EPISODE 4: THE LETTERS ## PART ONE: DEAR BOSS ### CHAPTER 1: THE CENTRAL NEWS AGENCY Thomas Bulling was tired. As a journalist at the Central News Agency in the City of London, he was accustomed to receiving correspondence of dubious value. Cranks, confessors, conspiracy theorists—they all sent letters, and it was his job to sort through the madness for anything newsworthy. On September 27, 1888, a letter arrived that would become the most famous piece of correspondence in criminal history. It was written in red ink, the handwriting neat and slanting, the tone almost playful: "Dear Boss, I keep on hearing the police have caught me but they wont fix me just yet. I have laughed when they look so clever and talk about being on the right track. That joke about Leather Apron gave me real fits..." Bulling read it with professional skepticism. The Whitechapel murders were the story of the moment, and every newspaper in London had received letters claiming to be from the killer. This one was probably another hoax. But something about it was different. --- ### CHAPTER 2: THE NAME The letter continued in the same jaunty tone: "I am down on whores and I shant quit ripping them till I do get buckled. Grand work the last job was. I gave the...