he acted strangely I should have known it. I cannot understand, oh, I cannot understand – but he would he better off dead. They’ve taken him away from Flint. I hear, to be safe from barm. Was it wise? I wonder.»
22
Дословно: «A kinder, better man I had never known. He never smoked, drank, swore or was given to anger. He must be insane.»
23
Очерк Алексея Ракитина «Коричневый порошок белого цвета» можно найти в сборнике «Тихое убийство», выпущенном с использованием книгоиздательской платформы «ридеро» в январе 2021 г.
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Точный пересчёт покупательной способности долларов США до 1928 г. в их современный эквивалент крайне затруднён. Тогда курс доллара был жёстко привязан к массе золота и считался равным 1$ = 1,555 гр. золота. По состоянию же на ноябрь 2021 г. 1$ = 0,016 гр., т.е. обесценивание по золоту составляет 97 раз. Однако автор сразу оговаривает, что такое сравнение не вполне корректно. По другим товарным позициям – табаку, хлопку, бензину и пр. – соотношения иные. В своих работах автор исходит из осредненной величины обесценивания в ~40—50 раз, не претендуя при этом на абсолютную точность. Всё-таки это вопрос скорее из истории финансово-экономических отношений, нежели уголовного сыска. Если кому-то из читателей интересно провести собственное исследование на эту тему и поправить автора, то подобную любознательность можно только приветствовать.
25
Истории жестокого американского серийного убийцы Маджета-Холмса посвящен очерк Алексея Ракитина «1895 год. Дом смерти на 63-й улице», размещенный в сборнике «Американские трагедии. Хроники подлинных уголовных расследований XIX—XX столетий. Книга II». Книга эта издана на платформе «ридеро» летом 2021 года.
26
В дальнейшем, дабы различать двух Томасов Своупов, будем именовать Полковника Томасом Своупом-старшим, а его племянника, сына «Мэгги» и Логана – Томасом Своупом-младшим.
27
Вот текст на языке оригинала: «Iwas passing in and out of Colonel Hunton’s room just about twenty min- utes after Colonel Hunton died, when Dr. Hyde met me in the hall and said he wanted a private interview with me. I said I would see him later and so Dr. Hyde went to the car line and camo back in about an hour and a half. He then dismissed a nurse who had come to nurse Colonel Hunton. The nurse left and Dr. Hyde and Mrs. Hyde, the un- dertaker and myself were alone in the house and soon the sitting room was empty. I went in there and Dr. Hyde came In and sat, too. Dr. Hyde spoke about how good a man Colonel Hunton had been and said how awful it was that he died. He said he had something to ask me. «I am not a business man,» – he told me, – «but tlien Ican care for things pretty well. Colonel Hunton is gone now and in a few days he’ll make a new will and put a new man in the place of Colonel Hunton as administrator. Now, you have influence with the old man and I want you to suggest me as his administrator. You see, he said, «Colonel Swope intends to put another man in the place of Colonel Hunton, and he isn’t a good man for the place and I want you to suggest me.»
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Вот текст на языке оригинала: «I told Dr. Hyde that I could not do that; that I would be overstepping my bounds. Then Dr. Hyde tried to persuade me that it would be all right for me to talk with Colonel Swope about the matter and that I could do it very nicely. But I wouldn’t consent to this. The next day Dr. and Mrs. Hyde went into the city and did not get back until 9:30 p.m. When he met me in the hall he asked me if I had spoken to Mr. Swope about that matter. I told him that I had not and there was nothing more said about it.»
29
Текст на языке оригинала: «I was seated at the breakfast table when Dr. Hyde came in,» Miss Kellar said, «He asked me If Colonel Swope had eaten, and I told him he had.» " «Then come with me,» Dr. Hyde -aid and I left the table. The doctor told me that he had brought out some digestive tablets and ho wanted Col. Swope to have one. I want him to have it right now,» ho told me. I got a fresh glass of
water and took it upstairs with me. When Igot there Dr. Hyde stood near the foot of the bed and took a capsule out of a small pink box he held in his hand. (…) «I believe that it was a three grain capsule, «and I don’t remember whether it was grayor white. But I do remember that it was not brownish ln color. " «Now, give this to him,» Dr. Hyde told me, and so I tried to persuade Colonel Swope to take the medicine, but he wouldn’t do It. I nodded my head to Dr. Hyde, as if to tell him that Colonel Swope would take the medicine after a while, and so I laid the medicine and the glass down on a table and we went downstairs. – - «When I came upstairs again I asked Colonel Swope If he would take the medicine and he assented, Then ho took one of the papers and told me to read the others. Suddenly a peculiar breathing sound came from the bed which caused me to look up.»
30
На языке оригинала: «Once lust after the convulsion Colonel Swope appeared to revive, and in that semi-conscious state he cried: «Oh, my God; I wish I had not taken that medicine; I wish that I were dead»
31
В частности, за 12 лет до описываемых событий Хектоен и Хейнс участвовали в расследовании таинственного исчезновения Луизы Лютгерт, которая по мнению обвинения была растворена мужем в ванне с поташем. Это довольно любопытная криминальная драма с неожиданными сюжетными поворотами, которая заслуживает подробного описания в одном из следующих сборников «Американских трагедий».
32
Текст вердикта на языке оригинала: «Verdict of Coroner’s Jury. «We, the Coroner’s Jury, duly summoned, impaneled and sworn, and charged to diligently inquire into and true presentment make us to how, by whom or what means Thomas H. Swope, whose body we have viewed, come to his death, find from the evidence laid before us, and from our knowledge that said deceased came to his death by strychnine poisoning, and, from the evidence, we believe that said strychnine was administered in a capsule, about 8:30 o’clock on the day he died, by the directions of Dr. H. C. Hyde, but whether with felonious intent we, the jury, are unable to decide. Said deceased came to his death at the mansion of Mrs. L. O. Swope, in Independence, Jackson County, Mo, Kansas City. Mo.»
33
Цитируется по: Райский М. И. «Судебная медицина», Медгиз,
