The Poisoned Pen(Fiscle Part-3) - Arthur B. Reeve (best detective novels of all time TXT) 📗

Doesn't Work," Remarked The Guru In Remarkably Good

English,  "Let Me Know,  And You Must Try One Of My Charm Bottles.

But The Love-Pills Are Fine. Good-Day."

 

Outside Craig Looked At Me Quizzically. "You Wouldn't Believe It,

Walter,  Would You?" He Said. "Here In This Twentieth Century In

New York,  And In Fact In Every Large City Of The World--Love-

Philtres,  Love-Pills,  And All The Rest Of It. And It Is Not Among

Part 3 Chapter 7 (The White Slave) Pg 83

The Ignorant That These Things Are Found,  Either. You Remember We

Saw Automobiles Waiting Before Some Of The Places."

 

"I Suspect That All Who Visit The Fakirs Are Not So Gullible,

After All," I Replied Sententiously.

 

"Perhaps Not. I Think I Shall Have Something Interesting To Say

To-Night As A Result Of Our Visits,  At Least."

 

During The Remainder Of The Day Kennedy Was Closely Confined In

His Laboratory With His Microscopes,  Slides,  Chemicals,  Test-

Tubes,  And Other Apparatus. As For Myself,  I Put In The Time

Speculating Which Of The Fakirs Had Been In Some Mysterious Way

Connected With The Case And In What Manner. Many Were The Theories

Which I Had Formed And The Situations I Conjured Up,  And In Nearly

All I Had One Central Figure,  The Young Man Whose Escapades Had

Been The Talk Of Even The Fast Set Of A Fast Society.

 

That Night Kennedy,  With The Assistance Of First Deputy O'connor,

Who Was Not Averse To Taking Any Action Within The Law Toward The

Soothsayers,  Assembled A Curiously Cosmopolitan Crowd In His

Laboratory. Besides The Gilberts Were Dudley Lawton And His

Father,  Hata,  The Pandit,  The Swami,  And The Guru--The Latter Four

Persons In High Dudgeon At Being Deprived Of The Lucrative Profits

Of A Sunday Night.

 

Kennedy Began Slowly,  Leading Gradually Up To His Point: "A New

Means Of Bringing Criminals To Justice Has Been Lately Studied By

One Of The Greatest Scientific Detectives Of Crime In The World,

The Man To Whom We Are Indebted For Our Most Complete Systems Of

Identification And Apprehension." Craig Paused And Fingered The

Microscope Before Him Thoughtfully. "Human Hair," He Resumed,  "Has

Recently Been The Study Of That Untiring Criminal Scientist,  M.

Bertillon. He Has Drawn Up A Full,  Classified,  And Graduated Table

Of All The Known Colours Of The Human Hair,  A Complete Palette,  So

To Speak,  Of Samples Gathered In Every Quarter Of The Globe.

Henceforth Burglars,  Who Already Wear Gloves Or Paint Their

Fingers With A Rubber Composition For Fear Of Leaving Finger-

Prints,  Will Have To Wear Close-Fitting Caps Or Keep Their Heads

Shaved. Thus He Has Hit Upon A New Method Of Identification Of

Those Sought By The Police. For Instance,  From Time To Time The

Question Arises Whether Hair Is Human Or Animal. In Such Cases The

Microscope Tells The Answer Truthfully.

 

"For A Long Time I Have Been Studying Hair,  Taking Advantage Of

Those Excellent Researches By M. Bertillon. Human Hair Is Fairly

Uniform,  Tapering Gradually. Under The Microscope It Is

Practically Always Possible To Distinguish Human Hair From Animal.

I Shall Not Go Into The Distinctions,  But I May Add That It Is

Also Possible To Determine Very Quickly The Difference Between All

Hair,  Human Or Animal,  And Cotton With Its Corkscrew-Like Twists,

Linen With Its Jointed Structure,  And Silk,  Which Is Long,  Smooth,

And Cylindrical."

