1
00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:06,639
Speaker 1: The brand of Cain by Ward Sterling. Doctor Andrews, the

2
00:00:06,679 --> 00:00:09,800
physician who had been called in by the coroner, gave

3
00:00:09,919 --> 00:00:13,720
as his opinion that Waldo Fellows had met death shortly

4
00:00:13,759 --> 00:00:18,239
after midnight. The conditions of the body, he said, proved

5
00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:22,440
his contention. Then, too, the fact that the blood with

6
00:00:22,519 --> 00:00:25,960
which the sheets had been smeared had dried and hardened

7
00:00:26,559 --> 00:00:31,239
caused him to stick to his statement. Yet Orville Hitchins,

8
00:00:31,399 --> 00:00:34,840
Fellow's secretary, swore that his employer had been alive and

9
00:00:34,920 --> 00:00:39,119
well at two o'clock in the morning. Hitchins stated that

10
00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:42,799
he had been summoned by Fellows at one o'clock and

11
00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:47,520
requested to drive to Amboy, two miles away for some bromide.

12
00:00:48,679 --> 00:00:52,719
Mister Fellows had been extremely nervous of late and found

13
00:00:52,799 --> 00:00:56,840
himself unable to sleep. Finding that he had no bromide,

14
00:00:56,920 --> 00:00:59,799
a drug that he was accustomed to taking, he had

15
00:00:59,799 --> 00:01:04,599
awakened the secretary. Hitchins asserted that he had taken the

16
00:01:04,680 --> 00:01:09,359
light car, made the trip and returned just before the

17
00:01:09,359 --> 00:01:13,959
clock struck. Two. Fellows had taken a dose of the drug,

18
00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:19,400
and Hitchins had again retired. Henry Phelps, the drug clerk,

19
00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:23,599
verified Hitchin's statement as to the purchase of the bromide,

20
00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:27,519
while Landis, the chauffeur, told of getting out the light

21
00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:32,079
car for the secretary, who had driven it himself. In

22
00:01:32,159 --> 00:01:35,239
spite of this, Doctor Andrews stuck to his statement that

23
00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:38,519
the murdered man had been dead at least ten hours

24
00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:43,799
when he made his examination. Swinson, the valet, had discovered

25
00:01:43,799 --> 00:01:46,239
the murder when he went to awaken his master at

26
00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:51,200
eight o'clock. It was nearly ten o'clock when Coroner Stevenson arrived,

27
00:01:51,640 --> 00:01:57,239
accompanied by doctor Andrews and Bram Dwyer, the New York detective, who,

28
00:01:57,280 --> 00:02:00,200
with myself, was spending a few days vacation in the

29
00:02:00,239 --> 00:02:05,000
little village. The prominence of the murdered man, coupled with

30
00:02:05,040 --> 00:02:08,560
the fact that the detective and Stevenson were old friends,

31
00:02:09,159 --> 00:02:11,719
caused the New Yorker to interest himself in the case

32
00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:17,120
at the latter's request. Fellows was a gentleman farmer, a

33
00:02:17,199 --> 00:02:21,080
man worth several million dollars made in Wall Street, who

34
00:02:21,639 --> 00:02:25,080
tired of the life in the city, had purchased Samoset

35
00:02:25,159 --> 00:02:29,479
Farms just at the edge of Amboy Township, and after

36
00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:32,599
stocking it with the finest blooded cattle and horses that

37
00:02:32,680 --> 00:02:35,960
money could buy, had settled down to a life of

38
00:02:36,039 --> 00:02:40,560
rustic bliss. As time passed, he had added to his

39
00:02:40,599 --> 00:02:45,639
acreage by purchasing adjoining farms, until half the township was his.

40
00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:50,039
He had erected a mansion around which he had built

41
00:02:50,080 --> 00:02:54,319
smaller homes for his employees. These, with the great barns,

42
00:02:54,639 --> 00:02:59,280
sheds for the machinery, dairy and offices, made Samoset farms

43
00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:04,080
almost town. Such a man, as Waldo Fellows, sat down

44
00:03:04,120 --> 00:03:06,719
in the midst of a rural community is bound to

45
00:03:06,759 --> 00:03:10,319
be sought out by his fellow man. Twice he had

46
00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:14,360
reluctantly allowed himself to represent his district in the state legislature.

