His assailant had killed him, started the car, and had then hopped off the running-board, hoping the wreckage would cover the murder.
Forethought we may have, undoubtedly, but not foresight. Napoleon.
29. _Easy Money_
Wilkins said he saw the burglar pick up a stack of ten- and twenty-dollar bills from the table in the center of the large library.
Had he not been guilty, he could not have known what the denominations of the bills were. It would have been impossible to have determined this from the doorway.
An unconscious slip on his part.
If you are doubtful, just try to determine the denomination of a stack of bills on a table in the center of a large room, from the doorway.
For any man with half an eye, What stands before him may espy; But optics sharp it needs I ween, To see what is not to be seen. John Trumbull.
30. _Robbery at High Noon_
He was suspicious of John, the nephew, of course. Upon being asked where he was at the time of the robbery, he stated he was ‘hauling in a muskie.’
Unless he had guilty knowledge, he could not possibly have known at what time the robbery was committed.
He fell neatly into the Professor’s trap, don’t you think?
Let guilty men remember, their black deeds Do lean on crutches made of slender reeds. John Webster.
31. _The Wrong Foot Forward_
Paslovsky, the witness, who could not understand or speak enough English to make a simple statement to the court, yet knew _exactly_ what the conductor yelled to the motorman.
This was so patently impossible that the Judge was entirely justified in dismissing the suit.
Liars are verbal forgers. Chatfield.
32. _Death Attends the Party_
Had Dawes fallen on the table after being shot, the jar would have knocked over the ‘crazily balanced glasses.’ As the Professor found the glasses on the table, _balanced_, it was obvious Dawes had been shot, then carefully placed at the table to give the appearance of suicide. A bad slip!
There is nothing insignificant, nothing! Coleridge.
33. _No Way Out_
The note was written with _pencil_, yet there was no pencil found in the room. Apparently the murderer wrote the note to resemble the dead man’s handwriting and through force of habit put it in his pocket.
Men are men; the best sometimes forget. Shakespeare.
34. _Midnight Murder_
Day said he got the blood on his muffler when he bent over Quale’s body. As blood coagulates and dries in a short time, it would have been impossible for him to have stained his muffler unless it had touched the blood of Quale shortly after his death. Therefore, Fordney knew he must have been with Quale soon after he was stabbed.
Murder, though it have no tongue, Will speak with most miraculous organ. Shakespeare.
35. _Speakeasy Stick-Up_
Sullivan, the bartender, said that, as he worked the combination to open the wall safe, he _heard_ the hold-up man _behind him_. As he was not permitted to move, he could not have known the gunman was a _big, tough-looking mug_, as he described him.
As there would be no other motive in telling this impossible story, the hold-up was faked.
Inspiring, bold John Barleycorn, What dangers thou canst make us scorn. Burns.
36. _Behind Time_
The engineer said he had not seen Nelson until he was practically on top of him. That, of course, is impossible. An engineer of a train running on a straight-away can see nothing as close as ten yards in front of him.
You cram these words into mine ears, Against the stomach of my sense. Shakespeare.
37. _A Broken Engagement_
Molly said she had retired at ten, after locking her door, and had not awakened until Fordney had aroused her.
Yet a few minutes after Dot had been murdered, the Professor idly ‘shaped the wax’ of the candle on her desk. This would have been impossible had not the candle been burning within a few minutes before he entered.
Her insistence that she had been asleep, together with the strong motive, convinced Fordney she was involved, as was later proved.
Love can make us fiends as well as angels. Charles Kingsley.
38. _The Holden Road Murder_
Had the butler dashed in the front door as he said he did, there would have been foot-tracks in the vestibule.
Remember, the Professor ‘splashed his way through the mud and rain, to the _door_ of 27 Holden Road,’ and found the vestibule spotless. Therefore, Wilkins was lying, and as Cannon corroborated his story, he was also necessarily involved.
Nay, her foot speaks. Shakespeare.
39. _Fishermen’s Luck_
Holmes could not have seen the bag on the bottom of the lake during a cloudburst. The agitation of even crystal clear water under such conditions would have so disturbed the surface that an object on the bottom could not be seen.
A man so lucky is rarer than a white crow. Juvenal.
40. _The Unlucky Elephant_
Holman was lying face down with his topcoat buttoned; therefore, if his watch crystal had been broken by his fall, none of the glass could have been found on the floor.
For never, never wicked man was wise. Homer.
41. _The Professor Listens_
The notice of the bank failure, appearing in the _Jacksonville Herald_, was dated July 5th. This could not have reached Delavin at a remote part of Cuba, unserviced by planes, in time for him to get back to New York on the 6th.
His alibi, therefore, was completely broken, as he said the newspaper clipping brought him back.
Time is the herald of truth. Cicero.
42. _Ten-Fifteen_
The secretary said he heard Waters talking to Fordney over the telephone. As Fordney’s name was not mentioned during the conversation, the secretary could not have known to whom Waters was talking.
It’s the little things that count—in crime detection.
Take care lest your tongue cut off your head. Persian.
43. _Rapid Transit_
The driver could not possibly have seen from the front seat anyone standing on the tail-gate of the big van.
If common sense has not the brilliancy of the sun, it has the fixity of the stars. Fernan Caballero.
44. _The Professor is Disappointed_
Fordney pointed to the raindrops glistening on a leaf in the shoe impression.
According to Vi Cargo’s statement, the burglar had jumped from her window after it had stopped raining.
The shameless have a brow of brass. Hindu Proverb.
45. _A Dramatic Triumph_
Sibyl Mortimer said Boswell had telephoned her shortly after nine. As he was on the stage continuously for forty-five minutes after the curtain rose, he could not have telephoned her.
Obviously she had some reason for stating he did. Fordney was quick to detect the flaw in her alibi.
It is not wise to be wiser than is necessary. Quinault.
46. _Murder at the Lake_
A strong east wind blew _off_ the lake; therefore, regardless of the direction in which he was walking, Rice’s hat could not possibly have blown into the lake.
The Professor was naturally suspicious of him when he told such a ridiculous lie.
Is’t possible? Sits the wind in that corner? Shakespeare.
47. _The Professor Studies a Coat_
As the man had removed his overcoat on entering the Professor’s living-room, it was perfectly patent he had not been handcuffed.
He said he ran over to Fordney’s immediately after the bandits left.
Truth has not such an urgent air. Boileau.
48. _Too Late_
Fordney doubted Palmer’s innocence because of his statement, ‘I’d got there not more than five minutes behind him.’
There was, of course, no way he could have determined when Frank had arrived at the cabin.