The Ripper's Shadow

The Ripper's Shadow is the 21st published work by Laura Joh Rowland and the first entry in the Sarah Bain series. It was originally published on January 10, 2017 by Crooked Lane Books. The next novel in the series is A Mortal Likeness.
== Synopsis ==
"It's 1888, the year of Jack the Ripper, the most famous serial killer in history. Modern forensic science hasn't been invented yet, and the police are powerless to stop the Ripper as he haunts the foggy streets, brutally slays one prostitute after another, and terrifies all of London. Enter Miss Sarah Bain, a photographer in Whitechapel, a solitary, independent woman with dark secrets. One of her secrets is that she supplements her meager income by taking illegal "boudoir photographs" of prostitutes. Sarah is the only person who knows that the Ripper isn't choosing his victims randomly—he's targeting her models. As she conducts her own private investigation into the murders, she clashes with Police Constable Barrett, who has his own personal reason for wanting to catch the Ripper. She acquires a motley crew of friends: Lord Hugh Staunton, a gay nobleman; Mick O'Reilly, a street urchin; Catherine Price, a budding young actress; and Abraham Lipsky, a Jewish butcher, and his wife Rachel. They band together with Sarah to solve the Crime of the Century. In the process, Sarah embarks on a personal journey that teaches her the meaning of friendship and uncovers clues to the mystery of her own past."Laura Joh Rowland, Laura Joh Rowland. Retrieved September 5th, 2017.
== Dedication ==
"In memory of Simon and Phoebe Rowland"
== Plot ==
=== Prologue ===
The year is 1888. In an unspecified location in Whitechapel, London, photographer Sarah Bain and streetwalker Polly Nichols are partaking in the illegal practice of boudoir photography. Sarah takes pictures of Polly in varying states of undress and sexual poses. Once Sarah has gotten all the photos she wants, Polly dons her clothing, collects the first part of her payment for being Sarah's model, then leaves.
=== Chapter 1 ===
About a month later, Sarah is at the Thames. Her goal is to photograph the sunrise with her miniature camera, her most prized possession. However, the satchel that carries this camera- as well as its lenses and negative plates- is stolen out from under her. The thief is a street urchin, a boy who looks younger than a teenager. Sarah's attempt to run after the boy is impeded by the tripod she carries and the long skirts she wears. No one heads her cries to help, either; the people of Whitechapel are not inclined to lend a hand to just anyone.
Accosting herself for not being more careful, Sarah gives up the camera as a loss and makes her way back home. As she enters Buck's Row, a crowd of people are mingling around, staring down at something on the road. One of them happens to be the young thief, still carrying the satchel. Hurrying to the boy, she grabs onto the satchel and tries to tug it out of his hands, but the boy holds fast. The two begin to fight over it via tug-of-war until a police constable comes over to investigate. 
For each of their own reasons, Sarah and the young thief are afraid of the law. Unwilling to out the boy, Sarah pretends nothing is wrong, allowing the boy to escape with her satchel. The constable is glad: there has been a murder and he does not need anymore trouble. Murder is common enough in Whitechapel that the news does not shock Sarah at all. What does is the identity of the victim and what was done to them: laying in front of a stable- her throat slit and clothes in disarray- is Polly Nichols. 
Sarah is not just upset that she is lost a model: in a way, she has lost a friend. And Polly is not the first either; earlier that month, Martha Tabram was found dead, her body having been stabbed multiple times. She too was a streetwalker and one of Sarah's models. Initially, Sarah assumed Martha's murder was just one out of many random killings, yet Martha's murder being similiar enough to Polly's makes Sarah suspicious. Their connection to her as her models likewise makes her uneasy. When the constable gets around to questioning her, though, Sarah denies any connection with Polly. She cannot exactly reveal her side business, and her fear of the police is not so easily shaken, going back to a nasty incident when she was a child. 
The constable mistakes her agitated state as one of grief. Just when Sarah thinks she will be subjected to shouted questions, an ambulance wagon carrying a doctor appears. This draws the attention of the constable, allowing Sarah to make a hasty retreat, resolving to find the murderer. 
=== Chapter 2 ===
Sarah's inquires of the Buck's Row habitants prove fruitless: no one can give any concrete facts, only guesses. Disheartened, she begins to head back home when the street urchin finds her. He returns her camera and introduces himself as Mick O'Reilly. He follows her back home where she invites him in for some tea, if only so he will leave her alone. She learns that he is an orphan, something else that they bond over: Sarah's mother has been dead for some time and her father died in riot a few years before that, or so her mother said.
Once Mick is fed and watered, he swiftly departs, thanking Sarah for the food. Now alone, Sarah mulls over if she should open the studio when, much to her alarm, a police constable enters her home. 
=== Chapter 3 ===
The officer introduces himself as Police Constable Thomas Barrett. He was the officer on the scene of Martha's murder, and he finds Polly's to be too similiar for their deaths to be mere coincidences. 
Disconcertingly, Sarah finds herself attracted to Barrett. She finds him handsome and is surprised by his genuine desire to help the public. Sarah barely manages to distance herself from both Martha and Polly, but her poorly disguised lies only make Barrett suspicious: it is clear she knows something, but is keeping whatever it is to herself.
Part of the way through the conversation, Barrett roams around the ground floor of Sarah's home. He finds some of the photographs Sarah's father took, one of which includes himself. It is the only physical proof she has that he was alive. She has this notion that he is not dead, based on the fact that her mother refused to let her see his body. She can see that this hypothesis is childish, yet she cannot help but cling to it all the same.
Having gotten fed up with his presence, she demands that he leaves. He does comply, but not before threatening to give her trouble if he finds out she lied. 
=== Chapter 4 ===
Shaking with both fright and excitement, Sarah locks the door behind Barrett. Entering the makeshift darkroom, she removes the negatives of the boudoir photographs she has taken from their hiding place. It is possible that the killer is using her photographs to pick his victims. If he is, she cannot let anymore harm befall her models. To this end, she decides to warn them to stay off the streets.
The door bell to her studio jingles, announcing the presence of a costumer. Sarah mistakes the man to be a robber based on his sinister looks, but he cowers in fear when she welds a crowbar. While she apologizes for the misunderstanding, she notices that he wears a skull-cap; the man is Jewish. 
In broken English, the man introduces himself as Abraham Lipsky. He wants her to photograph something and invites her to follow him. Though she is wary of following a stranger to an unidentified location, she gathers part of the necessary equipment with Abrahman carrying the rest. He leads her to his home where his wife, Rachel Lipsky, and a coffin holding their deceased daughter awaits. Postmortem photography is common among her profession, but it is always distressing when the subject is a child. The Lipsky's grief touches her own tender spot for her missing father. When Sarah imagines Polly laying in the coffin, all the emotions she has felt since that morning overwhelm her, making her faint.
She awakes to Rachel tending to her. Touched by their kindness, Sarah only lightly references the recent murder as an explanation for her fainting fit. Worried for her models, though unable to fully explain why, she offhandedly mentions informing the police. The word "police" sets of Abrahman; they have suffered much at the hands of the law due to their being Jewish. And streetwalkers are even lower on the social ladder than Jewish people and working class spinsters. This fact only reaffirms Sarah's decision to forgo contacting the police and warn her models herself.
=== Chapter 5 ===
She starts by looking for Kate Eddowes. However, her search inadvertently has her stumble into a room occupied by two men in the middle of a passionate love-making session. They do not even notice her until she gasps. One of them- a handsome blond- covers himself with a sheet and hurriedly rushes to where she stands. He slams the door behind Sarah as she rushes out of the hotel.
As she continues her search, Sarah passes by another display of fornication, though this one far less passionate: a streetwalker and her client in the typical "three-penny stand up" position.
