The Cast
James Greene, 25-30, an engineer
Elwood Fletcher, 30-40, a banker
Daphne Holstraam, 20-35, a prostitute
Dr. Arthur Doyle, 30, a writer and physician
Cokes, Wallover, and Ridge, hoodlums
Bethany Batters and Half-Crown Lucy, prostitutes
The Humming Man, about 30
Constable Thomas Kitt, a policeman
Various Men and Women of Whitechapel, who together form The Mob


ACT I, Scene 1

(Queen Victoria’s London, Sept. 30th, 1888. A narrow court
in the Whitechapel slum of the East End. It is faced left, right,
and rear with tiny little building fronts. Narrow lanes or passages
exit down stage left, down stage right, and up stage center left.
Between two buildings stage right is a shadowed recess large
enough for two men to stand in. Boxes stacked on the pavement
partially conceal the recess.)

(There is one gas street lamp. It is barely adequate to light
the court. The noises of Whitechapel can be heard: raucous
shouts and laughter, a baby crying, horses’ hooves and
carriage wheels against the pavement.)

(Enter GREENE and FLETCHER stage right, carrying what looks
like a female mannequin between them. Both are dressed as
respectable upper middle class, Fletcher more fashionably so.)

GREENE
Mind how you go.

FLETCHER
Never fear. I’ve got it.

GREENE
I’m not so confident about that.

FLETCHER
Wait...look-out, my grip is slipping.

(They fumble with it, but manage not to drop it.)

GREENE
Have a care. The lives of these poor women depend on
this device being unbroken and serviceable.

FLETCHER
On the contrary, it’s your life that depends on my
hands not being free to slap you dizzy.

GREENE
Right here is the perfect spot.

(They prop the Automaton on its feet down stage right.
Fletcher looks around the narrow little court nervously.)

FLETCHER
Whatever cause there is for my being with you here
tonight, it’s sure to be my fatal flaw.

GREENE
Don’t worry. We have nothing to fear from the Ripper.
His victims are only fallen women. I believe the man
is suffering from a severe form of religiously-inspired
monomania.

FLETCHER
What the Ripper suffers from I don’t know. But I have
no doubt that I have an acute case of weak bowels
brought on by stark terror of the human perversions
that stalk these lanes on any old night of the week,
never mind our Jack.

GREENE
I have my walking stick.

FLETCHER
I’d rather if you had a fowling piece. What a cesspool this
place is. What is that smell?

GREENE
Now you can see my plan in its execution. You’ll understand
more easily here than back in my workshop.

(Greene demonstrates with gestures and movement.)

GREENE (Cont.)
The automaton is set up like so. A dark street. The poor
fallen woman, forced by circumstances or an affliction of
nymphomania to solicit these lanes and allies. The Ripper
enters, likely a dark complexioned doctor about five feet
five inches tall. He sees her; she is alone. The killing frenzy
seizes him! He rushes forward, drawing the fatal knife!
He makes ready to slash open the vital arteries of her
neck! He seizes her in a sudden attack –

(Greene does not seize the automaton; he doesn’t want to
set it off himself)

GREENE (Cont.)
But the trap is sprung! It’s no woman of the streets, but the
device of the madman’s downfall! Springs clap the steel
arms around him. The electric battery concealed inside the
automaton discharges, and the Ripper is subdued by the
shock. At the same time, the electric current spins at very
high speeds a tiny series of interconnected air chambers
in the head of the automaton, creating a shrill sound much
like a policeman’s whistle to alert those standing by to
apprehend the maniac!

FLETCHER
Marvelous, I’m sure. But what’s really needed is a staunch
policeman or three to do the job with their truncheons. Then
the gallows trap to finish it off.

GREENE
That blind man Inspector Abberline -- God bless his work,
of course. Good luck to the man. But he can’t see the forest
for the trees. I wrote to him twice concerning my automaton.
I wrote to George Lusk twice, as well. But I got no reply from
either the Inspector or the Whitechapel Vigilance
Committee. It’s clear that traditional police methods are
proving fruitless. The killer moves without sound, passes
without being seen. He has an almost supernatural ability
to avoid detection. So the idea ran me down like a horse
and cart! A method of capturing Jack the Ripper that does
not depend on sight nor hearing, but uses the sciences
GREENE (Cont.)
of engineering and electricity to exploit his own diabolical
urges.

FLETCHER
Supernatural? Anyone at all could walk from one end of
this slum to the other without being noticed. I could drive
an Indian elephant through here if only the lanes were of a
civilized width. The people here are so drunk or so debased
that they wouldn’t see it if it fell on them. With all the
perversions that scuttle about here every day and night,
who’s to notice one more?
And I’ve had quite enough of that doctor nonsense.
Pray don’t repeat it any further.

GREENE
The medical testimony printed in the papers shows
that whoever murdered the four victims had a good
knowledge of anatomy. Here, we should stand a little
ways off and attempt to hide ourselves.

(They cross to the recess between the two buildings stage
right, and position themselves to dodge into hiding at
a moment’s notice.)

FLETCHER
Patently absurd. No man of learning and culture
could commit these killings. And positively no
Englishman of education. A foreigner, there’s your
Jack. Probably a Jewish butcher. That explains the
ritualized nature of the murders. We should be
turning over every Jewish butcher shop in the
East End, not standing out here in the dark and
the cold. That would put an end to these offenses
very quickly.

(Fletcher takes out a flask and offers it to Greene)

FLETCHER (Cont.)
Steady the nerves. Fortify yourself against the chill.

(Greene takes a nip out of the flask. Fletcher takes a deeper
draught and puts the flask away.)

FLETCHER (Cont.)
Putting all that aside, though, we’ll capture the
un-English beast, God willing he falls into your trap.
I’ve brought the brass knuckles I keep in my desk
drawer.

(Fletcher takes them out and slips them on.)

GREENE
Oh, no, no, don’t do that.

FLETCHER
You’re not suggesting we should be kind to him? Next
thing you’ll be telling me is that we should start educating
prisoners!

GREENE
I’m merely making the point that brass conducts electricity.

FLETCHER
Yes. Very good.

(He takes the knuckles off and slips them back in his pocket.)

(Enter DAPHNE HOLSTRAAM, a prostitute, from the down
stage right passage. She is a pretty young woman. She is
dressed shabbily, but as respectably as her bitter poverty will
allow.)

DAPHNE
Hello there, gentlemen. You’re a couple of nice looking toffs,
aren’t you?

GREENE
Good evening, Miss.

FLETCHER
Good evening.

DAPHNE (gives a laugh)
The evening’s quite gone. It’s night now. It was ten
minutes to ten when I passed the clock in the
DAPHNE (Cont.)
window of the Berner Street tobacconist’s, and
twenty minutes have gone by since then.

GREENE
Is that the hour?

(He takes out a pocketwatch and consults it. The gold watch
grabs Daphne’s attention because of the money it represents.
Fletcher notices her reaction, and scowls.)

GREENE (Cont.)
It took us a bit longer to get down here than I thought it
did.

(Fletcher puts his hand on Greene’s, trying to get him to be less
conspicuous with the watch)

FLETCHER
The traffic was a little heavy.

GREENE
I wanted to be here earlier, but I think it will turn out
all right. The crimes –

DAPHNE
What brings two handsome gentlemen like yourself down
to Whitechapel at this hour?

FLETCHER
Nothing that concerns you, thank you.

GREENE
(concerned)
Why are you about at this hour? Have you lost your way?
Or do you live around here?

DAPHNE
(coyly)
Sir, I don’t think it will be a surprise to you to find that I
work around here.


GREENE
(completely innocent)
Really? What trade?

DAPHNE
(taken aback)
I’m a seamstress.

GREENE
Oh! We were just saying on the journey here how I need
a seamstress. I’m a bachelor. Were do you keep your shop?

DAPHNE
I...well, I sort of travel about looking for trade.

GREENE
So you carry your needle with you?

DAPHNE
No...the men bring their own needle. I supply the cloth.

FLETCHER
James.

GREENE
The men bring the needle?

FLETCHER
James!

(Fletcher pulls Greene aside and whispers to him.)

GREENE
Certainly not!

FLETCHER
Certainly she is.

GREENE
But she’s so pretty!



FLETCHER
(to Daphne)
I’ve got a shilling here. What could I get for that, as long
as it wasn’t sewing?

DAPHNE
(very coyly)
Anything you like, I’m sure.

(Fletcher and Greene exchange looks: “I told you so” and
“Oh, my!”)

DAPHNE (Cont.)
So what brings two fellows like you down to Whitechapel on
a Sunday night?

(She sashays toward the men.)

GREENE
Well, I, er, I’m sure...

FLETCHER
(icy)
That’s enough, thank you.

DAPHNE
Quite. All right then. (Sotto voce) Toff bastard.

(She turns and starts off stage left. Greene goes after her.)

GREENE
Miss, please wait.

(He grabs her elbow and then lets go, a little shocked at himself.
Daphne stops.)

