Mr. Utterson is a serious and quiet lawyer who doesn’t smile often but is kind-hearted. He is tall, thin, and a bit old-fashioned. He enjoys walking on Sundays with his cousin and friend, Mr. Enfield. They often walk in London without talking much, but they enjoy each other’s company.
One Sunday, they walk down a clean and busy street with nice shops. However, one building looks different. It is old, dirty, and has a strange door with no windows. Mr. Enfield points at the door and tells Mr. Utterson a strange story about it.
He says that late one night, at about three o’clock in the morning, he was walking in a quiet part of London. The streets were empty, and all the people were asleep. Suddenly, he saw a little girl of about eight years old running down the street. From the other direction, a small, ugly man was walking quickly. They bumped into each other at the corner. The man did not stop but walked over the girl, trampling her, and left her crying on the ground.
Mr. Enfield was shocked and ran after the man. He caught him and brought him back to where the girl was. People gathered around, including the girl’s family and a doctor. Everyone was angry at the man, whose name was Mr. Hyde. They demanded that he pay £100 to the girl’s family, or they would make a big scandal.
Mr. Hyde agreed and took them to the strange door. He used a key to go inside and came back with £10 in cash and a cheque for £90 signed by a well-known and respected man. Mr. Enfield suspected that Mr. Hyde was blackmailing this good man.
Mr. Utterson listens carefully to the story. He asks if Mr. Enfield knows the name of the man who signed the cheque, but Mr. Enfield prefers not to say. They agree not to talk about it anymore.