The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Dr Jekyll & Mr Holmes (4 page)

‘In lieu of his life, or at the very least a session in court, the ruffian agreed to surrender the sum of a hundred pounds to the girl’s family, and led them presently to the door of a shabby building on a by-street in one of the city’s busier quarters, whereupon he asked his escort to wait whilst he produced a key and went in. Some moments later he returned with a purse containing ten pounds in gold and a cheque for the balance, drawn upon the account of a man well known to Enfield. Of course they didn’t trust it, so at the ruffian’s suggestion they spent the night in my cousin’s chambers until the bank opened in the morning and they were able to cash the cheque without incident. After which the fellow was released.’

‘An ugly episode,’ said Holmes, ‘but hardly illuminating. What is its connexion with the matter which we are discussing?’

‘The strangest, Mr. Holmes.’ Utterson chewed the end of his cigar nervously. It was plain that he was keeping himself in check with an effort. ‘When the story was told to me, we were standing across the street from the very door through which the ruffian had passed to fetch the money and the cheque. Enfield pointed it out. It is a side entrance to the home of Dr. Henry Jekyll, and the cheque was made out upon his account to the order of the bearer, Edward Hyde.’

‘Good Lord!’ I cried.

Holmes, who had listened to Utterson’s story thus far in the somnolent attitude which he assumed whenever the facts of a new case were stated to him, sat up suddenly, steely eyes flashing. For the space of a heartbeat he and the lawyer stared at each Other in silence.

‘Dismiss the cab, Watson,’ said Holmes finally.

S
HERLOCK
H
OLMES
A
CCEPTS
A C
ASE

P
rotest upon my part was out of the question. I knew my friend too well to waste breath attempting to divert him from the path down which his natural inclination had led him; instead, I went downstairs, persuaded the burly cab driver to help me carry our bags back up to our rooms, and sent him on his way with a half-sovereign for his troubles. By that time Holmes had kindled a cheery fire in the grate and relieved Utterson of his coat and hat, pausing along the way to pour the lawyer a draught of our very best port. Our visitor tasted it, but it might as well have been the coarsest ale for all the enjoyment he appeared to derive from it. Having thus seen to his guest’s needs, Holmes remained standing and began poking shag into the bowl of his cherry-wood pipe with such industry that one might have thought it the most important activity which he had yet undertaken.

‘Tell me, Mr. Utterson,’ said he, frowning at his handiwork, ‘how far have you progressed in your own investigations? Come, come, do not play the innocent with me; I never knew a lawyer who was not at heart a detective — nor
vice versa
, for that matter.’ He raised his eyes from the pipe to those of our visitor. They were piercing. Gone was the languorous figure of a few moments before; he had shed that cocoon and spread his wings to swoop down upon whatever piece of solid evidence he could find which would bear his weight. At such moments the force of his personality was astounding. Utterson fidgeted beneath his fierce scrutiny.

‘I can see the futility of attempting to conceal anything from you,’ said he, setting down his glass. ‘Very well. Yes, I did investigate, for as Henry Jekyll’s solicitor I owed him that much, though I feared that you’d accuse me of meddling. I went first to Dr. Hastie Lanyon of Cavendish Square, a mutual friend — I should venture to say that apart from myself he is the oldest friend that Jekyll has. I was, however, surprised to learn that Lanyon and he had not spoken for some ten years, a rift having opened between them over some difference of opinion regarding a scientific subject. Of Edward Hyde he could tell me nothing.’

‘One moment,’ Holmes interjected. ‘Did he not mention the specific difference which created the rift?’

Utterson shook his head. ‘He gave no indication, other than to condemn Jekyll’s theories as “unscientific balderdash.” The very memory of it made him livid with rage.’

‘Interesting. But continue.’

‘There is little else to relate, save for my meeting with Hyde.’

Holmes paused in the midst of lighting his pipe. ‘A meeting, you say? When? Where?’

