human
You expect to find the blood of one of those people showing traces of the antivenin? I grasped Kennedy's method of procedure, but wanted to make sure I understood it correctly. Already I was blocking out the detailed article for the Star, the big scoop which that paper should have as a result of my close association with Kennedy on the case.
gpt
One of those samples should correspond, I suppose, to the trace of blood on the portieres?
human
Exactly!
gpt
Will the antivenin show in the blood after four, perhaps five days?
human
I should say so, Walter. If it does not, by any chance, I will be able to identify the blood, but that is much more involved and tedious--a great deal more actual work.
gpt
I've got it straight, then. Now-- I paced up and down several times.
human
The finger-nail files should show a trace of the itching salve? Is that correct, Craig?
gpt
Hardly, Walter! The salve is soluble in water. What I shall find, if anything, is some of the fibers of the towel. You see, a person's finger nails are great little collectors of bits of foreign matter, and anyone handling that rag is sure to show some infinitesimal trace for a long while afterward. If the person stealing the towel filed or cleaned his nails there will be evidence of the fibers on his pocket knife or finger-nail file. I impregnated the towel with that chemical so that I would be able to identify the fibers positively.
human
The use of the itching salve was unnecessary?
gpt
Did you think I expected some one to go walking around the studio scratching his hands? Did you imagine I thought the guilty party would betray his or her identity in such childish fashion, after all the cleverness displayed in the crimes themselves?
human
But you were insistent that I rub in the--
gpt
To force them to wash their hands after touching the towel, Walter.
human
Oh! I felt rather chagrined.
gpt
Wouldn't some pigment, some color, have served the purpose better?
human
No, because anyone would have understood that and would have taken the proper measures to remove all traces. But the itching salve served two purposes. It was misleading, because obviously a trap upon reflection, and so it would distract attention from the impregnated fibers, my real scheme. Then it was the best device of all I could think of, for it set up a local irritation of the sort most calculated to make a person clean his finger nails. The average man and woman is not very neat, Walter. I was not sure but a scientific prodding was necessary to transfer my evidence to some object I could borrow and examine under a microscope.