17 - Red Thumb Mark by R. Austin Freeman

Dive into the mystery of missing diamonds, an untouched safe, two blood-streaked thumb prints, and the enigmatic Mr X. As these elements converge, the brilliant Dr. Thorndyke steps onto the scene. Will he crack the case? The Red Thumb Mark marks the thrilling debut of Freeman’s popular Thorndyke series. (Summary by Diana Majlinger)

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter sixteen of The Red Thumb Mark. This is a
LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
Recording by Marianne The Red Thumb Mark by R. Austin Freeman,
Chapter sixteen, Thorndyke plays his cards. As Thorndyke took his

(00:22):
place in the box, I looked at him with a
sense of unreasonable surprise, feeling that I had never before
fully realized what manner of man my friend was. As
to his externals. I had often noted the quiet strength
of his face, its infinite intelligence, its attractiveness and magnetism.
But I had never before appreciated what now impressed me most.

(00:45):
That Thorndyke was actually the handsomest man I had ever seen.
He was dressed simply, his appearance unaided by the flowing
gown or awe inspiring whig, and yet his presence dominated
the court. Even the judge, despite his scarlet robe and
trappings of office, looked commonplace by comparison, while the jurymen

(01:05):
who turned to look at him seemed like beings of
an inferior order. It was not alone the distinction of
the tall figure, erect and dignified, nor the power and
massive composure of his face, but the actual symmetry and
comeliness of the face itself that now rested my attention,
a comeliness that made it akin rather to some classic

(01:25):
mask wrought in the ivory toned marble of Pentilichus, than
to the eager faces that move around us in the
hurry and bustle of a life at once strenuous and trivial.
You are attached to the medical school at Saint Margaret's Hospital,
I believe, doctor Thorndyke, said Anstey. Yes, I am the
lecturer on medical jurisprudence and toxicology. Have you had much

(01:49):
experience of medico legal inquiries? A great deal. I am
engaged exclusively in medico legal work. You heard the evidence
relating to the two drops of blood found in the
same I did. What is your opinion as to the
condition of that blood? I should say there is no
doubt that it has been artificially treated, probably by defibrination.

(02:12):
Can you suggest any explanation of the condition of that blood?
I can Is your explanation connected with any peculiarities in
the thumb print on the paper that was found in
the safe it is. Have you given any attention to
the subject of finger prints? Yes, a great deal of attention.

(02:33):
Be good enough to examine that paper. Here the usher
handed to Thorndyke the memorandum slip. Have you seen it before? Yes?
I saw it at Scotland Yard. Did you examine it thoroughly?
Very thoroughly. The police officials gave me every facility, and
with their permission, I took several photographs of it. There

(02:54):
is a mark on that paper resembling the print of
a human thumb. There is. You have heard two expert
witnesses swear that that mark was made by the left
thumb of the prisoner, Reuben Hornby I have. Do you
agree to that statement? I do not. In your opinion,

(03:14):
was the mark on that paper made by the thumb
of the prisoner? No. I am convinced that it was
not made by the thumb of Reuben Hornby. Do you
think it was made by the thumb of some other person? No.
I am of the opinion that it was not made
by human thumb at all. At this statement, the judge
paused for a moment, pen in hand and stared at

(03:36):
Thorndyke with his mouth slightly open, while the two experts
looked at one another with raised eyebrows. By what means
do you consider the mark was produced by means of
a stamp, either of India rubber or more probably of
chromicized gelatine. Here Poulton, who had been by degrees rising

(03:57):
to an erect posture, smote his thumb a resounding thwack
and chuckled aloud, a proceeding that caused all eyes, including
those of the judge, to be turned upon him. If
that noise is repeated, said the judge, with a stony
stare at the horrified offender, who had shrunk into the
very smallest space that I have ever seen a human
being occupy. I shall cause the person who made it

