Isabel Ostrander

Name: The Twenty-Six Clues — Chapter 1
Author: Isabel Ostrander

The Twenty-Six Clues — Chapter 1 (1919)

Summary

“The Twenty-Six Clues — Chapter 1”, published in 1919, is a work by Isabel Ostrander. It explores elements such as Norwood, Terhune and McCarty.

Quotes from The Twenty-Six Clues — Chapter 1 (Isabel Ostrander)

Isabel Ostrander, The Twenty-Six Clues — Chapter 1 (1919)

“ THE one thing you psychometric enthusiasts overlook in claiming perfection for your method of solving crime is the human equation. Your machines for recording the emotions of the suspect cannot lie, it is true, but neither can they tell the truth. Granted that they are perfect in themselves, they are operated by the most faulty machine created since the beginning of time—the human being. You, Mr. Terhune, are unquestionably the greatest living master of scientific criminal investigation, but do the purely mechanical implements of your trade invariably probe to the very soul of the crime? ”

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Source: Wikisource

Isabel Ostrander, The Twenty-Six Clues — Chapter 1 (1919)

“ Nevertheless, he hung back with evident reluctance when the others prepared to follow their host and McCarty watching his sensitive face noted the shade of repugnance which passed across it and did not marvel. To a young man fresh from the carnage of war and all but prostrated beneath the shock of the irreparable blow which it had dealt to him, a more cheerful atmosphere could well be imagined than the morbid horrors of a crime museum, but after his first momentary hesitation he resigned himself in suave compliance to his patron's suggestion. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Isabel Ostrander, The Twenty-Six Clues — Chapter 1 (1919)

“ Discovering that it contained a neatly severed human ear he was hurriedly replacing it, when a smothered exclamation from Dennis Riordan summoned him.
The lanky fireman, awkward enough in his civilian clothes, had been drawn as by a magnet to the bright-hued blanket covering the skeleton upon the table and as his friend approached he muttered darkly:
"Mac, would you believe it? 'Twas this very rag they covered Madero with, after the murdering devils had riddled him with bullets! By the powers, I'm not a believer in ghosts but this is not the room I'd choose to spend a night in by myself! ”

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Source: Wikisource

Isabel Ostrander, The Twenty-Six Clues — Chapter 1 (1919)

“ It would seem almost that she slept until her face was seen and then the distorted swollen features, the staring eyes and blackened, protruding tongue revealed the hideous truth no less surely than the blue scarf which had been knotted so ruthlessly about her slender throat as to seem almost embedded in the flesh. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Isabel Ostrander, The Twenty-Six Clues — Chapter 1 (1919)

“ Norwood, we do not rely only on what you designate the mechanical implements of our trade; we are fully aware of a prepared to cope with such subjective phenomena as hysteria, defective mentality, falsehood, suggestion and self-deception. That is where the human equation proves of value. The mechanical implement is supplemented by the trained, analytical mind. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Isabel Ostrander, The Twenty-Six Clues — Chapter 1 (1919)

“ Norwood?"
"I should scarcely call them 'souvenirs'!" retorted his host with a shade of injured dignity. "In my crime museum I have assembled relics which have formed important data on many strange cases, solved and unsolved, as well as objects that have played significant parts in moments when history was made. I have been a mere dabbler, a dilettante in criminal investigation but occasionally a real find has come my way which at the time when inquiry was rife would have been of inestimable value to the authorities but which they themselves failed to unearth. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Isabel Ostrander, The Twenty-Six Clues — Chapter 1 (1919)

“ Dennis announced with a shudder. "I've heard of grown men running like mad after butterflies and spending their last nickel for canceled stamps and such, but it's a strange and unholy taste that would lead to a collection of this sort! Still, I would like one peep at the bones of the Duchess Who's-this, under the blanket. From the bulk of it, Madero himself might be lying beneath it"
"I've no doubt Mr. Norwood will show it to you, after. Come on, now, and listen to him!" McCarty urged. "What's that he's taking out of the case?" ”

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Source: Wikisource

Isabel Ostrander, The Twenty-Six Clues — Chapter 1 (1919)

“ A preconceived theory——"
"We do not deal in theories." Wade Terhune interrupted with a trace of asperity. "We work on a basis of proof, not opinion; proof obtained by tapping all the resources of modern science. Toxicology, bacteriology, chemistry, mineralogy, physics, chirography, microscopy, all aid us in the solution of crime. The expert criminalist must be a profound and almost universal student before he can hope to succeed."
"And what is your method, Mr. McCarty?" The host turned to a stocky, broad-shouldered man at his left. ”

Isabel Ostrander

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Quotes from The Twenty-Six Clues — Chapter 1 (Isabel Ostrander)

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