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The first problem by Jacques Futrell.
That strange, seemingly inexplicable chain of circumstances,

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which had to do with the mysterious
disappearance of a famous actress, Irene

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Wallack, from her dressing room in
a Springfield theater and the course of a

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performance while the echo of tumultuous appreciation
still rang in her ears. Was perhaps

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the first problem which was not purely
scientific, that the thinking machine was ever

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asked to solve. The scientist's aid
was enlisted in this case by Hutchinson Hatch

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reporter. But I am a scientist, a logician, the thinking machine had

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protested, I know nothing whatever of
crime. No one knows that a crime

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has been committed. The reporter hastened
to say, there is something far beyond

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the ordinary in this affair. A
woman has disappeared, evaporated into thin air

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in the hearing, almost in sight
of her friends. The police can make

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enough of it. It is a
problem for a greater mind than theirs.

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Professor van Dusen waived the newspaper man
to a seat, and himself sank back

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into a great cushioned chair, in
which his diminutive figure seemed even more childlike

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than it really was. Tell me
the story, he said, petulantly,

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all of it. The enormous yellow
head rested against the chair back. The

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blue eyes squinted steadily upward. The
slender fingers were pressed tip to tip.

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The thinking machine was in a receptive
mood. Hatch was triumphant. He had

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had only a vague hope that he
could interest this man in an affair which

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was as bizarre as it was incomprehensible. Miss Wallack is thirty years old and

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beautiful. The reporter began as an
actress. She has won high recognition,

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not only in this country, but
in England. You may have read something

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of her in the daily papers.
And if I never read the papers,

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the other interrupted, curtly, go
on. She is unmarried, and,

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as far as anyone knows, had
no immediate intention of changing her condition.

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Patch resumed staring curiously at the thin
face of the scientist. I presume she

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had admirers. Most beautiful women of
the stage have. But she is one

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whose life has been perfectly clean,
whose record is an open book. I

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tell you this because it might have
a bearing on your conclusion as to a

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possible reason for her disappearance. Now, the actual circumstances of that disappearance.

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Miss Wallack has been playing in Shakespearean
repertoire. Last week she was in Springfield

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on Saturday night, which concluded her
engagement. There, she appeared as Rosalind

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in As You Like It. The
house was crowded. She played the first

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two acts amid great enthusiasm, and
this despite the fact that she was suffering

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intensely from headache, to which she
was subject at times. After the second

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act, she returned to her dressing
room, and just before the curtain went

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up for the third the stage manager
called her. She replied that she would

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be out immediately. There seems no
possible shadow of doubt that it was her

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voice. Rosalind does not appear in
the third act until the curtain has been

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up for six minutes. When miss
Wallock's cue came, she did not answer

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it. The stage manager rushed to
her door and again called her. There

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was no answer. Then, fearing
that she might have fainted, he went

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in. She was not there.
A hurried search was made without result,

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and the stage manager finally was compelled
to announce to the audience that the sudden

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illness of the star would make it
impossible to finish the performance, the curtain

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was lowered and the search resumed.
Every nook and corner back of the footlights

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was gone over the stage door keeper
William Megan, had seen no one go

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out. He and a policeman had
been standing at the stage door talking for

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at least twenty minutes. It is
therefore conclusive that miss Wallack did not leave

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by that exit. The only other
way it was possible to leave the stage

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was over the footlights. Of course, she didn't go that way, yet

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no trace of her has been found. Where is she the windows, asked

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the Thinking Machine. The stage is
below the street level, explained Hatch.

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The window of her dressing room,
Room A, is small and barred with

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iron. It opens into an air
shaft that goes straight up for ten feet,

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and that is covered with an iron
grating fixed in the granite. The

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other windows on the stage are not
only inaccessible, but are also barred with

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iron. She could not have approached
either of these windows without being seen by

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other members of the company or the
stage. Chance under this stage, suggested

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the scientist. Nothing, the reporter
went on. It is a large cemented

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basement which was vacant. It was
searched because There was, of course,

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a chance that miss Wallack might have
become temporarily unbalanced and wandered down there.

