1 00:00:15,356 --> 00:00:27,596 Speaker 1: Pushkin. Evelyn notly often brings men friends back to her 2 00:00:27,676 --> 00:00:34,756 Speaker 1: tiny Soho apartment. Some were stooped and gray, like middle 3 00:00:34,756 --> 00:00:39,036 Speaker 1: aged Bertram, a bespectacled gentleman who limped thanks to an 4 00:00:39,036 --> 00:00:44,036 Speaker 1: old war wound. Others were athletic and tall, like Jeff, 5 00:00:44,516 --> 00:00:47,796 Speaker 1: the polite and shy aviator with what sounded like an 6 00:00:47,796 --> 00:00:54,996 Speaker 1: American accent. These visitors were invariably well mannered and considerate. 7 00:00:55,476 --> 00:00:58,996 Speaker 1: They were friends, or at least they behaved in a 8 00:00:59,036 --> 00:01:03,396 Speaker 1: friendly manner. But the Canadian soldier raging in Evelyn's flat 9 00:01:03,516 --> 00:01:14,196 Speaker 1: right now is certainly not a friend. The row pierces 10 00:01:14,236 --> 00:01:17,636 Speaker 1: the thin partition walls and carries up the stairwell of 11 00:01:17,716 --> 00:01:21,636 Speaker 1: one fifty three Warder Street. Sarah Middleton lives in a 12 00:01:21,716 --> 00:01:29,836 Speaker 1: room one floor above. When Sarah enters Evelyn's room, Evelyn's 13 00:01:29,876 --> 00:01:33,756 Speaker 1: standing her ground, refusing to give the furious young soldier 14 00:01:33,796 --> 00:01:37,436 Speaker 1: a penny. She's a full foot shorter than the towering 15 00:01:37,476 --> 00:01:42,156 Speaker 1: Canadian private, but she won't surrender to his threats. The 16 00:01:42,236 --> 00:01:46,196 Speaker 1: man steps over to the door and closes it, blocking 17 00:01:46,276 --> 00:01:50,476 Speaker 1: any escape with his hulking form, trapping Evelyn and Sarah. 18 00:01:51,556 --> 00:01:54,436 Speaker 1: Five shillings isn't nothing but it's also not a sum 19 00:01:54,476 --> 00:01:58,356 Speaker 1: of money worth dying over. The Canadian takes out a 20 00:01:58,396 --> 00:02:11,196 Speaker 1: pistol and points it squarely at the women. This is 21 00:02:11,276 --> 00:02:14,196 Speaker 1: the seldom told story of women in World War Two 22 00:02:14,796 --> 00:02:17,836 Speaker 1: who were killed not by the enemy, but by husbands, 23 00:02:18,036 --> 00:02:22,276 Speaker 1: lovers and strangers wearing the uniform of their own side. 24 00:02:23,596 --> 00:02:26,596 Speaker 2: It's also the tale of a particular string of murder 25 00:02:26,636 --> 00:02:29,436 Speaker 2: victims that history has swept from view. 26 00:02:29,636 --> 00:02:30,996 Speaker 1: I'm Halle rubin Hold. 27 00:02:31,476 --> 00:02:33,676 Speaker 2: And I'm Alice Fines, and you're. 28 00:02:33,516 --> 00:02:36,436 Speaker 1: Listening to bad Women. The Blackout Ripper. 29 00:03:14,636 --> 00:03:18,916 Speaker 2: Last episode, we traced Evelyn Oakley's early life in England's Northwest, 30 00:03:19,276 --> 00:03:22,316 Speaker 2: from her turbulent childhood and her father's desertion of the 31 00:03:22,356 --> 00:03:25,476 Speaker 2: family through to her work in a drab textile mill. 32 00:03:26,316 --> 00:03:29,356 Speaker 2: We saw her growing fascination with the glamour of the 33 00:03:29,356 --> 00:03:32,876 Speaker 2: stage and her attraction to the freedoms of London's West 34 00:03:32,956 --> 00:03:37,716 Speaker 2: End counterculture. For some reason, in nineteen thirty six, at 35 00:03:37,756 --> 00:03:40,876 Speaker 2: the age of twenty eight, Evelyn decided to leave her 36 00:03:40,876 --> 00:03:44,476 Speaker 2: life in Soho, return north and marry Harold Oatley, a 37 00:03:44,516 --> 00:03:48,276 Speaker 2: poultry farmer she had met years earlier. They lived together 38 00:03:48,316 --> 00:03:50,876 Speaker 2: for a year or so in the sleepy village of Thornton. 39 00:03:51,396 --> 00:03:54,356 Speaker 2: But in the end the role of poultry farmer's wife 40 00:03:54,556 --> 00:03:55,476 Speaker 2: was not for Evelyn. 41 00:03:55,796 --> 00:03:58,516 Speaker 3: She appeared to tire of the life we were leading, 42 00:03:59,396 --> 00:04:01,116 Speaker 3: saying it was too dull. 43 00:04:02,476 --> 00:04:05,836 Speaker 2: Before they had married, Harold had promised to allow Evelyn 44 00:04:05,876 --> 00:04:08,956 Speaker 2: the freedom to return to the West End, so when 45 00:04:08,956 --> 00:04:11,796 Speaker 2: she he grew restless, he kept his word and let 46 00:04:11,876 --> 00:04:14,836 Speaker 2: her go. That the prospect didn't thrill him. 47 00:04:15,036 --> 00:04:19,196 Speaker 3: I told her that I was very lonely, and that 48 00:04:19,276 --> 00:04:21,116 Speaker 3: I did not think a lot of her for leaving 49 00:04:21,116 --> 00:04:21,836 Speaker 3: me on my own. 50 00:04:23,116 --> 00:04:28,116 Speaker 2: Back in Soho, Evelyn again assumed that starlet's amias lta Ward, 51 00:04:28,716 --> 00:04:30,916 Speaker 2: and it wasn't long before she had taken a flat 52 00:04:30,956 --> 00:04:35,116 Speaker 2: on Wardour Street the business epicenter of the British film industry. 53 00:04:35,836 --> 00:04:40,276 Speaker 2: Here producers, theatrical agents and distributors all had their offices. 54 00:04:41,436 --> 00:04:44,916 Speaker 2: Movie stars and famous writers could be spotted dining in 55 00:04:44,956 --> 00:04:50,876 Speaker 2: its numerous cafes in restaurants too. 56 00:04:50,516 --> 00:04:54,636 Speaker 4: All the way from Trinidad Cyril midnight. 57 00:04:54,396 --> 00:05:03,156 Speaker 1: Late further along Wardour Street, the Shimsham Club, a queer 58 00:05:03,156 --> 00:05:06,996 Speaker 1: friendly venue, was celebrated as Harlem and London, a progressive 59 00:05:07,036 --> 00:05:11,516 Speaker 1: space of jazz music and so called interracial dancing. The 60 00:05:11,516 --> 00:05:15,076 Speaker 1: Metropolitan Police recorded it as a den of vice and 61 00:05:15,196 --> 00:05:19,236 Speaker 1: iniquity for the very same reasons. If they could prove 62 00:05:19,276 --> 00:05:22,116 Speaker 1: it was selling alcohol without a permit, they could raid 63 00:05:22,196 --> 00:05:26,196 Speaker 1: the premises and shut it down. Officers staked out the 64 00:05:26,236 --> 00:05:28,396 Speaker 1: club to note the comings and goings. 65 00:05:28,596 --> 00:05:33,036 Speaker 4: At two sixteen am, two women, both of the lesbian type, left. 66 00:05:33,636 --> 00:05:36,236 Speaker 4: As they passed me, one said to the other that 67 00:05:36,396 --> 00:05:41,676 Speaker 4: was a dear dance for ten shillings. At two nineteen am, 68 00:05:41,716 --> 00:05:46,876 Speaker 4: a man of color entered. At two twenty three am, 69 00:05:46,916 --> 00:05:50,196 Speaker 4: a man under the influence of drink left. He was 70 00:05:50,236 --> 00:05:53,316 Speaker 4: wearing a fancy hat and blowing a squeaker. 71 00:05:54,916 --> 00:05:57,076 Speaker 1: The steady flow of people in and out of the 72 00:05:57,076 --> 00:06:02,596 Speaker 1: club continued, with the spying officer largely remarking on the sex, ethnicity, 73 00:06:02,876 --> 00:06:06,636 Speaker 1: and level of intoxication of the party goers, until. 74 00:06:06,476 --> 00:06:10,156 Speaker 4: At three twenty am, two prosper entered. 