The Poisoned Pen(Fiscle Part-3) by Arthur B. Reeve (the little red hen ebook .TXT) 📖
- Author: Arthur B. Reeve
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Grips, And Turned Toward Us.
We Waited Expectantly. As He Turned I Saw A Dark-Skinned, Hook-
Nosed Man, And I Exclaimed Disgustedly To Burke: "Well, If They
Are Going To Lexington They Can't Make This Train. Those Are The
Last People Who Have A Chance."
Kennedy, However, Continued To Regard The Couple Steadily. The Man
Saw That He Was Being Watched And Faced Us Defiantly, "Such
Impertinence!" Then To His Wife, "Come, My Dear, We'll Just Make
It."
"I'm Afraid I'll Have To Trouble You To Show Us What's In That
Grip," Said Kennedy, Calmly Laying His Hand On The Man's Arm.
"Well, Now, Did You Ever Hear Of Such Blasted Impudence? Get Out
Of My Way, Sir, This Instant, Or I'll Have You Arrested."
"Come, Come, Kennedy," Interrupted Burke. "Surely You Are Getting
Part 3 Chapter 5 (The Confidence King) Pg 54In Wrong Here. This Can't Be The Man."
Craig Shook His Head Decidedly. "You Can Make The Arrest Or Not,
Burke, As You Choose. If Not, I Am Through. If So--I'll Take All
The Responsibility."
Reluctantly Burke Yielded. The Man Protested; The Woman Cried; A
Crowd Collected.
The Train-Gate Shut With A Bang. As It Did So The Man's Demeanour
Changed Instantly. "There," He Shouted Angrily, "You Have Made Us
Miss Our Train. I'll Have You In Jail For This. Come On Now To The
Nearest Magistrate's Court. I'll Have My Rights As An American
Citizen. You Have Carried Your Little Joke Too Far. Knight Is My
Name--John Knight, Of Omaha, Pork-Packer. Come On Now. I'll See
That Somebody Suffers For This If I Have To Stay In New York A
Year. It's An Outrage--An Outrage."
Burke Was Now Apparently Alarmed--More At The Possibility Of The
Humorous Publicity That Would Follow Such A Mistake By The Secret
Service Than At Anything Else. However, Kennedy Did Not Weaken,
And On General Principles I Stuck To Kennedy.
"Now," Said The Man Surlily While He Placed "Mrs. Knight" In As
Easy A Chair As He Could Find In The Judge's Chambers, "What Is
The Occasion Of All This Row? Tell The Judge What A Bad Man From
Bloody Gulch I Am."
O'connor Had Arrived, Having Broken All Speed Laws And Perhaps
Some Records On The Way Up From Headquarters. Kennedy Laid The
Scotland Yard Finger-Prints On The Table. Beside Them He Placed
Those Taken By O'connor And Burke In New York.
"Here," He Began, "We Have The Finger-Prints Of A Man Who Was One
Of The Most Noted Counterfeiters In Great Britain. Beside Them Are
Those Of A Man Who Succeeded In Passing Counterfeits Of Several
Kinds Recently In New York. Some Weeks Later This Third Set Of
Prints Was Taken From A Man Who Was Believed To Be The Same
Person."
The Magistrate Was Examining The Three Sets Of Prints. As He Came
To The Third, He Raised His Head As If About To Make A Remark,
When Kennedy Quickly Interrupted.
"One Moment, Sir. You Were About To Say That Finger-Prints Never
Change, Never Show Such Variations As These. That Is True. There
Are Fingerprints Of People Taken Fifty Years Ago That Are Exactly
The Same As Their Finger-Prints Of To-Day. They Don't Change--They
Are Permanent. The Fingerprints Of Mummies Can Be Deciphered Even
After Thousands Of Years. But," He Added Slowly, "You Can Change
Fingers."
