The Washington times., 1912-05-17
THE TIMES DAILY SERIAL sToRX
Behind the Curtain
CHARLES STEPHENS

ferent persons BY that she means that
they had different voices. But II dead
man was animated by the electrical and
sciousness, II stands to reason that It
could be done with the same dead man
q second time, and with third mans
'The whole thing comes down to the
credibtlity Of Mrs. Mary Anselm, and
don't believe that woman could tell a lie
II she h'ied. But there's another thing.
man. with given physiaue-iarynx.
lung -powS,r, and all the rest, be made to
change his voice as Frs. Anselm de-
scrlbes? Gould given larynx be made
the original possessor OF. the borrowed
mentality had good iarynx and
That is where Coroner Mccready
the point, but the other day he came to
me In great excitement and said:
Look here. Gettys, @ there Is = sonse-
thing We oyerioN'ksd: , we s,s nave =. fofsSt. a.
when her master said. Just as I
thought. 1t was deliberate his voice
/ was so like Mr.. Ford's that she copld
hardly tell the difference Before she
fused as TO which had killed the other,
being misled by the similarity OF
voices. And, then, when she went in
after Bellair had been shot through The
brain and the hes,rt, he was still tspk-
ing. but his voice was now exactly like
Ford's. ...... a..
Don't you see what I meanR ,rhe
moment he was shot he, Beilair. died;
but his brain, shot through as II was,
continued to be flooded with the mlon-
tality of Ford, and he went on talking,
as Ford. until the wax,record camei to
an IA end and the mentality stopped amid
At that. his tongue heing helpless 70
assist him further, Coroner McCrestdy
threw up his handsA and said:
II give II up!'
Personally, I do the same But I
have done my best with the means lat
my command, and can only add that
am glad to be able to wash my harids
| Of the task.
l have not thought it necessary to re.
fer to Lord Dunfillayne or of the ole
| he played In this matter. His AFFAIR (is
simple, though nearly tragic: but y
or % evil 70 the s0T Thing % BEHIND " the &c Curtain @
might have been.
Beiiair found him destitute and 1e.
corded his brain. His clearer intel H.
gence read the others history and, prsic-
! others, without losing his own cttn-
seriousness, he undoubtedly went deeI beI
than poor Tremlett's ciouded mind wht
able to do at that time. Hence, prtsb-
identity and his recognition of Ford fm6
his guess at Ford's crime. From n trs
| Anslem's story, / do not think tha'
Beilair himself was certain of Ford'i
| guilt until he got the man In the
clutches of the Thing Behind the Csur
tain.
with regard to Mrs. Ford early 'ov,
| affair, am not in a position to dis sus,
| the matter, but l have no doubt tn lngi
| will come to pass In due course Bel
| lair, by the way, had no relatives, tan6
! Mrs. Anselm was found to be his lsoit
| heir. He must have had presenttI mem
of death that afternoon when he bor'
rowed the note paper and wrote inl tn,
parlor. for 1t was under the borrtswet
Ink well that the will was found, and
also the fragment which printed int'm,
own narrative.
The will appointed me executor, iant
that the Thing Behind the Curtain fwai
doomed, anyway, waB clear from
clause in the will which tersely tsom
manded me, in the event of the tessta
tors sudden demise, to destroy the tina
chine and all pertaining to 1t.
I certainly should have carried on
that command, for, while some rna,
think that q Thing Behind the Curtain
would be an acquisition to society, espe
cially in the detection of crime and a.
musicales, l. personally, would reGaPt
1t as an instrument of social destruc
ton. After all, privacy of thought 7
the only thing which makes the wheel
of life run smoothly. Let the skeleton--
and we all have one-remain In the cup
board. And long may the doorN remaiI
{The End)