Work Text:
“What happened?” Lisa asked, her eyes still red from crying.
Utterson had no idea how to respond. He was still in shock himself; who wouldn’t be in his scenario? He’d just had to kill his oldest friend. “I don’t know much more than you do, Miss Carew.”
“Mrs. Jekyll,” she corrected him. “I am still his wife, even if he is no longer with us.”
“My apologies, Mrs. Jekyll.”
“In any case,” Lisa resumed, “you must know more than I do; you seemed to know what was happening, and you were prepared to draw that gun. What did Henry tell you about that he didn’t tell me?”
“Well, he never told me anything,” Utterson said with a sad laugh. “He was far too dedicated to his work to talk to me. I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Utterson paced the floor for a few minutes, then turned back to Lisa. “I am surprised that he never told you about what he had become; you two were so close before…”
“Before he locked himself away for over a month,” Lisa finished. “Yes, I thought that too. Please, John, tell me what you do know.”
Utterson gathered his thoughts, then said, “I began to know something was terribly wrong when Henry altered his will; the new will detailed that all of his possessions would be given to a Mr. Edward Hyde upon Henry’s death or disappearance for a time longer than three months. I confronted him about the will, but he refused to tell me any more about Hyde except that he was essential to Henry’s work. I feared that Mr. Hyde was blackmailing Henry somehow, but Henry refused to tell me just what Hyde’s role was in his work. Despite my reservations, I agreed to alter the will.
“At this same time, Henry asked me to bring him some chemicals once his order arrived. He said he was too afraid to leave his laboratory. This I also agreed to, though not without doubts. When his order arrived, I brought him the chemicals, but Henry was not in his lab. Instead, I was met by the same Mr. Hyde that was mentioned in the will. He told me to leave the chemicals, but I refused to leave without seeing Henry first. Hyde warned me against this, but I stood my ground. He then mixed a formula and drank it. The room was filled with screams as Hyde writhed on the ground in agony, and I saw him transform into Henry before my eyes.”
Utterson paused his account to help Lisa – who had been getting progressively paler – into a chair.
Once she was situated, Utterson continued, “Immediately after he had fully transformed, he tried to send me away, but I was able to gather from his bursts of speech that Hyde was the one to kill the Board members, and that Henry had lost all control over him. Henry sent me away to tell a- a prostitute named Lucy Harris to get out of London. Apparently, Hyde had been far too interested in her, and Henry wanted to warn her before Hyde could do anything horrible to her. I’m afraid the warning came too late; while I was able to meet her and deliver the letter Henry sent with me, she was reported to have been killed later that night. Hyde must have come for her not long after I left.”
At this, Lisa looked moments away from fainting. “I never expected anything so terrible to come from his work,” she whispered. She shook her head vigorously, then looked over at Utterson. “Thank you for telling me this. I only wish I had been able to hear it from his mouth.”
“I am glad to help relieve your suffering in any way I can,” Utterson said, “but I am sorry the only thing I can offer is a poor explanation. I do believe, however,” he added, fishing in his jacket pocket, “that this can provide an explanation for the details I do not know.” He drew an envelope out of his pocket and handed it to her. “He gave it to me at the same time he gave me the revised will, and he told me to give it to you should he die or go missing.”
Lisa stared at the letter, then slowly opened it. “Thank you, John,” she said, tears welling in her eyes. “However hard this day has been for me, I imagine it must be just as hard for you.”
“I would not presume to agree, Mrs. Jekyll,” Utterson said. “I may have lost a dear friend, but you lost much more this evening.” Utterson silently left the room, giving the poor young widow some privacy to read the final words of her late husband.