What happened to Lechmere......

[Clark]

Oh, here's an idea for a thought experiment. Suppose PC Neil had killed Nichols on his prior trip through Buck's Row while walking his beat. If there was any blood on his hands, he could have washed it off and stashed the knife further along his route. Then, when he completes the circuit and again turns into Buck's Row, he "discovers" the body, not realizing that Lechmere and Paul had left the scene only minutes before.

Can you prove it didn't happen?

[Clark]

THOSE are the questions you are avoiding.

I'm not avoiding the questions, I just don't accept the premise. Obviously, they would not suspect anyone they knew for a fact to be too far away from Bucks Row to have made the journey in the time since Nichols was killed (which is probably true of Goulson St, but you know the area better than I do), but my point was that we don't have any idea where anyone who is not a part of the record was actually located at the time.

Maybe if you search all of the extant records for the exact location of everyone in Whitechapel at 3:45 on the night in question, you could determine the most likely suspects by a process of elimination. Of course, we don't have records of everyone's exact location in Whitechapel on that night, but it's your thought experiment, not mine.

[Fisherman]

Hereīs a little something from the US National Institute of Justice: a guide for the police about how to behave on crime sites when it comes to people present there:

Secure and control people at the crime scene. Officers should control, identify and remove people from the crime scene.

The responding officer(s) should:

-Control all individuals at the scene — prevent individuals from altering or destroying physical evidence by restricting movement, location, and activity while ensuring and maintaining safety at the scene.

-Identify all individuals at the scene, such as:

Suspects. Secure and separate.

Witnesses. Secure and separate.

Bystanders. Determine whether they were witnesses, if so treat as above, if not, remove from the scene.


Why all the fuss about people on the crime scene, Clark? Why donīt they go to the surrounding streets and look there, or five blocks away?

Any ideas?

[Fisherman]

I'm sure they knew the exact whereabouts of any number of men circa 3:45 on that night in Whitechapel. Unfortunately, they had no idea which one, if any, was actually Jack the Ripper.

Ah, but it was just a suggested scenario to work from, Clark, nothing else. The police would not know where the people were, all of them, but if they had had this information about three different men, which man do you think they would put on top of their list? And why?

THOSE are the questions you are avoiding.

[Fisherman]

Since her abdomen had been cut open, her skirt had obviously been pulled up by the killer. He would probably have needed to pull it above her waist in the back in order to get access to her abdomen in the front. Lechmere and Paul were not able to easily pull the skirt all of the way back down because it was bunched up above her bum as she lay on the pavement.

Doesn't sound all that mysterious, does it?

Not until we ask us WHY it was bunched up above her bum, no.

By the way, I am glad you agree that Lechmere also pulled the dress down!