“Perhaps Nelson’s doing better at tracking Jack down? He is the one in charge of this mess, no? And yet he’s not even here.”
She threw back her head and laughed. “You certainly are bold. You’re just lucky I find that sort of thing charming.” Her eyes sparkled in the lantern light, as though glowing from within. “It’s been a long time, Mason.”
“A hundred years, if not longer.” And the once had been enough.
She tilted her head and gave him a sidewise glance. “Once this mess is dealt with… Could be fun. Could also be worth your while.”
Was she offering him the lead on the investigation? Perhaps. Yet, the price he’d pay would be high, no matter what he got in trade.
“I’m sure it would be a grand time, m’ Lady, but I am now a married man.” He raised his hand and wiggled his fingers to show off the wedding band he now wore.
She looked over in Lilly’s direction. “Do you think that matters? I’m an Elder, my dear. Rules seldom apply.”
He knew not how to avoid the matter without offending. “I fear I’ve gotten tiresome in my old age and I’d do nothing but bore you.”
“The girl doesn’t seem to mind.” Her eyebrow perked in question, and Mason knew he needed to tread lightly.
“The girl doesn’t know any better, now does she?”
“Well done, Mason.” She let out another laugh, and he took the moment to make his escape.
With a step back, he took a deep bow. “If you’ll excuse me, I believe the coroner is about to start with his findings.”
“Soon, Mason.”
“M’ Lady.” Mason turned and headed back to Lilly, but something was wrong—her gaze kept scanning the crowd. “What’s happened? Is Nelson here?”
She shook her head no. “It felt like someone was watching me, even though I know no one can see me.”
“No one except for Stefan.” Mason took her hand in his, while looking around.
His gaze settled on Pierce, and without needing any words between them, he told him to keep an eye out. It could be nothing. She’d not seen Stefan, after all. Yet it left him feeling uneasy.
With the coroner ready to start, Mason took a quick look at the woman’s mutilated form and again, realized the woman’s soul had not been reaped. He bent down and touched her, releasing her soul, his eyes on Pierce as his lieutenant realized what he’d just done.
“What is it, Mason?” Lilly looked between him and Pierce, but it would all have to wait as the coroner got started.
Pierce got ready to take notes as the coroner’s voice carried loud and clear, the area thoroughly lit with lanterns. “Just the preliminary examination and then we’ll do a thorough post mortem at the morgue.”
Dr. Frederick Gordon Brown paused for a moment to make sure his assistant was ready to take down his findings and then turned to the woman’s form. “The body is on its back, the head turned to the left shoulder. The arms are by the side of the body as if they had fallen there. Both palms upwards, the fingers slightly bent. The left leg extends in a line with the body. The abdomen is exposed. Right leg bent at the thigh and knee. The throat cut across.”
He then knelt down, silent for a moment before continuing. “The intestines are drawn out to a large extent and placed over the right shoulder. A piece of… about two feet… appears to be quite detached from the body and has been placed between the body and the left arm, apparently by design. The lobe and auricle of the right ear is cut obliquely through.”
He moved around the body while making his observations, careful not to disrupt anything. “There is a quantity of clotted blood on the pavement near the left side of the neck, around the shoulder and upper part of the arm.”
He then knelt down before the mutilated corpse and touched it, raising the woman’s arm and lowering it back in the position it was found. “Body is quite warm. No death stiffening has taken place. Her death will likely have occurred within the half hour. No spurting of blood on the bricks or pavement around. There is no blood on the front of the clothes.
“The face is very much mutilated. There is a deep cut over the bridge of the nose that extends down near the angle of the jaw on the right side of the cheek, with a cut extending to divide the upper lip and gum. There’s a cut on the right angle of the mouth as if made with the point of a knife. Another cut can be found on each cheek.”
The coroner let out a ragged breath, and shook his head, before returning to the brutality. “The throat is cut across to the extent of about six or seven inches. The larynx has been severed below the vocal chord. The death was immediate and the mutilations were inflicted after death.”
Mason looked away from the body when Lilly gripped his arm, catching her as she collapsed in a faint. He scooped her in his arms and carried her off to a stoop where he could set her down. Pierce remained to continue with his notes.
It wasn’t long before Lilly started to come to. “You’re all right, love. It must have been a bit too much for you, is all. Can you stand?”
Lilly fisted his coat, her eyes wide like saucers, shining black in the dark. “Mason, I’m begging you not to make me go back there. That poor woman. I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s so much worse than the others.”
Mason knew the mutilations to the woman’s face made it all the more horrific, yet he could think of no way to spare Lilly. His stomach clenched in knots, for he knew the misery he felt was nothing compared to what she would be exposed to. “I wish there was something I could do, love.”
