Finding Jack: 1888 in Whitechapel

6. Broken

"My God!"

~~~

It was hours before Jack's handiwork was discovered. Scattered across the office floor were torn-up pieces of paperwork, littering the once tidy office. It was, to her dismay, Kayla who arrived first to discover this. To Kayla, it was just a break-in; it wouldn't have been the first time someone decided to use the police station as an arena. Hence, her first instinct was to analyse the shredded documents which decorated the floor. After all, if something of some kind of value had been destroyed, it could prevent the course of justice for any number of people. Within moments of reading, however, she realised something different – and yet terrible – was afoot. Tossing the first piece aside, she quickly reached down for another couple of sheets. "Oh, Rachel..." She sighed, skimming her eyes over a mess of unreadable scribbles, each and every one in Rachel's handwriting. Her instinct was that Rachel had overworked herself. "Rachel?" She called out, hoping not to hear a reply. Last time Rachel worked this hard, she didn't bother leaving the station for a week straight, so, naturally – when she didn't hear a response – Kayla decided not to think of it any longer and began to pile together some of the illegible files.

It wasn't long after this that Joey and Ellie arrived. "What in tarnation happened here?" Joey asked, rubbing his eyes. Kayla stood up at once and passed a pile o papers to Joey. "Oh." He replied, scanning through the pages for anything he could make out. Within moments, he looked to Kayla and they exchanged a look of recognition.

"Mind filling me in?" Ellie queried, grabbing a few pages from the floor. Joey turned from Kayla and frowned.

"Rachel's worked herself to death." Joey replied, a worried tone within his voice. He could make out a few words here and there, but the scribbles and scrawls were enough to conceal the notes she had made. "Have you seen her?" He interrogated Kayla, once more turning to her, but she shook her head. "Have you looked?"

Kayla froze. "Uh- No." She honestly replied. Joey shot a look her way. "I've only been here for ten minutes, though, so give me a break!" She growled back, returning her focus to piling up Rachel's notes. Joey bowed his head, attempting to use his detecting skills to evaluate where Rachel may be. She could very much be somewhere in the building: sleeping in a cupboard, perhaps? She could be at home and all of this worrying could be for nothing. Alternatively, she cou-

"Oh... my God." Joey whispered, his eyes immediately darting to the sheet under his shoe. In a quick dash, he pulled it into his hand and stared at it, eyes wide. Located in the bottom-right corner of this particular page was a startling sign. The stench of metal was repulsing to Joey, his instincts beginning to realise the tragedy upon them. Crimson dots were splattered weakly in this particular spot. "RACHEL!!" He called out, launching himself into a corridor, allowing the bloodied sheet to return to its home on the floor. As soon it caught the eyes of the other two officers, they too were running, attempting to find Inspector Penender.

Sergeant Joey Savage's pursuit to find Rachel lasted roughly 3 minutes. He knew that he shouldn't have left her to work alone. Rachel...his friend; he should have stuck up for her for longer than he did. He opened a cupboard and removed everything from it and stuck his head inside. "RAACHEL!?" He cried out. "RA-"

"AAAAAHH!"

Joey's heart halted. "Rachel..." He whispered, concluding that she was lost. The scream was Ellie's, he was certain of that. However, the shriek was not the kind of noise a human being would make lightly. A small tear formed in his eye as he slowly began to approach the source of the noise. Upon reaching it, Ellie rushed into Joey's arms.

"I-I-It's..." She sobbed, trembling. Joey nodded and held her close.

"I know." He replied, holding in his sorrow. He glanced into the room and there she was. Her feet did not touch the ground but were rather elevated along with the rest of Rachel's body. A rope was enough to let her fly like an angel in her regrettable death. He shut the door and looked at it no longer. "My God!" He knew of this form of death, of course, but he did not understand why Rachel of all people would be found in this form. He sighed and felt as his shoulder becoming soggier as Ellie continued to cry into it. Kayla approached at an alarming speed and suddenly made her way into the room.

"RACHEL!!" She exclaimed, falling to the ground and growling. "THE HELL, RACHEL!!" She began to bash the ground, rage filling her body. Joey's eyes began to water, but he did not allow them to drop.

"Hello?" A distant call could be heard. Joey recognised it as James and rushed over to grab him. "Joey!" He shouted upon seeing him. "Wh-What's going on?"

"It's Rachel..." He sighed, a tear escaping his control. Without much haste, he directed James to the room where she remained.

"WH-" James exited the room immediately, rubbing his hand firmly down his face. "How could she have done this?!" He cried out, shaking profoundly.

"I-I don't know." Joey replied.

"She wouldn't have." Kayla replied, beginning to look closely at the body. "Rachel wouldn't have done anything like this. Never in a million yea-"

"Rach?" Everyone stopped in place. It was Brandon.

"O-Oh...G-God." Kayla stuttered, looking everyone in the eye. Nobody moved. Everyone knew about Brandon and Rachel. They, in everyone's eyes, were great together. However, it was inevitable now that things were going to be – well – difficult.

"Hello?" Brandon called out, his voice getting closer. Ellie closed the door and waited for his arrival. "Constable Banks!" He exclaimed, waving to her with a smile. "Is anyone else around?" She tried to smile, but she burst out into tears and hugged Brandon. "W-What's up, Ellie?" He interrogated, a shimmer of worry reflecting through his voice. With the assumption that the issue was behind the door, he began walking towards it, pushing Ellie away.

"D-Don't-" Ellie began, but...it was too late.

"RACHEL!!" He ran to her side, screaming. Tears fell. His heart shattered. "WHO THE HELL DID THIS TO MY RACHEL?" Everyone remained frozen, unable to comprehend the pain at hand. He took her in his arms and gave her one final hug, before he collapsed onto the floor, producing a puddle of tears and blood. Joey sat by his side.

"I'm so sorry, Bra-"

"SHUT THE HELL UP!!" He screamed, punching his away. Ellie, instead, pulled him up and took him outside.

"Kay- Sergeant Darwin, I think you may be right." Replied Joey, who pulled out a pocket knife and began to cut.

"W-What are you doing?" Kayla replied, clearing her vision. "HAVE YOU NOT AN OUNCE OF RESP-"

She dropped into Joey's arms and he placed her gently on the floor. Kayla gasped and knelt down next to the body. "Oh my God." She exclaimed, before stepping back. A slash in her throat was very clearly present; this kind of mark was definitely not an injury she could have sustained while she propped herself in the position she was found.

"There's only person I know who would be sick enough to do this..." Joey confessed.

"Yes." James replied, examining the body himself. "It's him, isn't it?"

"Oh, I'm afraid so."