Question

Read the excerpt from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Twelve o’clock had scarce rung out over London, ere the knocker sounded very gently on the door. I went myself at the summons, and found a small man crouching against the pillars of the portico.

"Are you come from Dr. Jekyll?” I asked.

He told me "yes” by a constrained gesture; and when I had bidden him enter, he did not obey me without a searching backward glance into the darkness of the square. There was a policeman not far off, advancing with his bull’s eye open; and at the sight, I thought my visitor started and made greater haste.

How does this part of Lanyon’s letter help create suspense?

by mentioning that the scene is set in London
by describing a mysterious and nervous stranger
by mentioning the “pillars of the portico”
by describing someone Lanyon knows well

Answer 1

by describing a mysterious and nervous stranger

The visitor’s furtive posture, constrained gesture, backward glances into the dark, and sudden haste at the sight of the policeman all create tension and mystery, heightening suspense.