Thankfully for Sarah, two of her models are not currently in the midst of a transaction. She finds them in a public house where Liz Stride is telling a story to two men and Mary Jane Kelly. Sarah breaks up the gathering, much to the frustration of Liz and Mary Jane. Her attempts to warn them likewise fall on deaf ears; they both need the money and are convinced that they can defend themselves. 
Exiting the public house, Sarah asks Liz and Mary Jane where they think Kate and Annie Chapman are. As they retreat into the fog, neither of them can tell Sarah where Kate is, but Mary Jane tells Sarah a possible place to look for Annie. Mercifully, Annie is exactly where Mary Jane suggested. Sarah catches Annie in the middle of an argument, though thankfully the other party leaves after Annie throws them a bit of coin. 
Annie is more receptive to Sarah's warnings, but- just like Liz and Mary Jane- she too is desperate for money and cannot stay off the streets for long. The most Sarah can do is walk Annie to her next haunt.
=== Chapter 6 ===
On her way to Whitechapel Road, Sarah stumbles across Barrett getting reprimanded by a small group of police constables from a different division. Gone unnoticed, Sarah pieces together from the conversation that Barrett made a mistake regarding Martha's murder. The constables warn him to stick to his division or else they will warn his superior, effectively ushering in the end of his career. Once the constables leave, Barrett walks towards where Sarah is standing. She hides, both relieved and disappointed at avoiding another encounter.
Sarah takes an omnibus to Oxford Music Hall where high class prostitutes and chorus girls are plying their trade. One of the chorus girls is Catherine Price, a friend and one-time model of Sarah's. After the show ends, Sarah finds Catherine in the communal dressing room. Much like Liz and Mary Jane, Catherine dismisses Sarah's warnings. To mollify her worried friend, she promises to drop by Sarah's studio in the morning to prove she will be fine.
=== Chapter 7 ===
The next day, Sarah is anxiously waiting for Catherine to appear when Mick arrives. He has been selling papers and has stopped by for food, not that he says as much. As Mick inhales his breakfast, Catherine makes her entrance, unharmed and very much alive. Shocked by her beauty, Mick instantly becomes smitten with her, but Catherine finds his dirty appearance distasteful. When she picks a spot at the table that is as far away from him as possible, Mick gets the message and runs out in shame.
Further warnings fail to get Catherine to see caution, the conversation quickly threatening to turn into a quarrel. To nip that in the bud, Sarah informs Catherine that she is going to Polly's inquest. Although, Catherine invites herself, Sarah does not stop her, thinking of it as an opportunity for Catherine to see just how much danger she is in.
The inquest is being held in a building for a boy's club. The entrance is crowded by a large group of people, but the man that catches Sarah's eye is not a part of it: it is the handsome blond she unceremoniously stumbled across yesterday. Catherine knows the man as Lord Hugh Staunton and attempts to introduce Sarah, not noticing that Hugh and Sarah are both dismayed to see each other. Hugh pretends not to have met Catherine before making a hasty exit.
Hugh is not the only unfortunate encounter Sarah has: Barrett is there too. He tells her the truth as to why he is there- to make up for his misidentification of Martha's murderer- and Sarah lies about her connection to Martha and Polly. He is not convinced by this, but does not press for more. He even agrees to get both her and Catherine into the inquest. And just like Mick, Barrett is also quickly taken in by Catherine's beauty, much to Sarah's displeasure.
The inquest proceeds smoothly, with Barrett making comments or providing explanations to Sarah throughout. The forensic pathologist informs the coroner and jury that Polly's throat had been severely slashed and her abdomen had some cuts as well, all done with a sharp, long-bladed knife. One of the police constables who accosted Barrett testifies, though his testimony just reveals the incompetence of his division. Polly's husband is called to the stand. Apparently, he had not seen his wife in three years and his alibi for the night of her murder is solid. All the evidence points to murder, an obvious conclusion as Catherine points out. What the inquest also proves to Sarah is that she cannot rely on the police. 
=== Chapter 8 ===
A few days pass, during which Sarah tries to go about her usual life. However, Polly's death as well as her new acquaintances keep her nerves rattled. Still worried about Kate, Sarah leaves her home one evening to search for her. Thankfully, she finds a streetwalker who is able to direct her as to Kate's whereabouts. When Sarah arrives, Kate is in bed with her lover John Kelly. 
Unsurprisingly, the strong willed Kate dismisses Sarah's warnings, likely for the same reasons the rest of the streetwalkers have. Remarkably, Kate hints that she might know who the Ripper is, but refuses to say anything. Sarah even gets into a minor scuffle with Kate. This stokes the streetwalker's temper, leading John to throw Sarah out.
=== Chapter 9 ===
A couple days later, she makes prints of the Lipsky's daughter then heads out with her miniature camera. Along the way to the Lipsky's home, she comes across a crowd and a hearse carrying Polly's coffin. Guessing that the murderer might attend her funeral, Sarah follows the procession to City of London Cemetery. The crowd gathers around an open grave. Sarah lines up her camera to take a picture of the crowd, but sees Barrett through the viewfinder just as Barrett notices her. She bolts, managing to hide in time for Barrett to lose her. She kind of wishes Barrett had caught her, but not enough to go back to Polly's funeral for another try. 
Heading towards the cemetery's gates, she passes by a chapel where a high society funeral is being held. Once again, Sarah crosses paths with Hugh. They both burst into spontaneous laughter at how fate seems to keep bringing them together. Thinking they were destined to be friends, Hugh offers her a ride in his carriage back to town, which Sarah accepts after some hesitation. Once in town, he treats her to lunch.
During the ride and lunch, Sarah and Hugh swap stories. Feeling comfortable around Hugh, Sarah tells him about her father, her long held guilt regarding his disappearance, and her suspicions that her father is still alive. Hugh reassures her that her father's death or disappearance is not her fault, a balm to Sarah's grief. 
Hugh gives Sarah a lift to the Lipsky's home so she can drop off the prints. After that, they ride to Sarah's house. Along the way, they arrange to have tea at Sarah's. She will invite Catherine and they will come up with an explanation as to how they know each other and why Hugh brushed her off earlier that week.
=== Chapter 10 ===
On the Saturday that they planned, Sarah is buying some sweets when she overhears that another murder has taken place. She obtains the location then rushes to where the murder took place. Her spirits fall when she learns that the victim was Annie; not only was she killed in the same way as Martha and Polly, her body was mutilated in a way that their bodies were not. This death just confirms Sarah's fears: the Ripper is using the boudoir photographs to pick out his victims. Not only that, but the police have yet to find the killer; her other models are still very much in danger and she cannot rely on the police to protect them.
As she heads home, she is sidelined by Barrett and his superior officer Inspector Reid. Reid interrogates Sarah, deftly eliciting bits of information that she had meant to hide. At least until she realizes that she can claim ignorance. While this tactic works, it only serves to irritate Reid. By the time he lets her go, Sarah's nerves are quite frayed, something that does not escape Reid's notice. He informs her that she needs to come by the station so she can give an official statement, then departs.
=== Chapter 11 ===
Dropping the sweets, Sarah runs back home. Catherine and Hugh are already there, Hugh doing tricks with his cane to entertain Catherine. Sarah considers sneaking into the house when she spots Abraham and Rachel. The Lipskys are accosted by two men who hurl antisemitic sentiments and physical abuse upon Abraham. Hugh intervenes, beating up the men with his cane. Sarah tries to help, but ends up tripping on her skirts. 
Overwhelmed by emotion, she begins to sob. Catherine unlocks the studio, with Hugh carrying Sarah inside and up to her room. Sarah wants to be alone, but they are both concerned about her so they go downstairs to wait in the kitchen. Once she has regained her composure, Sarah joins Hugh, Catherine, and the Lipskys. After some gentle coaxing from Catherine and Hugh, Sarah notifies them all about Reid's interrogation, Hugh and the Lipskys about her side business with the boudoir photographs, and her theory that the Ripper is using those pictures to choose his victims.
