Detective and mystery stories; Jack, the Ripper -- Fiction; Serial murders -- Fiction; Whitechapel (London, England) -- Fiction
“Yes. That’s what the Lord Mayor offered yesterday. Some private
bloke—nothing official about it. But we of the Yard is barred from
taking that reward, worse luck. And it’s too bad, for we has all the
trouble, after all.”
“Just hand that bit of paper over, will you?” said Bunting. “I’d like
to con it over to myself.”
Chandler threw over the bit of flimsy.
A moment later Bunting looked up and handed it back. “Well, it’s clear
enough, isn’t it?”
“Yes. And there’s hundreds—nay, thousands—of young fellows that might
be a description of,” said Chandler sarcastically. “As a pal of mine
said this morning, ‘There isn’t a chap will like to carry a newspaper
parcel after this.’ And it won’t do to have a respectable
appearance—eh?”
Daisy’s voice rang out in merry, pealing laughter. She greatly
appreciated Mr. Chandler’s witticism.
“Why on earth didn’t the people who saw him try and catch him?” asked
Bunting suddenly.
And Mrs. Bunting broke in, in a lower voice, “Yes, Joe—that seems odd,
don’t it?”
Joe Chandler coughed. “Well, it’s this way,” he said. “No one person
did see all that. The man who’s described here is just made up from the
description of two different folk who _think_ they saw him. You see,
the murders must have taken place—well, now, let me see—perhaps at two
o’clock this last time. Two o’clock—that’s the idea. Well, at such a
time as that not many people are about, especially on a foggy night.
Yes, one woman declares she saw a young chap walking away from the spot
where ’twas done; and another one—but that was a good bit later—says
The Avenger passed by her. It’s mostly her they’re following in this
’ere description. And then the boss who has charge of that sort of
thing looked up what other people had said—I mean when the other crimes
was committed. That’s how he made up this ‘Wanted.’”
“Then The Avenger may be quite a different sort of man?” said Bunting
slowly, disappointedly.
“Well, of course he may be. But, no; I think that description fits him
all right,” said Chandler; but he also spoke in a hesitating voice.
“You was saying, Joe, that they found a weapon?” observed Bunting
insinuatingly.
He was glad that Ellen allowed the discussion to go on—in fact, that
she even seemed to take an intelligent interest in it. She had come up
close to them, and now looked quite her old self again.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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