GREENE (Cont.)
I’m interested. In you.

DAPHNE
(getting very close to him)
I daresay you are. And aren’t you handsome? I bet all
those west end society girls are dying to slip a ring onto
DAPHNE (Cont.)
your finger.

GREENE
I should explain. I think you’re misunderstanding what
I meant.

FLETCHER
What do you think you’re doing, James? What help could
she be to us?

DAPHNE
Oiy, Fancy Britches, if you don’t like what he’s doing, shove
off back to the City and find something you do like. Like a
pretty boy.

(Fletcher goes two shades of apoplectic.)

FLETCHER
I’ll have you know I never -- you polluted trollop! I should
knock your head off!

(Fletcher comes forward angrily, but Greene is between him and
Daphne.)

GREENE
Elwood, Please! Control yourself! Miss, what’s your name,
please?

DAPHNE
Daphne Holstraam.

GREENE
Miss Holstraam, we’re not here to do business with...you.
We’re here on a mission of the highest importance to you
and your sisters of the street.

DAPHNE
Miss Holstraam? I like that. What’s this mission, then?
Have you come from church again to save me soul?

GREENE
No. We are here to capture Jack the Ripper.

DAPHNE
Ohhh...so you’re coppers? Or the Vigilance Committee?

GREENE
No, no, we’re not part of the police force. We’re not
precisely Vigilance Committee, either. You see, I’m
an engineer. An inventor. Take a look here please.

(He guides her to the Automaton.)

GREENE (Cont.)
This is my Automaton.

(Daphne reaches out her hand to the mannequin)

GREENE (Cont.)
Please don’t touch it! You’ll set it off!

DAPHNE
What’s it do?

FLETCHER
Oh, damn this! I’m going to take a walk around the
block and see if I can’t spot a foreign butcher prowling
around.

GREENE
Could you see if you could find a copy of the paper?
I’d like to reread the articles on the investigation.

FLETCHER
Where am I going to buy a paper at this time of night?

(Greene shrugs helplessly. Fletcher rolls his eyes and exits,
stage right. Greene turns back to Daphne.)

GREENE
So, this is my Automaton. As you can see, it appears to
be a woman of little financial means –

DAPHNE
I suppose after a fashion.

GREENE
But in fact, it’s a mannequin dressed in women’s clothes.

DAPHNE
You don’t say!

GREENE
In fact, it appears to be a – prostitute dressed in
women’s clothes.

(Greene studies the Automaton, then looks Daphne up
and down for comparison. Daphne gives him a saucy
smile as he studies her.)

GREENE (Cont.)
Um, when the Ripper enters this court, he will see her
standing here alone. He’ll attack her throat with the
knife. But when he seizes her, he’ll find that he’s the
one who’s been seized! Her spring-loaded arms will
clap him fast, and the Automaton will electrocute him
so that Elwood and I will have an easy task of subduing
him.

DAPHNE
Blimey! Electrocute him, eh? Like a light bulb?

GREENE
Not to the point of death. Only enough to make his capture
an easy one.

DAPHNE
But you say you’re not coppers.

GREENE
I would rather be working with the police on this. But
they’re trapped in their old-fashioned methods. I wrote
Inspector Abberline himself about my idea. I told him
that I had designed and started work on a device that was
certain to put an end to the recent horrors in Whitechapel.
I described my Automaton in great detail. But he never
sent me a reply. Neither did Mr. Lusk of the Vigilance
Committee when I wrote to him. I was working on it in
GREENE (Cont.)
only a desultory fashion, waiting for a response from
the authorities. I’m ashamed to say that while I was
waiting, that poor woman, Annie Chapman, was
murdered so grotesquely on Hanbury Street.

DAPHNE
Oh, aye! Jack pulled the cords of her guts out, and
wrapped them around her throat. Gouged out
her eyes, too, and cut off her right hand and
carried it off with him.

GREENE
Is that true? I hadn’t read anything about her eyes
being gouged out, or her hand amputated.

DAPHNE
It’s true as light at morning. Gouged her eyes out to keep
her ghost from recognizing her murderer. Cut off her
hand to keep the ghost from pointing him out.

GREENE
(not believing that)
In any case, I knew that I had to carry on with the
construction of the Automaton, with or without official
cooperation. I stayed in my workshop night and day until
I finished it and successfully tested it only a few hours ago.
Now I am ready to catch my quarry!

DAPHNE
(studying the Automaton)
It seems a bit daft to me, if you don’t mind me saying so.

GREENE
That’s what they said about the steam engine and the
telegraph. I wish I could have finished before that poor
woman was killed.

DAPHNE
What’s your name?

GREENE
Oh, hello. Mr. James Greene.

(Greene puts his hand out. She shakes it.)

DAPHNE
Well, Mr. James Greene...

(She pulls him closer to her, and puts her arms around
his waist.)

DAPHNE (Cont.)
It’s thruppence for a go.

GREENE
(very uncomfortable)
What do you mean?

DAPHNE
You’re not going to make me say it, are you, sir? An
unmarried gent like you must get to wanting some
company, I surmise.

GREENE
(squirming)
I already said that we’re here to capture the killer, not
for anything else.

DAPHNE
Think of it as an amusing side excursion. It seems to me
your machine will tend to itself just fine for a few minutes.

GREENE
No, please, really, I must insist, no.

She releases him, and he totters back clumsily. She turns her
back on him in frustration.

DAPHNE
Bloody Hell! There’s no business anywhere tonight!

GREENE
Might as well make a night of it anyway, eh? Turn in
early, get out of the wind and the wet.

DAPHNE
(shortly)
Not before I earn the money for my supper. Three pennies
is all I need, but there don’t seem to be any on the street
tonight.

GREENE
You don’t have any money for supper?

DAPHNE
It doesn’t come down with the rain, Mr. Greene. Good
night. Here’s hoping you and your marionette meet
Jack before I do.

(Exit Daphne, stage left.)

(Greene, after a short pause where he doesn’t know what to do
with himself, hunkers down in the recess.)

(Enter Fletcher, stage right.)

FLETCHER
Is she gone? Good. I’d had quite enough of her. I found you
a newspaper, lying in the rubbish.

GREENE
She had to leave. She needed money.

FLETCHER
(suspiciously)
You didn’t give her any?

GREENE
No. (realizing what Fletcher means.) No! She had to
go earn some. The last thing she said was, that she
hoped I met Jack, and caught him, before she did.
Do you think she might run into Jack out there?

FLETCHER
Hmmph. I refuse to consider what she’s doing out
there. Earn some money. Spread immorality! I engage
in an honest trade. Banking. Or engineering, like yourself.
But you’ll never see one of these Whitechapel cutthroats
FLETCHER (Cont.)
or one of these (with huge contempt) Whitechapel women
on Threadneedle Street. They haven’t the intelligence,
or the moral fiber to rise above these appalling
conditions. You’d never see Jack the Ripper on
Threadneedle Street, I can assure you of that! The
dignity of the Empire would stay his knife in his hand.

(Silence. Greene is on the lookout as Fletcher has been talking.)

FLETCHER (Cont.)
I hope she doesn’t run into Jack. If he has his sport with
her, we’ll have spent a very uncomfortable night for nothing.

GREENE
Don’t talk like that!

FLETCHER
What I meant was, I hope that Jack doesn’t claim another
victim before we apprehend him.

GREENE
I hope that, too. But I’m confident that my design –
shhh! Do you hear that?

(The sound of footsteps is heard, and a man humming,
along with the accompanying tapping of a walking stick.)

(Greene and Fletcher press themselves more tightly into
their hiding place, and Greene glances nervously at the
Automaton.)

(After a few moments, the noises recede, then vanish
completely.)

GREENE
(excited)
I think that was him!

FLETCHER
It could have been anyone.


GREENE
No, it was him! It must have been him! The very sound
of it gave me such a shiver!

FLETCHER
I didn’t see him when I was walking around the block.
It wasn’t him. James, you’re trembling! Get a hold on
yourself!

GREENE
Just one more turn, left instead of right, a few more
yards...and we would have had him!

FLETCHER
Cheer up. The night’s not over yet.

GREENE
Now I’m worried for Daphne...

FLETCHER
Don’t be. I saw three other women like her going
around the block. She’s got a four-out-of-five chance
of surviving in this neighborhood, if we consider your
Automaton in our calculations.

\
GREENE
You saw three others? How peculiar. Something must be
attracting them to this spot...

FLETCHER
I don’t think we have any reason to suspect Batty Street
over any other in Whitechapel as a hotbed of immoral
transactions. Don’t get the idea that this wretched huddle
of hovels is unique.

GREENE
She didn’t even have enough money for her dinner.
Can you imagine that, Elwood? Not having enough
money in your pocket for a bite of bread? She said
she had to go off and get it. Can you believe that
she told me that it costs thruppence for a “go”?
Three pennies for the marital act!

FLETCHER
Don’t make me gag. Do you hear someone coming?

