As the chief wrinkled up his brow in thought, Ranville brought his hand down on his knee and laughed. It was Carter who spoke, his voice impatient as he said:
“Of course I did. He is in the Bible. Some sort of a liar who was struck dead.”
“He is in the Bible, Carter,” was Bartley's smiling reply. “But I am a little surprised you knew it. The gentleman, as you remember, was struck dead—by God—for telling a lie. You carry those letters to their logical conclusion, and the word would have spelled out ‘Ananias.’ Our psychology will tell us the murderer used that name instead of writing out another word, ‘Liar.’ ”
“But, Mr. Bartley,” broke in the chief, “of all damned foolishness that's the worst. No one could call Mr. Warren that sort of a name. He was one of the big men of the country. You are all wrong there.”
“Wait a moment, Chief,” was the calm reply. “You have made the reply the average man would make. And even if an ordinary man killed Mr. Warren and thought he lied, he would not have used the word ‘Ananias’ to express that fact. It gave me my first clew to the type of man I wished to find. And there is something else you must remember—”
As we bent forward in our chairs, his eyes swept slowly over us. His voice was very grave when he spoke.
“Mr. Warren was one of the great men of our land—one of our greatest men of science. But you must remember that there are many millions of people in this country who would say that he was a ‘liar.’ Remember his statement when he came out of China? I have found the solution of the origin of man. The last proof of evolution has been discovered.”
His eyes swept over us, and as no one spoke, he went on:
“In every college in this world evolution is taught as the only logical explanation of the origin of man. Every intelligent person accepts it. You know, however, that in America to-day there is a great campaign against the subject. In fact, there is a campaign against science as being ‘ungodly.’ Take a rabid, bigoted man who is uneducated—one who sees in science an attack upon religion and the Bible—and you will find a man who would say Warren was what that word implied—a ‘liar.’ ”
Ranville's face was very grave as his eyes rested upon Bartley. Without waiting for a reply, Bartley said very gravely: