Sherlock Holmes and the Duality of Man part 1

Chapter Three

After that night, Hyde retired to his house in the heart of Cavendish Square, and Sherlock brewed himself a cup of piping hot coffee before absorbing himself in his chemical work. He had completely forgotten that Hyde had said Jekyll would be coming to talk with him, so it was quite a shock to Sherlock when Watson and Jekyll walked in unannounced.

Jekyll was a tall man, standing at around 6'2. He was also quite skinny, his eyes sunken in and bloodshot after days spent working frivolously in a lab. He wore a pristine white shirt with a red waistcoat and red cravat, dark black tuxedo slacks and polished black shoes. There was a streak of whitened hair amongst the rest of the regular brown hairs on his head.

Watson and Jekyll walked into the sitting room, and Jekyll sat down whilst Watson stood standing.

"Ah, my dear Sherlock! I am glad to have caught you at home. Now, this is my incredibly good friend, Dr. Henry Jekyll. He has not been very well as of recently and he would like to tell you about somebody, and I also have it on good authority that you have met the man that Jekyll here is going to tell you about." Watson stated, gesturing towards Jekyll.

"Marie, fetch this man a glass of port. The good stuff, mind you. We do not want our guest choking on the cheap swill I usually drink!" exclaimed Sherlock, flopping into his extremely comfortable armchair.

Marie came over with a crystal decanter of Tawny red port from the year 1856 and three crystal wine glasses. She poured the wine into each glass, making sure everybody got the same amount.

Jekyll took a sip and the colour immediately returned to his cheeks, perking him right up.

"Yes, well, Mr. Holmes. I have come to speak to you about an individual I have... met recently. His name is Edward Hyde. You see, I am a scientist, and my life's work has been about the duality of man and separation of good and evil. The board of governors at St. Jude's Hospital have all but rejected my request for a human subject after my experiments with various rodents proved that my work could be completed. Therefore, I ventured out to conduct the experiment on myself, and whilst it goes against ethics and morality, it was a success. Yet, living with a separated good conscience and an evil conscience, has taken a toll on my body and mind. I rarely leave the house, and when I do, it is to go to Maw's Messyrs to pick up more drugs and salts for my work. In other words, Hyde is me, and I am Hyde." pronounced Jekyll

Sherlock sat, contemplating what Jekyll had just told him.

"...Hyde, the man I spoke with last night. Has he committed any sort of criminal acts?" Sherlock asked.

"Yes, he has. Hyde has killed all the members of the board of governors at St. Jude's Hospital, including General Lord Glossop." Jekyll answered.

"I see. He has committed an extremely heinous crime. I shall contact Scotland Yard and we shall investigate." Holmes stated matter-of-factly

Jekyll, Sherlock, Watson, and Marie spent the rest of the day talking and drinking the Tawny Red port that Marie had brought up from the wine cellar.