(Approaching footsteps are heard. Greene and Fletcher push
themselves into their hiding place and wait tensely. A
SHABBILY DRESSED MAN with his head down and
his hands in his coat pockets enters from the downstage
right passage, and crosses quickly to the downstage left
passage. He touches his hat to the Automaton as he passes.)

SHABBILY DRESSED MAN
(to Automaton)
Sir.

(Shabbily Dressed Man exits, stage left.)

(Fletcher and Greene look at each other.)
GREENE
Poor man left his spectacles at home.

FLETCHER
(looks up at the sky)
Now I think it’s raining, blast it.

GREENE
Don’t worry. I foresaw this. The Automaton is proofed
against water.

FLETCHER
(sharply)
But my coat isn’t, is it?

(Sound of rain on pavement.)

(Fade to black.)

ACT I, Scene 2

(Very slow fade up from black. This represents the fact
that the streets of Whitechapel in 1888 were very dark at
night. For practical reasons, the stage cannot be kept this
dark during the entire play. The action commences before
the fade up is finished.)

(Greene and Fletcher are hiding in the stage right recess.
Footsteps can be heard off stage left.)

FLETCHER
Aha! Someone’s coming. And barely ten minutes since
the last one.

GREENE
Shh! Here he is!

(Enter stage left DR. ARTHUR DOYLE. A gentleman of
about thirty, slightly down at the heels, but clearly not a
native of poverty-stricken Whitechapel. Dr. Doyle looks like
he’s out for a stroll. He walks slowly, but with a smile on his
face. His eyes are alert to every detail around him. He carries
a satchel bag.)

(As Greene and Fletcher watch, Dr. Doyle sees the Automaton.
Dr. Doyle approaches the Automaton and examines it from
all angles. He does not touch it, except to feel the hem of its
shawl between his fingers.)

(He turns smartly to face Greene and Fletcher in their hiding
place.)

DR. DOYLE
Hello there, gentlemen. Can you give me any explanation
of this strange statue I’m standing next to?

(Fletcher and Greene come out of their hiding place. Fletcher’s
dignity is undisturbed, but Greene looks a little awkward at
having been discovered.)

GREENE
We were hiding.

DR. DOYLE
Hiding? For what purpose?

GREENE
It has to do with that Automaton. Good evening. My
name is James Greene, and this is Mr. Elwood Fletcher.

(Dr. Doyle shakes hands with Greene and Fletcher.)

DR. DOYLE
Good evening. My name is Dr. Arthur Doyle.

FLETCHER
A pleasure to meet you, Dr. Doyle.

GREENE
Good evening.

DR. DOYLE
If your clothes are any indication, your home addresses
aren’t within a mile of here. What brings you to
Whitechapel?

GREENE
I suppose you’ve read about the Whitechapel murders?

DR. DOYLE
Of course. The last victim was on the eighth of this month.
Annie Chapman, on Hanbury Street.

GREENE
Precisely so. Mr. Fletcher and I have come to Whitechapel
to capture Jack the Ripper with this device that I have
designed. When the Ripper attacks this poor woman, her
steel arms will arrest him. A battery inside the Automaton
will discharge a stunning bolt of electricity, and the
Ripper will be helpless to resist capture by Fletcher
and myself.

DR. DOYLE
Aha . . . lucky for me I examined it only visually until
I had more information. It’s marvelous! Science in the
service of justice. How ingenious. And you were hiding
over there waiting for the Ripper to make
his move?

FLETCHER
You’ve got it.

DR. DOYLE
May I join you?

GREENE
Won’t you please?

FLETCHER
Be our guest.

DR. DOYLE
Thank you very much, I will.

(The three men cross to the stage right recess to take
up their surveillance.)

FLETCHER
I’m glad to meet a gentleman like yourself in a place
like this, Doctor. We were starting to think we were
totally surrounded by depravity.

DR. DOYLE
I’m glad to meet you, sir. Every Englishman wants this
fiend caught, but only a bold few step up to their duty.
(More lightly) In spite of the rain and the chill.

GREENE
I wish the police had shared that opinion. I wrote to
them with my proposal on the first, but I got no reply.
Then Mrs. Chapman was murdered, and I knew I couldn’t
wait for a response from the police any longer.

DR. DOYLE
The police? Hmph. Inspector Abberline has many years of
experience in these lanes and allies. But so far, his experience
has come up with nothing. Did you try Mr. Lusk?

GREENE
I had a repeat with the Vigilance Committee.

FLETCHER
(looking up at the sky)
At least the rain let up. when it started a few minutes
ago, I thought we were going to get sopping wet.

DR. DOYLE
Your Automaton is – ?

GREENE
As waterproof as one of her Majesty’s battleships.

DR. DOYLE
Well done.

GREENE
Thank you, sir.

DR. DOYLE
(takes out a flask)
And as for the cold...gentlemen?

(He offers to Greene and Fletcher.)

FLETCHER
(takes out his own flask)
Thank you, but we’ve brought our own weatherproofing.

(The men chuckle.)

FLETCHER
To propriety and culture, wherever we may meet it.

(Fletcher raises his flask.)

DR. DOYLE
(Raises his flask)
To science, justice, and courage!

GREENE
To science!

Fletcher and Dr. Doyle drink. Then Dr. Doyle passes his
flask to Greene, who drinks and returns the flask.

FLETCHER
Dr. Doyle, as a medical man yourself, could you give us
your opinion on this idea in the press that only someone
FLETCHER (Cont.)
of a medical education could be the killer?

DR. DOYLE
My opinion would be – do I hear someone coming?

GREENE
Yes! Quietly now!

(The sound of approaching footsteps is heard. The men
attempt to conceal themselves.)

(A MAN and a WOMAN enter stage left. They are dressed
as Whitechapel residents. They’re reeling along arm in arm,
very jolly.)

MAN
But, darling, what if I’ve only got two pennies?

WOMAN
A price is a price! You’ve got to keep your standards up,
don’t you? But you being a soldier and all, I could see
my way to doing a bit for the war effort.

MAN
Every inch a soldier! A lieutenant, with several
decorations I won in Antarctica. Did I tell you about
my battles in Antarctica?

WOMAN
(impressed)
You were in Antarctica?

(They exit stage right.)
GREENE
Do you see how many there are? I think we’ve set our
trap in the best possible spot.

DR. DOYLE
No, I don’t believe Jack the Ripper is a medical man.
If his thirst for blood is so uncontrollable that it drives
him to commit these unspeakable crimes, how could
he restrain himself in the operating theater?
DR. DOYLE (Cont.)
Conversely, why would a surgeon cut women up on
the street when he already gets to do it at work?

FLETCHER
Excellent points, which I hadn’t thought of, but which
nonetheless support my conclusion.

DR. DOYLE
No, my suggestion would be a butcher. Or a hunter,
possibly someone who spent time among the Indians
of the American West, absorbing their customs as his
own. Or perhaps a soldier returned from India or the
Suez, who’s mind separated under the strain of bloody
action against the natives.

FLETCHER
I quite agree that the killer is probably a butcher, and
a foreigner as well. These offenses couldn’t be done
by any purebred Englishman.

GREENE
The newspapers seem convinced of the doctor theory.

DR. DOYLE
The less said about the newspapers, the more sanguine
I will remain. I know one thing; it doesn’t take a doctor
to cut with a knife. By Heaven! (Dr. Doyle strikes his palm
against the stack of boxes) This is exciting! It must be rather
like waiting for the tiger to appear in your sights. All we
need are some Indian gun bearers to complete the scene,
don’t you think?

FLETCHER
I would prefer to do my work on this devil with a rifle,
but I suppose one can’t go about shooting up London. It’s
sufficient to watch, and wait for Jack to take Mr. Greene’s
bait. The three of us are certain to overpower him! Have
you traveled to India, Dr. Doyle?

DR. DOYLE
No, I never have. I’m afraid time and my practice in Southsea
won’t allow it.

GREENE
Did you say your practice is in Southsea?

DR. DOYLE
I’ve only come up to London on a sort of sight-seeing trip.

GREENE
In Whitechapel?

DR. DOYLE
Gentlemen, I must admit, you’ve caught me. I am not
only a doctor, but...also a man of letters.

FLETCHER
What do you mean to say?

DR. DOYLE
I mean to say that it is my aspiration to lead a career
in writing. To follow in the footsteps of great Englishmen
before me. Tobias Smollet, Lord Tennyson, the American
Edgar Allan Poe, especially Robert Luis Stevenson. Have
either of you had a chance to see the adaptation of his Dr.
Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde that’s playing here in London?

FLETCHER
My wife saw it with her sister. Wouldn’t sleep with the lamp
out for three days, the silly creature.

GREENE
Playing where?

DR. DOYLE
A pity it’s not Treasure Island, but I would like to see it all
the same.

GREENE
Charles Dickens is good.

DR. DOYLE
If he wasn’t such a woman about everything, I suppose
he would be. I’ve published a few modest stories myself.
“The Mystery of the Sasassa Valley”?

