George O. Smith

“ It might go hard with you."
"You're Harry Foster."
"I am."
"Then who was the man that was buried?"
"That is the coincidence," said Foster sorrowfully. "He was another Harry Foster. I understand that he was a rascal and definitely needed killing."
"Where were you when that deed was done?"
"Me? Look, sir, am I under suspicion?"
"Could be."
"Then produce your warrant! I shall take no guff from you nor any of your ilk."
"Take it easy," said Jones. "An innocent man has nothing to fear."
"An innocent man," said Foster, "has plenty to fear. Scheming politicians and courts who like to see convictions. ”

“ Foster crumpled, and Woodart lifted him by the collar and dragged him to the door, hurling him into the hallway. Foster turned, wiping blood from his face, and spat like an angry cat.
"That'll cost you, punk," he snarled.
Woodart laughed.
"Laugh," leered Foster. "You can't bring suit for divorce against a dead man, either!"
Harry Foster opened the door to his apartment and nodded quite genially. "Come in, gentlemen," he said overpolitely.
State attorney Jones was less cordial, and Lieutenant Miller was harsh. ”

“ It was that of a man who knows all the answers.
"The defendant, Harry Foster, is charged with Murder in the First Degree," said State attorney Jones. "This is a strange case, gentlemen of the jury. It is without precedent, and, therefore, your action will establish a precedent. I charge you to consider not only the case at hand and to try it with the utmost regard to justice, but to remember, as you are considering the evidence to be presented, that this is but the first of many cases that will certainly follow. ”

“ At the Mexican Border, Harry Foster stopped for rest and while resting he read the newspaper. It carried the usual run of gossip columns, and in one of them Harry Foster saw—and read with growing interest:
The widow of Harry Foster, whose body was found on the evening before the authorities were to have closed in on his nefarious activities, is finding solace in the company of Tim Woodart, who is the inventor of Hammer Productions' new play technique. No one would deny Jenny Foster her right to happiness, and we'll cheer her on—
Foster crumpled the paper craftily. ”

“ Hammer nodded. "We'll work on it," he said. "Like all other media, solid performances require their own techniques. But until we locate the techniques, people will take to solids for their novelty."
They all sat down. Mrs. Foster turned to Tim Woodart and asked him how it was done.
"You mean the whole thing?"
"No, the job of making enlargements."
"Easy," he said. "We just have a repeat-scan that repeats the same atom in between true signals. Same like cramming a whole twelve-story building on a busy street. ”

“ I sort of resent the destruction you've created, but it certainly carried off its point."
"I'll bring in the gear, too," said Woodart. "If you don't mind."
Hammer nodded. Whatever it was, Martin Hammer had just had his door broken in by the first of all true three-dimensional photography!
Harry Foster stood on a lonely stage and smiled at some mythical point in the mid distance. Dramatically he pointed, and as he pointed, across his face there came a change over his features. Normally handsome, Harry Foster's "bad" face was thrice as bad for the distortion into hatred. It was excellent acting. ”

“ Lewis, what comprises identity?"
"The ego is a rather deep subject," replied the doctor thoughtfully. "The question 'What is this that am I?' is one pondered for many thousands of years. It is still without answer—though it is generally accepted that a man is what he is because of his lifetime of experiences." ”

“ The jury returned after many hours, and the foreman arose. "Your Honor, we have deliberated this case and find that our decision requires explanation. Suicide we reason, is self-murder. Since suicide requires a certain amount of planning and contemplation, we find the defendant guilty on all charges including Murder in the First Degree!"
The roar of the spectators covered up the judge's words, but Harry Foster heard him pronounce the fatal words.
Tim Woodart turned the key in Jenny Foster's apartment, shoved the door open and stood aside to let her enter. ”

“ The man beside the camera nodded. It was not only excellent acting but it was rather emotionally troublesome to be confronted by a living, breathing image of yourself. You, watching you do something that you had done previously.
Harry Foster's hand stole up alongside of the cutoff button and he thrust it down viciously.
The scene stopped instantly and disappeared.
Foster, remaining beside the camera, swore. He rereeled manually a few yards and restarted the camera. He caught a previous scene's ending: a beautiful woman smiling shyly at another man. ”

“ It is not. The environment of Twin A includes the life of Twin B, and vice versa. Therefore each twin must evolve a different identity. As a man grows and enjoys experience, each factor changes his personality in some way major or minor, and he emerges a true identity, which, however, is different in some minor way from day to day as his experiences accumulate."
"Then at the instant of duplication, the two persons have approximately the same identity?" ”

