The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Poole arrives at Utterson’s house one evening very upset and exclaiming that “there is something wrong” (87) with Jekyll and that he suspects “foul play” (88). He and Utterson go to Jekyll’s house, where they find all the servants “huddled together like a flock of sheep” (89) in front of the hearth. Utterson calls into Jekyll’s room, however, the voice that replies sounds different from Jekyll’s. Poole believes that Jekyll has been “made away with” (90) and that a different man is now occupying the room. He explains that none of the other servants has seen their master for eight days, and they have only received notes left outside the door ordering them to buy and bring various medicines. Poole did catch a glimpse of his master on one occasion. He was wearing a mask, was of dwarfish stature, and cried “like a rat” and ran away the moment Poole arrived (92). Poole believes this to have been Hyde.

Utterson and Poole break down the door to Jekyll’s study. There they find Hyde dressed in Jekyll’s clothes sprawled out and twitching on the floor, apparently having committed suicide. In the cellar, Utterson and Poole find the rusty and broken house key.