like Halpren had taught her why Differel had no tolerance for them.
"Inspector, are you not the least bit curious as to why we're out here, on this particular night?" She hadn't wanted to bring it up, but she felt she had no choice.
"That would go to motive. Right now, my concern is means and opportunity, and recovering Sir Differel, if she is still alive."
"Oh, she's alive, for now. In this case, Redjack is no hurry."
He frowned and narrowed his eyes. "You seem to have some special insight here. You realize, while rare, a serial killer can be a woman, or even someone faking it to cover for her real crime."
She bit off a scathing reply, and instead turned away and walked over to a table covered with maps to get control of herself. She realized that from his point of view he was only doing his job, but his accusation had very nearly been the last straw.
Besides, he didn't know the whole story.
"Not insight, Inspector; knowledge, but not for the reason you suppose."
He approached her and took a position at one side of the table. "I'm listening, but before you go on, it is my duty to inform you that anything you say from this point forward will be taken down and may be used in evidence against you."
"I understand." As he pulled out a pen and notepad, she sorted through the maps and pulled out one that showed the street layout for that ward. "The Caerleon Order has teams all over Spitalfields, but Differel and I chose this area because, until 1904, the lorry park was known as Dorset Street." She indicated the location on the map by circling it with her finger.
He made no reply, and his expression didn't change.
"That means nothing to you?"
"Should it?"
She selected a transparent overlay and placed it on top of the map. "Then how about this: it lay at the heart of the Spitalfields rookery. Where the Exchange is now used to be Miller's Court, whose entrance lay between 26 and 27 Dorset Street."
"I'm sorry, but that doesn't ring any bells."
"How about the date; the 9th of November?"
"Ms. Chesham, I--"
"Lady Margaret, Inspector. Or these dates: the 31st of August, the 8th of September, and the 30th of September?"
"I really don't see--"
"How about these names: Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, or Catherine Eddowes?"
He frowned, and for a moment his eyes glanced down, as if that sparked something from his memory. "I'm...not sure." He sounded genuinely puzzled.
"Then perhaps the year will make it clear: 1888."
He stepped back as his eyebrows climbed up his forehead. "Are you suggesting that Redjack is recreating the murders of Jack the Ripper?"
"No, Inspector, I'm telling you that Redjack is Jack the Ripper."
"But that's--that's--"
"Ridiculous? Unbelievable? Impossible?"
"I was going to say insane, but as you say."
"You don't find the similarities striking?"
"Perhaps, but a copycat will try to reproduce former crimes as closely as possible. However, any similarities are bound to be due to the fact that all serial killings follow a certain broad pattern even if details are vastly different."
"Naturally, the cases cannot be identical, not after a century, but they are far more similar than you appear ready to admit."
"Very well, enlighten me."
She realized he was hoping she would hang herself, but she still had a couple of aces in her hand. "The weapon Redjack uses is a sharp-bladed instrument, an inch wide and at least six inches long."
"That information was not released to the press."
"True, but before you put me in irons, you should know that my father is the Duke of Anglin."
"I'm afraid it won't matter how rich or politically connected your family is once I arrest you for the murder of Sir Differel."
"My point, Inspector, is that he serves Her Majesty's Government as acting Lord High Constable, which effectively makes him the highest law enforcement official in the land. He has been following the Redjack case from the beginning. It was he who alerted the Caerleon Order of the strong similarities to Jack the Ripper, and he has been keeping Differel appraised of all the findings from the Met's investigations."
He scowled in obvious frustration. She couldn't help smiling at his discomfort. She knew that to his way of thinking, she could now claim that any incriminating information she might reveal during interrogation could have come from her father rather than her intimate knowledge of the crimes.
"What does this have to do with the Ripper murders?"
"Jack the Ripper used a nearly identical weapon."
He appeared to mull that over, and she wondered if she might be getting through to him.
"What else?"
"Redjack's first four victims were all sedated with laudanum before they were killed and dismembered."
"So?"
