During my visit to the McCord Museum, I was fortunate enough to have read a compilation (April 24, 1920 v1 n1 to June 5th 1920 v1 n7) of “The Amazing Exploits of Houdini” found in The Kinema Comic.
- The Bride & The Orangutan.
- The Jewel Thieves.
- “Stop Thief!”
- The Gold Melters
- Adventure of The Midland Express.
- IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT.
- Out of The Sky.
Each issue contains a several page serialized fictional story (by-lined by Houdini). This week I share my paraphrased version of “In The Dead of Night” found in the May 29 1920 v1 n6 issue:
Houdini was reading some correspondence from a hotel lounge in London.
“You might think that now that you have jumped it from Ireland, you are able safe. But you are not. Ever since you stepped from the boat at Holyhead, you have been followed. Your movements have been tabulated every hour. At a conference of the society held on the eve of your departure from this crushed and ground country, it was decided that you should have thirty-six hours liberty in accursed England. If, at the end of that time, you are no back in Ireland or on your way to fulfil your allotted task, you must be prepared to meet the deserved fate of a traitor. Those thirty-six hours expire at ten to-night. You must choose before that time.”
Houdini couldn’t make the signature out, and had no idea what the writer was getting at. Puzzled he gazed around the hotel lounge to see if he was being watched. In all there was a dozen men and a rather beautiful girl, but no one had the appearance of an assassin.
Houdini then looked at the envelope the message came in and realized the letter wasn’t addressed to him, but to a Mr. Hogarty. The hotel clerk must have given it to him by mistake.
Houdini got the porter to point out Mr. Hogarty. Houdini was hoping to chat with him.
At first the man denied being Mr. Hogarty, but then in a trembling voice with his eyes darting towards the girl:
“Yes, my name is Hogarty, “Don’t do anything here,” he added. “She must see nothing. It would kill her.”
“Your daughter?” replied Houdini.
“Yes”
Houdini convinced the man he wanted to help and to meet him in his room.
“First of all, Mr. Hogarty, I will tell you how much I know of your trouble. This morning when I went for my mail, one of your letters was included, by mistake, in my bundle. I opened it without first examining the address on the envelope, and, I assure you, the contents puzzled me considerably before I discovered the mistake that had been made. The correct procedure, I know would have been to have returned the letter to the hotel office and made abject apologies, but—well, I am afraid that I am not a normal man. I like adventure for the pure sake of something happening. It struck me that in the letter was the genesis of something good.”
Mr. Hogarty read the letter.
Houdini told him he would pull him through his trouble, but needed him to tell him all of the facts so he would no what he was up against.
At the back of it all was the unrest in Ireland. Mr. Hogarty was a true patriot. He loved his country, but there was the snag, he would be no party to murder, with the consequence that when this particular society of which he was a member began to dabble in indiscriminate death, he resigned. He was a wealthy man, who had subscribed very liberally to the funds of the society, and since his resignation a demand had been made of him to finance a particular act of murder. He had naturally refused to do so, with the result that his own life was threatened. Knowing the men to be desperate, he fled the country, but evidently his movements had been watched. Hence the message of death.
Mr. Hogarty was not afraid for himself, but his daughter.
Houdini told him to forget about it all, that the message of death was his worry now. Houdini took him to his room, opened the window; then told him to meet his daughter in the lounge and take her on a sight-seeing tour for the entire day, and not to come back until half-past nine in the evening.
Mr. Hogarty’s room was situated directly underneath Houdini’s, and outside the window was a steel staircase erected as an emergency staircase in the event of fire.
Houdini was in the hall five minutes before the appointed time, but Hogarrty was already there.
“You must get off to bed at once.” Houdini told him. “You look positively ill. Now, listen very carefully to my instructions. Go up at once to your own room, but when you get inside don’t switch on the light nor get into bed. Just walk through the room towards the window, climb out of it to the next floor—that will be very easy because there is a fire-escape just outside your window which leads directly to mine. When you get into my room, just undress and climb into bed, and try and forget everything. Leave your door open, by the way, for I shall follow you and want to occupy your room tonight.
Houdini set a trap in Hogarty’s room and waited on the top edge of the wardrobe.
Hours elapsed before it took place. A man entered the room through the window and approached the bed, where he thought Hogarty was sleeping under the covers. Houdini saw something gleam in the man’s hand.
Then Houdini jumped and succeeded in getting his fingers around the man’s throat. An intense fight took place, but the grip around the fellow’s neck was torn away. For about a quarter of an hour they struggled with the fight being very even. But then, his opponent somehow got his hand’s on a knife and directed it straight at the center of Houdini’s face, but Houdini jumped sideways, and the blow missed. Before the man could strike again, Houdini sprang at him with double fist, and caught him square on the point of the jaw with a straight left. He staggered back. As he did so, Houdini brought round the right and sent him spinning with a blow on the other side of the jaw. He went back against the wall. His eyes closed, his knees went weak, and he crashed to the floor.
Houdini then walked across the room, rang the bell for the night-boots.
“Call in the police”, Houdini said to the official when he answered the ring. “There is a man here whom I want to charge for attempted murder!”
