“You know what?” Kevin sighed “You are getting really annoying”

Lu Han furrowed his eyebrows “What did I ever do to you?”

“You and young master” Eli approached them.

“I don’t think I understand”

“The two of you have this ‘thing’ going on that I cannot put my finger on” Kevin said exasperatedly.

Lu Han gave Eli a look “What the bloody hell is he talking about?”

Eli sighed “You two are like…” he contemplated “just a perfect match”

Lu Han opened his mouth “What the e?”

“Not” Eli followed up “like that. What we meant is that you have similar qualities way out of our league and that you understand each other deeply than anyone”

Lu Han threw them the most questionable look he ever made. “I don’t like where we’re going at”

“Big brother!” Kieran and Aidan chorused as they rushed inside “Come join us!”

Eli straightened his back “Is it about time?”

The twins nodded excitedly.

Lu Han turned to Kevin “About what time?”

“Come”

Kris aligned his eye at the front sight and the rear sight of his Holland & Holland Royal shotgun. It was his prized possession. The detailed engravings on the silver plate at the grip is matched perfectly with the sapphire gems that positioned around it— the way his hand held on to it felt perfect, like it was made just for him. It was Duke Wellington’s former favourite shotgun.

He pulled the magazine as he softly grazed his finger on the trigger, positioning his shoulder firmly at the heel and locking the target. Shooting was his favourite pastime.

In an instant, the bullet went through the red mark fifty feet from his shooting point. Bulls-eye.

“Splendid young master” Kevin clapped as he walked towards him along with the four servants. “As expected, graceful as always”

Kris stood up to meet the five of them. He grabbed one of the spare shotguns and handed it to Kevin “Train while your muscles are still firm”

Lu Han turned to Eli “I thought Kevin’s the bookish type?”

Eli chuckled “That’s right”

“Then why—“

“You can learn everything from books without being practical” Kevin intervened as he positions himself, pointing towards another target “Know the basics of shotguns. Find the right angle for your body, shoulders, and eyes. Use the required force for each of them. And” Kevin pulled the trigger, another bulls-eye “Viola”

“Told you” Eli commented.

“Your turn” Kevin gave Eli the shotgun.

As expected, he hit the target instantly. Kieran and Aidan also had their turns in the same fashion.

“Here you go” it was now Lu Han’s.

Lu Han walked towards the shooting point and positioned himself, piece of cake. Before he could pull the magazine, a cloth had covered his eyes “What—“

“Handicap” Kris beamed “This is how trainings will be like starting from now on”

“Young master isn’t that a bit—“before Eli could say anything, they heard a shot.

“Bulls-eye” Lu Han stood up removing the blindfold in the process.

Four of them were puzzled “How—“

“Trained photographic memory” Kris explained “He saw the target before I covered his eyes therefore he was able to calculate the right angles and position”

“You saved my breath” Lu Han’s tone was sarcastic.

Kris turned to him “I wonder why it was so useless when you got lost in the maze?”

Lu Han glared at him.

“Now they’re doing it” Kevin whispered to Eli.

Scotland Yard hadn’t been considered very busy four months ago, in fact, they weren’t very busy at all. Crimes called for theft, drug dealing, smuggling, illegal export and import from other countries, death by accidents, and many more. But murders were very scarce, not everyone in London dares to go on a killing spree except for one— their newly found friend, Jack the Ripper.

Within four months, Jack the Ripper has managed to kill five women indirectly. Meaning, he had not stained his hands by their bloods. Nonetheless, he was the mastermind.

Jamie Harrison grunted in annoyance.

Every moment they fail to catch this guy, there will be more murders to come. He is sure of it.

“Here” Yi Xing handed him a file with the Scotland Yard seal “I found this at the archive. I think this might interest you”

Harrison opened the envelope “What are these?” he turned to Yi Xing.

“Check them out” The junior officer shrugged.

