Summary

Detective Ryan had helped Dr. Snow during his cholera investigation during the summer of 1854, and as such he knows exactly where Constable Becker needs to be taken when he finds him lying in the filth near the excrement ditch. The Constable is taken to Dr. Snow’s home on Frith Street in Soho. After reading a note from Ryan, the forty-one year old physician immediately takes charge. Becker is cleaned and then closely examined for injuries. While Becker is looked at, Ryan makes plaster casts of the footprints that Becker so carefully protected. At the same time, Ryan asks that the nearby privy be excavated for possible evidence. A police wagon arrives with a sketch artist, and Ryan sends him into the scene to begin. The Commissioner arrives and talks with Ryan about the case. He is particularly disturbed when...