Minute Mysteries [Detectograms] 72 – Ripley · Verses Across
Literature · Crime, Thrillers & Mystery
Minute Mysteries [Detectograms] 72Chapter 71
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Literature · Crime, Thrillers & Mystery
Minute Mysteries [Detectograms] 72
Chapter 71
RipleyEnglish
The Kidnapers’ Cleverness
‘There are times,’ mused Professor Fordney from the depths of the most comfortable chair in the lounge of the University Club, ‘when the criminal does show ingenuity of a high order. I recall a most interesting and baffling case on which I worked ten years ago.
‘A wealthy man whose daughter had been kidnaped had been warned that, if he appealed to the police, she would be killed. Consequently, it was difficult to get his coöperation in running down the criminals. However, upon receiving the following note delivered in an express package 12″ × 12″ × 12″ he sought my advice.
Send us, by the means herein given you, $5,000 in cash, at exactly midnight tonight. If you do so, your daughter will be returned unharmed.
‘My client did as directed and his child was returned safely next day.
‘Do you know, Jim,’ asked Fordney of his fireside companion, ‘what means the kidnapers employed that made trapping of them, or discovery of their whereabouts, absolutely impossible? There’s a nice little problem in deduction for a rising young attorney,’ he laughed.
After ten minutes of deep silence on Jim’s part, he said, ‘I can’t figure it out, Professor. What was it?’
SOLUTIONS
1. A Crack Shot
It was a dark, starless, moonless night. The nearest habitation was five miles. The eyes of no animal ever shine in the dark unless there is a light by which they can be reflected, and a man’s eyes never shine under any circumstances.
Therefore, Butler could not possibly have seen any eyes shining at him in the dark. It was clearly murder.
And thy deep eyes, amid the gloom,
Shine like jewels in a shroud.
Longfellow.
2. On the Scent
Not even a prohibition agent would use alcohol in an automobile radiator in or about Miami!
The oil and wine of merry meeting.
Irving.
3. Fatal Error
The Professor knew it would take a keener pair of eyes than Bronson’s to see a nod in the dark.
The lights had not been turned on. Remember?
Darkness visible.
Milton.
4. The Poison Murder Case
Unless Bob Kewley had returned home after telling the Professor he was going to the theater, he could not have known the library door was locked. The fact that he did, coupled with the strong motive, naturally directed suspicion to him. He inadvertently gave himself away.
Error will slip through a crack, while truth will stick in a doorway. Shaw.
5. A Strange ‘Kidnaping’
Had Johnson wound his watch immediately before 2 A.M. Friday, the time of his alleged kidnaping, it would not have been running Sunday afternoon when he recovered consciousness and said he heard it ticking.
No standard-make watch will run sixty hours without winding.
This act is an ancient tale new told;
Being urged at a time unseasonable.
Shakespeare.
6. A Valuable Formula
In a small room the intruder would unquestionably have heard Hyde dialing Headquarters, and therefore could not have been unaware of his presence.
As Hyde had obviously lied about this, Fordney was convinced he had fabricated the entire story in order to sell the formula twice.
Don’t tell me of deception; a lie is a lie, whether it be a lie to the eye or a lie to the ear. Dr. Johnson.
7. Strangled
There had been a dry, hot spell at that place for twenty-two days. Irene Greer’s hair was matted with mud; therefore, she must have been attacked elsewhere.
The face of things appeareth not the same far off and when we see them right at hand. Euripides.
8. Death in the Office
Gifford could not have been shot at the time he called Fordney, as he was found with a bullet through his heart. The Professor’s theory was that Gifford wanted his death to appear as murder in order to protect his heavy insurance.
The heart does not lie.
Alfieri.
9. They Usually Forget Something
The note, although misspelled, poorly expressed, and written by a seemingly illiterate hand, was punctuated properly, in two places. A semicolon and a comma would not have been used had the writer been an uneducated man.
Force of habit had betrayed him!
You write with ease to show your breeding,
But easy writing’s curst hard reading.
