When Mr. Utterson, a London solicitor, learns that his old friend Dr. Jekyll has secretly bequeathed everything to the detestable Mr. Hyde, he embarks on an investigation that leads from fog-shrouded doorways to murder and finally to a terrible revelation: Jekyll has been chemically transforming himself into his own darker counterpart, only to find that Hyde grows stronger with each emergence while the drug that sustains him slowly fails. The consequences of playing God with one's own soul unfold with relentless inevitability toward a conclusion where neither self survives intact.
Nearly a year passes, but the fragile calm is shattered when Hyde commits a savage, public murder. A maid servant witnesses the encounter from her window under the bright light of a full moon. She observes an aged and beautiful gentleman, Sir Danvers Carew, stop to accost a small man she recognizes as Mr. Hyde. Carew speaks with a pretty, old-world politeness, but without provocation, Hyde flies into an ape-like fury. He clubs the older man to the ground and tramples him with such brutality that the bones are audibly shattered. The murder weapon, a heavy cane of rare and tough wood, breaks under the assault, leaving half behind while the killer flees into the night.
Utterson is summoned to the police station and immediately identifies the victim as the highly respected Sir Danvers Carew. Upon seeing the broken stick, he recognizes it as a gift he once presented to Henry Jekyll. Realizing the gravity of the situation, Utterson leads Inspector Newcomen through the foggy, nightmare streets of Soho to Hyde’s residence. They navigate a district that seems lifted from a bad dream, arriving at a dingy building that houses the wealthy fugitive. Inside, they find the luxurious rooms in disarray, with drawers ransacked and a pile of grey ashes in the grate where papers have been burned. The discovery of the remaining half of the murder weapon and the remnants of a cheque book confirms Hyde’s hurried flight and his criminality.
Later that afternoon, Utterson visits Dr. Jekyll in his laboratory to discuss the catastrophe. Jekyll appears deathly sick and swears he is done with Hyde forever, claiming the fugitive is safe and will never be heard from again. He produces a letter from Hyde stating he has escaped and that Jekyll need not worry. Jekyll claims the note was handed in by a messenger, though he admits he burned the envelope. Utterson is initially relieved by the letter, which seems to exonerate Jekyll, but his suspicions are revived when he questions the butler, Poole, on his way out. Poole denies that any messenger arrived at the house that day—only circulars came by post. The contradiction chills Utterson: if no messenger came and the letter bore no postmark, it could not have been delivered from outside. The letter must have been written within the house itself. Jekyll, not Hyde, may have forged it, and Utterson is left with the unsettling suspicion that his friend is concealing something far darker than he has admitted.
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