If you could witness any ONE of the murders...

[Beowulf]

Knowing there was nothing you could do I'd like to see Kelly.

I would very much like to know if he entered the room with her, slit her throat with her being on the farthest side of the bed...and I'd like to know, how is it she lay down and trusted him for only a whores wage.

I've often wondered if he did come in, her asleep, drunk, and cut her throat quick. Did he come in quietly after unlatching the door through the window? and how she didn't hear his approach.

How could she be so unaware if she entered into a contractual agreement with him in the room, and he pulling a knife so sudden as she had no time to stop him? Could she really have closed her eyes? That trust bothers me, if it happened that way.

Then to see when he pulled her across the bed, lifeless, for 'the doing', to see his face...was he entirely mad or entirely evil? Did he wear the grinning face of a devil or the face of a man lost in a strange world of madness, that included nothing of sadism but all of a lust to take away any likeness of a human being that might be looking out of her dead eyes, at him.

Did that make him start? Where did he start? Was it the condemning face or the vulnerable unresponsive body, did he enjoy his work or was it a necessary chore, dictated by an inner voice, a masters voice? Who was that master?

I'd like to see that face of his, as he slashed and dipped his hands in her body, was he talking? Did he laugh? Did he cry? Did he say anything that would've given away his mental map? Were there marks that were given for a particular reason? When he finished did he look finally satisfied, or creep away into the night like a thief? Did he look anguished, sorry, like a slave who has done a cruel masters bidding?

Did he take her heart?

[mariab]

I don't think Rob is the nervous type. Steady hands for the and all that.

OK, thread highjacked!

[Archaic]

Absolutely. But I also want a hoverboard! I would wear my habitual 21st century threads (dark pants/sweat/Nikes) under a long black Victorian coat and some face-hiding headgear. I would use the hoveboard to hang upside down in the air and observe what the perp did to the apron, and take pics with a zooming camera lense. (John Woo could film it.) On second thought, Rob Clack might be required as a co-passenger on said hoverboard.

Actually, I've had a dream like this once – that I was running through a badly lit Whitechapel chasing the perp, but lost him on the stairs inside of some maze-like Victorian house, and was thinking to myself "If only I had studied those Goad maps better!". And recently I've had another dream, that I was driving a boat through the Seine and fishing out torsos with Rob Clack!

Umm... I think Rob's gonna be kinda nervous when he reads that.

Cheers,
Archaic

[mariab]

If you get to use your watch, then I get to use my cell phone camera! Maybe then we could finally nail the guy.

Absolutely. But I also want a hoverboard! I would wear my habitual 21st century threads (dark pants/sweat/Nikes) under a long black Victorian coat and some face-hiding headgear. I would use the hoveboard to hang upside down in the air and observe what the perp did to the apron, and take pics with a zooming camera lense. (John Woo could film it.) On second thought, Rob Clack might be required as a co-passenger on said hoverboard.

Actually, I've had a dream like this once – that I was running through a badly lit Whitechapel chasing the perp, but lost him on the stairs inside of some maze-like Victorian house, and was thinking to myself "If only I had studied those Goad maps better!". And recently I've had another dream, that I was driving a boat through the Seine and fishing out torsos with Rob Clack!

[JW-D]

If you get to use your watch, then I get to use my cell phone camera!

Maybe then we could finally nail the guy.

Best regards,
Archaic

Really cool 'cause you can use the LED display light as a flashlight. Of course, once I illuminated the bloody gore, I'd freak and drop my cell phone on the cobblestones and it'd shatter into a zillion pieces. Then the poor constables would go nuts trying to figure out why Eddowes or whichever victim was carrying bits and dabs of unidentifiable doo-dads in her concealed pockets or bonnet.