Mick enters the studio. When he sees Sarah has company, he makes to leave but she invites him in. He joins them, but is leery of the Lipskys and Hugh. Sarah catches him up to speed and they all discuss what they can do. Three murders later and the police still have not caught the killer, so they cannot rely on the cops. Mick suggests they try to catch the Ripper themselves and Sarah is desperate enough to save her other models that she seriously consider it. Since Catherine modeled for her, she is as much in danger as the streetwalkers. Abraham offers to be Catherine's bodyguard and though she does not want one, the rest of the group manages to strong arm her into accepting.
=== Chapter 12 ===
Two days later, Sarah and Mick set out with her miniature camera. Their mission is to find the bookstore Kate sold the boudoir photographs to and acquire a list of buyers. They try out three bookstores before a man in a wheelchair calls them into his shop. Sure enough, the photo album Mr. Russell shows Sarah and Mick is filled with Sarah's photographs. Mick attempts to steal the rest of her albums and the shop's ledger, but he drops them as he and Sarah run away from the store, Mr. Russell only able to yell for the police.
At Mick's suggestion, Sarah sets up the mini-camera in a nearby alleyway so it is facing the store's front. The idea is to photograph any patrons who buy one of her albums. Mick takes a picture of a woman and follows after a man when the man moves too fast for Sarah to properly capture his features. As Mick trails the man, a carriage rolls up to the bookstore. Sarah does not manage to take a photograph of the man who occupied it, she does take one of the carriage.
=== Chapter 13 ===
Mick returns; he was able to memorize the walking man's face and see where his home was. 
Since night is descending, they call it a day. As they walk to Sarah's home, they see various instance of unrest. Fear and paranoia taints the air of Whitechapel, infecting both citizen and police alike. The police arrest a man nicknamed Leather Apron and a petty criminal known as Squib. And they are not the only ones; Hugh is already at the house when they arrive, and he informs them that there are several other suspects in custody. 
They enter the studio. Hugh joins Sarah and her camera in the darkroom while Mick waits in the studio. After developing the negatives, Sarah and Hugh decide to have tea while they dry off. Catherine and Abraham arrived while they were in the darkroom. She drops off a basket of food, courtesy of Rachel, then leaves with Abraham for the theater. Sarah, Hugh and Mick eat then Sarah goes back into the darkroom to make prints. Once the prints are developed, the trio studies the photographs.
Predictably, the man Mick trailed is too blurry to make out. The picture of the woman is better; they are able to discern some defining features. The man who took a carriage is also too blurry, but the coat of arms on the carriage is clear enough for Hugh to identify it as belonging to the Duke of Exford. Unfortunately, Hugh does not know any more about the Duke than that, and none of them have the authority to interrogate any suspects.
Unwilling to throw in the towel, Sarah comes up with a plan.
=== Chapter 14 ===
Leather Apron has an alibi for Annie's murder, meaning the killer is still at large. Forced to continue their own investigation, Sarah, Hugh, and Mick walk to the cemetery where Annie's body is, carrying Sarah's camera equipment between them. They sneak in thanks to Mick's lockpicking skills, but the mortuary keeper catches them before they can enter the mortuary. Hugh manipulates the keeper into letting them view Annie's body with some quick thinking and a bit of coin too.
Once inside, Sarah sets up the camera with Mick's help, Hugh staying outside due to his weak stomach. They position the camera so it is focused on Annie's face. Sarah had heard about an American photographer who developed a photograph of a murder victim's face and saw the killer reflected in the victim's eyes. She hopes to replicate that here. Mick lifts Annie's eyelids so Sarah can take the picture. After the keeper tells them to make haste, Sarah takes a full body shot of Annie before dismantling the camera set up. 
At the studio, Sarah develops both photographs. Annie's eyes remain empty, but Sarah notices something off in the full body shot: the three brass rings Annie usually wore are gone.
=== Chapter 15 ===
The next day, Sarah is in the market when she sees a notice hanging in a shop window. The notice announces the meeting times and location of the Mile End Vigilance Committee. Deciding it might be worth the visit, Sarah attends the first meeting, held that very night. 
Those in attendance are mostly well-to-do couples, Sarah the only single woman and Barrett the only policeman. The Committee itself does not offer much opportunity for Sarah. At most, it just confirms the agitated state of the populace, and how they view the police's efforts- or lack thereof- of catching the Ripper.
When the Committee's President, George Lusk, calls the meeting to a close, Sarah manages to sneak out without bumping into Barrett. Unfortunately, a petty thief tries to mug her. Barrett intervenes and, once the thief is gone, offers to walk her home. They tell one another a bit about their own backgrounds. When they reach Sarah's studio, Barrett kisses her. They both become overwhelmed with lust, Barrett pushing her against a wall and Sarah trying to move her skirts aside. 
That is when she realizes she is partaking in a three penny stand up like any common streetwalker. She quickly puts a halt to their love making and runs away.
=== Chapter 16 ===
When dawn breaks that Thursday, Sarah is visiting the shops when she overhears a conversation between Reid and Barrett. Apparently, Barrett was feigning romantic and sexual interest in Sarah in order to elicit information from her. 
Deeply ashamed, Sarah returns to her home, has a good cry, then opens up the studio. Catherine enters a few hours later and sticks with her in the hopes that Hugh will appear: Catherine's crush is clearer than ever. Sarah attempts to talk Catherine out of pursuing Hugh without outright telling the actress that Hugh is gay. Sarah only succeeds in making Catherine think that Sarah herself has a crush on Hugh. 
Hugh does eventually enter the studio, and with an opportunity: the Duke of Exford, Alfred Palmer, is hosting a costume ball that night. Hugh intends to disguise himself and Sarah and crash the ball. With any luck, they will be able to gather evidence either proving that the Duke is the Ripper or exonerating him.
Catherine tries to wheedle her way into this plan, but both Sarah and Hugh give her a decisive "no." She leaves in a tearful huff, after which Sarah puts on the French courtesan costume Hugh brought. Hugh is already dressed up and his carriage outside. 
They travel to the party. Sarah gets a first hand look at the dark underbelly of high society and sadistic pleasures. That latter one is courtesy of the Duke himself. Hugh is forced to tell Sarah about masochism, and that the Duke is most likely not the Ripper.
=== Chapter 17 ===
Mick appears for lunch the next day. Sarah relates to him last night's misadventure. Mick offers to show her the walking man's house to which Sarah agrees, taking her miniature camera along. During their walk, Sarah tries and fails to talk him out of his crush on Catherine.
When they arrive, they learn from a neighbor that the man- known only as Mr. Smith- does not keep a consistent schedule. Sure enough, when Mick knocks on the front door, no one answers. Sarah and Mick move to the back of the house where Mick climbs up the wall and enters a second floor window. While Sarah quietly panics, Mick ensures that the house is truly empty before unlocking the back door and letting Sarah through.
Mick takes Sarah upstairs into a room containing a sofa, an armoire, and a desk. The desk is littered with newspaper clippings about the Ripper murders and boudoir photographs from a different photographer. Due to the blurriness of the subjects, Sarah guesses that the Ripper used her photographs specifically to pick his victims because he could easily identify the woman.
That is when Mick points to a completely different photograph, this one framed. In it, an army man stands next to a pile of slaughtered African woman, their bodies in much the same shape as Polly's and Annie's. Furthermore, the three missing rings lay next to a bowl and jug. 