(04:20):
to be removed from the court. I understand, then, pursued Ernstey,
that you consider the thumb print which has been sworn
to as the prisoners to be a forgery. Yes, it
is a forgery. But is it possible to forge a
thumb print or a finger print? It is not only possible,
but quite easy to do, as easy as to forge

(04:43):
a signature, for instance, much more so and infinitely more secure.
A signature being written with a pen requires that the
forgery should also be written with a pen, a process
demanding a very special skill, and after all never resulting
in an absolute facsimile. But a fingerprint is a stamped impression,
the fingertip being the stamp, and it is only necessary

(05:05):
to obtain a stamp identical in character with the fingertip
in order to produce an impression which is an absolute
facsimile in every respect of the original and totally indistinguishable
from it. Would there be no means at all of
detecting the difference between a forged fingerprint and the genuine original,
none whatever, for the reason that there would be no

(05:27):
difference to detect. But you have stated quite positively that
the thumb print on this paper is a forgery. Now,
if the forged print is indistinguishable from the original, how
are you able to be certain that this particular print
is a forgery? I was speaking of what is possible
with due care. But obviously a forger might through inadvertence,

(05:50):
fail to produce an absolute facsimile, and then detection would
be possible. That is what happened in the present case.
The forged print is not an absolute facsimile of the
true print. There is a slight discrepancy. But in addition
to this, the paper bears intrinsic evidence that the thumb
print on it is a forgery. We will consider that

(06:10):
evidence presently, Doctor Thorndyke, to return to the possibility of
forging a fingerprint, can you explain to us, without being
too technical, by what methods it would be possible to
produce such a stamp as you have referred to. There
are two principal methods that suggest themselves to me. The first,
which is rather crude though easy to carry out, consists

(06:31):
in taking an actual cast of the end of the finger.
A mold would be made by pressing the finger into
some plastic material such as fine molding clay or hot
sealing wax, and then by pouring a warm solution of
gelatine into the mold and allowing it to cool and solidify,
a cast would be produced which would yield very perfect
finger prints. But this method would as a rule, be

(06:54):
useless for the purpose of the forger, as it could
not ordinarily be carried out without the knowledge of the victim,
though in the case of dead bodies and persons asleep
or unconscious or under an anesthetic. It could be practiced
with success and would offer the advantage of requiring practically
no technical skill or knowledge and no special appliances. The
second method, which is much more efficient and is the

(07:16):
one I have no doubt that has been used in
the present instance, requires more knowledge and skill. In the
first place, it is necessary to obtain possession of or
access to, a genuine finger print. Of this finger print,
a photograph is taken, or rather a photographic negative, which
for this purpose requires to be taken on a reversed plate,

(07:37):
and the negative is put into a special printing frame
with a plate of gelatine which has been treated with
potassium by chromate, and the frame is exposed to light.
Now gelatine treated in this way chromicized gelatine, as it
is called, has a very peculiar property. Ordinary gelatine, as
is well known, is easily dissolved in hot water, and

(07:58):
chromicized gelatine is also soluble in hot water as long
as it is not exposed to light. But on being
exposed to light it undergoes a change and is no
longer capable of being dissolved in hot water. Now the
plate of chromicized gelatine under the negative is protected from
the light by the opaque parts of the negative, whereas
the light passes freely through the transparent parts. But the

(08:22):
transparent parts of the negative correspond to the black marks
on the fingerprint, and these correspond to the ridges on
the finger Hence, it follows that the gelatin plate is
acted upon by light only in the parts corresponding to
the ridges, and in these parts the gelatine is rendered insoluble,
while all the rest of the gelatine is soluble. The
gelatine plate, which is cemented to a thin piece of

(08:44):
metal for support, is now carefully washed with hot water,
by which the soluble part of the gelatine is dissolved away,
leaving the insoluble part corresponding to the ridges standing up
from the surface. Thus there is produced a facsimile in
relief of the fingerprint, having actual ridges and furrows identical
in character with the ridges and furrows of the finger tip.