75 00:06:11,556 --> 00:06:15,076 Speaker 1: The owners of the Shimsham Club were regularly hauled before 76 00:06:15,076 --> 00:06:18,716 Speaker 1: the courts and find heavily for liquor offenses, but it 77 00:06:18,796 --> 00:06:23,316 Speaker 1: was director John Meyer's unorthodox approach to hr disputes that 78 00:06:23,396 --> 00:06:27,916 Speaker 1: garnered the club national attention. Myers, a former dock worker 79 00:06:27,996 --> 00:06:32,036 Speaker 1: and market porter terminated an employment negotiation with the band 80 00:06:32,116 --> 00:06:35,796 Speaker 1: leader of the Kentucky Minstrels by grabbing the seated man 81 00:06:36,196 --> 00:06:39,796 Speaker 1: and punching him until he bled, and a trumpet player 82 00:06:39,996 --> 00:06:42,996 Speaker 1: who took a sacking to the Musicians Union lost two 83 00:06:43,116 --> 00:06:47,196 Speaker 1: front teeth arguing with Myers, something that would forever ruin 84 00:06:47,276 --> 00:06:52,036 Speaker 1: his trumpet plane. A court was told Evelyn may have 85 00:06:52,116 --> 00:06:56,876 Speaker 1: basped in the reflected glow of Soho's notorious and freewheeling haunts, 86 00:06:56,916 --> 00:07:00,196 Speaker 1: but her own digs were far from prestigious or glamorous. 87 00:07:00,796 --> 00:07:03,316 Speaker 1: She rented a small room on one of the upper 88 00:07:03,316 --> 00:07:06,636 Speaker 1: floors of an old and weathered building at one fifty 89 00:07:06,716 --> 00:07:10,836 Speaker 1: three Warders Street, or rather, she rented a portion of 90 00:07:10,876 --> 00:07:13,756 Speaker 1: a room that had been carved in two by a 91 00:07:13,756 --> 00:07:15,036 Speaker 1: wooden partition wall. 92 00:07:17,276 --> 00:07:20,876 Speaker 2: Flat farming was a common practice. After the police had 93 00:07:20,916 --> 00:07:25,116 Speaker 2: begun cracking down on brothels, landlords started buying up housing, 94 00:07:25,276 --> 00:07:31,076 Speaker 2: often derelict apartment buildings, and subdividing each room into smaller compartments. 95 00:07:30,436 --> 00:07:33,276 Speaker 5: Which means that they fall into a loophole of the law. 96 00:07:33,396 --> 00:07:36,556 Speaker 5: They're not technically brothels because a brothel has to be 97 00:07:36,596 --> 00:07:39,956 Speaker 5: a place where more than one woman practice as prostitution. 98 00:07:40,436 --> 00:07:43,316 Speaker 2: Professor Julia Late is a reader in modern history at 99 00:07:43,316 --> 00:07:46,836 Speaker 2: Birkbeck University of London and an expert on the sex trade. 100 00:07:46,876 --> 00:07:50,116 Speaker 5: In this era, flat farmers set up houses so that 101 00:07:50,436 --> 00:07:53,916 Speaker 5: each little room is technically a separate flat. They do 102 00:07:54,036 --> 00:07:56,196 Speaker 5: that by putting in like a hot plate and a 103 00:07:56,236 --> 00:07:58,196 Speaker 5: gas meter, and that makes it a separate flat. 104 00:07:58,556 --> 00:08:01,556 Speaker 2: Landlords could make a lot of money out of this system, 105 00:08:01,636 --> 00:08:04,716 Speaker 2: says Julia, packing tenants in like sardines. 106 00:08:05,036 --> 00:08:07,756 Speaker 5: It's very much power for the course. By the nineteen forties, 107 00:08:07,836 --> 00:08:10,596 Speaker 5: this is kind of the way that the indoor side 108 00:08:10,596 --> 00:08:13,476 Speaker 5: of commercial sex in London is conducted. The flat farmers 109 00:08:13,476 --> 00:08:14,756 Speaker 5: have got the market cornered. 110 00:08:15,316 --> 00:08:18,596 Speaker 2: Evelyn's flat had two windows and a fireplace, and she 111 00:08:18,636 --> 00:08:22,556 Speaker 2: furnished it simply with a bed, sofa, dressing table and closet. 112 00:08:23,236 --> 00:08:26,236 Speaker 2: She had china and cutlery for two to accommodate a 113 00:08:26,316 --> 00:08:32,116 Speaker 2: continuous stream of visitors, friends, clients, and also occasionally her husband. 114 00:08:33,396 --> 00:08:36,756 Speaker 2: On a little table sat her beloved wireless radio, and 115 00:08:36,876 --> 00:08:39,116 Speaker 2: fixed to her door was a name card bearing the 116 00:08:39,196 --> 00:08:44,996 Speaker 2: proud moniker l Ward. Evelyn wrote to Harold and told 117 00:08:45,036 --> 00:08:47,236 Speaker 2: him that she had obtained work as a hostess in 118 00:08:47,276 --> 00:08:50,516 Speaker 2: a nightclub. She was also open with him about having 119 00:08:50,636 --> 00:08:54,716 Speaker 2: gentlemen admirers. Though Harold said he still didn't suspect she 120 00:08:54,836 --> 00:08:58,436 Speaker 2: sold sex for a living, he continued to believe that 121 00:08:58,516 --> 00:09:02,996 Speaker 2: she was also a professional dancer. For her part, Evelyn 122 00:09:03,076 --> 00:09:05,556 Speaker 2: might have still nurtured dreams of a proper career on 123 00:09:05,596 --> 00:09:08,716 Speaker 2: the stage, though the older she grew, the less likely 124 00:09:08,756 --> 00:09:12,116 Speaker 2: it was that these dreams would become reality, a fact 125 00:09:12,276 --> 00:09:16,156 Speaker 2: surely not lost on her. Hostess work in bars and 126 00:09:16,196 --> 00:09:19,556 Speaker 2: clubs would likely have suited Evelyn, who, by all accounts, 127 00:09:19,636 --> 00:09:24,236 Speaker 2: enjoyed making merry. What's more, for the canny hostess, there 128 00:09:24,276 --> 00:09:25,716 Speaker 2: were kickbacks to be made. 129 00:09:26,476 --> 00:09:30,876 Speaker 5: Quite literally. Their job was to seem flirtatious and available 130 00:09:30,876 --> 00:09:32,876 Speaker 5: to men, get them to spend lots of money on drinks. 131 00:09:32,956 --> 00:09:34,716 Speaker 5: And this is still a system that's alive and well 132 00:09:34,716 --> 00:09:37,636 Speaker 5: in many places today. Where the woman would say, buy 133 00:09:37,676 --> 00:09:40,036 Speaker 5: me a drink, the man would buy her a drink, 134 00:09:40,076 --> 00:09:42,636 Speaker 5: but the bartender would pour her water colored water to 135 00:09:42,676 --> 00:09:44,236 Speaker 5: make it look like it was a drink, and the 136 00:09:44,276 --> 00:09:47,236 Speaker 5: bar would parkt that money, some of which would go 137 00:09:47,276 --> 00:09:48,956 Speaker 5: to the hostess at the end of the night, and 138 00:09:49,036 --> 00:09:50,556 Speaker 5: some of which would be kept by the bar. 139 00:09:50,476 --> 00:09:56,276 Speaker 2: Owner Evelyn also continued to sell sex. According to her 140 00:09:56,316 --> 00:09:59,996 Speaker 2: friend Gladys Barton, she used to work Regent Street, a 141 00:09:59,996 --> 00:10:04,516 Speaker 2: prestigious shopping thoroughfare. She'd roam several blocks from the archway 142 00:10:04,556 --> 00:10:08,476 Speaker 2: at Piccadilly Circus up to Lawley's of Regent Street, a 143 00:10:08,516 --> 00:10:10,996 Speaker 2: specialist ay of glass and china homework. 144 00:10:12,636 --> 00:10:16,796 Speaker 6: This is London. You will now hear a statement by 145 00:10:16,796 --> 00:10:17,716 Speaker 6: the Prime Minister. 146 00:10:20,956 --> 00:10:26,196 Speaker 7: This morning the British ambassador in Berlin handed the German 147 00:10:26,276 --> 00:10:31,956 Speaker 7: government a final note stating that unless we heard from 148 00:10:31,996 --> 00:10:36,996 Speaker 7: them by eleven o'clock that they were prepared at once 149 00:10:37,196 --> 00:10:41,236 Speaker 7: to withdraw their troops from Poland, a state of war 150 00:10:41,836 --> 00:10:46,636 Speaker 7: would exist between us. I have to tell you now 151 00:10:47,596 --> 00:10:52,316 Speaker 7: that no such undertaking has been received, and that consequently 152 00:10:53,156 --> 00:10:56,516 Speaker 7: this country is at war with Germany. 