From the Private Files of Scotland Yard Commissioner Rushworth Ramsgate - Part 18:

Oh, I Do Like to be Beside the Seaside...

The Fatal Bathing Machine was constructed with all the skill a master of legerdemain could contrive. The homicidal performer, disguised as a bathing machine operator, lured the unsuspecting into his trap, which used the principles of magical illusion to vanish his victims from sight.

Lady Dorrington however, was quite familiar with the conjurer's arts. Using herself as bait, she brought down the curtain on this murderous magician. His final performance at the gallows will no doubt earn him far more of the publicity that she thus denied to him onstage.

Before the lethal contrivance was wheeled away as evidence, Tasha posed for her scrapbook in the company of a local constable.

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From the Private Files of Scotland Yard Commissioner Rushworth Ramsgate - Part 17:

What is a Holiday Without a Corpse?

 

This is one of my favorite photographs of Lady Dorrington, taken and hand-tinted at Elliot & Fry's celebrated studio (oddly situated on Baker Street... an address all too familiar to those of us at Scotland Yard).

She had just returned from a summer holiday in Brighton. Her relaxed and contented countenance was not due, as one might expect, from the charms of sea-air, but the successful conclusion of the "Case of the Fatal Bathing Machine."

The unwary victims entered and were never seen again. Tasha ended the deadly career of this diabolical contraption and the sinister inventor who created it.

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From the Private Files of Scotland Yard Commissioner Rushworth Ramsgate - Part 16:

The Gang's All Here!

One of the officials at Pentonville Prison noted the number on inmates enjoying their enforced stay courtesy of Lady Dorrington.  He invited her to pose for a photograph - placing himself in the center - with this reluctant and ill-humored assembly.    Here they are, though only one figure in the photograph seems to be enjoying the occasion. 

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From the Private Files of Scotland Yard Commissioner Rushworth Ramsgate - Part 15:

...  is Much More Accurate Than a Man's Certainty...

Lady Dorrington,  examining the crime scene found evidence of  another set of footprints indicating an unaccounted third man at the crime scene. The footprints offered subtle indications of  a recoil, intimating that a weapon had been fired.  

There was a Canadian also staying at the Inn, claiming he was visiting for sport hunting. His boots matched the footprints. She secretly examined his shotgun and deduced he was indeed the culprit.

As it turned out, he was a distant and forgotten relation to the family.   Traveling under an assumed identity, he had framed the young peer for murder - a hanging offense - with the scheme of coming forth after the demise of the parents to claim the inheritance.

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From the Private Files of Scotland Yard Commissioner Rushworth Ramsgate - Part 14:

A Woman's Guess...

While all the evidence pointed in one direction, Lady Dorrington was convinced something had been overlooked.   A poacher had been killed with a shotgun of the caliber used by the accused young peer - who maintained he had only fired a warning shot.   There was a well-known and long history of animosity between the two and that further counted against the alibi of a warning shot.

Tasha, keeping the candle burning at the local inn,  pondered well into the night... and the next morning, convinced that there were hidden forces at work, embarked to widen her net.

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From the Private Files of Scotland Yard Commissioner Rushworth Ramsgate - Part 13:

When Money is No Object...

Upon arriving in West Sussex, Lady Dorrington went directly from the train station to the noble family's estate (I must for the present conceal their identity). While all the evidence pointed to the young scion as the murderer, Tasha withheld any judgment until the completion of her own investigation. The family offered her a considerable sum to clear the lad -- he was their only son, and all parental affection aside, was needed to continue the line. Tasha politely refused, tactfully reminding them she was consulting for the official force.

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From the Private Files of Scotland Yard Commissioner Rushworth Ramsgate - Part 12:

She Slips the Bonds of Earth....

The French have a phrase about a woman not being a woman without surprises. While I believe the phrase was created before the birth of my friend Lady Dorrington, it might have been penned to describe her. A request for Scotland Yard assistance came from West Sussex  regarding a grisly shotgun murder implicating a young noble. Given the ancient family involved I determined to invite Tasha to consult on the case.

Imagine my astonishment when delivering the request to find Tasha not at home but at the controls of an aeroplane!  She is learning to fly!  I can only hope that each excursion into the clouds will end with a safe return to terra firma. Her assertion that "any landing you can walk away from is a good one" is not reassuring.

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From the Private Files of Scotland Yard Commissioner Rushworth Ramsgate - Part 11:

But Kill Not for the Pleasure of Killing...

The Grinning Skull Slasher was a far less frightening figure without his death-head charade and in irons.   If he appears less than sanguine, recall, as he must have, that it was Lady Dorrington who removed him from the streets and led him to the gallows.


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From the Private Files of Scotland Yard Commissioner Rushworth Ramsgate - Part 10:

She Lives to Look Upon Life...

The Grinning Skull Slasher led Lady Dorrington on a deadly cat-and-mouse hunt through the vilest mews, and across the roof-tops of East London. When this malevolent maniac realized that the cat in this game was not him, but Tasha, he desperately tried to escape -- at the expense of one more unfortunate victim. Against her iron determination, this carnage availed him naught.

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From the Private Files of Scotland Yard Commissioner Rushworth Ramsgate - Part Nine:

The Stalker Becomes the Stalked...

The Case of the Grinning Skull Slasher - cont.   I have promised Tasha to not share the details of this singular and macabre adventure until a later date, for she insisted that Scotland Yard take full credit for its successful conclusion.   

But in fairness, I must admit that her deductive abilities discovered a subtle pattern to the blood-soaked carnage that had  escaped the notice of  the entire official force.    She was able to bait a trap, but her foe was even more formidable than anticipated and the tables were nearly -  decidedly fatally - turned. 

