“I had to signal you somehow,” he told them. “There were potassium pellets in the bottle and I took a risk that enough rainwater had collected on the skylight to set off a chemical reaction. Potassium reacts even more violently with water than does sodium.”
“You were successful,” returned the second policeman. “I heard that boom two streets away.”
The doctor was busy moving some of his equipment out of the rain which was still falling through the shattered skylight. “I think with treatment this man can be saved,” said he. “It is his addiction that has led him into a life of crime.”
“I would not worry too much about him, sir. He could have killed you with this dagger.”
“But I do worry about him, as I would about any human being. As for myself, I was much more fearful that he would wreck my laboratory. I have been engaged in some important experiments here, relating to transcendental medicine, and I feel I am on the verge of discovery.”
The first police-officer pulled Blair towards the door. “Then we will leave you alone to clean up, sir. And good luck with your experiments.” He was half-way out the door when he paused and said, “O, by the by, sir, I will need your name for my report. I did not have time to catch it on the brass outside.”
“Certainly,” replied the physician, with a smile. “The name is Jekyll. Doctor Henry Jekyll.”
Over the Borderline
by Jeff Sweet
“Don’t you see? He had to be stopped.”
“Stopped, Mrs. Sutherland? Stopped from doing what?”
“If I hadn’t acted she would have died. He would have killed her.”
“Who, Mrs. Sutherland? Who would he have killed?”
“You’re looking at me like you don’t believe me. Lieutenant Foley. You think I’m just a batty old lady, don’t you? An old lady who’s lost her marbles.”
“No, I don’t. Really, I don’t.”
“Like crazy Mrs. Jessup who’s always calling the police or the F.B.I, about enemy agents hiding under her bed. I’m right, aren’t I? That’s what you think.”
“I swear, Mrs. Sutherland, I don’t think that at all.”
“Then why don’t you believe me?”
“Well, I’ll tell you, Mrs. Sutherland, it isn’t that I don’t believe you. It’s just that I... well, I guess I really don’t understand. I mean, I don’t have the full picture.”
“I’ve tried to answer all your questions. Lieutenant.”
“Yes, and I appreciate that, Mrs. Sutherland. But still—”
“What?”
“Look, I have an idea. Why don’t you tell me about it again, from start to finish? I promise you I won’t interrupt.”
“From start to finish? Yes, maybe that would be best, and I suppose the best place to start would be with Cora and Jim. Cora and Jim Franklin. Such a nice couple. They remind me of the late Mr. Sutherland and myself when we were young. A very nice couple, the Franklins. Of course, they have their problems. More than their share. She was pregnant when they got married, you know. That’s not always the best way to start a marriage, especially since the baby wasn’t Jim’s. That awful Harrington Furth.”
“Uh, Mrs. Sutherland—”
“Lieutenant, you promised you wouldn’t interrupt.”
“I know, Mrs. Sutherland, but I’m afraid I’m a little lost. Who is Harrington Furth?”
“Lieutenant, if you will hold your horses I’ll get to that, I promise you. All in good time. But you mustn’t interrupt.”
“Yes, Mrs. Sutherland.”
“Where was I?”
“Harrington Furth.”
“Oh, yes, Harrington. A very rich, very irresponsible young man. His father is the president of Furth Electronics, you know — a very distinguished man. But Harrington, I’m afraid, doesn’t take after his father. Or should I say Harrington didn’t take after his father? Oh, well, you understand my meaning, I’m sure. It must have been very hard on old Mrs. Furth, having a son like Harrington. Always racing around in his fancy cars, always getting into trouble. And his father always coming to the rescue. I swear, if it had been me, I would have let that young man stew in his own juice! It might have taught him a sense of responsibility. And the way he drank!
“Anyway, there was poor Cora. She hadn’t married Jim yet, you know. Jim was going with the Stanton girl then — the one with the big false eyelashes and all the teeth. What Jim saw in her I don’t know. But like I say, there was poor Cora. Her mother had just died on the operating table and Cora was all alone. She was scared and vulnerable. And that awful Harrington saw this and — well, he took advantage of the situation, and when he’d gotten what he wanted he left Cora flat. Not too long after she found out she was pregnant.”
“You mean with Furth’s child?”
“That’s what I said, didn’t I? Really, Lieutenant, you must learn to listen. Anyway, around this time the Stanton girl left Jim and took up with young Harrington, which in my opinion served them both right. Meanwhile, Jim was desperate, almost suicidal, and then, one day, in came Cora. Did I tell you Jim was an obstetrician?”
“No.”
“Well, he was, and all the girls on the staff at the hospital thought he was the handsomest doctor around. But he didn’t pay any attention to them. And then, as I said, in came Cora and he told her she was pregnant and she just stood there, very bravely, fighting back the tears. But, of course, it wasn’t any use. Before you could blink an eye she was in his arms, crying like a little girl. And he was holding her so tenderly. It was love from that first moment, I could tell. I could tell right off because it was just like that when Mr. Sutherland and I met. Except I wasn’t pregnant and Mr. Sutherland wasn’t an obstetrician.
“What I’m talking about is the way you — well, you know in your heart when someone’s just right for you. You don’t think about it, you just know. That’s the way it was with Mr. Sutherland and me. And that’s the way it was with Cora and Jim.
“I’ll never forget the day Jim proposed. She was in her eighth month then and he’d been seeing a lot of her. ‘Marry me,’ he said. ‘No,’ she said, ‘I couldn’t do that to you. I couldn’t make you part of my shame,’ she said. I remember how difficult it was for me to keep from shouting out to her, ‘Don’t be a fool, Cora! He loves you! Don’t give up this chance for happiness!’
“But I needn’t have worried because that’s just what he said to her himself. ‘I love you,’ he said. ‘You give my life purpose. If you don’t say yes, I don’t know what I’ll do.’ To make a long story short, she did say yes and they were married soon after. He even delivered the baby.”
“Mrs. Sutherland, what has this got to do with—”
“Lieutenant, please!”
“Sorry, Mrs. Sutherland.”
“As I said, they were married and were so happy, and the baby didn’t look a bit like Harrington. But I could tell they weren’t over the worst of it. I knew in my bones that tragedy was going to strike, but for the longest time I didn’t know how.
“To tell you the truth, I was having an awful time sleeping. I finally had to go to Dr. Sumroy and get a prescription for sleeping pills. I’d never used them before because I’ve heard so many stories of old people accidentally taking an overdose. And not just old people. Young people, too. It’s supposed to be especially bad if you take them when you’ve been drinking, though in my case that was no problem. But I was having so much trouble sleeping because of all my worrying about Cora and Jim that I just knew something tragic was going to happen even though I didn’t know what.
“Then, suddenly, it came to me. I can’t tell you how it came to me because I honestly don’t know how to explain such things. Call it woman’s intuition, if you like, but I knew what was going to happen. Harrington was going to kill Cora in an automobile accident! It was inevitable. He’d just bought a new sports car — one of those fancy foreign things that makes a lot of noise, and it was common knowledge he was speeding recklessly all over town. So you see, it was logical.