The Poisoned Pen(Fiscle Part-3), Arthur B. Reeve [my reading book TXT] 📗

Up The

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 54

In 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 55

The '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 56

There 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