Sheridan.
10. The Professor Gives a Lesson
Cardoni said he saw the kidnapers around a table as he peered through the keyhole. Yale locks do not have keyholes.
Kelley was justified in throwing him out, don’t you think? The class found this an easy one—did you?
Since your eyes are so sharpe that you cannot onely looke through a milstone, but cleane through the minde. Lyly.
11. Upstairs and Down
The policeman ran through the hall and unlocked the kitchen door.
The doors to the porch and cellar were locked on the inside. Had the old lady committed suicide, she could not have locked the door leading to the hall from the outside.
The murderer, in leaving, locked this door and forgot to remove the key. The inevitable slip!
A blockhead cannot come in, nor go away, like a man of sense. Bruyère.
12. Class Day
The student readily recognized the absurdity of the Professor’s story which he had given to his class to test their quick detection of a glaring inconsistency. If it must be explained, an orchestra under personal leadership does not play during the showing of a ‘talkie.’ Right?
Wit marries ideas lying far apart, by a sudden jerk of the understanding. Whipple.
13. A Hot Pursuit
Smith said he ran after the burglar. Had he done so he could not have known the cellar window had been chiseled open. Therefore, his story was obviously faked.
A lie never lives to be old.
Sophocles.
14. A Question of Identity
As Diana Lane was walking down the corridor with her back to Nora, it was impossible for the servant to know Diana was wearing her famous emerald pendant.
There is an alchemy of quiet malice by which women can concoct a subtle poison from ordinary trifles. Hawthorne.
15. A Yachtsman’s Alibi
As Picus said there was no breeze, the distress flag would have hung limp against the mast, and the Captain could not have seen, at that distance, whether or not the flag was upside down.
That’s all the Professor needed to determine the falsity of his alibi. However, Picus was a poor sailor. While the International Distress Signal is a flag flown upside down, it is by custom and regulation always flown at half-mast.
... And the sea charm’d into a calm so still
That not a wrinkle ruffles her smooth face.
Dryden.
16. Murder at Coney Island
Jasper said he found the woman sitting up in the middle of the chariot. The motion of the merry-go-round would have made it impossible for a dead body to remain upright in the middle of the chariot.
Sir, you are giving a reason for it; but that will not make it right.... Johnson.
17. Too Clever
The murderer tried to give the impression that Dawson had died before finishing the incriminating note. Had he written it and died before completing it, he could not have put the pen back in the tray where it was found.
In his effort to incriminate Lynch, the murderer had been too cautious. A costly oversight.
Man’s caution often into danger turns,
And his guard falling crushes him to death.
Young.
18. Bloody Murder
The Professor knew it was not suicide, because Thompson’s coat, which was flung across the room, was blood-stained. Quite impossible if he had taken his own life.
Blood, though it sleep a time, yet never dies.
Chapman.
19. Death Back-Stage
There were no finger-prints on the gun which killed Claudia Mason. She could not have shot herself in the temple and then wiped off the revolver.
The murderer neglected to get her fingerprints on the gun.
A fool cannot be an actor, though an actor may act a fool’s part. Sophocles.
20. An Easy Combination
It would have been impossible for Fellows to have hastily dialed a number in the dark. Try it!
Haste trips up its own heels, fetters and stops itself.
Seneca.
21. A Modern Knight
The fact that the bullet was found in the body and the only trace of its firing was the hole in the curtain below the window-sill proved conclusively the shot could not have been fired from within the room.
Rocca entered at the moment his sister shot Chase from outside. Grabbing the gun from her hand, he chivalrously protected her.
But, friend, the thing is clear—speaks for itself.
Aristophanes.
22. The Jewel Robbery
The butler said that, as he called for help, Dudley, a stranger, rushed in.
Owings had locked up before leaving and, therefore, Dudley could not have rushed in through a locked door. The robbery was obviously framed by Stuben and Dudley.
Absurdities die of self-strangulation.
Haliburton.