After a brief laughing fit, born from their good luck, Sarah and Mick take pictures of the army man's photograph and the three rings. They return to the studio to develop the pictures. Hugh, who had been waiting at the studio, congratulates Mick for the find and suggests they celebrate. He invites Catherine and the Lipskys. When they get around to discussing how to proceed, Hugh suggests that he and Sarah go to the police with the photos. He will bring a lawyer to ensure that Sarah is not questioned about how she acquired this evidence. 
Buoyed by hope and content, Hugh asks Sarah to take a picture of them all. Sarah complies, setting the timer on her large camera before hastily returning to her seat. In the future, she still possess the group picture, but the events that happened afterward throw a fog of unhappiness over it.
=== Chapter 18 ===
Sarah awaits Hugh and his lawyer the next morning. Half an hour before they are due to arrive, a pair of police constables enter her home. They arrest her under the charge of obstructing police inquires. Before she can grab the photographs- her proof that she knows who the Ripper is- she is shackled and forced into a prison van. 
The van takes her to Newgate prison where she is ushered into a cell, unshackled but no more free. Instead of being interrogated by Reid, Chief Commissioner Charles Warren asks the questions. She is shocked to recognize Warren as the army man. Secretly glad to be rushed out of her home, Sarah realizes that the evidence she gathered with Mick helps them not at all. Warren would certainly have destroyed the photographs and his social standing would render any accusation she could make moot.
Warren's questions make it clear that he is trying to see just how much she knows. Sarah manages to lie her way out of the situation, but Warren is still suspicious. He warns her to stop investigating the Ripper through intimidation and threatening her friend's lives. He does let her leave Newgate, but Sarah is aware that this is just because Warren is addict to the hunt.
=== Chapter 19 ===
Upon release, Sarah runs away from Newgate. She tries to head home, but in her agitated state she winds up hopelessly lost. So much so, she finds herself in front of Newgate again. Barrett sees her and attempts to comfort Sarah, but Sarah is not having any of it; she cannot forgive him for his deceit. When she walks away from him, he tells her she is going in the wrong direction. After she bursts into tears, Barrett hails a cab to take them both to her house.
Once they have arrived, Sarah huddles in a chair while Barrett lights a fire and makes her tea. Neither of them address the shared attraction from a couple nights before, instead focusing on Warren's investigation. Barrett warns her that the only way to get Warren off her back is to tell him what she is hiding. 
Barrett's concern for her welfare is genuine, but Sarah does not back down, throwing back Reid's words to his face. In an abrupt change of subject, Sarah blurts out an accusation against Warren. Barrett does not believe her, not even after she throws the photographs she took of the gruesome picture, newspaper clippings and Annie's rings. Just as Hugh, Mick, Catherine, and the Lipskys burst into her studio, Barrett cuts himself off in the middle of wishing that he had never met her. Grabbing the photographs, Barrett storms out of the studio.
=== Chapter 20 ===
Gathered around the table in Sarah's studio, the group of friends catch each other up. Hugh, Catherine, and the Lipskys searched for Sarah when she did not appear that morning. Mick had been informed by a neighbor about her arrest, leading the five of them to visit various police stations, not realizing she had been in Newgate. Sarah explains what happened to her, including her shocking discovery that Warren is the Ripper and his warning.
None of them is eager to incur Warren's wrath, but they also do not want anymore streetwalkers to die. The only plan they can think of is to have Abraham continue to be Catherine's bodyguard, and have Sarah, Hugh, and Mick trail the other models while in disguise; it is unlikely Warren will kill any of them if there are witnesses around. 
They enact this plan for the next few nights. Sarah awaits for Mick's arrival one day when a friend of Mick's tells Sarah that Mick was admitted to a children's hospital. Wanting to make sure Mick is okay, Sarah goes to the hospital where she sees Mick being attended to by a nurse. Mick lies as to how he got his injures, but after Sarah asks the nurse to leave, Mick tells the truth: he had been chased by two cops to the Thames's docks when they grabbed him. They told him to mind his own business and to make sure that Sarah does too before throwing him into the river. 
It is obvious that Warren is already making good on his threat. Sarah is ashamed that she dragged the twelve-year-old Mick into such dangerous business. Instead of putting the rest of her friends in danger, Sarah decides to tell them to back down from the investigation and that she will shadow her models by herself.
=== Chapter 21 ===
A couple days later, Sarah sees an elegantly dressed blonde woman lying in front of her studio. Assuming she is drunk, Sarah asks her to leave and is shocked to see that the woman is really Hugh. Sarah hastily ushers Hugh inside and up to her bedroom. Removing his clothes and makeup reveals bruises.
Her landlord knocks on her door. When she answers, the landlord demands that Sarah kick out the "whore" in ten minutes or he will get the police involved. Catherine appears just as the landlord leaves. Sarah brings Catherine inside. The actress ignores Sarah's request to wait downstairs, following the photographer upstairs. After the initial shock of seeing Hugh hurt, the conversation that follows finally clues Catherine into Hugh's homosexuality. Catherine's pride is hurt, but she does not hate nor is disgusted by Hugh. 
The conversation also lets Sarah know that Warren is still making good on his threat: Hugh had been attending a gay party when it was raided by the vice squadron. Instead of being arrested, the police threw him into a carriage where he was dumped in front of Sarah's studio.
This does not solve the problems of getting Hugh home and mollifying Sarah's landlord. Together, Sarah and Catherine come up with a plan that resolves them both: Catherine dons Hugh's costume and exits the front of the house while Sarah ushers Hugh- now robed in her father's dressing gown- out of the back of her house and to a nearby alley where Catherine awaits in the cab she hired.
The trio travels to Hugh's house, a group of reporting waiting out front. They bombard Hugh with questions, only idly acknowledging Sarah and Catherine's presence. Though they are able to get Hugh through the door, thanks to an elderly man and not his parents, both Sarah and Catherine are worried about who Warren will target next and what the commissioner might do.
=== Chapter 22 ===
The next day's newspaper includes a short article about an arrest related to Annie's murder, and a short piece about the vice squadrons raid. Sarah is disheartened to see Hugh mentioned by name as allegedly being in attendance. She knows the insinuation alone will be enough to ruin Hugh; Warren's plot to hurt her friends is going strong.
Sarah spends the rest of her day photographing customers in her studio. During the afternoon, Abraham appears in a panic; he cannot find Catherine. She joins him in his search to find the actress, but neither of them have any luck. It is not until Tuesday morning that Sarah sees for herself that Catherine is alive and well when the actress shows up at her studio. Apparently, the Ripper has moved on, hence why Catherine shook off Abraham. Sarah speaks sharply to Catherine for being so reckless. Her feelings hurt, Catherine runs out of the studio.
Sarah goes to visit the Lipskys that night. When she arrives, she sees Abraham being interrogated by George Lusk and a couple other Committee members. They accuse Abraham of killing the streetwalkers and ignore Rachel giving him an alibi. George ruffs him up a bit which angers Abraham, shouting at them to leave. 
Once George and his cronies are gone, Sarah attempts to cut Abraham and Rachel out of her life. Catherine does not want a bodyguard any longer, and it is too dangerous for them to continue associating with her and the investigation. The Lipskys still want to be her friend and assist with the investigation. Abraham works himself up into a temper that leads to him punching a wall before picking up a wine bottle. Knowing that the conversation will not get any better, Rachel suggests that Sarah should leave.
=== Chapter 23 ===
Sarah goes to check on Hugh the next morning. He is not at the townhouse, a maid informs her. Instead, he has been moved to Argyle Square. Sure enough, Hugh and his valet, Fitzmorris, are living in a more run down part of the city. Hugh's physical injures are healing well, but his mental state has suffered. He is a lot more listless and downtrodden than usual, due in no small part to his parents wanting to disown him. As Sarah leaves Hugh's new abode, she understands that Warren has succeeded in isolating her. 
