The Other Teddy Roosevelts Read Online Free PDF

bar of the Black Swan.
    “Another note from your pal Hughes?” asked Shrank.
    Roosevelt nodded. “He’s through asking who the Ripper is. Now he just wants to know if he’s through killing women.”
    Shrank shrugged. “Could be.”
    Roosevelt shook his head. “I doubt it. I think he takes too much joy in killing and disemboweling helpless women.”
    “Up against a man with a knife like that, they’re all helpless,” offered Shrank.
    “Not so, Colin.” Roosevelt looked around the tavern, and his gaze came to rest on Irma, the burly midwife. “The women he’s attacked have all been on the slender side. If he went after someone like Irma here, he might have a real battle on his hands.”
    “I’m no whore!” snapped Irma indignantly. “I honor the Bible and the Commandments!”
    “No offense intended,” said Roosevelt quickly. “I was just suggesting that perhaps being a prostitute is not the Ripper’s sole criterion, that maybe he goes after women he knows he can dispatch quickly.”
    “Why quickly, if he’s having such a good time?” asked the bartender.
    “Secrecy is his ally,” answered Roosevelt. “He can’t butcher them unless he kills them before they can scream. That means they can’t struggle for more than a second or two.”
    “Ever been anything like him in America?” asked Shrank.
    “Not to my knowledge. Certainly not in our cities, where such crimes would not go unnoticed and unreported.”
    “They gets noticed and reported, all right,” said a woman. “Just no one cares, is all.”
    Roosevelt looked out the window. “It’s starting to get dark.” He walked to the door. “Come on, Colin. It’s time to make our rounds.”
    “You go alone tonight,” said Shrank, taking a drink of his ale.
    “Aren’t you feeling well?”
    “I feel fine. But I been walking those damned bloody streets with you every night since he chopped Annie Chapman. It’s been raining all day, and the wind bites right through my clothes to my bones, so I’m staying here. If you spot him, give a holler and I’ll join you.”
    “Stick around, Theodore,” added the bartender. “He ain’t out there. Hell, he’s probably got his throat sliced on the waterfront.”
    Roosevelt shook his head. “If I can save a single life by patrolling the streets, then I have no choice but to do it.”
    “That’s the coppers’ job,” insisted Shrank.
    “It’s the job of every civic-minded citizen who cares about the safety of Whitechapel,” replied Roosevelt.
    “That lets you out. You ain’t no citizen.”
    “Enough talk,” said Roosevelt, standing at the door, hands on hips. “You’re sure you won’t come with me?”
    “I can’t even keep up with you in good weather,” said Shrank.
    Roosevelt shrugged. “Well, I can’t stand here talking all night.”
    He turned and walked out into the fog for another fruitless night of hunting for the Ripper.
    ***
    Roosevelt felt a blunt object poking his shoulder. He sat up, swinging wildly at his unseen assailant.
    “Stop, Theodore!” cried a familiar voice. “It’s me—John Hughes.”
    Roosevelt swung his feet to the floor. “You’re lucky I didn’t floor you again.”
    “I learned my lesson the first time,” said Hughes, displaying a broom. “The handle’s two meters long.”
    “All right, I’m awake,” said Roosevelt. “Why are you here?”
    “Jack the Ripper has struck again.”
    “What?” yelled Roosevelt, leaping to his feet.
    “You heard me.”
    “What time is it?” asked Roosevelt as he threw his clothes on.
    “About 3:30 in the morning.”
    “It’s Sunday, right?”
    “That’s correct.”
    “Damn! I only went to bed about half an hour ago! Where did it happen?”
    “In a little court off Berner Street,” said Hughes. “And this time he was interrupted.”
    “By whom?”
    “We’re not sure.”
    “That doesn’t make sense.”
    “Come with me, and I’ll explain.”
    Roosevelt finished dressing. “Let’s