Chapter 20:
* * *
Jimmy guided us to the assistant’s room he had been assigned to. After taking a sip of the tea the attendant offered, he began to speak.
“You probably already know that I graduated from the Edinburgh Medical Faculty, so I’ll skip over the obvious…”
He started by explaining why he had been working as a hotel attendant.
“Think of it as a brief detour.”
“A detour?”
Sally asked again, and Jimmy shrugged.
“I started to question whether I could do this job for the rest of my life.”
“Then why did you return to Edinburgh?”
In response to my question, Jimmy looked at me and said,
“Right now, I’m just helping out my advisor and saving money.”
“No, that’s not what I meant.”
“…”
“You said you weren’t sure if you could continue as a doctor.”
“Well, everyone faces doubts at major crossroads in life, don’t they? It might sound like youthful rebellion now, but I really struggled with whether the medical field was right for me. But then…”
Jimmy lowered his gaze and continued.
“After I gave you emergency treatment back at the hotel, I realized… this is the only thing I know how to do and the only thing I want to do.”
There was sincerity in his voice.
“Truth is, I’d wanted to return to the hospital the whole time. I tried running away, but the more I did, the more it felt like this job was my fate.”
After that, Jimmy fell silent. I gently broke the silence.
“But why are you saving money? I heard Count Buchen is your patron.”
At that, Jimmy widened his eyes and then grinned, surprised I knew that much.
“Of course, if I asked, he’d support me again—but honestly, he’s already given me more than enough.”
His attitude made it easy to understand the situation.
“Even back in university, I did all kinds of odd jobs. Thanks to that, I was able to cover my living expenses on my own.”
It wasn’t just hotel work—he had taken on every job that made use of his skills.
He skinned animals and removed organs while following hunters, worked at a slaughterhouse, and so on.
While listening, Sally commented,
“But Jimmy, you’re really different from how I imagined you.”
“Well, Miss Melbourne, you’ve never seen the real me, have you? And actually…”
He took a sip of tea and added,
“I’m older than you.”
“What? Really?”
Sally gasped in surprise, mouth agape, while Jimmy looked amused.
Seeing how well the two were getting along, I interjected.
“Jimmy, have you ever thought about meeting Sir Henry?”
“You mean… Mr. Langham?”
“Yeah. He wanted to express his gratitude for last time.”
I looked at Jimmy’s worn-out lab coat and added,
“And who knows? He might even give you some financial support.”
I planned to use this as a reason to stay connected with Jimmy and, once we got closer, bring him on as one of my allies.
Jimmy looked thoughtful.
“Hmm, I don’t really need to, but…”
He seemed quite different from the hotel attendant who once handed over confidential documents for just ten shillings.
“But it would be rude to refuse a gift, wouldn’t it? Oh, and I also have a personal request for you, Madam.”
Sure enough, Jimmy nodded with a bright smile and looked like he was about to ask me for something.
“What is it?”
“Well…”
Scratching his head shyly, he continued.
“It’s about how I look, you see?”
“What about it?”
“Because I don’t look very masculine, I get caught up in all sorts of rumors.”
There were wild tales that he had lied about his age to get into university, or that “Jimmy Barry” was actually a woman, or even that he was a man who liked other men.
Jimmy sighed deeply.
“It’s one thing to ignore it a few times, but imagine those rumors going on for years.”
It must be tough enduring that alone, especially while trying to survive in that environment as a woman.
I glanced at Jimmy’s outfit, which covered his neck even in warm weather.
‘He must be hiding the lack of an Adam’s apple, unlike fully grown men.’
Understanding her struggles, I nodded. Then Jimmy got to the point.
“That’s why, Madam Carter, I was hoping you could pretend to be my patron.”
“You already have a patron.”
“Count Buchen is like a father to me. What I’m asking from you…”
Jimmy looked at me with an odd expression, then lowered his head.
“…It’s a bit embarrassing to say this myself.”
“Ah.”
Sally and I realized what he meant at the same time.
In other words…
‘He wants me to pretend to be his lover, under the guise of being a patron.’
