Speaker 1: The first problem by Jacques Foutrelle. That strange, seemingly inexplicable
Speaker 1: chain of circumstances, which had to do with the mysterious
Speaker 1: disappearance of a famous actress, Irene Wallack, from her dressing
Speaker 1: room in a Springfield theater in the course of a performance,
Speaker 1: while the echo of tumultuous appreciation still rang in her ears.
Speaker 1: Was perhaps the first problem which was not purely scientific
Speaker 1: that the thinking machine was ever asked to solve. The
Speaker 1: scientist's aid was enlisted in this case by Hutchinson Hatch reporter.
Speaker 1: But I am a scientist, a logician, the thinking machine
Speaker 1: had protested, I know nothing whatever of crime. No one
Speaker 1: knows that a crime has been committed. The reporter hastened
Speaker 1: to say, there is something far beyond the ordinary in
Speaker 1: this affair. A woman has disappeared, evaporated into thin air
Speaker 1: in the hearing, almost in sight of her friends. The
Speaker 1: police can make nothing of it. It is a problem
Speaker 1: for a greater mind than theirs. Professor von Duson waived
Speaker 1: the newspaper man to a seat, and himself sank back
Speaker 1: into a great cushioned chair, in which his diminutive figure
Speaker 1: seemed even more childlike than it really was. Tell me
Speaker 1: the story, he said, petulantly, all of it. The enormous
Speaker 1: yellow head rested against the chair back. The blue eyes
Speaker 1: squinted steadily upward. The slender fingers were pressed tip to tip.
Speaker 1: The thinking machine was in a receptive mood. Hatch was triumphant.
Speaker 1: He had had only a vague hope that he could
Speaker 1: interest this man in an affair which was as bizarre
Speaker 1: as it was incomprehensible. Miss Wallack is thirty years old
Speaker 1: and beautiful, the reporter began as an actress. She has
Speaker 1: one high recognition, not only in this country, but in England.
Speaker 1: You may have read something of her in the daily papers.
Speaker 1: And if I never read the papers, the other interrupted, curtly,
Speaker 1: go on. She is unmarried, and, as far as anyone knows,
Speaker 1: had no immediate intention of changing her condition. Hatch resumed
Speaker 1: staring curiously at the thin face of the scientist. I
Speaker 1: presume she had admirers. Most beautiful women of the stage have.
Speaker 1: But she is one whose life has been perfectly clean,
Speaker 1: whose record is an open book. I tell you this
Speaker 1: because it might have a bearing on your conclusion as
Speaker 1: to a possible reason for her disappearance. Now the actual
Speaker 1: circumstances of that disappearance. Miss Wallack has been playing in
Speaker 1: Shakespeare in repertoire. Last week. She was in Springfield on
Speaker 1: Saturday night, which concluded her engagement. There, she appeared as
Speaker 1: Rosalind in As You Like It. The house was crowded.
Speaker 1: She played the first two acts amid great enthusiasm, and
Speaker 1: this despite the fact that she was suffering intensely from headache,
Speaker 1: to which she was subject at times. After the second act,
Speaker 1: she returned to her dressing room, and just before the
Speaker 1: curtain went up for the third the stage manager called her.
Speaker 1: She replied that she would be out immediately. There seems
Speaker 1: no possible shadow of doubt that it was her voice.
Speaker 1: Rosalind does not appear in the third act until the
Speaker 1: curtain has been up for six minutes. When Miss Wallock's
Speaker 1: cue came, she did not answer it. The stage manager
Speaker 1: rushed to her door and again called her. There was
Speaker 1: no answer. Then, fearing that she might have fainted, he
Speaker 1: went in. She was not there. A hurried search was
Speaker 1: made without result, and the stage manager finally was compelled
Speaker 1: to announce to the audience that the sudden illness of
Speaker 1: the star would make it impossible to finish the performance.
Speaker 1: The curtain was lowered and the search resumed. Every nook
Speaker 1: and corner back of the footlights was gone. Over the
Speaker 1: stage door keeper William Meghan had seen no one go out.
Speaker 1: He and a policeman had been standing at the stage
Speaker 1: door talking for at least twenty minutes. It is therefore
Speaker 1: conclusive that miss Wallack did not leave by that exit.
Speaker 1: The only other way it was possible to leave the
Speaker 1: stage was over the footlights. Of course, she didn't go
Speaker 1: that way, yet no trace of her has been found.