47
00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:18,120
The governor's chair could have been his for the asking.

48
00:03:19,039 --> 00:03:22,840
His fellow townsmen loved him for the nobility of his character.

49
00:03:24,039 --> 00:03:27,680
Yet he had enemies by the score, many of them

50
00:03:27,879 --> 00:03:32,759
the small landowners whose farms surrounded his. For the man

51
00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:36,240
who does things on a big scale is certain sooner

52
00:03:36,360 --> 00:03:39,919
or later to tramp on the toes of others. But

53
00:03:40,039 --> 00:03:43,080
who among those he had offended hated him to the

54
00:03:43,159 --> 00:03:49,840
extent of taking his life. Two Fellows was murdered in bed,

55
00:03:50,439 --> 00:03:53,719
apparently in cold blood, for there was no evidence of

56
00:03:53,759 --> 00:03:57,120
a struggle of any kind. Nothing in the room had

57
00:03:57,120 --> 00:04:01,240
been disturbed, so far as could be retained, nothing of

58
00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:04,960
value had been taken. The fact that the bedding was

59
00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:08,479
not must led to the belief that the murderer had

60
00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:13,039
struck while his victim was asleep. None of the servants

61
00:04:13,240 --> 00:04:17,040
or Missus Fellows, who slept just across the hall, had

62
00:04:17,079 --> 00:04:21,000
heard any noise, save when Hitchins returned from the drug

63
00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:26,399
store with the drug which Fellows had requested. Missus Fellows

64
00:04:26,680 --> 00:04:29,759
had called over the trancem to Hitchins to ask what

65
00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:32,920
was the matter, and he had told her of his

66
00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:39,279
employer's sleeplessness. The bottle of bromide, with a small quantity gone,

67
00:04:39,759 --> 00:04:44,000
was found on the table beside the bed. Bromide seldom

68
00:04:44,040 --> 00:04:48,439
acts inside half to three quarters of an hour. Hence,

69
00:04:48,920 --> 00:04:52,800
assuming that Hitchins had told the truth, and everything pointed

70
00:04:52,839 --> 00:04:56,360
to his having done so, Fellows must, if he was

71
00:04:56,439 --> 00:05:00,319
killed in his sleep, have met death not early than

72
00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:04,759
three o'clock. Yet the blood which had flowed from the wound,

73
00:05:05,439 --> 00:05:10,120
the condition of the body, everything led a cool conservative

74
00:05:10,199 --> 00:05:13,600
medical man to declare that death was struck at least

75
00:05:13,600 --> 00:05:19,759
three hours earlier, nor could his testimony be shaken. There

76
00:05:19,759 --> 00:05:24,120
were twelve servants who slept in the house, all occupying

77
00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:28,759
the upper floor, with the exception of Hitchins, Marie, missus

78
00:05:28,759 --> 00:05:34,600
Fellow's maid, and Sweenson, the valet. Watson, the butler and

79
00:05:34,759 --> 00:05:38,199
general man about the house, was the last person to bed,

80
00:05:38,839 --> 00:05:41,600
and according to his own statement, the first up in

81
00:05:41,639 --> 00:05:45,439
the morning, he had personally locked all the doors and

82
00:05:45,519 --> 00:05:49,680
windows on the first floor. They were all locked when

83
00:05:49,720 --> 00:05:54,120
he made his rounds in the morning. Hitchins, in going

84
00:05:54,160 --> 00:05:56,519
to the drug store, had left the house by the

85
00:05:56,639 --> 00:06:01,000
side door. This he had left unlocked, re locking it

86
00:06:01,079 --> 00:06:04,759
upon his return. This led to the assumption on the

87
00:06:04,759 --> 00:06:07,519
part of some of the officials that the murderer had

88
00:06:07,639 --> 00:06:11,319
entered the place by that door during the secretary's absence,

89
00:06:12,079 --> 00:06:16,079
hiding until his return, and after Fellows was asleep, had

90
00:06:16,120 --> 00:06:19,439
struck the fatal blow and escaped by the same door,

91
00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:23,959
springing the lock after him. There was no other way

92
00:06:23,959 --> 00:06:26,519
of looking at the matter unless one went on the

93
00:06:26,519 --> 00:06:29,360
theory that the deed had been committed by one of

94
00:06:29,399 --> 00:06:34,160
the servants or Missus Fellows, and the latter was unthinkable.