The Idea Was So Startling That I Could Scarcely Realise What He
Meant At First. I Had Read Of The Wonderful Work Of The Surgeons
Of The Rockefeller Institute In Transplanting Tissues And Even
Whole Organs, In Grafting Skin And In Keeping Muscles Artificially
Alive For Days Under Proper Conditions. Could It Be That A Man Had
Deliberately Amputated His Fingers And Grafted On New Ones? Was
The Stake Sufficient For Such A Game? Surely There Must Be Some
Scars Left After Such Grafting. I Picked Up The Various Sets Of
Prints. It Was True That The Third Set Was Not Very Clear, But
There Certainly Were No Scars There.
"Though There Is No Natural Changeability Of Finger-Prints,"
Pursued Kennedy, "Such Changes Can Be Induced, As Dr. Paul Prager
Of Vienna Has Shown, By Acids And Other Reagents, By Grafting And
By Injuries. Now, Is There Any Method By Which Lost Finger-Tips
Can Be Restored? I Know Of One Case Where The End Of A Finger Was
Taken Off And Only One-Sixteenth Inch Of The Nail Was Left. The
Doctor Incised The Edges Of The Granulating Surface And Then Led
The Granulations On By What Is Known In The Medical Profession As
Part 3 Chapter 5 (The Confidence King) Pg 55The 'Sponge Graft.' He Grew A New Finger-Tip.
"The Sponge Graft Consists In Using Portions Of A Fine Turkish
Surgical Sponge, Such I Have Here. I Found These Pieces In A Desk
At Riverwood. The Patient Is Anaesthetised. An Incision Is Made
From Side To Side In The Stump Of The Finger And Flaps Of Skin Are
Sliced Off And Turned Up For The New End Of The Finger To Develop
In--A Sort Of Shell Of Living Skin. Inside This, The Sponge Is
Placed, Not A Large Piece, But A Very Thin Piece Sliced Off And
Cut To The Shape Of The Finger-Stump. It Is Perfectly Sterilised
In Water And Washed In Green Soap After All The Stony Particles
Are Removed By Hydrochloric Acid. Then The Finger Is Bound Up And
Kept Moist With Normal Salt Solution.
"The Result Is That The End Of The Finger, Instead Of Healing
Over, Grows Into The Fine Meshes Of The Pieces Of Sponge, By
Capillary Attraction. Of Course Even This Would Heal In A Few
Days, But The Doctor Does Not Let It Heal. In Three Days He Pulls
The Sponge Off Gently. The End Of The Finger Has Grown Up Just A
Fraction Of An Inch. Then A New Thin Layer Of Sponge Is Added. Day
After Day This Process Is Repeated, Each Time The Finger Growing A
Little More. A New Nail Develops If Any Of The Matrix Is Left, And
I Suppose A Clever Surgeon By Grafting Up Pieces Of Epidermis
Could Produce On Such A Stump Very Passable Finger-Prints."
No One Of Us Said Anything, But Kennedy Seemed To Realise The
Thought In Our Minds And Proceeded To Elaborate The Method.
"It Is Known As The 'Education Sponge Method,' And Was First
Described By Dr. D. J. Hamilton, Of Edinburgh, In 1881. It Has
Frequently Been Used In America Since Then. The Sponge Really Acts
In A Mechanical Manner To Support The New Finger-Tissue That Is
Developed. The Meshes Are Filled In By Growing Tissue, And As It
Grows The Tissue Absorbs Part Of The Sponge, Which Is Itself An
Animal Tissue And Acts Like Catgut. Part Of It Is Also Thrown Off.
In Fact, The Sponge Imitates What Happens Naturally In The Porous
Network Of A Regular Blood-Clot. It Educates The Tissue To Grow,
Stimulates It--New Blood-Vessels And Nerves As Well As Flesh.