Speaker 1: Where is she the windows, asked the Thinking Machine. The
Speaker 1: stage is below the street level, explained Hatch. The window
Speaker 1: of her dressing room, Room A is small and barred
Speaker 1: with iron. It opens into an air shaft that goes
Speaker 1: straight up for ten feet, and that is covered with
Speaker 1: an iron grating fixed in the granite. The other windows
Speaker 1: on the stage are not only inaccessible, but are also
Speaker 1: barred with iron. She could not have approached either of
Speaker 1: these windows without being seen by other members of the
Speaker 1: company or the stage. Chance under this stage, suggested the scientist. Nothing,
Speaker 1: the reporter went on. It is a large cemented basement
Speaker 1: which was vacant. It was searched, because there was, of
Speaker 1: course a chance that miss Wallack might have become temporarily
Speaker 1: unbalanced and wandered down there. There was even a search
Speaker 1: made of the flies, that is, the galleries over the
Speaker 1: stage where the men who work the drop curtains are stationed.
Speaker 1: There was silence for a long time. The thinking machine
Speaker 1: twiddled his fingers and continued to stare upward. He had
Speaker 1: not looked at the reporter. He broke the silence after
Speaker 1: a time. How was miss Wallack dressed at the time
Speaker 1: of her disappearance in doublet and hose, that is tights,
Speaker 1: The newspaper man responded. She wears that costume from the
Speaker 1: second act until practically the end of the play. Was
Speaker 1: all her streak clothing in the room, Yes, everything spread
Speaker 1: across an unopened trunk of costumes. It was all as
Speaker 1: if she had left the room to answer her cue,
Speaker 1: all in order, even to an open box of chocolate
Speaker 1: cream candy on her table. No sign of a struggle,
Speaker 1: nor any noise heard, no nor trace of blood nothing
Speaker 1: her maid did she have one? Oh? Yes, I neglected
Speaker 1: to tell you that the maid, Gertrude Manning, had gone
Speaker 1: home immediately after the first act she grew suddenly ill
Speaker 1: and was excused. The Thinking Machine turned his squint eyes
Speaker 1: on the reporter for the first time. Ill, he repeated,
Speaker 1: What was the matter that I can't say? Replied the reporter.
Speaker 1: Where is she now? I don't know? Everyone forgot all
Speaker 1: about her and the excitement about Miss Wallack? What kind
Speaker 1: of candy was it? I'm afraid I don't know that either.
Speaker 1: Where was it bought? The reporter shrugged his shoulders. That
Speaker 1: was something else he didn't know. The Thinking Machine shot
Speaker 1: out the questions aggressively, staring meanwhile steadily at Hatch, who
Speaker 1: squirmed uncomfortably. Where is the candy now? Demanded the scientist again.
Speaker 1: Hatch shrugged his shoulders. How much does miss Wallack weigh?
Speaker 1: The reporter was willing to guess at this He had
Speaker 1: seen her half a dozen times between one hundred and
Speaker 1: thirty and one hundred and forty. He ventured, does there
Speaker 1: happen to be a hypnotist connected with the company? I
Speaker 1: don't know, Hatch replied. The Thinking Machine waved his slender
Speaker 1: hands impatiently. He was annoyed. It is perfectly absurd, mister Hatch,
Speaker 1: he expostulated, to come to me with only a few
Speaker 1: facts and ask advice. If you had all the facts,
Speaker 1: I might be able to do something. But this the
Speaker 1: newspaper man was nettled. In his own profession. He was
Speaker 1: accredited a man of discernment and acumen. He resented the tone,
Speaker 1: the manner, even the seemingly trivial questions which the other asked,
Speaker 1: I don't see. He began that the candy, even if
Speaker 1: it had been poisoned, as I imagine you think possible,
Speaker 1: or a hypnotist, could have had anything to do with
Speaker 1: miss Wallack's disappearance. Certainly neither poison nor hypnotism would have
Speaker 1: made her invisible. Of course, you don't see blazed the
Speaker 1: thinking machine. If you did, you wouldn't have come to me.
