Without A Trace - First Free Sample

“Daddy!” He turned to see a small girl running down the hall towards him, arms outstretched.

“Anna!” he cried out, crouching down to her level. As she reached him, he gathered her into his arms and lifted her up. “How are you this morning?”

Anna remained quiet, choosing instead to put her thumb in her mouth. Jacob grinned and handed her back to Sarah as she came into the kitchen followed by the other four children.

“What are you cooking?” Sarah asked as she put Anna in her seat.

“Porridge,” Jacob replied, pouring some into a bowl. “I cooked only for the six of you. I have to open the shop. I’ll eat later.”

“Make sure you do,” Sarah ordered. “I’ll be with you once the nanny arrives.”

Later in the shop Jacob was washing pig blood off his hands when a young boy came into the shop holding a piece of paper.

The boy looked curiously at Jacob for a moment before asking, “Are you Mr Levy?”

“Yes.”

“I have an order for you, Sir.” The boy held out the piece of paper and Jacob took it from him, Sarah looking on in the background. Jacob read through the list and nodded.

“Where to?”

“The White House, Sir. Fifty-six Flower and Dean Street.”

“Very well. I’ll take it there myself. You may go now.”

“Thank you, Sir.” The boy bowed his head and left the shop again.

“One salted pork joint and a box of beef sausages,” he said, looking at Sarah, who nodded and searched under the counter for the things on the list. “Are you able to watch the shop while I’m gone?” Jacob asked her, pulling on a coat.

“I am always able,” Sarah replied, a slight glare in her eyes. She put the joint and sausages in a bag and then handed it to Jacob. “Hurry back.”

“I will.”

He quickly made his way to the given address and knocked at the door. There was no reply. Making sure it could be heard, he knocked again. He waited a few more seconds and then looked around. It was very quiet.

Suddenly, the door opened and a woman appeared in the gap. She was wearing a red-brown ulster, a brown frock and grey stockings underneath men’s boots. She had a white cloth covering the ulster and wore two petticoats on top of that. The clothes instantly told Jacob she was a whore.

“What?” she asked impatiently in a cockney accent.

“I received an order for this address,” Jacob told her, a little nervously. “Mary Nichols?”

“That’s me.” The woman smiled. “How much?”

“A shilling and sixpence,” Jacob told her. She chuckled and looked at him for a second, as if sizing him up. She then chuckled again and reached into one of the petticoats, pulling out a small bag. She looked into it and then slowly found the money she owed him.

“There you go,” she said. “A shilling and sixpence.”

After he’d checked it, Jacob said, “Thank you.”

“No problem.” She grinned and then Jacob jumped backwards a little as the door slammed shut.

***

31st August 1888

Mary staggered out of the building and hit a wall.

“Nice doing business with you!” she shouted as the door slammed shut behind her. She tilted her head back and took a long drink from the bottle in her hand.

“Mary?” a nearby voice called.

Mary looked around and saw the person the voice belonged to.

“Emily,” she called back as her friend from the workhouse came closer. “Fancy seeing you here.” She hiccupped and staggered forwards as the alcohol continued to flow through her body.

“Are you well?”

“Yes I am.” Mary grinned. “Just getting some extra cash for the evening.”

“Extra?”

“I got my doss money three times already today and spent it,” Mary drunkenly explained. Emily watched as she fell sideways and staggered into the wall.

“Three times?” she asked. “How can you spend it three times?”

“I don’t know.” Mary shrugged. “But I did.” She hiccupped again before saying, “Don’t worry. It won’t be long before I’m back.”

She started staggering down the road towards Whitechapel Road and Emily watched her for a while before turning and walking away.

Mary lurched into a wall again as she turned the corner into Buck’s Road. She laughed to herself as she pulled herself up straight and continued walking.

Suddenly there was a thud in front of her and she stopped, looking up.

She grinned and drunkenly asked, “Who’s there?”

“That’s a very good question,” a male voice replied out of the darkness. “What’s your name, whore?”

Mary laughed loudly. “Who are you calling a whore, you arrogant bastard?”

“Answer the question.”

“Mary Ann Nichols at your service.” Mary giggled madly.

“Not my service,” the voice said darkly. “Not tonight.” Mary barely saw the person-shaped shadow step closer to her, his figure outlined only slightly.

“Who are you?” Mary asked. “What’s your business?”

“I’m a cleaner,” the man said. Mary scarcely heard the sound of metal being withdrawn from somewhere but she saw a shape move in the darkness. “And my name is Jack.”

Pain spread through her stomach as something ripped through her skin and she went to scream. Before she could, something was stuffed into her mouth and her scream was muffled by the material. A hand grabbed her neck and pushed her backwards. She cried as pain hit her again. She could feel something slicing into her stomach and every time it grated through her it sent a pulse of agony through her body. She screamed into whatever was in her mouth as she felt warmth spreading across her stomach. A slicing pain hit her sides and she squirmed. She didn’t see the fist flying at her face, causing her to stay still. Another slicing pain. Another scream. She could feel the tears running down her cheek and she started to choke on the thing in her mouth. A shadow came to rest over her face.

“Quiet!” the voice hissed. “You may wake somebody.” She continued to cry and she heard a frustrated sigh. “If you don’t quieten yourself, I will,” the voice threatened. This only made Mary cry harder as she felt her stomach cooling again. The pain had stopped for now. What was happening? “Last chance!” the voice warned. Mary struggled and then abruptly stopped moving as she felt cold metal against her neck. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” the voice said coldly and calmly. She vaguely saw a leftward movement before pain exploded from her neck and warm flecks splashed her face. She choked and saw another movement from right to left. The pain doubled and she cried into the material in her mouth.

Suddenly everything seemed to slow. Everything became very quiet and she saw a grey shadow between her and the pitch black sky.

“Sleep now, Mary Ann Nichols,” the voice said as the grey and the black merged together. “Sleep, knowing I have made the world a cleaner place.”

***