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In another thread last week I was a little surprised to see Fisherman say of PC Thain that, before he went to knock up Dr Llewellyn: "He probably...popped into the slaughterers in Winthrop Street to pick up his cape, but that would not take long."
I was surprised because I had thought PC Thain must have collected his cape after he visited the doctor. I am aware that he was asked at the inquest if he did collect his cape beforehand but he denied this, as it is stated in the Times report: "When he was sent for doctor he did not first go to the horse-slaughterers and say that as a murder had been committed he had better fetch his cape".
On looking at the evidence of Henry Tomkins it is clear that Thain visited the slaughterhouse after having summoned the doctor. Tomkins says that Thain came to collect his cape at 4:15 and that, following this, he and a couple of his colleagues went to Buck's Row to see the body. Tomkins said at the inquest that "At that time a doctor and three or four constables were there". Under questioning from the coroner, Tomkins also said that there were also two men at the scene. These must be the two men who PC Thain said he saw by the body when he returned with the doctor.
So it would appear straightforward that, having returned to Buck's Row with the doctor at about 4:10pm, Thain slipped away for his cape and mentioned the murder to Tomkins. Thain returned to the scene, followed shortly thereafter by Tomkins and his colleagues. The fact that the doctor was on site when Tomkins arrives seems to confirm this chronology.
That being so, it is fair to say that Thain was not delayed in fetching the doctor because he wanted to first collect his cape.
So does this mean that we have a timing gap here? If PC Neil discovered the body at 3:45, why was it not until "about 4:00" that PC Thain got to wake up Dr Llewellyn. Why did it take 15 minutes when the walk from Buck's Row to Dr Llewellyn's home at 152 Whitechapel Road should only have taken about 2 minutes at a brisk pace? Well one thing that we should note is that in his statement which was circulated to the press on 31 August, Dr Llewellyn said: "I was called to Buck's row about five minutes to four this morning". While he doesn't seem to have repeated this in the inquest, if 3:55 is more accurate it would bring the gap down to 10 minutes. Given that the time of 3:45 is only approximate it does not seem to be inconceivable that PC Thain only set off for the doctor at about 3:50 (allowing a few minutes for Neil to have examined the body on his own and for Thain to have arrived at the murder site). This means we only need to explain the difference between 2 and 5 minutes. And 3:52 is consistent with "about 3:55". We should also bear in mind that PC Thain probably first woke the doctor's servant who then woke up the doctor so there are potentially a few minutes involved in that situation.
Fisherman might disagree but I don't think we have another "major gap" in the timings here.
I was surprised because I had thought PC Thain must have collected his cape after he visited the doctor. I am aware that he was asked at the inquest if he did collect his cape beforehand but he denied this, as it is stated in the Times report: "When he was sent for doctor he did not first go to the horse-slaughterers and say that as a murder had been committed he had better fetch his cape".
On looking at the evidence of Henry Tomkins it is clear that Thain visited the slaughterhouse after having summoned the doctor. Tomkins says that Thain came to collect his cape at 4:15 and that, following this, he and a couple of his colleagues went to Buck's Row to see the body. Tomkins said at the inquest that "At that time a doctor and three or four constables were there". Under questioning from the coroner, Tomkins also said that there were also two men at the scene. These must be the two men who PC Thain said he saw by the body when he returned with the doctor.
So it would appear straightforward that, having returned to Buck's Row with the doctor at about 4:10pm, Thain slipped away for his cape and mentioned the murder to Tomkins. Thain returned to the scene, followed shortly thereafter by Tomkins and his colleagues. The fact that the doctor was on site when Tomkins arrives seems to confirm this chronology.
That being so, it is fair to say that Thain was not delayed in fetching the doctor because he wanted to first collect his cape.
So does this mean that we have a timing gap here? If PC Neil discovered the body at 3:45, why was it not until "about 4:00" that PC Thain got to wake up Dr Llewellyn. Why did it take 15 minutes when the walk from Buck's Row to Dr Llewellyn's home at 152 Whitechapel Road should only have taken about 2 minutes at a brisk pace? Well one thing that we should note is that in his statement which was circulated to the press on 31 August, Dr Llewellyn said: "I was called to Buck's row about five minutes to four this morning". While he doesn't seem to have repeated this in the inquest, if 3:55 is more accurate it would bring the gap down to 10 minutes. Given that the time of 3:45 is only approximate it does not seem to be inconceivable that PC Thain only set off for the doctor at about 3:50 (allowing a few minutes for Neil to have examined the body on his own and for Thain to have arrived at the murder site). This means we only need to explain the difference between 2 and 5 minutes. And 3:52 is consistent with "about 3:55". We should also bear in mind that PC Thain probably first woke the doctor's servant who then woke up the doctor so there are potentially a few minutes involved in that situation.
Fisherman might disagree but I don't think we have another "major gap" in the timings here.
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