23. Before the Coroner’s Inquest
Curry could not possibly have ‘looked up’ while rowing upstream and seen the action he described which took place fifty yards behind him.
The eyes of other people are the eyes that ruin us.
Franklin.
24. The Fifth Avenue Hold-Up
Baldwin said, ‘Mr. Cross tried to call my attention to it [safe] with a jerk of his thumb’ at a time when Cross was unconscious. Obviously impossible. Baldwin was lying, which there was no reason for doing had he been innocent.
When all sins are old in us, and go upon crutches.
Covetousness does but then lie in her cradle.
Decker.
25. Behind Locked Doors
Kingston thought his boldness in calling attention to his own footprints in the carpet would distract Fordney’s attention from their significance.
The room had been locked for three months. Of the three men, only Watkins rushed into the room; Fordney and Kingston halting over the threshold. Therefore, the fact that Kingston’s footprints were found near the chair in which his uncle sat dead pointed directly to him as the murderer.
Cunning differs from wisdom
As twilight from open day.
Dr. Johnson.
26. Lost at Sea
It would have been impossible for Mrs. Rollins to have seen a man pick up from the deck the bag of diamonds. On a dark, moonless night at sea one literally cannot see his hand before his face.
The repose of darkness is deeper on the water than on the land. Victor Hugo.
27. A Suave Gunman
Taylor said the bandit wore a silver belt-buckle. This he could not have seen, for he stated: ‘As the robber passed through the door, he unbuttoned his coat and slipped the revolver in his back pocket.’
It would have been impossible for Taylor to have seen the man’s belt-buckle when his coat was buttoned.
As this statement was false, the rest of his account was disregarded by the Professor.
He draweth out the thread of his verbosity
Finer than the staple of his argument.
Shakespeare.
28. Accidental Death
Had the man’s injuries been caused only by being thrown through the windshield, there would have been no blood on the front seat of the car. Therefore, the Professor knew the blood on the seat had been caused by injuries to the man, with probable murderous intent, before he was thrown through the windshield.
His assailant had killed him, started the car, and had then hopped off the running-board, hoping the wreckage would cover the murder.
Forethought we may have, undoubtedly, but not foresight.
Napoleon.
29. Easy Money
Wilkins said he saw the burglar pick up a stack of ten- and twenty-dollar bills from the table in the center of the large library.
Had he not been guilty, he could not have known what the denominations of the bills were. It would have been impossible to have determined this from the doorway.
An unconscious slip on his part.
If you are doubtful, just try to determine the denomination of a stack of bills on a table in the center of a large room, from the doorway.
For any man with half an eye,
What stands before him may espy;
But optics sharp it needs I ween,
To see what is not to be seen.
John Trumbull.
30. Robbery at High Noon
He was suspicious of John, the nephew, of course. Upon being asked where he was at the time of the robbery, he stated he was ‘hauling in a muskie.’
Unless he had guilty knowledge, he could not possibly have known at what time the robbery was committed.
He fell neatly into the Professor’s trap, don’t you think?
Let guilty men remember, their black deeds
Do lean on crutches made of slender reeds.
John Webster.
31. The Wrong Foot Forward
Paslovsky, the witness, who could not understand or speak enough English to make a simple statement to the court, yet knew exactly what the conductor yelled to the motorman.
This was so patently impossible that the Judge was entirely justified in dismissing the suit.
Liars are verbal forgers.
Chatfield.
32. Death Attends the Party
Had Dawes fallen on the table after being shot, the jar would have knocked over the ‘crazily balanced glasses.’ As the Professor found the glasses on the table, balanced, it was obvious Dawes had been shot, then carefully placed at the table to give the appearance of suicide. A bad slip!
There is nothing insignificant, nothing!
Coleridge.
33. No Way Out
The note was written with pencil, yet there was no pencil found in the room. Apparently the murderer wrote the note to resemble the dead man’s handwriting and through force of habit put it in his pocket.
Men are men; the best sometimes forget.
Shakespeare.
