“You do need to look at this, Detective,” said Doctor Stephen Sylvaticus. “It is peculiar.”

“What is it?” inquired Liam Leucopus, gazing down at the uncovered body of the Ripper’s third victim.

“Well,” replied the Doctor, running his paws over his white belly fur, “there is something uncommon at work in her body. Herein,” pointing to the cavity in the dead mouse’s chest, “we find the point from which several of her organs were drawn forth. But we also find a foreign substance subtly at work.”

“Doctor, be plain. What does this mean?” asked Liam.

“I removed a sample,” continued to the Doctor, “and brought it to the apothecary for identification. It appears to be an anticoagulant.”

“A what?” asked Constable Wilhelm Maniculatus, eyes averted from the body.

“An anticoagulant,” the Doctor responded. “A chymical that prevents the blood from blotting. She was made to bleed out. The apothecary is searching the Phylosophick Canons and Aphorisms as we speak, attempting to identify it; but we are most baffled.”