95
00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:38,040
While the servants, all of them had been in fellows

96
00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:42,319
employ for years and were known to be absolutely loyal.

97
00:06:43,439 --> 00:06:45,800
Of course, the window of the sleeping rooms on the

98
00:06:45,839 --> 00:06:49,920
second floor were open. A man of agility might have

99
00:06:49,959 --> 00:06:53,800
gained an entrance in this way, but luckily there had

100
00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:56,800
been a slight rainfall earlier in the evening, and as

101
00:06:56,800 --> 00:06:59,279
a result the ground was in a condition to take

102
00:06:59,319 --> 00:07:04,519
impressions easily. The coroner and the sheriff made a thorough

103
00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:08,360
search for marks of a letter or footprints, but were

104
00:07:08,439 --> 00:07:11,519
positive that there was none beneath any of the windows,

105
00:07:12,439 --> 00:07:15,319
and there was always to be considered the lack of motive.

106
00:07:16,199 --> 00:07:19,720
Aside from the farmers who were jealous of the big landowner,

107
00:07:20,160 --> 00:07:23,800
there was no one known to hold a grudge against him.

108
00:07:24,439 --> 00:07:27,399
My friend Dwyer declined to assist the officials in their

109
00:07:27,480 --> 00:07:31,959
hunt for footprints, contenting himself to dawdle around the house

110
00:07:32,199 --> 00:07:36,759
as if greatly bored by the whole affair. Conversant as

111
00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:39,879
I am with his methods, I admit that this surprised me,

112
00:07:40,439 --> 00:07:43,959
for he is usually personified when there is some perplexing

113
00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:51,240
problem to be untangled. Eventually, however, the officials, nonplussed, were

114
00:07:51,319 --> 00:07:55,000
forced to turn to him for advice. He answered with

115
00:07:55,079 --> 00:07:58,480
a shrug of his shoulders, absolutely refusing to be drawn

116
00:07:58,519 --> 00:08:03,319
into a discussion of the case. Following the time worn methods,

117
00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:06,600
the sheriff called all the servants together and examined them,

118
00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:11,680
elictiting no more information than had already been gained. It

119
00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:14,800
was at this point that Dwyer, who had been listening

120
00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:19,600
to the questioning without comment, offered a suggestion. There is

121
00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:22,920
a band of gypsies camped a few miles the other

122
00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:28,160
side of town. He remarked, quietly. There chief is old

123
00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:32,799
father Lipke, a friend of mine. The old fellow knows

124
00:08:32,840 --> 00:08:37,200
his business from the ground up, fortune telling, mind reading

125
00:08:37,799 --> 00:08:41,919
and all of that sort of stuff. In fact, he's

126
00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:46,240
assisted me on more than one occasion. I know that

127
00:08:46,360 --> 00:08:49,279
you'll laugh at me for the suggestion, but let me

128
00:08:49,360 --> 00:08:53,519
bring him here. I'll guarantee that he'll have the murderer

129
00:08:53,679 --> 00:08:58,799
by the heels inside of half an hour. How he

130
00:08:58,879 --> 00:09:02,519
does it, I can't pretend, and to know it's positively

131
00:09:02,679 --> 00:09:06,639
uncanny the way he pulls off his stunts. But if

132
00:09:06,679 --> 00:09:10,919
it's results you want, then Lipkey is your man. The

133
00:09:11,039 --> 00:09:15,039
sheriff sneered Coroner Stevenson, in spite of his friendship, for

134
00:09:15,080 --> 00:09:20,279
the detective suppressed a smile with difficulty. You don't want

135
00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:23,200
us to think you believe this rot, do you? Brahm?

136
00:09:23,519 --> 00:09:29,039
He inquired. My friend shrugged his shoulders again. You asked

137
00:09:29,080 --> 00:09:32,200
for my opinion, he answered, I'll give it to you.