(09:07):
If an inked roller is passed over this relief, or
if the relief is pressed lightly on an inked slab
and then pressed on a sheet of paper, a fingerprint
will be produced which will be absolutely identical with the original,
even to the little white spots which mark the orifices
of the sweat glands. It will be impossible to discover
any difference between the real fingerprint and the counterfeit, because

(09:29):
in fact no difference exists. But surely the process you
have described is a very difficult and intricate one, not
at all. It is very little more difficult than ordinary
carbon printing, which is practiced successfully by numbers of amateurs. Moreover,
such a relief as I have described, which is practically
nothing more than an ordinary process block, could be produced

(09:52):
by any photo engraver. The process that I have described
is in all essentials that which is used in the
reproduction of pen and ink drawing, and any of the
hundreds of workmen who are employed in that industry could
make a relief block of a finger print with which
an undetectable forgery could be executed. You have asserted that
the counterfeit finger print could not be distinguished from the original.

(10:15):
Are you prepared to furnish proof that this is the case? Yes,
I am prepared to execute a counterfeit of the prisoner's
thumb print in the presence of the court. And do
you say that such a counterfeit would be indistinguishable from
the original, even by the experts. I do anstey turned
towards the judge. Would your lordship give permission for a

(10:38):
demonstration such as the witness proposes? Certainly, replied the judge.
The evidence is highly material. How do you propose that
the comparison should be made? He asked, addressing Thorndyke. I've
brought for the purpose, my Lord, answered Thorndyke, some sheets
of paper, each of which is ruled into twenty numbered squares.

(11:00):
Pose to make on ten of the square's counterfeits of
the prisoner's thumb mark, and to fill the remaining ten
with the real thumb marks. I propose that the experts
should then examine the paper and tell the court which
are the real thumb prints and which are the false.
That seems a fair and efficient test, said his lordship.
Have you any objection to offer, Sir hector? Sir Hector,

(11:21):
Trumpler hastily consulted with the two experts who were sitting
in the attorney's bench, and then replied, without much enthusiasm,
we have no objection to offer, my Lord. Then in
that case, I shall direct the expert witnesses to withdraw
from the court while the prints are being made. In
obedience to the judge's order, mister Singleton and his colleague

(11:43):
rose and left the court with evident reluctance, while Thorndyke
took from a small portfolio three sheets of paper, which
he handed up to the judge. If your Lordship said
he will make marks in ten of the squares on
two of these sheets, one can be given to the
jury and one retained by your Lordship to check the
third sheet when the prince are made on it. That

(12:05):
is an excellent plan, said the judge, And as the
information is for myself and the jury, it would be
better if you came up and performed the actual stamping
on my table in the presence of the foreman of
the jury and the Council for the Prosecution and Defense.
In accordance with the Judge's direction, Thorndyke stepped up on
the das and anstey. As he rose to follow, leaned

(12:25):
over towards me. You and Polton had better go up too,
said he. Thorndyke will want your assistance, and you may
as well see the fun I will explain to his
lordship he ascended the stairs leading to the das and
addressed a few words to the Judge, who glanced in
our direction and nodded, whereupon we both gleefully followed our
council Polton, carrying the box and beaming with delight. The

(12:48):
Judge's table was provided with a shallow drawer which pulled
out at the side, and which accommodated the box comfortably,
leaving the small table top free for the papers. When
the lid of the box was raised, there were displayed
a copper inking slab, a small roller, and the twenty
four pawns which had so puzzled Poulton, and on which
he now gazed with a twinkle of amusement and triumph.

