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Message |
    
Diana
Chief Inspector
Username: Diana
Post Number: 510
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 02, 2005 - 10:13 pm: | 
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The testimony of Elizabeth Prater: . . . About 3:30 or 4 a.m. I was awakened by a kitten walking across my neck, and just then I heard screams of murder about two or three times in a female voice . . .
I am a cat owner (or else he owns me, I'm not sure which). He spends large portions of the daylight hours dozing and large portions of the night prowling I suppose because cats are predators. My cat doesn't like the fact that I sleep at night. He would prefer that I stay up all night and play with him. My husband and I shut him out of the bedroom at night or he would be dancing across our necks and chests off and on all night to wake us up and get our attention. Usually he will grudgingly accept this and keep quiet. But if he hears any sounds of human activity at all, if we whisper to each other, or switch the light on and he can see it under the door he will start caterwauling, yelling at us to let him in.
Based on this, I suspect this is what happened. Ms. Prater was asleep and Diddles was quiet because the court was quiet including Mary's room downstairs. Then Diddles heard something. Probably something that a human would not hear. I don't know what it would be; a door closing? a scuffle? whispers? But whatever it was things were heating up. Diddles got excited. Being just a cat he didn't reason through the idea that the noisemakers were downstairs and his mistress was sound asleep. What was important to him was that somebody somewhere was doing something. Maybe he could capitalize on this. So he set out to wake up Mrs. Prater and succeeded in time so she could hear the screams.
The important thing is that even with his supersensitive hearing, Diddles did not become stimulated to do anything till just before Mary was killed. And that suggests to me that either Jack had spent several hours in that room asleep and very quiet, or he arrived seconds before assaulting Mary. If there had been prolonged goings on downstairs, Diddles would have roused Mrs. Prater much earlier. |
Dan Norder
Chief Inspector
Username: Dannorder
Post Number: 506
Registered: 4-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 02, 2005 - 11:38 pm: |
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Hi Diana,
Makes sense to me. Of course it depends on how long it would take Elizabeth Prater to wake up.
Dan Norder, Editor
Ripper Notes: The International Journal for Ripper Studies
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Diana
Chief Inspector
Username: Diana
Post Number: 511
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, February 03, 2005 - 7:06 pm: |
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Believe me I have been awakened by my cat in a very similar manner. If you don't rouse immediately they crouch on your chest and rhythmically stomp your neck with their front paws. Its called kneading and every cat owner will know what I mean. Apparently Diddles didn't have to go that far. |
ex PFC Wintergreen
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 15, 2005 - 7:00 am: |
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Since we don't know exactly what woke the cat up, it's impossible to read what it means to the case. Since prostitutes lived in the area there was probably people bustling back and forth throughout the court all night, every night, the cat would probably be quite used to it otherwise it would be waking its owner up every night.
Perhaps what woke the cat up was an initial cry of murder that Elizabeth Prater slept through, it's impossible to know. |
Nicholas Smith
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Sunday, June 12, 2005 - 11:04 am: |
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G'day guys,
As mentioned in a post I posted several years ago, Diddles was a highly trained Tasmanian moggy of various pedigrees This led him to be acutely aware of any danger or peril which might have happened to his owner.
Unfortunatley, Ms Prater was unaware of Diddles breeding and therefore dimissed his pawing at her head, constant meowing and bouncing off the walls as something that kittens merely do to annoy their owners.
Had she been aware of Diddles pedigree and intuitive sense of danger, she would have put on her flack jacket, armed herself with a pump action shotgun and sorted Jack out once and for all.
Unfortunately, because Diddles was from Tasmania there are no records of him being sent to England although there are reports of him being seen in Mitre Square and Hanbury St.
I hope this is of some help.
Sincerely
Jules |
Nicholas Smith
Police Constable
Username: Diddles
Post Number: 2
Registered: 6-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 14, 2005 - 9:49 am: |
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Having done some more research into this magnificent moggy, I have discovered that he was actually transported from Tasmania to England for a feliny crime, namely he tried to steala mouse from one of the convicts over there at the time.
His arrival in England just coincided with the Autumn of Terror. He and his female friend Tittles actually formed a team and together they tried to lead the police to clues which were left behind.
Unfortunately they were ignored, but went on to solve the mystery of who Jack the Ripper actually was.
Diddles XV111 |
Nicholas Smith
Sergeant
Username: Diddles
Post Number: 24
Registered: 6-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, June 25, 2005 - 3:39 pm: |
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Yeah, sorry guys, I hadn't realised this was a dead topic.
Take care
jules |
AmateurSleuth
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 13, 2005 - 8:26 pm: |
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Having 2 cats of my own, I think that Diddles probably heard someone open the door of Mary's apartment. Now whether it was with a key or by putting there hand through the window and unhooking the latch, I'm not sure but I think only his sensitive ears heard a human enter her apartment. Maybe it took a little while to wake her but probably not too long. Just long enough for Jack to walk to the bed and attack a sleeping Mary Jane. |
Suzi Hanney
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Suzi
Post Number: 3404
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 14, 2005 - 2:44 pm: |
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Am S-
a) register!
b)In the happy days when my cats were still purring with us they slept happily in bed and the slightest thing...like a small vole stirring in the garden would be enough to wake cats and send them off for a recce and then come back cold and wet pawed to bed!
Suzi |
AmateurSleuth
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Thursday, December 15, 2005 - 8:21 am: |
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Hi Suzi:
My 2 cats (Harley and Whiskers), sleep in bed with us too. They are strictly indoor felines though. My father-in-law hates voles!! He runs them over with his lawn mower rider. They are very destructive to the lawn. |
Andrew Spallek
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Aspallek
Post Number: 1031
Registered: 5-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, December 17, 2005 - 12:01 pm: |
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As a longtime cat-owner, too, I know that every cat must identify every noises it hears. If it is a familiar noise, all it takes is a turn of the head or maybe even the turn of just an ear and the cat is satisfied. If it is unfamiliar, the cat must be off to see what it is. If the cat cannot physically get to a place where it can investigate the sound (i.e., if the cat is indoors and the sound is outdoors and out of sight, it will pester its owner in to investigating for him (the owner being the surrogate cat-mother). I once had a cat who absolutely demanded that I do something immediately to stop the chirping of a smoke detector with a low battery.
It is very likely that Diddles heard a sound from outside Mrs. Prater's apartment and woke Mrs. Prater to "demand" that she investigate. It is certainly possible that this was the sound of the Ripper. But it is also possible that it was something different.
Andy S. |