=== Chapter 24 ===
Sarah is trailing Liz on the fourth night of her solitary guarding of her models. Exhausted from lack of sleep and worry, she eventually dozes while Liz entertains one of her customers. When Sarah wakes up, she realizes Liz and her customer have not left the yard to which Sarah followed them. She enters the yard and is deciding where to go next when she sees Liz on the ground.
Unlike the other murders, the only wound on Liz's body is her cut throat. Sarah is horrified to learn that not only has the Ripper struck again, she was wrong as to his identity: the customer that Liz had taken into the yard was too short to be Warren.
A barrow drives up to the yard's gate. The driver gets out and sees Liz's body after Sarah barely escapes in order not to be seen. Within minutes, she hears a police whistle go off.
=== Chapter 25 ===
Sarah runs out of Dutfield's Yard to Mitre Square. She is shocked to find a gathering of police around Kate's body. Based on the police surgeon's estimated time of death, Kate has been dead only for half an hour. It would be impossible for the Ripper to have killed Liz in the Yard then traveled to Mitre Square to encounter and kill Kate.
As Sarah puzzles over this, Reid appears with Barrett in tow. Infuriated by the fact that there were two murders in one night, Reid grills Sarah, accusing her of protecting the murderer. While Sarah is shocked speechless by the absurdity of this accusation, the Mile End Vigilance Committee show up claiming to have caught the Ripper. In actuality, they have captured Abraham Lipsky wearing his butcher's apron. Not only that, Warren was with the Committee at the time of Liz's murder, meaning Kate was killed by someone else. With dawning horror, Sarah realizes that there are not just one Ripper but two.
Though she knows the likelihood of the police believing her is low, Sarah gathers her courage to voice her theory and accuse Warren of being one of the Rippers. Unfortunately, Abraham beats her to the punch, and if the police were not willing to believe the word of a no name spinster, they definitely will not listen to a Jewish man. They even find the idea so ridiculous they start laughing. Since Sarah has already clued in Barrett about Warren being a murderer, she requests that he backs her up. When he does not, she is as angry at herself for thinking he would help her as she is at him for claiming ignorance.
As Abraham is handcuffed and dragged to Newgate, Warren gives Sarah a covert warning not to interfere in police matters.
=== Chapter 26 ===
With a heavy heart, Sarah travels to Spitalfields to deliver the bad news to Rachel. Rachel is upset, informing Sarah that Abraham was trailing Warren with the intention of catching Warren in the act. Mick and Catherine appear, having heard what happened to Abraham. Sarah apologizes to Catherine for her harsh words earlier that weak, an apology that Catherine readily accepts. 
When the group leave the Lipsky home, a newsboy is handing out handbills. Sarah grabs one and sees that the police are still asking the public for information regarding the murders. This means that there is still some hope of catching the actual Rippers and clearing Abraham's name. They each agree that they need Hugh, but Sarah is not sure if Hugh will mentally be up to the task.
The group travel to Argyle Square to visit Hugh. When Fitzmorris answers the door, he informs them that Hugh tried to take his own life. Not wanting to leave Hugh by his own for long, Fizmorris invites them upstairs. Sure enough, Hugh is looking the worse for wear; the attempted suicide made him lose a lot of blood and his mental state is not much better. He cannot offer up any ideas as to how they can help Abraham.
Sarah suggests ideas in Hugh's stead, her anger providing inspiration. Since the police do not know there are two Rippers, she thinks it best for them to focus on figuring out who Ripper Number Two is first. If they can catch the second Ripper, they exonerate Abraham. And to do that, they will need to go back to the beginning.
=== Chapter 27 ===
The plan they come up with is to have Catherine stay with Hugh for the day then be escorted to the theater by one of Rachel's neighbors. While they are doing that, Sarah and Mick goes to Mary Jane to give her enough money to live on for the time being, thereby keeping her off the streets. After that, they revisit Russell's Fine Books and successfully bribe Mr. Russell into giving them the shop's ledger. Ledger in hand, Sarah and Mick take refuge in a nearby church's doorway. The only new name and address they get is an Ida Millbanks. They still do not think a woman is the Ripper, but Sarah theorizes that the woman bought the boudoir albums for the Ripper.
With that in mind, Sarah and Mick visit the address listed in the book. Unfortunately, it turns out that Ida lives in a rich neighborhood. They both stick out too much for anyone to want to associated with them. Instead, Sarah decides it best visit John Kelly and see if Kate told him what she refused to tell Sarah. John has moved since Sarah last saw him, so Mick offers to search for John after walking Sarah home. Sarah wants to see how Hugh is doing before then.
=== Chapter 28 ===
When Sarah arrives at Hugh's new abode, however, she hears Hugh and Catherine arguing within the parlor. Not wanting to make the situation worse, she stands in the vestibule and eavesdrops in on the conversation.
Catherine and Hugh are equally frustrated with each other; Catherine with Hugh's pessimistic outlook and dour attitude and Hugh with Catherine's nagging. In a moment of anger, he accuses Catherine of not knowing what it is like to be hurt. In order to prove how wrong he is, she tells him her backstory: when she was a teenager, a squire assaulted her repeatedly. She became pregnant which lead to her being thrown out of house and home by her father who ordered her never to return. She lost the baby later that same day. 
Hugh makes a comment that Sarah believes to be insensitive, but it has the opposite affect: it gets Catherine laughing. Hugh joins in, and each of their mirth quickly dissolves into tears. Having regained some of his innate zeal, Hugh goes upstairs to change out of his bedclothes. 
Once Hugh has disappeared upstairs, Sarah enters the parlor. Catherine does not realize that Sarah overhead everything, so she does not mention anything about the episode, only shrugging when Sarah asks where Hugh is. Hugh appears shortly thereafter, dressed and in better spirits.
=== Chapter 29 ===
Over the next nine days, Sarah works in her studio while Hugh investigates Ida Millbanks. She takes time to visit Rachel, who is being supported by the Jewish community. On the ninth day, Mick goes to Sarah to inform her that he has found John Kelly. John will be at the Whitechapel Casual Ward tonight, so Mick suggests Sarah dress up as a man before they head out.
On their way to the casual ward, Sarah and Mick see a poster of two letters allegedly from the Ripper with a notice above it asking anyone who can identify the handwriting to come forward. Neither Sarah nor Mick believe the letters to be real or if they are the murderer is embellishing the details. If anything, it just provides more evidence as to why the police have not put Abraham on trial yet.
At the casual ward, they see a long line of people waiting to get in. They do not see John in the line and two guards are patting down people to check for weapons and alcohol. Sarah will quickly be found out and sent to the women's wing, so Mick and Sarah break into the ward through the back door.
They find John in the men's wing. Sarah's guess that Kate told John what she knew about the Ripper proves wrong, but he is able to tell them about something unusual: last April, around the same time she approached Sarah, Kate found a new customer that payed her really well for services rendered and for keeping quiet about said services. Once a week, Kate would spend a night with the mysterious customer and since the pay was good, John did not press. However, one morning Kate came home pale and shaky and with a surgical wound below Kate's waist. While Kate recovered from whatever had happened to her, she stopped having periods, would get hot flashes, and become tearful or angry for seemingly no reason.
While they were talking, a riot slowly began to form and spread. By the time John is finished telling the above anecdote, the riot has turned more violent. Mick urges Sarah to leave, and once they are out of the casual ward, they discuss what happened to Kate. Sarah does not think Kate was hurt by Warren, which leaves Ripper Number Two as the most likely candidate. And since John could not tell them anything specific about Ripper Number Two, tracking down Ida is more important now than ever.
=== Chapter 30 ===
Sarah plans to visit Hugh the next day, but when she exits her home that morning, she sees Warren leading a squadron of police officers on horseback. Behind them trail police constables- Barrett among them- and news reporters on foot. Warren stops near Sarah's studio and answers one of the reporters questions by dropping a bombshell: Benjamin Bain is somehow connected to the Ripper case. 