(13:12):
Are those all stamps? Inquired the Judge, glancing curiously at
the array of turned wood handles. They are all stamps,
my lord, replied Thorndyke, And each is taken from a
different impression of the prisoner's thumb. But why so many,
asked the Judge. I have multiplied them, answered Thorndyke, as
he squeezed out a drop of finger print ink on

(13:34):
to the slab and proceeded to roll it out into
a thin film. To avoid the tell tale uniformity of
a single stamp, and I may say, he added, that
it is highly important that the expert should not be
informed that more than one stamp has been used. Yes,
I see that, said the judge. You understand that, sir hector,

(13:54):
he added, addressing the council, who bowed stiffly, clearly regarding
the entire proceeding with extreme disfavor. Thorndyke now inked one
of the stamps and handed it to the judge, who
examined it curiously, and then pressed it on a piece
of waste paper, on which there immediately appeared a very
distinct impression of a human thumb. Marvelous, he exclaimed, most ingenious.

(14:18):
Too ingenious, he chuckled softly, and added, as he handed
the stamp and the paper to the foreman of the jury.
It is well, doctor Thorndyke, that you are on the
side of law and order, for I am afraid that
if you were on the other side, you would be
one too many for the police. Now, if you are ready,
we will proceed. Will you please stamp an impression in
square number three? Thorndyke drew a stamp from its compartment

(14:43):
inked it on the slab and pressed it neatly on
the square indicated, leaving there a sharp, clear thumb print.
The process was repeated on nine other squares, a different
stamp being used for each impression. The judge then marked
the ten corresponding squares of the other two sheets paper,
and having checked them, directed the foreman to exhibit the

(15:03):
sheet bearing the false thumb prints to the jury, together
with the marked sheet, which they were to retain to
enable them to check the statements of the expert witnesses.
When this was done, the prisoner was brought from the
dock and stood beside the table. The judge looked with
a curious and not unkindly interested the handsome, manly fellow
who stood charged with a crime so sordid and out

(15:23):
of character with his appearance. And I felt, as I
noted the look, that Reuben would at least be tried
fairly on the evidence, without prejudice, or even with some
prepossession in his favor. With the remaining part of the operation,
Thorndyke proceeded carefully and deliberately. The inking slab was rolled
afresh for each impression, and after each the thumb was

(15:46):
cleansed with petrol and thoroughly dried. And when the process
was completed and the prisoner led back to the dock,
the twenty squares on the paper were occupied by twenty
thumb prints, which, to my eye at any rate, were
identical in character. The Judge sat for near upon a minute,
poring over this singular document with an expression half way
between a frown and a smile. At length, when we

(16:09):
had returned to our places, he directed the usher to
bring in the witnesses. I was amused to observe the
change that had come over the experts in the short interval.
The confident smile, the triumphant air of laying down a
trump card had vanished, and the expression of both was
one of anxiety, not unmixed with apprehension. As mister Singleton

(16:30):
advanced hesitatingly to the table, I recalled the words that
he had uttered in his room at Scotland Yard. Evidently
his scheme of the game that was to end in
an easy checkmate had not included the move that had
just been made. Mister Singleton said the Judge, here is
a paper on which there are twenty thumb prints. Ten
of them are genuine prints of the prisoner's left thumb

(16:52):
and ten are forgeries. Please examine them and note down
in writing which are the true prints and which are
the forgeries. When you have made your notes, the paper
will be handed to mister Nash. Is there any objection
to my using the photograph that I have with me
for comparison, my Lord asked mister Singleton. I think not,
replied the judge. What do you say, mister Anstey, No

(17:15):
objection whatever, my Lord answered Anstey. Mister Singleton accordingly drew
from his pocket an enlarged photograph of the thumb print
and a magnifying glass, with the aid of which he
explored the bewildering array of prints on the paper before him.
And as he proceeded, I remarked with satisfaction that his
expression became more and more dubious and worried. From time

(17:38):
to time he made an entry on a memorandum slip
beside him, and as the entries accumulated, his frown grew
deeper and his aspect more puzzled and gloomy. At length,
he sat up, and, taking the memorandum slip in his hand,
addressed the judge. I have finished my examination, my lord,
very well, mister Nash, will you kindly examine the paper