"In Another Case I Know Of, Almost The Whole Of The First Joint Of
A Finger Was Crushed Off, And The Doctor Was Asked To Amputate The
Stump Of Bone That Protruded. Instead, He Decided To Educate The
Tissue To Grow Out To Cover It And Appear Like A Normal Finger. In
These Cases The Doctors Succeeded Admirably In Giving The Patients
Entire New Finger-Tips, Without Scars, And, Except For The Initial
Injury And Operation, With Comparatively Little Inconvenience
Except That Absolute Rest Of The Hands Was Required.
"That Is What Happened, Gentlemen," Concluded Kennedy. "That Is
Why Mr. Forbes, Alias Williams, Made A Trip To Philadelphia To Be
Treated--For Crushed Finger-Tips, Not For The Kick Of An
Automobile Engine. He May Have Paid The Doctors In Counterfeits.
In Reality This Man Was Playing A Game In Which There Was Indeed A
Heavy Stake At Issue. He Was A Counterfeiter Sought By Two
Governments With The Net Closing About Him. What Are The Tips Of A
Few Fingers Compared With Life, Liberty, Wealth, And A Beautiful
Woman? The First Two Sets Of Prints Are Different From The Third
Because They Are Made By Different Finger-Tips--On The Same Man.
The Very Core Of The Prints Was Changed. But The Finger-Print
System Is Vindicated By The Very Ingenuity Of The Man Who So
Cleverly Has Contrived To Beat It."
"Very Interesting--To One Who Is Interested," Remarked The
Stranger, "But What Has That To Do With Detaining My Wife And
Myself, Making Us Miss Our Train, And Insulting Us?"
"Just This," Replied Craig. "If You Will Kindly Oblige Us By
Laying Your Fingers On This Inking-Pad And Then Lightly On This
Sheet Of Paper, I Think I Can Show You An Answer."
Knight Demurred, And His Wife Grew Hysterical At The Idea, But
Part 3 Chapter 5 (The Confidence King) Pg 56There Was Nothing, To Do But Comply. Kennedy Glanced At The Fourth
Set Of Prints, Then At The Third Set Taken A Week Ago, And Smiled.
No One Said A Word. Knight Or Williams, Which Was It? He
Nonchalantly Lit A Cigarette.
"So You Say I Am This Williams, The Counterfeiter?" He Asked
Superciliously.
"I Do," Reiterated Kennedy. "You Are Also Forbes."
"I Don't Suppose Scotland Yard Has Neglected To Furnish You With
Photographs And A Description Of This Forbes?"
Burke Reluctantly Pulled Out A Bertillon Card From His Pocket And
Laid It On The Table. It Bore The Front Face And Profile Of The
Famous Counterfeiter, As Well As His Measurements.
The Man Picked It Up As If Indeed It Was A Curious Thing. His
Coolness Nearly Convinced Me. Surely He Should Have Hesitated In
Actually Demanding This Last Piece Of Evidence. I Had Heard,
However, That The Bertillon System Of Measurements Often Depended
On The Personal Equation Of The Measurer As Well As On The
Measured. Was He Relying On That, Or On His Difference In
Features?
I Looked Over Kennedy's Shoulder At The Card On The Table. There
Was The Concave Nose Of The "Portrait Parle" Of Forbes, As It Had
First Been Described To Us. Without Looking Further I
Involuntarily Glanced At The Man, Although I Had No Need To Do So.
I Knew That His Nose Was The Exact Opposite Of That Of Forbes.
"Ingenious At Argument As You Are," He Remarked Quietly, "You Will
Hardly Deny That Knight, Of Omaha, Is The Exact Opposite Of
Forbes, Of London. My Nose Is Almost Jewish--My Complexion Is Dark
As An Arab's. Still, I Suppose I Am The Sallow, Snub-Nosed Forbes
Described Here, Inasmuch As I Have Stolen Forbes's Fingers And
Lost Them Again By A Most Preposterous Method."
"The Colour Of The Face Is Easily Altered," Said Kennedy. "A
Little Picric Acid Will Do That. The Ingenious Rogue
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