Play@YSDC

Saturday 29th October, 1881, 10 am

Swanlea School, Brady St., Whitechapel

“Jill the Ripper!” scream the headlines of the morning papers. All of them are full of the news about the latest murder, and the sex of the murderer is revealed by several facts: the long hairs clutched by the hand of Rodrigues, the unclothed state of Vernon and the spool of thread nearby, Clark’s intention of finding a prostitute, and reports that the latest victim was seeing leaving a public house with a woman. He is named as Charles Pettit, a sailor.

The papers also explore the lack of progress by the police, and the rising tensions in the East End that have resulted. These tensions are evident at the inquest, with increased police presence, and by the groups of men who are wandering the streets outside, ostensibly to ‘protect’ the area.

Inside, Partington-White brings the Vernon inquest to a close with a verdict of murder by person or persons unknown. None of the major personalities seem to be present, including the mysterious employees of Malbray asylum.

The inquest is quickly over, but as the investigators prepare to leave, they are approached by a man they recognize as Ned, the companion of the publican who commissioned their investigation.

Shyly holding his cap in his hands, Ned asks,

“Mr. Nash requests you to meet him, if possible. He’d like to hear about wot you’ve found aht so far.”

"Aye, we'll come," says Alexander, though he can't help feeling Nash will be disappointed with their progress so far.

“I’m sure that a woman could be involved but I don’t think she would be the murderer. I think he attacks the victim who is talking to the woman. Maybe she lures them astray.” Says Isolde as they discuss the inquest. As they prepare to follow Ned she whispers,
“It mayn’t be a good idea to mention the asylum; I can just imagine a scene similar to that of the windmill and Franenstein’s monster when he was beset by the angry mob.”

"I wouldn't rule out the killer being a woman," says Alexander, "and we have little choice but to mention the asylum. It's our only lead. Without that, we have little else."

'We can mention the asylum, but we have very little hard evidence of their involvement. In fact, we have very little hard evidence of anything' says Harry.

His face is serious and dour, Harry was starting to feel some responsibility for the failure to apprehend the murderer and this did not sit comfortably with him

”She must be a strong woman to subdue four men,” mused Vic. “I have heard of women who have used poison or those who have scalded their abusive husbands with a kettle full of boiling water, but a woman butchering a man is rare indeed!”

Ned leads the companions down the busy streets, and eventually they arrive at Nash’s pub, the Brick Corners, in Christian Street. The area is shabby but the pub itself is relatively clean – Nash seems to take pride in his establishment. It is not too crowded at this hour, but Ned takes the investigators to an upstairs room where Nash is waiting. He rises and greets the companions cordially, offers refreshments, and then gets down to business.

“No doubt you saw” he says. “Another murder yesterday.”

He shakes his head.

“”ave you found aht anythin’ yet?”

"We 'ave," says Melody cagily, "but they're just leads, fer now.

"How do you stand with Mr Hackett an' his lads? We don't want no lynch mobs if we share our suspicions, not without proof."

“’ackett?” Nash snorts in contempt. “Oi wouldn’ share a drink o’ water wiv tha’ bloke. E’s stirrin’ things up fer ‘is own ends, ‘as sum kinda grudge against the polis. Don’ you worry baht ‘im, dear.”

"Our investigation has led us to Marbray Asylum," says Alexander. "They've shown an unusual interest in these proceedings."

“Malbray Asylum?” queries Nash. “Tha’ place in ‘ackney? Wot sort of interes’ do they ‘ave?”

"Well, not only has a doctor from the asylum shown up at these inquests," says Alexander, "but a couple of unsavory blokes have been showing up in a coach from the asylum, and both groups don't seem to know each other. We've tried the direct approach of making inquiries at the asylum, but they gave us the brush off, which is rather suspicious. It seems they have something to hide. We'll have to try something a bit more subtle next. My guess is that the killer either escaped from the asylum, or was released from it...or is on its staff and should instead be locked up there."

“Sahnds ine’restin’!” Nash exclaims. “ave you talked wiv these fellas? Got any sense of wot they’re up to?”

"Not I," says Alexander, "though some of my colleagues did try to approach them. I'll let them tell you how that went."

'The doctor was very evasive, said he was just there out of interest, but we've seen him wandering around town, looking for something it seems' says Harry.

"'ave you tried talkin' to 'im?" Nash asks.

'Yeah, he wasn't 'avin any of it' says Harry.

“Might be worth tryin’ again, eh?” Nash advises. “If ‘e’s engaged in summat shady, he probly won’t be forfcomin’ when yer first meet him. ‘e mus’t be somewhat respectable, if ‘e’s a doctor.”

