My Fair Lady

CHAPTER EIGHT

William recounted the day when the young son of the Count and Countess of Ferguson was transferred to Durham University. The young man was very shaken from his parents' murders, especially from their crimes which were exposed by The Phantom. The pressure caused him to move away from London to escape from the public's eye.

At first, William was intrigued by the cases, thinking that The Phantom and him were the two sides of the same coin. He had done what he had wanted to do even though the brutality involved in The Phantom's crimes was not his style.  Hence, he decided to investigate him and began by digging up news from a decade ago when it all started.

Fortunately or not, the first case was said to be in Durham instead of London. It was kind of tough to search for a man who matched the description of the said Phantom profile told by Fred considering the fact that it had been a decade. However, a cafe owner appeared to be helpful.

Back then, there was a man living in the west side of Durham. He was a nice yet odd man and was a huge fanatic of Shakespeare. Although his background was unknown, many people liked him and even then when William inquired about him. The man name was Jack. Apparently, he had heterochromatic blue and red eyes which answered why he was easily remembered. However he did not stay in Durham long and had moved to another city with a child.

That part caught William's interest. "A child?'

"Yes. I can't remember her well but she was very obedient and always followed Mr Jack around. She did have quite a unique hair colour though...It was like neither red nor brown, more like a mixture of both but too light to be auburn. Hmm...but not really strawberry blonde too. I think her name is Helene? Or Helen? I can no longer remember." He replied and William began to immerse in his thoughts, a name came to mind.

Helene Emsworth.

There was no other woman who would have the same unique hair colour other than her in all of England.

He had also requested Fred to search for information about The Phantom by using his networks. By coincidence or not, The Phantom also had heterochromatic eyes but the colours were unknown. However, nobody had met the new Phantom so it might just be a copycat killer, or, someone who took over for the previous Phantom.

"You mentioned that Mr Jack was an odd man, may I ask what was his oddness?"

The owner scratched his head. "I am not sure myself honestly. He was just... eccentric? He was very expressive and that was considered kind of odd in this area...and also..." He paused and William waited for him to continue.

The owner furrowed his brows, his expression serious. "Right after he arrived here in Durham, our former landlord, Viscount Hertford was found murdered. Everything was just so coincidental, but Mr Jack did not look like someone who will kill a soul. Though I have to admit that the viscount was a scoundrel! He was the same breed as that Baron who raised high taxes! At least both of them are gone now."

Back to William's study, Albert listened to William's recounts attentively, understanding what he was on about. He asked, "So assuming that this Phantom in the present is the same one as a decade ago, just why is he killing ago after pausing it for a decade? And looking at the way the victims were murdered, I cannot fathom Helene being capable of such brutality. They seemed to be done by a strong man and base on her physique, it just seem impossible."

"I have consider those points, Albert. It is possible that there is another girl who has the same hair colour with the same name. It is just a gut feeling, which is unlike myself."

William sighed and messaged his brows. The image of Helene once again surfaced in his mind. She was now his brother's wife and his sister-in-law and despite not wanting to suspect Princess Caroline's only child, he could not erase the thoughts that roamed in his mind.