Open area

[kensei]

I just wanted to clarify something- I've heard the landing where Martha was killed described as "inside a building, but an open area." I understand that means there was no door to the stairs, but was the stairwell also open to the sky? I'm imagining that it wasn't, as that would have made it a much less popular shelter for the homeless when it was raining.

Also, while on the subject of George Yard Buildings, anyone know when or especially why the one fragment of wall from it that is still standing was painted sky blue?

[claire]

Wasn't there a photo of an adjacent building showing the layout of the internal staircases? I seem to remember there was, but a more diligent person than I would be able to point you in the right direction. In this, like a lot of cruddy buildings in London, the stairs themselves are under cover, but the landings, that run along the outside of the building, giving way to the doors to accommodations, are just bordered with low walls, and are pretty much 'outside.'

[Chris]

kensei

You can find a long discussion of the layout of the building and the possible location of the body here:

http://forum.casebook.org/showthread.php?t=3963

[kensei]

Thanks for that link, Chris. It was quite a spirited discussion.

Does everyone remember the "penny dreadful" illustration of the discovery of Martha's body- "Famous Crimes" Vol. II No. 15- showing a shocked man clutching the side of his head as he sees the body at the base of an apparently indoor staircase? Well, from all the debate, I guess no one really knows for sure but I get the image of the murder site being one that would be sheltered from a light rain but into which wind and rain would blow during a bigger storm. Yes? No?