34. Midnight Murder
Day said he got the blood on his muffler when he bent over Quale’s body. As blood coagulates and dries in a short time, it would have been impossible for him to have stained his muffler unless it had touched the blood of Quale shortly after his death. Therefore, Fordney knew he must have been with Quale soon after he was stabbed.
Murder, though it have no tongue,
Will speak with most miraculous organ.
Shakespeare.
35. Speakeasy Stick-Up
Sullivan, the bartender, said that, as he worked the combination to open the wall safe, he heard the hold-up man behind him. As he was not permitted to move, he could not have known the gunman was a big, tough-looking mug, as he described him.
As there would be no other motive in telling this impossible story, the hold-up was faked.
Inspiring, bold John Barleycorn,
What dangers thou canst make us scorn.
Burns.
36. Behind Time
The engineer said he had not seen Nelson until he was practically on top of him. That, of course, is impossible. An engineer of a train running on a straight-away can see nothing as close as ten yards in front of him.
You cram these words into mine ears,
Against the stomach of my sense.
Shakespeare.
37. A Broken Engagement
Molly said she had retired at ten, after locking her door, and had not awakened until Fordney had aroused her.
Yet a few minutes after Dot had been murdered, the Professor idly ‘shaped the wax’ of the candle on her desk. This would have been impossible had not the candle been burning within a few minutes before he entered.
Her insistence that she had been asleep, together with the strong motive, convinced Fordney she was involved, as was later proved.
Love can make us fiends as well as angels.
Charles Kingsley.
38. The Holden Road Murder
Had the butler dashed in the front door as he said he did, there would have been foot-tracks in the vestibule.
Remember, the Professor ‘splashed his way through the mud and rain, to the door of 27 Holden Road,’ and found the vestibule spotless. Therefore, Wilkins was lying, and as Cannon corroborated his story, he was also necessarily involved.
Nay, her foot speaks.
Shakespeare.
39. Fishermen’s Luck
Holmes could not have seen the bag on the bottom of the lake during a cloudburst. The agitation of even crystal clear water under such conditions would have so disturbed the surface that an object on the bottom could not be seen.
A man so lucky is rarer than a white crow.
Juvenal.
40. The Unlucky Elephant
Holman was lying face down with his topcoat buttoned; therefore, if his watch crystal had been broken by his fall, none of the glass could have been found on the floor.
For never, never wicked man was wise.
Homer.
41. The Professor Listens
The notice of the bank failure, appearing in the Jacksonville Herald, was dated July 5th. This could not have reached Delavin at a remote part of Cuba, unserviced by planes, in time for him to get back to New York on the 6th.
His alibi, therefore, was completely broken, as he said the newspaper clipping brought him back.
Time is the herald of truth.
Cicero.
42. Ten-Fifteen
The secretary said he heard Waters talking to Fordney over the telephone. As Fordney’s name was not mentioned during the conversation, the secretary could not have known to whom Waters was talking.
It’s the little things that count—in crime detection.
Take care lest your tongue cut off your head.
Persian.
43. Rapid Transit
The driver could not possibly have seen from the front seat anyone standing on the tail-gate of the big van.
If common sense has not the brilliancy of the sun, it has the fixity of the stars. Fernan Caballero.
44. The Professor is Disappointed
Fordney pointed to the raindrops glistening on a leaf in the shoe impression.
According to Vi Cargo’s statement, the burglar had jumped from her window after it had stopped raining.
The shameless have a brow of brass.
Hindu Proverb.
45. A Dramatic Triumph
Sibyl Mortimer said Boswell had telephoned her shortly after nine. As he was on the stage continuously for forty-five minutes after the curtain rose, he could not have telephoned her.
Obviously she had some reason for stating he did. Fordney was quick to detect the flaw in her alibi.
It is not wise to be wiser than is necessary.
Quinault.
46. Murder at the Lake
A strong east wind blew off the lake; therefore, regardless of the direction in which he was walking, Rice’s hat could not possibly have blown into the lake.
The Professor was naturally suspicious of him when he told such a ridiculous lie.
