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Authors: Sally Spencer
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agreed. ‘US Congressman McClellan’s a good example of that. He’s an excellent legislator, and they say he’ll be mayor of this city one day. And do you know what this fine man called Thomas Byrnes, who was the first Chief of Detectives? He called him “master psychologist”!’
‘And I take it he wasn’t.’
‘One of the first things that Byrnes did after he was appointed was to have an especially thick carpet laid down on his office floor,’ Meade said. ‘And can you guess why he did that, Sam?’
‘To muffle the noise when he was beating up a suspect?’
‘Exactly. He’d have the suspect stand in front of him, manacled between two detectives, and if he didn’t like the answers he was getting, he’d proceed to pound the crap out of the man. Now that’s what I call psychology. But it was after he’d beaten the confession out of the suspect that he’d be really clever.’
‘How so?’
‘Say he’d got a guy in the cells who’d confessed to a bank robbery – and who might even have been guilty of it. He’d call a press conference and tell the reporters that the robber was still at large, but that the brilliant investigative team from the Bureau of Detectives was following up a number of clues. He could then confidently promise that an arrest would be made within a few hours. And guess what? Since he already had his man, he was always able to keep his promise – which made the reporters think he was a very smart cop indeed.’
‘That really is clever,’ Blackstone admitted. ‘Totally despicable, it’s true, but very clever.’
‘Were you involved in the Whitechapel hunt for Jack the Ripper, Sam?’ Meade asked.
Blackstone shook his head. ‘Not really. I’d only just joined the force at that time, so I was on the edges of the investigation, at best.’
‘Byrnes gave a press conference in which he told the world how, if he’d been in charge, they’d have caught the man right away. He said he’d have gone to work in a common sense way, instead of following mere theories, which was what Scotland Yard seemed to be doing.’
‘And just what was this “common sense way” of his?’ Blackstone asked.
‘He said that rather than just wait for the Ripper to seek out new victims, he would have manufactured them for him. Yes, he really did use that word,’ Meade continued, with disgust. ‘ Manufactured! ’
‘But what does it mean?’ Blackstone asked.
‘It means that he would have taken fifty female habitués . . .’
‘By which he meant prostitutes?’
‘That is what he meant. But remember, he was talking to reporters from family newspapers, and you can’t go using words like “prostitute” in that kind of journal.’
‘Although you can go into graphic detail when you’re describing the terrible things that happened to the poor women,’ Blackstone said.
‘Well, exactly. At any rate, Byrnes said he would have taken fifty female habitués of Whitechapel and “covered the ground” with them.’
‘Taken them to deserted streets and dumped them?’ Blackstone suggested.
‘Couldn’t have phrased it better myself,’ Meade replied. ‘Once the women had been abandoned, Byrnes went on, he would have infiltrated the area with his men, and waited for the Ripper to strike. “Even if one of the women fell victim, I should get the murderer,” he told the reporters – which is a nice family newspaper way of saying that if she got her throat cut and her stomach sliced open, he would have been able to make an arrest.’
‘He sounds like a nice man,’ Blackstone said.
‘A real prince,’ Meade replied. ‘I could tell you much more about him, but you’re probably better hearing it from Sergeant Saddler.’
‘Who’s Sergeant Saddler?’
‘He’s Inspector Patrick O’Brien’s partner, and he’s the next man on our list of people to talk to.’
The desk sergeant looked up at Blackstone with a certain degree of wariness in his eyes, and at Meade with little
‘And I take it he wasn’t.’
‘One of the first things that Byrnes did after he was appointed was to have an especially thick carpet laid down on his office floor,’ Meade said. ‘And can you guess why he did that, Sam?’
‘To muffle the noise when he was beating up a suspect?’
‘Exactly. He’d have the suspect stand in front of him, manacled between two detectives, and if he didn’t like the answers he was getting, he’d proceed to pound the crap out of the man. Now that’s what I call psychology. But it was after he’d beaten the confession out of the suspect that he’d be really clever.’
‘How so?’
‘Say he’d got a guy in the cells who’d confessed to a bank robbery – and who might even have been guilty of it. He’d call a press conference and tell the reporters that the robber was still at large, but that the brilliant investigative team from the Bureau of Detectives was following up a number of clues. He could then confidently promise that an arrest would be made within a few hours. And guess what? Since he already had his man, he was always able to keep his promise – which made the reporters think he was a very smart cop indeed.’
‘That really is clever,’ Blackstone admitted. ‘Totally despicable, it’s true, but very clever.’
‘Were you involved in the Whitechapel hunt for Jack the Ripper, Sam?’ Meade asked.
Blackstone shook his head. ‘Not really. I’d only just joined the force at that time, so I was on the edges of the investigation, at best.’
‘Byrnes gave a press conference in which he told the world how, if he’d been in charge, they’d have caught the man right away. He said he’d have gone to work in a common sense way, instead of following mere theories, which was what Scotland Yard seemed to be doing.’
‘And just what was this “common sense way” of his?’ Blackstone asked.
‘He said that rather than just wait for the Ripper to seek out new victims, he would have manufactured them for him. Yes, he really did use that word,’ Meade continued, with disgust. ‘ Manufactured! ’
‘But what does it mean?’ Blackstone asked.
‘It means that he would have taken fifty female habitués . . .’
‘By which he meant prostitutes?’
‘That is what he meant. But remember, he was talking to reporters from family newspapers, and you can’t go using words like “prostitute” in that kind of journal.’
‘Although you can go into graphic detail when you’re describing the terrible things that happened to the poor women,’ Blackstone said.
‘Well, exactly. At any rate, Byrnes said he would have taken fifty female habitués of Whitechapel and “covered the ground” with them.’
‘Taken them to deserted streets and dumped them?’ Blackstone suggested.
‘Couldn’t have phrased it better myself,’ Meade replied. ‘Once the women had been abandoned, Byrnes went on, he would have infiltrated the area with his men, and waited for the Ripper to strike. “Even if one of the women fell victim, I should get the murderer,” he told the reporters – which is a nice family newspaper way of saying that if she got her throat cut and her stomach sliced open, he would have been able to make an arrest.’
‘He sounds like a nice man,’ Blackstone said.
‘A real prince,’ Meade replied. ‘I could tell you much more about him, but you’re probably better hearing it from Sergeant Saddler.’
‘Who’s Sergeant Saddler?’
‘He’s Inspector Patrick O’Brien’s partner, and he’s the next man on our list of people to talk to.’
The desk sergeant looked up at Blackstone with a certain degree of wariness in his eyes, and at Meade with little
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