Roth seeking Jack

Autopsy of a terrible allure
1. Auflage 2021
ISBN: 978-3-7534-2856-7
Verlag: BoD - Books on Demand
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 200 Seiten

Jack the Ripper is dead. This simple certainty may come as no surprise, since the prostitute killer raged in the Whitechapel slum in London more than 130 years ago. But it never became quiet around the first serial killer. And therefore the former investigator of the Scotland Yard, Frederick Abberline, came to look for the murderer of the women many years after his death. He is accompanied by a mysterious stranger who is pretending to know the true identity of Jack. Mark Roth adopted his analysis of Jack the Ripper, subtitled ambiguously as "Observation in nine Scenes", as a play. Frederick Abberline meets a stranger who knows suspiciously much about the murders in the East End of London. Together, the two dissimilar protagonists reopen the case, examine evidence, question suspects, and seeking for Jack. Some of the murder victims are interrogated, either. But this "Autopsy of a terrible allure" is far from being pure fiction. The evidences and case descriptions mirror the current level of Ripper research and refer to well-known authors such as Begg or Sugden. The perpetrators profile by the FBI of the 1980s is considered too. Roth succeeds in preserving the historical authenticity, as well as giving an outline of what happened in London in 1888. His dissolution of the Ripper's identity is consequently nothing entirely new - although it has never been told in this way before.

Mark Roth, born in 1967, lives with his family in Germany.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Roth, Mark

