Killers

• Nicole Pereira, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2010

On the 23rd of December 1876 in the cold dark street of London a felt a shiver go down my spine. As I looked up into the sky I watched my breath turn into white like the moon up in the sky. Suddenly I heard a hoarse cry as I turned the corner a woman was kneeling onto the ground frightened. I went up to her as the dead corpse came into my sight. I sighed.
“I’ve got to solve this case before Christmas turns bloody. “ I muttered under my breath.
I called the police and comforted the women. As the police came closer to the crime scene the sirens of the police car sounded like the angry calls of the people who have been killed. I pulled up the collar of my coat, enough to cover my face because it indeed was a cold night. The next day I was walking down Copper St. as Watson’s cane came into sight. As I approached him he looked up and greeted me.
“Hello” Watson said.
“Hello” I replied.
“Did you hear about the dead corpse last night?”
“Yes, indeed I did, as a matter of fact I was there at the crime scene.”
“Was it another one of his?”
“Do you mean Jack the Ripper?”
“Of course! Who else would I be talking about?”
“I think it is.”
I grabbed my jacket as Watson asked,
“Well, where are we headed to?”
“Where do you think, to McCarty’s place of course!”
Watson and I were pushing through the Christmas party crowd as it was the day before Christmas. When we reached the police station we asked for office McCarty. The pot bellied officer came wobbling towards us holding a cup of coffee in his hand. McCarty bald head shined as the ceiling light reflected on his head.
“Hello boys,” McCarty said.
“Hello officer, have you found anything?”
“Yes indeed!”
“What did you find?”
“Well actually the corpse you found yesterday wasn’t dead and I was just about to go to the hospital and interrogate the lady. Do you want to come with me?”
“Yeah, of course! Watson and I would be happy to.”
As we entered the black car of McCarty, I saw that McCarty had grabbed a few papers that shuffled as he wobbled towards the car. As McCarty sat on the driver’s seat the car sunk a little and he turned on the engine. As we drove to the hospital the car was filled with the tension of silence. When we were at the Danish Cross hospital, I caught sight of some men that looked like police officers. The men greeted McCarty as he walked past and went to their positions. I asked McCarty why he needed so much protection and he replied that Jack the ripper might come back and try to kill the girl again. As we walked through the polished floors of the hospital, I saw a strange man following after us. I whispered the information into Watson’s ear he looked surprised and span his head around. He also saw the man and started facing forwards again.
“What’s he doing?”
“I don’t know, but something tells me that he has something to do with this case.”
Watson looked stunned and he kept silent for a while but as soon as we were on the elevator the man did not ride the elevator and went the other way. I wondered what he was and went in to deep thought. When I looked up we were in front of the room that had the name plate Mary Waters on it. McCarty knocked on the door and an answer came saying yes. We walked in and I saw a girl sitting on the bed. McCarty introduced us to her and started to ask questions so I looked around the room, to my surprise I didn’t see any of her families. I went out of the room to get some fresh when I saw the guy again, I pretended as I didn’t see him and acted as if I was going to the bathroom. When I hid in the corner I saw the guy staring at the door and listening to something. Next thing I knew he was jotting down notes. As I studied the guys face I noticed that it looked familiar. Then I remembered that he was the detective who helped me in another case earlier, his name was John Willow…. I think.
I approached John and said hi, but John stared at me with cold eyes and walked away. I stood where I was and stared into space until Watson shook me. I looked at him and asked what the matter was he said that McCarty was calling me. I wondered what it was and went back into the room still pondering why John was acting weird. When I went in McCarty looked up and said he found interesting things about the suspect. According to the girl Jack the ripper (JTR) showed his face before he killed the girl and that he told her to remember his face. I was thinking that that was odd because normally if a criminal does such things, then his/her cover would blow if the victim was alive, and there wouldn’t be any point hiding from the police. Didn’t he think that he would be found? Did he think that he could run away? As I thought of catching him I grinned thinking how much fun it would be. I said I needed to go to the bathroom and went outside. As I was day dreaming the suspects face I felt a strong tug on my jacket. I turned around and saw John. As soon as I tried to ask why he didn’t answer me when I said hi to him, he silenced me and took out a notepad and scribbled something down. I wondered what it was until he gave the paper to me. The paper said: I have wires on me.

