Free Temptations of Anna Jacobs by Robyn DeHart Page A

nodded. Dear heavens, when had she become such a goose? He couldn’t see her nodding. “Thank you,” she said, her voice coming out in little more than a squeak.
    They walked down a long corridor past seven windows to a doorway. The staircase inside led downward. Once on the stairs he saw fit to light the lantern, and the small enclosure filled with cloudy light. They walked down the steps and Anna felt the air get considerably cooler. She knew the chilled air was to prevent the bodies from decomposing too quickly; still, she clutched her cloak closer to her body to ward off the chill. Once they reached the bottom of the stairs, Drew led her down the corridor to the door at the end of the hall.
    The room was frigid, and Drew quickly went about lighting the lanterns stationed about the walls. The body lay on wooden table covered by a white sheet. Two other tables sat in the room, awaiting their victims.
    Anna stood in the doorway, not moving, merely concentrating on breathing. In and out. Inhale and exhale. She was there, a victim of Jack the Ripper, on that table. Lifeless and mutilated. Anna swallowed.
    “Anna?” Drew asked softly.
    As she looked up and met his gaze, his brows rose in a question, but she stepped forward before he could ask her any questions. He would inquire as to whether she could do this, but she had to. If she couldn’t manage a postmortem, she had no business being a doctor. This was a test for her as much as it was assistance for him.
    Inhale.
    Exhale.
    She could do this. She would do this. She’d seen numerous bodies before, had worked on several. This was no different. Anna took a deep breath and pulled the sheet back.
    Her eyes went immediately to the woman’s face. Terror, pain, sadness, they were all forever etched in the woman’s features. Anna felt the sting of tears threaten. Yet her empathy wouldn’t save this woman. She could help, though. She could give Drew the information he sought to assist with catching the killer. Then perhaps this would be the last woman killed in such an egregious way. Anna forced herself to look away from the woman’s face. In this moment Anna was a doctor and this was merely a body to examine.
    She turned briefly to the other counter and set down her doctor’s satchel. She opened the bag and pulled out the items she’d collected for tonight’s endeavor. First, the clean cloth she’d bundled her instruments in after washing them last. Most of her tools, like the stethoscope she’d purchased for herself, would be of no use tonight, but she might need her forceps to inspect the wounds, and she’d included a measuring tape as well, something she’d never needed for school. Finally, she pulled several towels from the bag, so she’d be able to clean up before they left. Once her tools were all laid out, there was nothing for it but to turn back to the victim.
    The woman’s body had been washed of the blood, and Anna could see the wounds the killer had inflicted. The one at her neck was so deep; he’d nearly cut her head clean off. Two marks on her face, shallow cuts that wouldn’t have bled overly much, and cuts on her eyelids as well. A heavy gash bisected her abdomen.
    Drew stood to the side, not saying anything, merely watching her work. She eyed him for a moment as she approached the cut, and he nodded, so she moved closer. He wanted her to investigate, wanted her observations, so she focused and began her examination.
    She pulled the woman’s flesh apart and inspected the area. There were some additional shallow cuts inside, one across her stomach, one over her liver, but everything else remained intact. She knew from previous reports that the other victims had had organs removed. The Ripper liked to take parts of his victims with him. There were many theories as to why, but personally she didn’t care why; she merely thought it further testimony to the perverse nature of the killer.
    Anna had set her examination points of the body based on her