(18:00):
and write down the results of your examination? Oh? I
wish they would make haste, whispered Julia. Do you think
they will be able to tell the real from the
false thumb prints? I can't say, I replied, but we
shall soon know. They looked all alike to me. Mister
Nash made his examination with exasperating deliberateness, and preserved throughout

(18:22):
an air of stolid attention. But at length he too
completed his notes and handed the paper back to the usher. Now,
mister Singleton, said the judge, let us hear your conclusions.
You have been sworn. Mister Singleton stepped into the witness box, and,
laying his notes on the ledge, faced the judge. Have

(18:43):
you examined the paper that was handed to you, asked
sir Hector Trumpler, I have. What did you see on
the paper? I saw twenty thumb prints, of which some
were evident forgeries, some were evidently genuine, and some were doubtful.
Taking the thumb print seriatum, what have you noted about them?

(19:04):
Mister Singleton examined his notes and replied, the thumb print
on square one is evidently a forgery, as is also
number two, though it is a passable imitation. Three and
four are genuine. Five is an obvious forgery, Six is
a genuine thumbprint. Seven is a forgery, though a good one.
Eight is genuine. Nine is I think a forgery, though

(19:25):
it is a remarkably good imitation. Ten and eleven are
genuine thumb marks. Twelve and thirteen are forgeries, but as
to fourteen, I am very doubtful, though I am inclined
to regard it as a forgery. Fifteen is genuine, and
I think sixteen is also, but I will not swear
to it. Seventeen is certainly genuine. Eighteen and nineteen I
am rather doubtful about, but I am disposed to consider

(19:47):
them both forgeries. Twenty is certainly a genuine thumbprint. As
mister Singleton's evidence proceeded, a look of surprise began to
make his appearance on the Judge's face, while the jury
glanced from the witness to the notes before them, and
from their notes to one another in undisguised astonishment. As
to Sir Hector Trumpler, that luminary of British jurisprudence was

(20:09):
evidently completely fogged, for as statement followed statement, he pursed
his lips, and his broad red face became overshadowed by
an expression of utter bewilderment. For a few seconds, he
stared blankly at his witness, and then dropped on his
seat with a thump that shook the court. You have
no doubt, said Anstey, as to the correctness of your conclusions.

(20:31):
For instance, you are quite sure that the Prince one
and two are forgeries. I have no doubt. You swear
that those two prints are forgeries. Mister Singleton hesitated for
a moment. He had been watching the judge and jury
and had apparently misinterpreted their surprise, assuming it to be
due to his own remarkable powers of discrimination, and his

(20:51):
confidence had revived accordingly. Yes, he answered, I swear that
they are forgeries. Anstey sat down, and mister Singleton, having
passed his nose up to the judge, retired from the box,
giving place to his colleague mister Nash, who had listened
with manifest satisfaction to the evidence, stepped into the box

(21:12):
with all his original confidence restored his selection of the
true and the false. Thumb Prince was practically identical with
that of mister Singleton, and his knowledge of this fact
led him to state his conclusions with an air that
was authoritative and even dogmatic. I am quite satisfied of
the correctness of my statements, he said in reply to
Anstey's question, and I am prepared to swear and do swear,

(21:36):
that those thumb prints which I have stated to be
forgeries are forgeries, and that their detection presents no difficulty
to an observer who has an expert acquaintance with finger prints.
There is one question that I should like to ask,
said the judge, when the expert had left the box
and Thorndyke had re entered it to continue his evidence.
The conclusions of the expert witnesses manifestly boniford. Conclusions arrived

(22:01):
at by individual judgment without collusion or comparison of results,
are practically identical. They are virtually in complete agreement. Now
the strange thing is this, their conclusions are wrong in
every instance. Here I nearly laughed aloud, for as I
glanced at the two experts, the expression of smug satisfaction

(22:21):
on their countenances changed with lightning rapidity to a ludicrous
spasm of consternation. Not sometimes wrong and sometimes right, as
would have been the case if they had made mere guesses,
but wrong every time. When they are quite certain, they
are quite wrong, and when they are doubtful they incline
to the wrong conclusion. This is a very strange coincidence,