153 00:10:57,956 --> 00:11:00,956 Speaker 2: The impending war with Germany was predicted to be a 154 00:11:01,236 --> 00:11:05,956 Speaker 2: terrifying ordeal, with devastating aerial bombing, poison gas and the 155 00:11:06,076 --> 00:11:08,956 Speaker 2: vast mechanized slaughter of conscript armies. 156 00:11:10,476 --> 00:11:13,276 Speaker 6: But it is evil things that we shall be fighting against, 157 00:11:13,756 --> 00:11:20,676 Speaker 6: route force, bad faith injustice, oppression and persecution, And against 158 00:11:20,756 --> 00:11:24,276 Speaker 6: them I am certain that the right will prevail. 159 00:11:25,276 --> 00:11:29,476 Speaker 2: The Declaration of hostilities. In nineteen thirty nine, turbocharged the 160 00:11:29,516 --> 00:11:30,396 Speaker 2: London sex trait. 161 00:11:30,716 --> 00:11:33,916 Speaker 5: The city just gets flooded by young men with money 162 00:11:33,916 --> 00:11:36,316 Speaker 5: in their pockets and fear in their hearts, and so 163 00:11:36,596 --> 00:11:39,036 Speaker 5: they're really drawn to this area and they find plenty 164 00:11:39,076 --> 00:11:41,116 Speaker 5: of places to imbibe. 165 00:11:41,516 --> 00:11:46,196 Speaker 2: Soho and Piccadilly were immensely popular with the soldiers. Cocaine 166 00:11:46,236 --> 00:11:49,916 Speaker 2: and amphetamines were available, and alongside the pubs and nightclubs, 167 00:11:49,956 --> 00:11:53,116 Speaker 2: there was a thriving underground party scene that picked up 168 00:11:53,156 --> 00:11:55,316 Speaker 2: where the regular licensing hours left off. 169 00:11:55,716 --> 00:11:58,676 Speaker 5: You get a kind of hedonism, a kind of almost nihilism. 170 00:11:59,156 --> 00:12:00,756 Speaker 5: We're here for a good time, we don't know if 171 00:12:00,796 --> 00:12:04,436 Speaker 5: we're coming back, and it creates an atmosphere where people 172 00:12:04,476 --> 00:12:08,556 Speaker 5: are just desperate for distraction, for entertainment, for sex, for 173 00:12:08,596 --> 00:12:10,436 Speaker 5: alcohol and those sorts of things. 174 00:12:12,316 --> 00:12:16,876 Speaker 2: Increased demand for sex was met in different ways. Alongside soldiers, 175 00:12:16,996 --> 00:12:19,756 Speaker 2: London was also flooded with young women who came to 176 00:12:19,756 --> 00:12:20,796 Speaker 2: look for work. 177 00:12:21,156 --> 00:12:23,436 Speaker 5: But they're also coming to find a good time. And 178 00:12:23,516 --> 00:12:24,956 Speaker 5: I think a lot of the women were john to 179 00:12:25,036 --> 00:12:27,396 Speaker 5: London because it was an exciting place to be Because 180 00:12:27,436 --> 00:12:30,676 Speaker 5: there were handsome soldiers there. A lot of women who 181 00:12:30,716 --> 00:12:33,196 Speaker 5: went there wouldn't have thought I'm going to sell sex, 182 00:12:33,596 --> 00:12:36,396 Speaker 5: but they may have ended up trading sex for either 183 00:12:36,436 --> 00:12:39,276 Speaker 5: money or for a night out on the town. These 184 00:12:39,276 --> 00:12:42,516 Speaker 5: were the women who police referred to as amateur prostitutes 185 00:12:42,956 --> 00:12:44,036 Speaker 5: or good time girls. 186 00:12:44,996 --> 00:12:48,396 Speaker 2: The women that the police considered to be professional prostitutes 187 00:12:48,436 --> 00:12:51,396 Speaker 2: responded to the rise in demand for their services by 188 00:12:51,436 --> 00:12:53,676 Speaker 2: working longer hours over more days. 189 00:12:54,036 --> 00:12:57,316 Speaker 5: There's also women who were selling sex as their main 190 00:12:57,356 --> 00:12:59,916 Speaker 5: source of income prior to the Second World War, who 191 00:12:59,956 --> 00:13:02,756 Speaker 5: are just seeing more clients, either to make more money 192 00:13:03,196 --> 00:13:05,916 Speaker 5: or because they were increasingly under the control of third 193 00:13:05,916 --> 00:13:09,796 Speaker 5: parties who were coercing them or forcing them to see 194 00:13:09,836 --> 00:13:12,196 Speaker 5: more clients than they would have ordinarily if they were 195 00:13:12,236 --> 00:13:14,636 Speaker 5: working independently. 196 00:13:14,716 --> 00:13:18,796 Speaker 2: Evelyn doesn't quite fit into either of these camps. Although 197 00:13:18,836 --> 00:13:22,436 Speaker 2: Gladys Barton said she worked Regent Street, she didn't think 198 00:13:22,476 --> 00:13:25,636 Speaker 2: Evelyn had a pimp, and nor do her transactions seem 199 00:13:25,676 --> 00:13:28,356 Speaker 2: to have particularly increased in number after the war began. 200 00:13:28,956 --> 00:13:32,356 Speaker 2: In fact, her friend and neighbor Sarah Middleton, described how 201 00:13:32,396 --> 00:13:35,196 Speaker 2: she had three regular clients who would visit her. 202 00:13:35,676 --> 00:13:37,156 Speaker 5: You have to be really careful because, of course the 203 00:13:37,196 --> 00:13:41,316 Speaker 5: police describe her as a prostitute, but Anyone who's listened 204 00:13:41,356 --> 00:13:45,596 Speaker 5: to the first season of this podcast will implicitly understand 205 00:13:45,636 --> 00:13:48,156 Speaker 5: why when the police say a woman is a prostitute, 206 00:13:48,156 --> 00:13:50,516 Speaker 5: we must take that with a grain of salt. The 207 00:13:50,596 --> 00:13:52,716 Speaker 5: weight of the evidence points to the fact that she 208 00:13:52,836 --> 00:13:56,996 Speaker 5: was selling sex on a semi regular basis. In that way, 209 00:13:57,116 --> 00:14:00,596 Speaker 5: she's probably pretty typical of most women who would have 210 00:14:00,596 --> 00:14:03,596 Speaker 5: been selling sex at the time. The majority were probably 211 00:14:03,956 --> 00:14:06,716 Speaker 5: moving in and out of different kinds of work, selling 212 00:14:06,756 --> 00:14:09,436 Speaker 5: sex on the side, sometimes meeting up with a man 213 00:14:09,516 --> 00:14:12,236 Speaker 5: who would pay their way for a while, sometimes not. 214 00:14:12,836 --> 00:14:16,876 Speaker 5: It's really difficult to say, though, how often she sold sex, 215 00:14:16,916 --> 00:14:21,396 Speaker 5: whether she herself saw it as her main occupation, or 216 00:14:21,676 --> 00:14:24,876 Speaker 5: if she interpreted what she was doing really differently. 217 00:14:25,996 --> 00:14:30,356 Speaker 2: However, Evelyn saw herself others regarded her as an honest 218 00:14:30,396 --> 00:14:32,676 Speaker 2: young woman who valued female friendship. 219 00:14:33,116 --> 00:14:35,356 Speaker 1: She would give another girl anything. 220 00:14:35,476 --> 00:14:40,596 Speaker 2: Said Gladys Barton. A surviving photograph shows a fresh faced 221 00:14:40,596 --> 00:14:43,516 Speaker 2: Evelyn with a warm smile, and though she holds a 222 00:14:43,516 --> 00:14:47,396 Speaker 2: cigarette loosely at her side, her blonde hair immaculately curled 223 00:14:47,436 --> 00:14:53,636 Speaker 2: and pinned back. There's something childlike about her. People who 224 00:14:53,716 --> 00:14:56,916 Speaker 2: knew Evelyn described her as jolly, a neighbor said she 225 00:14:56,916 --> 00:14:59,676 Speaker 2: would come back to her flat singing and whistling, and 226 00:14:59,716 --> 00:15:02,396 Speaker 2: then immediately switched the wireless on to fill her home 227 00:15:02,436 --> 00:15:06,876 Speaker 2: with music. Yet beneath this, Sheene of gaiety lucked a 228 00:15:06,956 --> 00:15:11,676 Speaker 2: certain darkness. Addis noted that Evelyn could be disconsolate and 229 00:15:11,796 --> 00:15:15,556 Speaker 2: was a heavy drinker, preferring Scotch, but happy to take anything. 