Is’t possible? Sits the wind in that corner?
Shakespeare.
47. The Professor Studies a Coat
As the man had removed his overcoat on entering the Professor’s living-room, it was perfectly patent he had not been handcuffed.
He said he ran over to Fordney’s immediately after the bandits left.
Truth has not such an urgent air.
Boileau.
48. Too Late
Fordney doubted Palmer’s innocence because of his statement, ‘I’d got there not more than five minutes behind him.’
There was, of course, no way he could have determined when Frank had arrived at the cabin.
In general, treachery, though at first sufficiently cautious, yet in the end betrays itself. Livy.
49. Sergeant Reynolds’s Theory
The Professor told Reynolds, ‘There was no blood between the road and the boulder.’
Had the man rolled down the embankment, there would have been some blood on the rocks along the path his body took.
How hast thou purchased this experience?
By my penny of observation.
Shakespeare.
50. Daylight Robbery
As no safe locks unless the combination is turned, Shaeffer’s story of banging it closed and then the robbers working on it five minutes was ridiculous!
He cometh unto you with a tale which holdeth children from play, and old men from the chimney corner. Sir Philip Sidney.
51. A Simple Solution
Had Smith committed suicide, the window through which he jumped would not have been closed as Fordney found it.
Every crime has, in the moment of its perpetration, its own avenging angel. Coleridge.
52. Who?
Kelley arrested Weeds, the butler. He said he dropped on the bed the blood-covered towel with which he was trying to arrest the flow from the maid’s wrist as Jones struck at him.
Yet Kelley and Fordney found the bed coverlet immaculate. Had Weeds done as he said, there would have been blood-stains on the bedcover.
Blood follows blood.
Defoe.
53. Murder in the Swamp
The three sets of Bob’s footprints in the path told Fordney the story. Had Bob been at the house when his friend was shot, as he contended, there would have been four sets of his footprints.
That is to be wise to see that which lies before your feet. Terence.
54. Death by Drowning
Had the accident occurred as explained by Carroll, the oar of Ridge’s boat could not have been found, as it was, at the dock opposite the point where he jumped in. The current would have deposited it downstream. Therefore, the Professor recommended the detention of the brothers.
More water glideth by the mill, than wots the miller of.
Shakespeare.
55. Tragedy at the Convention
Fordney suspected Pollert because of his own statements that he did not know Hurlenson had returned to the hotel. Yet, when he said he heard a shot, he ran directly to Hurlenson’s room.
As his own room was down the corridor, he could not have known from what room the shot came, and he had no reason to assume it came from Hurlenson’s room.
Politics, as a trade, finds most and leaves nearly all dishonest. Abraham Lincoln.
56. A Murderer’s Mistake
These murderers, like many others, betrayed themselves by a simple oversight. One look at the ladder and Fordney knew no man could have climbed up or down it. The thirty-foot ladder was placed two feet from the house. Any person ascending or descending the ladder in such a position would have fallen backwards before reaching the top or bottom.
To all facts there are laws,
The effect has its cause,
And I mount to the cause.
Lord Lytton.
57. Babe Comes Through
There is a screen on the grandstand behind the home plate.
Fordney had noticed a few seconds before, in the box next to him, the man whom the policeman had caught running down the ramp. As he could not have thrown a bottle through the screen, and, in the time at his disposal, could not have reached either side of the screen, Fordney knew he was innocent.
He had noticed the man after two strikes and three balls had been called, and the pitcher delivered the next ball quickly.
We must have bloody noses and crack’d crowns,
God’s me, my horse!
Shakespeare.
58. A Soldier of Fortune
Hamilton knew the real Walter Briggs had gone to Africa as a child. So, when this chap said he had shot tigers in Africa, Fordney was very, very skeptical. There are no tigers in Africa. Oh, well—look it up yourself!
A traveler without observation is a bird without wings.
Saadi.
59. Number Twenty-Six
The inconsistency is this: Farrell said he pushed open the door. Yet Bradford, inside the house, pushed the door in Kelley’s face as the Inspector was entering.
