Equinox

that they could be accessed from a set of terminals in the reading room. The system was similar to the one at the Oxford library, and they found their way around it pretty quickly.

Philip opened the file for 1851 and then put in a search for 'Oxford murder investigations'. There were thirty- seven documents, listed chronologically and dating from the time when each investigation was officially started. He entered 'June'. Two investigations had begun that month. The first was a file only 22K in size, the other was 23 IK. Philip clicked on the second, reasoning that the serial killings starting that month would have been one of the largest criminal investigations conducted in Oxford for many years.

The file opened and they read the title: Investigation into the Connected Murders of Molly Wetherspoon, Cynthia Page, Edward Makepeace and Lucinda Gabling, All of Oxford, Between the Dates of 15 June and 9 July 1851 . It was 120 pages long.

'I'll get us some coffee,' Laura said.

Philip tapped her arm and pointed to a sign on the wall that read:

NO EATING OR DRINKING IN READING ROOM.

'Ah’ she sighed. 'In that case, we'd better get started.'

Philip clicked down the file and the first page of text immediately sucked them in. It was entitled CASE SUMMARY and beneath the title was written: STRICTLY PRIVATE, NOT TO BE COPIED, NOT FOR PUBLIC PERUSAL.

Laura felt the hairs rise on the nape of her neck and suddenly all thoughts of coffee were forgotten.

The summary began:

'Our investigation commenced on 15 June, the Year of Our Lord 1851 and it was officially closed on 12 August of the same year.' It then went on to list the names, addresses and some personal details of the victims, as well as some background concerning Patrick Fitzgerald. There then followed three pages describing the murders, each reported in chronological order.

'My God,' Laura exclaimed. 'This is unreal.'

If the style of language was ignored, the locations changed and a few archaisms dismissed, the descriptions that Philip and Laura were reading could almost have been written during the past week. In each case the victims had died from stab wounds or by having their throats slashed. With the one incident that involved a male victim and a female one, the murdered man had been killed and then left, but the girl had been mutilated with surgical precision. In the case of the first murder, Molly Wetherspoon had her kidneys removed. In the second, the female victim, Cynthia Page, had her brain taken from her skull, and in the third murder the liver had been taken from the slain girl Lucinda Gabling.

Here were details that had never been released to the press of the time. At the scene of each murder a coin had been found. The first had been made of copper, the second of silver, the third of tin. Laura felt icy fingers run along her spine.

The commanding officer's summary report read:

After conducting a detailed and thorough investigation into the series of murders committed in this city between 15 June and 9 July 1851 we have reached the conclusion that the murders were committed by Mr Patrick Fitzgerald of Dublin, a labourer, aged 31. This official conclusion was based upon the testimony of three witnesses and later confirmed in a written confession obtained from Mr Fitzgerald on 16 July.

However, I would like to add a personal addendum to the official secret record pertaining to the events described above.

It is my personal conviction (and I feel I must here reiterate that this is an expression of my personal conviction alone) that Mr Fitzgerald was not responsible for the murders under investigation.

Until the time of Mr Fitzgerald's arrest, the press had taken upon themselves the task of inciting public feeling about this case, feeling that was both emotional and volatile. They did this by creating a scapegoat in the sorry form of a young man named Nathaniel Milliner who was accused of murdering all the victims.

However, I believe this to be an entirely erroneous notion. I am convinced that the young boy in question could never have committed these horrendous acts. In each case, the female victims had internal organs removed with expert precision and there were definite, but unreadable occult overtones to all four murders. Nathaniel Milliner is an imbecile with barely the talent to hold a knife and fork at the dinner table. Indeed, my overwhelming suspicions lay entirely elsewhere, and I believe that the murders were committed by a trained and highly skilled individual, possibly a doctor or a surgeon.

After the fourth murder, when the young boy, Nathaniel Milliner, was apprehended at the scene of the killing at Forest Hill, another individual was also present at the scene and was asked to accompany myself and my officers to the Oxford Police Station for further questioning.

This individual is a very senior member of the academic community here in Oxford and so all investigations and questioning were required to be conducted with the utmost probity and attention. The individual was helpful with our enquiries, but I took it upon myself to compose detailed notes on the interview immediately after the individual was allowed to leave our custody. Within these notes I commented upon the following indisputable facts:

Stains which looked remarkably like blood were to be found on his jacket and his shirt.

When he was encountered close to the scene of the crime, the gentleman in question appeared to be in a highly agitated and anxious state, and he was apparently confused by our presence there.

When later interviewed at the station, he told us that he had travelled to Forest Hill directly from a local shoot on the land of Lord Willerby (a close friend) whose estate is indeed in the environs of Forest Hill.

Lord Willerby later confirmed this account was entirely true.

To me it seemed undeniable that the gentleman in question was behaving abnormally. Even so, having agreed to return the next day for further questioning, the gentleman was permitted to leave. This individual did not return, nor was he ever asked to return. Instead, on 10 July, the day after the fourth murder,

I was summoned to attend a private meeting with a senior officer who informed me that any further investigation into the affairs of the aforementioned gentleman must be terminated forthwith and that the gentleman was to be left in peace. I was also informed that Nathaniel Milliner should henceforth be left equally unmolested. Five days later, Mr Fitzgerald was arrested by my officers and brought to the police station for questioning.

Here ends my personal addendum.

Signed: Chief Detective Jeffrey Howard.

'Wow,' Laura exclaimed. 'Wow, indeed.'

'So Patrick Fitzgerald was nothing more than a fall guy. And the police knew it?' 'Looks like it.' 'I find that amazing.'

'You shouldn't. Remember, Laura, in 1851 the police force had only been in existence for, what? — twenty years? There have been many similar cover-ups far more recently, I can assure you.'

'And it was one hell of a cover-up,' Laura remarked. 'Neither the boy, Nathaniel Milliner, nor the labourer, Patrick Fitzgerald, had anything to do with it. It was this 'gentleman', an 'individual' who cannot be named.'

'What I find just as amazing is that this Chief

Detective Jeffrey Howard could be allowed to include this report,' Philip said.

'Classic case of covering one's ass,' Laura responded.

'Yes, but how could a relatively junior investigating officer be allowed to point the finger, however subtly it was done?'

'He must have added this long after the event. Look.' She flicked back. 'It's dated January 1854. Maybe Howard was about to leave the force, or the files were being moved and he knew that no one would be interested in looking at them, until perhaps, one day. .'

'That has to be it,' Philip replied. 'There's no way Howard could have made his feelings known at the time — he would have been booted out. . at the very least.'