Jeff Hope

"See? No-one ever thinks about the cabbie. It’s like you’re invisible. Just the back of an ’ead. Proper advantage for a serial killer."

- Jeff Hope to Sherlock Holmes

Jeff Hope was a cab driver and serial killer, engaged by criminal consultant Jim Moriarty for killing people in exchange for money for her children. He was divorced, had been diagnosed with an aneurysm three years before the start of his murder spree and was kept away from his children by his ex-wife.

Jeff Hope' mysterious killing spree drew attention from detective consultant Sherlock Holmes, who investigated the case and managed to track him down. After he got the detective to play his game and the two engaged in a battle of wits, he was finally shot by doctor army and Sherlock' friend John Watson, and died just after spoken the name of his employer, Moriarty.

Early life
According to his slang and arguably his overall situation, Jeff Hope was probably a cockney, east-londonian people from working class. Hope mentionned he never gained much money from his job.

Hope was divorced and his wife had taken the children with her, leading him to delete her from the photo she shared with her children. Three years into his murder spree, Hope has been diagnosed with an aneurysm that could kill him at any moment, wiping out his plans for the future but still determined to keep a straight face.

Killing spree
Three years after after his diagnosis, Hope eventually began a correspondence with criminal consultant Jim Moriarty, the former offering to kill people in exchange for money, the sum increasing as the number of victims mounted. Moriarty also told him about the blog of consulting detective Sherlock Holmes, describing himself as a fan, thus teaching Hope about Holmes. Jeff used his taxi to pick up his victims discreetly, "hunting through the crowd" according to Sherlock Holmes. He would then take them to a secluded spot to play a game, always the same: he would present them with two pills, one supposedly poisoned and the other perfectly safe. If not, he would shoot them in the head, eliminating any chance of survival. Jeff mentioned that, understandably, none of his victims chose the bullet. Unbeknownst to them, the gun was a fake.

Hope fourth and last victim was Jennifer Wilson, a unhapily married woman and serial adulterer who came from Cardiff. While Jennifer realized she was going to die, however, and resignated to, she managed to left her phone inside the car of her murderer with the hope someone will using it for tracking him. While dying after losing the game, she also carved the name of her daughter Rachel, who was stillborn fourteen years ago, to give the password for her telephone. After Wilson death, Hope mistakenly took Wilson's suitcase and, some five minutes later, realised his mistake and threw the suitcase into a nearby rubbish tip.

Few hours after leaving Wilson, however, Hope received a text seemingly from her, asking him to explain what had happened on Lauriston Garden and explaining that she must have blacked out. Hope called immediately and went to Northumberland Street. At Northumberland Street, when the detective set off in pursuit of his cab once he had been alerted to his presence, Hope was leading a customer came from America, leading Sherlock Holmes to mistakenly believing the murderer had not come. This event made Hope realise that the detective was after him.

Personnality
To be added

Abilities
"Oh, I see. So you’re a proper genius too." "Don’t look it, do I?"

- Sherlock Holmes and Jeff Hope


 * Very high intelligence: Of his own confession, Hope was virtually a genius, with even Sherlock Holmes somewhat complimenting his intellect. He was able to kill fourth people without any detection and evading capture for some time during his killing spree. He created unique way of kill involving two pills, one poisoned and one seemingly safe. He also claimed to be a master of psychology who could successfully anticipate and counter the way his victims think. Despite all this, Hope was far from flawless, being susceptible to make mistakes, like when taking with him the suitcase of Jennifer Wilson by error; tricked, like when Sherlock Holmes managed to make him come to Lauriston Garden; or countered, his fake gun could be distinguished from a real one by someone who knew enough about weapons, like Sherlock Holmes, so his victims would have no reason to play his game.

Quotes
"I didn’t kill those four people, Mr ’olmes. I spoke to ’em ... and they killed themselves. An’ if you get the coppers now, I promise you one thing. I will never tell you what I said."

- Sherlock Holmes and Jeff Hope

"No-one else will die, though, and I believe they call that a result." "An’ you won’t ever understand how those people died. What kind of result do you care about?"

- Sherlock Holmes and Jeff Hope

"How did you find me?" "Oh, I recognised yer, soon as I saw you chasing my cab. Sherlock ’olmes! I was warned about you. I’ve been on your website, too. Brilliant stuff! Loved it!"

- Jeff Hope and Sherlock Holmes