Whenever Detective Sergeant Perry Dart felt especially weary of the foibles and follies of his Harlem, he knew where to find stimulation; he could always count on his friend, Dr John Archer. Spiritually the two bachelors were as opposite as the two halves of a circle—and as complementary.
The set-up of these opening lines of the story carry the suggestion that perhaps the story might be better off written from the first-person narrative perspective of Dr. Archer. Commencing the mystery by describing the relationship between the investigator and his physician companion certain contains a very specific historical resonance. Aside from the narrative point of view, there is one other quite significant difference between this story and the historical antecedent which makes it seem so familiar: Dr. John Archer is no mere bumbling companion like Dr. Watson.
“Beautiful, plump little brown rascal— eighteen months old—perfectly developed, bright-eyed, alert—and it passes out in a convulsion, and I was standing there looking on—helpless.”
Archer has come to detective friend with tragic news: the completely unnecessary and entirely avoided death of a young patient. At first, he cryptically says the cause of death is superstition. He then clarifies only to a point by using medical terminology: Status lymphaticus. That is the medical term for a condition which left untreated causes a baby to choke to death. Thanks to the miracle of X-rays, treatment could have melted the entire problem away, but instead the superstitious parents sought the services of a “conjure man” and thus it the doctor’s assertion that it was superstition that caused the baby’s death.
“Yea. Little love affair over on Lenox Avenue. I always phone in before leaving the neighborhood—they don’t do things by halves up here. Where’s the stiff?”
The discovery of a dead body is followed upon by the unexpectedly swift arrival of the medical examiner, a fact which Dr. Archer points out. Finkelbaum responds thusly. There is nothing sinister or even essential about the coincidence and timing; Finkelbaum is not involved in the murder except in his official capacity. The exchange is just a little texture intended to reveal the daily realities of those living and working in Harlem at the time.
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The discovery of clues is systematic and engages both inductive and deductive reasoning. Central to unraveling the mystery is a classified ad placed in a Harlem newspaper. Important to note: this particular advertisement is just first of handful which catches Det. Dart’s eye. Those which follow offer “love powder,” an “Oriental wishing ring” and a “faith charm” as the means of guiding luck one’s way. Each of the advertisement appeal to the superstitious nature of readers and thus it is not necessarily the lodestone which should be considered the key to the breaking the case.
