Session I: Introductions and Interruptions

 1890 - Monday, October the 25th.

Marion Collins

The usual chill was in the air, the London sky producing light rain that cut through the skin and sent a cold shiver up the spine.

Marion Collins, an assistant pathologist for the London City Morgue was on his way to deliver a selection of files from his employer, Dr Spencer to the police station located in Hyde Park.  Making his way through the rain and busy streets, he was under instructions to hand the files to Inspector Jones, a member of Scotland Yard.

Reginald Lockhart was making his way with his family, his wife Jane, four children, Elizabeth, Margaret, Jane and Cecil accompanied by the household Nanny, and man servant Vinjay Singh to the northern end of Hyde Park for lunch.  His home, located not far from Regents Park, however Hyde Park provided a larger area for his children to play.

Not bothered by the cold, Reginald strode confidently down the street, the 45 year old, former military Captain, now retired, dressed himself in reasonably fine garb, his overcoat made of suede, his cane made of rosewood and brass.

As the family entered Hyde Park, they stopped for lunch at a neat restaurant on the north end before the children excused themselves, followed by their Nanny to play in the grass. Following in the direction of the children Reginald was somewhat unnerved by the scene that was unfolding closer to the centre of the open space.

Suffragette rally near Hyde Park

A rally of women all screaming and yelling at passers by, each holding boards and banners calling for women to be able to vote.  A second mob of men formed to protest the signs and rabble in the park.  As the mobs expanded, Reginald gave orders for the Nanny to gather the children and head back to their home, while gathering his bearings in the park, a sudden push in the back struck him, more protestors moving to engage the mob, Jane was struck by another angry park patron before Singh intervene and sent the assailant to the ground.

A new mob had formed, this time all weeping the familiar police helmet and carrying standard issue batons, their navy garb crashing into the wide spread mob like a disorganized wave crashing on rock.

As police began to arrest numerous men and women, Singh felt his arm get yanked hard as a police officer threw him in with the mob being taken in the direction of the police station.  The commotion caused Jane to feel panicked, Reginald sent Jane in the direction of their Nanny, demanding she accompanied the children home, Reginald making his way through the crowd towards the police station to retrieve his man servant.

Vinjay Singh

The police station was chaos, women being bustled together in the holding cells to the left of the desk Sergeant, the rowdy and drunk men being sent to the right.  Reginald caught the attention of the desk Sergeant, demanding his man be released, overwhelmed with the crowd of people entering the station, the Sergeant asked Reginald to stand towards the back of the main entrance until able to be addressed.

Caught up in the rabble, Marion Collins was doing his best to hold on to the stack of files for Inspector Jones, duck and weaving out of the way of drunks and boisterous women.

Making his way across the foyer, the desk Sergeant sending him towards the familiar tweed suit of Inspector Jones, Marion was stuck in the sea of busy bobbies.

Reginald felt a thud against his right arm, a man had tripped and was seeking support as he was falling to the ground, without thinking Reginald lunged for the man, grabbing him by the arm.  Inspecting the forearm in his grasp, Regional noticed the man was covered in bandages, wearing what seemed to be dirty and shabby clothes, doing little to hide the badges underneath.  Also wearing dark glasses to hide his eyes, the man continued to fall as Reginald recoiled slightly at the sight of the blistered skin showing through the bandage weave.

Cpt. Reginald A. Lockhart

Reginald called for a Doctor, his booming voice echoed across the police station tiled walls.  Marion ducked at the booming voice that was less than three feet from him.  Advising he was a Doctor, Marion placed his files on the floor and knelt down beside the heavily bandaged man.  Reginald stood forward, leaving over the man, his bowler hat casting a shadow over Marion.  The bandaged man heaved up towards Marion who was checking his bandages and the wounds underneath.  Reaching for Marion, his voice was coarse, desperately pleading for someone to save a woman by the name of ‘Susan’.  Marion leaned closer, removing the man’s dark glasses, recoiling at the sight, Marion discovered that the bandaged man in front of him had no eyes, only empty and heavily burned sockets.  Taking a deep breath Marion asked the man again for any information regarding himself only to see the man exhale deeply, a strange blue vapor escaping his mouth, his final breath as he lay dead on the floor.  Checking for a pulse that was not present, Marion looked for the closest face he could find, looking up at Reginald, exclaiming that the man on the floor was dead.

A wailing woman screamed loudly across the room, ‘His eyes! His eyes!’ Marion and Reginald turned their gaze to the face of the body on the floor, a thick, almost fluorescent blue ooze began to slowly leak from the empty eye sockets.

Marion covered the man's face with one of the loose bandages to hide the sight from any onlookers.  Reginald’s booming voice echoed across the room again, clearing the immediate space and making demands of the police close by to remove the recently deceased man.

Insp. Athelnay Jones

The tweed wearing inspector Jones emerged through the crowd, demanding to know what was happening, only to be met with the thunderous voice and imposing figure of Reginald demanding the removal of the body for the doctor to further inspect.  Taking one look at the corpse on the floor, Jones’s face turned a different shade of green, ordering a nearby officer, Constable Walker, to arrange the body be moved to a cell.  Jones quickly disappeared into his office, Reginald watching him withdraw with a sneer on his face, thinking to himself that the cleaner would be scrubbing vomit off the floor in the Inspector’s office that evening.

Walker and three other constables collected the body as Marion gathered his files and followed the corpse, Reginald also in tow.  As the constables lay the body on the bench in the empty cell located in the back of the station, the officers quickly withdrew, Walker remaining outside the iron bars as Marion entered, begin to peel back the bandages from the man’s body, lifting the loose wrappings with one of the pencils he kept in his pocket.