"Aye, there's a thought," says Alexander. "Perhaps I should try next time. He may open up to a fellow man of science. Of course, they didn't show up to the last inquest, so we may have to track them down. There's another possibility, though it's rather risky. One of us could set himself out as bait, now that we know where one of the victims was before he met his end and what he was doing there. The rest could keep an eye on him discreetly and be ready to intervene should the killer try to strike."

“Trap the killer?” Nash muses. “But there’s no telling where she’ll strike again. These murders ‘ave bin all over the place. Wot abaht those symbols she’s carvin’ on ‘er victims? Do they mean anythin’ to yer?”

"That's something I don't understand yet," says Alexander. "There must be a pattern to them, but it is difficult to understand the mind of a madwoman."

"Perhaps she wants revenge on men," says Alexander, "the sort of men who visit ladies of the evening. If we can get a look at the asylum's records, we might be able to find out more details."

Nash looks doubtful.

“If it’s revenge, jest killin’s good enough. Symbols ‘ave meanin’.”

“Between us we’ve researched the symbols and they don’t seem to have any established significance. They are peculiar to this case alone it seems.” Says Isolde.
“Which helps us narrow the field; we did wonder if they were cult killings but that seems unlikely now; an escapee from the asylum is more plausible and we still have leads to follow in that direction.”

'In my experience' says Harry, 'There's only two types of motive, reward or revenge, and revenge is the more powerful of the two. Perhaps he or she is sending a message, perhaps not, but we need to find the motive and it seems like the Asylum is the most likely place to identify that, whether it makes sense or not it's another matter.'

Vic wondered about the symbols and their significance. Perhaps they would find the answers if they could gain access to the asylum but she worried that it might be harder to get out than it could be to get in.

“Well, you can’t jest walk inta ‘n asylum now , can yer?” says Nash. “It's a prison, basically. ’N’ obviously, this person ain’t there no more, if they ever were. Mebbe tha’ doctor can clue you in.”

He turns to the newspaper laying on the table next to him.

“Wot d’yu think abaht this latest murder?”

He picks up the paper and begins reading.

"It confirms some of our speculations from the previous murders," says Alexander. "There was long hair found at one of the others, and another had a spool of thread. Of course, all of this could have simply been planted at the scene by the killer rather than accidentally discarded. We could be seeing these clues because the killer wants us to see them."

“Why a spool of thread, I wonder?” Nash says, a quizzical look on his face.

“Perhaps she belonged to the Seamstresses’ guild.” Murmured Isolde.

”Could be” Nash nods thoughtfully. “There’s a lotta sweatshops in the area. That could be ‘ow she’s gettin’ an income.”

Isolde,It suddenly occurs to Isolde that thread spools are often stamped with the name of the shop that sold them.

"That's a thought," says Alexander, "but there are too many to check them all, even if we knew what to look for. We'll need more information to narrow it down."

“In the absence of any other leads, that avenue may be one we have to try,” said Vic, although she wondered how you would even begin to track them down. Obviously, there were bigger workplaces; she seen groups of young women making their way to and from work, but there were sure to be plenty of smaller, back alley places as well.

Crozier:

Crozier has been listening while quietly puffing on a cigar. His face and demeanour suggest he does not really approve of Nash but is struggling to be polite, or at least quiet.

"Perhaps Dr Campbell and I could approach the asylum doctor together? He might take a request from us more seriously. He may, if nothing else, believe the authorities would listen to us if we complained about him."

Harry bristles at the suggestion, 'Sure, knock yourselves out Gentlemen.'

Isolde hides a smile at Harry’s discomfort. “I think the doctor may be more inclined to speak to another man of science. And the Captain, of course, has the aura of respectability that might sway the doctor into revealing his thoughts. About the spool. The sewing shops often put their names on their spools of thread; it would be worth finding out what is stamped on this one - If we can get a close look at it somehow.”

”We can but ask if we can see it,” said Vic.

”Who are you going to ask?” queries Nash.

”The coroner or the Police, I should imagine,” said Vic. “One of those will have it and once we find out if the spool has a name on it, then we can track it down to where it was sold, and that should lead us to the buyer.”

“I shouldn’t ‘ave thought the police are jest gonna tell you tha’" Nash frowns. “Not unless you’ve got in wiv ‘em.”

"What about the coroner, then?" asks Alexander.

Harry speaks up, 'I have a contact in the police, I'll run the suggestion by him, see if he can take a look at the bobbin.'

”Sounds perfec’!”

Nash perks up.

“Looks like yer gettin’ somewhere!” he exclaims. “Now remember ter be careful! An’ don’ trust that ‘ackett.”

OOC,It seems we have two courses of action. The likelihood of encountering the Doctor or Craig might be limited right now, so unless you have something else you want to do I can move things on to the next inquest.