Speaker 1: When did this thing happen? Saturday night? As I said,
Speaker 1: the reporter informed him a little more humbly. It closed
Speaker 1: the engagement in Springfield. Miss Wallack was to have appeared
Speaker 1: here in Boston to night. When did she disappear? By
Speaker 1: the clock? I mean? The stage manager's time slip shows
Speaker 1: that the curtain for the third act went up at
Speaker 1: nine forty one. He spoke to her, say, one minute
Speaker 1: before or at nine forty The action of the play
Speaker 1: before she appears in the third act takes six minutes. Therefore,
Speaker 1: in precisely seven minutes, a woman weighing more than a
Speaker 1: hundred and thirty pounds, certainly not dressed for the street,
Speaker 1: disappeared completely from her dressing room. It is now five
Speaker 1: eighteen Monday afternoon. I think we may solve this crime
Speaker 1: within a few hours, crime, Patch repeated eagerly. Do you
Speaker 1: imagine there is a crime? Then Professor von Duson didn't
Speaker 1: heed the question. Instead, he rose and paced back and
Speaker 1: forth across the reception room half a dozen times, his
Speaker 1: hands behind his back and his eyes cast down. At last,
Speaker 1: he stopped and faced the reporter, who had also risen
Speaker 1: Miss Wallack's company. I presume with the baggage is now
Speaker 1: in Boston, he said, See every male member of the company.
Speaker 1: Talk to them, and particularly study their eyes. Don't overlook
Speaker 1: any one, however, humble, also find out what became of
Speaker 1: the box of chocolate candy, and, if possible, how many
Speaker 1: pieces are out of it. Then report here to me.
Speaker 1: Miss Wallack's safety may depend upon your speed and accuracy.
Speaker 1: Hatch was frankly startled. How he began, don't stop to talk,
Speaker 1: hurry commanded the Thinking Machine, I will have a cab
Speaker 1: waiting when you come back. We must get to Springfield.
Speaker 1: The newspaper man rushed away to obey orders. He didn't
Speaker 1: understand them at all. Studying men's eyes was not in
Speaker 1: his line, but he obeyed nevertheless. An hour and a
Speaker 1: half later he returned to be thrust unceremoniously into a
Speaker 1: waiting cab by the Thinking Machine. The cab rattled away
Speaker 1: towards South Station, where the two men caught a train
Speaker 1: just about to move out for Springfield. Once settled in
Speaker 1: their seats, the scientists turned to Hatch, who was nearly
Speaker 1: suffocating with suppressed information. Well, he asked, I found out
Speaker 1: several things, The reporter burst out. First. Miss Wallack's leading man,
Speaker 1: Langdon Mason, who has been in love with her for
Speaker 1: three years, bought the candy at Shylers in Springfield early
Speaker 1: Saturday evening before he went to the theater. He told me
Speaker 1: so himself, rather reluctantly. But I I made him say it, Ah,
Speaker 1: exclaimed the Thinking Machine. It was a most unequivocal ejaculation.
Speaker 1: How many pieces of candy are out of the box?
Speaker 1: Only three, explained Hatch. Miss Wallack's things were packed into
Speaker 1: the open trunk in her dressing room. The candy with them,
Speaker 1: I induced the manager. Yes, yes, yes, interrupted the thinking
Speaker 1: machine impatiently. What sort of eyes has Mason? What color blue?
Speaker 1: Frank an expression? Nothing unusual at all, said the reporter
Speaker 1: and the others. I didn't quite know what you meant
Speaker 1: by studying their eyes, so I got a set of photographs.
Speaker 1: I thought perhaps they might help. Excellent, excellent, commented the
Speaker 1: thinking machine. He shuffled the pictures through his fingers, stopping
Speaker 1: now and then to study one and to read the
Speaker 1: name printed below. Is that the leading man? He asked
Speaker 1: at last, and handed one to Hatch. Yes, Professor von
Speaker 1: Duson did not speak again. The train pulled into Springfield
Speaker 1: at nine twenty one. Hatch followed the scientist without a word,
Speaker 1: into a cab. Shyler's Candy Store quickly commanded the Thinking
Speaker 1: Machine hurry. The cab rushed off through the night. Ten
Speaker 1: minutes later, it stopped before a brilliantly lighted candy store.
Speaker 1: The Thinking Machine led the way inside and approached the
Speaker 1: girl behind the chocolate counter. Will you please tell me
Speaker 1: if you remember this man's face, he asked, as he
Speaker 1: produced Mason's photograph. Oh, yes, I remember him, the girl replied.
Speaker 1: He's an actor. Did he buy a small box of
Speaker 1: chocolates of you Saturday evening early? Was the next question. Yes,
Speaker 1: I recall it, because he seemed to be in a hurry.
Speaker 1: In fact, I believe he said he was anxious to
Speaker 1: get to the theater to pack. And do you recall
Speaker 1: that this man ever bought chocolates? Here, asked the scientist.
