I've done little research on Jack the Ripper. And no one can tell me anything! He killed five women, they were horribly mutilated, and they were all...er, disrespectable women. If you know what I mean. But since my story is kinda based on the JtR murders, could someone please give me more info? PLEASE? I'm desperate! Anyway, this is the third chapter. It introduces the mystery, of course, and gives some more info about Watson's background in Ashling. Have fun reading this!
Chapter Three: Jane the Ripper
Holmes POV:
Watson rode along side me, her bike dreadfully close to mine. I clicked my tongue in agitation and maneuvered it closer to the edge of the muddy sidewalk.
Watson and I were riding through the local park, which was horribly desolate. No one was around, and all the park consisted of was two teeter-totters, a sandbox, a set of broken swings, and an ice rink. And, of course, the bicycle trail. I couldn't imagine how Watson could have lived here until she was fifteen. It seemed a rather annoying town to live in.
Watson pulled her bike to the side.
"Holmes, what are you thinking about?" she asked politely. I rolled my eyes at her question.
"Merely that your hometown is horribly depressing. How in the world did you live here for fifteen years?" I questioned. Watson laughed.
"Not happily, let me tell you. My recreation consisted of ice skating in the winter, biking around town in the spring, swimming in the summer, and raking leaves in the fall. I also was involved in the nursing home, restaurant, and-guys!" Watson broke off. I stared at her.
"You were involved in guys?" I asked incredulously. She shook her head at me and dropped her bike to the ground, running towards some girls who had been walking our way. I turned my gaze to them.
The first girl, whose initials were A.K, seemed to be the leader of the pack. She had long blond hair, recently cut shorter. Icy blue eyes, tall, smart in the math and science areas. She played flute, and was first chair in her band. Rather fun loving, wild, occasionally reckless. Very mature. Is involved with a boy named Jason. Ex-boyfriend named Brandon? Attends an Arts Academy. Not rich, not poor.
The second girl seemed a bit more interesting. Initials were R.N, name was Rachel Niemann. She had extraordinarily short hair, that had been permed recently. It was a sandy brown color. She had hazel eyes, and a twin sister named Rebbeca. Odd spelling, if I do say so myself. She goes to the local high school, is first chair flute player in her band, also plays piano. Gifted in the math area, but not nearly as smart as Miss A.K. She is not seeing anyone of late, but has multiple ex-boyfriends. Perhaps she once was a boy fanatic. She plays soccer, and marches in marching band.
The third girl was not nearly as interesting as the other girls, but twice as interesting in different aspects. Her initials were K.B. She had chopped off brown hair, and dark brown eyes that were hidden behind glasses. She was very thin, about as thin as I was. She sings in a choir, the high school's choir. She is roughly five feet and four inches tall. Is dating a boy named Alex. Doesn't play sports. Reads a great deal. She also paints, I noted, looking at her hands.
But the fourth girl peaked my interest about as much as the first. Perhaps not as much, but a great deal. This girl was as tall as her first friend, only an inch shorter. She had dyed hair, her brown roots indicated it. Her hair was now red. She was overly pale, with dark blue eyes poking out from behind her mass of red frizz. She wears reading glasses, I could tell, and read almost every minute of the day. She plays a multitude of instruments, including the violin, French horn, piano, hand chimes, a small bit of flute, and a decent amount of trumpet and clarinet. She also sang. This girl peaked my interest, however, by the way she walked. She walked boldly, and not shyly. The third girl, K.B, was obviously very modest, whereas Miss A.K was not at all. She seemed to have a healthy mix between the two. After a moment or two I decided she was an actress as well as a musician.
Watson ran toward the girls and they all swooped her into a bear hug.
"Jenny, it's great to see you again! You look great! Who's your friend? Great to see you!" was all I could discern from their mass of arms. Watson pulled away and looked toward me.
"Holmes, come meet my friends! The tall one with blond hair is Amanda Kline, but we call her Kline," Watson introduced. The girl, Kline, stepped forward and took my outstretched hand.
"Nice to meet you. Simply a pleasure," she said in an educated manner. Her handshake betrayed her, though. It gave me the appearance that she was smart, but just as I though earlier, a bit reckless. Watson grinned at her and turned to the second girl.
"This is Rachel Niemann. She had been my best friend since preschool!" exclaimed Watson. That girl shook my hand as well, but not nearly as firm as Miss Kline. She grinned up at me, then stepped back.
"Kelsey Bairdi. The painter of the group," Watson said. Miss Bairdi stepped forward and offered her hand, but of the three hers was the limpest handshake. Finally, the second girl who peaked my interest in the group stepped forward.
"And I need no introduction from Jenny. I am Christine Penninger. Tis a joy to meet the one who so plagued Jenny's letters," the girl said. I was a bit shocked at her choice of words, but took her hand. It was gentle, but extremely firm at the same time. Watson laughed at her friend.
"Christine is a bit eccentric. You'll get used to her. Anyway, guys, this is Sherlock Holmes. He's my best friend in England," Watson explained. Miss- Rachel, I think? giggled.
"You mean your boyfriend, don't you Jenny? Jeremy told us all about him. He's cuter than he said... or you said," Rachel announced. Watson and I both blushed as the group laughed. Kline looked at me.
"I don't know Rach. I think that Jason is cuter. What about you Kels? Who wins, Sherlock or Jason?" Kline asked. Kelsey stepped forward and circled me, and I felt her eyes roving all over me. Finally she stepped back to reveal her verdict.
"Nope. It's Alex, through and through," she proclaimed. All the girls laughed at this, and I felt a bit out of place. Then Kelsey turned to Christine.
"Well, Christine? What do you think?" she asked. Christine looked up at me, and then at her friends.
