9th January

The 9th of January marks a pivotal turning point in the narrative, the day on which Dr. Hastie Lanyon receives a registered envelope from his old colleague Henry Jekyll. This letter, written in a tone of extreme distress, initiates a chain of events that will shatter Lanyon's materialist worldview and lead directly to his death. The date is the first concrete temporal marker in the accelerating collapse of Jekyll's double life, and it is the moment when the story's central mystery—the physical identity of Jekyll and Hyde—is forced upon an unwilling witness.

The Letter and Its Demands

On the evening of the 9th of January, Lanyon receives a registered envelope addressed in Jekyll's hand. The formality of registration surprises Lanyon, as the two men, though old school companions, are not in the habit of correspondence; indeed, they had dined together the night before. The letter itself, dated the 10th of December, is a frantic appeal. Jekyll writes that his life, honour, and reason depend upon Lanyon's compliance. He instructs Lanyon to go immediately to Jekyll's house, where Poole will be waiting with a locksmith, to force open the cabinet door. Lanyon is to enter alone, open the glazed press marked "E," and remove the fourth drawer from the top, which contains some powders, a phial, and a paper book. He is to carry this drawer back to his own house in Cavendish Square. Then, at midnight, he must admit a man who will present himself in Jekyll's name and hand over the drawer. The letter is filled with a morbid fear of misdirection and a desperate plea for punctuality, warning that neglect could result in Jekyll's death or the shipwreck of his reason.

Lanyon's Response and Preparations

Upon reading the letter, Lanyon is convinced that Jekyll is insane, but he feels bound to comply, unable to dismiss an appeal so worded without grave responsibility. He drives to Jekyll's house, where Poole has already summoned a locksmith and a carpenter. The door to the cabinet is exceptionally strong, and it takes two hours of work to force it open. Lanyon finds the drawer, has it packed with straw and tied in a sheet, and returns with it to Cavendish Square. There, he examines the contents: neatly made-up powders of a white crystalline salt, a phial half-full of a blood-red, pungent liquor, and a version book containing a series of dates with occasional remarks like "double" and "total failure!!!" The materials seem to Lanyon to be the record of a series of useless experiments, and he grows more convinced that he is dealing with a case of cerebral disease. Nevertheless, he dismisses his servants to bed and loads an old revolver for self-defence.

The Midnight Visitor and the Transformation

At midnight, a small man knocks gently at Lanyon's door. The visitor is dressed in clothes far too large for him, and his presence causes in Lanyon a subjective disturbance—a sinking of the pulse and a feeling of incipient rigour. The man is in a state of sombre excitement, and when Lanyon points to the drawer, he springs to it, tears away the sheet, and utters a loud sob of relief. He then measures out a few minims of the red tincture and adds one of the powders. The mixture effervesces, changes from reddish to dark purple, and then fades to a watery green. The visitor offers Lanyon a choice: let him leave with the glass and remain ignorant, or stay and witness a prodigy that will stagger the unbelief of Satan. Lanyon, his curiosity overcoming his caution, chooses to see the end. The visitor drinks the potion, and before Lanyon's eyes, he undergoes a convulsive transformation: his features seem to melt and alter, and within moments, the small, detestable figure is gone, and in his place stands Henry Jekyll, pale and shaken. Lanyon screams in terror.

Consequences and Aftermath

The shock of witnessing the transformation destroys Lanyon. He is unable to bring his mind to set the full account on paper, but he writes that his life is shaken to its roots, that sleep has left him, and that the deadliest terror sits by him at all hours. He declares himself a doomed man, and within a fortnight of the 9th of January, he is dead. The 9th of January is thus the date on which the secret of Jekyll's duality is forcibly revealed to a third party, and the revelation proves fatal. The date also serves as the temporal anchor for the final act of the story: Utterson, after Lanyon's death, receives a sealed envelope from Lanyon with instructions not to open it until the death or disappearance of Henry Jekyll, a packet that will eventually be read alongside Jekyll's own confession on the last night.