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

Part 3 Chapter 8 (The Forger) Pg 93

In The Purchase Of The Plate From The Photographer A Few Days

Before.

 

The Mail Also Contained A Message From Williams Of The Surety

Company With The Interesting Information That Bolton Brown's

Attorney Had Refused To Say Where His Client Had Gone Since He Had

Been Released On Bail,  But That He Would Be Produced When Wanted.

Adele Demott Had Not Been Seen For Several Days In Chicago And The

Police There Were Of The Opinion That She Had Gone To New York,

Where It Would Be Pretty Easy For Her To Pass Unnoticed. These

Facts Further Complicated The Case And Made The Finding Of The

Photograph Even More Imperative.

 

If We Were Going To Do Anything It Must Be Done Quickly. There Was

No Time To Lose. The Last Of The Fast Trains For The Day Had Left

And The Photograph,  Even Though It Were Found,  Could Not Possibly

Reach Us In Time To Be Of Use Before The Steamer Sailed From

Brooklyn. It Was An Emergency Such As Kennedy Had Never Yet Faced,

Apparently Physically Insuperable.

 

But,  As Usual,  Craig Was Not Without Some Resource,  Though It

Looked Impossible To Me To Do Anything But Make A Hit Or Miss

Arrest At The Boat. It Was Late In The Evening When He Returned

From A Conference With An Officer Of The Telegraph And Telephone

Company To Whom Williams Had Given Him A Card Of Introduction. The

Upshot Had Been That He Had Called Up Chicago And Talked For A

Long Time With Professor Clark,  A Former Classmate Of Ours Who Was

Now In The Technology School Of The University Out There. Kennedy

And Clark Had Been In Correspondence For Some Time,  I Knew,  About

Some Technical Matters,  Though I Had No Idea What It Was They

Concerned.

 

"There's One Thing We Can Always Do," I Remarked As We Walked

Slowly Over To The Laboratory From Our Apartment.

 

"What's That?" He Asked Absent-Mindedly,  More From Politeness Than

Anything Else.

 

"Arrest Every One With A Van Dyke Beard Who Goes On The Boat To-

Morrow," I Replied.

 

Kennedy Smiled. "I Don't Feel Prepared To Stand A Suit For False

Arrest," He Said Simply,  "Especially As The Victim Would Feel

Pretty Hot If We Caused Him To Miss His Boat. Men With Beards Are

Not So Uncommon,  After All."

 

We Had Reached The Laboratory. Linemen Were Stringing Wires Under

The Electric Lights Of The Campus From The Street To The Chemistry

Building And Into Kennedy's Sanctum.

 

That Night And Far Into The Morning Kennedy Was Working In The

Laboratory On A Peculiarly Complicated Piece Of Mechanism

Consisting Of Electromagnets,  Rolls,  And A Stylus And Numerous

Other Contrivances Which Did Not Suggest To My Mind Anything He

Had Ever Used Before In Our Adventures. I Killed Time As Best I

Could Watching Him Adjust The Thing With The Most Minute Care And

Precision. Finally I Came To The Conclusion That As I Was Not

Likely To Be Of The Least Assistance,  Even If I Had Been Initiated

Into What Was Afoot,  I Had As Well Retire.

 

"There Is One Thing You Can Do For Me In The Morning,  Walter,"

Said Kennedy,  Continuing To Work Over A Delicate Piece Of

Clockwork Which Formed A Part Of The Apparatus. "In Case I Do Not

See You Then,  Get In Touch With Williams And Carroll And Have Them

Come Here About Ten O'clock With An Automobile. If I Am Not Ready

For Them Then I'm Afraid I Never Shall Be,  And We Shall Have To

Finish The Job With The Lack Of Finesse You Suggested By Arresting

All The Bearded Men."