Harrison laid the contents of the file on his mahogany desk. There were black and white prints of photographs, documents, and few small bags of evidence. He looked at the photographs closely “These are from the first victims” showing dead women lying on the streets on London nights.

Next photograph showed Lady Lowell’s hanged body on her chambers. The last photo was of the actress Anise Le Rou’s dead body on her bed surrounded by a pool of blood.

Harrison furrowed his eyebrows in disgust and regret. He was in charge of the last two cases.

“Read the documents” Yi Xing followed.

Harrison let his eyes scan through the pages of texts and references. He had been through this the first time he knew about Jack the Ripper. Nothing caught his eyes as he continuously flipped the pages, it was all the same until he saw the last page. His eyes widened. It was a copy of a book record.

Yi Xing smiled as soon as he saw Harrison’s reaction “I connected all the dots along with the last two cases, it led me there”

Harrison glanced at Yi Xing “How did you obtain this?”

The junior shrugged “I asked Theo to do the legwork for me. I’m no good outside the archives”

Harrison stood up “Call Chief Duncan and the others to the conference room”

Yi Xing straightened his back and saluted “Aye, sir” he managed to say before leaving the cubicles.

“Whitehall construction postponed, dead bodies found” Lu Han read the headline on Kris’ newspaper.

“Decapitated, I say” Kris commented “there are missing parts”

“All women?”

“Indeed”

Lu Han straightened himself “That means— a mass murder?”

Kris shook his head “Not quite, there are rotten bodies under the pile. The upper parts are fresh ones”

“He’s at it again” Lu Han paused “Jack the Ripper”

Kris glanced at his employee “What makes you say that?”

Lu Han looked confused “Pardon?”

“What makes you think it’s Jack the Ripper?”

Lu Han contemplated, he was now getting Kris’ point “By assumption”

“By assumption” Kris repeated “Assumption leads everyone in wrong places. Just because the deed has been done the same manner, people assume the obvious.” Kris lowered the newspaper “To produce tea is to brew. You brew me the same tea and it tastes always the same. But if I brew the tea myself using the same tea, would it taste the same?”

Lu Han shook his head. Kris has a point.

“Not all recurring murders point to the same murderer”

It was almost lunchtime when the six of them had finished ‘training’. The servants had to prepare the menu and immediately retreated to the kitchen.

“What will be our appetizer?” Eli questioned as he fiddled his chin.

Kevin browsed the cookbook “Carrot soup?”

Eli shook his head “We had that yesterday morning”

“May I make a suggestion?” Lu Han raised his point finger “Have you tried Bird’s Nest?”

Kevin and Eli shook their heads.

“Figures, it originated from Asia anyway” Lu Han shrugged. “I’ll teach you”

“Then” Aidan spoke “what about the main dish?”

“Broccoli Bacon Pilaf” Kieran suggested “Perfect for red wine”

Kevin snapped his fingers “Broccoli Bacon Pilaf”

“And the des—“Before Eli could finish, Aidan intervened.

“Blueberry cheesecake” the green-eyed twin beamed. “No bake”

Eli chuckled “Blueberry cheesecake it is”

“Are you certain?” Duncan observed the copy of the book record closely.

“Bloody hell I am” Harrison said impatiently “The coincidence is no doubt”

“Then we need that person’s presence here”

Harrison furrowed his eyebrows “Who?”

“The one in charge of the Whitehall case, Chief Superintendent Niamh Hemmingway”

Chief Superintendent Niamh Hemmingway, a figure of tactical wisdom. Hemmingway served more than a decade in The Scotland Yard but never in an officer’s life decided to cross paths with the said person. No one outside Division X had ever met the individual— even Duncan and the rest of Division IX. At age thirty-two, Hemmingway had successfully solved most murder cases presented to the Yard which earned the title knighthood.

Very few people earn a knighthood, especially in the Scotland Yard.

If the rumour Harrison had heard was true, then as they said, Niamh Hemmingway is the only person who had earned a knighthood in the Yard.