Great Britain: Jack the Stripper

GREAT BRITAIN

In the sleazy lower reaches of Soho and Netting Hill, scores of rouged recruits have joined London's army of prostitutes. In hip-tight skirts and needle heels, the tyros wiggle from drinking club to strip joint brazenly soliciting customers. But whenever a man shows interest, the girls identify themselves as policewomen and, flashing photographs of a pinched-looking brunette, inquire with sudden crispness: "Have you seen this woman recently?"

The policewomen are members of a 140-strong task force of bobbies and detectives who are engaged in one of the biggest murder hunts in London's history. It started...