He looked into those pleading eyes, and wanted nothing more than to protect her. Yet it was for that exact reason that she could not be spared. The Elders would be displeased if she did not help with the investigation, and pulling her from these horrors would only land her in a far worse hell.
“You need to do this, Lilly. Amara’s still here, and if I don’t have you recreate what happened, I guarantee you she will. I promise to be as gentle as I’m able.”
He hauled her to her feet, still holding on, should her legs give out from under her. She glared at him, but seemed steady. Without another word, he tucked her arm in the crook of his elbow, and escorted her back to body.
The coroner had just about finished with his findings, so Mason got started. “Tell me when you’re ready.”
Lilly’s forehead was lined with worry. “Just be quick, Mason. I do not think I can manage this for long.”
The familiar scene played out with Jack and Lilly in the cottage, and Mason swore if there was another murder, he’d make her pick a different memory. Lilly pulled on Jack’s energy, trying to tease the body to life and recreate what happened. Yet once again, nothing came into view.
He gave her a jolt of his own energy, hoping it would help her coax something to life, but other than her scream, nothing changed. He tried again, and her entire body tensed in response.
“There’s nothing here, Mason.” She spoke through clenched teeth, her hands grasping his wrists as he held onto her head.
Mason knew she was right. But what left him puzzled was why these murders were different? The women had not been reaped, and Lilly had been unable to recreate the murders, despite Jack’s essence being in the area.
He closed his eyes and let the information spin around his head like a maelstrom.
***
“We need to go over all the evidence we have thus far. Something isn’t adding up.” Mason poured over his notes, and then moved to Pierce’s findings, flipping back and forth between the two. “And I’m referring to the murders, aye? Forget about finding Jack for just a moment.”
Pierce hovered over his shoulder, going over the same notes. “What exactly are we looking for?”
“These last two murders—neither of the women were reaped, yet once more, they died before their time. I had to release their souls, aye? So why? Why did Jack not release them like the other times? And why weren’t we able to see the murders reenacted?” Mason then turned to Lilly, who was nursing a brandy to soothe her nerv
es, Corwin at her side. Why the bloody man was even here was beyond him. “Love, I need you to go over the details of each crime. Have you ever seen the whole crime, start to finish?”
“Can ye not see that the lass isna well?” Corwin shook his head, angry, but Lilly waved his concerns away.
“I’ll manage. This is information only I have.” She set down her glass and turned her attention to Mason, though her brow was still furrowed with pain. “I’ve seen more than I’d like to, but no, never from start to finish.”
“Yet his energy is there, and we do see him cut the women and mutilate their bodies. My question is why aren’t we seeing the deaths themselves?”
Corwin bristled and Mason resisted the urge to punch him. “This is no conversation for a lady.”
It was Lilly who put a stop to it. “Corwin, as much as I appreciate your concern, I’ll have to ask you to leave if you cannot keep from interrupting. I’m a reaper, not some sheltered child, and it’s of the utmost importance that we get this mess sorted out.”
Mason could have kissed her just then. It was about time the bloody man realized he was no longer dealing with the girl he was once betrothed to.
Corwin looked pained, his face lined with shock and hurt as he mumbled an apology. Mason wished Lilly would just cut all ties, but instead guilt marred her pretty face for being abrupt with Corwin, giving his hand a squeeze to ease tensions between them.
Doing his best to ignore the tightness in his chest, Mason got back to the matter at hand. “Lilly… do you think it’s because you cannot bear to see him take a life? I’ll understand if this is the case, but it’s important I know, either way.”
“I suppose it could be, but if that were the case, then I’d rather not see any of it.” She sighed. “Like today, I suppose.”
She was right. She’d been unable to recreate either of the two murders that had just occurred. Yet with every other one, she’d recreated the gruesome scenes—other than the murder itself. There must be a reason why that part was missing.
“What if…” He let out a ragged sigh, knowing it had to be said. “What if Jack’s not the murderer?”
Pierce shook his head and balked. “Have you not seen him hack the women to bits? Surely he must be responsible.” Pierce looked over his notes. “What happened to the letter that was sent? It seems an odd coincidence that the letter would be signed Jack.”
Mason waved it away. “The letter was peculiar and his energy wasn’t found on the paper.”
“The energy could have dissipated by the time we got the letter, Mason.” Pierce ran a hand through his hair, making him look like he’d just rolled out of bed after a long night of getting up to no good. Pierce then went to the table with all their papers and handed her the letter. “Lilly, what do you think of the handwriting and the wording? Could it be Jack?”
She took the letter and looked it over once more. “Like I told Mason, the handwriting is similar, but it doesn’t quite feel like his. The same with the wording. I could not say either way.”
Pierce took the letter back. “And why send the letter to the police? Is he trying to taunt us?”