 

Kennedy Could Not Have Slept Much During The Night,  For Though His

Bed Had Been Slept In He Was Up And Away Before I Could See Him

Part 3 Chapter 8 (The Forger) Pg 94

Again. I Made A Hurried Trip Downtown To Catch Carroll And

Williams And Then Returned To The Laboratory,  Where Craig Had

Evidently Just Finished A Satisfactory Preliminary Test Of His

Machine.

 

"Still No Message," He Began In Reply To My Unspoken Question. He

Was Plainly Growing Restless With The Inaction,  Though Frequent

Talks Over Long-Distance With Chicago Seemed To Reassure Him.

Thanks To The Influence Of Williams He Had At Least A Direct Wire

From His Laboratory To The City Which Was Now The Scene Of Action.

 

As Nearly As I Could Gather From The One-Sided Conversations I

Heard And The Remarks Which Kennedy Dropped,  The Chicago Post-

Office Inspectors Were Still Searching For A Trace Of The Package

From Atlantic City Which Was To Reveal The Identity Of The Man Who

Had Passed The Bogus Checks And Sold The Forged Certificates Of

Stock. Somewhere In That Great City Was A Photograph Of The

Promoter And Of The Woman Who Was Aiding Him To Escape,  Taken In

Atlantic City And Sent By Mail To Chicago. Who Had Received It?

Would It Be Found In Time To Be Of Use? What Would It Reveal? It

Was Like Hunting For A Needle In A Haystack,  And Yet The Latest

Reports Seemed To Encourage Kennedy With The Hope That The

Authorities Were At Last On The Trail Of The Secret Office From

Which The Stock Had Been Sold. He Was Fuming And Wishing That He

Could Be At Both Ends Of The Line At Once.

 

"Any Word From Chicago Yet?" Appealed An Anxious Voice From The

Doorway.

 

We Turned. There Were Carroll And Williams Who Had Come For Us

With An Automobile To Go Over To Watch At The Wharf In Brooklyn

For Our Man. It Was Carroll Who Spoke. The Strain Of The Suspense

Was Telling On Him And I Could Readily Imagine That He,  Like So

Many Others Who Had Never Seen Kennedy In Action,  Had Not The

Faith In Craig's Ability Which I Had Seen Tested So Many Times.

 

"Not Yet," Replied Kennedy,  Still Busy About His Apparatus On The

Table. "I Suppose You Have Heard Nothing?"

 

"Nothing Since My Note Of Last Night," Returned Williams

Impatiently. "Our Detectives Still Insist That Bolton Brown Is The

Man To Watch,  And The Disappearance Of Adele Demott At This Time

Certainly Looks Bad For Him."

 

"It Does,  I Admit," Said Carroll Reluctantly. "What's All This

Stuff On The Table?" He Asked,  Indicating The Magnets,  Rolls,  And

Clockwork.

 

Kennedy Did Not Have Time To Reply,  For The Telephone Bell Was

Tinkling Insistently.

 

"I've Got Chicago On The Wire," Craig Informed Us,  Placing His

Hand Over The Transmitter As He Waited For Long-Distance To Make

The Final Connection. '"I'll Try To Repeat As Much Of The

Conversation As I Can So That You Can Follow It. Hello--Yes--This

Is Kennedy. Is That You,  Clark? It's All Arranged At This End.

How's Your End Of The Line? Have You A Good Connection? Yes? My

Synchroniser Is Working Fine Here,  Too. All Right. Suppose We Try

It. Go Ahead."

 

As Kennedy Gave A Few Final Touches To The Peculiar Apparatus On

The Table,  The Cylindrical Drum Before Us Began Slowly To Revolve

And The Stylus Or Needle Pressed Down On The Sensitised Paper With

Which The Drum Was Covered,  Apparently With Varying Intensity As

It Turned. Round And Round The Cylinder Revolved Like A

Graphophone.

 

"This," Exclaimed Kennedy Proudly,  "Is The 'Electric Eye,' The

Telelectrograph Invented By Thorne Baker In England. Clark And I

Have Been Intending To Try It Out For A Long Time. It At Last

Makes Possible The Electric Transmission Of Photographs,  Using The

Part 3 Chapter 8 (The Forger) Pg 95

Telephone Wires Because They Are Much Better For Such A Purpose

Than The Telegraph Wires."

