Murder (34 page)

It was in the De Tourville case in 1875 that Dr. Thomas Bond’s name first came prominently before the public as that of a medico-legist. De Tourville was a waiter in a French restaurant who was taken into service by a travelling Englishman, with whom he visited a number of places. The Englishman mysteriously disappeared, and De Tourville came to London, entered the Temple, was called to the Bar, cut a great dash at Scarborough as a French count, married a young woman of fortune, and killed her mother. But no suspicion was aroused at first. The body was buried after a brief inquest, and it was not until both the first and second wives of De Tourville died strange deaths, leaving their large fortunes in his hands, that the body of the first wife’s mother was exhumed. De Tourville had declared she had accidentally shot herself while looking down the barrel of a pistol. Dr. Bond’s examination of the skull proved that she had been murdered from behind.

Then came the Wainwright case, when Dr. Bond discovered three bullets embedded in the brain of the victim, Harriet Lane – bullets which had been overlooked in the first post-mortem examination. His
researches also led to the establishment of identification conclusively. In after years Dr. Bond’s knowledge and skill were employed in the Richmond (Kate Webster) case, the Lefroy and Lamson murders, the Whitechapel series, and the Camp train crime, to detail a few of the many occasions in which Scotland Yard called him as an expert
.

He loved Sundays in summer: late breakfast, a long read of the newspaper and then perhaps a walk. This morning he had done the first two, but now he stared at the journal sitting on the kitchen table amidst the empty plates. The door was open and a warm breeze darted around him. Even knowing to whom the book had belonged, it was hard to dampen his good mood on a day as glorious as this.

They had brought him the envelope, still sealed, after Juliana had begun the task of clearing out Bond’s house. He had left them his property – which came as a surprise to Juliana and Kane as much as anyone – and she wished to return it to its former glory before either renting it or closing it up to keep for any future visits to London. They would be staying there at least until the baby arrived, and perhaps longer. Edward Kane, usually so hardy, had been struck down by a fever and had taken to his sickbed, and Juliana had already employed a nurse to help her when the baby arrived. After the loss of James, Moore was not surprised she wanted to stay in England until her new child was of an age to travel safely, and so perhaps Kane’s illness, as long as it passed, was a godsend.

He was impressed by Juliana. She had been stoic in Bond’s death; she had efficiently gone about organising the funeral despite her own grief. She was a woman who had become accustomed to loss but had been strengthened by it rather
than made fragile. Moore could see that most of that was down to the love between her and Kane. They made a fine – and handsome – pair, and although Juliana obviously loved London, he hoped that they would get back to their New York lives soon. She had clearly thrived there, and there was little left for them here. Bond’s house was no place for them – there were too many ghosts to be seen in the corners.

He lit a cigarette and stared again at the journal. That too was full of ghosts: a ghost of himself in a past life lived in those pages, as did all the rest of them. He picked it up, feeling the weight of Bond’s words against the paper.

He hadn’t read much. The first few pages he had rather enjoyed, in a strange way – they were a glimpse back into those first days of the Whitehall case, so much of which he had forgotten – but when he had reached Bond’s journey to the opium dens of the East End, he had closed it up and made more tea. There were places in a man’s soul that another should not see, not even after death. His dilemma was, of course, that Thomas Bond had clearly wanted him to read his account and that was what was giving him pause.

He picked the book up once more and looked again at the first page. The writing was a mockery of Bond’s usual neat hand that Moore knew so well from so many reports. Thomas had been sick at the end, not just with the melancholy that he obviously suffered from, but he had blood poisoning, from the cuts that the hospital doctors presumed were some strange treatment he must have tried to ease his back pain. It was also clear from the pipe found beside the bed that Bond had taken to the opium to ease his symptoms. Whatever was between these pages was not an account written by a man in command of his senses.

He poured himself a fresh cup of tea from the pot as he smoked, evaluating the evidence. He had to decide whether to read on in the book or whether to destroy it. There was no in between. He was a curious man – that had, after all, made him such a good detective – and he knew that if he kept it in a drawer somewhere the day would come when he would look to the pages again. It was now or never.

He sat there for several minutes, then, when he had finished smoking, he stood up and took the book to the stove. He opened the metal door and before he could change his mind, he threw the journal inside. He felt an immediate sense of satisfaction. The Thomas Bond who had written it – who had wanted him to read it – was not the Thomas Bond he had known, the man he had been proud to call friend and colleague. That man was quiet and private, not a person to spill out his life onto the page for another to read.

He looked out at the bright, glorious day. The past was done. He had no time for it. All the world was in the future. As the book disappeared to ashes, he picked up his hat and stepped outside. Tomorrow would bring more investigations on the railway, but for today he would enjoy simply being alive.

Alleged Murder and Mutilation in Lambeth

A horrible discovery was made during the early hours of Sunday morning in Lambeth by Charles Whiting, a stoker in the employ of Messer Doulton, who on leaving the works leading to Salamanca Alley, a narrow, ill-lighted thoroughfare, came upon the remains of a young woman scattered on the roadway. A constable was immediately called, and the remains were conveyed to the Lambeth Mortuary, only a short distance away.

The
Times
of London
June 19, 1902

Yesterday Dr. Michael H. Taylor, the acting coroner, resumed his inquiry at Lambeth into the circumstances attending the death of an unknown woman, whose mutilated remains were found … in Salamanca Alley.

Assessment

The patient has made sudden and remarkable progress over the past two weeks. He is willing to see his sister again and his agitations have almost entirely ceased. His nightmares – which have plagued him for more than two years – have calmed.

When questioned on the sudden reduction in his anxieties all he will say is that ‘It has gone to America. Too far away to see.’ He will not be drawn further, and I recommend that attendants do not try to probe him more as it might affect his current state of balance
.

He still has a wariness around water but will now wash and will eat with the other patients. He allows staff to touch him when necessary – without force
.

I am not convinced that this patient will ever be well enough to leave Leavesden but I do believe that if this improvement continues and he does not relapse to his more serious condition then he may well progress further and live a relatively contented life as a functioning part of the community life here that staff are keen to create
.

The
Times
of London
March 3, 2001

SCOTLAND YARD fears that a new serial killer who preys on prostitutes could be on the loose after discovering a second severed torso in the capital’s waterways in less than two months. Detectives believe that the latest Ripper may be keeping some of his victim’s dismembered limbs as trophies as some body parts are missing from both women
.

The
Times
of London
March 7, 2001

THE discovery of the third woman’s body in one of London’s waterways in three months has led to fears of a Ripper-style serial killer, who murders prostitutes before throwing their bodies into the capital’s rivers or canals
.

THE END