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There was even a search made of
the flies, that is, the galleries

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over the stage where the men who
worked the drop curtains are stationed. There

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was silence for a long time.
The thinking machine twiddled his fingers and continued

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to stare upward. He had not
looked at the reporter. He broke the

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silence after a time. How was
miss Wallack dressed at the time of her

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disappearance in doublet and hose, that
is tights, The newspaperman responded. She

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wears that costume from the second act
until practically the end of the play.

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Was all her street clothing in the
room, Yes, everything spread across an

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unopened trunk of costumes. It was
all as if she had left the room

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to answer her cue, all in
order, even to an open box of

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chocolate cream candy on her table.
No sign of a struggle, nor any

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noise heard, no nor trace of
blood nothing her maid did she have one?

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Oh? Yes, I neglected to
tell you that the maid, Gertrude

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Manning, had gone home immediately after
the first act. She grew suddenly ill

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and was excused. The Thinking Machine
turned his squint eyes on the reporter for

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the first time. Ill he repeated, What was the matter that I can't

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say? Replied the reporter. Where
is she now? I don't know.

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Everyone forgot all about her in the
excitement about miss Wallack? What kind of

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candy was it? I'm afraid I
don't know that either. Where was it

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bought? The reporter shrugged his shoulders. That was something else he didn't know.

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The Thinking Machine shot out the questions
aggressively, staring meanwhile steadily at Hatch,

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who squirmed uncomfortably. Where is the
candy now, demanded the scientist again.

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Hatch shrugged his shoulders. How much
does miss Wallack away? The reporter

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was willing to guess at this He
had seen her half a dozen times between

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a hundred and thirty and a hundred
and forty. He ventured, does there

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happen to be a hypnotist connected with
the company? I don't know, Hatch

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replied. The Thinking Machine waved his
slender hands impatiently. He was annoyed.

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It is perfectly absurd, mister Hatch. He expostulated, to come to me

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with only a few facts and ask
advice if you had all the facts,

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I might be able to do something. But this the newspaper man was nettled.

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In his own profession, he was
accredited a man of discernment and acumen.

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He resented the tone, the manner, even the seemingly trivial questions which

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the other asked, I don't see. He began that the candy, even

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if it had been poisoned, as
I imagine you think possible, or a

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hypnotist, could have had anything to
do with miss Wallack's disappearance. Certainly neither

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poison nor hypnotism would have made her
invisible. Of course, you don't see

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blazed the thinking machine. If you
did, you wouldn't have come to me.

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When did this thing happen? Saturday
night? As I said, the

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reporter informed him a little more humbly. It closed the engagement in Springfield.

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Miss Wallack was to have appeared here
in Boston to night. When did she

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disappear? By the clock? I
mean? The stage manager's time slip shows

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that the curtain for the third act
went up at nine forty one. He

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spoke to her, say, one
minute before or at nine forty the action

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of the play. Before she appears
in the third act takes six minutes.

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Therefore, in precisely seven minutes,
a woman weighing more than a hundred and

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thirty pounds, certainly not dressed for
the street, disappeared completely from her dressing

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room. It is now five eighteen
Monday afternoon. I think we may solve

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this crime within a few hours.
Crime, Hatch repeated, eagerly. Do

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you imagine there as a crime?
Then Professor van Dusen didn't heed the question.

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Instead, he rose and paced back
and forth across the reception room half

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a dozen times, his hands behind
his back and his eyes cast down.

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At last, he stopped and faced
the reporter, who had also risen Miss

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Wallack's company. I presume with the
baggage is now in Boston, he said,

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See every male member of the company. Talk to them, and particularly

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study their eyes. Don't overlook any
one, however, humble, also find

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out what became of the box of
chocolate candy, and, if possible,

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how many pieces are out of it. Then report here to me. Miss

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Wallack's safety may depend upon your speed
and accuracy. Hatch was frankly startled how

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he began. Don't stop to talk, hurry, commanded the thinking machine.

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I will have a cab waiting when
you come back. We must get to

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Springfield. The newspaper man rushed away
to obey orders. He didn't understand them

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at all. Studying men's eyes was
not in his line, but he obeyed

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nevertheless. An hour and a half
later he returned to be thrust unceremoniously into

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a waiting cab by the Thinking Machine. The cab rattled away towards South Station,

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where the two men caught a train
just about to move out for Springfield.

