Sunday 11th Nov 1888
Good evening and welcome to Whitechapel on 11th November 1888. As night sets in, fear of the Ripper is at an all-time high. The killer struck when complacency was beginning to set in and some calm was returning. The outcome was the worse yet. The victim was killed in her own home, and her room was a scene from a nightmare. It has all the ingredients to create terror. Remarkably, Queen Victoria herself has communicated directly with the Prime Minister on the subject, using the killer's nickname. A telegram from the Queen, yesterday: "This new most ghastly murder shows the absolute necessity for some very decided action. All these courts must be lit, and our detectives improved. They are not what they should be. You promised, when the first murder took place, to consult with your colleagues about it."
8.00pm
And, right now on the streets of Whitechapel, we find a sinister man is waiting in the shadows, and a woman is approaching. Mrs Humphreys is walking by George Yard, almost the exact spot where Martha Tabram was murdered three months ago. She lets out a cry as a man appears from the gloom of the yard. His face has been blackened to blend into the dark. Nervously, she asks him what he wants. The man, whose eyes are outlined in white, simply laughs at her, and then vanishes.
Mrs Humphreys screams "Murder!" and within seconds a crowd is gathering. She points in the direction that the man headed. Quickly, a few locals have found his hiding place and he's scared out into the open. People are grabbing makeshift weapons. The crowd encircles him as the cries go out to "Lynch him!" As the people close in, policemen appear and take charge. The grab the man, and arrest him. In his pockets they find a double- peaked cap. He is most suspicious. They haul him away.
They will discover they have arrested Dr William Holt, who fancies himself a detective who can catch the Ripper using disguises.
As the Star does not print on a Sunday, let us read something more unusual. The New York Times from today has great concerns. "An uneasy feeling should exist here among people generally as to the future relations of England and the United States. European gossip is likely to consist of rumors about Russian loans, Russian troops, and Russian Nihilistic uprisings. The Tory Government's compact with Germany jointly to occupy the East African coast grows in unpopularity with discussion. The matter bids fair to assume large political importance. So, too, does the subject of the new Whitechapel murders. Torys will vote almost solidly against Matthews, for their constituents are all up in arms against the police inefficiency."
It is incredible to think that the man who has been dubbed Jack the Ripper is now spoken of by the Queen, and in parliament. An ordinary-looking man, living behind one door in the heart of the slums holds a city in fear and the world transfixed.
Goodnight from Whitechapel 1888. Be careful out there, good citizens, for a lunatic is at large.