me, please! in the subject line. Or just drop us a line to say hi! We love hearing from our readers.
And find me on Twitter asking your opinions on all things McRoll in the REAL World! at Mari21763 and add #REALMcRoller