his grandson a specialist in mental disorders and a trained scientist. Houdini's sneers at these witnesses display his prejudice, as does his suggestion that Dr. Charles was suffering from senility when he wrote his book. Sixty-four, my friends, is not so great an age as that.
In the communications given to John Bell Junior the Spirit demonstrated the highest qualities. I have no doubt that the entity of 1828 was the first visitor, now wiser and more advanced in the spiritual realm. The jeering tricksters did not intrude, in part because the Spirit was in firmer control and in part because John Junior was more competent than his young sister. You complain of the vague predictions made by this Spirit; I do not see how predictions can be more precise. The War Between the States, the first Great War and the portents of the second—all were mentioned and described.
Gentlemen, you have been quick to accuse the dead, who are mute and defenseless and cannot speak for themselves. How can you be so complacent? However much our tiny human brains may try to classify such extraordinary matters, there still remain so many unknown causes and unexplained conditions that our best efforts can only be regarded as well-meant approximations to the truth.
Conan Doyle's voice trembled with emotion. After a moment Fodor said quietly, "You do well to remind us of our limitations, Sir Arthur. It is only a game we play tonight; none of us would have the effrontery to pretend we have offered the ultimate solution. But we have yet to hear from our guest. Inspector Ryan, you are a practical man, with years of experience in a large city police department. What is your solution?"
"I don't want to offend Sir Arthur," the guest began. "But if he were to consider the case as Mr. Sherlock Holmes might have done—"
"You will never win his support by referring to that personage," Houdini said dryly. "He tried to murder him, you know."
"And I only regret that I failed." Doyle's eyes twinkled. "Never mind my feelings, Inspector, my curiosity is as keen as anyone's. Which of our interpretations do you prefer?"
"Why, sir," said Ryan calmly, "none, sir. None of you has come near the truth."
18
Inspector Ryan:
Malice Domestic
First I want to thank you for inviting me here tonight, gentlemen. You have sure given me a lot of new ideas. I hope I can return the favor. Frankly, I am amazed none of you has seen what is, in my humble opinion, the most significant aspect of this unusual case.
It is a case of murder.
Sir Arthur hit the nail on the head when he said you all throw out the facts that don't fit your theory. Dr. Fodor is the only one of you who has come to grips with John Bell's death, and he hasn't considered the evidence. Why, gentlemen, no responsible physician would sign the death certificate of a man who died under such circumstances. John Bell was not a young man, but he was in excellent health till the trouble began; some of his contemporaries lived to be over ninety. John Bell was deliberately done to death—poisoned—and there is only one person who could have killed him. That person wasn't Miss Betsy. That person was his wife.
One rule of police theory is that in cases of domestic murder the primary suspect is always the husband or wife. So I started my mental investigation with Mrs. Bell. But I admit I was dumbfounded when I realized that every single bit of evidence pointed straight to her. She is not only the principal suspect, she is the only person who could have committed the crime.
John Bell was gravely ill but still conscious on December eighteenth. On the morning of the nineteenth his son found him in a deep coma from which he never awoke. Clearly the murderous potion was administered to him on the night of the eighteenth. And who was with him the whole night? Why, Mrs. Bell. Did you note that revealing sentence in her son's narrative— "Mother slipped away from the bedside where she had sat all night long"? Even
In the communications given to John Bell Junior the Spirit demonstrated the highest qualities. I have no doubt that the entity of 1828 was the first visitor, now wiser and more advanced in the spiritual realm. The jeering tricksters did not intrude, in part because the Spirit was in firmer control and in part because John Junior was more competent than his young sister. You complain of the vague predictions made by this Spirit; I do not see how predictions can be more precise. The War Between the States, the first Great War and the portents of the second—all were mentioned and described.
Gentlemen, you have been quick to accuse the dead, who are mute and defenseless and cannot speak for themselves. How can you be so complacent? However much our tiny human brains may try to classify such extraordinary matters, there still remain so many unknown causes and unexplained conditions that our best efforts can only be regarded as well-meant approximations to the truth.
Conan Doyle's voice trembled with emotion. After a moment Fodor said quietly, "You do well to remind us of our limitations, Sir Arthur. It is only a game we play tonight; none of us would have the effrontery to pretend we have offered the ultimate solution. But we have yet to hear from our guest. Inspector Ryan, you are a practical man, with years of experience in a large city police department. What is your solution?"
"I don't want to offend Sir Arthur," the guest began. "But if he were to consider the case as Mr. Sherlock Holmes might have done—"
"You will never win his support by referring to that personage," Houdini said dryly. "He tried to murder him, you know."
"And I only regret that I failed." Doyle's eyes twinkled. "Never mind my feelings, Inspector, my curiosity is as keen as anyone's. Which of our interpretations do you prefer?"
"Why, sir," said Ryan calmly, "none, sir. None of you has come near the truth."
18
Inspector Ryan:
Malice Domestic
First I want to thank you for inviting me here tonight, gentlemen. You have sure given me a lot of new ideas. I hope I can return the favor. Frankly, I am amazed none of you has seen what is, in my humble opinion, the most significant aspect of this unusual case.
It is a case of murder.
Sir Arthur hit the nail on the head when he said you all throw out the facts that don't fit your theory. Dr. Fodor is the only one of you who has come to grips with John Bell's death, and he hasn't considered the evidence. Why, gentlemen, no responsible physician would sign the death certificate of a man who died under such circumstances. John Bell was not a young man, but he was in excellent health till the trouble began; some of his contemporaries lived to be over ninety. John Bell was deliberately done to death—poisoned—and there is only one person who could have killed him. That person wasn't Miss Betsy. That person was his wife.
One rule of police theory is that in cases of domestic murder the primary suspect is always the husband or wife. So I started my mental investigation with Mrs. Bell. But I admit I was dumbfounded when I realized that every single bit of evidence pointed straight to her. She is not only the principal suspect, she is the only person who could have committed the crime.
John Bell was gravely ill but still conscious on December eighteenth. On the morning of the nineteenth his son found him in a deep coma from which he never awoke. Clearly the murderous potion was administered to him on the night of the eighteenth. And who was with him the whole night? Why, Mrs. Bell. Did you note that revealing sentence in her son's narrative— "Mother slipped away from the bedside where she had sat all night long"? Even
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