Whitechapel (44 page)

Meanwhile Tumblety had left his lodgings in Hackney to head down to the East End in the hope of finally finding Mary to warn her off. Almost instantly having only walked for some ten minutes to take the air he was aware of a curious man and woman who seemed to be going at a distance to wherever he was going. He guessed it wouldn’t affect him trying to find her, but would they intercept him as soon as he did and may prevent him from being able to warn her.

Sir Charles Warren was in his office with a tailor trying out the final fitting of his Commissioners dress uniform prior to the Lord Mayor’s parade the next day, 9
th
November. Used to military dress uniforms the nature of the outfit was not unfamiliar to him although he did feel that there were a few too many feathers in the dress hat. Superintendent Arnold was present in the office and they were chatting about the Whitechapel case.

“Tom, you are aware of my fragile position in relation to this whole affair?”

“Indeed I am, Sir Charles. Abberline seems to have been presented with his greatest opportunity yet to catch the killer. They have one suspect under observation who is on bail for a string of indecent homosexual assaults and information from Robert Lees that a murder will take place in the locale this week. They’ve flooded it with patrols and watching all foreign men and women as a result. I don’t think your resignation will be necessary. I think he will be caught in the act this very week.”

“I wish I could share you optimism, Tom. I can’t seem to remember a time when this grisly affair wasn’t taking place.”

“Don’t worry, Commissioner, as soon as this is over then no one will ever remember the whole ghastly affair.” Arnold would never really know the irony of his words.

During the afternoon Mary visited Robert in hospital to find a miracle had taken place; he was awake, out of the coma. He was sat in bed when she arrived and chatting happily to a nurse but appeared to have little use of his left arm at present. She ran to his side sobbing and flung her arms around him, with him only able to respond with his right arm.

“Oh, Robert, darling! You’re alive, oh I love you so much!” she kissed him and spoke to the nurse before he could reply. “When can he be released?”

Robert interjected before the nurse had an opportunity to answer.

“They say I have to have a couple of days under observation to make sure there’s no complications but then I can go, the arm will apparently regain movement gradually as the break heals,” replied Robert.

“I’ll leave you two to it,” said the nurse smiling. Mary settled into the chair next to him holding his right hand in both of hers and earnestly addressed him.

“So, what the hell happened to you?”

“I’m sorry I stormed out, we’ve got to put our pasts behind us.”

“I agree, now what happened.”

“After I left you I went for a walk to clear my head. I got dragged into an alley off of Whitechapel Road by that Sean Miller and one of his mates, the biggest bloke I’ve ever seen. He had some how discovered I was a copper and they laid into me good and proper. There was no way I could beat him so I managed to get free before they killed me and ran. Trouble was I was a bit concussed by them and ran straight into the roadway and got knocked down big time by a cab. That’s it, everything went black after that.”

“My, God. That bloke Littlechild has been in to see you. He said to let him know through the bar keeper at the Commercial Street Tavern when you woke up. I’ll try and get there later.”

“Well what you doing tonight?” asked Robert.

“I’m having a drink with an old friend in The Ten Bells. I’ll certainly be having one to celebrate darling,” she smiled holding his hand.

“Be careful. Have they caught him yet?”

“No. They…….”

“What?”

“Nothing. I don’t know what they are doing. When are we going to leave London?”

“As soon as I’m out I can tell you. I’ve had enough. Let’s go to Ireland, eh?” He spoke now sensing that life was too precious to hold on to and he had to leave his personal vendetta behind. They spent a very happy couple of hours together in the hospital chatting about the future before Mary had to leave to go and meet Julia. Neither of them knew that it would be last time they ever saw each other.

***

Tumblety strolled south in Commercial Street now completely aware of being under constant observation. In a way it didn’t matter, he intended to kill no one; he just needed to warn Mary. He had passed The Britannia and was heading towards the High Street when he noticed an auburn haired girl coming towards him in the distance. It was her. They neared and she saw him too and instantly turned off into Middlesex Street and quickened her pace. He picked up his own and looked over his shoulder at his pursuers and could see their alarm at him speeding up. He rounded the corner himself to see her running. He had to call after her.