230 00:15:16,676 --> 00:15:19,756 Speaker 2: She formed the impression that her friend was deeply lonely. 231 00:15:21,036 --> 00:15:23,476 Speaker 2: Mona Hill, who also worked in the sex trade and 232 00:15:23,596 --> 00:15:27,076 Speaker 2: was friends with Evelyn for seven years, agreed with that assessment. 233 00:15:28,396 --> 00:15:30,476 Speaker 8: If she could, she would get a man to stay 234 00:15:30,516 --> 00:15:32,756 Speaker 8: the night with her, as she was afraid of sleeping 235 00:15:32,796 --> 00:15:33,476 Speaker 8: by herself. 236 00:15:34,236 --> 00:15:37,116 Speaker 2: Julia Late has read many accounts of lives of women 237 00:15:37,116 --> 00:15:40,276 Speaker 2: in the sex trade, and she's intrigued by the idea 238 00:15:40,316 --> 00:15:43,276 Speaker 2: that Evelyn sought more than just money from the men 239 00:15:43,356 --> 00:15:44,916 Speaker 2: she brought home to Wardore Street. 240 00:15:45,436 --> 00:15:48,396 Speaker 5: I was really struck by that, because most women who 241 00:15:48,436 --> 00:15:51,716 Speaker 5: were selling sex professionally, who would see themselves as making 242 00:15:51,716 --> 00:15:54,716 Speaker 5: the majority of their money from selling sex, would not 243 00:15:55,076 --> 00:15:57,756 Speaker 5: be looking for men to stay over. In fact, it 244 00:15:57,796 --> 00:16:01,476 Speaker 5: was rather the opposite. They would see men who were 245 00:16:01,876 --> 00:16:04,956 Speaker 5: clients who got out quickly as their best clients, and 246 00:16:04,996 --> 00:16:07,236 Speaker 5: so it does tell us something particular about the way 247 00:16:07,236 --> 00:16:10,836 Speaker 5: Evelin saw the work, or the the sociability that she 248 00:16:10,916 --> 00:16:13,636 Speaker 5: was engaging in. I think it also tells us something 249 00:16:13,676 --> 00:16:16,436 Speaker 5: about her fascination for the West End. I really get 250 00:16:16,436 --> 00:16:20,676 Speaker 5: this impression of a woman who's both fascinated and drawn 251 00:16:20,756 --> 00:16:23,676 Speaker 5: to that excitement, but also sometimes finds it desperately lonely, 252 00:16:23,916 --> 00:16:26,236 Speaker 5: somebody who always likes to be surrounded by people and 253 00:16:26,316 --> 00:16:30,316 Speaker 5: noise and parties, and less comfortable potentially alone inside her 254 00:16:30,316 --> 00:16:30,756 Speaker 5: own head. 255 00:16:31,916 --> 00:16:34,596 Speaker 1: Evelyn seems to have met men who showed her affection, 256 00:16:35,396 --> 00:16:39,276 Speaker 1: some even adored her, but she also encountered others who 257 00:16:39,316 --> 00:16:43,396 Speaker 1: were less savory, to say the least. One even came 258 00:16:43,436 --> 00:16:47,596 Speaker 1: to Warders Street bearing arms. But more on that. After 259 00:16:47,636 --> 00:17:02,076 Speaker 1: this short break, the Canadian soldier's six foot frame was 260 00:17:02,116 --> 00:17:06,116 Speaker 1: blocking the door, the only escape route from Evelyn's tiny 261 00:17:06,236 --> 00:17:10,396 Speaker 1: first floor apartment. The pistol looks small in the man's 262 00:17:10,436 --> 00:17:14,516 Speaker 1: big hand, but its muzzle was squarely aimed at Evelyn 263 00:17:14,836 --> 00:17:19,396 Speaker 1: and her neighbor, Sarah Middleton. Sarah had dropped by, attracted 264 00:17:19,396 --> 00:17:21,236 Speaker 1: by loud voices in dispute. 265 00:17:22,036 --> 00:17:25,116 Speaker 8: I did not know him. He was arguing about money, 266 00:17:25,316 --> 00:17:27,916 Speaker 8: and wanted her to give him back five shillings. 267 00:17:28,276 --> 00:17:32,316 Speaker 1: Even after the soldier drew his gun, Evelyn still wouldn't 268 00:17:32,316 --> 00:17:36,876 Speaker 1: give him any money, and so, undoubtedly fearing for her life, 269 00:17:37,316 --> 00:17:43,516 Speaker 1: Sarah decided to pay the man herself. Finally he left. 270 00:17:44,596 --> 00:17:47,956 Speaker 1: It certainly wouldn't be the last time Evelyn encountered peril. 271 00:17:48,916 --> 00:17:50,996 Speaker 1: A new man would put a ring on her finger 272 00:17:51,396 --> 00:17:54,436 Speaker 1: and promised to start a new life with her, before 273 00:17:54,476 --> 00:18:01,036 Speaker 1: revealing himself to be jealous, violent and cruel. Although Evelyn 274 00:18:01,116 --> 00:18:04,116 Speaker 1: loved and embraced Soho, she also felt the pull of 275 00:18:04,156 --> 00:18:08,436 Speaker 1: her roots in the Northwest and her husband, Herald. Over 276 00:18:08,476 --> 00:18:11,276 Speaker 1: the years, she traveled back and forth to see him, 277 00:18:11,636 --> 00:18:15,276 Speaker 1: and sometimes he would visit her in London too. Evelyn 278 00:18:15,316 --> 00:18:19,356 Speaker 1: and Harold also gave each other money. According to Gladys Barton, 279 00:18:19,516 --> 00:18:22,796 Speaker 1: it was Evelyn's wages that paid for and outfitted their 280 00:18:22,836 --> 00:18:26,516 Speaker 1: Thornton bungalow. Though she couldn't quite get used to this 281 00:18:26,636 --> 00:18:30,116 Speaker 1: conventional domestic realm or be truly happy in it, she 282 00:18:30,236 --> 00:18:34,276 Speaker 1: also couldn't entirely break from it either. There were other 283 00:18:34,356 --> 00:18:38,476 Speaker 1: clues that Evelyn felt attention within herself as Leta Ward. 284 00:18:38,956 --> 00:18:42,996 Speaker 1: She carried a white metal cigarette case, a prized possession 285 00:18:43,116 --> 00:18:47,916 Speaker 1: embossed with the initials l W. Yet inside that cigarette 286 00:18:47,916 --> 00:18:51,516 Speaker 1: case she kept a small snapshot of her mother, Rosina, 287 00:18:52,076 --> 00:18:55,396 Speaker 1: a poignant piece of her past tucked within the trappings 288 00:18:55,436 --> 00:19:00,716 Speaker 1: of her London identity. Andrew Jackson, a bachelor in his fifties, 289 00:19:01,036 --> 00:19:04,396 Speaker 1: remembered meeting Evelyn on Regent Street, having dinner with her, 290 00:19:04,476 --> 00:19:07,916 Speaker 1: and visiting her Soho flat. He later went to stay 291 00:19:07,916 --> 00:19:11,596 Speaker 1: with her on Harold's Tree Farm, and his description of 292 00:19:11,636 --> 00:19:14,196 Speaker 1: the setup there is curious. 293 00:19:14,716 --> 00:19:17,636 Speaker 4: I understood from Ward that this house belonged to her arm, 294 00:19:18,316 --> 00:19:21,476 Speaker 4: but I never met herar I was introduced to a 295 00:19:21,476 --> 00:19:25,276 Speaker 4: man whom I understood was Ward's cousin, Harold, who looked 296 00:19:25,316 --> 00:19:26,276 Speaker 4: after the poultry. 297 00:19:27,556 --> 00:19:31,596 Speaker 1: Jackson, under the impression that Evelyn was a spinster, would 298 00:19:31,636 --> 00:19:34,396 Speaker 1: visit the poultry farm on Saturdays and stay the night. 