In Rudolph Fisher’s The Conjure Man Dies, Dr. Archer, a physician from Harlem is summoned by Bubber Brown and Jinx Jenkins to a neighboring building. In this building, we find Frimbo who has been suffocated by a handkerchief stuffed down his throat. He also has a blunt head injury caused by a club made from a human femur. The murder is speculated to have occurred while Jenkins was talking to Frimbo. The lights in the psychic's place of business are directed toward Jenkins. Frimbo, the psychic was covered in darkness when he was murdered. Perry Dart, a homicide detective is brought in to investigate. Together with Dr. Archer, they uncover the mystery.
They interrogate Bubber and Jinx among other clients that were at the premises that day. Frimbo’s clients who came in that day for advice include Aramintha Snead, an old woman, Easley Jones, an employee of the New York Chicago Twentieth Century Limited, Doty Hicks, a junkie who believes Frimbo has cursed his ailing brother. He admits to attempting to curse Frimbo as revenge. Other clients include Spider Webb who runs an illegal gambling ring. Frimbo has been winning big for the past few weeks thanks to the tips he received. This has drawn up some unpleasant enemies.
The newly wedded wife of Samuel Crouch, Martha Crouch was also at the scene earlier on. Samuel is also the owner of the building that the Psychic was working out of. Martha was there to collect the rent. Everyone being interrogated concludes that Frimbo had an employee who has gone missing. As the interrogations go on further it is hinted that maybe there was no employee at all and that it was Frimbo working as a receptionist in disguise.
As the mystery continues to unfold, Frimbo’s body disappears. Shortly, Frimbo is seen standing in a room. He is alive and based on Dr. Archer’s expertise, the Frimbo standing in front of them is the same Frimbo who was dead on the chair. Frimbo stresses that he was initially dead but came back to life. Dr. Archer, being a man of science cannot believe that. He draws blood from Frimbo, examines it, and compares it to the one he initially drew when Frimbo was dead. Frimbo promises to explain what happened in two nights. Everyone comes to a consensus. Despite Frimbo being alive, Jenkins is taken into custody when his fingerprint is identified in the club used to hit Frimbo. The handkerchief used to suffocate Frimbo also belongs to Jenkins. Hicks is also taken into custody for admitting to killing Frimbo using a spell.
Dr. Archer finds the types of blood he drew are of different blood types, therefore impossible for them to be from the same individual. He spends his whole day with Frimbo who has an interesting story to tell. Frimbo claims to be an African King who attended Harvard. His younger brother has been left in charge of their Kingdom. Meanwhile, Bubber is hiding from Spider Webb. He sees Frimbo burning something secretly. Bubber takes the object and takes it to Dr. Archer. It is the skull of Frimbo’s receptionist who also went by the name Frimbo. They begin to question everything.
When everyone is finally gathered for the reveal of what happened, Frimbo admits to burning his servant’s body as part of a ritual gone wrong. He confesses that all his psychic readings were stages and operated remotely. He disguised himself as his servant to stay safe from Spider Webb’s bosses who wanted him dead. Frimbo is still unaware of who the killer is. Frimbo is shot by someone in the darkness again. This time, the killer is trapped and is revealed to be Samuel Crouch who has disguised himself with wigs and freckles.