 

Again Kennedy Paused As If To Emphasise This Preface. "I Have

Here," He Continued,  "A Sample Of Hair." He Had Picked Up A

Microscope Slide That Was Lying On The Table. It Certainly Did Not

Look Very Thrilling--A Mere Piece Of Glass,  That Was All. But On

The Glass Was What Appeared To Be Merely A Faint Line. "This

Slide," He Said,  Holding It Up,  "Has What Must Prove An

Unescapable Clue To The Identity Of The Man Responsible For The

Disappearance Of Miss Gilbert. I Shall Not Tell You Yet Who He Is,

For The Simple Reason That,  Though I Could Make A Shrewd Guess,  I

Do Not Yet Know What The Verdict Of Science Is,  And In Science We

Do Not Guess Where We Can Prove.

 

"You Will Undoubtedly Remember That When Miss Gilbert's Body Was

Discovered,  It Bore No Evidence Of Suicide,  But On The Contrary

The Marks Of Violence. Her Fists Were Clenched,  As If She Had

Struggled With All Her Power Against A Force That Had Been Too

Much For Her. I Examined Her Hands,  Expecting To Find Some

Part 3 Chapter 7 (The White Slave) Pg 84

Evidence Of A Weapon She Had Used To Defend Herself. Instead,  I

Found What Was More Valuable. Here On This Slide Are Several Hairs

That I Found Tightly Grasped In Her Rigid Hands."

 

I Could Not Help Recalling Kennedy's Remark Earlier In The Case--

That It Hung On Slender Threads. Yet How Strong Might Not Those

Threads Prove!

 

"There Was Also In Her Pocketbook A Newspaper Clipping Bearing The

Advertisements Of Several Clairvoyants," He Went On. "Mr. Jameson

And Myself Had Already Discovered What The Police Had Failed To

Find,  That On The Morning Of The Day On Which She Disappeared Miss

Gilbert Had Made Three Distinct Efforts,  Probably,  To Secure Books

On Clairvoyance. Accordingly,  Mr. Jameson And Myself Have Visited

Several Of The Fortune-Tellers And Practitioners Of The Occult

Sciences In Which We Had Reason To Believe Miss Gilbert Was

Interested. They All,  By The Way,  Make A Specialty Of Giving

Advice In Money Matters And Solving The Problems Of Lovers. I

Suspect That At Times Mr. Jameson Has Thought That I Was Demented,

But I Had To Resort To Many And Various Expedients To Collect The

Specimens Of Hair Which I Wanted. From The Police,  Who Used Mr.

Lawton's Valet,  I Received Some Hair From His Head. Here Is

Another Specimen From Each Of The Advertisers,  Hata,  The Swami,

The Pandit,  And The Guru. There Is Just One Of These Specimens

Which Corresponds In Every Particular Of Colour,  Thickness,  And

Texture With The Hair Found So Tightly Grasped In Miss Gilbert's

Hand."

 

As Craig Said This I Could Feel A Sort Of Gasp Of Astonishment

From Our Little Audience. Still He Was Not Quite Ready To Make His

Disclosure.

 

"Lest I Should Be Prejudiced," He Pursued Evenly,  "By My Own

Rather Strong Convictions,  And In Order That I Might Examine The

Samples Without Fear Or Favour,  I Had One Of My Students At The

Laboratory Take The Marked Hairs,  Mount Them,  Number Them,  And Put

In Numbered Envelopes The Names Of The Persons Who Furnished Them.

But Before I Open The Envelope Numbered The Same As The Slide

Which Contains The Hair Which Corresponds Precisely With That Hair

Found In Miss Gilbert's Hand--And It Is Slide No. 2---" Said

Kennedy,  Picking Out The Slide With His Finger And Moving It On

The Table With As Much Coolness As If He Were Moving A Chessman On

A Board Instead Of Playing In The Terrible Game Of Human Life,

"Before I Read The Name I Have Still One More Damning Fact To

Disclose."

 

Craig Now Had Us On Edge With Excitement,  A Situation Which I

Sometimes Thought He Enjoyed More Keenly Than Any Other In His

Relentless Tracing Down Of A Criminal.

 

"What Was It That Caused Miss Gilbert's Death?" Asked Kennedy.

"The Coroner's Physician Did Not Seem To Be Thoroughly Satisfied

With The Theory Of Physical Violence Alone. Nor Did I. Some One,  I

Believe,  Exerted A Peculiar Force In Order To Get Her Into His

Power. What Was That Force? At First I Thought It Might Have Been

The Hackneyed Knockout Drops,  But Tests By The Coroner's Physician

Eliminated That. Then I Thought It Might Be One Of The Alkaloids,

Such As Morphine,  Cocaine,  And Others. But It Was Not Any Of The

Usual Things That Was Used To Entice Her Away From Her Family And

Friends. From Tests That I Have Made I Have Discovered The One

Fact Necessary To Complete My Case,  The Drug Used To Lure Her And

Against Which She Fought In Deadly Struggle."