“Mary! Wait, I’ve got to tell you something, and now!” She screamed back a reply the pitch of which got people watching them and started Mather and Robinson into a sprint after Tumblety.

“Leave me alone, you killer!”

“Stop, police!” he heard from behind. He stopped to avoid her calling something else incriminating and he felt himself pushed to the ground by the two disguised cops, the one dressed as a woman now veil and hatless and looking very odd. They spoke harshly as they handcuffed him.

“Francis Tumblety, you are under arrest on suspicion of attempted murder!”

“You dim wit’s! I’m trying to warn her.”

“Oh yeah, heard that before,” said Mather. He continued talking to Robinson. “Better go and get her and find out what all this is about.” Robinson looked up but couldn’t see the auburn haired girl in the street any longer. He ran in her direction looking left and right into doorways and side turnings but she was gone.

“Warn her about what then, eh?” Tumblety fell silent. If he spoke now he would incriminate himself at the very least in a conspiracy to commit murder. He did not know what to say. He began to sob. Robinson returned and helped lift Tumblety off the floor having had his arms handcuffed behind his back. They walked him to the junction with Commercial Street where Mather blew his whistle. Six uniform officers were with them in seconds and what they were actually waiting for turned up within a minute; a black Mariah to transport Tumblety to The Street.

“Is Abberline still in the nick?” Mather asked the Mariah driver.

“Yeah, I think so,” he replied.

“Well looks like we might have his man for him then,” Mather said with a sense of pride. He and Robinson rode with Tumblety in the Mariah whilst the other uniform officers who had come to the scene wandered off, with their guards now a little down.

Mary made her way up to The Ten Bells via the back streets which had eventually brought her into Church Street leading directly to the pub. She was a little shaken and needed a drink to calm her nerves and was not disappointed to find Julia already at the bar who she spoke to instantly.

“Get me a double G, love.”

“My God, Mary, you’re bloody shaking. What’s up then?”

“Oh I just saw a strange bloke I used to know who gave me a fright. I’ll be all right in moment with a good drink inside me.”

“Too bloody right, love.” The bar keeper served them their drinks which they chinked together to toast themselves and knocked back in one.

“Another of the same please, ‘barky’,” said Mary getting some coins from her small purse to pay him.

“Blimey, kid, you’re in a rush ain’t you?” said Julia a little surprised.

“Yes, I’ve got a lot to forget about,” she smiled and looked into her friends eyes “And a lot to celebrate. Robert’s woken up and I have a lot to look forward to. This time next week I reckon we’ll be our way to a country life in Limerick.”

“Well good luck you. Here’s to you and your Rob.” Julia raised her glass to toast her friend’s future. Mary smiled and knocked the drink back again very quickly, this time with her eyes beginning to roll from its intoxicating effect, but getting ready for another. “Bloody hell, Mary, you do want a party dontcha?”

Mary simply nodded her head as she tried to catch her breath. They ordered another double gin each.

All of this was being keenly observed by Severin Klosowski sat in a corner of the pub quietly enjoying a pint of ale and a pipeful of tobacco biding his time watching his intended target who he had been waiting for to arrive. He planned to follow her off close to her home and strike in the privacy of the interior of it. He carried a box inside of which he had sharp bladed butchers gutting knife, a gag and a folded leather sack. He was optimistic by the drinking he had witnessed so far that she would be quite easy to deal with later on, mostly likely being too drunk to offer any real resistance.

***

Tumblety had been sat in a cell with his handcuffs removed and had regained his composure during the short journey to the police station and had prepared himself psychologically for another grilling from Abberline.

It wasn’t long before the door to his cell opened and Abberline was stood there with his same sidekick again, Godley.

“Hello, Doctor. About to strike again were you?” asked Abberline.

“Is this an interview, cop?” said Tumblety abrasively.

“Just answer the question.” Tumblety looked around the cell before speaking and swallowed looking down before looking at Abberline.

