Our destination proved to be a squat, markedly dilapidated building of faded red brick on a street lined with dwellings of a similarly shabby nature. Gathered in front of this edifice was an assemblage of perhaps two dozen men and women, whose general air of titillated interest put me in mind of the similar, if considerably more substantial, crowd that had collected outside Mrs. Macready’s boarding house.

At my first glimpse of this gathering, I experienced a pang of the keenest apprehension. Though Captain Russell had steadfastly withheld any information about our destination—saying only that he wished me to view the scene with my perceptions unbiased by any preconceived notions—I could not fail to surmise that I was being escorted to the locale of yet another atrocity. Now, the sight of the morbidly curious crowd—so reminiscent of the one I had encountered on that fateful morning exactly one week earlier—only lent strength to this supposition.

With Captain Russell in the lead, we pushed our way through these milling by-standers, entered the building, and found ourselves inside a small, dark, exceedingly cramped entrance hall. Immediately, my sense of olfaction was assaulted by odors of the most disagreeable variety—a noisome combination of stale cooking smells, pervasive mildew, and human excreta, along with a subtle yet unmistakable undercurrent of organic putrefaction.

Peering down the dark, narrow corridor that extended from the entrance hall, I perceived a dull, yellow glow emanating from what was evidently an open dooway.

“This way,” said Captain Russell.

I followed the Captain down the murky, malodorous hallway and stepped into the chamber. Immediately, my eyes lit upon the imposing figure of the frontiersman, who was standing at the opposite end of the room, conferring in muted tones with a young policeman whom I instantly recognized as Officer Carlton. So engrossed were these two in their conversation that—for several moments after Captain Russell and I made our entrance—they remained oblivious of our presence, thus affording me an opportunity to peruse the surroundings.