(Greene and Fletcher listen politely, but the title means
nothing to them.)

DR. DOYLE (Cont.)
“The Gulley of Bluemansdyke”?

(Dr. Doyle pauses to see if Greene and Fletcher will say
anything.)

FLETCHER
No, sorry.

GREENE
I’m afraid I missed that one.

DR. DOYLE
(one more venture)
“Habakuk Jephson’s Statement”?

GREENE
Oh, yes! I read that one! About that ship, that, that –

DR. DOYLE
Quite!

GREENE
That’s the one!

FLETCHER
I remember that one now. In Cornhill magazine, wasn’t it?
Cracking good, old man! Cracking good!

DR. DOYLE
Thank you, both of you are too kind. I published another
story last year, a detective story, in Beeton’s Christmas Annual.
Perhaps you’ve read it. A Study in Scarlet?

(A pause as Greene and Fletcher study their memories.)

GREENE
I don’t think so...

FLETCHER
Our subscription ran out.

DR. DOYLE
Not many people did. But it brings me to the purpose
of my sight-seeing tour. I wanted a stimulant for my
imagination. I wanted to hear the sound of the streets
beneath my feet, the same streets Jack the Ripper uses
for his hunting grounds. To get the true feel of it, so
that I could put that sensation through my pen and
onto the page. I never imagined the happy accident
that I would meet you gentlemen, and end up on the
watch with you in your tiger trap. I couldn’t have
planned a more vivid way to spend the evening. Did
anything noteworthy happen before I arrived?

FLETCHER
No action, really. James made a new social connection, with
a woman of the street.

DR. DOYLE
(with a laugh)
You’re joking.

GREENE
It wasn’t a social connection. It wasn’t a business
connection either! Nothing happened. It was all
very innocent.

FLETCHER
Not since she learned to walk, James.

DR. DOYLE
(now knows the subject is serious)
What was her name?

GREENE
Miss Daphne Holstraam. She needed thruppence
to eat before she went to bed. Her dilemma wrung
out my heart. I mean, not even having enough money
for dinner...


DR. DOYLE
(meaning charity)
Did you give her the money?

GREENE
Heaven forbid!

DR. DOYLE
(shocked at what he’s accidentally implied)
Of course I never meant that you should, should –

GREENE
(shocked at the misunderstanding)
Oh, my God, no, I meant, I mean that, I, didn’t, give her
any money. (Meaning charity) I didn’t even think of it that
way...

DR. DOYLE
Anything else to report on events before I arrived?

GREENE
We heard the Ripper pass very close by. The sound of his
feet and the sound of his walking stick were utterly clear.
We could hear him humming!

FLETCHER
Oh, for God’s sake, James. It could have been anyone. It’s as
likely to have been the Duke of Clarence as Jack the Ripper.

DR. DOYLE
A gentleman walks with a stick. Hardly matching with the
picture of a lunatic, or aborigine.

GREENE
If you had heard those footsteps, you wouldn’t doubt me.
They made my blood turn transparent. They were coming
from every direction; it sounded like he was right in front
of us. He must have been a few feet away, but he didn’t
appear. Precisely in keeping with the newspaper reports
of a killer who passes with unearthly secrecy.

FLETCHER
You’re an engineer. Please stop with the Grimm’s faerie tales.
FLETCHER (Cont.)
Bad for morale, anyway.

DR. DOYLE
Unearthly, eh? Supernatural?

GREENE
Fletcher’s right, Doctor. I’m a man of science. But there’s an
uncanny quality to these murders that affects the imagination.

DR. DOYLE
Don’t be too quick to dismiss that feeling. There are more
things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in
your philosophy. Three women have been killed on the
crowded streets of London. But no one has seen a thing.
The first victim was stabbed twenty-two times. The next
two were disemboweled and their throats cut. There would
have been a perfect fount of blood. Yet no killer covered in
blood was seen by anyone. Mary Ann Nichols, the second
victim, was still warm when she was found, meaning Jack
had been with her scant minutes before. But still, no one
has seen anything.

FLETCHER
What are you trying to imply, Doctor?

The sound of the Humming Man returns. Quietly at first, but
noticeable. Greene hears it.

GREENE
Gentlemen!

DR. DOYLE
That the Indian scout and foreign butcher theories strain
belief if the facts are objectively –

FLETCHER
Sir, it’s absurd to believe that the Ripper –

GREENE
Elwood, listen!

(All three freeze, and listen. The footsteps. The humming.
The tapping of the stick.)

GREENE (Cont.)
(whispers)
It’s him!

(All three men scrunch into their hiding place.)

FLETCHER
(whispering)
Poppycock! It’s probably someone who lives in one of
these buildings.

(Greene grabs his own walking stick. Fletcher puts on his brass
knuckles.)

( Dr. Doyle produces a small obelisk of polished stone. He
grips it in his fist so that it points straight up. He then extends
his arm at right angles to his body, stands up straight, and
begins to turn his whole body back and forth as if he were
a giant compass needle.)

DR. DOYLE
(chanting in a firm voice)
Laki ti, lakas tay, laki ti, lakas tay, milokas ti, milokas tay...

FLETCHER
(astounded)
What are you doing?

GREENE
(equally astounded)
Doctor! He’s coming! The Ripper!

DR. DOYLE
Mr. Greene, please. I have to concentrate for this
to work. Laki ti, lakas tay, laki ti, lakas tay...

FLETCHER
If this is a bid to be forcibly institutionalized, it’s working
beautifully.


DR. DOYLE
Your forbearance, Mr. Fletcher. Everything will be
explained in time. Milokas ti, milokas tay...

(Dr. Doyle keeps chanting. The Humming Man noises peak,
and begin to recede. Greene and Fletcher have no idea what
to do. They watch Dr. Doyle’s eccentric behavior with awe.
The Humming Man noises fade to nothing.)

(Dr. Doyle’s compass needle act winds down. His chanting
stops. He drops his arm. Fletcher and Greene are staring at
him, wondering what he’s going to do next.)

DR. DOYLE
Hmm...no detectable results.

(Fletcher and Greene look at each other in bafflement.)

DR. DOYLE
Let me explain. I’m very interested in the methods
of Spiritualism. This obelisk has been specially treated
by students of the famous medium, Madame Blavatsky,
and is capable of detecting negative spiritual energies
when used in the manner you’ve just seen.

GREENE
(certainly)
Really? How extraordinary...

FLETCHER
Are you seriously suggesting that Jack the Ripper is
some kind of ghost?

DR. DOYLE
An evil ghost, yes. My own theory was that it might be
the shade of some poor dead child, killed by neglect
and now revenging itself on all women of it’s mother’s
profession.

GREENE
(thinking)
I don’t think my Automaton can catch him in that case.

FLETCHER
(dumb with disbelief)
Am I to understand that you are saying the Ripper
is a ghost?

DR. DOYLE
No, because my obelisk did not respond to him. If that
was the Ripper, he’s flesh and blood. Likely a veteran
of action in India or Suez, like I said earlier.

FLETCHER
That’s the most preposterous thing I’ve ever heard! Why
not say he’s a goblin?

DR. DOYLE
He’s too tall to be a goblin. Don’t discard these ideas
until you’ve made a serious inquiry into Spiritualism,
Mr. Fletcher. Have you never felt the prickle of the
otherworldly on the back of your neck?

FLETCHER
I feel drafts on the back of my neck when the maid
leaves the door open.

DR. DOYLE
Miners in Newcastle report strange lights and knocking
noises in unused mine shafts. Lights and voices have
been seen by three different people in a locked house
in Southsea, which formerly belonged to a man who
died of a broken heart when his daughter ran off with
a French sailor. How do you explain these things?

FLETCHER
Just as much nonsense as someone who goes into a
surgeon as a man and comes out as a woman. I’m a
churchgoer, Sir.

DR. DOYLE
Hmmph. In any case, the point is moot, because the
obelisk didn’t detect negative spiritual energy. The Ripper
is flesh and blood, and we’re all agreed that he must be
stopped.

FLETCHER
Stopped from zooming about Whitechapel in his flying
machine, and swooping down on his victims like a
giant mechanical bat, I suppose.

DR. DOYLE
Mr. Fletcher. I have been respectful of your opinions.
I ask that you be respectful of mine.

(Doyle checks his pocket watch.)

DR. DOYLE
I thank you for letting me join you, gentlemen. But
I have to say goodbye to you, as I need to be in Hanbury
Street before midnight. I’m attempting to contact the
ghosts of Jack’s victims to question them about the identity
of their killer.

FLETCHER
A minute ago you said you couldn’t contact any ghosts
with that thing.

DR. DOYLE
Excuse me, I said that the obelisk didn’t react to the
Ripper because he is not a ghost. But the women he
murdered are almost certainly haunting the spots where
they were killed. In any case, the obelisk is useless for
contacting spirits. I will be using...

(with a flourish, he produces a new object from his bag)

DR. DOYLE (Cont.)
the Pendulum of Anubis!