Best,
Janice

[sleekviper]

Hello Phil,
I really would not know what I was watching as far as the actual actions, so would probably not spend much time observing. Guy cutting the heck out of a body in the dark is all I could make note of without knowledge as to whether any cut meant something or was just luck with a sharp knife. I see your point, I would just be worthless at trying to make a solid observation concerning what he was doing. I would watch to see how in the world he keeps track of that blade. I could move a turkey on a platter from one room to the next, go back for a carving knife, go back again for a fork, then look like a fool trying to remember where in the world I set that knife down that I had a mere few seconds prior. I am in the light, no pressure, with a dead bird; he was in the dark, constant pressure, with a live loose canon, and he is done while I would be scratching my head wondering where I put that knife. Sure would like to get a glimpse of the bottom of his shoes to see if some mint is trapped between the heel and arch in a spot of mud.

[Damaso Marte]

Oh, and I would insist in using my own watch from the 21st century to compare the different Victorian church clocks chiming the time.

I can't believe I didn't think of this!

So many of the threads here exist because of an assumption that people in Victorian London could tell what time it is with pinpoint accuracy!

[Archaic]

Oh, and I would insist in using my own watch from the 21st century to compare the different Victorian church clocks chiming the time.

If you get to use your watch, then I get to use my cell phone camera!

Maybe then we could finally nail the guy.

Best regards,
Archaic

[mariab]

For me, this question boils down to one thing: at which murder scene could I make the biggest contribution to our knowledge of the case?
I think the answer is Stride. If I see BS man kill Stride, then IMO that conclusively shows either that Stride is not a Ripper victim, or that everything we know about the Ripper is wrong. Either would be a major contribution. Seeing whether or not the killer was "interrupted" would have the same effect. And just by viewing the murder, I will be able to answer those two questions, no matter what the truth ends up being.

Even if Stride got solved and proved as interrupted, they're still be people calling her a "non canonical", claiming there were multiple killers running around and whatnot.
I'm with Sleek and Phil here. Eddowes all the way. Just to verify if my suspicions on several details pertaining to Berner Street and to the Double Event are correct. But I would want to be able to watch the killer until he dropped the apron piece and see if he indeed wrote the graffito, and see where he spent the time between Eddowes and the apron. If indoors, I would return to my time and check out that house in the censuses. Preferably I would want to spend 48 hours in Victorian Whitechapel and investigate things then and there, but with the knowledge and insight we have today. (Like in Back to the future, hoverboard optional.)
Oh, and I would insist in using my own watch from the 21st century to compare the different Victorian church clocks chiming the time.

Another case related encounter I'd give a LOT to be a fly on the wall during its occurrence is Israel Schwartz' interrogation by Abberline and what Abberline said to Swanson afterwards.

[spyglass]

Hi all,

I think to be honest, I my self would be over taken by fear and so bottle it.
However if I was to be invisible , I still wouldnt be able to watch a murder but I guess I would like to see who leaves MJK's room.

[Sally]

Hi Colin

I do think that she was killed by an intruder - Ah, but which one?

Only being able to see one crime scene is tricky. It was difficult to choose.

[Bridewell]

Hi Sally,

Yes, I see what you mean now. Apologies for being (even) thicker than usual!

Regards, Bridewell.

[Sally]

Hi Sally,

Why can't he exist and not be the killer? MJK could have found another punter after he left - even supposing she wasn't killed by an intruder.

"Perplexed of Bottesford".

No, that wasn't what I meant.

Under the rules of this game, it would only be possible to know if Mr Astrakhan existed if he was the killer, since we're only allowed to view the crime scene.

That was what I meant.

[Bridewell]

Whether Mr Astrakhan existed (only possible if he was the killer, so I'd probably be disappointed there..)

Hi Sally,

Why can't he exist and not be the killer? MJK could have found another punter after he left - even supposing she wasn't killed by an intruder.

"Perplexed of Bottesford".

[Brenda]

.

I don't even want to do it unless accompanied by a Ghost of Whitechapel Past that could explain it all to me (a la "A Christmas Carol")