Jack the Ripper

Fred Abberline was no stranger to Whitechapel. He had at least 14 years of prior service in that part of London.

When he first took on the Ripper investigation, Abberline believed an earlier East End murder (of Martha Tabram) was also the work of the knife-wielding "Jack." Not until much later did the inspector change his mind about that.

The Metropolitan Police and Scotland Yard were convinced many of the "Ripper" letters were hoaxes. Three (including the one which begins this story) were believed genuine. But Abberline and his investigation team had very little evidence with which to piece together motives or suspects.

Abberline even worked with one of the most famous psychics of the day - Robert James Lees - (scroll down 80%) who reportedly consulted with Queen Victoria. The story is told that Lees led Abberline and his men to the place where they would learn the identity of the Ripper. The place to which he led them? Buckingham Palace.

After Abberline retired from the police force, in 1892, the Ripper files were closed. The crimes have never been solved. But Abberline revealed his own thinking on the subject when he reportedly told crime writer Nigel Morland

...you’d have to look for him [the Ripper] not at the bottom of London society but a long way up.

Ripperologists, however, remain doubtful there was a royal connection to any of the Whitechapel murders.  For them, and their industry, it's beneficial that the crimes were never solved.