138
00:09:32,919 --> 00:09:36,279
I'll take a chance on Father Lipkey. In fact, as

139
00:09:36,320 --> 00:09:40,440
I have stated I have many a time, the man

140
00:09:40,559 --> 00:09:44,679
has powers beyond the understanding of men like us. But

141
00:09:45,279 --> 00:09:50,080
of course it's up to you and the sheriff. Three

142
00:09:51,559 --> 00:09:54,720
darkness had fallen when Dwyer and the coroner again drove

143
00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:57,919
up to the fellow's home, accompanied by Father Lipke. The

144
00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:03,240
gypsy member of his race was Lipkey, a wrinkled little

145
00:10:03,240 --> 00:10:07,120
figure far past the age allotted to man, but in

146
00:10:07,159 --> 00:10:09,720
spite of his years, he carried himself like a youth

147
00:10:09,759 --> 00:10:14,320
of twenty, and his black, beady eyes glittered like those

148
00:10:14,360 --> 00:10:17,519
of a boy as he prepared the stage for the affair,

149
00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:22,519
his huge brass ear rings rattling like castanets as he

150
00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:27,000
hurried here and there. The spot selected by the Coroner,

151
00:10:27,440 --> 00:10:30,519
upon the advice of Dwyer, for the test of Lipky's

152
00:10:30,519 --> 00:10:33,159
power was the huge living room on the lower floor.

153
00:10:34,279 --> 00:10:37,159
The servants were ordered to carry out all of the furniture,

154
00:10:37,559 --> 00:10:40,919
with the exception of the chairs, which were arranged along

155
00:10:40,960 --> 00:10:45,039
the wall. Then every member of the household, with the

156
00:10:45,080 --> 00:10:49,120
exception of the widow, was ordered to be present. The

157
00:10:49,240 --> 00:10:53,039
old man mumbled to himself, drew a large circle on

158
00:10:53,120 --> 00:10:54,919
the floor in the center of the room with a

159
00:10:54,919 --> 00:10:58,600
piece of charcoal, after which he commanded us to seat

160
00:10:58,639 --> 00:11:03,200
ourselves just outside eyed the circular mark, warning us, under

161
00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:07,120
penalty of death, not to enter the circle unless commended

162
00:11:07,159 --> 00:11:11,039
to do so by him. His next act was to

163
00:11:11,080 --> 00:11:14,279
produce a braser, which he lighted and placed in the

164
00:11:14,320 --> 00:11:17,879
center of the circle. By its side, he placed a

165
00:11:17,919 --> 00:11:23,039
small vessel containing water. The lights were then turned out

166
00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:27,759
for an instant, we were in darkness. Then the brazier

167
00:11:27,799 --> 00:11:31,600
flamed up, filling the room with an unearthly blue, greenish

168
00:11:31,639 --> 00:11:36,639
sort of glare. Chanting to himself, the old man threw

169
00:11:36,679 --> 00:11:40,799
a pinch of powder onto the flames. At intervals, the

170
00:11:40,919 --> 00:11:43,919
light would turn for a second into a vivid red,

171
00:11:44,799 --> 00:11:50,480
then die away again to the dull, sickly bluish green. Suddenly,

172
00:11:50,559 --> 00:11:53,039
he seated himself cross legged at the side of the

173
00:11:53,080 --> 00:11:57,799
brazier and bowed his head, closing his eyes as if

174
00:11:57,840 --> 00:12:02,120
in prayer. He mumbled to himself in an unintelligible jargon.

175
00:12:03,399 --> 00:12:06,960
I confess to a feeling of nervousness. I could tell

176
00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:10,080
from the expression on their faces that the others were

177
00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:15,000
the same. The tension was becoming almost unbearable when the

178
00:12:15,080 --> 00:12:19,480
old man slowly raised himself to a standing position, and,

179
00:12:20,159 --> 00:12:23,440
seizing the vessel of water, sprinkled it on the floor

180
00:12:23,519 --> 00:12:27,759
inside the circle, being extremely careful that not a single

181
00:12:27,840 --> 00:12:31,639
drop fell outside the mark. I must protect you from

182
00:12:31,679 --> 00:12:37,000
the powers of evil, he exclaimed. Keeping carefully inside the mark,

