They, in turn, forwarded it to the Metropolitan Police on 29 September. The two murders of 30 September 1888 gave the letter greater importance, and to underline it the unknown correspondent again committed red ink to postcard and posted it on 1 October. He again signed off Jack the Ripper. The status of this correspondence is still being discussed by modern historians. Immediately after the Eddowes murder a piece of her bloodstained apron was found in a doorway in Goulston Street, Whitechapel.
Expert opinion is divided.
It was at this time that the panic was at its height and the notoriety of the murders was becoming truly international, appearing in newspapers from Europe to the Americas. Even at this early stage the newspapers were carrying theories as to the identity of the killer, including doctors, slaughterers, sailors, and lunatics of every description. A popular image of the killer, as a 'shabby genteel' man in dark clothing, slouch hat and carrying a shiny black bag was also beginning to gain currency. The press, especially the nascent tabloid papers, were having a field day. With no Whitechapel murders in October there was still plenty to write about.