As the police constables- sans Barrett- search for witnesses among Sarah's neighbors, Sarah denies that her father had anything to do with the murders, mostly because he has been dead for decades. Warren informs her that Benjamin is officially missing and no records pertaining to his supposed death exists. Furthermore, due to Benjamin's past as a rabble-rouser, he is a wanted criminal. The police have been looking for him since his disappearance and they recently got tipped off that Benjamin was sighted in Whitechapel.
Though thrown into emotional turmoil by the news, Sarah stands her ground. She clues Warren into the fact that she and her friends are not the only people who know that he is the Ripper. Barrett understands Sarah is referring to him, but he is not happy about the reminder, making himself invisible. Enraged, Warren threatens Sarah once again before riding off.
Sarah's landlord overheard the conversation, his main take away being that she is related to a wanted criminal. He tries to evict her on the spot, but she points out he will not get anymore takers while the Ripper is still at large. The landlord concedes, but he wants her out after her lease ends.
Forgoing the planned visit, Sarah stays at home for the rest of the day, only leaving that evening to buy more food. When she returns, she sees that Hugh slipped a note under her door, telling her to meet him tomorrow morning in York Street.
=== Chapter 31 ===
Sarah takes Mick with her to York Street. She catches Hugh and Mick up with yesterdays happenings before hastily changing the subject to Ida. Hugh confirms that he found her. In fact, that is why he chose York Street: Ida lives in a residency there and leaves for work a quarter after eight.
Sure enough, the elderly woman Mick identifies as the woman who purchased the album steps out of the residency. Sarah, Hugh and Mick follow Ida as she travels to Harley Street, a road known for its physicians. The building Ida enters is not marked, though, and no one else enters or exists the building for the next half hour. The trio cannot look into the building either thanks to each window being covered up by curtains, and Mick cannot sneak into the house for the surrounding walls are too smooth.
Thankfully for them, Ida leaves the building at that point. They follow Ida to a bakery where she buys some éclairs. On the way back to Harley Street, Hugh breaks off while Sarah and Mick continue to trail Ida. At the next corner, Hugh deliberately bumps into Ida, knocking the eclairs to the ground. He offers to buy her some and Ida, entranced by his handsomeness, takes him up on the offer. 
Sarah and Mick wait in front of Ida's employer's building for an hour before Hugh and Ida return. They chat briefly before Hugh departs and Ida disappears inside. During the hour Hugh was with Ida, he chatted her up and quickly earned her affection; Ida is a spinster without any close friends or family, and Hugh's experience with charming woman made getting into her good graces quick work, not that he is very happy about it. However, thanks to that, he learned that Ida's employer's name is Henry Poole, a doctor who specializes in female disorders. She is not allowed to let people into the building without explicit permission, so Hugh figured he would invite her to have tea with himself and his "sister", Sarah.
=== Chapter 32 ===
On a Monday, Sarah is awoken by the pounding of police officers. Hastily dressing, she sees a pair of constables knocking at an adjacent building. She goes downstairs to make sure everything that should be hidden is, but before she can check, Barrett is already calling for her through her studio's door. Though initially unwilling to let him in, Sarah eventually relents when other constables suggest breaking down the door.
Once inside, Barrett locks the door before telling Sarah he believes what she said about Warren being the Ripper. He did some checking into Warren's army background and sure enough there are rumors he was sent back to England for treating the local woman cruelly. Additionally, Warren is adamant about charging Abraham with the crimes despite the lack of concrete evidence. This is more than Sarah could have hoped for. Yet, despite Barrett's change of heart, he refuses to report Warren. In part because he is afraid of Warren's retaliation and in part because it is impossible for Warren to have killed both Liz and Kate. 
This is where Sarah reveals that she was there at the scene of the crime, but this has the unintended consequence of leading her to reveal that she took boudoir photographs of each of the victims, even showing them to him, there are actually two Rippers and both of them used those pictures to pick out their victims, and she and her friends have been investigating the murders in order to keep her remaining models safe. Barrett makes the connection as to Abraham's presence that night on his own.
Despite all the evidence, Barrett still does not want to make a move against Warren. Just as Sarah tries to tell him who Ripper Number Two might be, Barrett's coworkers knock on the door. Barrett swipes the boudoir photographs before he leaves the studio, though he does not tell his fellow constables about what he and Sarah discussed.
=== Chapter 33 ===
That Thursday afternoon, Sarah and Rachel are preparing for tea with Ida when Mick rushes into the studio. Sarah follows him to Whitechapel Road where George Lusk informs a group of bystanders that the Ripper sent him part of a kidney and a taunting letter. Mick and Sarah discuss the possibility of Warren sending both those things as they return to the studio.
Catherine arrived while they were out and is currently helping Rachel. Within moments, Hugh and Ida arrive in a carriage. Inside the studio, Hugh introduces Sarah as his sister and Catherine as a childhood friend. Sarah and company do whatever they can to make Ida feel welcomed. Sarah gives her a tour of the studio, inviting her to pose for a picture. Once that is done and the photograph is in its developing fluid, Sarah joins Mick and the others at the table. 
The conversation is pleasant until Hugh steers it to Henry Poole. Sarah and her friends learn from Ida that she has been working for the doctor for almost four years. She is unwilling to discuss exactly what Poole does as a doctor, but she does inform them that he used to work at Bedlam. The experiments he performed there are now under taken in his own personal laboratory. However, she does not assist him with those experiments and the laboratory is kept under lock and key.
Sarah's friends try to urge Ida into seeing what is inside, but the suggestion only leaves her agitated. Sarah abruptly changes the subject to the picture she took of Ida earlier. She takes Ida to the darkroom so she can see how the print is made. Once the print is developed, Ida bursts into tears of joy. To repay the favor, she invites Sarah and her friends to dinner at Poole's house during a day when he will be away. Sarah readily accepts and Ida leaves the studio shortly thereafter. 
Unfortunately, the date for the proposed dinner is three weeks away, meaning Abraham will have to remain in prison that much longer. None of them are willing to sit idle while they wait, least of all Rachel, who thinks of something they can do.
=== Chapter 34 ===
The following Monday, Sarah and Rachel are waiting outside Bedlam, both dressed in nurses uniforms. Gregor, one of Rachel's acquaintances who works as a janitor, leads them inside and to Henry Poole's former laboratory. Inside the lab, everything is coated in a thin layer of dust including a large, peculiar contraption that generates electric shocks. 
The official story is that Poole resigned. In reality, he was sacked in July after he killed one of his patients- an inmate named Emma Forbes- during an experiment. Gregor was there that day; Poole had taken Emma to his lab and after three hours had passed, one of the nurses wondered why Emma was still with him. Gregor had followed the nurse out of curiosity and saw with his own eyes that Emma was dead, her corpse cut into and mutilated. The doctor had been taking pictures of the cadaver when Gregor and the nurse found him. The Bedlam officials hastily covered up the incident by making a deal with Poole: if he does not resign, they will offer him up to the police. The nurse has since quit, but Gregor held on to some evidence for potential future use.
When they hear footsteps, Gregor shoves the evidence into Sarah's hands and orders them to leave. Putting the evidence in her apron pocket, Sarah and Rachel exit the lab and run down a different staircase than the one they previously used. They come across a guard assaulting one of the patients, three others looking on. In a fit of rage, Sarah picks up a nearby broom but is stopped by Rachel, the noise alerting the guards to her and Sarah's presence. They chase Sarah and Rachel out of Bedlam to their getaway carriage in which Hugh and Mick await.
On the way to the studio, Sarah tells Hugh and Mick what happened. When they arrive and get themselves settled, they all look at the evidence Gregor provided. The evidence is three photographs, the first of a woman with her abdominal cavity open to reveal her womb, the second of a womb on a butcher tray with a ruler below it, the third of another dead woman with all of her organs removed from her body. 