183
00:12:37,320 --> 00:12:40,080
he made the rounds, touching each of us lightly on

184
00:12:40,120 --> 00:12:43,279
the forehead, making on each of us the sign of

185
00:12:43,320 --> 00:12:47,360
the Cross, in the name of the Father, Son and

186
00:12:47,440 --> 00:12:52,960
Holy Ghost. I heard him mumble to himself. Reseating himself

187
00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:56,240
on the floor, he again bowed his head, and once

188
00:12:56,320 --> 00:13:00,360
more his lips moved, as if in prayer. Suddenly he

189
00:13:00,480 --> 00:13:04,440
fell over and for several minutes writhed about as if

190
00:13:04,519 --> 00:13:08,600
in terrific pain. I leapt to my feet to assist him,

191
00:13:08,799 --> 00:13:13,519
but the strong hand of bram Dwire held me back. Remember,

192
00:13:13,639 --> 00:13:18,039
he shouted. The old man commanded us, regardless of what happened,

193
00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:23,440
not to cross the line. After three or four minutes,

194
00:13:23,480 --> 00:13:27,440
the spasm ceased, and the gipsy, seemingly none the worse

195
00:13:27,480 --> 00:13:32,720
for his experience, arose and addressed us, my friends. He

196
00:13:32,759 --> 00:13:36,559
commenced in his halting broken English, you have asked me

197
00:13:36,720 --> 00:13:39,720
here to use my arts in the detection of one

198
00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:44,120
who has committed a crime, the crime of murder. I

199
00:13:44,159 --> 00:13:48,080
have done my best inside this circle. I have wrestled

200
00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:51,000
with the powers of darkness and the spirits of light.

201
00:13:52,600 --> 00:13:55,320
I know not which one of you committed this foul deed.

202
00:13:56,240 --> 00:14:00,000
No one knows save God. Yet, he who has created

203
00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:02,960
all things, will not allow the crime of murder to

204
00:14:03,080 --> 00:14:08,879
pass unnoticed. Therefore, I say unto you this, If he

205
00:14:09,039 --> 00:14:12,440
who has committed this murder is in this room, there

206
00:14:12,480 --> 00:14:15,519
will appear upon his forehead the sign of the Cross,

207
00:14:16,320 --> 00:14:20,799
the mark that God placed upon Cain. This alone, I

208
00:14:20,840 --> 00:14:24,600
can do more than that. I am not allowed, for

209
00:14:24,679 --> 00:14:29,039
my powers are limited. He signaled for Dwyer to turn

210
00:14:29,080 --> 00:14:32,960
on the lights. An instant later, we were blinking at

211
00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:37,879
the unaccustomed brightness. The old man seized the brazier and

212
00:14:38,039 --> 00:14:40,039
held it close to the face of each of us,

213
00:14:40,679 --> 00:14:43,840
gazing into our eyes as if seeking to read there

214
00:14:43,879 --> 00:14:47,840
the secret he was bent upon obtaining. Then there came

215
00:14:47,840 --> 00:14:53,000
a shriek, a gasp of astonishment, of horror, a cry.

216
00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:57,120
I turned my head, my eyes, following the gaze of

217
00:14:57,159 --> 00:15:01,279
the others. Upon the forehead of Hitchens was the sign

218
00:15:01,320 --> 00:15:05,879
of the cross. For a second there was silence, cold,

219
00:15:06,039 --> 00:15:11,399
oppressive silence. The secretary gazed from one to another of

220
00:15:11,519 --> 00:15:16,759
us mutely, questioningly. Then his eyes sought the mirror above

221
00:15:16,799 --> 00:15:21,840
the fireplace. Afterward I recalled that Dwyer had seated him

222
00:15:21,879 --> 00:15:26,240
in front of the glass. His face became drawn. The

223
00:15:26,360 --> 00:15:31,120
sweat stood out on his forehead in great beads. Slowly,

224
00:15:31,399 --> 00:15:35,039
as if stunned, his fingers sought the accursed mark upon

225
00:15:35,039 --> 00:15:39,120
his forehead. He spat upon his hands and rubbed the

226
00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:43,600
spittle against the spot, as if to erase it. He

227
00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:46,320
held the tips of his fingers in front of his eyes,

228
00:15:46,799 --> 00:15:52,799
surveying them thoughtfully, dazed. Then, without warning, he dropped to

229
00:15:52,840 --> 00:15:57,080
his knees, his arms outstretched toward the swarthy man within

230
00:15:57,120 --> 00:16:06,440
the circle. I did it, I did it, he shrieked. Four. No.