299 00:19:35,196 --> 00:19:38,676 Speaker 1: Presumably he shared a bed with Evelyn, while he described 300 00:19:38,676 --> 00:19:43,716 Speaker 1: their relationship as intimate. The files offer no clue as 301 00:19:43,756 --> 00:19:46,676 Speaker 1: to what Harold made of Jackson's visits or the fact 302 00:19:46,676 --> 00:19:50,476 Speaker 1: that Jackson knew Evelyn as Lita Ward, but he surely 303 00:19:50,556 --> 00:19:53,716 Speaker 1: must have suspected that all was not as he'd been told, 304 00:19:54,476 --> 00:19:58,716 Speaker 1: and perhaps he increasingly resented Evelyn's London life. 305 00:19:58,796 --> 00:20:01,956 Speaker 5: You could assume that Harold would be targeted by members 306 00:20:01,956 --> 00:20:04,556 Speaker 5: of his community for letting his wife go off to London, 307 00:20:04,716 --> 00:20:07,356 Speaker 5: for having married such a kind of woman in the 308 00:20:07,396 --> 00:20:09,836 Speaker 5: first place, But he clearly does it anyway, and so 309 00:20:09,916 --> 00:20:13,156 Speaker 5: it makes me think perhaps he's a little unconventional himself. 310 00:20:13,756 --> 00:20:17,036 Speaker 2: There are other suggestions that Harold's ideas about what was 311 00:20:17,076 --> 00:20:21,516 Speaker 2: acceptable and respectable went against the grain. Rather than enlisting 312 00:20:21,556 --> 00:20:25,156 Speaker 2: to fight in the war, he registered as a conscientious objector, 313 00:20:25,516 --> 00:20:29,716 Speaker 2: an unorthodox move conditional on his doing full time agricultural work. 314 00:20:30,876 --> 00:20:34,036 Speaker 2: In earlier conflicts, men refusing to fight on religious or 315 00:20:34,116 --> 00:20:37,996 Speaker 2: political grounds had faced public hostility and harsh treatment from 316 00:20:38,036 --> 00:20:42,916 Speaker 2: the authorities. In nineteen thirty nine, the government pledged not 317 00:20:43,036 --> 00:20:47,756 Speaker 2: to persecute these conchies, though some politicians still argued that 318 00:20:47,796 --> 00:20:50,116 Speaker 2: they should be sent to special work camps and have 319 00:20:50,196 --> 00:20:54,316 Speaker 2: their wages cats that they earned less than soldiers. Harold's 320 00:20:54,316 --> 00:20:57,596 Speaker 2: decision not to serve suggests he knew his own mind, 321 00:20:57,996 --> 00:21:00,236 Speaker 2: and he was even prepared to suffer to pursue his 322 00:21:00,316 --> 00:21:04,316 Speaker 2: chosen path. This character trait seems to have been apparent 323 00:21:04,436 --> 00:21:05,516 Speaker 2: in his marital life. 324 00:21:05,596 --> 00:21:07,756 Speaker 5: Too. It can be read in so many ways. It 325 00:21:07,756 --> 00:21:10,436 Speaker 5: can be read as a man who has resigned himself 326 00:21:10,676 --> 00:21:14,516 Speaker 5: to being treated in this way and just not having 327 00:21:14,556 --> 00:21:17,676 Speaker 5: the love and care reciprocated from Evelyn. It could be 328 00:21:17,796 --> 00:21:20,996 Speaker 5: a man who didn't live a conventional life himself. But 329 00:21:21,076 --> 00:21:23,556 Speaker 5: I think love is an important thing to remember too. 330 00:21:24,036 --> 00:21:26,756 Speaker 5: Historians don't tend to think much about it because we 331 00:21:26,796 --> 00:21:29,676 Speaker 5: don't always have much documentation for it. But this really 332 00:21:29,676 --> 00:21:31,756 Speaker 5: could have been a love story, a man who loved 333 00:21:31,836 --> 00:21:34,596 Speaker 5: his wife so much and understood her so well that 334 00:21:34,676 --> 00:21:36,156 Speaker 5: he was willing to let her. 335 00:21:36,036 --> 00:21:39,836 Speaker 2: Go, whatever their understanding with each other. It seems that 336 00:21:39,916 --> 00:21:43,796 Speaker 2: Evelyn's family wasn't in on the secret. Her brother Hermann, 337 00:21:43,796 --> 00:21:46,356 Speaker 2: had gone up in the world. He managed the hosiery 338 00:21:46,436 --> 00:21:49,156 Speaker 2: department of a store and was now supporting their mother, 339 00:21:49,756 --> 00:21:52,116 Speaker 2: and he claimed that he didn't know Harold and Evelyn 340 00:21:52,156 --> 00:21:53,276 Speaker 2: were living apart. 341 00:21:53,396 --> 00:21:57,276 Speaker 3: They have visited us many times and they appeared to 342 00:21:57,316 --> 00:21:58,276 Speaker 3: be very happy. 343 00:21:59,236 --> 00:22:02,636 Speaker 2: Rosina apparently even believed that the pair planned to live 344 00:22:02,676 --> 00:22:03,836 Speaker 2: together in London. 345 00:22:05,036 --> 00:22:08,156 Speaker 1: Harold and Evelyn's arrangement may have worked for a time. 346 00:22:09,196 --> 00:22:14,156 Speaker 1: Nineteen forty, their routine was disturbed. Evelyn was thirty two 347 00:22:14,236 --> 00:22:17,996 Speaker 1: when she met Thomas Graham, a stocky, round faced gunner 348 00:22:18,036 --> 00:22:19,156 Speaker 1: and the Royal Artillery. 349 00:22:19,756 --> 00:22:20,716 Speaker 8: What can I get you, sir? 350 00:22:21,356 --> 00:22:21,716 Speaker 5: Uh? 351 00:22:21,756 --> 00:22:22,756 Speaker 3: What's the plat de jure? 352 00:22:23,516 --> 00:22:25,356 Speaker 1: She sat at the same table as him in a 353 00:22:25,396 --> 00:22:28,796 Speaker 1: restaurant and they started to chat. He took it in 354 00:22:28,836 --> 00:22:33,516 Speaker 1: a theater and a relationship sprang from there. Evelyn even 355 00:22:33,596 --> 00:22:36,276 Speaker 1: kept a photograph of them together on the dressing table 356 00:22:36,316 --> 00:22:41,036 Speaker 1: in her room, and interestingly, in an apparently rare move, 357 00:22:41,596 --> 00:22:45,156 Speaker 1: she gave Graham her real name and story. 358 00:22:45,316 --> 00:22:47,716 Speaker 4: She told me that she was married, living apart from 359 00:22:47,716 --> 00:22:51,636 Speaker 4: her husband, Harold Outley, who was residing and working in Blackpool. 360 00:22:54,876 --> 00:22:56,876 Speaker 1: They saw each other over the next year or so. 361 00:22:57,476 --> 00:23:01,436 Speaker 1: He later said that their relationship was purely platonic, but 362 00:23:01,516 --> 00:23:06,276 Speaker 1: Evelyn's friends believed otherwise. Gladys Barton remembered enjoying a drink 363 00:23:06,316 --> 00:23:09,796 Speaker 1: with Evelyn at the Leicester Lounge around Christmas nineteen forty one. 364 00:23:10,236 --> 00:23:12,356 Speaker 1: She showed me a ring and told me that her 365 00:23:12,356 --> 00:23:15,236 Speaker 1: boyfriend bought it for her. Mona Hill thought it was 366 00:23:15,276 --> 00:23:16,356 Speaker 1: an engagement ring. 367 00:23:16,516 --> 00:23:20,316 Speaker 8: I believe it was a half hoop ring set with diamonds. 368 00:23:20,156 --> 00:23:23,836 Speaker 1: And Harold corroborated this story. He claimed that Evelyn was 369 00:23:23,836 --> 00:23:27,076 Speaker 1: being kept by Graham, and that Graham had asked him 370 00:23:27,076 --> 00:23:31,756 Speaker 1: to divorce her. Harold agreed and was beginning divorce proceedings 371 00:23:32,076 --> 00:23:36,636 Speaker 1: when this arrangement fell through. Harold said Evelyn had never 372 00:23:36,756 --> 00:23:40,516 Speaker 1: complained about facing threats or violence from Graham, but Wader 373 00:23:40,556 --> 00:23:45,476 Speaker 1: Street neighbor Sarah Middleton offered a snapshot of a tempestuous relationship. 