Investigations
"That poor girl," Dawson sighed as he finished reading the article in the paper.
"Poor girl indeed!" Mrs. Judson cried. "It's enough to make any female mouse fear for her life."
Dawson nodded sadly. "The poor child was barely twenty: about the same age as dear Vivian."
"Ah is that what's got Mr. Basil in a right state?" Mrs. Judson asked.
Dawson glanced at Basil who had been pacing in a fury for the past hour at least. "Basil, old fellow," he said in an attempt to pry Basil from his trance.
"It's all my fault!" Basil shouted. "I must have walked no more than one hundred yards from the fiend, and I was foolish enough to walk by!"
"You thought he was a proper gentle mouse," Dawson consoled. "You had absolutely no way of knowing he was-"
"It's me, Dawson!" Basil snapped. He threw himself into his chair with a huff of frustration. "I should've known. I could've stopped all of this from happening if I had just opened my eyes!"
"That's enough, Basil!" Vivian's voice called sharply from the stairs. She quickly came into view dressed and prepared for the day. "I refuse to listen to you continuing to feel sorry for yourself. There was no way in Mousedom we could've known that was the killer, so let it go, and let's get to the scene to see if we can pick up any evidence. You can't solve the case moping in your chair."
Basil sighed, and Dawson stifled a chuckle behind his hand. "Vivian is right, Basil," he finally said. "The police are going to need your help, so get going and stop this from happening again!"
Shaking his head, Basil pulled himself from his chair and pulled on his coat and hat. "Aren't you coming, Dawson?" he inquired.
"No I'm off to the morgue to have a look at the bodies," Dawson replied. "Perhaps I can be of more help to you there than at the scene."
"Excellent idea, Dawson!" Basil cried. "I look forward to your report on the matter. Come, Vivian; the game is afoot!"
"Oh Basil thank God you're 'ere!" Lestrane cried when he saw Basil making his way through the crowd of policemen towards the crime scene.
"Always happy to be of assistance, Lestrane," Basil replied. "Although, I do wish I didn't have to be on this occasion."
"Don't we all," Lestrane replied grimly. "Ah hello there Ms. Vivian," he added with a tip of his hat.
"Good morning, Lestrane," Vivian said.
"I wish it were miss…I wish it were."
"What can you tell us about the crime?" Basil asked sharply as his eyes flew around the area.
"That's just it, Mr. Basil; there ain't that much to tell," Lestrane said perplexed. "All we know is the girl was found in that alcove over there covered in stab wounds just like the first one."
"So your hypothesis is it was the same person?" Basil clarified as he hurried over to examine the alcove.
"As far as we can tell. The wounds are in the same general area and about the same force, according to the doctor. We think it's a man because of the force the stabs must've had to cause all the damage."
"I quite agree with both deductions," Basil said. "Has anything been disturbed or moved since you found the body?"
"Aside from the body itself no," Lestrane replied.
"Then you found no evidence at all?" Basil asked desperately. "No footprints, cigarette ash, torn cloth, or anything of the kind?
"Not a thing, Mr. Basil," Lestrane confirmed. "Whoever this guy is, he's the cleanest criminal I've ever seen."
"What about the victim?" Vivian chimed in.
"All we know is she worked at a bar down here every night trying to make ends meet," Lestrane said flipping a few pages in his notebook. "The chap that identified her said she was called Rosie and was about twenty years old. We tried talking to some of her fellow employees, but all they could say was she left the bar around eleven thirty. No one saw her alive again after that."
Vivian nodded and took another sweeping look around the area.
"I don't believe any more can be gained from the scene," Basil announced. "The killer was too clean to leave physical evidence behind. The only hope now lies in trying to deduce a motive and pattern. Vivian?"
"I'm coming," she replied and hurried to follow him out of the alley. "Back to Baker Street, then?" she asked once she had caught up with him.
"Indeed," Basil replied. "I need my pipe and my violin."
"In other words you need to think," Vivian smiled. "I do as well; this case is quite an intriguing one."
"Quite so," Basil agreed. "Perhaps we will learn more from Dawson's observations of the bodies."
"I do hope so," Vivian sighed. "We have nothing to go on other than a glimpse from over one hundred yards and scant details about the victims' lives."
"True, but I've solved cases with less information before," Basil consoled. "It's simply a matter of finding the weak point in the evidence that will throw the case wide open."
Dawson moved briskly through the streets in search of the morgue where the unfortunate women now resided. It thrilled him beyond belief to finally be of use in a case for Basil; too often he felt useless standing on the side and listening to Basil and Vivian solve the case. Now, his expertise was not only useful but potentially crucial to the case, and he was investigating a lead on his own: another first. As he entered the morgue, he felt in command of the investigation and more than ready to finally prove his worth.
