Mortimer doesn’t claim to have seen Brown pass, so it would seem that Mortimer wasn’t at her door when this happened; in other words, she must have come at her door after he passed
One: Brown is up around the Fairclough/Berner intersection - passing through it in seconds - and it's dark.
Two: She did see him - she just didn't regard that as being an unusual event...
I was standing at the door of my house nearly the whole time between half-past twelve and one o'clock on Sunday morning, and did not notice anything unusual.
It has to be remembered that Fanny Mortimer is not standing on her doorstep for much of that half-hour, carefully journaling the visible comings and goings, as though she were witnessing the lead-up to what would become a world famous event. It's just another night...
So, this is the sequence based on the above 4 points:
- couple arrives at the corner of the board school
- Brown passes and sees the couple
- Mortimer comes to her door
- Leon Goldstein passes
- Mortimer goes back inside
- Mortimer comes to her door
- Leon Goldstein passes
- Mortimer goes back inside
- Some minutes pass (Smith, Stride, parcel man)
- Mortimer goes back outside
- Leon Goldstein passes
- Mortimer goes back inside (and presumably 'shoots the bolts')
He was respectably dressed, but was a stranger to me. He might ha' been coming from the Socialist Club.
Central News: ...the only man whom I had seen pass through the street previously was a young man, carrying a shiny bag, who walked very fast down the street from the Commercial-road. He looked up at the Club, and then went round the corner by the Board School.
In this context, 'previously' refers in effect to between my #1 & 3.
4. Eagle returns to the club
5. Stride & companion arrive close to the club
6. Smith arrives and sees Stride & companion opposite the club
5. Stride & companion arrive close to the club
6. Smith arrives and sees Stride & companion opposite the club
4. 12:40:00
5. 12:42:30
6. 12:45:00
ETA: 1:10
LTA: 1:15
This is Smith in the Times, Oct 6:
At 1 o'clock I went to Berner-street in my ordinary round. I saw a crowd of people outside the gates of No. 40. I did not hear any cries of "Police." When I got there I saw constables 12 H R and 252 H. I then saw the deceased, and, on looking at her, found she was dead. I then went to the station for the ambulance. Dr. Blackwell's assistant came just as I was going away.
So the Johnston & Blackwell timings are already tight, but we also have this...
The Foreman: Was the man or the woman acting in a suspicious manner?
Smith: No.
Inspector Reid: Did you see these people more than once?
Smith: No. When I saw deceased lying on the ground I recognized her at once and made a report of what I had seen.
How long did that report take to write?
Whatever the case, Smith's testimony is arguably the most reliable in the entire case, because he wrote down what he had seen, soon after seeing it. The reliability of his info, arguably includes his times.
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