‘It was brief but memorable.’ The lawyer shuddered and sipped hastily at his wine. ‘That scene and its aftermath are the reason I spent most of today wandering the streets of London, as you were so quick to perceive. I was debating with myself over what should be my next course of action.

‘After I left Lanyon, I became convinced that the only way to get to the bottom of this mystery was to force an interview with the principal figure involved. To that end, I set up a vigil at the door which Enfield had pointed out, that which I knew led to the old dissecting-room which Henry Jekyll used for a laboratory, and the only place at which I could reasonably expect to encounter Hyde sooner or later. It was a lonesome occupation, that wait, and I think that I can say with some certainty that it has rid me of any aspirations which I might have entertained towards becoming a detective.

‘I fancy that I became a familiar figure to passersby — particularly one young lady of dubious occupation who never tired of attempting to ply her trade with me, no matter how many times I declined the offer. At any rate, it was past ten o’clock on a clear, cold night — last night, if I may put this account into some perspective as regards time — when my patience was finally rewarded and I beheld the object of my attention.

‘I heard first his footstep across the street, and I knew immediately that it was he, for I had witnessed all manner of gaits during my days and nights of waiting, and there was not one of them which came close to this odd, springing walk. I drew back into the shadows. No sooner had I done so than this smallish, plainly-dressed creature rounded the corner and strode across the thoroughfare in the direction of the door, fishing inside his trouser pocket as he went. At the door he drew out a key and was about to insert it in the lock when I approached him.

‘My hand upon his shoulder startled him. He gripped his cane like a weapon, and, though his face and expression were hidden in shadow beneath the brim of his dull top hat, I had every reason to believe that he intended to use the heavy crook upon me. This was a natural enough reaction, the streets of London being what they are at night; nevertheless, I was glad of my own stick, for he seemed quite capable of carrying out his unspoken threat. I introduced myself hastily and made mention of our mutual acquaintanceship with Henry Jekyll.

‘He acknowledged his identity in a strange, repressed guttural, but his face remained in concealment. I asked if he might admit me. He said that that would be unnecessary, as Jekyll was not at home. He then asked how it was that I recognised him. I ignored the question and requested that he show me his face, that I might know him again. There was a moment’s hesitation and then, defiantly, he swung about so that the glow of the corner gas lamp fell full upon his countenance.’

He sipped again at his wine, as if the memory had chilled him suddenly. ‘It was a face which I do not care to see again, Mr. Holmes. I never met a man whom I so disliked — nay, hated — upon sight alone. It seemed that he was inflicted with some ghastly deformity, and yet if you pressed me I would be helpless to name just what it was about him which was not right. I would be hard put to describe him, yet I would recognise him again in an instant. All I can say is that I was moved to absolute revulsion.’

‘If I may say so, those are strange words coming from a lawyer,’ observed Holmes, drawing at his pipe.

‘Edward Hyde is the sort which inspires strange words,’ Utterson returned. ‘In spite of my reaction, however, I managed to mutter some inanity to acknowledge the small favour which he had done me in showing himself, to which he replied — quite irrelevantly, I thought — by supplying me with his address in Soho. This caused me no little concern, for I divined from it that he was informing me where he could be reached in the matter of Jekyll’s will. It was as if he expected to collect his inheritance at any time. Again he asked me how I knew him; I gave him to believe that Jekyll had described him to me.

‘I was unprepared for his reaction. He flew into a rage and accused me of lying. I stammered some sort of defence, but before I could finish he unlocked the door, swept inside, and slammed the door in my face, leaving me standing alone upon the pavement.

‘I remained there a moment or two, and then, determined still to plumb the depths of the case, went round the corner and knocked upon Jekyll’s door. This section of the building, which fronts upon a busier street, is the more respectable for its well-kept appearance, in sharp contrast with the homely facade of the adjoining block. I was admitted by the butler, Poole, who informed me that his master was out. I mentioned seeing Hyde go in by the old dissecting-room door and asked if he did this often. Poole said that he did, and that Jekyll had left standing instructions for all the servants to obey him. The servants, he added, see little of the fellow save when they meet by chance in the rear of the house; it seems that Hyde is not in the habit of dining there, nor of remaining long when he visits. And those, Mr. Holmes, are the facts as far as I have been able to gather them.’

