Chapter 5

Tuesday, July 12. It was almost 7 in the evening when we arrived at the fourth murder scene. This one was the youngest out of all of them so far. It sickens me whenever I think about what this psychopath is doing. And he takes pleasure in it too, which is the worst part.

Detective Cardoso arrived at the scene with Chief Gonzalez and Officer Tristan Burcham leading out in front. At the end of the alleyway on West 81 Street, several police officers crowded around a covered body of the latest victim in the "Jack the Ripper" killing spree. The woman's clothes were, like the last, completely torn off of her body, however, were left at the scene, rather than taken away. Chief Gonzalez and Officer Burcham stopped just before the body as Detective Cardoso walked around them and stood at the woman's feet.

"Can I see the body?" He asked, looking up to one of the police officers.

Officer Nikolai nodded, adding, "This one, surprisingly, is the least injured of them. No minor scratches like the other three had, but..."

He lowered himself and pulled off the cover that was over her body, revealing just as he said. That oh so familiar cut across the neck was almost a given, as that was Jack's 'trademark', so to speak. Her mouth was agape, though, and as Detective Cardoso peered inside, he saw no tongue. What was even more horrifying was that a note had been nailed to her forehead. As Nikolai further removed the rest of the cover, Albert could see bloodstains around her lower body, mostly around her waist and thighs.

"What happened there?" Detective Cardoso questioned, motioning to the blood patches.

"When we got here," replied Officer Hinson, who stood beside Nikolai, "there were organs littered all over the ground at those spots. She wasn't bleeding anymore, but it looked like she had been bleeding heavily from her vagina long after she had been killed. Old Jack cut out her sexual organs and left them on the ground beside her."

Albert gave a look of almost complete disbelief. "What the hell is wrong with this guy?" he thought. He tried to shake the image of Jack cutting out her sexual organs from his mind as he moved over to her head, and went down to one knee. "I assume you've read the note already, yes?"

"Several times," replied Nikolai. "We just don't...understand what he's trying to do."

Albert looked up to Nikolai and Hinson for a moment before looking back down to the note. He began reading it to himself:

"Misther Cardoso

I am geting very bord here waiting for you peple to katch me. Wut iz takin so long I am down on whores and I sahnt quit ripping them till I do get buckled. I feel that you ar nevr going to find me so I will help you. You will see soon enuff but for now hav fun looking.

jack the ripper

ps I cut out this ones tongue so she wuldnt tell you who I wuz. ha ha."

Help us? How the hell is he going to help us?

Albert stood up again, looking at the other officers.

Nikolai voiced his opinion, "Looks like our boy's having a fun time doing what it is he does. Sick bastard. I tell ya, when we find this guy, I say we give him the chair."

Sirens echoed in the distance, soon coming closer as the ambulance came to a stop in front of the alley.

"Well, you can have a look around, Detective," said Nikolai, "but if you wanna see the body, it'll be at the morgue for testing."

The officers, all excluding Chief Gonzalez, slowly departed from the scene as the paramedics came in with a body bag and a stretcher, to take away the body.

"How much longer you going to be here?" questioned Manuel.

"Not long," answered Albert, as he studied the ground where Lindsay was laying before she was taken away. He looked over the blood spots and all along the walls for any possible clues; anything. They've tried fingerprints on the last three victims, but to no avail. As well, tests done by doctors show that the killer has extensive knowledge with using a knife, as all of the cuts appear to have been created on clean, single strokes. The killer must also have some knowledge of the human anatomy, as shown in the third victim, whose kidney and intestines had been ripped out without damaging surrounding organs.

He really is Jack the Ripper of the 21 Century...

"Ok, well, I'm going to bag these clothes and take them down to the station as evidence. Maybe there are some finger prints on these, who knows."

Albert nodded, "Okay, I'll be back at the station later."

Manuel nodded as he retreated back to his car and took from the back seat three large plastic bags. Making his way back to where the torn clothes were, he placed them into individual bags; lower body clothing in one, upper body in another, and her shoes in the third. He bid Albert another fare well before he went back to his squad car, tossed the clothing in the back seat, and then drove off.

Albert continued to stare at the blood patterns on the floor. He noticed an excessive amount of blood to his right, as he stood at where the woman's feet were. The blood was mostly around her lower-body, as previously stated, and around her head. He came to the conclusion that because so much blood had been spilt on that side, the cut across the neck must have started on that side. He also suspected 'Jack' to have been to the right of the woman, and he'd have to reach over her body to cut her. But because he was on the opposite side of where he cut, it would lessen his exposure to the blood.

You're a real pro at this, aren't you Jacky-boy? But what did you mean that you are going to 'help' us?

8:30PM, later that night...

As Detective Cardoso arrived back at the police station, to his surprise, a crowd of people had gathered out front, surrounded by two white vans with large satellite dishes placed upon the roofs. Standing at the top of the steps was Chief Gonzalez, shaking the hand of some man in front of cameras. The man was Justin Harrington, a prominent figure in New York City and a well-established entrepreneur. Mr. Harrington has donated funds to many associations throughout New York City, and the police force was no exception. He helped with every large case they had, donating money to the search efforts. And like clockwork, he was here again, ready to help out.

Apparently, when Chief Gonzalez had arrived back at the station, Mr. Harrington was already there, waiting for him. Manuel was very gracious that Mr. Harrington was willing to donate such a large amount of money to help the officers in search of this killer – 20,000 dollars, to be exact, one of his largest contributions ever. It seemed that the press had gotten word of this and immediately came over. In front of Manuel and Mr. Harrington was a podium with four microphones, and after the two gentlemen shook hands, Manuel stood before it and took questions from the people.

Detective Cardoso watched from behind the crowd, as Mr. Harrington stood behind Manuel with a smile on his face. The man was always smiling. He had no children, but was married 3 times and divorced all three times. Currently he was with no one, and if he were, it would surely spread like wildfire in the magazines. Famous people's lives were never really private. In any case, with the money they were getting, Cardoso had a feeling of reassurance that maybe they might catch 'Jack' soon. He sure hoped so.