I looked up to John and saw him pointing at a couple of wires and then noticed…. He was being used by JTR. I mouthed the words Jack the Ripper and he nodded solemnly. I slumped to the ground and asked why but by the time I looked up he had already left. When I stood up I found out that he had left a piece of paper behind and this is what was written:

I know you can do it Holmes. Just be careful JTR is very careful with his killings and when you are caught trying to sniff him out of the crowd he will be hiding and won’t come out until you stop searching. He also tends to like killing precisely and accurate so if he finds out that the girl is living he would go crazy and would definitely try to murder her again. I’ll give you a hint: [in the dark he goes out on the streets when you’re there its already too late Jack The Ripper has beat you to the point.] You have to be quicker and clever to stop him Holmes, you are the only one who can stop this devilish creature. Also he plans to kill another girl called Elizabeth McCarty, if you are smart enough you know what this means. Stop him.
John

The name McCarty sounded familiar but when I found out why it was so familiar I felt the blood in my face drain away. I knew who it was; it was officer McCarty’s daughter. Suddenly I was filled with excitement and joy that rushed together at the surface. I went back into the room and pulled officer McCarty out of the room. Officer McCarty was really angry at first but after I told him about the note he fell silent as if sound had been swept away. He looked up at me as if to tell him that it was all a lie but I shook my head and saw officer McCarty run to the hospital telephone and started to dial the numbers of his house. I watched officer McCarty until he started talking to someone. I went back to the room and explained what was happening to Watson. Watson also started panicking but I told him not to worry. When officer McCarty came in I asked how his daughter was, he said that she was perfectly fine and was going to a party tonight. I thought something was wrong everything is going as JTR planned. I thought that something was wrong that there must be a mistake even a tiny one that he made or was it that he outran me? That’s when I knew what he was trying to do. I told the officer to guard his house because he needed all the protection that he could get and I also to not let his daughter to go to the party. If this is how JTR wants to play then I would follow his rules because I know his tricks, I can win this game. When we were on the car I asked McCarty if I could stay guard at the hospital he thought about it and slowly nodded his head. That night at the hospital I stood guard right next to the victim and waited for the criminal to show up.

Eventually JTR showed up and put in a sleep bomb inside of the girls room and I fell down as if to show if I was asleep and then when he came in I slowly took out my gun and shot 2 dry shots that drilled into his legs. He cried in pain and fell to the ground so I stood up and shot him again just missing his heart. I asked the girl to come out of the wardrobe and was walking over to the wardrobe when all of a sudden I heard a dry bang! Then as I heard the sound I felt a sharp pain in my back. I fell to the ground hard and blacked out. I woke up and looked around, I saw Watson sleeping on the chair and thought he must have been here the whole time. Then as I thought about JTR I rose up and felt the pain I looked at my stomach it was wrapped with white bandages, then the memory of last night flashed back through my mind ….I was shot. I lay back down on bed and shook Watson to wake him up. Watson woke with a jolt and looked at me with relief. He said that I was going to die if the bullet hadn’t missed the liver. Then I heard McCarty’s voice as his plump body made its way through the door. McCarty was delighted and said that I was the hero who stopped JTR because apparently after I blacked out one of the guards came inside to see what was happening and called McCarty, who came rushing to the hospital with Watson.

After a few months I had fully recovered from my wound and I went back to the apartment where I lived. I was thinking about what McCarty told me about Jack the Ripper, “His name was Harry Smith and his reason for killing was that he wanted to see the women in pain. I seriously did not get that guy but he sure looked really scared, well I guess that’s because he was arrested.” I knew that it wasn’t Harry Smith who killed all those innocent people it was John. I knew the second I looked at his face before I blacked out. I know that he is still out there planning to attack again and when he comes out to fight I’ll be there to block his way. I’ll be waiting to destroy him. But I guess until then I will just have to wait patiently for him to show up. I plan my every move. I’ll show him that I can beat him at his dirty tricks. I’ll make him pay back for all the pain he’s caused by harming innocent people and taking their lives away from them.

The End