The Problem of Cell 13 by Jacques Futrelle. Part 8
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CHAPTER SIX
How Did He Do It?
When dinner was finished The Thinking Machine turned to Dr Ransome.
“Well, do you believe me now?” he asked.
“Yes I do,” replied Dr Ransome.
There was a long silence. Like all the other guests, Ransome was waiting for the explanation.
“So, tell us how you did it,” said Fielding, finally.
The Thinking Machine began the story.
“The agreement was to go into a cell in Chisholm Prison with nothing but the necessary clothes and to leave that cell within seven days. I didn’t know Chisholm Prison. When I went into the cell I asked for three things: toothpaste, two ten-dollar bills and one five-dollar bill and to have my shoes blacked. You agreed to these things.
“I knew that there was nothing useful in the cell, so I had to use these three innocent things to help me escape. But anything is dangerous in the hands of a man like me.
“The first night I did two things. I slept and I ran after rats. You gentlemen thought I wanted time to organize an escape with assistance from outside the prison. But this was not true. I knew I could communicate with anyone I wanted to at any time.”
The warden looked at him for a moment. The Thinking Machine continued.
“The guard woke me up at six o’clock the next morning. He brought me my breakfast. He told me lunch was at twelve o’clock and dinner was at six. I knew that between these times I was alone. So after breakfast I examined the outside area from my cell window. I saw that it was impossible to get over the wall. But I knew that on the other side of the wall there was a river and also a playground. The guard confirmed it. So I knew one important thing. A person could come near the prison on that side without attracting the attention of the guards.
“But there was something even more important. I saw a wire which went to the light on the prison roof. It was very near my cell window. I knew then that if it was necessary I could cut off that light.
“Then I thought about escaping through the prison building. I remembered the way to my cell. I knew that was the only way out. There were seven doors between my cell and the outside. It was too difficult.”
The Thinking Machine stopped for a moment. Dr Ransome lit a new cigar. For several minutes there was silence. Then The Thinking Machine continued.
“When I was thinking about these things a rat ran across my foot. It gave me a new idea. I saw there were at least six rats in the cell. But they didn’t come from under the door. I ran after them and they disappeared. But they didn’t go out of the door. So I knew there was another way out.
“I looked for this other way and found it. It was a hole in the floor. It went to an old drainpipe. Obviously the rats came this way. But where did they come from? Drainpipes normally go outside the prison. This one probably went to the river or near it. So the rats came from that direction.
“When the guard came with my lunch he told me two important things. One was that there was a new plumbing system in the prison. The other was that the river was only a hundred metres away. So I knew that the pipe in my cell was part of an old system. And I knew it went to the river. The other end of the pipe was outside the prison walls.
“But before I could start work, I knew I had to distract the warden. I wanted him to think that I was trying to communicate with you, Dr Ransome. So I took two pieces of linen from my shirt and wrote a message on them. Do you have the message, warden?”
“Yes.” The warden looked at the codec message. “But what does it mean?” he asked. “Read it from right to left, beginning with the T” said The Thinking Machine. “Don’t consider the division into words.”
The warden read the message.
“T-h-i-s,” he began, “is not the way I intend to escape.” The warden smiled. “But what did you write it with?”
“This,” said The Thinking Machine. He put his foot on the table. On it was the shoe that he wore in prison. But the polish was gone.
“The shoe polish, mixed with some water, was my ink,” said The Thinking Machine, “and the metal end of the shoe lace was a good pen.”
The warden laughed. “Continue,” he said.
“After the message the warden wanted to search my cell. This was good. I wanted him to search my cell very often. I thought, ‘He won’t find anything so he will stop and leave me alone.’
“The warden took my shirt away and gave me a prison shirt.
Without my white shirt I couldn’t write any more messages. But I had another piece of the same shirt in my mouth.”
“Where did it come from?” asked the warden. “I saw that there were only two pieces cut from the shirt. And I had both of them.”
“You forget that shirts like mine have three layers of linen,” The Thinking Machine replied. “I took out the inside one. You didn’t notice it.