CHAPTER 5: INCIDENT OF THE LETTER
Later that afternoon Utterson visits Dr. Jekyll and is admitted into his private study. He finds Jekyll looking deathly pale and
sick. When Utterson asks Jekyll if he is concealing Hyde, Jekyll promises that Hyde has gone into hiding and will not be seen
again in this world. The lawyer hopes that Jekyll is right since a trial for murder could bring scandal to his client’s name.
Ostensibly seeking Utterson’s professional advice, Jekyll shows him a letter he has received from Hyde saying he has a
means of escape. Jekyll allows Utterson to think that it was Hyde who dictated the terms of Jekyll’s will that were so
favorable to Hyde. Utterson agrees to safeguard the letter for his client. However, as Utterson is leaving, he learns that no
letters have been delivered that morning. He suspects that Hyde wrote the letter in Jekyll’s study and finds it difficult to
decide what to do with it. He seeks the advice of his clerk Mr. Guest, who had often visited Jekyll and is an expert on
handwriting. Guest compares the letter to an invitation Utterson receives from Jekyll as they are talking. He concludes that
the two hands are remarkably similar, having only a different slant. Utterson suspects that Jekyll forget the letter for Hyde.