374 00:23:45,836 --> 00:23:48,356 Speaker 8: They used to quarrel with her, and on one occasion 375 00:23:48,476 --> 00:23:52,316 Speaker 8: I heard them shouting and things being thrown across the room. 376 00:23:52,756 --> 00:23:55,276 Speaker 1: Sarah even called out in the middle of one such 377 00:23:55,396 --> 00:23:58,996 Speaker 1: argument to see if her friend was all right. Evelyn responded, 378 00:23:59,236 --> 00:24:02,516 Speaker 1: we are only having a row. He is a jealous, 379 00:24:02,556 --> 00:24:07,396 Speaker 1: bad tempered booger. Graham did not like Evelyn talking to 380 00:24:07,436 --> 00:24:10,956 Speaker 1: other men. On another occasion, he had flown into a 381 00:24:11,076 --> 00:24:13,996 Speaker 1: jealous rage in the street and torn at her clothing. 382 00:24:14,756 --> 00:24:17,836 Speaker 1: Two passing soldiers finally intervened to stop him. 383 00:24:18,116 --> 00:24:20,276 Speaker 6: You're going to get you like this. 384 00:24:21,716 --> 00:24:25,236 Speaker 1: When the relationship ended, Evelyn might have been relieved to 385 00:24:25,236 --> 00:24:28,716 Speaker 1: be free of Graham's menacing influence, or she might have 386 00:24:28,756 --> 00:24:34,196 Speaker 1: been heartbroken, feeling once more alone and adrift. But as always, 387 00:24:34,756 --> 00:24:38,996 Speaker 1: there was still Harold. At the end of January, nineteen 388 00:24:39,036 --> 00:24:43,196 Speaker 1: forty two, Evelyn's husband came to visit. He stayed for 389 00:24:43,316 --> 00:24:46,436 Speaker 1: around a week and briefly settled into a routine there, 390 00:24:46,956 --> 00:24:49,316 Speaker 1: shaving at a washstand in her room in the mornings 391 00:24:49,636 --> 00:24:52,156 Speaker 1: and going out with his wife until late in the evening. 392 00:24:52,876 --> 00:24:56,516 Speaker 1: On February third, Evelyn bid him farewell at Euston railway 393 00:24:56,556 --> 00:25:01,156 Speaker 1: station and he returned north. They would not meet again. 394 00:25:02,316 --> 00:25:03,396 Speaker 5: Oh why so sad? 395 00:25:04,036 --> 00:25:07,196 Speaker 2: Harold had been forced to sell his poultry farm and 396 00:25:07,316 --> 00:25:10,316 Speaker 2: was living with an aunt. A wartime shortage of chicken 397 00:25:10,356 --> 00:25:15,556 Speaker 2: feed had made business unsustainable. Evelyn was also in financial difficulty, 398 00:25:15,916 --> 00:25:20,436 Speaker 2: owing several weeks worth of rent. The agent for Evelyn's 399 00:25:20,436 --> 00:25:23,876 Speaker 2: flat claims she called in with her husband on February 400 00:25:23,916 --> 00:25:27,236 Speaker 2: seventh to pay off some of this debt. But February 401 00:25:27,316 --> 00:25:31,356 Speaker 2: seventh was four days after Harold had left town. Was 402 00:25:31,356 --> 00:25:34,956 Speaker 2: the agent mistaken or was Evelyn by now involved with 403 00:25:35,036 --> 00:25:38,316 Speaker 2: another man and telling people that he was her husband. 404 00:25:41,196 --> 00:25:44,636 Speaker 2: On Sunday, February eighth, at around one pm, Evelyn went 405 00:25:44,636 --> 00:25:47,396 Speaker 2: to the room next door, just beyond the thin partition 406 00:25:47,556 --> 00:25:49,996 Speaker 2: wall to see her neighbor, Ivy Pool, and cook a 407 00:25:49,996 --> 00:25:53,276 Speaker 2: steak on Ivy's gastove. The two women chatted as they 408 00:25:53,396 --> 00:25:56,196 Speaker 2: ate lunch together, and then Evelyn washed up while Ivy 409 00:25:56,196 --> 00:25:57,996 Speaker 2: got ready to go to her job as a fair 410 00:25:58,036 --> 00:26:04,316 Speaker 2: ground ride attendant Dodge Cahn Why Dodger Ghazim. Such carnivals 411 00:26:04,356 --> 00:26:07,636 Speaker 2: were permitted to continue under blackout conditions as part of 412 00:26:07,716 --> 00:26:10,436 Speaker 2: a government Holidays at Home home initiative. 413 00:26:10,756 --> 00:26:13,516 Speaker 3: Come and see the galloping horses. 414 00:26:13,196 --> 00:26:14,276 Speaker 6: The fastest in life. 415 00:26:14,516 --> 00:26:17,876 Speaker 2: Music was muted, rifle ranges were stripped of their ammunition, 416 00:26:18,356 --> 00:26:22,596 Speaker 2: and coconut shies, a peculiarly British game of skill, became 417 00:26:22,636 --> 00:26:26,756 Speaker 2: a rarity for a lack of coconuts, but there were 418 00:26:26,796 --> 00:26:31,676 Speaker 2: still swings, carousels and punch and Judy publet shows that 419 00:26:31,876 --> 00:26:35,476 Speaker 2: evening Evelyn stopped by the fairground on nearby Leicester Square 420 00:26:35,596 --> 00:26:39,156 Speaker 2: to look round. When Ivy went back home, Evelyn's door 421 00:26:39,276 --> 00:26:41,756 Speaker 2: was ajar, so she went in to say hello, my 422 00:26:42,236 --> 00:26:46,316 Speaker 2: your home early tonight. Evelyn said she rarely went out 423 00:26:46,356 --> 00:26:48,596 Speaker 2: on Sunday evenings and was planning to go to bed 424 00:26:48,716 --> 00:26:51,956 Speaker 2: after washing her hair, a laborious process that would have 425 00:26:51,996 --> 00:26:55,116 Speaker 2: involved fetching a picture of water from upstairs, hauling it 426 00:26:55,196 --> 00:26:58,236 Speaker 2: back down, filling the kettle, and lighting a fire to 427 00:26:58,316 --> 00:27:02,236 Speaker 2: heat the water. After a brief conversation, Ivy went to 428 00:27:02,316 --> 00:27:06,236 Speaker 2: bed less than a mile from where she and Evelyn 429 00:27:06,276 --> 00:27:10,116 Speaker 2: were sleeping. That night, a well spoken MG had slipped 430 00:27:10,116 --> 00:27:13,276 Speaker 2: away from his ra of comrades and begun to trol 431 00:27:13,396 --> 00:27:18,476 Speaker 2: the West End alone, and soon he would cross paths 432 00:27:18,636 --> 00:27:23,636 Speaker 2: with the pharmacist. Even Hamilton Bad Women, the blackout Ripper 433 00:27:23,836 --> 00:27:25,156 Speaker 2: will return shortly. 434 00:27:39,356 --> 00:27:42,916 Speaker 1: On Monday, February ninth, Evelyn not Obley might have noticed 435 00:27:42,916 --> 00:27:46,636 Speaker 1: a tiny stop press report in the newspaper recounting the 436 00:27:46,756 --> 00:27:50,356 Speaker 1: discovery by two workmen of a strangled woman in an 437 00:27:50,436 --> 00:27:54,276 Speaker 1: air raid shelter not far from Soho. It might not 438 00:27:54,396 --> 00:27:57,116 Speaker 1: have had much of an impact on her. The papers 439 00:27:57,156 --> 00:28:00,476 Speaker 1: were full of such cases. The report was barely a 440 00:28:00,516 --> 00:28:03,516 Speaker 1: couple of lines long, and only made the later editions. 441 00:28:04,796 --> 00:28:08,916 Speaker 1: That day, Sarah Middleton came to visit Evelyn. Ivy would 442 00:28:08,916 --> 00:28:11,476 Speaker 1: have been able to hear their chatter through the partition wall. 443 00:28:12,716 --> 00:28:15,436 Speaker 1: Ivy hadn't lived there long, but the pair seemed to 444 00:28:15,476 --> 00:28:18,796 Speaker 1: have enjoyed each other's company. Ivy was soon invited to 445 00:28:18,956 --> 00:28:22,076 Speaker 1: join the conversation. Oh do let my friend see your cat, 446 00:28:22,476 --> 00:28:26,556 Speaker 1: Evelyn called out, dutifully. Ivy scooped up her pet and 447 00:28:26,636 --> 00:28:29,076 Speaker 1: took the creature next door so that the other women 448 00:28:29,116 --> 00:28:33,196 Speaker 1: could coo over him. Sarah and Evelyn then left together, 449 00:28:33,676 --> 00:28:36,796 Speaker 1: saying their goodbyes at the corner of the street. They 450 00:28:36,876 --> 00:28:39,796 Speaker 1: agreed to meet the following day for lunch, an appointment 451 00:28:40,316 --> 00:28:45,676 Speaker 1: that Evelyn would not keep. It was early afternoon, and 452 00:28:45,836 --> 00:28:49,276 Speaker 1: carefully coordinated in a brown skirt with red stripes, a 453 00:28:49,356 --> 00:28:53,356 Speaker 1: brick red cardigan and a dark brown belted coat, Evelyn 454 00:28:53,396 --> 00:28:56,156 Speaker 1: headed off to post a parcel to her mother, Rozina. 