Speaker 1: He produced another photograph and handed it to the girl.
Speaker 1: She studied it a moment while Hatch craned his neck
Speaker 1: vainly to see. I don't recall that he ever did,
Speaker 1: the girl answered. Finally, the Thinking Machine turned away abruptly
Speaker 1: and disappeared into a public telephone booth. He remained there
Speaker 1: for five minutes, then rushed out to the cab again,
Speaker 1: with Hatch following closely. Citi Hospital. He commanded again, The
Speaker 1: cab dashed away. Hatch was dumb. There seemed to be
Speaker 1: nothing to say. The Thinking Machine was plainly pursuing some
Speaker 1: definite line of inquiry, yet the reporter didn't know what
Speaker 1: the case was getting kaleidoscopic. This impression was strengthened when
Speaker 1: he found himself standing beside the Thinking Machine in city hospital,
Speaker 1: conversing with the house surgeon, doctor Carlton. Is there a
Speaker 1: miss Gertrude Manning here? Was the scientist's first question. Yes,
Speaker 1: replied the surgeon. She was brought here Saturday night suffering
Speaker 1: from strict nine poisoning. Yes, I know, interrupted the other,
Speaker 1: picked up in the street. Probably, I'm a physician. If
Speaker 1: she is well enough, I should like to ask her
Speaker 1: a couple of questions. Doctor Carlton agreed, and Professor von
Speaker 1: Duson still followed faithfully by. Hatch was ushered into the
Speaker 1: ward where Miss Wallack's maid lay, pallid and weak. The
Speaker 1: Thinking Machine picked up her hand, and his slender fingers
Speaker 1: rested for a minute on her pulse. He nodded and
Speaker 1: seemed satisfied. Miss Manning, can you understand me? He asked.
Speaker 1: The girl nodded weakly. How many pieces of the candy
Speaker 1: did you eat? Two? She replied. She stared into the
Speaker 1: face above her with dull eyes. Did Miss Wallack eat
Speaker 1: any of it up to the time you left the theater? No?
Speaker 1: If the Thinking Machine had been in a hurry previously,
Speaker 1: he was racing now. Hatch trailed on dutifully behind down
Speaker 1: the stairs and into the cab, whence Professor von Dusen
Speaker 1: shouted a word of thanks to Doctor Carlton. This time
Speaker 1: their destination was the stage door of the theater from
Speaker 1: which Miss Wallack had disappeared. The reporter was he didn't
Speaker 1: know anything very clearly, except that three pieces of candy
Speaker 1: were missing from the box. Of these, the maid had
Speaker 1: eaten only two. She had been poisoned. Therefore, it seemed
Speaker 1: reasonable to suppose that if Miss Wallack had eaten the
Speaker 1: third piece, she also would be poisoned, but poison would
Speaker 1: not make her invisible. At this point, the reporter shook
Speaker 1: his head hopelessly. William Meaghan, the stage doorkeeper, was easily found.
Speaker 1: Can you inform me, please, began the thinking machine. If
Speaker 1: mister Mason left a box of candy with you last
Speaker 1: Saturday night for miss Wallack, Yes, Megan replied good naturedly.
Speaker 1: He was amused at the little man. Miss Wallack hadn't rived.
Speaker 1: Mason brought a box of candy for nearly every night
Speaker 1: and usually left it here. I put the one Saturday
Speaker 1: night on the shelf here did mister Mason come to
Speaker 1: the theater before or after the others on Saturday night before, reply, mean,
Speaker 1: he was unusually early, I suppose to pack, and the
Speaker 1: other members of the company coming in to stop here,
Speaker 1: I imagine, to get their mail. And the scientists squinted
Speaker 1: up at the mailbox above the shelf. Sure always, the
Speaker 1: thinking Machine drew a long breath. Up to this time
Speaker 1: there had been little, perplexed wrinkles in his brow. Now
Speaker 1: they disappeared. Now please, he went on, Was any package
Speaker 1: or box of any kind taken from the stage on
Speaker 1: Saturday night between nine and eleven o'clock? No, said Megan, positively,
Speaker 1: nothing at all. Until the company's baggage was removed at midnight.