GREENE
You...really believe you’ll be able to speak to Annie
Chapman’s ghost on Hanbury Street? Using that thing?

DR. DOYLE
It’s been calibrated in the ancient Greek fashion.

GREENE
I heard earlier that Jack gouged out her eyes and cut
GREENE (Cont.)
off her right hand, to keep her from pointing
out her murderer.

FLETCHER
James, I forbid you to make this ridiculous conversation
possible by taking part in it.

DR. DOYLE
That’s hard luck. If it’s true, it means the Ripper is
Spiritually educated. It would also mean that the
newspapers are aware of the significance of those
mutilations, and have kept it out of the public eye.
It means a larger occult conspiracy. Oh well. The
bold few, and their duty. Farewell, gentlemen.
If I am unsuccessful, I hope you are not.

(Dole picks up his satchel, and shakes hands with the
other men.)

FLETCHER
(frostily)
Goodnight.

GREENE
Ahh, good luck.

DR. DOYLE
Thank you.

(Doyle begins to exit stage right. Greene calls to him.)

GREENE
How do you know the Ripper’s too tall to be a goblin?

DR. DOYLE
Because he attacks his victims’ throats, Mr. Greene.
A goblin couldn’t reach.

(Exit Dr. Doyle, stage right.)

FLETCHER
Things have come to a terrible turn in England when
FLETCHER (Cont.)
you can’t judge a man’s character by his clothes. What
a quack! You have to suspect anyone prowling around
these pestilential streets at this hour, anyway. I should
have know as soon as I laid eyes on him.

GREENE
Now wait a minute. It’s a little strange, I agree, but, I
mean, is it any stranger than being a Catholic, for example?
He seemed like such a stalwart gentleman...

FLETCHER
I leave being Catholic to the French. And Catholics
pray to saints. They don’t talk to ghosts. It’s
irreligious! Hopefully he’ll fall down an open sewer.

GREENE
Maybe he’ll have some success...

(Takes out his flask and has a drink.)

FLETCHER
Certainly. If he stops by an opium den first, he’ll see
flocks of spectres wheeling across the sky like pigeons.
Don’t worry, James. We’ve got your device. We’ll catch
the Ripper. But I do feel very far from England out here.

(Greene looks reassured, but a little shaky.)

(Fade to black.)

ACT I, Scene 3

(Fade up.)

(Greene and Fletcher are in the recess. Fletcher is sitting on
the pavement with his back against the wall, dozing. Greene
is on the lookout.)

(Enter stage left three Whitechapel toughs: COKES,
WALLOVER, and RIDGE.)


COKES
Not many gents on the pavements tonight. Or ladies.
This Ripper bloke is mucking up business all around
the neighborhood.

WALLOVER
What, you think he’s still about? It’s been three weeks
since he had his last bit of fun.

COKES
I don’t know why the bleeder would stop all of a
sudden, like. If he’s got a taste for it, and he’s got good at
it – hello, what’s this?

(He’s seen the Automaton.)

WALLOVER
Looks a bit like a lady, doesn’t it?

RIDGE
Excepting that she doesn’t move. It’s some kind of model,
it looks like.

COKES
I can see that, can’t I? The bloody question isn’t what
kind of model is it? The bloody question is, what’s it
bloody doing here?

WALLOVER
(glancing around and seeing no one)
My question is, how many shillings would it be worth if
some enterprising bloke pinched it?

COKES
What, is it bolted down?

(The three make as if they’re going to move the Automaton.
Greene pops up out of hiding.)

GREENE
Gentlemen! No! Please! Don’t touch that, please, it’s
unsafe if you do.

(Fletcher is awakened by Greene’s voice. He gathers his wits
and stands up)

(The three men stop and look at Greene.)

( They are very aware of how out of place he looks in Whitechapel
in his middle class clothes. Greene goes toward the men.)

GREENE (Cont.)
Pardon me, but you see, it’s a sort of trap.

COKES
I beg your pardon. Trap for what, bleeding bears?

GREENE
No, actually. For a man.

FLETCHER
James, who are these men?

COKES
Who’s your toff pal?

GREENE
Sirs, this is Elwood Fletcher, and my name is James
Greene.
COKES
Very nice to meet you, I’m sure. Cokes is me
name. This fella is Wallover, and this is Ridge.

(Cokes and Greene shake hands.)

GREENE
Pleasure. James Greene. I mean, I said that already. Hello.

(Greene is innocently friendly. Fletcher hangs back, disdainful
and suspicious.)

WALLOVER
Here, what do you mean, it’s a man trap?

GREENE
This is not a woman at all.

WALLOVER
Well, I could see that.

GREENE
(with many gestures)
It’s a mechanical Automaton with a steel frame. If you
had taken hold of it as you were about to, it’s arms
would have clapped around you. While you fought
to escape its spring-driven clutches, a battery inside
would have blasted you with enough electricity to
render you almost unconscious. The idea being that
Fletcher and I would then come out of hiding over
there and subdue you. Or rather, not you, but
somebody else. But you understand the essential
principle.

WALLOVER
You mean battery, like artillery?

GREENE
I mean a cell for holding an electric charge.

WALLOVER
Charge? Like with bayonets?

COKES
God’s blood, Wallover, he means like lightning.
Now shut your mouth before you let any more
precious air out. (To Greene) So who were you
hoping to catch?

GREENE
(with drama)
Jack the Ripper.

COKES
Whhew. Jack the Ripper? So what are you, coppers or
Vigilance Committee?

GREENE
Neither, honestly. Just dutiful Englishmen.

COKES
Dutiful Englishmen. Come down to help out the street
birds of Whitechapel, eh? Come all the way down from
the City, with your big toff houses, your shiny silver
dishes, your servants and such. Your pockets full of
money.

GREENE
Well, yes, in a manner of speaking I suppose...

COKES
I bet you make a couple of hundred pounds a year up
there. What do you gentlemen do, if you don’t mind
my asking?

GREENE
Not at all. I’m an engineer, and Mr. Fletcher is a banker.

FLETCHER
Thanks, gentlemen, but that’s all we’ll be needing from
you.

COKES
And not coppers. Mr. Engineer and Mr. Banker, me mates
and I usually make our business extorting a piece of the
profits from the whores. But we’re not above a bit of
robbery.

(Cokes, Wallover, and Ridge reveal an array of clubs and knives.)

COKES (Cont.)
So hand over your money and your watches if a busted skull
isn’t something you fancy.

FLETCHER
(outraged)
I won’t stand for it! This is robbery!

GREENE
Uhh—

(Cokes, Wallover, and Ridge attack Fletcher and Greene.
They knock them down, beat them, and loot them of their
valuables. Shouts of “Ouch!”, “Stop!”, “Shut your mouth,
you bleeding woman!” , etc.)

(The thieves leave Fletcher and Greene sprawled on the
pavement, and start to exit stage left.)

GREENE
But, but, we know your names...

COKES
I lied about our names, you toff bastard. He’s
Queen Victoria, he’s Napleon Bonaparte, and I’m
bleeding Saint Nicholas, except that I gives to meself!

(Laughing uproarious, the thieves exit stage left.)

(Slowly and painfully, Greene and Fletcher pull themselves
up, straighten themselves out, and wipe off the blood.)

GREENE
Oh my God...I’ve been stabbed. I’ve been stabbed.
I’ve...they stabbed me.

FLETCHER
Can you believe this? Can you believe this place?
Two men are assaulted in the middle of the street,
and does anyone raise a hand to help? Does one
decent, compassionate person come to our aid?
No, because there isn’t a decent person within a
mile of this abominable spot! Where are the police?

GREENE
Don’t worry. It’s just a little cut. There’s not much
blood. It aches, though. It’s as much a bruise as anything.

FLETCHER
That’s it. We’re leaving.

GREENE
What? Why?

FLETCHER
Look at these people, James! Whores. Thieves.
FLETCHER (Cont.)
Degenerates! Jack the Ripper isn’t any freak here.
He’s their King! They admire him! Why did we come
to this godforsaken cesspit in the first place?

GREENE
We’re bold Englishmen, stepping up to our duty.

FLETCHER
If you please, do not remind me of that irreligious halfwit.
Trying to convince me with his words does not credit
your argument. Now come along. We’re leaving. I’ve
lost two crowns but I’ve got another hidden in my shoe.
We can afford a cab back to the city at least.

GREENE
I’m not going, Elwood.

FLETCHER
How many more beatings are going to be necessary
for you to see reason?

GREENE
We can’t just give up because we’ve had a spot of
trouble. Admiral Nelson didn’t tack around when
he heard the French cannons booming. King Arthur
didn’t give up and go home when he couldn‘t find
the Holy Grail right away.


FLETCHER
This is absurd! We’ve been here less than two hours,
and we’ve been accosted by prostitutes, frozen in the
rain and the wind, harangued by an irreligious halfwit,
and finally beaten and robbed by a trio of trolls who’ve
probably never set foot in a schoolroom or a sacristy.
Are these the people you want to help? Leave them to
Jack, and Jack to them. Why did we come to this
godforsaken cesspit in the first place?