455 00:28:57,436 --> 00:29:00,436 Speaker 1: She returned home to write some letters, and Ivy could 456 00:29:00,436 --> 00:29:03,836 Speaker 1: hear her gentle murmur through the wall. Evelyn was talking 457 00:29:03,876 --> 00:29:09,076 Speaker 1: to a man, she thought. Then at around four pm, 458 00:29:09,756 --> 00:29:12,956 Speaker 1: there was a soft clunk as Evelyn shut her front door. 459 00:29:15,276 --> 00:29:18,836 Speaker 1: That evening, Evelyn met a client in Piccadilly, still dressed 460 00:29:18,876 --> 00:29:21,796 Speaker 1: in that brick red cardigan. They had a drink together 461 00:29:21,956 --> 00:29:24,596 Speaker 1: at about eight p m and then went to her flat. 462 00:29:25,716 --> 00:29:27,796 Speaker 1: A couple of hours later, they walked back in the 463 00:29:27,876 --> 00:29:31,476 Speaker 1: direction of Piccadilly, though not before Evelyn had changed into 464 00:29:31,556 --> 00:29:35,436 Speaker 1: a black dress coat and hat. He dropped her off 465 00:29:35,476 --> 00:29:39,796 Speaker 1: at Monaco's restaurant at around ten forty pm. This marble 466 00:29:39,916 --> 00:29:43,036 Speaker 1: palace was noted for attracting the denizens of the West 467 00:29:43,196 --> 00:29:47,396 Speaker 1: End Demi Monde, particularly women who sold sex and their pimps. 468 00:29:47,956 --> 00:29:49,636 Speaker 8: I'm wearing a desper come. 469 00:29:50,356 --> 00:29:53,716 Speaker 1: It boasted nightly dancing and cabaret, and, along with the 470 00:29:53,836 --> 00:29:57,156 Speaker 1: universal brasserie in the salted Almond, was the sort of 471 00:29:57,236 --> 00:30:02,236 Speaker 1: place city guides recommended to visiting servicemen. When the pubs closed, 472 00:30:02,436 --> 00:30:05,876 Speaker 1: a small group of women and soldiers gathered outside Monaco's, 473 00:30:06,236 --> 00:30:10,996 Speaker 1: gossiping and laughing together in cold somewhere and have another drink. 474 00:30:11,636 --> 00:30:15,236 Speaker 1: Anne Carew, a cook in a local cafe who supplemented 475 00:30:15,276 --> 00:30:18,436 Speaker 1: her income through the sex trade, spotted Evelyn in the 476 00:30:18,516 --> 00:30:20,436 Speaker 1: midst of this lively throng Hello. 477 00:30:20,636 --> 00:30:24,476 Speaker 8: Later, as things quiet. 478 00:30:24,756 --> 00:30:28,876 Speaker 1: Came the sober reply. Evelyn bid Anne good night, and 479 00:30:29,036 --> 00:30:31,676 Speaker 1: then went to talk to a man in an overcoat. 480 00:30:32,716 --> 00:30:36,276 Speaker 1: Anne couldn't see his face, it was in shadow, and 481 00:30:36,396 --> 00:30:40,876 Speaker 1: she couldn't say if Evelyn left with him. Back at 482 00:30:40,956 --> 00:30:44,836 Speaker 1: Wader Street, Ivy had been laboriously washing and tinting her 483 00:30:44,916 --> 00:30:48,476 Speaker 1: hair to pass the time. She listened to the radio news. 484 00:30:49,276 --> 00:30:51,636 Speaker 1: When she heard the thud of the front door downstairs, 485 00:30:52,116 --> 00:30:54,596 Speaker 1: she knew that Evelyn would be coming up, so she 486 00:30:54,716 --> 00:30:57,436 Speaker 1: switched the wireless off and turned the hall light on. 487 00:30:58,716 --> 00:31:02,236 Speaker 1: Sure Enough, her neighbors soon appeared on the landing, and 488 00:31:02,356 --> 00:31:03,316 Speaker 1: she wasn't alone. 489 00:31:03,876 --> 00:31:08,156 Speaker 8: His complexion was fresh and he was clean shaven. His 490 00:31:08,356 --> 00:31:11,316 Speaker 8: hair was as of chestnut brown and had a wave 491 00:31:11,476 --> 00:31:12,276 Speaker 8: or two in the front. 492 00:31:13,036 --> 00:31:16,796 Speaker 1: Ivy carefully studied the man who stood behind Evelyn. He 493 00:31:16,996 --> 00:31:20,236 Speaker 1: was in his mid to late twenties, perhaps five foot 494 00:31:20,236 --> 00:31:24,876 Speaker 1: eight inches tall, and wearing civilian dress. His hands were 495 00:31:24,956 --> 00:31:27,796 Speaker 1: thrust into his pockets, and the collar of his light 496 00:31:27,876 --> 00:31:32,556 Speaker 1: blue overcoat was turned up against the february cold. Beneath 497 00:31:32,636 --> 00:31:37,236 Speaker 1: that sweep of dark hair, his features were sharp, almost pointed. 498 00:31:38,196 --> 00:31:41,556 Speaker 1: Ivy would later say that he unsettled her, that he 499 00:31:41,676 --> 00:31:42,836 Speaker 1: made her feel afraid. 500 00:31:43,436 --> 00:31:45,796 Speaker 8: Miss Waltz said, hellou to me. She went into a 501 00:31:45,916 --> 00:31:49,836 Speaker 8: flat followed by this man. She closed the door. 502 00:31:53,156 --> 00:31:57,436 Speaker 1: Almost immediately, music from Evelyn's wireless began to float through 503 00:31:57,476 --> 00:32:00,996 Speaker 1: the wall that the women shared. As Ivy sat quietly 504 00:32:01,076 --> 00:32:03,316 Speaker 1: in front of her fire, waiting for the tint to 505 00:32:03,396 --> 00:32:06,076 Speaker 1: do its work on her hair, she could hear Evelyn 506 00:32:06,156 --> 00:32:08,676 Speaker 1: and the man talking, though she could not make out 507 00:32:08,716 --> 00:32:13,796 Speaker 1: their work words. Then, quite suddenly, the wireless next door 508 00:32:13,876 --> 00:32:18,716 Speaker 1: began to blare deafening music. Ivy was startled. This was 509 00:32:18,756 --> 00:32:19,916 Speaker 1: not like her neighbor at all. 510 00:32:21,316 --> 00:32:23,836 Speaker 8: Miss Ward had always been so considerate. 511 00:32:25,796 --> 00:32:28,476 Speaker 1: It was just after midnight, and the music was so 512 00:32:28,836 --> 00:32:31,916 Speaker 1: loud that Ivy closed her door and slid beneath the 513 00:32:31,956 --> 00:32:35,916 Speaker 1: covers of her bed. Somehow she managed to fall asleep. 514 00:32:45,916 --> 00:32:48,716 Speaker 2: The following morning, Ivy woke around eight am. 515 00:32:49,556 --> 00:32:52,276 Speaker 8: I followed my usual custom of making a cup of tea. 516 00:32:53,076 --> 00:32:55,396 Speaker 8: I was having this tea when a bang came on 517 00:32:55,516 --> 00:32:58,916 Speaker 8: the straight door. I went down and opened the door. 518 00:32:59,716 --> 00:33:01,916 Speaker 8: It was two men who had come to clear the 519 00:33:01,956 --> 00:33:03,236 Speaker 8: electric light maters. 520 00:33:05,556 --> 00:33:08,236 Speaker 2: They emptied the shillings from Ivy's meter, and then she 521 00:33:08,356 --> 00:33:11,396 Speaker 2: knocked at Evelyn's flat for them. As she wrapped on 522 00:33:11,476 --> 00:33:14,996 Speaker 2: the door, it opened a little. It seemed that Evelyn 523 00:33:15,116 --> 00:33:20,916 Speaker 2: hadn't closed it properly. Ivy ventured inside. The curtains hadn't 524 00:33:20,956 --> 00:33:24,236 Speaker 2: yet been opened, and the small room was dark. It 525 00:33:24,356 --> 00:33:28,396 Speaker 2: was cold too. Ivy reached for the light switch, but 526 00:33:28,596 --> 00:33:31,756 Speaker 2: found it was already turned on. The power was out, 527 00:33:32,396 --> 00:33:36,036 Speaker 2: meaning that Evelyn couldn't have fed the meter, or perhaps 528 00:33:36,116 --> 00:33:38,236 Speaker 2: the light had been left on all night by accident. 