 

He Placed A Test Tube In A Rack Before Us. "This Tube," He

Continued,  "Contains One Of The Most Singular And,  Among Us,  Least

Known Of The Five Common Narcotics Of The World--Tobacco,  Opium,

Coca,  Betel Nut,  And Hemp. It Can Be Smoked,  Chewed,  Used As A

Drink,  Or Taken As A Confection. In The Form Of A Powder It Is

Used By The Narghile Smoker. As A Liquid It Can Be Taken As An

Oily Fluid Or In Alcohol. Taken In Any Of These Forms,  It

Literally Makes The Nerves Walk,  Dance,  And Run. It Heightens The

Feelings And Sensibilities To Distraction,  Producing What Is

Really Hysteria. If The Weather Is Clear,  This Drug Will Make Life

Gorgeous; If It Rains,  Tragic. Slight Vexation Becomes Deadly

Revenge; Courage Becomes Rashness; Fear,  Abject Terror; And Gentle

Affection Or Even A Passing Liking Is Transformed Into Passionate

Love. It Is The Drug Derived From The Indian Hemp,  Scientifically

Named Cannabis Indica,  Better Known As Hashish,  Or Bhang,  Or A

Dozen Other Names In The East. Its Chief Characteristic Is That It

Has A Profound Effect On The Passions. Thus,  Under Its Influence,

Natives Of The East Become Greatly Exhilarated,  Then Debased,  And

Finally Violent,  Rushing Forth On The Streets With The Cry,  'Amok,

Amok,'--'Kill,  Kill'--As We Say,  'Running Amuck.' An Overdose Of

This Drug Often Causes Insanity,  While In Small Quantities Our

Doctors Use It As A Medicine. Any One Who Has Read The Brilliant

Theophile Gautier's 'Club Des Hachichens' Or Bayard Taylor's

Experience At Damascus Knows Something Of The Effect Of Hashish,

However.

 

"In Reconstructing The Story Of Georgette Gilbert,  As Best I Can,

I Believe That She Was Lured To The Den Of One Of The Numerous

Cults Practised In New York,  Lured By Advertisements Offering

Advice In Hidden Love Affairs. Led On By Her Love For A Man Whom

She Could Not And Would Not Put Out Of Her Life,  And By Her

Affection For Her Parents,  She Was Frantic. This Place Offered

Hope,  And To It She Went In All Innocence,  Not Knowing That It Was

Only The Open Door To A Life Such As The Most Lurid Disorderly

Resorts Of The Metropolis Could Scarcely Match. There Her

Credulity Was Preyed Upon,  And She Was Tricked Into Taking This

Drug,  Which Itself Has Such Marked And Perverting Effect. But,

Though She Must Have Been Given A Great Deal Of The Drug,  She Did

Not Yield,  As Many Of The Sophisticated Do. She Struggled

Frantically,  Futilely. Will And Reason Were Not Conquered,  Though

They Sat Unsteadily On Their Thrones. The Wisp Of Hair So Tightly

Clasped In Her Dead Hand Shows That She Fought Bitterly To The

End."

 

Kennedy Was Leaning Forward Earnestly,  Glaring At Each Of Us In

Turn. Lawton Was Twisting Uneasily In His Chair,  And I Could See

That His Fists Were Doubled Up And That He Was Holding Himself In

Leash As If Waiting For Something,  Eyeing Us All Keenly. The Swami

Was Seized With A Violent Fit Of Trembling,  And The Other Fakirs

Were Staring In Amazement.

 

Quickly I Stepped Between Dudley Lawton And Kennedy,  But As I Did

So,  He Leaped Behind Me,  And Before I Could Turn He Was Grappling

Wildly With Some One On The Floor.

 

"It's All Right,  Walter," Cried Kennedy,  Tearing Open The Envelope

On The Table. "Lawton Has Guessed Right. The Hair Was The Swami's.

Georgette Gilbert Was One Victim Who Fought And Rescued Herself

From A Slavery Worse Than Death. And There Is One Mystic