231
00:16:06,639 --> 00:16:10,679
I never met Lipke until yesterday. Dwyer chuckled to us,

232
00:16:10,799 --> 00:16:14,840
as two hours later, Hitchin safely lodged in jail. He

233
00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:19,120
sat with the coroner, the sheriff, and myself in the

234
00:16:19,159 --> 00:16:22,799
former's parlor and went over the various phases of the case.

235
00:16:24,279 --> 00:16:26,879
I'm a fairly good judge of character, and when I

236
00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:30,720
noticed him begging on Main Street yesterday, I immediately placed

237
00:16:30,720 --> 00:16:33,639
the old fellow as being far above the average of

238
00:16:33,679 --> 00:16:37,679
his class mentally, and capable of playing almost any part

239
00:16:37,919 --> 00:16:41,759
he might be called upon to take. I realized far

240
00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:43,960
better than the rest of you that the murderer was

241
00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:47,279
too clever to be captured unless some subterfuge was used.

242
00:16:47,799 --> 00:16:51,639
And when you appeal to me, Stevenson, my thought reverted

243
00:16:51,799 --> 00:16:55,559
at once to the old man. A falsehood or two

244
00:16:55,759 --> 00:16:59,720
in the interest of justice, is, in my opinion, perfectly

245
00:16:59,759 --> 00:17:03,200
a lie. And that I was correct in my estimate

246
00:17:03,279 --> 00:17:07,400
is proved by what happened. What appealed to me from

247
00:17:07,440 --> 00:17:10,880
the very start was the apparent lack of motive. Had

248
00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:13,480
we been able to supply a motive, we might have

249
00:17:13,559 --> 00:17:15,559
been able to lay our hands on the man who

250
00:17:15,640 --> 00:17:19,160
struck the blow. But in the absence of one, it

251
00:17:19,279 --> 00:17:24,240
became necessary to try some radical step. To imagine that

252
00:17:24,319 --> 00:17:27,920
one of the farmers hereabouts would become jealous enough to

253
00:17:27,960 --> 00:17:32,799
strike Fellows down was absurd, and granting that some of

254
00:17:32,839 --> 00:17:35,799
them might have the nerve, they lacked the imagination to

255
00:17:35,880 --> 00:17:40,599
pull off so mysterious a crime. I was confident in

256
00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:45,200
my own mind that Hitchins was the guilty party. Why

257
00:17:45,920 --> 00:17:49,039
because he was the only man who had the opportunity

258
00:17:49,079 --> 00:17:52,759
to kill Fellows. But on the other hand, his frank

259
00:17:52,839 --> 00:17:58,119
statements apparently eliminated him from the suspects. Let us analyze

260
00:17:58,119 --> 00:18:03,240
the affair a trifle deeper. Doctor Andrews swears that Fellows

261
00:18:03,319 --> 00:18:07,319
was killed shortly after midnight. We now know that he

262
00:18:07,440 --> 00:18:11,119
was correct, But Hitchins bobs up with the story of

263
00:18:11,200 --> 00:18:14,480
being in conversation with the murdered man at two o'clock.

264
00:18:15,559 --> 00:18:18,960
He was able to prove his statements by two reputable

265
00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:26,559
and disinterested witnesses, Landis the chauffeur and Phelps, the drug clerk. Therefore,

266
00:18:26,799 --> 00:18:30,720
my conclusion was that either Hitchins was lying or that

267
00:18:30,759 --> 00:18:34,960
the physician was wrong. But my experience has taught me

268
00:18:35,079 --> 00:18:39,559
that medical men are, as a general rule, cold blooded.