Sarah identifies the woman in the first photo as Kate and guesses the woman in the third was Emma. It is likely that Kate was payed in exchange for being a living specimen and that Poole removed her womb. Furthermore, the timing of Poole's being sacked and the beginning of the Ripper murders suggests that Poole wanted to continue his experiments without making his neighbors suspensions. This still leaves a lot of questions unanswered, questions that their future visit to his home may answer.
=== Chapter 35 ===
Sarah, Mick, Hugh and Catherine travel to Poole's house on the appointed dinner date. Once inside, the ordinariness the house's furnishings creeps Sarah out. They get their first look of the man via a photorgaph of Poole with his fellow doctors. Just like his home, the man himself looks like an ordinary, stereotypical doctor, proven further when Poole walks in. He is displeased that Ida broke one of his rules, but before he can fire her on the spot, he spots Catherine. He recognizes her as one of the boudoir models.
Aghast that they have unwittingly introduced Catherine to Ripper Number Two, Sarah and company nevertheless stay for dinner. During the meal, they learn from Poole that he is a neurologist who focuses on abnormal human behavior. Among his specialties is treating hysteria, believing it to be a problem based within a dysfunction of the womb. He thinks the best way to treat hysteria is by inducing something he terms "hysterical paroxysms." He even suggests a demonstration with Catherine as his subject.
=== Chapter 36 ===
Neither Sarah nor Mick are thrilled by the idea of leaving Catherine in the hands of Ripper Number Two. Catherine, however, sees the opportunity for what it is: if she, Sarah, Ida, and Poole are all ensconced in one room, that leaves Hugh and Mick able to search Poole's lab for evidence. Thankfully, Poole has no objections to Sarah and Ida joining them despite wishing to be alone with Catherine. Sarah slips Mick her miniature camera before entering the treatment room.
Inside the room is a fainting couch on top of an elevated platform, a pair of stirrups placed beside it. Two mechanical contraptions sit near the couch, one of which resembles the machine in Poole's former lab at Bedlam and the other a homemade device termed a pelvic massager. The doctor instructs Catherine to lie on the couch and put her feet in the stirrups. Once she is in position, Poole turns on the massager before placing its cylindrical handle between her legs. 
The vibrating sensation and what it makes her feel alarms Catherine. Ida, unsuspecting, tries to sooth her, but Sarah can see the "treatment" for what it is, as well as Poole's professional detachment slowly unraveling. The "treatment" leaves Catherine sobbing and incoherent, but she insists on having another one per Poole's suggestion. The second time makes Catherine scream in anguish, stoking Sarah's anger. Sarah steals the massager's handle from Poole and is about to club him over the head with it when Mick and Hugh rush in. They all agree to clear out, Ida included for even she is having second doubts about Poole. Hugh carries Catherine to a waiting carriage, Mick helping him out, while Sarah advises Ida to quit. 
Ida joins Sarah and her friends in the carriage. When they drop Ida off at her home, Hugh spills the beans about his and his friends's deception. After that, the carriage takes them to Sarah's studio. Hugh carries Catherine upstairs and lays her on Sarah's bed. Hugh and Mick go to develop the photos they took of Poole's lab while Sarah attends to Catherine. Catherine confides in Sarah that the "treatment" reminded her of the squire before falling asleep. 
Once Sarah is downstairs, she looks at the developed the pictures of Poole's lab. One picture shows a table with shackles and a head restraint as well as a glass cabinet with various kinds of knives, confirming that Poole intends to keep up his experiments at home. The second photograph shows a dress that might have once belonged to a wealthy woman. The significance is lost on Sarah until Mick informs her that the dress was cut down the front, suggesting that Poole cut it off the cadaver of a woman then forgot to dispose of it once he was done removing her organs.
Unfortunately, neither Sarah, Hugh nor Mick can do anything with this evidence. It is not enough to prove without doubt that Poole is Ripper Number Two which means the police will not listen to them. They cannot do nothing though; Poole and Warren will keep on killing, the later hiding behind the former. The best they can do is spy on Poole and hope they will catch him in the act.
=== Chapter 37 ===
It was four in the morning before Sarah fell asleep beside Catherine. Six hours later, she is awoken by a knock on her door. After washing and dressing, Sarah goes downstairs to see a large rose bouquet with message from Poole. The message makes it clear that Poole's interest in Catherine is far from professional and that he did not write the Ripper letters; the handwriting is too different.
After Mick throws away the message, there is another, louder knock at the door courtesy of Reid. Sarah pushes Hugh and Mick into the darkroom an instant before Reid and Barrett force their way into her home. Reid informs Sarah that Mary Jane was killed in her home and he is not interested in hearing her denials as to any connection between them. Even though Mary Jane's murder proves that Abraham is not the Ripper, Reid believes that he had a partner in crime. Abraham has not confessed, but Reid thinks he will get the butcher to break at some point. In the meantime, he will force the truth out of Sarah by whatever means necessary.
Sarah tries to run, but Reid forces her onto a chair and her hands behind her back. After Barrett reluctantly handcuffs her, Reid orders Barrett to hit her. Barrett objects at first but, knowing that Reid will not be as gentle as him, Barrett raises his hand and slaps Sarah. Hugh rushes out of the darkroom, pretending to be Sarah's lawyer. Reid thinks he has seen Hugh before, but Hugh's performance is good enough to distract Reid for the time being. 
Hugh is able to manipulate Reid into ordering Barret to uncuff Sarah. Hugh shows the policemen a photograph Mick swiped from the lab: it shows Poole and some other physicians in an operating theater. Hugh identifies Poole and his profession to Reid before showing him the picture of Emma Forbes's desecrated corpse. He relates to Reid the theory that Poole is continuing his experiments on streetwalkers now that he no longer has Bedlam patients at his disposal.
Barrett accepts this hypothesis, but Reid believes that the photograph was faked. He fires Barrett for letting a suspect lead him on and contradicting a superior officer. Once Barrett is out of the studio, Reid realizes where he has seen Hugh before. He jumps to the conclusion that Hugh is Abraham's accomplice and Sarah is protecting them both. He goes to arrest them, but Sarah pushes him away. Reid pulls out a police whistle but before he can use it, Mick tackles Reid to the ground. Sarah grabs the whistle and Hugh knocks Reid unconscious by slamming the policeman's head against the floor.
Catherine had awoken earlier and came downstairs in time to see the attack. They all understand the severe consequences of what they have done. They cuff Reid to a gas pipe so as to give them extra time to run.
=== Chapter 38 ===
Hugh, Mick, and Catherine help Sarah pack up her photography equipment before making a hasty exit. They still a cab from a man, Hugh giving the driver his address. They do not get very far due to heavy traffic, so they decide to walk instead. When it starts to rain, they take shelter in church until Mick offers to show them his place. His place ends up being a hidden sewer tunnel near the Thames. Mick gives them tea and some canned beans and sardines for dinner. Sarah and Hugh do their best to put on a brave face, but Catherine does not hide her distaste for their current surroundings. Mick- seeming to have an idea- runs off to somewhere, leaving them all behind.
=== Chapter 39 ===
When Mick returns, Sarah, Hugh and Catherine lug the photography equipment out of the sewer tunnel and to an embankment. Mick went to Rachel and acquired help in the form of a wagon driven by Abraham's employer, Leo. Leo takes them to a building that serves as a temporary shelter for Jewish people. Rachel is already there, welcoming them warmly and giving them a hot meal. All but Catherine devour the meal, the actress gazing at a mother and her infant son.
