Page 41 of Secrets in the Dark
“Did you talk to him?” Della asked.
“I was going to, but I heard a scream, and being a cop by nature, I ran to the scream... It was a kid who had never seen his father’s headstone and I guess seeing the name on the headstone was too much for him. But by the time I knew that nothing was wrong, the man I had been watching was gone.”
Mason pulled out his phone and keyed up Maisie’s images, asking him first if it was the man that Abigail Scott had identified.
“Was this him?”
Trey Harper frowned. “Yes, and no. I mean, it looks something like him, but...”
“What about any of these?”
“There!”
Trey pointed to an image of their suspect with long tawny hair and thick shaggy brows.
“That’s him!”
“These images have been sent to the city and Metropolitan Police,” Della told him. “Study them when you have a chance. I don’t know why this man would keep coming to the cemetery—”
“He was in an area with a new grave. That of the English girl who was killed as one of the vampire victims,” Harper said, his tone hard. “That in itself had made me wonder—she’s over there,” he added softly. “Family plot. Her great-great-great grandfather was one of the first internments here.”
“We haven’t been there yet,” Della said.
“Will you show us?” Mason asked.
“Of course.” He winced. “Her death is fresh and deeply painful for many and I’d like to think that she isn’t on any historic or other tour maps yet. This way.”
They followed him around one of the paths, passing majestic angels and other memorials. Trees lined the main road and the cemetery was meticulously maintained.
They reached an area that was secluded by a small stone wall. In the center was a tall monument that bore the family name. The first grave dated back to the year that the cemetery was opened.
But Trey Harper led them to a grave where the grass was just growing back. A simple wooden cross marked the newer burial.
“Her headstone hasn’t arrived yet,” Trey said, his voice sounding bitter. “The family has ordered it, of course, but it can sometimes take a few months for markers to arrive and be installed.
“But you saw this man here, and wandering near the Ripper’s victims?” Mason asked.
Trey nodded. “I haven’t seen him today.”
“Thanks for showing us this area,” Mason said. He looked at Della and wondered if they were thinking the same thing.
Their “Ripper King” had visited this cemetery—before his first Ripper murder—his “Polly” Nichols murder.
Where was the Ripper’s second victim buried? Had he visited that grave already, or would he show up there. And seriously, why was he bothering, or was it just a part of his organized madness?
“Thank you,” Della said quietly. “I guess we’d best get back. Trey, I’m sure we’ll meet again.”
“And it will be great to meet again,” he said. “We can hope for better circumstances.”
“Absolutely,” Della said.
Mason lifted a hand in goodbye and he and Della headed out of the family plot and through the cemetery, back to the street where he looked at her, shrugged and said, “Car service?”
“Let’s try. I don’t think that many cabs will be out here.”
“Rideshare is everywhere,” he said, looking at the apps he had on his phone. “But where are we going? All right, we believe that our killer came here—then, he struck for the first time. The first victim is buried here, but the next—”
“Manor Park Cemetery and Crematorium, East London, near Epping Forest.”
