He was silent for a moment. Then he said, 'I alone can stop him. And stop him I shall.'
Several days later, Inspector Lestrade called to see us again. 'Are you ready to arrest the Whitechapel killer yet?' Holmes asked him.
'We are continuing to make all possible ... ' 'Enough, Lestrade! Have you caught him yet?' 'In a difficult case like this .. .'
'Yes or no?'
'No,' Lestrade said, 'but we hope .. .'
'Of course we hope. We must always hope. But the people of London will not wait for ever for the police to arrest Jack the Ripper. Do you think you could enjoy life as a policeman in Canada, Lestrade?'
Lestrade tried to smile. He said, 'I believe we shall only catch him if we have the luck to find him while he is actually murdering some poor woman.'
He looked surprised when Holmes said, 'That is the first sensible thing I have heard any policeman say about these murders. We must catch him red-handed. A drink, Inspector?' 'Yes, please, Mr Holmes. But who can say when or where he will kill again?'
'I can,' Holmes said coolly. 'Let us look at the dates of the murders. He kills, waits a week, kills again and waits three weeks before the next murder. This changes only when he has, as he tells us, 'no time to rip', and has to kill twice on the same night. The following week there is no murder. I tell you, Lestrade, this is no crazy killer. This is a man who is following a plan. He works only in Whitechapel, and in the early hours of the morning.'
Lestrade looked helplessly at him. 'What shall we do?' he asked.
Holmes jumped to his feet. '1 think he will try to kill again on Monday night. The first murders were on a Friday, a Saturday and a Sunday. He moves a day forward each time. We must close up Whitechapel like a box which he cannot escape from.
We shall need every policeman you have.'
Lestrade looked worried. 'I'll do what 1 can, Mr Holmes, but I don't know if my chief will like it.'
'Your chief,' Holmes said, 'will give you all the men you need.
I am sure that you will be interested to learn that your chief has asked me to do anything I can to catch this
killer. 1 am free to give you orders, Lestrade, and you are free to obey me.'
When Lestrade had gone, Holmes said, 'Now I need a bath, my dinner and a good sleep. Moriarty wishes to destroy me. He has already, my dear Watson, tried three times to kill me! He is a terrible enemy, and I must get ready for the battle.'
I stared at him in horror, and decided that I would never leave my friend's side while he was in this danger.