Leo shows them a wanted poster with Sarah, Hugh, and Mick's likenesses. With the public in a frenzy and the Mile End Vigilance Committee prowling around, it is too dangerous for the three of them to move freely. Sarah suggests they split up, but Hugh and Mick want to stick around despite the danger and Catherine does not want to leave her theater work behind. Instead of running, Hugh suggests they make one last attempt at catching the Ripper. 
Though initially hesitant, Sarah agrees, her exhaustion breeding a plan. Even though they do not know what it is yet, Hugh, Mick and Rachel are on board. Catherine, however, is vehemently against another plan when all the ones they had had only brought them trouble. Rachel tries to calm her down, but Catherine objects to being treated like a child. When the infant boy throws a tantrum, Catherine realizes that it is only because she has been behaving like one. Donning a mask of composure, Catherine joins in on the unspoken plan much to Sarah's relief: the main component in her plan is now present.
=== Chapter 40 ===
A letter from Catherine is sent to Poole, inviting him to a public house at midnight on a Sunday. On the appointed night, Sarah, Hugh, Mick, and Catherine travel to Leo's slaughterhouse. Catherine will meet Poole at the public house enticing him to follow her. Sarah and the boys will be waiting inside, her camera equipment set up to take Poole's picture while Leo hides close by in case they need his help. 
Unfortunately, Catherine's still rattled by the "treatment"; despite Hugh repeatedly going over the plan with her, she keeps forgetting the finer points. While Sarah, Hugh and Mick do not want to throw her into Poole's way again, they cannot wait for her to fully recover. They watch Catherine depart with regret.
By one in the morning, Catherine still has not shown up. George Lusk accosts Leo, thinking his presence suspicious. He blows a whistle which alerts other Committee members. Leo runs to draw Lusk and the other Committee members after him and away from the slaughterhouse. Shortly thereafter, Catherine shows up on the wrong side of the slaughterhouse, screaming for help: Poole is chasing after her with murderous intent. 
Once inside, Catherine positions herself in front of the camera. Poole appears, charging into the slaughterhouse towards Catherine. A flurry of movement follows, so Sarah shouts at them to stop to shock them into stillness. It works: Poole turns towards the camera as Sarah presses the shutter.
=== Chapter 41 ===
A fight ensues as soon as the flash fades. Hugh and Mick attempt to keep Poole from attacking Catherine, but Poole slashes Hugh's left arm and throws Mick against a wall. Sarah grabs her light stand and moves between Catherine and the advancing murderer. Poole wrestles the stand out of Sarah's grasp before hitting her over the head. 
As Sarah lays on the ground consumed by pain and shame, Barrett barely manages to keep Poole from stabbing Catherine by chocking him from behind with an arm. Poole knocks himself and Barrett off balance, the impact from the floor knocking Barrett unconscious. Sarah makes a valiant attempt to rise just as Poole is crawling toward Catherine, slowly moving on top of her. He continually stabs at her while Sarah and Hugh repeatedly hit Poole. It is not until Mick hits Poole with- what Sarah presumes to be- a broom handle, knocking Poole out.
Sarah and her friends sob out of relief that they survived the encounter and elation that they have caught at least one Ripper. Barrett throws them into renewed fear and worry when he checks Poole's pulse and announces that the doctor is dead; the broom handle was actually an axe. Furthermore, the glass negative containing definitive proof as to Poole's true nature is shattered, the camera having been knocked over during the scuffle. 
Barrett threatens to expose tonight's happenings to Reid, who would surely love to see each one of them hanged. In a moment of unspoken unanimity, Sarah and her friends point out that Barrett is the only witness to Poole's murder and, though neither of them say it, each one of them is willing to kill again in order to protect one another. The moment passes just as quickly as it arrived, but it has a lasting effect on Barrett. He even helps them clear up the blood while Leo and his men dispose of the body. 
Before departing the slaughterhouse, Sarah tells Barrett where she and her friends are staying. Despite the fact that one Ripper is gone, Sarah knows that another is still in the shadows. Additionally, Abraham's name has yet to be cleared.
=== Chapter 42 ===
Tuesday arrives to see Sarah, Mick, Catherine, and Hugh- patched up and feeling well- eating breakfast in the Jews Temporary Shelter. Rachel brings them a newspaper; Mary Jane's murderer is unidentified, both officially and by Sarah and her friends. There is no mention of Poole, meaning he has not been missed yet or it was but the "disappearance" was not notable enough for the paper. What is notable is Warren's resignation; he did not say why, but he partially blames the Home Office for their interference.
A carriage bearing Barrett and Abraham arrives. Rachel shares a happy reunion with her husband, who tells her in Russian what Barrett tells Sarah and her group about what has happened since they confronted Poole: after receiving an anonymous tip, some police officers searched Warren's house in Stepney. Inside, they found the gruesome photograph, Annie's rings, Sarah's boudoir pictures, and a bloody knife. The policemen showed all this evidence to Henry Matthews, Warren's superior, which lead to Warren's forced resignation and his transfer to Singapore. As for Abraham's release, a confidential source gave the butcher an unshakable alibi. Furthermore, Henry reinstated Barrett, suspended Reid, and the warrants for Sarah and her friends' arrests have been lifted.
Elated at having their freedom back, Catherine leaves for the theater, Mick accompanying her at her request. Hugh invites Sarah to stay with him, which she accepts. Barrett travels with Sarah via cab to her studio to assist her in grabbing her things. However, her landlord saw fit to sell almost all of her possessions in the time she was away, leaving only the enlarger and Sarah's only photograph of her father. Sarah is not upset to see her things gone.
Barrett takes the opportunity to apologize for hitting her and admits to having fallen for her. He hands over her father's police file, having nicked it from Warren's office. Notes left by Warren on the file confirm that he was the one who wrote the taunting letters the "Ripper" sent to the police; try as he might, Warren could not fully disguise his handwriting. And though the investigation into Benjamin Bain's disappearance has been officially called off, Sarah could always continue on. Sarah is not entirely sure she wants to, but she knows that there will come a day where she will find out the truth about her father.
Back at the Jews Temporary Shelter, Abraham loads the rest of Sarah's photography equipment into the cab. Hugh joins her inside the cab and together they set off for Hugh's home.
== Characters ==
=== Debut ===
* Sarah Bain
* Polly Nichols
* Mick O'Reilly
* Police Constable Thomas Barrett
* Abraham Lipsky
* Rachel Lipsky
* Lord Hugh Staunton
* Liz Stride
* Mary Jane Kelly
* Annie Chapman
* Catherine Price
* Kate Eddowes
* John Kelly
* Inspector Reid
* Mr. Russell
* George Lusk
* Alfred Palmer
* Charles Warren
* Fitzmorris
* Ida Millbanks
* Henry Poole
* Gregor
* Leo
* Martha Tabram (mentioned)
* Mary Bain (mentioned)
* Benjamin Bain (mentioned)
* Emma Forbes (mentioned)
* Henry Matthews (mentioned)
* Yulia Lipsky (mentioned)
* Leather Apron (mentioned)
* Squib (mentioned)
== Character Deaths ==
Name 	Cause of Death 	When
Martha Tabram 	Murdered by persons unknown	Mentioned in Chapter 1
Polly Nichols 	Murdered by Warren or Poole	Chapter 1
Annie Chapman 	Murdered by Warren or Poole	Chapter 10
Liz Stride 	Murdered by Warren or Poole	Chapter 24
Kate Eddowes 	Murdered by Warren or Poole	Chapter 25
Mary Jane Kelly	Murdered by Warren or Poole	Chapter 37
Henry Poole 	Murdered by Mick 	Chapter 41
== Cover Gallery ==
Shadow first edition (2017).jpg|2017 First edition (English)
== Trivia ==
* The Ripper's Shadow is the only book in the Sarah Bain series to include a prologue.
== References ==
== Navigation ==
Category:Books
Category:Novels
Category:Sarah Bain novels