Tomorrow's Crimes ll Moriarty the Patriot

The Daily Telegraph - Issue #1

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

30 August 1876

UNPRECEDENTED HORROR STRIKES THE HEART OF ENGLISH NOBILITY 

BELOVED LADY ADELAIDE BLACKWOOD SAVAGELY MURDERED IN HIGHWAY ATTACK

With hands trembling so violently we can scarcely hold our pen, we must discharge our gravest duty as chroniclers of our times by reporting an atrocity so monumentally heinous it threatens to shatter the very foundations of civilized society. Lady Adelaide Blackwood, the youngest daughter of the Duke of Ravencroft and diamond of England's aristocracy, has been brutally slaughtered in what hardened authorities describe as one of the most barbarous act of violence ever perpetrated on British soil.

The mutilated remains of Her Ladyship's party, including two stalwart footmen and her loyal coachman of fifteen years' service, were discovered in the ashen light of dawn by a Royal Mail coach driver. The sight of the carnage sent him into such violent convulsions that he was unable to remain upright, vomiting uncontrollably before fainting. Three strong men were required to carry him away from the scene. The unfortunate man was later committed to the hospital, his body and mind shaken by the horrors he had witnessed. Inspector Harrison of the Metropolitan Police Force, a decorated veteran of twenty years' service who had seen action in the bloodiest colonial campaigns, was observed to collapse upon approaching the nightmarish tableau, retching violently before he, too, lost consciousness.

"May God have mercy on our souls," the Inspector later whispered, his face ashen and hands trembling uncontrollably, "for what manner of demons walk among us to have perpetrated such unspeakable acts? The savagery inflicted upon these poor souls... it exceeds anything in the darkest annals of human wickedness. In all my years of service to the Crown, through the Sepoy Rebellion and the darkest corners of the Empire, I have never..." The officer then collapsed into his chair, overcome by violent shudders, unable to continue.

The Coroner's official examination revealed horrors that decent society scarcely permits us to name, yet which duty compels us to record: "The carriage was transformed into a funeral pyre of such intensity that it melted iron fixtures to slag, the flames having been methodically fed with whale oil to achieve temperatures that exceed the hottest furnaces of industry. Before the conflagration, the victims endured torments that... that no Christian soul should ever witness, that no civilized mind could conceive. The coachman's dying grip on the reins tells a tale of superhuman courage - he drove on even as his lifeblood drained away through thirteen separate wounds, desperate to save his beloved mistress from the fiends who pursued them through that endless night of terror."

The two footmen, Thomas Blackbury and James Whitmore - their names we print now as heroes deserve remembrance - died as lions. Their bodies, discovered in positions of desperate defense, bore grievous wounds suggesting they fought against overwhelming odds, their sacrifice marked by a trail of their attackers' blood that stretched forty yards. Yet even their legendary valor, lauded in every servant's hall in London, proved insufficient against the tide of barbarism that descended upon them that fatal night.

Most horrifying of all was the fate of Lady Adelaide herself. The flames, deliberately stoked to crematorial temperatures that blackened even the surrounding stones, reduced the carriage to ash and cinders, leaving only the molten remnants of her distinctive Ravencroft sapphires to identify what remained of England's most promising young flower. The unspeakable savagery visited upon her person before the fire was set has caused even hardened investigators, men who daily wade through London's darkest depravities, to weep openly and question their faith in a just God.

The tragedy is rendered all the more heartbreaking by its cruel timing. Mere fortnight ago, Lady Adelaide made her glittering debut to society, earning unprecedented praise from Queen Victoria herself, who dubbed her "the diamond of the season, in whom all the virtues of English womanhood shine forth." Her grace, beauty, and gentle spirit had captured the hearts of all society. Now, that radiant light has been forever extinguished in the most brutal fashion imaginable.

This attack, unprecedented in its barbarity, has sent violent tremors through every level of London society. Ladies have taken to their beds with attacks of nerves, while gentleman's clubs buzz with talk of vigilante posses and armed escorts for every noble daughter. The safety of England's roads, long taken for granted as the proud achievement of British civilization, now seems a fragile illusion shattered by bestial savagery.

Inspector Harrison, his voice thick with emotion and his eyes burning with righteous fury, has sworn a blood oath before witnesses: "By all that's holy, by God and Crown and Country, I shall not rest until these monsters are brought to justice. Every resource of the Empire shall be bent to hunting down these savage beasts who dare prey upon innocent English nobility. Let them flee to the ends of the Earth - the arm of British justice is long, and our memory longer still."

Ravencroft House stands in stunned silence, its windows tightly shuttered against the world, the family too overcome with grief to issue any formal statements. Witnesses report that the Duke, once the very picture of robust English nobility, has aged decades in a single day, his hair turned as white as snow. Meanwhile, the Duchess lies insensate, under constant medical supervision, her piteous cries echoing through the great halls of their ancestral home. Lady Adelaide's beloved siblings have refused to answer any questions regarding the tragic accident, retreating further into their sorrow and silence.

The ripples of this tragedy have reached the highest levels of Empire. Her Majesty Queen Victoria, upon receiving news of the atrocity, was observed to weep openly and declare a week of Court mourning - an unprecedented honor for a subject not directly related to the Crown. "If such angels are not safe upon English roads," Her Majesty is reported to have said, "then truly we are fallen into the darkest of times."

URGENT NOTICE: The Metropolitan Police Force, with support from private parties and the Crown itself, now offers an unprecedented reward of £10,000 for information leading to the capture of these inhuman murderers. Her Royal Highness Queen Victoria has taken personal interest in this investigation and has ordered the deployment of special investigators from across the Empire. All persons with knowledge of suspicious activity on the Beckenham Road are commanded to present themselves to Inspector Harrison at Bow Street immediately, under pain of being considered accessories after the fact.

Additional Notice: The Archbishop of Canterbury himself will preside over a special service of remembrance at Westminster Abbey for the victims of this most shocking tragedy. All churches throughout the realm are ordered to toll their bells at noon tomorrow in memory of Lady Adelaide and her faithful servants, and to pray for the swift capture of those responsible for this blackest mark upon England's honor.

Let all true British subjects maintain constant vigilance until these monsters are brought to justice. Let every mother hold her daughters closer, and every father check his pistols. For if such devils walk among us, none can rest easily in their beds until they are expunged from God's Earth.