If Bradford pushed the door in Kelley’s face, Farrell must have pulled the door to open it.
The smallest hair throws its shadow.
Goethe.
60. The Pullman Car Murder
Every piece of baggage had been examined and every inch of the car inspected. All passengers, even the maid, porter, and brakeman, had been searched. The knife was still in the car.
Remember?—there was nothing said about the conductor being searched. The knife was found in his pocket.
He was in logic a great crytic,
Profoundly skilled in analytic;
He could distinguish and divide
A hair twixt south and south-west side.
Butler.
61. Forgery
The forged signature was copied from the blotter which Mead had used.
Thou strong seducer, opportunity.
Dryden.
62. The Christmas Eve Tragedy
The Professor said to Brown, ‘Sheriff, look for a man in your community who is skilled or adept in the use of stilts. Only a man on stilts could have made the marks in the snow you described.’
P.S. The Professor was right.
Be the first to say what is self-evident,
And you are immortal.
Ebner-Eschenbach.
63. A Knight of the Bath
You recall that Leimert was eccentric. No mention of bath room was made. Leimert’s bath had no top, so he climbed out!
Silly, what?
If anything is spoken in jest, it is not fair to turn it to earnest. Plautus.
64. Murder in the First Degree
The fact that none of the suspect’s fingerprints were on the dishes or silver used while eating convicted him of first-degree murder.
In wiping his own prints from the things he had handled, he destroyed all prints—those of the waitress, cook, etc.
A damning bit of evidence that proved premeditation.
The weakest spot in every man is when he thinks himself to be the wisest. Emmons.
65. A Rendezvous with Death
No one called at the Times for the answers to the advertisement, yet Stone received a reply to his letter of application. The ad was inserted by Carroll under the fictitious name of Jonathan Gills and answered by Stone at his wife’s suggestion. She acquainted her lover, Carroll, with this fact, and he wrote Stone, arranging the meeting at which he disappeared.
When any great design thou dost intend,
Think on the means, the manner, and the end.
Denham.
66. A Rum Regatta
The old sailor whispered to each, ‘Run the other man’s boat.’ As the owner of the last boat to reach Miami was to get the money, each one raced the boat he was driving. By doing so, he hoped to beat his own boat, which was being driven by one of the others.
Lookers-on many times see more than gamesters.
Bacon.
67. Who is the Heir?
John Morgan’s sister, of course!
Let us consider the reason of the case. For nothing is law that is not reason. Powell.
68. The Professor Stops a Blunder
Mundy had been unexpectedly called to Washington. Skidder’s secretary said the note was habitually kept at the office. Mundy, therefore, could not possibly have known of Skidder’s intention of taking it home. That was exactly the weakness in the case of the police. Despite the damning circumstantial evidence, motive could not be proved unless it could be shown that Mundy knew the note would be at Skidder’s house.
How little do they see what is, who frame
Their hasty judgments upon that which seems.
Southey.
69. The Perfect Crime
Alas! Peter Johannes had forgotten to remove his mask on leaving the house!
Whoever thinks a perfect work to see,
Thinks what ne’er was, nor is, nor e’er shall be.
Pope.
70. The Professor Sees Through It
When Hawkins said, ‘it’s twenty minutes after six’ and ‘it’s a quarter to eleven,’ Fordney knew he was not a railroad man.
No railroad worker ever speaks of the time in any other manner than, ‘it’s six-twenty’ and ‘it’s ten-forty-five.’
Ask the next conductor!
There is nothing more nearly permanent in human life than a well-established custom. Joseph Anderson.
71. The Kidnapers’ Cleverness
The express package contained a carrier pigeon.
A bird of the air shall carry, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter. Ecclesiastes.
--Copyright notice provided as in the original—this e-text is public domain in the country of publication.
--Silently corrected palpable typos; left non-standard spellings and dialect unchanged.
--In the text versions, delimited italicized text by underscores.