"He's a nice choice for Jenny," she muttered. It shocked me that she said something so quietly. Kline rolled her eyes.
"But what do YOU think of him? You know that Jen can't date him if he doesn't pass our inspections," she said. Christine raised her face and looked me in the eyes. It was rather uncomfortable to be stared at, but she broke her gaze after a moment or two.
"He's smart. He plays violin. He likes to solve mysteries. I say that he should pass in our group," she decreed. While the girls laughed, I was a bit surprised by her once more. She caught me staring at her and smiled at me.
"You have calluses on your finger tips. I know about them, because I play violin, as you very well know. The rest I knew. You see, our group here enjoys to solve local mysteries. The most recent one is the Jane the Ripper murders," she whispered up at me. I jolted and looked at her once more.
"Jane the Ripper?"
Christine turned to face the other four, who were talking about boys.
"Hey, Sherlock and I are going to go see something. Kline, could you come with us?" she asked. Kline's eyes sharpened and she nodded. She left Kelsey, Rachel, and Jenny by the bike trail, while we walked down it some ways. After a minute, we stopped. Christine and Kline faced me.
"You really want to know about Jane the Ripper, huh?" Kline asked in hushed tones. I nodded, a bit confused about their secrecy. Christine caught the look of surprise on my face.
"Kelsey and Rachel don't solve mysteries. We would prefer telling just you, and then you can tell Jenny," she explained. I nodded. Kline cleared her throat and pulled out a piece of paper from the pocket of her shorts.
"Jane the Ripper: Roughly five foot six in height, with red hair," Kline said. Christine rolled her eyes.
"Jane the Ripper is only our nickname for her. You see, she is a murderer. She murders very much like Jack the Ripper of the nineteenth century. She has murdered three men so far, all drunks. She, ah, removes their hearts. Only one man was mutilated in another area. His face was badly torn and his eyes were missing. His name was-" Christine snapped her fingers and Kline continued the narration.
"Was Guy Spiconni. Age twenty two. He was found on the porch of Wolves Tavern. He was drunk, just like the other men. See, we think that Jane doesn't kill women of ill repute like Jack did, but she kills-" Kline was cut off as Christine jumped in.
"Kills drunks, due to some personal experience of hers. They were all found within two blocks of Wolves Tavern. Their have only been three murders because-"
"Because people just don't get drunk in Ashling," Kline finished. I nodded.
"Thank you for telling me. What of these other men?" I asked. Christine waved a hand at Kline. Kline brandished the papers triumphantly.
"Kevin O' Leary was the first man killed. He was twenty eight, and married to a woman named Lynn. She was devastated after he was found. Anyway, he was drunk, and found two blocks away from Wolves Tavern, in an abandoned building. The other man besides Guy was Jon Zearron. He was thirty four, and engaged. His fiancee was crushed, and later admitted to a mental hospital. Guess she was rather attached to the guy. Anyway, according to his friends they went to Wolves Tavern to get a couple of drinks before the wedding. He left around midnight with a young woman with red hair, and was later found one block away, in dump. They found his heart, though. It was in a jar. It was hardly recognizable," Kline said. I nodded and thought for a moment.
"Tell me how you solve your mysteries, and what mysteries you have solved," I demanded. Both Kline and Christine looked surprised at my request, but decided to comply to my it. Christine cleared her throat melodramatically. Definitely an actress.
"Both Kline and I go to an Arts Academy. Two months ago a girl disappeared. We investigated it, and found her father had pulled her out of the school so he could beat her. She died, unfortunately, before we could find her. Then was a commonplace little theft of a diamond ring, and some embezzlement from our school. And now this," she finished. I smiled at her.
"Odd. You go from a murder, to a simple theft, to embezzlement, to more murder. No easy feat, let me tell you. And what do you two do, exactly?" I asked. Kline grinned.
"Christine here is the spy of the group. She is hardly noticed anyway, and disguises herself quite well. She's an actress, you see," Hah! I was right. "-and does really well with that kind of stuff. I hardly recognize her sometimes!"
Christine continued. "Kline does the footwork. I am not in shape, I cannot run, and I don't do well with things like that. She usually pursues the villain. She and I both split the brainwork. We're top in our class, you know? I spy, she pursues. We end up setting up a trap most of the time. I scheme the trap, she builds the trap, she pushes the villain into the trap, and I report it to the police with the list of evidence. Case closed!"
I couldn't help but be caught up in the youthful enthusiasm from these girls. They seemed to know what they were talking about, and did a great job at it. From what I could tell, they were very much like my Irregulars.
"Anything else about Jane?" I asked. They shook their heads sadly.
"We just got involved in the investigation yesterday. We move quickly, but not that quickly. Why don't you, Jenny, Kline and I got talk to LT Williams tomorrow?" Christine suggested. I thought for a moment.
"LT Williams? As in Lieutenant Williams?" I asked. Kline laughed.
"No, LT Williams is Lynn, O'Leary's wife. Her middle name is Tatyana. Her friends call her Lieutenant Williams, though, because she is very bold and strong. Leader of the group, I believe," Kline explained. I nodded gravely.
"Are you sure it is wise to talk to a woman who has just recently lost her beloved husband?" I asked. Christine snorted, which was most unbecoming.
"Beloved? Are you nuts? Sorry, you never met Kevin, did you. He was a drunk, and beat women. Hired women of ill repute a lot. We came close to being able to bust him, but he died before that happened. I suppose he could of reformed, but I doubt it. However, Lynn does seem sad about his death, so we'll just have to treat her gently," Christine said. I smiled at the two who stood before me.
"All right, we'll see her tomorrow. Now, what can you tell me about the Watson of old?" I asked gleefully. Kline and Christine looked at each other.
"Have you seen the picture of her with her face in the cake?"