‘Admirable!’ exclaimed the other, who was standing with his back to the fire, smoking his pipe. ‘It’s a pity you opted for the legal profession, Mr. Utterson. Scotland Yard is in sore need of energetic fathomers such as yourself. You have made my task much simpler by sparing me the trouble of collecting the information which you have supplied.’

‘You are interested, then?’ Utterson rose.

‘The case presents a number of intriguing particulars,’ Holmes acknowledged. ‘One final question. In all the years during which you have known Dr. Jekyll, have you ever known him to be guilty of a serious indiscretion?’

‘I know what you are driving at,’ said the other, ‘but I fear that my answer will disappoint you. As long as I have been Henry Jekyll’s confidant, his actions, to my knowledge, have never been anything less than those of a gentleman. Of course, I did not know him during his student days at the University of Edinburgh and can tell you nothing about his conduct then. I doubt, however, that he could have been guilty of any malfeasance serious enough to embarrass him after all of these years. He is and has always been a credit to his calling.’

‘What of his relationship with women?’

The lawyer smiled faintly beneath his moustache. ‘Henry Jekyll and I are confirmed bachelors.’

‘These are deep waters indeed,’ reflected the detective, fingering his pipe.

‘Tell me, Mr. Holmes; is it blackmail?’

‘I think that it is very probable.’

‘Well, I care for my friend and, dark secret or no, I do not intend to see him suffer any further humiliation at the hands of a man whom upon the evidence I can only consider a fiend. But before I can free him I must know the nature of that secret, and that is why I am here. Will you accept the case?’

Holmes stepped away from the mantelpiece, turning so as to avoid meeting my warning gaze. ‘I can think of nothing that I’d like better than to turn whatever feeble skills I may possess towards the clearing up of this problem.’

‘One caution,’ Utterson said. ‘It is imperative that Jekyll never know of your interest in the matter.’

‘You have my word that as long as it is in my power to keep him in the dark he will remain so.’

The two clasped hands, and after Holmes had secured the addresses of Jekyll, Utterson, and Hyde as the last had been given the lawyer and scribbled them on his shirt cuff, he bade our visitor farewell, sending him off with words of encouragement and a promise to keep him informed. Once he had gone, my companion turned to me.

‘What does your Medical Directory have to say upon the subject of Dr. Henry Jekyll, Watson?’ he asked.

I swallowed my anger with him for the time being and took down the requested volume from among the books upon my shelf. I flipped through the pages, found the passage I was looking for, and read:

Jekyll, Henry William, M.D., D.C.L., LL.D., F.R.S., 1856, London. Lecturer, from 1871 to 1874, at the University of London. Developer of the Jekyll tranquiliser for violent mental cases. Worked with Porter Thaler, M.D., B.A., M.A., M.R.C.S., during the latter’s experiments in chemotherapy for the criminally insane. Noted for his ongoing researches into the causes and cures of mental disease. Author of ‘Law and the Dual Personality,’ Lancet, 1876. ‘The Legality of Insanity,’ Journal of Psychology, August 1880. ‘The War Between the Members,’ British Medical Journal, February 1882. Declined the offer of a knighthood in 1881 and again in 1882.

‘“The War Between the Members”,’ Holmes mused. ‘An intriguing title. I should be interested in reading the article which goes with it.’

‘I came across it quite recently whilst going through my back numbers,’ said I, trading the big Directory for the slimmer
British Medical Journal
for February of the previous year. ‘The editors gave no little space to a rather outlandish theory of his regarding — here, I’ve found it. “The War Between the Members,” by Henry Jekyll, M.D. D.C.L., LL.D., and so forth. Shall I read some of it?’