Dr. Thomas Bond, the Father of Modern Profiling

COLD STONE & IVY is a Gothic steampunk mystery, set in England during the fall of 1888. It features several real people as characters. Together, publisher Tyche Books and I will be showcasing some of these historical figures over the next few weeks. This is Doctor Week and today’s focus is on Police Surgeon and Father of Criminal Profiling, Dr. Thomas Bond.

"There was a twitch of Bond’s thick grey moustache. It was unnerving, thought Christien, Bond’s quiet, intrusive ways. He was changing things with his character analyses and villain profiles, giving the Bottle a run for their money, making them work harder, think better. Thomas Bond was a brilliant man and Christien knew he was lucky to be here."  - COLD STONE & IVY

You could write a book on the contributions of Dr. Thomas Bond to modern forensic science. He was chiefly a Police Surgeon with the Met’s A-Division and he is credited with being one of the first to begin to attempt a ‘Villain Profile’ for the killer called Jack. He was also the lead examiner of the London Torsos, a rash of dismembered bodies that turned up in and along the Thames River area. He was called on repeatedly to investigate other East End murders (even though they were out of A-Division’s jurisdiction) and it was his testimony that led to the ‘canonical five.’
 
As stated, Bond was the first to attempt to profile the Whitechapel killer, and 2 of Mary Kelly's 11 post-mortem statements read as this:
 
10. The murderer must have been a man of physical strength and of great coolness and daring. There is no evidence that he had an accomplice. He must in my opinion be a man subject to periodical attacks of Homicidal and erotic mania. The character of the mutilations indicate that the man may be in a condition sexually, that may be called satyriasis. It is of course possible that the Homicidal impulse may have developed from a revengeful or brooding condition of the mind, or that Religious Mania may have been the original disease, but I do not think either hypothesis is likely. The murderer in external appearance is quite likely to be a quiet inoffensive looking man probably middle aged and neatly and respectably dressed. I think he must be in the habit of wearing a cloak or overcoat or he could hardly have escaped notice in the streets if the blood on his hands or clothes were visible.
 
11. Assuming the murderer to be such a person as I have just described he would probably be solitary and eccentric in his habits, also he is most likely to be a man without regular occupation, but with some small income or pension. He is possibly living among respectable persons who have some knowledge of his character and habits and who may have grounds for suspicion that he is not quite right in his mind at times.
                                                                        *Casebook Jack the Ripper
 
Bond was a quiet, somber man, very adept at his job, with a quick mind and keen intellect. He features as mentor to young Christien de Lacey and is the father figure of Bond’s Boys – the group of nefarious young surgeons-in-training. Dr. Bond served the City of London until 1902, when he committed suicide. Once you read COLD STONE & IVY, you will understand why.
 
Next on 'Doctor Week', another two doctors - one as fictional as Bond was real. In a few scene-stealing cameos, we bring you, Dr. Henry Jekyll and his Kensington house laboratory! Second, obstetrician to the Royal House and Ripper suspect himself, Dr. John Williams!

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