269
00:18:40,400 --> 00:18:45,000
That is, they figure things out with mathematical accuracy, and

270
00:18:45,480 --> 00:18:48,880
by the law of averages they are right. Ninety nine

271
00:18:48,920 --> 00:18:54,240
times out of one hundred. Therefore Hitchins was lying, but

272
00:18:54,440 --> 00:18:58,200
so far as we knew, there was no motive. Now,

273
00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:01,079
the average man has deep within him a streak of

274
00:19:01,119 --> 00:19:04,880
superstition and a fear of whatever he does not understand.

275
00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:10,640
Therefore I took the indolent attitude before the servants, finally

276
00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:13,799
working things up to a climax so that they expected

277
00:19:13,880 --> 00:19:17,200
wonderful things from the gypsy whom I had touted so highly.

278
00:19:18,519 --> 00:19:21,440
As soon as you gave your permission, I hunted up

279
00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:23,880
the old man, whose name, by the way, is not

280
00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:28,480
Lipky but Rodrigo. For ten dollars. He agreed to play

281
00:19:28,480 --> 00:19:31,000
the part the way I told him to, and that

282
00:19:31,039 --> 00:19:34,079
he sustained my estimate of him. I believe you will

283
00:19:34,119 --> 00:19:38,759
all agree. I spent the afternoon in coaching him. I

284
00:19:38,799 --> 00:19:42,799
felt that in case Hitchins did not confess, we would

285
00:19:42,799 --> 00:19:46,640
have lost nothing. But I was betting on the superstitious

286
00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:51,440
streak in his makeup and won out. We all know

287
00:19:51,640 --> 00:19:55,599
what his motive was. He had been systematically robbing his

288
00:19:55,680 --> 00:20:01,319
employer for years. Fellows had become suspicious last night notified

289
00:20:01,319 --> 00:20:04,559
the secretary that they would go over the books together today.

290
00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:09,880
Hitchins waited until his employer was sleeping, then entered the

291
00:20:09,960 --> 00:20:12,599
room by means of a key that he had secured

292
00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:16,720
possession of, struck the fatal blow, then went through the

293
00:20:16,839 --> 00:20:20,640
mummery of going to the village after the bromide, thus

294
00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:25,839
providing himself with an almost perfect alibi. With Fellows dead,

295
00:20:26,160 --> 00:20:30,559
he figured that as confidential man, he would be retained

296
00:20:30,640 --> 00:20:33,559
for a year or two to come, finally reaching the

297
00:20:33,599 --> 00:20:35,839
point where he could get his hands on a large

298
00:20:35,839 --> 00:20:39,400
sum of money and make his escape before his defalcations

299
00:20:39,440 --> 00:20:44,039
were discovered. But rumbled the sheriff. I'm still in the

300
00:20:44,160 --> 00:20:47,160
dark as to how the gipsy caused the black cross

301
00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:51,000
to appear on his forehead just by mumbling a few prayers.

302
00:20:52,079 --> 00:20:54,559
Those people know a lot of black art that we

303
00:20:54,720 --> 00:21:00,640
more civilized people will never be able to understand. Grinned

304
00:21:01,759 --> 00:21:06,279
I furnished the black art myself, he answered. It cost

305
00:21:06,319 --> 00:21:09,960
me ten cents at the drug store. The old man

306
00:21:10,079 --> 00:21:13,160
made the cross on Hitchin's forehead. First, if you will

307
00:21:13,200 --> 00:21:17,319
recall the affair, he had just dipped his hand into

308
00:21:17,359 --> 00:21:21,640
a vessel of what looked like water. He only pretended

309
00:21:21,640 --> 00:21:23,640
to dip his hand into it when he anointed the

310
00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:27,119
rest of you. The heat of the brazier brought out

311
00:21:27,119 --> 00:21:30,440
the mark, or started it when he held it up

312
00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:34,960
and pretended to peer into your faces. What was it?

313
00:21:35,039 --> 00:21:38,880
Merely a ten percent solution of ammonium chloride, the same

314
00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:43,519
stuff from which invisible ink is made. The old man's

315
00:21:43,559 --> 00:21:46,799
skin being dark, it didn't come out on his hand

316
00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:50,960
as it did on Hitchin's forehead. And that's the whole story,

317
00:21:53,519 --> 00:21:57,640
The end of the Brand of Cain by Ward Sterling