Jack the Ripper: The Hand of a Woman

the early hours of the following morning were only slightly warmer at 38.9F, but still less than 7 degrees above freezing; there had been a brief but intensely hot fire, and a window pane in the tiny room was missing. Given the conflicting elements, it must have proved extremely difficult to even attempt to estimate the time of death, though when the two doctors did, the extraneous evidence indicates that they were wildly out. So the best evidence available – that of the two witnesses who heard what was probably Mary Kelly’s last, desperate cry for help – suggests that her death occurred at around 4.00 a.m.
    Another witness, George Hutchinson, turned up at Commercial Street Police Station on 12 November to give a statement, but it was at six o’clock in the evening after the one-day inquest had ended. Hutchinson, a casual labourer, was a rogue. Six months previously he had appeared in the Thames Magistrates Court on a theft charge, so his evidence should be treated with caution. But Detective Inspector Abberline, who interviewed him, was impressed by the consistent nature of his testimony, and was satisfied that he was telling the truth – on this occasion at least.
    Hutchinson’s statement was that he was walking up Commercial Street at 2 a.m. on the morning of the murder, and as he was passing Thrawl Street he met Mary Kelly. He did not think she was drunk, but he described her as ‘spreeish’ (slightly intoxicated). She asked him for the loan of sixpence, but he told her that he had no money because he had spent it in Romford earlier. She bade him good-bye, saying she must go and find some cash, and continued on her way. A man coming towards her tapped her lightly on the shoulder, and said something to her that Hutchinson was unable to hear. She and the man then laughed. At the corner of Fashion Street and Commercial Street, Hutchinson waited by a street lamp outside the Queen’s Head public house and watched the couple as they walked past him. The man lowered his head and avoided Hutchinson’s stare. Then he and Mary Kelly turned into Dorset Street and continued walking in the direction of the entrance to the narrow passageway that led to Miller’s Court.
    The impressive description Hutchinson gave of the man he said he saw was: aged about thirty-four or thirty-five, 5 ft 6 inches tall, pale complexion, dark eyes and eyelashes, a slight moustache curled up at the ends, and dark hair. He was wearing a long dark coat, collar and cuffs trimmed in astrakhan, a dark jacket, light waistcoat, dark trousers, dark felt hat turned down in the middle, boots with white buttons, a very thick gold chain, black tie with horseshoe pin, and was of a respectable, Jewish appearance.
    The description was considerably enhanced by the time the story got into the clutches of the newspapers, and Hutchinson’s suspect had now acquired a pair of brown kid gloves, a watch chain with a big seal and a red stone hanging from it. He had also grown a pair of bushy eyebrows.
    Hutchinson watched the couple until they halted at the entrance to Miller’s Court where they talked for some three minutes. Then they entered the passageway, and disappeared from his view. Hutchinson walked after them and followed them down the passageway, but by the time he reached the court, they had gone into Kelly’s room, closing the door behind them. He stayed watching Kelly’s door for approximately forty-five minutes, but since neither of them emerged within that time, he gave up and left.
    Why Hutchinson should have paid such close attention to the man he claims he saw with Kelly is unknown; there was no apparent reason why he should have scrutinised him so closely when no crime was anticipated. The amazingly detailed description he gave of a man, whom he glimpsed only briefly by the dim light of a gas street lamp, was particularly surprising; why he should have been watching Kelly’s door in Miller’s Court at that time of night is a mystery that has never been explained. On the two nights that followed, Inspector Abberline sent Hutchinson, in the presence of two detectives, to scour the streets and alleyways of Whitechapel to see if he could find the suspect. But whoever Kelly’s visitor was, he had gone to ground, so all attempts to find him frustratingly failed and that part of the investigation, at least, came to a halt.
    The time of Hutchinson’s departure from his vantage-point opposite Kelly’s door was around 2.45 a.m., according to