Reginald appeared at Marion’s side, also examining the body, noticing that the clothes the man was wearing were strangely out of season, usually worn in the tropics rather than London in October.

Calling for one of the constables to gather a glass or something he could collect the blue ooze in, Marion inspected the body closely.  The wounds sustained under the bandages, the wounds giving off the smell of rot and decay as if it had been in the baking sun for hours.  The blisters and boils covering the body seemed to be from burns, but were not consistent with sunburn, fire or scorching.  Handed a short glass by Walker, Marion began sliding the glass along the man’s exposed cheeks, scooping up a large amount of the blue substance that had lost part of its luminescent glow.

Tying a piece of cloth and string around the top of the glass to keep the contents inside, Marion stood up from beside the bench, turning the Reginald and explaining what the man had muttered to him regarding ‘Susan’.  Marion placed the glass down and began checking the man’s pockets for any form of identification, finding nothing, both men spied a loose piece of paper that had fallen from the body during the movement of it by the police.  Unfolding the paper, Marion could read that the paper was a steamship receipt for ‘Alfred and Mrs Windebank’, a second class receipt for possibly himself, traveling from Singapore, arriving October 17th aboard the Marie Louise.

East Indies Steamship Company Receipt

Handing the receipt to Reginald, Marion had a troubled look on his face, not knowing much of Singapore or of anything that could cause such burns.

Agreeing that this evidence was to be given to Inspector Jones to see if Mrs Windebank could be located.  As if on cue, Inspector Jones entered the cells, demanding to know what civilians were doing in his cells.  Reginald gave the inspector a serious glare before addressing him as if he was still commanding a regiment, Jones quickly shrinking in his shoes at the verbal assault from Reginald, Marion also chiming in to explain that he was present purely by accident, having been sent on an errand by Dr Spencer to deliver files.

Jones gave orders to Walker to cover the body, before demanding that Reginald and Marion remove themselves.  Marion firmly gave the stack of files to Walker, explaining they were for Inspector Jones, before turning and walking back through the doorway of the cell and out into the main area of the police station, Reginald stopping briefly to glare at Walker before following Marion.

Back in the main lobby of the police station, Reginald asked that Marion wait a moment before leaving as he wanted to speak to the doctor about the events in the cell.  The desk Sergeant had regained control of the station, the cells full of women on one side and men on the other.  Gulping hard as he saw Reginald approach, the Sergeant offered his assistance.  Reginald loudly demanding the release of his man, Vinjay Singh, giving a description of him to the man cowering behind the desk.  Within a minute, Vinjay emerged from one of the cells, his lip bloody and his shirt torn.

Vinjay was a physically imposing man, he did not give the impression of being a servant, looking more like a man who was better suited to fighting for money in a boxing ring, his physique large and powerful.

Reginald inspected his servant, asking who had accosted him, Vinjay giving few responses, explaining that his assailant had been dealt with.

Smiling and giving a slight chuckle, Reginald joined Marion in the entryway, walking together out of the police station and into Hyde Park, followed closely by Singh

Reginald began to remark regarding his observations of Inspector Jones, Marion struggling to raise his eyes from the floor in front of him, he smiled at the humorous, degrading comments being made.  Stopping in the park, Reginald formally introduced himself to Marion who did the same, Reginald letting out a slight smile at the name Marion, but happy to offer him a lift back to his office.  Trying to thank Reginald for his generosity, Marion did his best to withdraw, Reginald however was not having it, as Singh waved down a hansom cab for them.

Next to where Reginald and Marion were standing, a newspaper vendor interrupted their conversation, asking about the bandaged man he saw enter the police station earlier.

Confused by the sudden interjection into their conversation, Reginald responded about how the man had passed away, the newspaper vendor responded on how the man did not look well after disembarking the carriage he exited from.  Marion enquired about the carriage, the vendor responding that he exited a carriage labelled “The London Carriage Co”.

Turning back to Marion and dismissing the vendor, Reginald enquired about the possible contagiousness of the man’s condition.  As a Hansom cab pulled up to the two men, Reginald sent Singh home, entering the cab with Marion, paying the driver as Marion stated the location of the Morgue.

Reginald continued to question the findings of the doctor, the blue substance being of primary concern, recounting the name on the receipt of Alfred Windebank, writing it down on a note pad he kept in his coat.  The cab ride took longer than expected for the short distance it had to travel, the busy street giving the occupants of the cab time to talk.

Marion spoke aloud the symptoms he had witnessed regarding the sores and boils, absence of eyes and of course the blue substance.

As the cab stopped, Reginald handed Marion his calling card, impressing on him the importance of informing him of his findings as he needed to protect his family, particularly regarding the possible contagion.

Dr. Emery Spencer

Disembarking the carriage and thanking Reginald for his generosity, Marion made his way down the access alley to the Morgue entrance.  Entering the Morgue, Marion made his way through the curtains to where Dr Spencer was located.  Dressed in his surgeon's apron, Dr Spencer was in the process of removing organs from a body on the autopsy table in front of him, weighing each part.

Marion immediately engaged Dr Spencer who was dismissive of the conversation.  Marion’s description was staggered, expressing where the blue substance had come from.  Dr Spencer was irritated by his pathologist's description.  Asking him to be specific regarding details about the body before requesting Marion to leave the jar on his desk.

Lowering his head and walking to Dr Spencer’s office, Marion placed the jar on the large desk before retreating back to where a pile of reports was waiting for him.

Entering his home to find his wife Jane sitting in the drawing room, Reginald was bursting to inform her of the events within the police station.  Jane, a somewhat proper lady, had no interest in hearing of the dead body and mysteries surrounding it, tuning out her husband's voice as he rambled about blue ooze and bandages.  Seeing her disinterest, Reginald’s upper lip became stiff, summoning Singh and heading into his private study.