GREENE
Because God didn’t forget this place. This isn’t a cesspit,
this isn’t a tiger trap in India. This is London! Do you
GREENE (Cont.)
know what’s two miles west of here? Westminster
Cathedral. Victoria is Queen here, too.
English ships sail to all corners of the Earth.
Canada, Australia, India, South Africa, the
island of Bermuda. Her Majesty’s ships rule
the seas and no power on Earth dares to oppose
us. We build crystal palaces and steam railroads.
This is the British Empire, where the sun never
sets. But we’ve got this cancer in our heart. I aim
to remove it, whether you help me or not.

FLETCHER
Have a drink. Steady your nerves. Did you get hit
in the head? (Reaches for his flask) Blast it, they’ve
stolen my flask.

GREENE
My nerves are steady. I’m staying. I didn’t spend weeks
designing and building her for nothing. This is England.

FLETCHER
I can’t leave you here alone in good conscience. Come along.

GREENE
Then you’ll have to stay with me. I am going to catch the
Ripper.

(Pause.)

FLETCHER
Very well. I’ll send my footman to your mother with a
note explaining your absence. And I’ll speak to Doctor
Kaplan, to insure that you be treated for instability of
the mind as soon as you return home.

GREENE
Good night, Fletcher. Have a safe trip.

FLETCHER
May God protect you, James. Whatever you do, don’t dose
off out here.

(Exit Fletcher, stage right. Greene is alone in the court with
the unmoving Automaton.)

(Curtain.)

ACT II, Scene 1

(Fade in. Greene is at his post in the recess,
watching the court. His face is bruised. Daphne
Holstraam enters stage left. She is slightly drunk.)

DAPHNE
Cor, are you still here?

GREENE
I'm afraid so.

DAPHNE
(drawing closer)
What happened to your dressed up friend?

GREENE
He decided to give it up.

DAPHNE
Now you're all alone. You haven't caught Jack yet?

GREENE
No luck yet, but I'm confident.

(Daphne is now next to Greene.)

DAPHNE
(giggles)
You're unlucky because you haven't seen him. But I'm
lucky because I haven’t seen him!

GREENE
You haven't been able to...find any money?

DAPHNE
It's not usual to find it. Mostly, you have to earn it.
And yes, I did. I made nine pence, and I had my
GREENE (Cont.)
dinner. Now I need another three to pay for my bed.

(Giggles.)

GREENE
(a little shocked)
Are you drunk?

DAPHNE
No! I had two or three to wash dinner down. What
happened to your face, love? Four.

GREEN
A man named Wallover struck me, and stole my money.
Almost all of it. I've got two pence left in the bottom of
my pocket.

DAPHNE
That's not enough for a go. You want one more penny.

(Greene looks nervous, but a little intrigued.)

DAPHNE (Cont.)
A price is a price, as they say. But with the way business
has been I might have to charge the two pennies.

GREENE
Business is bad?

DAPHNE
(laughs)
It's limp with nervousness. None of the gentlemen come
in from the City anymore. It's all because of Jack. Nobody
wants to slip down a lane for a go with a girl when Jack
might be down their with his evil knife. Nobody wants to
be mistaken for Jack down the lane, either! It's getting so
that a girl can barely keep ends together. (Sighs) Both my
dresses are getting too big for me.
I'm sorry about your face, love.

GREENE
Thank you. It's all right. Why don't you go home if there's
GREENE (Cont.)
no luck on the street?

DAPHNE
(laughing)
What do you think, I live in a cozy little house, with lace
curtains and a little white dog? I rent a bed at Hannover’s
Lodging House, and that's two pennies and a farthing
every night.

GREENE
I'm sorry.

DAPHNE
Apology accepted. But there was no harm done.

(She sits on the pavement.)

GREENE
(blurts impulsively)
How do you do your trade if you don't have a bed?

DAPHNE
(nonchalantly)
You only need to lean against a bit of a wall. My friend,
Mary Jane Kelly, has got it like a Queen. She rents a
private room on Miller's Court. How she keeps up on
the payments is a mystery for certain, because they're
fierce expensive, but that's where she takes her gents.
"You'll be safe from Jack that way," she tells me, as if
I've got the money for a private room. But what's
keeping things from going wrong in there? That's what
I ask her. If a fellow gets violent on the street, you can
give a scream. Or run away. Or a copper might see it
and come and help you out like. But where are you if
you find out that the gent with you in that little room
is Jack the Ripper? You’re properly cornered,
that’s where you are.
You should meet Mary Jane. If you don’t like
me, you’ll want to marry her. She’s as pretty as anything.
That’s probably why she can afford that room.


GREENE
(surprised)
Why would you say I don’t like you?

DAPHNE
You don’t want to have a go, do you?

GREENE
No, no, I don’t want to have a go –

DAPHNE
The French Way?

GREENE
I don’t know what that is.

DAPHNE
It’s a mortal sin where I put your –

GREENE
That’s enough! I think I’ll be fine not knowing.

DAPHNE
All right.

GREENE
Are there...any other services available, besides a go
and the...French Way?

(Daphne gets up, and moves closer to Greene.)

DAPHNE
I’ve never thought about it, but I suppose we could work
something out . . . what did you have in mind, particularly?

GREENE
(thinks)
A kiss?

DAPHNE
(flirtatiously)
Do you want a kiss, Mr. Greene?

GREENE
Let’s just say I was curious about the price of one.

DAPHNE
Like I say, I’ve never thought about it before...but I
think a penny will do for a kiss.

GREENE
A whole penny? I wouldn’t think a kiss would cost more
than a farthing.

DAPHNE
A farthing? I don’t think so, Mr. Greene. At a farthing
each a girl could sell kisses all day and barely make her
supper, never mind her bed, and a couple of pints would
be right out of the question. No, a price is a price, and a
kiss is a penny or nothing.

GREENE
But please, I’ve only got two pennies left, and I still have
to get home. Have compassion for a poor man who’s just
been robbed.

DAPHNE
Do you have a hapenny, then?
GREENE
No. Just the two pennies.

DAPHNE
(turning away coquettishly)
Neither do I. So it’s a penny or nothing.

GREENE
Do you really not have enough money for your bed?

DAPHNE
Mr. Greene, I haven’t got any money at all.

Pause.

GREENE
I think you’re very pretty.

(Pause.)

(Approaching feet.)

GREENE
Someone’s coming! Quick!

(Greene motions frantically for Daphne to join him in
hiding, but it’s too late. BETHANY BATTERS and
HALF-CROWN LUCY, prostitutes like Daphne,
enter stage right at a fast walk, their hair practically
standing on end in terror.)

BETHANY
(to Daphne)
Oh, thank the bleeding Jesus, Diana! You’re all in one
piece!

LUCY
Praise the Lord! (In fright) Diana, who’s that with you?

DAPHNE
Hello, girls. This gent is Mr. James Greene. Mr. Greene,
this is Bethany Batters and Half-Crown Lucy. What’s
the fright about?

BETHANY
(afraid of Greene)
He hasn’t done anything to you, has he?

DAPHNE
No, more’s the pity. What’s the matter?

LUCY
(wails)
There’s another woman all cut to pieces! Jack’s
attacked again!

BETHANY
Thank Heaven it wasn’t you, Diana.



DAPHNE
(shocked)
Thank you, Beth, but I‘ve been here for the last while.
Where was it?

LUCY
Only a block west, in Berner Street. A Jew found her
in the yard at the International Working Men’s Club.
(Shudders) Ohh, that poor woman, with her insides
all torn out and slashed to ribbons!

GREENE
He’s struck again! I knew it! I heard him. I heard him!
And just one street over!

(Bethany produces a small bottle.)

BETHANY
Lucy, girl, shut up your bawling. Have a draft of this
and a deep breath, there’s a girl. You’re rattling my
brains even more than they are.

(Lucy takes a drink, and slowly begins to collect herself.)

DAPHNE
Who do you think it was who Jack got?

BETHANY
We were worried it might be you. You know we saw you
at the Ten Bells earlier.

DAPHNE
What about Gertrude the German?

(The sounds of the Humming Man return, and grow louder
They are more hurried this time. Nobody notices them,
because they are talking together so excitedly.)

BETHANY
No, I saw Gertrude at quarter to nine, and she said
she was going home to her husband. She wasn’t
finding any business.

DAPHNE
Was it Coughing Wilma?

LUCY
Wilma’s been in bed with the tuberculosis for the last
three days.

DAPHNE
What about Laurie MacIntosh?

LUCY
I’d shake Jack’s hand for that!

DAPHNE
That’d be lucky, wouldn’t it? It’d serve her right, too,
the nasty strumpet.

(Enter stage right THE HUMMING MAN, well dressed,
about thirty, with a light colored mustache and a walking
stick. He’s a bit breathless. He sees the women, obviously
prostitutes, and interrupts them.)