Speaker 1: Miss Wallach had two trunks in her dressing room. Yes,
Speaker 1: two whack and big ones. How do you know? Because
Speaker 1: I helped put him in and help take him out,
Speaker 1: replied Megan, sharply, what's it to you? Suddenly the Thinking
Speaker 1: Machine turned and ran out to the cab, with Hatch
Speaker 1: his shadow close behind. Drive, Drive as fast as you
Speaker 1: know how to the nearest long distance telephone. The scientist
Speaker 1: instructed the cabby, A woman's life is at stake. Half
Speaker 1: an hour later, Professor von Duson and Hutchinson Hatch were
Speaker 1: on a train rushing back to Boston. The Thinking machine
Speaker 1: had been in a telephone booth for fifteen minutes when
Speaker 1: he came out. Hatch had asked several questions to which
Speaker 1: the scientists vouchsafed no answer. They were perhaps thirty minutes
Speaker 1: out of Springfield before the scientist showed any disposition to talk.
Speaker 1: Then he began without preliminary much as he was resuming
Speaker 1: a former conversation. Of course, if miss Wallack didn't leave
Speaker 1: the stage of the theater, she was there, he said,
Speaker 1: We will admit that she did not become invisible. The problem,
Speaker 1: therefore was to find her on the stack. The fact
Speaker 1: that no violence was used against her was conclusively proved
Speaker 1: by half a dozen instances. No one heard her scream,
Speaker 1: there was no struggle, no trace of blood. Ere Go,
Speaker 1: we assume in the beginning that she must have consented
Speaker 1: to the first steps which led to her disappearance. Remember,
Speaker 1: her attire was wholly unsuited to the street. Now, let
Speaker 1: us shape a hypothesis which will fit all the circumstances.
Speaker 1: Miss Wallack had a severe headache. Hypnotic influence will cure headaches.
Speaker 1: Was there a hypnotist to whom Miss Wallack would have
Speaker 1: submitted herself. Assume there was, then would that hypnotist take
Speaker 1: advantage of his control to place her in a cataleptic condition?
Speaker 1: Assume a motive and he would. Then how would he
Speaker 1: dispose of her? From this point questions radiate in all directions.
Speaker 1: We will confine ourselves to the probable, granting for the
Speaker 1: moment that this hypothesis, the only one which fits all
Speaker 1: the circumstances, is correct. Obviously a hypnotist would not have
Speaker 1: attempted to get her out of the dressing room. What
Speaker 1: remains one of the two trunks in her room, Hatch gasped,
Speaker 1: You mean you think it possible that she was hypnotized
Speaker 1: and placed in that second trunk, the one that was
Speaker 1: strapped and locked, he asked. It's the only thing that
Speaker 1: could have happened, said the thinking machine emphatically. Therefore, that
Speaker 1: was just what did happen. Why, it's horrible, exclaimed Hatch,
Speaker 1: a live woman in a trunk for forty eight hours.
Speaker 1: Even if she was alive, then she must be dead. Now.
Speaker 1: The reporter shuddered a little and gazed curiously at the
Speaker 1: inscrutable face of his companion. He saw no pity, no horror.
Speaker 1: There there was merely the reflection of the workings of
Speaker 1: a brain. It does not necessarily follow that she is dead,
Speaker 1: explained the thinking machine. If she ate that third piece
Speaker 1: of candy before she was hypnotized, she is probably dead.
Speaker 1: If it was placed in her mouth after she was
Speaker 1: in a cataleptic condition, the chances are that she is
Speaker 1: not dead. The candy would not melt and her system
Speaker 1: could not absorb the poison, but she would be suffocated.
Speaker 1: Her bones would be broken by the rough handling of
Speaker 1: the trunk. There are a hundred possibilities, the reporter suggested.
Speaker 1: A person in a cataleptic condition is singularly impervious to injury.
Speaker 1: Replied the scientist, there is, of course a chance of suffocation,
Speaker 1: but a great deal of air may enter a trunk
Speaker 1: and the candy patch asked, yes, the candy. We know
Speaker 1: that two pieces of candy nearly killed the maid, Yet
Speaker 1: mister Mason admitted having bought it. This admission indicated that
Speaker 1: this poisoned candy is not the candy he bought. Is
Speaker 1: mister Mason a hypnotist, No, he hasn't. The eyes his
Speaker 1: picture tells me that we know that mister Mason did
Speaker 1: buy candy for miss Wallack on several occasions. We know
Speaker 1: that sometimes he left it with the stage doorkeeper. We
Speaker 1: know that members of the company stopped there for mail.
