A Sentence of Sorts

The Pseudoscientists, Act I, scene 2: Dr. Jekyll Has an Answer for Everything

(Dr. Jekyll is introduced as the gentleman scientist who can easily wave away all the troubles from the night before. Dr. Lanyon is forced to leave, but not before accidentally learning of Mr. Hyde.)

We now cut back to Hyde, who has just arrived back at the Society’s headquarters. Lanyon is practically on his tail, and we cut back and forth to see them closing in on Hyde:

Hyde climbs a set of stairs from the alley into the back of the building–Lanyon rounds the corner and heads toward the front entrance. Hyde races along the hallways and slips into a large office at the top of a large staircase–just before Lanyon bursts through the front doors at the bottom of the stairs. Hyde rummages through a set of fancy cabinets filled with vials of strange liquid–Lanyon confronts Society members on the first floor, demanding to see Dr. Jekyll. Someone in particular catches his eye: a suspiciously scruffy looking young man with hair the exact color of the wolf’s. He grins and starts toward him.

Back to Hyde: he has found the vial he is looking for and hastily downs the entire contents. He collapses to the floor, and we see impressions of a transformation taking place, an unfocused writhing shape … and then a hand, more elegant in shape than Hyde’s, grabs at the table top.

Finally we return to Lanyon, who is mercilessly interrogating the wolf-man. His questions are fast, smart, and exacting, and he is closing in quickly on the truth, ignoring any bullshit explanation the Society members throw at him. He seems to have a deep dislike of the Society itself and is eager to accuse them not only of disturbing the peace but of bringing strange, disgusting creatures like werewolves into London and making a mockery of the scientific profession. 

As for exactly what Lanyon plans to do with the werewolf once he finds him, it’s hard to say. It it certain to be unpleasant, though. Dog collars and circus side-shows are mentioned. 

The werewolf cowers under Lanyon. He is not terribly good with words and stutters so much under pressure that he cannot get a full sentence out. Finally someone blurts out, “We weren’t trying to run! It was only Mr. Hyde who–”

“Hyde?” Lanyon narrows his eyes. “Who the hell is Mr. Hyde?”

Suddenly the door at the top of the staircase opens. It does not burst open with urgency, but its quiet creak is somehow audible over the din in the room. Everyone looks up.

Standing at the top of the stairs is a man with wavy, dark hair and ruby red eyes. He descends into the chaotic ground floor gracefully as silence falls over the lodgers. He cordially greets Dr. Lanyon*, who has fire in his eyes the moment he first sees the man.

Lanyon turns his razor sharp wit to him, but the man seems to have simple explanations to every one of his accusations. In his version, there is no werewolf at all, merely an old Church Grim they were helping to rid from Whitechapel**. He insists that the pastor in that local church can happily confirm that they were there last night. (The Lodgers exchange shifty looks behind Lanyon’s back–Jekyll may be bluffing here.)

“He really is not a bad creature given right setting. In fact–ah! Here he is!” A tiny, grey dog with fiery red eyes trots up from behind Jekyll and coughs in a friendly manner. The sight of the little thing puts a damper on Lanyon’s argument that the Society were endangering people with dangerous beasts and shaming their profession, but he remains stubborn. He saw the werewolf himself, he insists. And that is certainly not the same beast.

“You must have very good eyes! It must have been quite dark out there.” One of the lodgers pipes up that it was quite foggy, too. When Lanyon tries to round on the now-human werewolf again, Jekyll expresses his concern. “Is it really so reasonable that this perfectly ordinary man–who has been a member here for the last two years under my watch–should be the monster you seek?” The bit about being a member, and perhaps the werewolf’s eyes give it away, but Jekyll has a defense for that as well. “He most certainly has! I imagine you haven’t seen him because you haven’t deigned to set foot in this Society since I first founded it.”

 His reasons might not match up entirely to the actual events of last night but his tone and delivery give them the feeling of truth. He speaks with a smile in his voice, as if nothing Lanyon says scares him in the least. In fact, he has a way of making it sound as though everything Lanyon is saying is ridiculous. His entire countenance seems to say, “Come now, my friend, be reasonable!”

His words and his manner seem to cast a spell on his listeners. The lodgers are infinitely relieved to have been rescued from punishment, and the werewolf seems enamored by his new savior. As for Lanyon, he remains unconvinced but is down to his last defense. “All right, but who is this man Hyde of yours?”

For just a moment, the smile on Jekyll’s face wavers. But a second later it is back again as he replies, “He is my personal assistant. Why do you ask?”

Lanyon insists that he’s never heard of the man. Jekyll is not surprised–he was only taken on a few months ago and handles minor tasks at the Society. Supply runs and such. There would be no reason for Lanyon to know him any more than a common chambermaid.

Lanyon believes that Hyde must have been the blonde man he saw fleeing the scene of the crime. Jekyll reminds him that it is only a crime scene in his own mind, and the evidence for it has turned awfully rickety in these past minutes. 

Lanyon notes that Jekyll does not outright deny Hyde’s presence at the scene, but he knows he doesn’t have enough evidence to go on just yet. He admits defeat, for now: “Well played, Dr. Jekyll.”  

In a last note of defiance, he comments that the Society is due for an inspection by its Board of Governors, and he would be more than happy to perform a sweep of the grounds himself–a very thorough sweep. With a promise to return the next morning–and one last glare at Jekyll–he leaves.

Once they are gone, Jekyll delivers a few succinct orders to the Society lodgers on the matter of cleaning up the last night’s mess, and then turns his attention to the werewolf: “Well, I see your experiments with that werewolf blood were a bit more successful than you had planned for! Would you fancy a cup of tea?”

*Lanyon still needs to be a much richer character in this scene.

**Another random as shit location.