Which Official Could catch the Whitechapel Murderer ?

[Mr.Hyde]

kensei,
Agree with you regarding Abberline.He also knew the area.
Ditto the remainder of your post,
Dave.

[perrymason]

I think if anyone of those men had solid evidence and some handcuffs, anyone of them "could" have caught Jack. "Would" they have caught him if they had such evidence......not sure.

Abberlines rise through the ranks was not due to his Sherlock type skills with sieved ash...or just his knowledge of Whitechapel and surrounds...it was due to his very prominent investigations and arrests of Fenians locally. He knew the key players, the networks, and that there were anarchists seeking to make very high profile "statements", like blowing up Parliament, or plotting the killing of the Irish Secretary Balfour.

Abberline, Reid, Pearce and some other officers were a team...they worked knocking on doors, conducting interviews, and yes, sieving ashes...Reid was there Saturday morning with Abberline....but I submit that Abberlines skill as a sleuth had far less to do with his reassignment than his Fenian knowledge did.......it was thought for a time that Fall that a prominent Fenian involved in the assassination plot against Balfour was the killer of the "Ripper" victims....my guess is it was this specific experience that got him involved, and gave him a team of other Fenian fighters to use.

I personally think Abberline felt that this assignment was extremely important, and that he was someone who knew about the people and conditions and as such was their champion, so he spent more sleepless nights than maybe any other investigator...maybe even desperate enough to back a fraudulent account that offered great investigative promise...but I dont think he was a more capable sleuth than others he worked with.

Best regards all.