529 00:33:38,916 --> 00:33:40,676 Speaker 8: Don't look as how, there's anybody in. 530 00:33:41,556 --> 00:33:44,956 Speaker 2: One of the workmen turned on his flashlight. The bright 531 00:33:45,116 --> 00:33:48,876 Speaker 2: beams sliced through the gloom, and what Ivy saw in 532 00:33:48,996 --> 00:33:54,276 Speaker 2: that shaft of light was horrifying. Her friend lay across 533 00:33:54,356 --> 00:33:58,156 Speaker 2: the bed, almost naked, with vicious wounds about her throat. 534 00:33:59,436 --> 00:34:02,876 Speaker 2: The killer had spent time with the dying woman, lingering 535 00:34:02,956 --> 00:34:07,796 Speaker 2: in her room, tormenting her. He'd used any implement close 536 00:34:07,836 --> 00:34:12,076 Speaker 2: at hand to mutilate and defile her, and then he'd 537 00:34:12,156 --> 00:34:17,116 Speaker 2: ransacked her handbag and cupboards, stealing money and trinkets, including 538 00:34:17,276 --> 00:34:24,676 Speaker 2: that cigarette case containing her mother's portrait. The next day, 539 00:34:25,156 --> 00:34:28,236 Speaker 2: the Blackpool police called at Harold's home and he returned 540 00:34:28,236 --> 00:34:31,556 Speaker 2: to London to identify the brutalized body of his wife. 541 00:34:33,236 --> 00:34:37,236 Speaker 2: For all their ups and downs, Harold and Evelyn, apart 542 00:34:37,516 --> 00:34:40,956 Speaker 2: but still tethered to one another, had shared an understanding 543 00:34:41,676 --> 00:34:53,956 Speaker 2: and a lasting bond. Now Harold was quite alone. Within hours, 544 00:34:54,196 --> 00:34:57,516 Speaker 2: reporters were connecting the murder of the pharmacist Evelyn Hamilton 545 00:34:57,956 --> 00:35:00,796 Speaker 2: with that of aspiring starlet Evelyn Oatley. 546 00:35:00,836 --> 00:35:04,436 Speaker 3: In Soho, Scotland. Yard detectives are seeking new clues. 547 00:35:05,236 --> 00:35:09,116 Speaker 2: Riddled with errors, coverage of Evelyn Oatly distilled her life 548 00:35:09,436 --> 00:35:16,756 Speaker 2: down into a few loaded descriptors blonde review actress Soho Girl. 549 00:35:18,076 --> 00:35:21,716 Speaker 2: A number of reports also highlighted a statement given by 550 00:35:21,796 --> 00:35:23,956 Speaker 2: a clearly distraught Harold. 551 00:35:24,196 --> 00:35:28,476 Speaker 3: My wife was fascinated by West End life and would 552 00:35:28,556 --> 00:35:29,156 Speaker 3: not leave it. 553 00:35:30,516 --> 00:35:36,636 Speaker 2: The barbarism inflicted on Evelyn was cruel, perverse, senseless, and 554 00:35:36,836 --> 00:35:39,916 Speaker 2: into that void of meaning rushed the kind of fallen 555 00:35:39,996 --> 00:35:43,156 Speaker 2: woman tropes the press had relied on for decades. 556 00:35:43,916 --> 00:35:46,956 Speaker 3: Detectives Last Night made a round of the Soho night haunts, 557 00:35:47,276 --> 00:35:50,676 Speaker 3: whose tinsel glitter drew the girl from Keighley to London 558 00:35:51,036 --> 00:35:51,756 Speaker 3: and her death. 559 00:35:52,956 --> 00:35:57,276 Speaker 2: Several papers even published a risque pin up portrait of 560 00:35:57,356 --> 00:36:02,316 Speaker 2: a younger smiling Evelin, perhaps from her theatrical portfolio. 561 00:36:02,676 --> 00:36:04,516 Speaker 3: So Ho Girl Loved Nightlife. 562 00:36:06,476 --> 00:36:10,276 Speaker 1: Evelyn's real life story was complex and hard to unpick, 563 00:36:11,036 --> 00:36:14,476 Speaker 1: but even newspaper readers who were unfamiliar with the intricacies 564 00:36:14,556 --> 00:36:18,076 Speaker 1: of London's West End or the realities of how single 565 00:36:18,156 --> 00:36:22,076 Speaker 1: women chose to live there, could grasp this moralistic version 566 00:36:22,156 --> 00:36:28,276 Speaker 1: of events. Actress Soho Girl an absent wife, Evelyn Oley 567 00:36:28,356 --> 00:36:32,236 Speaker 1: lived on that knife edge between the respectable and unrespectable. 568 00:36:33,036 --> 00:36:37,996 Speaker 1: She was a certain type of woman, and her lifestyle had, unsurprisingly, 569 00:36:38,516 --> 00:36:46,796 Speaker 1: even fittingly, led to her demise. Next time, we'll examine 570 00:36:46,836 --> 00:36:49,796 Speaker 1: how even women serving their country and joining the fight 571 00:36:49,876 --> 00:36:53,396 Speaker 1: against the Nazis were viewed with suspicion and accused of 572 00:36:53,516 --> 00:36:58,316 Speaker 1: lapses immorality, lapses that explained and perhaps even excuse the 573 00:36:58,396 --> 00:37:01,836 Speaker 1: violence they suffered at the hands of men from their 574 00:37:01,956 --> 00:37:08,716 Speaker 1: own side bad women. The Blackoutripper is hosted by me Halle. 575 00:37:08,636 --> 00:37:10,716 Speaker 2: Rubinholt and me Alice Fines. 576 00:37:11,236 --> 00:37:13,916 Speaker 1: It was written and produced by Alice Fines and Ryan Dilley, 577 00:37:14,156 --> 00:37:18,276 Speaker 1: with additional support from Courtney Garino and Arthur Gomperts. Kate 578 00:37:18,356 --> 00:37:21,916 Speaker 1: Healy of Oakwood Family Trees aided us with genealogical research. 579 00:37:22,596 --> 00:37:25,716 Speaker 2: Pascal Wise Sound designed and mixed the show and composed 580 00:37:25,756 --> 00:37:28,876 Speaker 2: all the original music. The show was recorded at Audoor 581 00:37:28,916 --> 00:37:32,476 Speaker 2: Studios by David Smith and Tom Berry. You also heard 582 00:37:32,516 --> 00:37:36,356 Speaker 2: the voice talents of Ben Crow, David Glover, Melanie Guttridge, 583 00:37:36,556 --> 00:37:40,316 Speaker 2: Stella Harford, Jemma Saunders, and Rufus Wright. Much of the 584 00:37:40,436 --> 00:37:43,796 Speaker 2: music You Had was performed by Ed Gocken, Ross Hughes, 585 00:37:44,036 --> 00:37:47,316 Speaker 2: Christian Miller, and Marcus Penrose. They were recorded by Nick 586 00:37:47,396 --> 00:37:51,916 Speaker 2: Taylor Porcupine Studios. Pushkin's Ben Holiday mixed the tracks and. 587 00:37:52,076 --> 00:37:56,196 Speaker 1: You heard additional piano playing by the great Berry Wise 588 00:37:56,876 --> 00:38:00,316 Speaker 1: Hi Berry. The show also wouldn't have been possible without 589 00:38:00,316 --> 00:38:04,916 Speaker 1: the work of Jacob Weisberg, Heather Fane, Carli mcgliori, Maggie Taylor, 590 00:38:05,156 --> 00:38:09,836 Speaker 1: Nicole Morano, Eric Sandler, and Daniela Lukhan. We'd also like 591 00:38:09,956 --> 00:38:13,156 Speaker 1: to thank Michael Buchanan Dunn of the Murder Mile podcast, 592 00:38:13,676 --> 00:38:17,876 Speaker 1: Lizzie Mckerroll, Katherine Walker at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and 593 00:38:17,996 --> 00:38:22,036 Speaker 1: the Earbe Historical Society. Bad Women is a production of 594 00:38:22,116 --> 00:38:25,756 Speaker 1: Pushkin Industries. Please rate and review the show and spread 595 00:38:25,796 --> 00:38:28,356 Speaker 1: the word about what we do, and thanks for listening.