Chapter 26
Aaron found the Vampire’s comment that the Ripper wouldn’t be outside on a night like this interesting but didn’t pursue why that might be. He had more important questions to ask. “Did he do that job before Christmas? The strangulation?”
“Nah,” came the reply. “That drunk done herself in. Not his callin’ card.”
That was just as his team had suspected, and Aaron moved on before the answers stopped coming. “What about the day after Christmas?”
“Yeah, that’s him. Papers ain’t think so, though. Neither do the coppers much. He’s switchin’ it up now. You’ll have a hard time tellin’ the difference.”
“Why?” Aaron asked. “Why switch it up?”
“Why not?” he giggled, and for a moment Aaron thought the maniacal, highly disturbing laugh might be back, but he reined it in. “Coppers is too close. Gotta put some distance, you know?”
“He’s on their list?”
“Sure.” The Vampire adjusted the collar of his long coat. “But then, ain’t we all? I am.” A moment of consideration later, he added, “Bet you are, too.”
An interesting comment which made Aaron ponder if this might be their man. While it wasn’t the first time the idea had crossed his mind, he pushed it aside. This guy didn’t seem nearly intelligent enough to pull off the complicated dissections the Ripper had performed, and he’d ascertained earlier that their friend had spent his living days playing piano in just the sort of establishments that surrounded them now. There was a very slim chance that he was actually talking to the Ripper. “What next then? What changes should we expect?”
“Who knows?” he replied, his leg jumping about, showing he was growing antsy. “Gotta throw dem coppers off, you know? Gotta keep it int’resting, blue eyes.”
“Could you meet me back here tomorrow evening?” Aaron asked, wishing he’d agree to an arranged meeting so he could be more thorough. This was not the first time he’d asked.
“Nah,” the Vampire called, looking back over his shoulder. “Can’t be tied down. Can’t trust you.”
“I’ve given you no reason not to trust me,” Aaron assured him, and though he could feel that his words were having some effect, the man still clearly did not want to become more involved with the enemy.
“Nah. I’ll find you,” he confirmed, another glance over his shoulder, and he added, “after the next one. There’ll be another one, you know? Don’t let dem papers make you think it’s over. It’s just beginning.”
Before Aaron could say more, the Vampire took off in the other direction, and Aaron watched him go.
“We could catch him, you know?” Vicky said, stepping forward now that he was just a form in the distance.
“For what purpose?” Aaron asked, watching him fade into the shadows. “He would no longer trust us and probably wouldn’t tell us anything once we had him.”
“What if he’s the one doing the murders?’ she asked, chewing her bottom lip.
Aaron shook his head. “No, it’s not him. He’s too… scattered. Too unskilled.”
She nodded. This wasn’t the first time she’d posed the question, and he wasn’t sure she was convinced this time either. “Well, I guess we present this information back to the team and see where it leads?” she asked.
Aaron agreed, and they made their way back to Kensington with only slightly more information and no true answers.
The next morning at the team meeting, Aaron prepared to give the notes they’d collected from their friendly Vampire, but another pair insisted that they go first, saying they had found a lead, and he sat back and listened as Frank and Berta described what had happened the night before.
“We were doing our rounds, as usual,” Frank began, “nothing out of the ordinary when suddenly I get that feeling in my gut, like somethin’s amiss. And this ain’t one of those regular flip flops either, mind you. My stomach is screaming an alarm.”
“So, we turn down a narrow alleyway,” Berta continued, and Aaron absently wondered how narrow it could be in order for her muscular stature to squeeze through, “and at the other end, we see the outline of a man, standing in the shadows, silhouetted by a nearby gaslight.”
“He’s wearing a top hat and cape, just as the eyewitnesses have described, and when he sees us, he takes off running, like he knows he’s been caught,” Frank continued.
Berta picked up where he left off, her German accent making it slightly difficult to understand what she was saying once she became excited. “We gave chase, but he was fast—much faster than anyone we’d encountered before.”
“I’m no spring chicken, and Berta’s more strength than speed,” Frank reminded them.
“Eventually, we turn the corner and see him leap up and over a tall stone wall. By the time we got there and reached the top, he was gone,” the female Guardian concluded with a shrug.
“And you think this was our man?” Ward clarified.
“Absolutely,” Frank nodded. “We retraced our steps, and once we got back to the original alleyway, we discovered something we hadn’t seen in the first place because it was dark, and we were focused on the Vampire.”
“What was it?” Harvey asked. All of them were listening intently as the story unfolded.
“A woman,” Berta replied, and Aaron heard Vicky gasp quietly to his left. “She was on the ground, in the shadows. She was still breathing but her neck was bruised. It’s as if he strangles them before he feeds, then he dismembers their bodies to leave little trace of their true wounds.”
“Why would he do that?” Edmund asked, the question in general and not pointed at anyone in particular.
Ward let loose a sigh they could each identify with before turning to face the young man on his right. “Dr. Joplin, do you have a response to that?”
The doctor cleared his throat, and Aaron could tell he was very nervous, not used to addressing groups of this variety. Aaron’s understanding was that he had Transformed shortly after completing his medical degree at Harvard Medical, which he had gained entrance to and graduated from remarkably quickly as an outstanding physician, and then served a few years in training in his home state of Massachusetts before Ward heard of his skills and brought him here to consult on this particular case, which was the most complicated any of them could remember.
Aaron just wasn’t sure what to make of the kid. As he began to answer, Aaron did his best to get a fill for this guy was and if he could be trusted.