Speaker 1: We instantly see that it is possible for one to
Speaker 1: take away that box and substitute poisoned candy. All the
Speaker 1: boxes are alike. Madness and the cunning of madness lie
Speaker 1: back of all this. It was a deliberate attempt to
Speaker 1: murder Miss Wallackwong pondered, and due perhaps to unrequited or
Speaker 1: hopeless infatuation. It began with the poisoned candy, and that
Speaker 1: failing went to a point immediately following the moment when
Speaker 1: the stage manager last spoke to the actress. The hypnotist
Speaker 1: was probably in her room. Then you must remember that
Speaker 1: it would have been possible for him to ease the
Speaker 1: headache and at the same time leave Miss Wallack free
Speaker 1: to play. She might have known this from previous experience.
Speaker 1: Is Miss Wallack still in the trunk? Asked Hatch. After
Speaker 1: a silence, no, replied the thinking machine. She is out
Speaker 1: now dead or alive. I am inclined to believe alive
Speaker 1: and the man I will turn him over to the
Speaker 1: police in half an hour after we reach Boston from
Speaker 1: South Station. The scientist and Hatch were driven immediately to
Speaker 1: police headquarters. Detective Mallory, whom Hatch knew well, received them.
Speaker 1: We got your phone from Springfield, he began. Was she dead,
Speaker 1: interrupted the scientist. No, Mallory replied, she was unconscious when
Speaker 1: we took her out of the trunk, but no bones
Speaker 1: are broken. She is badly bruised. The doctor says, she's hypnotized.
Speaker 1: Was the piece of candy taken from her mouth? Sure?
Speaker 1: A chocolate cream? It hadn't melted. I'll come back here
Speaker 1: in a few minutes and awake her, said the Thinking Machine.
Speaker 1: Come with us now and get the man. Wonderingly, the
Speaker 1: detective entered the cab and the three were driven to
Speaker 1: a big hotel a dozen blocks away. Before they entered
Speaker 1: the lobby, the Thinking Machine handed a photograph to Mallory,
Speaker 1: who studied it under an electric light. That man is
Speaker 1: upstairs with several others, explained the scientist. Pick him out
Speaker 1: and get behind him when we enter the room. He
Speaker 1: may attempt to shoot. Don't touch him until I say so.
Speaker 1: In a large room on the fifth floor, Manager Stanfeld
Speaker 1: of the Irone Wallet Company had assembled the men of
Speaker 1: her support. This was done at the phoned request of
Speaker 1: the Thinking Machine. There were no preliminaries. When Professor von
Speaker 1: Duson entered, he squinted comprehensively about him, then went straight
Speaker 1: to Langdon Mason, were you on the stage in the
Speaker 1: third act of your play before miss Wallack was to appear?
Speaker 1: I mean the play last Saturday night, he asked, I was,
Speaker 1: Mason replied, for at least three minutes. Mister Stanfeld, is
Speaker 1: that correct, yes, replied the manager. There was a long,
Speaker 1: tense silence, broken only by the heavy footsteps of Mallory
Speaker 1: as he walked toward a distant corner of the room.
Speaker 1: A faint flush crept into Mason's face as he realized
Speaker 1: that the questions were on most an accusation. He started
Speaker 1: to speak, but the study and passive voice of the
Speaker 1: Thinking Machine stopped him. Mister Mallory, take your prisoner, it
Speaker 1: said instantly. There was a fierce, frantic struggle, and those
Speaker 1: present turned to see the detective with his great arms
Speaker 1: locked about Stanley Whiteman, the melancholy Jacques of As You
Speaker 1: Like It. The actor's face was distorted, Madness blazed in
Speaker 1: the eyes, and he snarled like a beast at bay.
Speaker 1: By a sudden movement, Mallory threw white Man and manacled him.
Speaker 1: Then looked up to find the Thinking Machine peering over
Speaker 1: his shoulder at the prostrate man. Yes, he's a hypnotist,
Speaker 1: the scientist remarked in self satisfied conclusion. It always tells
Speaker 1: in the pupils of the eyes. This, then, was the
Speaker 1: beginning and end of the First Problem. Miss Wallack was
Speaker 1: aroused and told a story almost identical with that of
Speaker 1: the Thinking Machine. Stanley Whiteman, whose brooding over a hopeless
Speaker 1: love for her made a maniac of him, raves and shrieks.
Speaker 1: The lines of Jacques in the Seclusion of a Padded Cell,
Speaker 1: End of the First Problem by Jacques Foutrelle