Lilly shook her head, a frown upon full pouty lips. “He was never one to taunt or be so bold, but as much as I’d like to think him innocent, we’ve seen him tear the women up, and his energy has been at each murder. Is there any way a reaper could disguise his energy as another’s? Could it be Nelson?”
“I wouldn’t put it past him if he were capable of such a feat, but as far as I know, only the Elders would be able to manage such a thing.” Mason could not imagine any of the Elders committing such crimes. And to what purpose?
“Is he not sharing Amara’s bed? Perhaps she’s helped him disguise himself or alter his energy.”
“Though I’m sure Nelson would have no qualms with it, I cannot imagine Amara risking everything for Nelson. There has to be something else.” Jack had to be linked to this somehow. “Other than you, was Jack ever close to anyone?”
Lilly glanced at Corwin for just a moment, but it didn’t take her long to answer. “Other than his family, I don’t think so—not in life or death. He never mentioned having any close friends, however, I cannot say I know him as well as I thought I did. I’d never have thought him capable of such gruesome acts.”
The distress Mason saw in her eyes told him that she truly had not suspected Jack. But again, before he could pursue anything further, Corwin interrupted his thoughts.
“Were ye with the man long? It pains me to think ye may have come to harm. He’s obviously a madman.”
“We were together for a few years, but I’ll say it again.” She looked around the room at everyone there to make sure her point was made clear. “He was perfectly sane when we were together, and never showed any signs that he’d be capable of such brutality. Never. If anything, I’d say the opposite was true. He was always kind and tender. I’m not saying he didn’t have problems he was dealing with, but he never lashed out—not even with a harsh word.”
He tried not to think of her with Jack, so he forced his mind back to the investigation. “Something feels off and I think it’s because he’s not killing these women. I think you’ve been right all along, love.”
She looked up him, her brow furrowed with concern. “But if it’s not Jack, then who?”
“I wish I knew, love.”
Chapter Thirty-One
October 1, 1888
Postcard sent to the Central News Agency
I was not codding dear old Boss when I gave you the tip, you'll hear about Saucy Jacky's work tomorrow double event this time number one squealed a bit couldn't finish straight off. ha not the time to get ears for police. thanks for keeping last letter back till I got to work again.
Jack the Ripper
***
October 16, 1888
Letter sent to George Lusk, President of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee, along with half a kidney preserved in wine.
From hell.
Mr Lusk,
Sor
I send you half the Kidne I took from one woman and prasarved it for you tother piece I fried and ate it was very nise. I may send you the bloody knif that took it out if you only wate a whil longer
signed
Catch me when you can Mishter Lusk
Chapter Thirty-Two
November 8, 1888
Lilly leaned back against Mason as he nipped at her shoulder, a shiver of need traveling down her spine. Days had passed since the last of the murders, and life returned to some sense of normalcy. “Keep that up and I won’t get to any of my reaps today.”
Mason groaned while his lips continued their exploration. “I’ll need to speak to Damon again about having them reassigned.” He spun her around and covered her mouth in a greedy kiss.
“And what about changing my position? You said I might be able to deliver souls instead of reap them.” She didn’t want to pressure him when he already had so much to deal with, but felt she had to ask.
“Aye, love. I’ll see what can be done, though I still worry about you wandering through London, when Stefan, Jack or Nelson can turn up at any moment. Perhaps instead we could make use of the fact that you leave little trace. You could stop reaping and come work with me on investigations.”
“Have you lost your mind?” It was the only logical explanation, for how could he think an arrangement like that could work.
“Aye. Maybe.” He kissed her again, but she slipped away from him, knowing she’d be nothing but tempted to fall back into bed with him. “At the very least, I’d not have to worry about you.”
“Like Corwin promised you, he doesn’t leave my side. There are few other options if I still have to go on reaps.” Corwin now accompanied her on all her reaps so she could teach him what she knew about being a reaper. Though Mason clearly hated the arrangement, there were few he trusted enough to keep her safe.
“What if Nelson crosses your path? What will your Viking do to protect you then?” His eye
brows shot up in question, his expression bland as a baby’s custard.
“My dear Viking would lay down his life for me, so do not question his dedication. By all means, if you’d rather spend your days following me around, feel free to do so.”
“My dear, you know I’d be happy to do just that if I weren’t busy tracking down your murderous ex-lover.” He leaned in and gave her a peck on the cheek. “Pierce and I have yet another appointment tonight with the Elders, so it’s likely I won’t be home until late.”
Dire as the situation now was, the Elders were demanding regular reports on Mason’s progress. Mason was still hunting for Jack, and though he had found a few more of Jack’s hiding holes, there was seldom anything more of importance. Certainly nothing that would lead to Jack’s capture, and nowhere near enough to keep the Elders from hounding Mason. She did not want to think of what the Elders might do if they lost all patience with the situation, for she knew too well what they were capable of when angered.
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