At the beginning of this Chapter, when Utterson goes to visit Dr. Jekyll, he is admitted to Jekyll's laboratory for the first time. In fact, he was not even aware of the existence of this part of the property (and the three "dusty windows barred with iron" will later be the windows where Utterson and Enfield will see Dr. Jekyll sitting, in Chapter 7). Note that when Utterson meets Dr. Jekyll here, he is aware that an immense change has taken place in the doctor: Dr. Jekyll looked "deadly sick." He did not rise to meet his visitor, but held out a cold hand and "bade him welcome in a changed voice." Dr. Jekyll's sickness, of course, symbolically represents his sick conscience that is shocked that such a horrible murder could take place, for he, of course, knows that he (or a part of him) is responsible for the crime.
It is likewise ironic that when Utterson asks Jekyll directly, "You have not been mad enough to hide this fellow," the pun on hide is challenging, because the reason for the creation of Hyde was so that Dr. Jekyll could indeed hide his own debaucheries behind Hyde and still live his own respectable life as Dr. Jekyll. And when the doctor assures Utterson that "I swear to God I will never set eyes on him again. I bind my honor to you that I am done with him in this world," we assume (along with Utterson) that Dr. Jekyll is speaking the truth; however, this is an oath that will be impossible to keep because Hyde has too much of a grasp on Dr. Jekyll, who will indeed, as in the next Chapter, hide Hyde for awhile, but eventually Hyde will emerge on his own terms.
When Utterson again points out to Dr. Jekyll the possibility that he and his name would be dragged through a trial if Hyde is ever caught, Dr. Jekyll again insists that "I am quite done with him." Again, the point is that since his early youth, Dr. Jekyll has tried to outwardly live an exemplary life, and his creation of Hyde was done out of scientific curiosity and also so that Dr. Jekyll could participate in debaucheries without danger of detection; therefore, now, the fear of scandal makes the doctor resolve to never see Hyde again. As Dr. Jekyll says, "I was thinking of my own character, which this hateful business has rather exposed." And too, he has always feared that his distinguished reputation would be stained by his secret, dubious activities.
We should also note that when Dr. Jekyll's servant, Poole, assures Utterson that no letter was delivered by a messenger, we assume along with Utterson that Hyde must have delivered it by the laboratory door--the door which Enfield had observed in Chapter 1. It is, after all, fitting that such a person as Hyde would use only the back door.
While Utterson functions as the central intelligence of the first part of the novel, we should always be aware that much of the information by which we formulate our opinions concerning Jekyll/Hyde come from different sources. For example, written documents, such as Dr. Jekyll's will, tell us a great deal, but we also rely upon Utterson to theorize about it. And we should also note that Utterson's theories or conjectures will always be wrong--because his knowledge does not include the workings of an actual separation of a Jekyll/Hyde phenomenon. For example, in this Chapter, after the murder, he will confront Dr. Jekyll and ask him directly if it wasn't Hyde who forced him to make certain concessions in the will. Dr. Jekyll admits (by a nod) that it was. This, of course, is misleading, but--at this point--we accept Utterson's analysis. Likewise in this Chapter, we have another document--the letter in which Hyde writes that he is disappearing forever. Again, we are misled when Utterson's trusted, confidential clerk, an expert on handwriting, reads the letter and offers the proposition that both Hyde's letter and the invitation which Utterson has just received from Dr. Jekyll were written by the same person, only with a slightly different slope in the handwriting. Immediately, Utterson is alarmed, thinking that once again, Dr. Jekyll has forged the letter to cover up for the evil Mr. Hyde. And again, we accept Utterson's theory, but what is ironic is the fact that since Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are one person, Utterson is, of course, right, but in a way that neither the reader nor Utterson could ever suspect.