"Ah Dr. Dawson, so good to see you!" a doctor cried as he came around the corner.
"And you as well, Dr. Anderson," Dawson replied with a smile and a handshake. "Thank you for allowing me to see the bodies."
"Oh anytime doctor," Anderson replied. "I've always believed in the power of a second set of eyes. Maybe you can help clear up this mess."
"That is exactly what I hope to do, Anderson," Dawson said seriously. "May I see the unfortunate young ladies?"
"Of course; right this way, Dawson," Anderson replied and led Dawson around a corner. "I've kept them together to help compare," he added over his shoulder. "Here they are, doctor: Lily and Rosie."
Dawson grimaced as both sheets were pulled back to reveal the poor girls. After taking a deep, calming breath, Dawson went to work observing and analyzing everything before him.
"The wounds were all clean," Dawson said several hours later from his chair at Baker Street. "Not a jagged mark to be seen anywhere on either girl."
"That would imply that both victims were stationary when they were killed," Basil said as he continued to pace.
"Quite so," Dawson agreed, "although I have reason to believe they may have been dead prior to the stabbing."
"What reason is that, Dawson?" Vivian asked from her perch on the arm of Basil's chair.
"There were bruise marks around both of their throats implying they had been strangled first and stabbed after they were dead," Dawson replied. "The prints were definitely from a male; they were too large for a woman."
"Well that's one hypothesis confirmed then," Vivian said bracingly to Basil. "At least we know for certain it's a man."
"Excellent; now all we have to do is investigate every male mouse in the city of London. That ought to take the rest of the decade," Basil retorted sarcastically.
Vivian sighed and turned back to Dawson. "Was there anything else?"
"The stab wounds seemed odd to me," Dawson admitted. "If the girl was already dead, why stab her?"
"Any number of reasons, doctor," Basil replied as he relit his pipe for the fifth time. "Anger, insanity, loss of control: at any rate it's not enough to make a profile with yet."
"I agree; there's too many unexplained variables to come up with a clear picture," Vivian sighed, hiding her face in her hands. "Oh Basil, what do we do? I can't just wait here for another poor soul to die so we have more information. And if the fiend is as clean as he has been so far, we may not get anything else."
"I agree the time for waiting is over; we must act," Basil agreed. "And I think a nice bit of disguise work is in order."
"Oh no, not this again," Dawson groaned.
Basil chuckled. "No need for distress, my dear Dawson, you will not be playing a dirty old pirate this time. In fact, you need not even come. I would hate to put your life at risk for something that may turn out to be simply a wild goose chase."
"Basil what are you talking about?" Dawson asked.
"I think I'll be taking a trip to the East End tonight to poke around a bit," Basil replied with a gleam in his eye. "Perhaps the inside will tell us more."
"I'm coming too, then," Vivian cried. "With my help, we can cover the East End in half the time, and-"
"Absolutely not!" Basil announced firmly, spinning on the spot to face her. "The last thing I plan to do with you is take you into the middle of that part of the city looking like this madman's next victim. No, Vivian, you are staying here, and that is my final word on the matter!" With that, he crossed to his room and slammed the door.
"Well I never!" Vivian said indignantly. "Since when does he think he can boss me around like that?"
Dawson smiled understandingly. "My dear, he simply doesn't want to see you hurt. I know he has an odd way of showing it, but he cares for you very much and is trying to protect you. And I really must agree with him. Until we know more about this man and how to stop him, I think you should remain in the shadows."
"I can take care of myself," Vivian grumbled.
"Against a known enemy, I'm sure you can," Dawson agreed. "But the fact is we know nothing about this man, and he may have you in a position where you can't defend yourself before you even realize you're there. No, my dear, I agree with Basil in that you should stay here until we have more clues. Then I'm sure Basil will be glad to have you beside him again."
Vivian huffed but made no further argument. She knew that Dawson and Basil were right, but she hated the idea of being left out of a case just because of danger. After all, if she had wanted a life of no danger and adventure, she would have stayed at the palace. And although she had received no word from the palace, Vivian had a strange feeling that somewhere, some invisible clock was busy counting down the days until her affair with freedom was over.
Sorry it was such a long wait everyone! I hope you aren't too frustrated with me; I'll try to be more consistent from now on. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter...this investigation is just getting started, and things are about to get interesting. Thank you for all the favorites/follows/reviews, and I would appreciate any comments. Thanks again, and I hope to be back soon with more for you!