HUMMING MAN
Good evening, you lovely ladies. Are any of you
interested in making a few coins in exchange for
your company?

BETHANY
(sharply)
What kind do we look like to you? We’re respectable
women, here. Besides, we’re talking. So bugger off.

HUMMING MAN
What’s happened?

GREENE
Jack the Ripper has struck again, only twenty or thirty
yards from here, on Berner Street.

HUMMING MAN
You don’t say?


DAPHNE
What about Kitty Whiskers?

BETHANY
Oh, I hope it wasn’t her. Sweet child. She owes me
sixpence.

HUMMING MAN
You don’t know who got the knife?

DAPHNE
We’re trying to figure that out.

HUMMING MAN
Were there any witnesses? Did they see him?

BETHANY
Kathy Eddowes?

LUCY
Locked up safe at the station for drunkenness, thank
Heaven.

BETHANY
(to Humming Man)
No one saw or heard a thing. The damned killer went by
like smoke once again. Oh! Another dreadful murder!
When will it stop?

HUMMING MAN
When Whitechapel is empty of whores, I suspect. Are you
ladies sure none of you would like to go for a walk? I’ve
got a shilling in my pocket.

BETHANY
For the last time, take a walk yourself, you ugly mackerel.
Before I scream for a copper to send you off.

(The Humming Man tips his hat and exits up stage center left
at a hurried walk.)

DAPHNE
What are we going to do now?

GREENE
You should all get off the streets. And stay off the streets.

(No one dignifies this impossibility with a response.)

BETHANY
Lucy and I have got two pence and a farthing between
us. We’re going to share a bed at Hannover’s Lodging
House. You should come with us.

DAPHNE
The last of my money went for supper. I don’t have a
single penny. It’s sleeping rough on the street for me
tonight.

BETHANY
Don’t be foolish, child. Jack will get you, and use your
innards for parcel string.

LUCY
Oh, please, Diana, come along.

DAPHNE
It’s not foolishness, it’s fact. Have you got thruppence to
lend me?

BETHANY
You know I would if I could, but money’s dear...

DAPHNE
I know it is. No one knows that better than me tonight.
But I’ll bet you’ve got another one of those little bottles
on you, don’t you, Bethany?

BETHANY
(reluctantly draws out a second bottle)
Yes, I do suppose you need it more than me.

DAPHNE
(accepts bottle)
Thank you, dear. I promise I’ll pay you for it by
Wednesday.
LUCY
May the saints watch over you.

BETHANY
Good luck, Diana. We’re off.

DAPHNE
Thanks. I’ll see you tomorrow.

(Exit Bethany and Lucy stage left.)

GREENE
Why did they keep calling you Diana? You told
me your name is Daphne.

DAPHNE
Some people name me Diana Strand instead of Daphne
Holstraam, on account that I give it out as Diana Strand
sometimes. (Seeing Greene’s confusion) I suppose you do
it differently on the West End.

GREENE
(nods)
My name is James Greene wherever I go. What a mess it
would be if I gave my landlady one name, the office
another, and the postman a third. How does anyone
ever know who you are? Why would you give out more
than one name?

DAPHNE
Because this isn’t Buckingham Palace I’ve got my back
against, is it, Mr. Greene? This is Whitechapel.

GREENE
(shaking his head)
This is a major disaster. This is a complete setback. The
Ripper’s never killed twice in one night. He’s home snug
now, rinsing off his knife.

DAPHNE
(concerned for herself)
You’re not thinking of going home, too?

GREENE
What time is it?

DAPHNE
About twenty minutes past one in the morning, I should
think.

GREENE
Well. No, I won’t go home. Jack might make an exception,
after all, and we do know he’s in the area. I don’t have
the money for a cab, and there’s no sense walking all
the way home through the black and the rain. Better to
wait for morning. I came prepared to spend the night,
and that’s what I’m going to do, fresh murder or not.

(Greene sits down on the pavement, with his back against
one of the stage right building fronts, so that he has a good view
of the Automaton.)

DAPHNE
(relieved)
Good show. Stick to it until the job’s done. You wouldn’t
mind if I hung about with you for a little while? For the
company?

GREENE
If you like. As long as you can keep quiet, and watch
with me.

(Daphne sits down next to Greene. She takes out her bottle.)

DAPHNE
(whispering)
Certainly. No one is quieter than me. Drink?

(They sit side by side, watching the empty court. They pass
the bottle back and forth a couple of times, then Greene sets
it on the pavement nearby.)

DAPHNE (Cont.)
I’ve never seen a light bulb.

(Daphne’s head sinks onto Greene’s shoulder. She dozes.)

(Black out.)

ACT II, Scene 2

(Daphne and Greene have fallen asleep where they sit,
leaning against each other. The bottle is near Greene’s hand.)

(Enter stage right CONSTABLE THOMAS KITT, on patrol.
He is equipped with the standard gear: a truncheon, a
bulls-eye lantern, and a whistle.)

(Kitt sees the Automaton and walks over to it.)

KITT
What on Earth...?

(He notices Daphne and Greene’s motionless forms)

KITT (Cont.)
Bloody Hell, not another murdered woman.

(He crosses quickly to Daphne and Greene.)

KITT (Cont.)
Hullo! Miss?

(He prods Daphne with his foot.Daphne wakes with a start
She sees that Kitt is a policeman, and quickly gets to her feet.)

KITT (Cont.)
What’s going on here? Who’s he?

DAPHNE
Nothing. Nothing at all, constable. Just on my way home
to the husband and the little ones. No trouble here.

KITT
Not killed after all. But what have you done to him? All
right. What’s your name?

DAPHNE
Never seen him before in my life. He wasn’t there when
I sat down. It’s a wonder I wasn’t murdered. My name
DAPHNE (Cont.)
is Mary Jane Kelly. Got to go, Constable. Good night!

(Exit Daphne stage left, hurrying to get away from Kitt.)

KITT
(to Greene)
Hey, you! Get up! What’s the matter, are you drunk?

GREENE
(confused with sleep)
No, sorry, what’s the trouble? Murder again?

KITT
What? Get up, let’s have a look at your hands.

GREENE
There’s an explanation, Constable.

KITT
An explanation for what? Who was that whore I just saw?

GREENE
Nobody knows who she is yet.

KITT
Is that your bottle?

(Greene achieves his feet.)

KITT (Cont.)
You smell like you’ve been drinking. Have you got
any money about you? What do you mean nobody
knows who she is?

GREENE
No, I don’t have any money. No one’s identified the
body. I was only drinking to keep warm.

(Kitt grabs his truncheon.)

KITT
What body? What do you know about a body?
(Greene is afraid he’s about to be clubbed. He grabs Kitt’s arm.)

GREENE
No! Don’t!

KITT
Don’t you touch me! I’ll split your god-damned skull open!

(Kitt shoves Greene, who staggers and nearly falls. Kitt draws
his truncheon.)

(Greene gives a shout and runs offstage through the
upstage center left passage. Kitt gives a blast on his whistle
and gives chase.)

(Several more blasts on the whistle are heard from offstage.
Running feet. Shouts.)

(Enter stage right two MEMBERS OF THE MOB, hurrying
along.)

MOB 1
Come on, hurry! The Ripper’s killed another woman and
the coppers are chasing him down!

(Exit Mob 1 & 2 upstage center left. Enter stage left Constable
Kitt, looking for Greene. Enter stage right more of the Mob.)

MOB 3
Constable! We just saw the Ripper running up
Batty Street!

MOB 4
Come with us! We’ll help you catch him!

KITT
Great Scott! We’ve got him now!

(Kitt and the Mob run off stage right. Blasts of the whistle.)

(Enter upstage center Greene, going at a dead run. He
immediately exits stage left.)

(Enter upstage center four members of the Mob in pursuit,
waving fists and makeshift clubs over their heads. They
radiate bloodlust and vigilante fury.)

THE MOB
The Ripper! Kill him! Hang him! Shoot him! (& etc.)

(The Mob runs off stage left in pursuit of Greene.)

(Enter stage right Daphne, cautiously. She walks over to
where she and Greene were sleeping a few moments ago.)

DAPHNE
Mr. Greene? Hello? Mr. Greene?

(No response. The noises of the Mob can be heard indistinctly
offstage. Daphne picks up the bottle they left on the pavement
and exits upstage center left, looking a little baffled.)

(Enter stage left Greene at a dead run. He is missing his hat.
The shouts of the Mob swell behind him. Before he can get off
stage right, several members of the Mob enter from that
direction, along with Constable Kitt. Greene tries to turn and
escape the way he came, but before he gets three steps, more
of the Mob comes in from stage right. The Mob is howling.)

THE MOB
The Ripper! Kill him! Kill him! Pour his blood out on
the stones! Make him pay! (& etc.)

(Greene, scared out of his mind, dodges left and right but
is knocked down by the Mob. Constable Kitt stands over
him, and hits him twice with his truncheon.)