“ Foster opened the cabinet-like side of the solid camera and looked at the circuits. They were enigma to Foster, but there was some logic to it—there must be. You create an image and then wipe it away to make place for the next image—just as in common cinema. But in normal cinema it is possible to halt the film and project a still. That's what Harry Foster wanted—
He pulled a single tube from one circuit and snapped the camera on. The stage was blank. He replaced the tube and tried another tube removed by some distance from the first. ”

“ Legally and physically, Harry Foster died and was buried. Legally there is nothing that could possibly prevent you from marrying her if you wanted to. But you see, Woodart, my wife is a completely moral woman, to say nothing of ethical. ”

“ Miller looked at the coroner, who was just polishing up his job. Miller said, "Whoever did it did Foster a favor. Between you and me, we'd have had him between nutcrackers in another week."
Jacobson nodded. "Couldn't have been suicide?"
Miller shook his head. "After filling himself that full of lead, he was too dead to toss that gun. Furthermore, he was shot from greater than arm's distance. No," said Miller, "someone 'done him in' and should possibly be commended. Plain case of: 'Too bad, thank God!'"
Martha Evers watched her image on the stage in the studio theater. ”

“ An attempt at suicide is, then, an attempt to compound a felony and the would-be suicide may be apprehended for his own protection. Since the penalties for attempted suicide usually consist of compelling the miscreant to undergo psychiatric treatment to remove the obvious mental unrest that gave him the will to self-destruction, I suggest that my client be given the same treatment for the crime of suicide. ”

“ His saturnine face was only for selling purposes; a more pleasant villain was seldom to be found. "What bothers everybody is that you can smell the odor of that drink, it's so big. Half of the would-be sots in the audience are going to be as dry as the Sahara by the time Evers gets it down." ”

“ Miller gave him the right answer, that the wanted man, Harry Foster, had been buried within the week. No, there was no mistake. The dead man's identity had been established to the satisfaction of every interested agency. ”

“ In this country, all arrests are false arrests because it is a statement of intent that all men are innocent until proven guilty by a court of justice! Ergo, we take you into custody whether innocent or guilty and we will permit the judgment of the court to decide your status. ”

“ She smiled bitterly. "It's often said that no one knows another person until you've lived with them for some time. It was between our first meeting and three years after I married Harry Foster that I was his wife. That was when I found out about him. I—"
"Look," said Tim, worriedly, "there's been something worrying me ever since we took these shots yesterday. Now I know what it is. Let's get out of here and I'll buy you a drink."
"Shhhhhh!" insisted Hammer.
"Stop it," returned Woodart.
"Make notes," said Hammer. "I want to see these rushes to the close." ”

“ Lieutenant Miller went to the door and looked in quietly. "Look, fellows, just establish her. Don't bother grilling her."
Sergeant Mullaney looked up in surprise. Miller nodded. "This is one case I'm not going to kill myself solving," he said. "I just want to be certain that the murderer of Harry Foster isn't as obvious as a stone pillar on the corner of Hollywood and Vine. Is Mrs. Foster clear?"
Mullaney nodded. "Spending the whole evening with a friend." ”

“ The dead man could not have used it upon himself for numerous reasons, even though the only fingerprints on the weapon were unmistakably those of Harry Foster. One reason is the distance between the body and the weapon; the wounds produced instant death. Another reason is that the dead man's right hand was in his coat pocket—clenched around a duplicate of the revolver. ”

“ A new-born babe has little true identity or individuality. That is because his only experience is almost congruent with all other new-born babes. As he lives, his experiences will differ because of environment and heredity from others—in the case of twins this is true despite the idea that the environment and heredity is identical. ”

“ This is an admission that he was the duplicate made—or that he was the original. No denial is made of this. Since it is impossible by any ordinary means to distinguish one Harry Foster—defendant—from the other Harry Foster—victim—a sentence of death is indicated for Harry Foster, the defendant, since the killing conveniently made the only distinction. ”

“ Two, a man was killed by a weapon belonging to Harry Foster, in Harry Foster's apartment, and all evidence fails to show the occupancy of any other human being. Three, the defendant admits that there was duplication made but makes attempt to confuse the Court by denying to answer whether he is original or duplicate! ”