Ripper by Amy Carol Reeves

mind had a difficult time getting away from the grotesque. I swallowed. “Dr. Bartlett and Dr. Buck took Simon to the mortuary to look at the latest victim. Dr. Buck is already back—I just saw him in his office. Do you know why Abberline would want them with him at the morgue?”
    William went back to writing notes.
    â€œYes.” He peered again into the lung, and then began sketching a section of the lung into his notes. “Bagster Phillips, the district surgeon, seems to think that the murderer is a physician, or at least someone with anatomical knowledge.” Without looking up, absorbed with his sketch, he continued. “The speed at which the killer struck both victims was incredible, and he knew the exact locations of the organs he mutilated, particularly when he killed Annie Chapman. He removed her uterus, cutting it cleanly away from her abdominal cavity. Also, Dr. Phillips is nearly certain that a surgical knife was the murder weapon, similar to the one I am using here.”
    I stared at the sharp surgical blade laid on the table beside the corpse. A shudder swept through me as I recalled my vision of the victim, the long, stitched slashes across her body.
    â€œSo why would Abberline bring Dr. Bartlett and Dr. Buck and Simon to the mortuary? Is he questioning Simon again? Does he consider Dr. Bartlett a suspect?”
    William clucked his tongue and lowered his voice before casting a glance toward the door. “No, no. Dr. Bartlett and Dr. Buck are above reproach. Abberline wanted them to view the body merely to confirm Phillips’ suspicions. I think that Abberline trusts Dr. Bartlett so much that he is confiding in him at every turn of the investigation. If anything, Dr. Bartlett has become an unofficial medical consultant.”
    â€œBut why bring Simon?”
    William put down his notes, picked up the knife, and began slicing a small piece away from inside the lung tissue. “One of the reasons Dr. Bartlett is so respected, so admired as a physician, surgeon, and medical lecturer, is his unique relationship with his novice physicians. As you’re aware, he treats us, particularly his favorites, as colleagues rather than the subordinates that we are. He believes that he learns from us as much as we learn from him. I imagine that when Abberline asked Dr. Bartlett and Dr. Buck to accompany him, Dr. Bartlett insisted on including the fresh, unbiased eyes of one of his young physicians.”
    â€œDoesn’t that get a bit dicey, considering that Abberline has been questioning all of the physicians and medical students here?”
    â€œProbably,” William said, digging at something again in the lung tissue.
    â€œDr. Bartlett is confiding in students … so I assume he does not suspect any of his own physicians in these murders?”
    â€œExactly. He confides in all of us too much. That’s why I know all that I do about the murders. And I don’t think the murderer is anyone here, either.”
    Finally, William looked up from the corpse. “No one here is that interesting, strong, or clever.” He smiled at me. “Except perhaps you . ”
    I heard a throat clear in the doorway.
    William’s eyes narrowed. “Why hello, Simon.”
    I turned to see Simon’s long figure in the doorway. I had never seen him cross. Mary stood beside him, equally angry. Staring from me to William, and then back again to me, she snapped, “I couldn’t find you anywhere.”
    Simon finally spoke.“William, don’t you think it’s completely unnecessary to dissect a corpse in front of Miss Sharp? None of our female staff would welcome this scene.”
    I spoke up in William’s defense. “I came here on my own accord, to get some supplies. The corpse really doesn’t bother me.”
    â€œStill,” Simon said, continuing to glare at William, whose hands and forearms were now very bloody as he probed deeper into the