Last night the only copies of the diaries of Doctor Gideon Black were stolen from Oxford University Library. Dr Black was widely believed to be the legendary killer 'Jack the Ripper' when hisdiaries were found after his death.
The handwritten journals detail many unnecessary experiments that Dr Black performed. The Doctor was a surgeon at St Mary's Hospital in Oxford but was living in London during the time that the Ripper was abroad. During this time he performed much surgery that was considered additional to requirements.
Dr Black's diaries have been examined and it is now believed that he was not the legendary London killer.
The Oxford Police are currently looking for a foreign gentleman in his sixties who was enquiring about the diaries just before they were taken.
The last person to see the notes was one of the students at the university. He can be contacted and may let investigators see his notes. Although the diary and "Jack's" handwriting has been compared before, the student has studied them both and concludes that they may have been written with the same hand.
1 Dr Black was Jack the Ripper, and has been Re-animated. He has stolen his own notes and intends to continue his research. A week later the first of a series of ripper murders scorches headlines.
2 The notes are an elaborate fake. They were written by a number of medical doctors to shock one of their fellows. Several 'in-jokes' can be found amongst the document, if searched for properly.
3 Dr Black was not the Ripper, but was engaged in similar studies. Although not of the mythos, he had connections. The diaries point to where Dr Black purchased some of his bodies upon which heworked - and notes the poor, almost gnawed, condition of some of them.
Copyright (c) 1990 Steve Hatherley.
Steve Hatherley is the creator of Tales of Terror, and has written for both Chaosium and Pagan Publishing. He also has a number of other websites, including www.great-murder-mystery-games.com and www.mylowerbackpain.com.
Steve lives in Yorkshire, England.
Click here to see Steve's other Tales of Terror.