The Cachous

[c.d.]

Hello Wick,

Another man with Stride at the time is an interesting idea. Perhaps he went back into the yard to take a leak. Sees a drunk B.S. man and remains hidden not wanting to tangle with him. Then kills Stride.

So would this person have been Jack?

c.d.

[C. F. Leon]

This old thread seemed to be the best choice to ask something which I've wondered about: the cachous are mentioned in just about every account, but what do do we really know about them? What I mean is were they Tic-Tac-sized or more like cough drops? Were they flavored? Colored? How many in a bag? Were there different brands with different flavorings/sizes/# in a bag?

I'm working with an idea here and I want background information to see if it works out or should be eliminated.

[Tom_Wescott]

Hi C.F. They were in a piece of wrapped tissue paper. These being breath mints, they would have been small but probably larger than Tic-Tacs. I don't recall a specific number of them but I wrote about them several years ago in Ripper Confidential and I seem to recall there weren't many of them. The wrapped tissue was lodged between Stride's thumb and forefinger.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[drstrange169]

Size and colour could vary depending on what type they were. Generally they were black (liquorice flavour), but they were also white (vanilla flavour). They were cut up into both Tic Tac and throat lozenge sizes.



The Druggist General Receipt Book 1886

[C. F. Leon]

Hi C.F. They were in a piece of wrapped tissue paper. These being breath mints, they would have been small but probably larger than Tic-Tacs. I don't recall a specific number of them but I wrote about them several years ago in Ripper Confidential and I seem to recall there weren't many of them. The wrapped tissue was lodged between Stride's thumb and forefinger.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

Thanks, Tom. Coincidentally, I just received my ordered copy of Ripper Confidential a couple of days ago, but haven't had a chance to check it in detail. (Too many other things in the que ahead of it.) I'll check it ASAP.

BTW, I really enjoyed The Bank Holiday Murders.