 

Slowly The Needle Was Tracing Out A Picture On The Paper. It Was

Only A Thin Band Yet,  But Gradually It Was Widening,  Though We

Could Not Guess What It Was About To Reveal As The Ceaseless

Revolutions Widened The Photographic Print.

 

"I May Say," Explained Kennedy As We Waited Breathlessly,  "That

Another System Known As The Korn System Of Telegraphing Pictures

Has Also Been In Use In London,  Paris,  Berlin,  And Other Cities At

Various Times For Some Years. Korn's Apparatus Depends On The

Ability Of The Element Selenium To Vary The Strength Of An

Electric Current Passing Through It In Proportion To The

Brightness With Which The Selenium Is Illuminated. A New Field Has

Been Opened By These Inventions Which Are Now Becoming More And

More Numerous,  Since The Korn System Did The Pioneering.

 

"The Various Steps In Sending A Photograph By The Baker

Telelectrograph Are Not So Difficult To Understand,  After All.

First An Ordinary Photograph Is Taken And A Negative Made. Then A

Print Is Made And A Wet Plate Negative Is Printed On A Sheet Of

Sensitised Tinfoil Which Has Been Treated With A Single-Line

Screen. You Know A Halftone Consists Of A Photograph Through A

Screen Composed Of Lines Running Perpendicular To Each Other--A

Coarse Screen For Newspaper Work,  And A Fine Screen For Better

Work,  Such As In Magazines. Well,  In This Case The Screen Is

Composed Of Lines Running Parallel In One Direction Only,  Not

Crossing At Right Angles. A Halftone Is Composed Of Minute Points,

Some Light,  Some Dark. This Print Is Composed Of Long Shaded

Lines,  Some Parts Light,  Others Dark,  Giving The Effect Of A

Picture,  You Understand?"

 

"Yes,  Yes," I Exclaimed,  Thoroughly Excited. "Go On."

 

"Well," He Resumed As The Print Widened Visibly,  "This Tinfoil

Negative Is Wrapped Around A Cylinder At The Other End Of The Line

And A Stylus With A Very Delicate,  Sensitive Point Begins Passing

Over It,  Crossing The Parallel Lines At Right Angles,  Like The

Other Lines Of A Regular Halftone. Whenever The Point Of The

Stylus Passes Over One Of The Lighter Spots On The Photographic

Print It Sends On A Longer Electrical Vibration,  Over The Darker

Spots A Shorter Vibration. The Ever Changing Electrical Current

Passes Up Through The Stylus,  Vibrates With Ever Varying Degrees

Of Intensity Over The Thousand Miles Of Telephone Wire Between

Chicago And This Instrument Here At The Other End Of The Line.

 

"In This Receiving Apparatus The Current Causes Another Stylus To

Pass Over A Sheet Of Sensitised Chemical Paper Such As We Have

Here. The Receiving Stylus Passes Over The Paper Here

Synchronously With The Transmitting Stylus In Chicago. The

Impression Which Each Stroke Of The Receiving Stylus Makes On The

Paper Is Black Or Light,  According To The Length Of The Very

Quickly Changing Vibrations Of The Electric Current. White Spots

On The Photographic Print Come Out As Black Spots Here On The

Sensitised Paper Over Which This Stylus Is Passing,  And Vice

Versa. In That Way You Can See The Positive Print Growing Here

Before Your Very Eyes As The Picture Is Transmitted From The

Negative Which Clark Has Prepared And Is Sending From Chicago."

 

As We Bent Over Eagerly We Could Indeed Now See What The Thing Was

Doing. It Was Reproducing Faithfully In New York What Could Be

Seen By The Mortal Eye Only In Chicago.

 

"What Is It?" Asked Williams,  Still Half Incredulous In Spite Of

The