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Once settled in their seats, the
scientists turned to Hatch, who was

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nearly suffocating with suppressed information. Well, he asked, I found out several

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things, The reporter burst out.
First. Miss Wallack's leading man, Langdon

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Mason, who has been in love
with her for three years, bought the

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candy at Schilers in Springfield early Saturday
evening before he went to the theater.

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He told me so himself, rather
reluctantly, But I made him say it,

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Ah, exclaimed the Thinking Machine.
It was a most unequivocal ejaculation.

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How many pieces of candy are out
of the box, Only three, explained

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Hatch. Miss Wallack's things were packed
into the open trunk in her dressing room.

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The candy with them, I induced
the manager. Yes, yes,

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yes, interrupted the thinking machine impatiently. What sort of eyes has Mason?

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What color blue? Frank an expression? Nothing unusual at all, said the

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reporter and the others. I didn't
quite know what you meant by studying their

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eyes, so I got a set
of photographs. I thought perhaps they might

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help. Excellent, excellent, commented
the thinking machine. He shuffled the pictures

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through his fingers, stopping now and
then to study one and to read the

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name printed below. Is that the
leading man? He asked at last,

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and handed one to Hatch. Yes. Professor van Dusen did not speak again.

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The train pulled into Springfield at nine
twenty one. Hatch followed the scientist

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without a word, into a cab. Shiler's candy store quickly commanded the Thinking

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Machine hurry. The cab rushed off
through the night. Ten minutes later,

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stopped before a brilliantly lighted candy store. The Thinking Machine led the way inside

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and approached the girl behind the chocolate
counter. Will you please tell me if

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you remember this man's face, he
asked, as he produced Mason's photograph.

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Oh, yes, I remember him. The girl replied, he's an actor.

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Did he buy a small box of
chocolates of you Saturday evening early?

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Was the next question. Yes,
I recall it because he seemed to be

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in a hurry. In fact,
I believe he said he was anxious to

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get to the theater to pack.
And do you recall that this man ever

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bought chocolates? Here, asked the
scientist. He produced another photograph and handed

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it to the girl. She studied
it a moment while Hatch craned his neck

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vainly to see. I don't recall
that he ever did, the girl answered.

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Finally, the Thinking Machine turned away
abruptly and disappeared into a public telephone

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booth. Remained there for five minutes, then rushed out to the cab again,

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with Hatch following closely. City Hospital. He commanded again, the cab

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dashed away. Hatch was dumb.
There seemed to be nothing to say.

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The Thinking Machine was plainly pursuing some
definite line of inquiry, yet the reporter

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didn't know what the case was getting
kaleidoscopic. This impression was strengthened when he

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found himself standing beside the Thinking Machine
in City Hospital, conversing with the house

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surgeon, Doctor Carlton, Is there
a miss Gertrude Manning here? Was the

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scientist's first question. Yes, replied
the surgeon. She was brought here Saturday

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night suffering from strychnine poisoning. Yes, I know, interrupted the other,

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picked up in the street. Probably, I'm a physician. If she is

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well enough, I should like to
ask her a couple of questions. Doctor

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Carleton agreed, and Professor van Dusen, still follow faithfully by. Hatch was

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ushered into the ward where Miss Wallack's
maid lay pallid and weak. The Thinking

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Machine picked up her hand, and
his slender fingers rested for a minute on

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her pulse. He nodded and seemed
satisfied. Miss Manning, Can you understand

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me? He asked. The girl
nodded weakly. How many pieces of the

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candy did you eat? Two?
She replied. She stared into the face

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above her with dull eyes. Did
miss Wallack eat any of it up to

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the time you left the theater?
No? If the Thinking Machine had been

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in a hurry previously, he was
racing now. Hatch trailed on dutifully behind,

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down the stairs and into the cab. Whence Professor von Dushan shouted a

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word of thanks to Doctor Carlton.
This time their destination was the stage door

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of the theater, from which Miss
Wallack had disappeared. The reporter was muddled.

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He didn't know anything very clearly,
except that three pieces of candy were

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missing from the box. Of these, the maid had eaten only two.

