|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 108
The district attorney nodded. "Me for McCann's," he muttered.
"That's where she went to eat." He rushed off eagerly.
Kennedy had no difficulty persuading McGroarty to put his
particular studio car at our disposal without an order from
Manton or from the director who had called him. In a very brief
space of time we were at the laboratory.
"You expect to find the blood of one of those people showing
traces of the antivenin?" I grasped Kennedy's method of
procedure, but wanted to make sure I understood it correctly.
Already I was blocking out the detailed article for the Star, the
big scoop which that paper should have as a result of my close
association with Kennedy on the case. "One of those samples
should correspond, I suppose, to the trace of blood on the
portieres?"
"Exactly!" He answered me rather absently, being concerned in
setting out the apparatus he would need for a hasty series of
tests.
"Will the antivenin show in the blood after four, perhaps five
days?"
"I should say so, Walter. If it does not, by any chance, I will
be able to identify the blood, but that is much more involved and
tedious--a great deal more actual work."
"I've got it straight, then. Now--" I paced up and down several
times. "The finger-nail files should show a trace of the itching
salve? Is that correct, Craig?"
For a moment he didn't answer, as his mind was upon his
paraphernalia. Then he straightened. "Hardly, Walter! The salve
is soluble in water. What I shall find, if anything, is some of
the fibers of the towel. You see, a person's finger nails are
great little collectors of bits of foreign matter, and anyone
handling that rag is sure to show some infinitesimal trace for a
long while afterward. If the person stealing the towel filed or
cleaned his nails there will be evidence of the fibers on his
pocket knife or finger-nail file. I impregnated the towel with
that chemical so that I would be able to identify the fibers
positively."
"The use of the itching salve was unnecessary?"
A quizzical smile crept across Kennedy's face. "Did you think I
expected some one to go walking around the studio scratching his
hands? Did you imagine I thought the guilty party would betray
his or her identity in such childish fashion, after all the
cleverness displayed in the crimes themselves?"
"But you were insistent that I rub in the--"
"To force them to wash their hands after touching the towel,
Walter."
"Oh!" I felt rather chagrined. "Wouldn't some pigment, some
color, have served the purpose better?"
"No, because anyone would have understood that and would have
taken the proper measures to remove all traces. But the itching
salve served two purposes. It was misleading, because obviously a
trap upon reflection, and so it would distract attention from the
impregnated fibers, my real scheme. Then it was the best device
of all I could think of, for it set up a local irritation of the
sort most calculated to make a person clean his finger nails. The
average man and woman is not very neat, Walter. I was not sure
but a scientific prodding was necessary to transfer my evidence
to some object I could borrow and examine under a microscope."
Meanwhile Kennedy's long fingers were busy at the preliminary
operations in his tests. He turned away and I asked no more
questions, not wishing to delay him.
I noticed that first he examined the blood samples under the
microscope. Afterward he employed a spectroscope. But none of the
operations took any great amount of time, since he seemed to
anticipate his results.
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|