(22:44):
Doctor Thorndyke. Can you explain it? Thorndyke's face, which throughout
the proceedings had been as expressionless as that of a
wooden figurehead, now relaxed into a dry smile. I think
I can, my lord, he replied. The object of a forger,
in executing a forgery, is to produce deception on those
who shall examine the forgery. Ah said the judge, and

(23:08):
his face relaxed into a dry smile, while the jury
broke out into unconcealed grins. It was evident to me,
continued Thorndyke, that the experts would be unable to distinguish
the real from the forged thumb prints, and that being so,
that they would look for some collateral evidence to guide them.
I therefore supplied that collateral evidence. Now, if ten prints

(23:30):
are taken without special precautions from a single finger, it
will probably happen that no two of them are exactly alike.
For the finger being a rounded object of which only
a small part touches the paper, the impressions produced will
show little variations according to the part of the finger
by which the print is made. But a stamp such
as I have used, has a flat surface like that

(23:51):
of a printer's type, and like a type, it always
prints the same impression. It does not reproduce the finger tip,
but a particular of the finger. And so if ten
prints are made with a single stamp, each print will
be a mechanical repetition of the other nine. Thus, on
a sheet bearing twenty fingerprints, of which ten were forgeries

(24:11):
made with a single stamp, it would be easy to
pick out the ten forged prints by the fact that
they would all be mechanical repetitions of one another, while
the genuine prints could be distinguished by the fact of
their presenting trifling variations in the position of the finger.
Anticipating this line of reasoning, I was careful to make
each print with a different stamp, and each stamp was

(24:33):
made from a different thumb print, And I further selected
thumb prints which varied as widely as possible. When I
made the stamps. Moreover, when I made the real thumb prints,
I was careful to put the thumb down in the
same position each time, as far as I was able.
And so it happened that on the sheet submitted to
the experts, the real thumb prints were nearly all alike,

(24:53):
while the forgeries presented considerable variations. The instances in which
the witnesses were quite certain were those in which I
succeeded in making the genuine prints repeat one another, and
the doubtful cases were those in which I partially failed.
Thank you, that is quite clear, said the judge, with
a smile of deep contentment, such as is apt to

(25:13):
appear on the judicial countenance when an expert witness is
knocked off his pedestal. We may now proceed. Mister Anstey.
You have told us resumed Anstey, and have submitted proofs
that it is possible to forge a thumb print, so
that detection is impossible. You have also stated that the
thumb print on the paper found in mister Hornsby's safe

(25:35):
is a forgery. Do you mean to say that it
may be a forgery or that it actually is one?
I mean that it actually is a forgery. When did
you first come to the conclusion that it was a forgery?
When I saw it at Scotland Yard. There are three
facts which suggested this conclusion. In the first place, the
print was obviously produced with liquid blood, and yet it

(25:57):
was a beautifully clear and distinct impression. But such an
impression could not be produced with liquid blood without the
use of a slab and roller, even if great care
were used, And still less could it have been produced
by an accidental smear. In the second place, on measuring
the print with a micrometer, I found that it did
not agree in dimensions with a genuine thumb print of

(26:18):
Reuben Hornby, it was appreciably larger. I photographed the print
with a micrometer in contact, and on comparing this with
a genuine thumb print, also photographed with the same micrometer
in contact, I found that the suspected print was larger
by the fortieth of an inch from one given point
on the ridge pattern to another given point. I have
here the enlargements of the two photographs, in which the

(26:39):
disagreement in size is clearly shown by the lines of
the micrometer. I have also the micrometer itself and a
portable microscope if the court wishes to verify the photographs.
Thank you, said the judge, with a bland smile. We
will accept your sworn testimony unless the Learned Council for
the Prosecution demands verification. He received the photographs, which Thorndyke

(27:02):
handed up, and, having examined them with close attention, passed
them on to the jury. End of Chapter sixteen, Part one.