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She had been poisoned. Therefore,
it seemed reasonable to suppose that if Miss

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Wallace had eaten the third piece,
she also would be poisoned. But poison

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would not make her invisible. At
this point, the reporter shook his head

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hopelessly. William Megan, the stage
doorkeeper, was easily found. Can you

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inform me, please, began the
thinking machine. If mister Mason left a

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box of candy with you last Saturday
night for miss Wallack. Yes, Megan

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replied good naturedly. He was amused
at the little man. Miss Wallack hadn't

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arrived. Mason brought a box of
candy for nearly every night and usually left

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it here. I put the one
Saturday night on the shelf. Here did

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mister Mason come to the theater before
or after the others on Saturday night?

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Before, replied Megan. He was
unusually early, I suppose to pack,

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and the other members of the company
coming in to stop here, I imagine,

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to get their mail. And the
scientists squinted up at the mailbox above

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the shelf. Sure always, the
thinking Machine drew a long breath. Up

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to this time there had been little, perplexed wrinkles in his brow. Now

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they disappeared. Now please, he
went on, Was any package or box

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of any kind taken from the stage
on Saturday night between nine and eleven o'clock?

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No, said Megan, positively,
nothing at all. Until the company's

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baggage was removed at midnight. Miss
Wallack had two trunks in her dressing room.

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Yes, to whacking big ones.
How do you know? Because I

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helped put him in and helped take
him out, replied Megan, sharply,

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what's it to you? Suddenly the
Thinking Machine turned and ran out to the

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cab, with Hatch his shadow close
behind. Drive, Drive as fast as

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you know how to the nearest long
distance telephone. The scientist instructed the cabby,

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A woman's life is at stake.
Half an hour later, Professor von

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Duson and Hutchinson Hatch were on a
train rushing back to Boston. The thinking

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machine had been in a telephone booth
for fifteen minutes. When he came out,

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Hatch had asked several questions to which
the scientists vouchsafed no answer. They

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were perhaps thirty minutes out of Springfield
before the scientist showed any disposition to talk.

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Then he began without preliminary much as
he was resuming a former conversation.

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Of course, if miss Wallack didn't
leave the stage of the theater, she

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was there, he said, We
will admit that she did not become invisible.

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The problem, therefore was to find
her on the stage. The fact

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that no violence was used against her
was conclusively proved by half a dozen instances.

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No one heard her scream, there
was no struggle, no trace of

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blood. Ergo, we assume in
the beginning that she must have consented to

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the first steps which led to her
disappearance. Remember, her attire was wholly

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unsuited to the street. Now let
us shape a hypothesis which will fit all

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the circumstances. Miss Wallack had a
severe headache. Hypnotic influence will cure headaches.

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Was there a hypnotist to whom Miss
Wallack would have submitted herself? Assume

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there was, then would that hypnotist
take advantage of his control to place her

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in a cataleptic condition? Assume a
motive and he would then how would he

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dispose of her? From this point
questions radiate in all directions. We will

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confine ourselves to the probable, granting
for the moment that this hypothesis, the

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only one which fits all the circumstances, is correct. Obviously a hypnotist would

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not have attempted to get her out
of the dressing room. What remains one

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of the two trunks in her room, Hatch gasped, You mean you think

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it possible that she was hypnotized and
placed in that second trunk, the one

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that was strapped and locked, he
asked. It's the only thing that could

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have happened, said the thinking machine
emphatically. Therefore, that was just what

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did happen. Why it's horrible,
exclaimed Hatch, A live woman and a

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trunk for forty eight hours. Even
if she was alive, then she must

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be dead now. The reporter shuddered
a little, engazed curiously at the inscrutable

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face of his companion. He saw
no pity, no horror. There There

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was merely the reflection of the workings
of a brain. It does not necessarily

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follow that she is dead, explained
the thinking machine. If she ate that

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third piece of candy before she was
hypnotized, she is probably dead. If

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it was placed in her mouth after
she was in a cataleptic condition, the

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chances are that she is not dead. The candy would not melt and her

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system could not absorb the poison,
but she would be suffocated. Her bones

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would be broken by the rough handling
of the trunk. There are a hundred

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possibilities, the reporter suggested. A
person in a cataleptic condition is singularly impervious

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to injury. Replied the scientist,
there is, of course a chance of

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suffocation, but a great deal of
air may enter a trunk and the candy.

