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Page 84
"I had availed myself of his interest in the subject of cancer to
get him to the library. It is one of my maxims never to take an
avoidable risk, for which reason I made Latour apply for the books
I wanted, as well as for the medical works he desired to peruse.
As he was ambidextrous, I suggested the use of the two names Weltz
and Rizzi, the former to be written with his right and the latter
with his left hand. I was actuated in all this by two motives.
First, I was manufacturing evidence which might stand me in good
stead later, as well as minimising somewhat my own risk in getting
the information I needed; and, secondly, I was getting Latour into
a good atmosphere for my hypnotic influence. Not a word of all
these matters did he relate to his daughter, whom he loves with a
devotion I have never seen equalled. Indeed, it was this very
affection that made my plan feasible. When I had convinced him he
was a murderer I showed him Mr. Darrow's curious advertisement
offering a reward, should he be assassinated, to anyone bringing
about the conviction of his assailant.
"'In a year,' I said to him, 'you will die of cancer, if your crime
be not previously discovered and punished. Your daughter will then
be penniless. How much better for you to permit me in a few months
to accuse you of the murder. You then confess; I claim and secure
the reward and secretly divide with you; you are sentenced; but as
considerable time will transpire between this and the date set for
your execution, you in the meantime will die of cancer, leaving
Jeannette well provided for.'
"I think my influence over him would have been sufficient to have
compelled him to all this, could he have reasoned out no benefit
accruing to himself or daughter by such a course, but with
circumstances thus in my favour my task was an easy one. The
public knows all it need know of what occurred after this. This
man, Maitland, was in the next room to Latour's, overheard our
conversation, and even phonographed our words and photographed our
positions. It has always been a matter of pride with me to
gracefully acknowledge that three aces are not so good as a full
house, therefore I confess myself beaten, though not subdued.
"I consider this the very best tribute I can pay to the genius of
the man who has undone me. I take my punishment, however, into my
own hands.
"In my haste to have done with all this and to start on my long and
chartless journey, I had well-nigh forgotten to tell just how I
killed Mr. Darrow. No hypodermic syringe had anything to do with
it. The while plan came to me while reading that fatal page upon
which I left my telltale thumb-signature in my search for some
feasible plan of making away with my victim. I need not go into
particulars, for I know perfectly well that this Maitland knows to
a nicety how the thing was done. The Daboia Russellii, or Russell's
viper, is one of the best known and most deadly of Indian vipers.
I procured one of these reptiles at the cost of great delay and some
slight risk. That is the whole story. On the night of the murder
I took the viper in a box and went down to the water-front, near the
Darrow estate. Here I cut a small pole from a clump of alders, made
a split in one end of it, and thrust it over the tail of the viper.
It pinched him severely and held him fast despite his angry struggles
to free himself and to attack anything within his reach. All that
remained to be done was to thrust this through the window into the
darkened room and to bring the viper within reach of Mr. Darrow.
This I did, being careful to crouch so as not to obstruct the light
of the window. When I heard my victim's outcry I withdrew the pole,
and with it, of course, the viper, and made good my escape. That
the reptile bit Mr. Darrow under the chin while his back was toward
the window was mere chance, though I regarded it as a very lucky
occurrence, since it seemed to render the suicide theory at first
inevitable.
"I had had some fear lest the hissing of the viper might have been
heard, for which reason I hazarded the only question I asked at the
examination, and was completely reassured by its answer. I should
perhaps state that my purpose in keeping in the background at this
examination was my desire to avoid attracting attention to my
deformed foot and my halting gait. This latter I had taken pains to
conceal at my entrance, but I knew that the first step I took in
forgetfulness would expose my halting habit. I had no fear of either
Osborne or Allen, but there was something about this Maitland that
bade me at once be on my guard, and, as I have said before, I never
take an avoidable risk. For this reason I sat at once in the darkest
corner I could find and remained there throughout the examination. I
thought it extremely unlikely, though possible, that an attempt might
be made to track the assassin with dogs, yet, since that is precisely
the first thing I myself would have done, I decided that the risk was
worth avoiding. I accordingly set the boat adrift to indicate an
escape by water, and then waded along the beach for half a mile or
so, carrying the pole, boards, etc., with me. As I kept where the
water was at least six inches deep I knew no dog could follow my
trail. At the point where I left the water I sat down upon a rock
and put on my stockings and shoes, thoroughly saturating them at the
same time with turpentine, and pouring the remainder of the bottle
upon the rock where I had sat. As I had known prisoners escaped
from Libby Prison to pass in this way undetected within twenty feet
of bloodhounds upon their trail, I felt that my tracks had been well
covered, and made all possible haste to get ready to attend the
examination with the special detail.
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