Such arrangements weren’t unusual.
A brilliant but poor student with a wealthy, free-spirited noblewoman—it was practically a cliché in London’s social circles.
As I hesitated at the slightly awkward request, Sally jumped in with a sulky expression.
“Hold on, Jimmy.”
“Yeah?”
“What does our Madam gain from this?”
Nice, Sally. I silently cheered her on for asking what I wanted to say, then spoke.
“Alright then, how about this?”
Jimmy turned to me.
“I’m always on the hunt for material for my novels.”
More precisely, material that would trigger the ‘Command of the Yellow King.’
“You want me to be your assistant for research?”
A smile crept onto Jimmy’s face.
“Well, everyone knows you’re a famous horror novelist. Then yes, you’ve come to the right person.”
“Really?”
“As someone who’s seen more corpses than anyone else in Edinburgh, I can provide you with plenty of chilling tales.”
…Now that was tempting. Sensing my interest, Jimmy quickly added,
“Shall I tell you one right now?”
“You know I have high expectations when it comes to horror stories, right?”
“Of course. I pride myself on having stronger nerves than most. Probably top five in our entire med school.”
One of the professors had once said that if a corpse came back to life, Jimmy would dissect it without hesitation. I nodded at the memory, but Sally asked,
“You’re saying you experienced this yourself?”
“Of course. It happened about a month before graduation.”
Jimmy looked at me and continued.
“At the time, I really understood what it meant to have your hair stand on end and feel a chill down your spine.”
He bit his lip, still haunted by the memory.
“I couldn’t sleep for days. I kept dreaming about… them.”
“Them?”
Jimmy met my gaze.
“Have you heard of the ‘Blind Statue’ legend?”
The Blind Statue.
It was a ghost story about statues built in graveyards, crematoriums, and other places where vengeful spirits lingered.
They looked like ordinary statues, unmoving when watched.
But the moment no one was looking—they began to move, limbs creeping toward the living.
“In the old cemetery in Edinburgh’s Old Town—Greyfriars Kirkyard—I…”
Most people dismissed it as the delusion of madmen or children’s spooky tales.
But having encountered countless mysteries and supernatural beings, I was sure they were real.
“I saw those damned statues… move.”
Jimmy’s pale face, staring at me, was proof that he wasn’t lying.
* * *
Despite his delicate appearance, Jimmy Barry was famous for his bravery.
During the infamous “first anatomy lab”—a rite of passage so gruesome even the burliest men vomited at least once—
“Professor, I cut open the abdomen as instructed. What should I do next?”
Holding the scalpel without a single tremble as he dissected the corpse, he stunned not just his classmates, but even the professors.
He wasn’t just fearless—he was skilled and precise, like a blade.
Professor Remington, who oversaw surgery at the Edinburgh Medical Faculty, had had his eye on Jimmy for a while.
“With your skill, you could become one of the top surgeons not just in Edinburgh, but even in London.”
Thanks to that, Jimmy had taken him on as his advisor. But in hindsight, that might have been where it all started.
“Jimmy, just once more—help me just this one time, will you?”
In Edinburgh, it was customary for unidentified corpses to be assigned to doctors for autopsy on a rotating basis.
“I’m swamped with academic society work. I’ll pay you more than twice the usual fee.”
Because Jimmy had shown such promise during anatomy class, his advisor had dumped the responsibility on him—even though he didn’t even have experience in clinical practice yet.
“Of course, the pay is generous, so I appreciated it…”
The problem came afterward—on his way home.
There was only one way out of the morgue: right through the sprawling cemetery.
Under a gloomy sky that looked like it would strike with lightning at any moment, rows of gravestones filled his view.
The statues scattered throughout were broken or damaged, making them look disturbingly eerie.
“…Why the hell didn’t they build another exit?”
Jimmy muttered as he gazed at the ominous scene—something out of a gothic nightmare. Then he remembered something his classmate Willy had once said.
“Jimmy, are you insane? Walking through Greyfriars Kirkyard at night is like committing spiritual suicide!”