KITT
(in a fury)
I am placing you under arrest for the various and
recent appalling murders you have committed in
Whitechapel, the most recent of which was the
stabbing of that woman in Berner Street less than
an hour ago. May God have mercy on your filthy
soul.

(The Mob howls and cheers.)

MOB 1
Hang the devil now!

(The Mob shouts its approval.)

GREENE
I am not Jack the Ripper! My name is James Greene! I live
at 28 Gordon Street! I work for Hastings Company
Engineers!

(No one is listening.)

KITT
(to Mob 1)
He’s under arrest.

MOB 1
He’ll be hanged anyway. Now or in a month, what’s
the difference? Except that it’s a month of life that
savage doesn’t deserve!

KITT
He’s under arrest – !

The Mob howls for Greene’s blood. Greene tries to bolt, but Kitt
and the Mob beat him down again.

KITT
All right. Get a rope!

(The Mob screams its approval, and closes in around Greene,
pushing him upstage toward the stack of boxes. He becomes
invisible among them.)

(Enter Daphne stage right. She is alarmed and confused by
the presence of the Mob.)

DAPHNE
Hullo! What’s going on here? Is there a fire?

MOB 3
They caught the Ripper, with his hands still steaming
in the blood of some poor woman he just murdered
MOB 3
a block from here!

DAPHNE
(with great relief)
Thank Heaven for that! The coppers are taking him in, then?

MOB 3
Damn taking him anywhere! We’re going to hang him on
the spot!

DAPHNE
Good show! That’ll teach him how to treat a lady.

MOB 3
They know it’s the Ripper because he had the woman’s
kidneys in his coat pockets.

DAPHNE
(shouting)
Let’s see him then! Set him up! Come on, make lively!

(The crowd continues to roar. Hands shove Greene up on top of the
boxes, his own hands tied behind his back. He is missing his jacket
and hat. He is bruised and bloody from his abuse by the crowd
and by Cokes and company earlier. He looks like a man swept
downstream in a storm.)

(Daphne does not recognize him right away.)

(Kitt is at the foot of the stack of boxes.)

KITT
Jack the Ripper, do you have anything to say before you
pay for your crimes?

(An expectant hush falls over the crowd. Daphne’s expression
is uncertain now.)

GREENE
My name is James Greene. I’ve designed an Automaton. I –

(The crowd drowns him up with shouts that he be killed right
away. Greene is helpless at the top of the stack of boxes.)

DAPHNE
No! No, God, no! You’ve got the wrong man! That’s
not the Ripper at all! I know that man! Stop! You
must stop! His name is James Greene!

(She pulls and shoves at members of the Mob, but she is
ignored and pushed aside. They bay for Greene’s death.
Kitt mounts the boxes next to Greene, as a noose is lowered
from above.)

(Enter from stage right Dr. Arthur Doyle. He is wearing
a gaudy turban, and concentrating intently on the
Pendulum of Anubis, which he’s holding out in front of
himself. He has his satchel in the other hand. He sees
the Mob and Greene on the boxes, but does not recognize him.)

DR. DOYLE
(loudly)
What is going on?

(Daphne rushes to Dr. Doyle, and grabs him by the arm.)

DAPHNE
Sir! You’ve got to bloody do something! They’re going
to hang that man for being Jack the Ripper, but he’s not!

DR. DOYLE
Who is he?

DAPHNE
He’s a gentleman. A friend of mine. An engineer named
James Greene!

DR. DOYLE
(aghast)
James Greene?

(The noose has been put around Greene’s neck.)

(Dr. Doyle puts the Pendulum of Anubis in his bag.)

(He takes out a revolver, and fires it authoritatively in the
air three times.)

(The crowd falls silent, and turns to look at him.)

DR. DOYLE
Before you do anything irreversible, pray stop.
You have the wrong man.

(Muttering, the Mob parts, opening an avenue to the
boxes on which Greene and Kitt are standing. Dr. Doyle,
revolver in hand, and Daphne cross to the stack of boxes.)

THE MOB
Wrong man? He looks like the Ripper. That was lucky.
Why should we believe? (& etc.)

KITT
(to Dr. Doyle)
Who are you?

DR. DOYLE
I am Dr. Arthur Doyle. That man is Mr. James Greene.
I know him well, and I assure you he is not Jack the Ripper.

DAPHNE
I was with him right in this court for half the night. He
didn’t kill anybody!

(The Mob murmurs at this.)

KITT
(to Daphne)
I’m not going to believe the word of a woman like you.
(To Doyle) And you –

(Enter Bethany Batters and Half-Crown Lucy stage left, at the
run.)

BETHANY
Daphne! Oh, God, Daphne! Where are you?


DAPHNE
Bethany? Heavens, girl, I’m right here! What is it?

BETHANY
He’s on a rampage tonight, and he’s not going to stop
until Whitechapel is empty!

LUCY
Some woman has had her face cut off in Mitre Square,
off in the City, not more than an hour ago!

(This is significant news to everyone. The Mob mutters.)

BETHANY
Come with us, girl. He’ll paint these windows shut
with your blood if you try to stay here all night.
We’ll find a room somewhere. We’ll sleep against
the wall of the police station if we have to.

DR. DOYLE
(to the Mob)
So you see. This man cannot be the Ripper at all.

(Kitt accepts this.)

KITT
Arthur Doyle? Didn’t you write that detective story
in Beeton’s Christmas Annual last year?

DR.DOYLE
Yes, I did.

KITT
Bloody marvelous. I’ve still got my issue in the parlor.
You know, I’d like to make Inspector myself one day.

DR. DOYLE
Of course you would.

KITT
To see how your fellow in that story noticed important
details was inspiring.

(Kitt tries to nudge Greene off the boxes to his friends, but
Greene resists.)

DR. DOYLE
Could you remove that noose first?

KITT
Yes, quite right.

(Kitt takes the noose from around Greene’s neck, and unties
his hands. Greene hops/falls down into the arms of Dr. Doyle
and Daphne.)

DR. DOYLE
There you are, Mr. Greene. Neck still in joint, what?

DAPHNE
Mr. Greene, are you all right?

GREENE
Damn it, damn it, damn it. He’ll never come in
here, now. Not with this mob around.

(Fade to black.)

ACT II, Scene 3

(Fade in.)
(The next night. The same court as previously. The
Automaton is in its place. The boxes are gone. There is
now a barrel in the recess. Greene is sitting alone on
the pavement in the shadows, eating a sandwich and
watching the Automaton. Greene is back in order, no
longer the disheveled and battered mess of the last scene.
Enter Daphne Holstraam, stage left. She is surprised to
see that the Automaton is still there. She peers around
in the shadows inquisitively.

DAPHNE
Mr. Greene? Hello?

(Greene stands up and emerges from the darkness.)


GREENE
You can call me James, Miss Holstraam.

DAPHNE
Well, hello, James. Back again?

GREENE
He hasn’t been caught yet.

DAPHNE
I thought that after last night, you’d, well, you’d go
back to your snug little house and give all this to the dogs.

GREENE
What gave you that idea? You know I left the Automaton
here this morning.

DAPHNE
You weren’t hardly going to carry it home under your
arm, now were you?

GREENE
That’s true. But no, I haven’t given up. I’ll still catch him.

DAPHNE
You think so?

GREENE
It’s the only logical conclusion. Look, we know he
operates very near this spot. We know he kills only
prostitutes. And after last night’s double event, we
know that his madness is accelerating, making him
all the more likely to strike, and all the more likely
to believe my ruse. It’s practically certain that he’ll
fall into my Automaton’s arms any day now. Any
hour, really. Jack the Ripper has met his match.
It’s only a matter of patience, vigilance, and good
engineering.

DAPHNE
What happened to Dr. Doyle?


GREENE
He had to return to his wife and his patients in
Southsea. His Spiritualist inquiries were a dead
end, I’m afraid. He promised to send me an
autographed copy of his next story. Did you see
how that constable admired him? Almost like Dr.
Doyle was the detective himself.

DAPHNE
A dead end, huh? That’s funny. I’m pleased to see
you, Mr. Greene. It made me a little sad to think that
we’d only be friends for such a short time.

GREENE
The feeling is mutual. (He smiles) Would you like to
join me in my tiger trap for a little while?

(She crosses to him.)

DAPHNE
I’ve got the time. If one murder in a night made
business sick, two murders have carried it off. So,
you figure you’ll have Jack in an hour or two?

GREENE
I will have Jack. Maybe not that soon. I’m prepared
to wait. I’ve got a cache of supplies behind that
barrel. A picnic basket with some sandwiches
and some chicken. A police whistle. A flask of
brandy, a mackintosh in case of rain, a lantern,
a clean shirt, some bandages –

DAPHNE
Aren’t you a regular army encampment?

GREENE
I’ve brought something else with my supplies, if
you‘d like to know what it is.

DAPHNE
Eh? What’s that?

Greene holds up one bronze coin.

GREENE
An extra penny.

(Daphne smiles. Greene smiles. Fade out.)