CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Where Is Jekyll?

Hyde's body lay on the floor wearing clothes that were too large for him. Poole noticed that he was wearing one of Dr Jekyll's favorite jackets. Lying next to him on the floor was a broken glass, and the two men could smell a bitter scent in the air.

"That is the smell of poison," Mr Utterson told Poole. "He killed himself. We have arrived too late to either save him or punish him. The only thing we can do now is to find Jekyll's body. I fear that if he was murdered a week ago, as you believe, then his body may already be a very horrible sight."

Poole called the servants together and explained their task. They searched the office closely—all of its closets and corners. Not being able to find his body, they moved on to the laboratory. There, the closets were all empty and filled with dust. It was clear that no one had used them in a long time.

The group was very confused about where to search next. There were not many rooms in the house that Hyde could have hidden a large body without being discovered. "Perhaps Hyde buried him under the floor," suggested Poole without much hope in his voice. "Or maybe Hyde took him outside one night and buried him elsewhere." The two men went to examine the back door, but found that it was locked on the inside and outside and the key thrown in a corner, broken into two pieces. They returned to the office without any ideas.

Mr Utterson began to carefully search the room, not for Jekyll's body, but for a clue. He saw a book lying open on a small table by the fire. It was a book about religion that Jekyll often carried around with him. Utterson looked inside and saw horrible things—wild criticisms and dirty words—written in Jekyll's handwriting all over its pages. He closed the book hard and turned away, upset at the strange thing he had seen. He saw Poole staring into the large mirror.

"I just had an interesting thought, Mr Utterson," said Poole. "If this mirror could speak, it would tell us everything that we want to know."

Utterson nodded in agreement. "Certainly that mirror has seen some strange and horrible sights here. But the strangest thing is that Jekyll decided to put a mirror in this room full of science. I can't understand why Jekyll would need it."

Poole had no answer. Utterson then began looking through the neat piles of papers on one table, and found an envelope addressed to him lying on top of the largest pile. When he opened it, three pieces of paper fell out.

The first paper was a new will by Jekyll. It was written in almost exactly the same way as the first will, locked away in the lawyer's safe. There was one shocking difference though, where Hyde's name appeared in the first will, in this new will, Utterson's own name had been written instead of Hyde's.

"I don't understand, what can this mean?" exclaimed the lawyer. "Jekyll removed Hyde's name from his will, and now says that I am to receive all his possessions. Yet Hyde, who has been here for at least a week, did not destroy the will! Surely Hyde had no reason to like me."

The next paper caused Utterson to cry in joy because the date at the top said that it was written that same morning. "Quick, Poole!" cried the lawyer. "Come look at this! Dr Jekyll was alive and in this room today. Hyde could not have killed him! He must still be alive and hiding somewhere."

Poole was first excited by the news, but his joy quickly turned to confusion. "But, why should he hide, Mr Utterson?"

"I am not sure, Poole. But, if I am correct in believing that Hyde killed himself, then we must act very carefully and make sure that nothing terrible happens to the doctor. Listen to what he writes in this letter."

Utterson read aloud: "My dear Utterson: When you find this letter, I will have disappeared. How or why I have left, I cannot tell you. I fear that the end is near for me. Our friend Lanyon told me he was going to give you a letter to read after my disappearance. Read it now to understand what has happened to me. If you still wish to know more, read the confession I have put inside this envelope with this letter. Goodbye, dear Utterson. Your unhappy friend, Henry Jekyll ... 

The two men stood silent, looking down at the table where Jekyll's confession was, still in its envelope. Finally the lawyer grasped the letter and put it in his pocket.

"I am going home, Poole, where I can read this letter alone," said Utterson. "I will first read Dr Lanyon's letter, which is in my safe. Whether Dr Jekyll is dead or alive hiding somewhere, we can at least try to save his good name." The lawyer then looked at his watch. "It is ten o'clock now. I will return before midnight, and we will call for the police when I return."

Poole nodded and said goodbye to Utterson. The butler stayed in the room for a moment afterwards. He removed the boiling pot of water from the fire and said "goodbye" to his old master in his mind. He locked the office and the laboratory doors as he left. Inside, the fire continued to burn a deep red, keeping the dead man warm.

(end of section)