Ripper's London…
Tony bent over and examined the chemistry set that was lying empty on the table. It looked as if someone was ready to start some experiment. "You think it's possible to invent a potion to bring out your evil side?" Tony asked.
Gibbs shook his head in answer. That whole idea was as absurd as the play that suggested it. "Hello Gentlemen and what can I do for you?" The elderly Doctor Gull asked.
Tony was busy scanning the room. It was almost wall to wall of books. It was the man's own personal library. "We were hoping to ask you what you were doing on the 30th of September," Gibbs gave the reason why they were there.
"Let me check my diary," Gull thought for a moment. He grabbed a book from his desk drawer. "Ah, the night of the two murders. Ah, yes. That's right, I was having dinner with that actor chap, Richard Mansfield," Gull said.
"How long did that go for?" Gibbs asked.
"We were talking until almost midnight. Richard wanted to know how it'd be possible to mix chemicals without having to go through all the motions of using proper procedure," Doctor Gull answered as he sat down.
"You taught him to mix chemicals?" Tony turned around with a surprised look.
"My dear boy. No! Just the procedure. There is no way I'd recommend anybody to mix chemicals without proper implements. I used different waters too mix," Gull explained to them. "He's an interesting young man that Richard Mansfield."
"What's your impression of him? I see here you're interested in madness," Tony said as he read some of the spines of the books.
"You're asking me if Richard is as mad as Mister Hyde? No. He's not mad. Some people can easily adapt to play certain roles. I'm sure you yourself can fit yourself into a character. But he is far from mad," Gull explained again.
"You've heard about Jack the Ripper, right?" Tony asked the question. "Could it be possible that Jack the Ripper is a real version of Jekyll and Hyde?"
"It's possible that someone could have the personality of Jekyll and Hyde but in many cases, the more dominant personality would be the evil conscious. But this Jack the Ripper fellow is dominantly Jekyll. That is the good personality is there and occasionally Mister Hyde comes out. But what's most intriguing is that he's able to revert back to his good side and blend in with the public," Gull explained. He had been researching Madness for some time and like everybody else he drew his own conclusion. "I believe that some of these letters published is the continual struggle between the dual personalities," he added.
"Almost all of the letters are hoaxes," Gibbs responded.
"But not all. The main question is… Are the letters Hyde taunting you lot or is it Jekyll trying to confess?" Gull said.
"Thank you for your time, Doctor Gull," Gibbs stood up.
"Not a problem, Inspector. Please come and see me if you need any more information," Gull added.
Gibbs Residence
Tony wasn't sure what they were doing at the strange house. Gibbs hadn't mentioned they were going to see anybody here. "What are we doing here, Boss?" Tony asked out of curiosity.
"I'm reporting in too my family," Gibbs stated flatly. Whenever Gibbs was away from the Yard on a case he always checked in with his family if the opportunity arose. "Come on," Gibbs motioned for the younger man to exit the carriage.
"I think I'll stay here," Tony acted a little edgy. Family time was a foreign thing to him and the last thing they needed was his company. That and the fact that he felt so tired he wanted to sleep. But it was early afternoon and they had no chance to get in a good sleep.
"Get out here," Gibbs said gruffly. Tony knew not too argue with that tone and fell into line.
"Daddy!" A young girl latched onto Gibbs as soon as he entered the small house.
"Hey, Kelly," Gibbs' demeanor changed. Tony noted that Gibbs almost looked ten years younger. "Hi Shannon, honey. Hope you don't mind me bringing someone along. This is Tony DiNozzo from Whitechapel," Gibbs said after he kissed Shannon on the cheek.
"Hello Mister DiNozzo," Shannon said as she shook Tony's hand.
"Please… Just Tony or even just DiNozzo," Tony responded. "Pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Gibbs," he added.
"Can I get you something?" She asked.
Tony shook his head. "No thank you," he answered. It was then that Tony felt a smack on the back of the head. "Alright… Cup of coffee. Strong," Tony corrected him self. When Shannon smacked Gibbs at the back of the head, Tony's jaw dropped.
"I'm afraid I instilled a bad habit into him," Shannon elaborated.
Tony shrugged his shoulders. Without the occasional pat on the back from his friends and the headslaps he thought he'd never have physical contact with anyone. Good, bad touch it really didn't matter at times. He sat at the table and waited. Yes… Things were different and uncomfortable.
"What you playing with there?" Tony asked Kelly who was intently playing with what looked like a horse carrieage.
"A carriage… Daddy made it for me," Kelly handed it to Tony to have a closer look.
Tony admired the craftsmanship. Gibbs was full of surprises. There was a moment of sadness that quickly dissipated. His own father would never do something like that for him. "It's very nice," Tony handed it back to her. For the time being he could pretend to be around a happy family and maybe put the case behind him for the time being. At least until they get back to Whitechapel.
11 – 09 – 1888 (Miller's Court)
Gibbs and Tony had spent time in the carriage coming up with a plausible suspect list. Just when they thought that they had something, it just didn't fit right. "Maybe we're going at this wrong," Tony suggested. He wasn't sure what he meant or even if he was thinking straight. But at least he was able to get some sleep on the way.
"How so?" Gibbs asked.
"What do we know? Apparently the victims didn't know each other. So I guess we can safely assume that the killer picked out his victims. Probably stalked his victims. " Tony said as he waited for Gibbs to nod. They felt the carriage suddenly stop and the door swung open.
"Boss," McGee said. Annoyance turned to concern when they saw that he looked whiter than usual. "Tony… There's been another one. Miller's Court," McGee told them as he tried to compose him self. His mind was racing faster than his mouth can keep up.
"Settle down… Who?" Tony asked.
