The Poetic Murder Case

Sergeant Heath, I tell you this is ridiculous. Two men murdered, murdered in the same way, and apparently by the same person, and you say you haven't even a single clue.

What kind of a homicide department is this? It's a good one, Commissioner. Just give me a little time. These murders were only committed in the past 12 hours. But the victims were newspaper men, Heath.

Do you understand? Newspaper men. The papers they worked on will needless for days if we don't get results. I want fast work on this, do you hear me? Fast work and no alibi. We're working on a commissioner and the dead men weren't really newspaper men.

They were critics. Dramatic critics. Same thing. Somebody's making a joke out of this department. Killing two dramatic critics and leaving poetry pinned to their chests for the knife. Let's see those poems. Let's see them.

Here's the one we found on the first body commission, the body of Robert Carnes. But it's no clue, believe me, it's no clue. He was the leading critic he always would insist. And that's the reason that I placed him first on my list.

It's going to be an epidemic. That's what it's going to be. Give it a second for him the one you found on Roger Deakin's body. Yes, sir. Here you are. It's a first-rate critic you did rate high, and the first-rate critic is the second to die.

Oh, take it. Take it. He takes both of these poems and get me the man who wrote them, and get him fast before he murders every critic in the city. Are you busy, Mr. Markham? Very busy, I mean.