The Diary — Old Hoax or New or Not a Hoax at All?​

[Lombro2]

And of course, fences never try to mix their stolen goods with legitimate ones, and thereby pretend innocence and ignorance so they can get away with fencing…

https://www.reddit.com/r/DMAcademy/c..._being_caught/

[Lombro2]

Caz and I are actively looking for the real Forger and the real Ripper and the real Mary Jane Kelly ( and the real Tom Mitchell). You’re welcome to join us instead of wasting your time with the Barretts and taking up Caz’s time and patience.

As for the Ripper, we’re eliminating guys like Maybrick because only Bivy the Chivers buy knives, as only forgers buy vintage diaries, not fences. Unlike deerstalkers, six inch knives are not ubiquitous.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Thanks for that interesting quote, Herlock. I must have missed it back in 2018 and couldn't find a reference to it in the archive.

It's strange how, many years ago, Anne was marketed as plausible and consistent, yet the more one looks, the more she contradicted herself.

Anne being 'chirpy' and 'friendly' with the woman who is attempting to publish the book she doesn't want published is also troubling.

I might have to rethink my assumptions about how willing she was to accommodate Barrett's schemes, but people can disguise their emotions.

No problem Roger

[rjpalmer]

As to Anne wanting to protect the diary from fire, after quite a lot of searching on Casebook, I've finally managed to track down the source of the story (and thanks to no one for helping!). Keith Skinner posted it in a thread entitled "Acquiring a Victorian Diary" on February 21, 2018. It was in a letter from Doreen Montgomery to a Sally Evemy dated April 22 ,1992. The key passage is this:

"I spoke with Mrs Barrett last evening, and she sounded a very chirpy, friendly woman. I think they are genuine people and her only anxiety in asking her husband to place the Diary with the bank was because of the fact that they have had a couple of burglaries and she is also frightened of fire. Understandable."

Thanks for that interesting quote, Herlock. I must have missed it back in 2018 and couldn't find a reference to it in the archive.

It's strange how, many years ago, Anne was marketed as plausible and consistent, yet the more one looks, the more she contradicted herself.

Anne being 'chirpy' and 'friendly' with the woman who is attempting to publish the book she doesn't want published is also troubling.

I might have to rethink my assumptions about how willing she was to accommodate Barrett's schemes, but people can disguise their emotions.

[rjpalmer]

The diary was clearly a recent creation so we need look no further than the Barretts.

Polly Nichols was clearly only recently dead so we need look no further than Charles Lechmere.

Now if you can only discover that, two weeks before the Polly Nichols murder, Charles Lechmere tried to find a surgical scalpel in Oxford. "Must be at least 6" in length and capable of cutting a human throat."