VICTORIAN MURDER MYSTERY.
“ Jeffrey , Jeffrey Brailsford when did you get back from your travels across Europe “?“ Your Majesty, I arrived back 2 weeks ago “. “Where did you go, how long for, I don't quite remember that “.“ It was a trip for 3 months, I started in Paris , then went to Berlin and finally stayed in Holland for the last 6 weeks with my friend Vincent”.“That sounds fascinating, you must tell me all about it, you always have good adventures Jeffrey”. He woke up , it was the dream that he always had about meeting Queen Victoria, he was a royalist through and through.
In reality Jeffrey Brailsford was a struggling pennyless artist, the part of his dream that was true was the one about his travels and spending time with Vincent Van Gogh in Holland. He was there in the summer of 1888, he wanted to paint different things like portraits, still life, land scapes, and seascapes and waterfalls and animals.everything and anything he loved colours and textures, he had painted about 17 pictures all different subjects but as of yet he was still waiting to sell some of them.
He returned home in the early autumn of that year, he rented a small apartment in white chapel, it was light and airy, perfect for him to be able to work in the daylight hours. He had 2 canvases left and thought that it would be nice to paint a self portrait, so he dressed up in his Sunday best clothes and topped it off with his only dark overcoat and top hat and the beautiful silk scarf that was blue and yellow paisley design, he got that in a swap for a canvas with Vincent Van Gogh, Vincent had used his last canvas and had a temporary cash flow crisis so asked Jeffrey he wanted to trade the scarf for a canvas as he wanted to paint a vase with sunflowers in, Jeffrey said “ I will make the swap with you Vincent, but Sunflowers who the hell would want to buy that, you will never sell it, it will be worthless “ and he laughed. “ Ok Vincent go and paint your sunflowers, here is the canvas”. They parted company on a sunny Sunday in August, Jeffrey never saw Vincent alive again but he saw the painting of the sunflowers shortly after Vincent Van Gogh took his own life in 1890.
Jeffrey always remembered his friend when he put on that silk scarf. He looked at himself in the full length mirror he looked extremely smart and dapper in his attire and could pass for a gentleman if he wasn't so poor, he said “ you look amazing Jeffrey Brailsford and the world will see your self portrait just like they saw Vincent Van Gogh's self portrait”. He worked on his painting for 3 weeks, at the end of September it was finally finished and he was very pleased with it. The self portrait was 10inches long and 8 inches wide, it was full length and captured Jeffery's likeness looking straight ahead, he placed the painting in the corner of his apartment still on its easel stand.
He went out that evening to the ale house in White Chapel and had a few drinks with some friends of his fellow artists and actors, at the end of the evening he went back to his apartment and slept for 6 hours, he awoke and dressed in his usual poor working attire and went out to get a few things that he needed some bread, cheese and milk , tea and some artists brushes and oil paint and terps and some rags. It cost sixpence for these items, Jeffrey had a few pounds left that his sister had given him when his father Simon Brailsford threw him out of the family home because he refused to work as a banker like him and his two brothers Stevie and Dennis. Carol was his younger sister and she loved Jeffrey and admired his paintings. She went to visit him several times a year and gave him all the money that she had saved since the last visit, but this visit tomorrow would be her last visit as she was getting married and moving to Wales with her husband. She managed to get 100 pounds together this time, it would support Jeffrey for years to come.
After her visit, they both were sad, when would he see her again? He went out to the same ale house again and drank away his sorrows, then he returned to his apartment once more. He was awoken abruptly at 3.30 am by his friend banging on his door bang bang bang,” Jeffrey wake up a voice shouted” and banged until he opened the door. “What is all this about?” he asked. “ There has been a brutal murder down the alleyway close to the ale house, a prostitute's been murdered and cut open like an animal in the butcher's shops around here, there is a manic on the loose”. “ That's awful Michael”. Michael Edward Reilly was a good friend and neighbour of Jeffery's; they often went to the ale house for a couple of drinks or did a few DIY or painting jobs for a few pennies to get by on.“ The police are everywhere and are knocking on doors to question people “. “ Thank you Michael, see you at 10 o'clock to paint Mrs Brown's fence”.“See you later Jeffrey”. He left Jeffrey to get some sleep, later that evening after painting the fence for Mrs Brown, the police knocked on the door and asked questions about the Murder in their house to house enquiries. Three weeks passed by and on Sunday evening Jeffrey put on his best clothes and went out for a walk and stopped at the ale house on his way back , Michael wasn't in there that night. The next murder took place that night not far from the last one and it was a repeat of the first one a prostitute murdered and mutilated again all her female parts cut off. The police were looking for a man with a black coat , top hat and blue and yellow silk scarf, he was seen going into that alley just before the murder by a young couple who were out late courting. A month later Jeffrey went out again and people were giving him strange looks, “ it could be him he is dressed like the suspect isn't he”? This question was asked several times, Jeffrey felt uncomfortable and left, he went straight home and locked himself in his apartment for the night. He woke up the next morning and his scarf and coat was covered in blood. He had blood on his face , neck and hands, he looked in the mirror, it wasn't his blood he panicked, what was happening here? There was a knock at the door, it was Michael he had brought the police because of the description of the murderer and maniac being like Jeffrey Brailsford.when they saw the blood on him he was knocked to the ground and arrested and taken to the police station.“ Why did you murder that woman last night you bastard, cutting her female parts off like that”. ,” I didn't go out last night , I didn't kill or mutilate any women, I am an innocent man”. “ Tell that to the judge Brailsford”.
Jeffrey Brailsford stood trial for the murders of the women, he was found guilty, the Judge put on his black cap and said “ Jeffrey Brailsford you have been found guilty of the most heinous crimes against humanity you will be taken from here to a place of incarceration where you will be hung by the neck until you are dead, may God have mercy on your soul, take him down “. Jeffrey Brailsford was executed 3 weeks later at 8 am on the 28th of May . His sister was heartbroken, his parents and brothers denied being his family, it was a coincidence that he had the same surname as them they claimed.
Michael Reilly went into Jeffrey's apartment and was clearing out his personal things when he looked at the portrait of Jeffrey, it had blood on its face and hands and was looking slightly to the left with a smirk on its face, when Jeffrey showed him the portrait when he had finished it there was a different pose and no blood on the features. “ Oh my God, Jeffrey was innocent, this portrait has come to life and killed those women at night”. He took the portrait to the police station, a judge ordered it to be locked away in a secure safe never to be seen again.
When Jeffrey Brailsford was painting the portrait he used a second hand canvas that was once used to paint on by a convicted and condemned prisoner who went to the gallows for brutal murder of prostitutes, so it transpired that the painting did the murders, Jeffrey was hung for them , the painting Framed Jeffrey because he framed it first.
THE END