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Hatch asked, yes, the candy. We know that two pieces of

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candy nearly killed the maid, Yet
mister Mason admitted having bought it. This

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admission indicated that this poisoned candy is
not the candy he bought. Is mister

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Mason a hypnotist, No, he
hasn't. The eyes his picture tells me

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that we know that mister Mason did
buy candy for Miss Wallack and several occasions.

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We know that sometimes he left it
with the stage doorkeeper. We know

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that members of the company stopped there
for mail. We instantly see that it

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is possible for one to take away
that box and substitute poisoned candy. All

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the boxes are alike. Madness and
the cunning of madness lie back of all

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this. It was a deliberate attempt
to murder Miss Wallack, long pondered and

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due perhaps to unrequited or hopeless infatuation. It began with the poisoned candy,

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and that failing went to a point
immediately following the moment when the stage manager

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last spoke to the actress. The
hypnotist was probably in her room. Then

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you must remember that it would have
been possible for him to ease the headache

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and at the same time leave Miss
Wallack free to play. She might have

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known this from previous experience. Is
Miss Wallack still in the trunk, asked

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Hatch. After a silence, no, replied the thinking machine. She is

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out now dead or alive. I
am inclined to believe alive, and the

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man I will turn him over to
the police. In half an hour after

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we reach Boston from South Station,
the scientist and Hatch were driven immediately to

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police headquarters. Detective Mallory, who
Hatch knew well, received them. We

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got your phone from Springfield, he
began. Was she dead, interrupted the

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scientist. No, Mallory replied,
she was unconscious when we took her out

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of the trunk, but no bones
are broken. She is badly bruised.

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The doctor says, she's hypnotized.
Was the piece of candy taken from her

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mouth? Sure? A chocolate cream? It hadn't melted. I'll come back

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here in a few minutes and awake
her, said the Thinking Machine. Come

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with us now and get the man. Wonderingly, the detective entered the cab

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and the three were driven to a
big hotel a dozen blocks away. Before

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they entered the lobby, the Thinking
Machine handed a photograph to Mallory, who

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studied it under an electric light.
That man is upstairs with several others,

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explained the scientist. Pick him out
and get behind him. When we entered

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the room. He may attempt to
shoot. Don't touch him until I say

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so. In a large room on
the fifth floor, Manager Stanfeld of the

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Irene Wallet Company had assembled the men
of her support. This was done at

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the phoned request of the Thinking Machine. There were no preliminaries. When Professor

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van Dusen entered, he squinted comprehensively
about him, then went straight to Langdon

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Mason. Were you on the stage
in the third act of your play before

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miss Wallack was to appear? I
mean the play last Saturday night, he

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asked. I was, Mason replied, for at least three minutes. Mister

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Stanfeld, is that correct, yes, replied the manager. There was a

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long, tense silence, broken only
by the heavy footsteps of Mallory as he

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walked toward a distant corner of the
room. A faint flush crept into Mason's

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face as he realized that the questions
were only most an accusation, he started

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to speak, but the study impassive
voice of the Thinking Machine stopped him.

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Mister Mallory, take your prisoner,
it said instantly. There was a fierce,

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frantic struggle, and those present turned
to see the detective with his great

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00:26:17,680 --> 00:26:22,480
arms locked about Stanley Whiteman, the
melancholy Jacques of As You Like It.

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The actor's face was distorted, madness
blazed in the eyes, and he snarled

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like a beast at bay by a
sudden movement. Mallory threw Whiteman and manacled

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him, then looked up to find
the Thinking Machine peering over his shoulder at

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the prostrate man. Yes, he's
a hypnotist, the scientist remarked in self

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satisfied conclusion. It always tells in
the pupils of the eyes. This,

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then, was the beginning and end
of the First Problem. Miss Wallack was

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aroused and told a story almost identical
with that of the Thinking Machine. Stanley

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00:27:00,039 --> 00:27:03,160
White Men, whose brooding over a
hopeless love for her made a maniac of

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him, raves and shrieks. The
lines of Jacques in the Seclusion of a

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padded Cell, End of the First
Problem by Jacques Futrell