New Britain herald., 1927-09-26
cIEle


 The DOS ttNo aseuranoe Of his i'm WUni'y To dt-co1ar>-"
 'D-u4stectad crma-." scornfully -Ylmutal Markham. "rc~ul', in the mrn, from official had Iuok--not 'rom superior criminal cieyrruess.'
 -Eal luck''-Nauc,> voice was almost dulcct -.Is merylv de '.usIve and Snlf-consolinG synonym 'or lnofficiancv. A man Ni.h in -angifr and brains is not harassed ny bad luck. No. Markham o'd dear, unsoI,0d crimes are sim Ilf crimes whIrh have h'on infol)i- gently planned and rNc0utoA. And, I 70 sp". It happens that tho Ben son murder falls mo tha ca'eg'ry. Therefore. when. after 1 few hours jurastlgat,rn. you say you're pretty s5re who committed if. VOL must pardon me if take lesnc with you.'
 rJn paueod and took fo~ modi- Wti,o pEfts on bis cIsarat.
 "Tho lae'ltlous and casuiStic mothod. of deduction you chaps pursue arr apt 10 lead almost any ~ haro. In proof Of which assertion | point frumrhar'ly 10 tho un- fortunate young lady whose liberty you ar- now plotting 10 take away"
 MThA1m. nEo had hc"n hiding lis rcs .ntuont behind a smile of tolerant contempt now turned on Nance and fairly gloWorad.
 'It SO happons-and I'm speaking ov cathcdra--" hn proclaimed de fIan'ly. that I come pretty near having tho goods on your 'unfor- tUna'c yowng lady'"
 Vance was mmolod.
 And yet. V know" ho observed drjly, mo woman could possibly layc Iono it."
 could see that N~\ham was furious. When he spoke he almost spluttared,
 "A woman couldn't have done it. cll-no matter what the "vidonce?' ?'
 "Quire so.' Vance roioin"d placid Iy. mot if shc herself swore 10 it and produced tome of what you scious Of tho law term. rather pom pouely. incontroyertihlc eyidence."
 "Ah'' There was no mistaking tho sarcasm Of Markham's tone. T am 10 understand then that you even regard confessions as value Isss""
 "1-os. my dear Justinian." the o'h.r responded. with an air Of com pDaconcy; T would have you nn- drrstand precisely that Indeed, they are worse than valuoless-- they're downright misleading. The fact that occasionally they may prove 10 hc correct-lika woman's prnpostrously ovorrafc1 intuition -renders them just so much more unreliable"
 Markham gruntod disdainfully.
 "Why should any person confess something 10 his dotriment unless he fcl, that the truth had been found out, or was likely 10 be found ont 9"
 "'Pon my word, Markham. you astomd mo, Permit me 10 mur- mur into your innocent ear that there arc many other proSumablc motives for confessing.
 "A confession may be the result Of fear, or durcss. or oNpcdiency, or or chivalry, or what thc psycho-analysts call inc inf"ri- oritv complex. or delusions. or q mistaken sense of duty, or per ycrt"d cco'iam. or sheer vanity. or any other of hundred causes. Con f"GsionS arc the moS' tr"ach'rouS and unreliable of all forms of evil Gcnco: and even thc silly and un- scientific law ronudia'os them in murtlor cases unless substantiatcd hy other eyid"uc"."
 "You are eloquent; you wiring mc." said Markham. "Rut if tho law threw ont all confessions and ignored all material clues. as you appear to advise then society might IS we'll close down all its courts end scrap all it's iails."
 "A typical false conclusion Of l. gal logic" Vance replied.
 "But how would you convict tho l guilty. may I asko'
 "Th,ro is ono infalihlo method i of determining human guilt and re- ,ponsihili'N," Vance explained; 1 but as yet the polio" are as bliss i 'ully unaware o' its possibilities as 1 'hoy ar" ignorant of its operations. ! Tn" truth can be learned only by i