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From the Private Files of Scotland Yard Commissioner Rushworth Ramsgate - Part Eight:

The Circle Constricts! 

The Grinning Skull Slasher took singular delight in humiliating Scotland Yard, but the contest became a personal duel when Tasha was called in to consult on this case. The murderous scoundrel became more brazen, but also more careless, underestimating just how formidable an opponent he now challenged. 


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Go to Part Seven: The Slasher's Sordid Souvenirs!

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From the Private Files of Scotland Yard Commissioner Rushworth Ramsgate - Part Seven:

The Slasher's Sordid Souvenirs! 

 

The Fleet Street papers inevitably compared the Grinning Skull Slasher to the earlier Jack the Ripper, but the comparisons were not precise.  While the Ripper confined his victims to ladies of the evening, the Slasher played no favorites between the sexes.   He was also prone to goading the police and terrifying the public by leaving parts of his victims as mementoes.   This braggadocio was misplaced, for these ghastly remains provided Lady Dorrington with clues that would lead her into a deadly confrontation. 

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Go to Part Six: The Gruesome Affair of the Grinning Skull Slasher

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From the Private Files of Scotland Yard Commissioner Rushworth Ramsgate - Part Six:

The Gruesome Affair of the Grinning Skull Slasher

This abominable case was one of my earliest encounters with the formidable Lady Dorrington. A latter-day, and gruesomely theatrical, Jack-the-Ripper terrorized the East End for weeks.  The Yard's inability to end his reign of horror was a source of bitter complaint by both the public and the press. The murderer prowled the foggy alleys like a creature of prey, and even I began to wonder if our lethal opponent was more than human. 

It was with some trepidation for her safety that I called upon Tasha for assistance. My fears were well-founded, for as Tasha hunted this wraith, she herself was being stalked.

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From the Private Files of Scotland Yard Commissioner Rushworth Ramsgate - Part Five:

An Ancient Curse!

I do not profess to have an under-standing of the female of the species, but I did think I had the measure of Lady Dorrington’s insatiable appetite for the unusual and mysterious.  Yet, she has confounded me!

I have invited her to participate in a murder investigation with implications that threaten the peace of all Europe.  It would be impossible to find higher stakes!

However, with a logic that eludes me, Tasha is more intrigued with saving the life of a sheep-farmer on an island in Scotland.  The fellow claims he is threatened by – of all the absurdities – an ancient demon more at home in a book of legends than a police report.

How can Tasha balance the life of one against the fate of millions?  I may fathom the workings of the criminal mind, but the logic of ladies is a mystery I, alas, cannot pierce.    

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From the Private Files of Scotland Yard Commissioner Rushworth Ramsgate - Part Four:

The Female of the Species

My experiences with the remarkable Lady Dorrington have caused me to question many long-held beliefs regarding the roles of the sexes.

While she is exceptional in her intelligence and strength, I ask myself if she is absolutely unique.  Could other ladies, should circumstances allow, excel in a man's game?

Lady Dorrington's presence is promoting an undercurrent of hostility and - to be honest - even a detectable fear among my colleagues.

The brighter among them realize that her existence, and the existence of women like her, give lie to arguments long used to deny their emancipation.

If she is an example of the "new woman," this twentieth century promises to be exceedingly different for men and the women with whom they will have to contend.

However, one virtue of rank is the privilege of choosing one's own path and I will walk with Lady Dorrington.  To do otherwise would be unfair to her and, given her abilities, to society as well.

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From the Private Files of Scotland Yard Commissioner Rushworth Ramsgate - Part Three:

 A Mystery Within a Mystery!

 

Lady Dorrington is exceedingly emancipated,  with a wry sense of humor.   She has several friendships with men, and I am exceptionally delighted to be one of them.  I have decided not to pursue the thought that our relationship might be based on my position of authority at the Yard. 

Tasha has no known long-term romantic relationships.   However, when I am unable to keep her occupied with intriguing cases, she has been known to take many lovers in marathon seduction.   About which, the less said, the better.

Her knowledge of dancing ranges from social, such as ballroom, professional ballet, to the foreign-and-scandalous belly-dancing.  She also has an annoying tendency to lead.

The Yard suspects she may relieve her ennui by practicing cat-burglary, challenging herself by robbing the most secure places to be found.  The stolen items are always returned and never accompanied with evidence that could convict her... much to my chagrin, and Tasha's amusement.

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From the Private Files of Scotland Yard Commissioner Rushworth Ramsgate - Part One:

  The world on the brink of war, 

    An ancient curse that reaches into the present.

       One man’s life at stake, a civilization in peril…

         … and a woman determined to save them both!

 

My unpaid Consulting Detective's married name is Lady Natasha Dorrington.  Her maiden name is unknown, as is the location of her missing husband.  She prefers to be addressed as "Tasha."

While Natasha is a Russian name, she has no accent and speaks several languages. Tasha is well-educated in science, literature, the arts, history, and most useful to me, criminology.  Not the education one associates with the fairer sex.

Her abilities are varied and many:  Tasha is an accomplished aerialist, and has professional-level expertise in theatrical make-up, costumes and acting.  She has the skills of a cat-burglar and though nothing can be proven, Lady Dorrington is suspected of once being on the far side of the law.  Given her formidable array of abilities, I am most grateful she's answered the call of virtue.

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She Knows What You've Been Up To!



Her past is as mystifying as the crimes she solves.

Lady Natasha “Tasha” Dorrington in her premier novel. 
Coming November 2016! 

Go to The Private Files of Scotland Yard Commissioner Rushworth Ramsgate: The World on the Brink of War...