Greystorm Chronicles 4

        The cold air of London’s winter ripped through Dorean like a buzz saw.  This was an intolerable way to wake up, in his opinion.  As he got his bearings, Dorean realized he was being watched.

         “It’s about time you rejoined the livin’,” Donnelly growled as he started going through the jail keys, “the way you go on, you’d think you were on holiday or somethin’.”

         A smirk crept across Dorean’s face.  If nothing else, he thought to himself, at least the boys at Scotland Yard have a sense of humor.  “Never looked at this situation as a holiday, my dear inspector, but thank you for the words of encouragement.”  Dorean was trying to buy time.  He definitely didn’t want his little secret getting out.  Even  if it did mean freedom and a certain amount of deific worship.

         “Well come on then, time to go,” Donnelly stood stoic as he spoke, like one of Michelangelo’s statues as he spoke.  This gave Dorean the notion that they were serious.

        “Are you sure this is the route you want to take with me, Donnelly?  With everything you know?”  Dorean’s eyes narrowed as he posed the question.  If anyone knew of the Dorean’s “special” circumstances, it should have been the inspector.

         “You know how it works, Greystorm, I just do what I am told,” Donnelly smiled as he spoke.

           Donnelly didn’t have the best “poker-face” in the world, but Dorean could tell he was enjoying every minute of this.

         “Well come on out of there, you stupid buggar, and lets get this thing over with,” Donnelly said, as he stuffed the keys back into his pockets.  “You ain’t the only poor bastard I have to see today.”



         Dorean stepped cautiously out of his cell, “You know, I do find it rather odd that a well known inspector is the one opening my cell, and not some greasy side show freak you would like to call a guard.”  Dorean leaned up against the open gate as he spewed his venom.  If he had a cigarette he would probably be much better off.

         Donnelly smiled as if he had a betting hand, “I came down as a personal favor from the director of Scotland Yard.  We want to make sure you get what’s coming to you.”

         “It makes perfect sense, my dear Donnelly, after all, it was you who decided that I like to kill insignificant bang-tails to make me feel better.”  Dorean turned his back to Donnelly and put his hands behind his back.  The cold embrace of the handcuffs sent a shiver up his spine.  He still couldn’t believe that these people actually thought he was this “Ripper” person.    Especially since he was trying to aid their investigation by tracking the bastard down.

         “Well, if you would be kind enough to tell me what you were doing sniffing around the site of Mary Kelley’s murder, I could absolve you and this whole mess would be over.”  There was a touch of sorrow in Donnelly’s voice.  He was going to miss his conversation with Greystorm.

         Dorean stiffened; he knew he couldn’t tell them what he was doing there.  “Can a man not stroll down the alley’s of London to save time?  Where is my crime?”  His eyes became fixed on the door in front of him.  Fifteen paces to destiny.

                   “Not in White Chapel, not right now.  Besides, you can’t tell me why there was blood on your hands and clothes at the time.  I think the judge was pretty fair in his judgment.”  Donnelly strolled behind Greystorm and smiled, he wondered why the man was worried about his innocence now?  It was a little late to be making a case for yourself.



         Dorean’s eyes narrowed, there were ten paces left.  “Why wasn’t Holmes involved in the investigation?  You would think that the so called ‘world’s greatest detective’ would want to take part in tracking down the most notorious murderer of our time,” Dorean’s voice quivered a bit as he talked, five paces left.

         Donnelly chuckled, “We figured we didn’t need him, we found you at the site of the crime.  You had blood all over you.  We even surmised on our own that you had a motive, since you were seen with Mary not two hours before and it was said that the two of you were arguing.”  He moved closer to Dorean.  Donnelly’s voice had a hint of bitterness to it.  “It’s quite sad really, I always liked you Dorean, you were always of great help to the us when we needed you.”

         Dorean swallowed hard as he stopped at the iron door.  This is it, he thought to himself, exposure.  “This situation is rather unfortunate, I always had a fondness for you as well Donnelly, even as daft as you are,” Dorean managed a laugh as Donnelly stepped around him and opened the door.  The bright light of the winter sun made Dorean squint and turn his head.  So much so that he didn’t see the thin figure standing in front of him.



         Donnelly stepped back behind Dorean and unlocked the cuffs from his wrists.  Dorean stood bewildered for a minute as his mind wrapped around what was going on.  His eyes fixed on the thin man standing before him as the adjusted to the light.  “What are you doing here?  Don’t you have some dogs to go investigate?”

         The thin man smiled at Dorean, nodded to Donnelly and stepped aside.  Donnelly ushered Dorean out the door and put his arm around him.  “You didn’t really think we were gonna let you swing did ya?”  Donnelly and the thin man laughed as Dorean stood stunned.  He hated putting the ole’ boy through that, but it was just too good a prank to pass up.

         Dorean smiled and bowed his head.  He was free, but why?  Why were they letting him loose after he had already been convicted and sentenced?  He looked at the thin man and smirked.  “I suppose you had something to do with this?  You just can’t keep your nose out of other people’s business can you?”

         “I wouldn’t be the so called ‘world’s greatest detective’ if I did, now would I?  I apologize for the delay of your release.  I felt that as long as you were here, the people who wanted you dead would have a bit more difficulty killing you here.  Especially under the watchful eye of our friend, Inspector Donnelly here.”  The thin man lit his pipe and smiled.  Dorean was grateful that things worked out the way they did, but he still wanted to slap that smug look off the thin man’s face.

         “So what now Holmes?”  Dorean began to roll a cigarette as he spoke.

         “You leave the country, England is not safe for you, especially with your knowledge of recent goings on.  The queen has offered you safe passage to the colonies if you leave tonight.  She is not happy about losing one of her most trusted advisors, but she knows you meant well and has pulled the reigns back on her attack dogs for a bit.  She would have let you hang, but I convinced her that it was not in the best interest for her people to allow you to expire.  Especially since the three of us know you can’t.”  Holmes puffed on his pipe as he spoke.  Graveness washed across his face that Dorean couldn’t help noticing.

         “All you had to say was, ‘leave,’ Holmes, I could have gotten in a good nap in the time it took you to explain the obvious.”  Dorean chucked Holmes in the shoulder and shook his hand.  He then turned to Donnely and shook his hand and nodded.  It was time to go.

         

         As the boat steamed across the ocean towards the “New World”, Dorean couldn’t help but smile at recent events.  The “Ripper” case was left unsolved; the “Ripper”, himself, never found.  The pile of ash that Dorean had reduced him to had blown away in the snow.  The incident might have cost Dorean his adopted home, but he had to look at the bright side of things.  This was at least motivation to track down Oscar and get his painting back.