The Penny Dreadful Curse by Anna Lord Read Free Book Online

a
police friend of his in London to check that what he said was true.
I will know by this afternoon if that is the case. I think our next
move will be to have some lunch and then I will show you the Museum
Gardens and the Bootham Bar. There will be nothing significant to
see as far as clues go but it will help you get your bearings.”
    “What about
Grapecuntlane?”
    “Grape Lane,”
he corrected with a tight smile. “It is not far from the Shambles.
You can walk to it this evening from the Mousehole. Just make sure
it is still light.”

4
Five Murders
     
    A carriage took
them to the Museum Gardens where they strolled across the monastic
park to where the fourth victim had been found in the shadows of
the romantic ruins of St Mary’s Abbey Church. The gardens were
indeed as peaceful as the inspector described them and the last
place in York you would expect to be murdered.
    Straight after
their walk they stopped for lunch at an inn near the Theatre Royal.
During their meal they took the time to acquaint themselves with
the names of the five victims and the manner of each death. The
Countess was persistent about going over this again and again,
slowly and methodically. Because they had actually started with the
fifth victim and then bounced backward and forward, she felt it was
important to form a clear picture in her mind of each victim and
the circumstance of each death in chronological order.
    “Let me see if
I have this right. The first murder was swift,” she summed up to
the inspector as Dr Watson settled the bill. “The killer struck
from behind. The victim did not see who wielded the weapon. It was
over in a short space of time. It had all the hallmarks of a
prostitute murder and since no one thought otherwise a photo was
not circulated. The second victim was also attacked from behind,
pushed in the back, her face bruised and broken by the stone
stairs. The third victim was most likely pushed in the back as she
waited to cross the road. The killer may have stood in the shadow
of the arch and then shoved her in front of the horse and cart at
the last moment. No call for panic since both looked like
accidents. The fourth death was savage but no immediate
identification was possible until a family member came forward to
report a missing person. The fifth, as Dr Watson pointed out, was a
possible slip up on the part of the killer, possibly due to
becoming cocky. The killer thought the body would be impossible to
identify and no link made to the previous four, but the victim was
discovered earlier than the killer supposed.”
    “What does
that tell us?” posed Dr Watson thoughtfully, leaving a generous tip
for the waitress before rejoining the conversation.
    “It tells us
the killer is getting more daring. The first three victims were
struck from behind. The attacks were swift and spontaneous,
possibly opportunistic, and also impersonal in execution. The
fourth was savage in the extreme. The killer harbours a lot of rage
and malice towards this victim. The fifth death was more personal.
The killer stood front-on to the victim. Strangulation is highly
personal, usually perpetrated by someone who knows the victim
intimately, and it requires considerable strength. The murders are
growing more personal, more brutal, and more confronting as they
progress.”
    “You make it
sound as if you are expecting a sixth?” said the inspector
distastefully.
    “Aren’t
you?”
    “I was not
thinking that far ahead,” he admitted ruefully. “I was
concentrating on tracking down the killer. Therefore I was looking
back rather than forward.”
    “Can you
recount to me the names of the five victims once more, inspector? I
have a notebook here in my little bag. I will write them down as
you go. Start with number one and go in order, s’il vous
plait .”
    “I have a list
back at the police station, if you care to wait until tomorrow. It
has the addresses of the victims on it as well.”
    She briefly
considered his offer.