"They're saying its Mary Jane Kelly. But they can't be sure," McGee answered. He wiped his eyes.
"What?" Gibbs asked.
"She's unrecognizable. She's cut up. More than that, she's…," McGee's voice trailed off.
"Get in here!" Gibbs ordered. "Driver. Miller's Court," Gibbs said as he took a glance at the young man who just joined them. McGee couldn't bring him self to make eye contact with the others. Tony and Gibbs looked at each other with a sense of foreboding. It was surely going to be bad.
Gibbs, Tony and McGee stepped out of the carriage and walked into Miller's Court's narrow entry. There were several police guarding the entrance into the flat that Mary Jane Kelly had resided. Gordon stood up when he saw them approach.
"Johnathon Bowyer here was collecting rent," Gordon swallowed hard. He was glad he didn't have breakfast yet. "When there was no answer and he tried the door, he peered through the broken window and saw it," Gordon said. "To get in we had to break the door down with the axe."
Tony patted Gordon on the shoulder. Even before stepping into the small flat, Tony was feeling scared to death at the thought of what he might find. He followed Gibbs into the room. "I'll need to speak to a few people," Gibbs said.
Tony felt his breathing stop as he saw the mess that was once a human being. McGee was right, he thought bitterly. It was barely recognizable as human and the walls were colored with blood and God knows what. Tony reached into his pocket for his sketchpad. It was habitual to sketch a crime scene after all.
"Don't. Step outside," Gibbs said as he waited for the photographer to finish. He had to take the scene in quickly before leaving. Not even all his years of being an Inspector could prepare him for this. Whoever did this had to be stopped.
Tony had been listening to McGee. "I suggest you suggest it," Tony said to McGee's idea. It did sound out there but it was at least worth a try.
"He won't go for it," McGee shook his head. He was sorry that he ever brought it up. It was difficult to tell whether he was being mocked or not.
"Won't go for what, McGee?" Gibbs asked gruffly. He would wait until later to see if they were alright. Right now, they were reeling from the gruesome discovery. "Spit it out," he almost snapped. Gibbs wasn't sure what kind of conversation he had caught the tail end to.
"Ah, yeah well some people say that the eyes can record the last thing a victim sees. They need a special lens though. It's not proven…," McGee told the theory that hadn't been proven or disproved yet.
"Get it done," Gibbs responded quickly. He was sure that it sounded like bullshit, but right now he was willing to give anything a chance. It didn't matter how absurd it sounded.
"Yes, Boss," McGee said.
"Are you alright, Gordon?" Tony asked as he noticed the silence. "McGee?" He asked. Perhaps he should have stayed instead of gallivanting off with Gibbs. Tony felt he should have stayed, he should have been the one who burst through the door.
"Let's get this bastard before he does this again," Gordon said as he ignored the question. His words were almost drowned out by the sounds of shouting from the mob that was being held back from entering Miller's Court. But they couldn't stop them from hanging around and seemingly proceeded to stir up contempt for the police.
"Bloody hell," the three of them said together.
It didn't take a psychic to tell them that the Vigilance Committee was voicing its opinion again. This time they weren't alone. There was the guy from the Gazette, Lewis Robert writing everything down and seemed to be getting into the swing of the uproar. "Care to say a few words… Give your side of tha story huh?" Lewis walked up to them.
"You want a few words?" Tony asked after he looked at Gordon. Tony never liked the press and that feeling grew along with the rising tension. "You want a first hand account?" Tony was grateful that the other two were on the same page as he was. The three of them grabbed the reporter and dragged him into Miller's Court. Fortunately, with all that was going on, the unruly mob didn't see anything.
Perhaps if they took a moment to think about the consequences of their actions they would've probably stopped. Lewis was unable to stop him self from being propelled into the crime scene. As soon as the reporter was able, he backed out and left Miller's Court.
Mortuary 1 00pm
It had taken them a long time to bring back what was left of Mary Jane Kelly to the Mortuary where Ducky could perform the examination. Tony, McGee and Gordon waited for the quick results. Hopefully, there'd be something to work with.
"There's going to be some backlash, that's for sure," McGee said something.
"I'll take full responsibility. It was my idea after all," Tony said. He hadn't heard of any type of reprimand as of yet. But the day wasn't over... yet.
Ducky and his assistant carefully laid the body on the table. The two made sure not to disturb the body further. It was only from pure caution and care that they were able to keep the victim's right leg attached. "It's a real meat puzzle this is," Ducky commented.
The three onlookers groaned. The term meat puzzle said that there was going to be some work in putting the pieces together. "Now… So everything in the room was brought here?" Ducky asked as he started examining the body.
"Yes," McGee said. They had carried in boxes of removed intestines and bits of meat as they were noted.
"Where is Jethro?" Ducky was surprised that the Inspector wasn't in there waiting for all the information.
"Called back to the Yard. Right after we saw the victim, there was some urgent business with the commissioner that Tom Morrow guy," Tony explained. Gibbs basically disappeared right after they suggested about the photograph of the eyes. They were still waiting for those to be developed.
"Oh," Ducky said. The others winced when Ducky moved the woman's head and the sound of broken bones being moved could be heard. "I'm sure you three have more pressing things that need to be done," he said and watched the three turn on the heels and leave. "It is clear that you knew who did this to you or at least they knew you on a very personal level. Tell me dear Mary, who could you have ran into that would've wanted to do this to you? Don't be shy, you can tell me… I'm a Doctor after all," Ducky leaned over the body. Throughout history, there have been unspeakable acts performed on human beings from other so called human beings. But this was different. There was no evidence that she had been raped. Like the others, there was no sign of robbery and yet there was just so much intent and malice. The person responsible for this atrocity definitely was NOT normal.