Leseproben

Prologue
"One day, men will look back and say that I gave birth to the Twentieth Century." From Hell Abberline alone. Holding a folded newspaper, intently reading out: "Today, April 7th, 1903, Polish-born Seweryn Klosowski, also known as George Chapman, has been executed in Wandsworth Prison. He had been found guilty of poisoning his three wives. These crimes, hideous and gruesome in themselves, are overlaid with a far more terrifying suspicion. Seweryn Klosowski is said to have been no one less than the infamous Jack the Ripper. Inspector Abberline, officer in charge at the time of the Whitechapel murders, congratulated the investigating officer in the Klosowski case: Finally, my dear Godley, you managed to bring down Jack! Warmest regards from your friend and colleague Frederick Abberline, who will always remain in respect and fraternity." Abberline, looking up: "It has come to an end. After years of doubt, there can finally be hope that the horror will fade away. The Ripper's phantom dangles in a lonely prison cell." He - a voice from the audience: "It almost sounds like you're mourning Jack's destroyed magic!" Abberline straightens up, looking for the voice in the dark: "Who said that?" Silence, Abberline turns away: "Jack was a beast. What could be admirable about his deeds?" In one of the front rows a man rises and comes onto the stage. He: "You hunted him for so many years. You were in his mind. You tried to think like him. You tried to be the one step ahead of him. The one-step necessary to bring him down. During such a long time you inevitably get close to the demon you're chasing." Abberline, resigning: „Not close enough!" He: "You congratulate Godley on taking the Ripper. But what you mean is that it has been yourself who finally unmasked Jack. Even if you weren't able to catch him. Modesty sounds different." Abberline: "You may think what you want. You weren't there. How do you want to understand what happened back then? Call it arrogance. But you will not take the satisfaction out of me knowing the monster being seized." He: "No - of course not. Klosowski was executed 15 years after the Whitechapel murders; the murders attributed to Jack the Ripper. This is a long time to close a case." Abberline: "There were good reasons for this! But I regret too, that we weren't successful earlier." He: "You died 25 years after the execution of Klosowski. Have you deliberately given yourself up to this deception for the rest of your life to ... to find something like peace?" Abberline, eyeing him suspiciously: "You doubt that Klosowski was the Ripper?" He: "It doesn't matter what I think. The decisive factor is whether you are as convinced of his perpetration as you pretend to be." Abberline: "You allege that I have fooled the public by writing to Godley?" He: "No – you just fooled yourself. Nevertheless, for the sake of completeness: Explain to the audience why you think Klosowski was Jack the Ripper. And we can all end this evening rather quickly." Abberline, repellent: "I've carried out my considerations comprehensively and many times. You can read it everywhere on your own." He, pointing to the audience: "Inspector Abberline - it doesn't have to be every tiring detail. But I think these people here would like to be able to understand ... to see for themselves." Abberline, hesitating: "All right then. Klosowski is ... was a convicted woman killer, a serial killer - even if this concept of repeating murder just started to form at that time." He: "And we're looking for a serial killer; maybe even the very first in history." Abberline: "Jack the Ripper was certainly not the first criminal to continue murdering. But his actions were the first to generate this tremendous public response." He, nodding: "Back then modern media, the daily newspapers available everywhere ... they were able to create this unprecedented proximity. Jack was the star of the press. He was notorious ... famous. Rather, he still is. Ultimately, he has never been caught ..." Abberline, a little gruff: "Shouldn't I explain why I think Klosowski is ...?" He: "Yes of course. Please excuse. But allow me one question upfront - may it sound naive to your ears, since I am not an expert in such matters: Isn't it unusual for a serial killer to change his modus operandi? Jack's victims' throats were slit, their bodies mutilated beyond recognition. Klosowski murdered with poison. That doesn't sound like a good match for me." Abberline, defensive: "I was a policeman and not a psychologist. My job was to catch the murderer, not to understand or explain his behavior." He: "Now you're pretending, Abberline. You were very busy trying to understand him. You always resisted accepting his actions easily as insane. Not because they weren't. But because you saw it as your chance to catch the beast by trying to understand it. Don't tell me now, that it won't rise doubts in you, if the murderer should have exchanged so ... uninspiringly the knife with the poison." Abberline is silent, gathers himself and continues with a sober voice: "Whitechapel was not a nice place. Poverty and misery dulled people. Violence and even murders were not uncommon. But it was my district. I had spent most of my professional career there. I knew the people. In autumn 1887 I was transferred to Scotland Yard as an inspector." He: "Congratulations! Certainly not a career to be taken for granted." Abberline: "Jack's murders started in August the following year. As the level of public concern increased, I was transferred to the investigations." He: "Jack had stepped out of the darkness of the London mist and dragged you back to the Whitechapel slums." Abberline: "He didn't step out! He never became tangible – at no time. And we tried so hard!" He: "August to November. Three months, five victims - the entire realm on the verge of turmoil. Even the Crown watched the murders with an uncertain mixture of contempt and concern. Concerned that the senseless murders might pose a threat to the establishment itself. The living conditions of the workers literally demanded the spark of revolution. Contempt ... all of London's upper class looked down on the East End and its residents - if they were willing to notice them at all. But that was exactly what Jack forced them to do." Abberline: "Then, after the murder of Mary Jane Kelly on the night of November 8th to 9th, it ended as suddenly as it started." He: "Well, other bodies were found afterwards. Some showed similarities …" Abberline, defensive: "Murders have been committed before and after. But Jack's inhumane work ended with the killing of Mary Jane Kelly!" He: "I don't want to argue with you about this for now. You were ... you are the investigator. I'm just making my own simple thoughts. But we were disputing about Klosowski." Abberline: "Klosowski came to London shortly before the first murder." He: "Polly Nichols? The night of August 31st?" Abberline, nodding. "Indeed. Klosowski lived and worked in Whitechapel. When he later emigrated to the United States with his wife, the series ended, too. So the myth is quickly disenchanted: a woman killer who had the necessary local knowledge. The timing of his departure goes hand in hand with the end of the murder series. If there haven't been two independent serial killers living during fall 1888 in Whitechapel, Klosowski is the man." He, in a calm but disturbing voice: "We really should be terrified if evil manifests itself more often than we are willing to admit." Abberline irritated, not able to find a suitable answer. He: "Is this thought really that strange to you?" Abberline: "Can you imagine how many theories and alternatives we examined at that time? Over and over again - all night long. Have we been obsessed while hunting him? Maybe. But one feeling was even stronger than this obsession: fear! Afraid to be called to a crime scene in a foggy morning again. To see another body, that reminded us that Jack was not the haunt we sometimes hoped he would be." Abberline turns away, rather speaking to himself: "There was no name on the list anymore. We had been able to exclude everyone else. Klosowski was the only one left." He: "You'd be surprised how...