Jack The Ripper - Mark Whitehead [17]
The evidence against Ludwig made him appear a prime suspect. He was subjected to further periods of remand until his whereabouts during the previous weeks were investigated. He was finally released on 2 October. However, while he was in jail, his innocence was proved when the real murderer struck again...
Double Event
‘We’re all up to no good, and no one cares what becomes of us.’ Unidentified prostitute quoted by Dr Thomas Barnardo, letter to The Times, October 6th 1888
Three weeks after Annie Chapman’s murder, the police’s best efforts had uncovered no suspects who proved to be the murderer and Whitechapel nightlife slowly returned to normal. The press still featured the murders prominently, fuelled with information from the lengthy Nichols and Chapman inquests. The murder of a woman near Gateshead on 22 September led many to believe the killer had fled to pastures new. The weekend of Saturday 29 September changed all that.
A Ripper Writes...
Just as there had been people claiming to have committed the murders wasting the police’s time, there had also been letters admitting to the same, but on 27 September a letter arrived that demanded more attention. It was addressed simply to ‘The Boss, Central News Office, London City’ and postmarked September 27th, London EC, the same day that it was received at the Central News Agency at Ludgate Circus. It was written in red ink in an educated hand and ran:
25 Sept: 1888
Dear Boss
I keep on hearing the police have caught me but they wont fix me just yet. I have laughed when they look so clever and talk about being on the right track. That joke about Leather Apron gave me real fits. I am down on whores and I shant quit ripping them till I do get buckled. Grand work the last job was. I gave the lady no time to squeal. How can they catch me now. I love my work and want to start again.You will soon hear of me with my funny little games. I saved some of the proper red stuff in a ginger beer bottle over the last job to write with but it went thick like glue and I cant use it. Red ink is fit enough I hope ha ha.The next job I do I shall clip the ladys ears off and send to the police officers just for jolly wouldnt you. Keep this letter back till I do a bit more work, then give it out straight. My knife’s so nice and sharp I want to get to work right away if I get a chance. Good luck.
Yours truly
Jack the Ripper
Dont mind me giving the trade name
A second postscript in red crayon was written at a right angle to the rest. It read:
wasnt good enough to post this before I got all the red
ink off my hands curse it. No luck yet. They say I’m a
doctor now ha ha
Two days later it was forwarded to Chief Constable Williamson at Scotland Yard. An attached letter by journalist Thomas Bulling explained that it ‘was treated like a joke’. Whatever their first impression of the letter, the police certainly paid more notice to Jack’s warning the next day.
Double Event
Dutfield’s Yard sat on the west side of Berner Street (now Henriques Street), a southern turning off Commercial Road. The yard had been named after Arthur Dutfield, whose van and cart-making business had once been there. The large wooden gates at the yard’s entrance still proclaimed Dutfield’s connection, but now the yard housed only a sack warehouse and a disused stable. It was flanked on the left by a row of cottages. To its right stood the International Working Men’s Educational Club, a Socialist meeting place mainly attended by Russian and Polish Jews. Entry to the club was either