“Actually, no. I thought the auburn haired girl was someone else. So it doesn’t matter really. Your men over-reacted of course, it’s not like I didn’t know they were there so it’s unlikely, don’t you think, that I would commit a murder whilst knowingly being watched. Hmm?” Abberline wasn’t going to allow Tumblety any form of moral victory in his mind so he took his time to give a considered reply.

“Well, Tumblety, lets examine where we are at tonight. You are in here and that potential victim is still out there. I reckon if we can go the next seven days without another murder then that starts to give us a healthy case against you.”

“What? Keep me here for a week? You can’t do that, Abberline.” The cell door was slammed shut leaving him alone. He stood and rushed to the door and shouted through the closed wicket.

“ABBERLINE, COME HERE!” He found himself alone with no one taking any notice of him.

Back at The Ten Bells a little before nine o’clock neither Julia nor Mary could make intelligible conversation and both of them were quite unsteady on their feet. They both realised that they had had enough and it was time to wander the short distance around the corner to home and sleep off the effects of alcohol abuse until the morning. The morning was a time that neither were looking forward to with the realisation of how much gin they had consumed. Klosowski watched carefully and could see that they were about to move. They both got to their feet slowly ultimately holding each other up to keep themselves steady and maintain some semblance of balance.

“Come on, Mary love, lets stagger ourselves home and sleep it all off with our imaginary prince charming!” Julia dribbled as she slurred.

“My god, I can’t remember the last time I couldn’t feel my legs.”

“Probably sometime after your fancy Rob filled you up with your legs around your chest!” They both burst into fits of laughter. They struggled towards the door together arm in arm and were about to be hit by the effects of the fresh air and their alcohol induced state.

Klosowski waited for them to get through the door before he stood slowly returning his glass to the bar to give them a bit of a head start and then exited The Ten Bells himself. They hadn’t got far when he got outside. The massively drunken state that Mary Kelly was in was even more of a bonus than he could have wished for; the opportunity to resist would be minimal. The two laughing and staggering women had to stop after only a very short distance as the fresh cool evening air had mixed with the alcohol in their heads sending them even further into howls of laughter and shrieks of humorous regret.

“I’m never doing this again,” said Mary holding her forehead. ‘No you’re quite right you won’t’ thought Klosowski as he kept an eye on them from a distance. He knew their journey home knowing it was nearby from when he had seen Mary Kelly around so he casually stood and lit another pipe for himself.

He felt quite invisible to those around him having removed his moustache temporarily and cropped his hair as no one gave him a second glance with even a pair of patrolling constables paying him no heed whatsoever as they strolled past. His smart but modest attire for the area seemed to help and he had worn a hat to be able to shield his face a little. The efforts to change his usual appearance with the hype surrounding the type of man the police were looking for had been worth it. The women eventually got themselves across to the other side of Commercial Street and turned off into Millers Court, the dark, drab bricked home of some many underprivileged East End people. Its alleyways were featureless brick thoroughfares which smelt of urine and rotting food, as did so many of the slum developments immediately off the main roads. Again he waited for them to get out of sight into the entrance passage and crossed the road himself. He peered around the archway where they had gone to see them further down in a drunken friendly embrace wishing each other a goodnight.

“Thanks, Mary, that was a real laugh. See you over the weekend, eh?”

“Goodnight. Sleep well now and lock your door,” replied Mary as she turned away from her friend and towards a window on the corner of what Klosowski assumed must be her rented room. He saw her reach through what he concluded was a broken pane of glass, pull her arm free again and then walk unsteadily round the corner, open the door and enter. The other woman had walked further down pulled out a key and then entered a room conventionally.

Now that they were both in he walked down Millers Court to see where Kelly had gone to. It was number 13 and he could see the broken pane of glass; he concluded to himself that with it’s proximity to the door on the other corner she must have lent in and released the door lock. His opportunity was getting easier and easier and he decided to come back in an hour when she would be deeply asleep and strike. He walked back out of Millers Court and went over to The Ten Bells and had another leisurely pint of ale to while away the hour he had to ‘kill’.