"The Ripper also sedated his first four victims with laudanum, though he used grapes or alcohol to administer the drug, whereas Redjack injected it into his victims using a hypodermic syringe. Differel believes his victims assumed they were receiving cocaine or heroin, and I agree."
"How can you be sure the Ripper used laudanum?"
"Several investigators at that time speculated in their diaries that he must have used something to keep his victims quiet, because no one ever heard any screams or cries for help, and they believed laudanum was the most likely agent, because it was cheap and easily obtainable, and little else was available at the time. Plus, autopsies revealed that at least two of his victims had eaten grapes shortly before they died. Granted it's all circumstantial, but combined with everything else it seems obvious."
"Everything else?"
"In both cases, the first four victims were women in their forties, who worked as professional or amateur prostitutes, who had substance abuse problems, and were described as homely, even ugly."
"As I recall, the final Ripper victim was different."
"And that's where the strongest similarities appear. Mary Jane Kelly was only 25. Though rumored to be a prostitute, she had no criminal record and that may have developed out of the many relationships she had with men. There is no evidence of substance abuse, though she did occasionally drink to access. She was described as being of fresh complexion and attractive appearance. She was horribly mutilated, practically vivisected, and she wasn't killed on the street as the others were, but in her lodgings, at 13 Miller's Court."
"Which explains your interest in this area. But I don't see any similarity between Ms. Kelly and Sir Differel."
"Differel is 20 and, though she would disagree, has been described as attractive. Also, while she has a reputation as a teetotaler, she is in fact a casual drinker who has, on occasion, become roaring drunk." She knew that for a fact because she had been there each time getting plastered right along with her.
"That seems rather thin."
"Kelly was also described as slim and fair, adjectives that can apply to Differel, and they are, or were the same height. Also, Differel is fluent in Welsh."
"So?"
"So was Kelly."
"All right, I can understand why you feel the similarities are striking, but I'm not convinced. Fundamentally, Sir Differel is a very different kind of person from either quartet of prostitutes, or Ms. Kelly."
"Well, our patrols had denied Redjack any other victims besides ourselves."
"Yes, I understand, but you maintain Sir Differel was taken because of some alleged connection to Jack the Ripper, not as merely a target of opportunity."
"Why did he take her instead of me? In numerous ways I'm more similar to his previous victims than she is."
"Assuming he was hiding somewhere along that side of the street, she may have been closer to him, and you were distracted."
"She had her back to me. Redjack could have snatched me as easily as her, and she wouldn't have heard even as I didn't. But you're forgetting the similarities; they explain why he selected her, at lea
st in part."
"How so?"
"I believe he also took her to cripple the Order. If he kills her, Dracula is released, and the Order will no longer be able to use him to kill monsters."
He momentarily glanced down again. "Yes, that makes sense. But what if she's already dead?"
"The Ripper toyed with Kelly before he killed her."
"As I remember, he killed her by a slash to the throat and performed the mutilations afterwards."
"That's true, but we can't know how long he kept her alive first, or what he might have done to her that the later mutilations obscured. All we can say is he took his time. As such, even after ninety minutes, there's a good chance she may still be alive, though what shape she's in..." She shrugged.
"But how can you be sure?"
A shadow cloud rose up behind him from under the table. It coalesced into human form, and Dracula appeared as it dissipated. "Because I will know the moment she dies," he rumbled.
Halpren jumped, dropped his mug, and sprinted back as he turned to face the Master Vampire.
"Don't be afraid! He won't hurt you; he just likes playing the arsehole."
Dracula grinned at her, touched the brim of his hat, and bowed his head. "Thank you, My Lady."
Halpren relaxed, though Margaret figured it was due more to his realization that he could do nothing to harm the Vampire. "I've heard rumors of your existence, but I never really believed you were real."
"I am as real as pain, Inspector."
"Have you discovered anything?" Margaret asked.
"She is still alive, and I have narrowed her presence down to this location." He pointed at the map and circled an area with his finger.
"Inside the Exchange?"
"Within it, but not a part of it."
"What's that