Was She Wrong?

[c.d.]

Hello Herlock,

Whatever the case it would appear that his answers satisfied the police.

c.d.

[Herlock Sholmes]

I can’t see any reason for him to be reluctant c.d. It seems that, for whatever reason, McCarthy either a) didn’t have a spare key, or b) was too in shock to recall where he’d put it. To be honest I’m not too keen on b). Surely Mrs McCarthy or Bowyer would have known where the keys were kept and why would McCarthy have put a key somewhere else?

[c.d.]

If a landlord having a spare key is completely normal and even expected, why would McCarthy be reluctant to admit he had one? Saying he didn't (if that was the case) would seem to me to be even more suspicious.

c.d.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Hello Herlock,

When the police arrived I have to imagine their first question was to ask McCarthy if he had a key. If he said I have to go home and get it then depending on where he lived they might have said no, we need to get in the room now and thus broke down the door.

c.d.

Hi c.d.

Our posts crossed. You suggestion is a good one but it looks to me like McCarthy lived above the shop the but I’ll certainly stand correcting if someone knows otherwise.

[Herlock Sholmes]

As George points out, you would have thought that McCarthy would have had his own key to the rooms therefore why did he break his door open? I wonder if Kelly had lost her key and McCarthy had given her his (intending, but failing, to get a new one?) As c.d. said, the police weren’t idiots. McCarthy would have been asked about a key before anyone got the axe out. Maybe he’d had a new one made but in the circumstances forgot; or he just couldn’t recall where he’d put it? I’d imagine that both he and Bowyer were seriously in need of a good stiff drink or six after what they had seen that morning.

[c.d.]

If Bowyer had the key then I am assuming he did not have it with him at the time.

c.d.

[c.d.]

We are also assuming that McCarthy had the spare key but could Bowyer have had it for some reason? And was it a room specific key or one key that could open every room in the apartment building?

c.d.

[c.d.]

Hello Herlock,

When the police arrived I have to imagine their first question was to ask McCarthy if he had a key. If he said I have to go home and get it then depending on where he lived they might have said no, we need to get in the room now and thus broke down the door.

c.d.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Where did McCarthy live?

c.d.

I’ve always been under the impression that he lived above the shop at number 27 c.d. but I could be wrong.

I just saw Jose Oranto’s thread ‘Register of Common Lodging Houses’ over on JtRForums where he lists:


JOHN McCARTHY

Residence of the keeper
27 Dorset St.

11-12 Dorset St. - 45
15 Great Pearl St. - 80
30 Dorset St. - 117

28-29 Dorset St. - 48 (1892)
22 St Anne St. (Limehouse) - 190 (1894)

[c.d.]

Where did McCarthy live?

c.d.

[c.d.]

But don't we see this same level of suspicion surrounding the club members at Berner Street? Why didn't all their times match exactly? Why didn't all their stories jibe exactly? Why did they take some of the actions that they did but failed to take other actions?

So are these suspicions justified or do the represent confused and illogical and irrational behavior from normal human beings who have just experienced an enormous and very upsetting set of circumstances?

c.d.

[c.d.]

Unless the police were complete idiots (and I don't think they were) wouldn't one of the first things they attempted to determine be how the killer got into the room? Wouldn't that entail questioning McCarthy as to the key situation? How many were there? Who had them? Was there a spare key? Where was that kept? Could someone have gotten access to it without McCarthy's knowledge?

Wouldn't the question of why the door was broken when McCarthy had a key have been addressed in all this?

c.d.

[GBinOz]

But when we consider that needlessly obliterating a door would have cost Mccarthy money to replace; he hadn't replaced the window, then it does seem odd how McCarthy didn't just say to Arnold...
"Forget the axe, I can open the door through this broken window."

He either didn't know about the broken window because Kelly and Barnett hadn't told him, or Mccarthy didn't want the police to be aware that he knew of a way to access the room without a key.

A landlord that didn't have a key to his own rented premises? Unusual, to say the least. Key or broken window, he didn't want anyone to know that he had access to the room. What was he doing when he sent Bowyer ahead and followed later to the Police Station?

[FrankO]

So it proves that nobody knew the door could be opened without a key, by reaching through the broken window and lifting the latch.

It indeed seems to have been the case that nobody knew or thought of this, RD, until Barnett told the police how he & Mary Jane got in after loosing the key.

The question is; did the killer know?

If he went in together with Mary Jane or was invited in after a knock on the door, then there would have been no need for him to know. He just needed to close the door behind him.

Cheers,
Frank

[The Rookie Detective]

Henry Hanslope who had stayed in the room directly opposite Kelly's room, may have also observed Kelly or Barnett reach through the window to open the door.

Whether he was there at the time of the murder remains unknown.

But the man who was stopped by police as he left the court matches Hanslope very closely.

The only discrepancy being that the room number given by the man was different.

I believe that if this market porter was in fact Hanslope, then he came from the room opposite Kelly's window and was arguably the man who murdered Kelly.

Where's the last place one would expect the killer to be?

In the room directly opposite.

Maybe the killer left Kelly's room and went next door to clean up...and never left the court until the next morning when he managed to convince the police he was just on his way to get milk.

As an actor, Hanslope had the necessary skill set to get past the police without raising suspicion.