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you wanted to come with us John, to tell us a ghost story?
WILLIAM M. CULLEN 69
 Well . . . , replied Mr. Trundle, being a bit sheepish.  Your
investigation certainly does lend itself to the probability Ben and I just
thought . . . .
 I see, shaking my head,  you Scots and your scares.  Aye, you have
me there for we do love a wee bit of a fright, smirking a bit.  However, I
am deadly serious about protecting you and Wygate from the miscreants
in Whitechapel.
 And for that we do give our appreciation; however, I wish that you
didn t take up our (indicating all three of us) time with some fanciful
Germanic horror story; as amusing as it is.
 It seemed a trick worth playing, for Wygate s sake, nodding his
head towards Wygate.
 So, it s a joke on me, is it? asked Wygate of Mr. Trundle, looking a
bit miffed.
 Aye laddie, snickered Mr. Trundle.  I thought I would lay it out for
you, tonight, since we had gone into Whitechapel, to add to the creepy
mood.
 Ah . . . , thanks, said Wygate, looking at me, as if to ask  who does
this bloody fool think he is ?
 All right John, let s get Wygate home.
 Aye, he replied, slapping the reins upon the horse.
At this stage of the investigation I thought Mr. Trundle s story was
utter nonsense, just a dark silly tale to play upon an impressionable boy s
young mind; however, the idea that our killer was killing just for the
sake of drinking blood could not be discounted, as horrifyingly bizarre
as that sounded. Maybe Mr. Trundle was on to something. (And as the
investigation went on, I kept that thought in the back of my mind.)
Once we got Wygate home I told him to write down everything he
saw and learned tonight (including the vampyr stuff) and to bring it to
work on Monday; he said he would. Next, Mr. Trundle took me to my
boardinghouse; and along the way he apologized for the vampyr story he
told, said he thought he have a wee bit of fun. I told him to forget about
it. From there we rode in silence, listening to the sounds of the city. Once
at my building I got out, bidding him good-evening.
However, before riding away he offered, in a most serious tone,  to do
whatever I needed in order to catch this man . A little startled by the tone
I thanked him kindly for his offer and told him if there was anything I
would certainly let him know. Then he sat there for a moment, deep in
thought.
70 THE PRINTER S VAMPYR
 Yes, John? I asked of him.
He then told me a tale, without so much as looking at me that chilled
me to my very bones (and it still does.) It was nothing like I had ever
heard before from anyone.  It happened years ago, he said. A man
had kidnapped his beloved daughter Joanna by enticing her, right out
of the house, by offering her sweets. Hannah had been in the kitchen
preparing supper. Joanna and Johanna had been looking out the front
window when they saw this man waving at them to come out and get
some sweets. Joanna turned to Johanna and said  I ll be right back . Then
she went over, unlocked the door, opened it and went out; and just like
that she was gone forever. After a few moments Johanna had become
worried because Joanna had not come back in and, thus, began shouting
for her mother; and that is when we knew she had been taken from them;
and to this day they still do not know what became of her.
I was simply stunned by the horrifying tale.
Then he said, with a cold affirmation that sent a chill up and down
my spine,  if there is anything I can do in capturing this bloke Ben I will
do it in order to prevent that from ever happening to any other family;
so help me God. And with that he slapped the reins across his horse
arse and rode away, not even saying or waving goodbye, just leaving me
standing there, dumbfounded; and disturbed.
What a God awful feeling that was. I can only imagine what these
children s parents must be going through. I now knew why Mr. Watt had
wanted to  think it over for he knew that Mr. Trundle would want to
become involved; and he did, in a very heroic way.
I then went to my room to contemplate my day.
I now knew where our killer had left the bodies. I knew, based on our
collective deductive reasoning, he had to be a doctor who lived in the
West End; but which doctor? There are so many of them. And why did
he need the blood of these girls? Who was having a blood issue? Could
it be a man who has a and I hated to think upon this a  vampyr
complex? Absurd notion I know, but what other reason could there be?
And as a West End doctor how was he getting these girls? Where do
young West End girls of affluence go where a man of wealth and skill
can get his hands on them? I would have to talk to Vyola to see what she
would have to say for she is a West End girl of affluence; and to warn her.
I was to see her on the morrow for Sunday morning services, where I ll
have a talk with her afterwards.
WILLIAM M. CULLEN 71
I had also wondered how many more victims there might have been;
and how many more must there be before we can stop him, if we can find
him.
For the rest of the night, after my supper with my landlord, my mind
was a whirl of possibilities about who this killer might be and what he
was doing, and where. Therefore, in order to focus my thoughts for the
rest of the night, I wrote what I could remember about everything I had
learned that day concerning the girls and their killer. Afterwards, I wrote
an essay on the squalid conditions of Whitechapel and what King George
should do about rectifying such horrid conditions, hoping Mr. Watt
would want to publish it.
CHAPTER FOUR
Our Fifth Together
Sunday, Nov. 4, 1725
Upon awakening that cool morning, I quickly went about my
affairs breakfast, personal cleaning and the like preparing for when [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]