Wednesday, July 15, 2020

Alkali Indicator Trick Fools Murderer into Confessing

A contemporary legend dating from the 1970s concerns cops who get a crook to confess by convincing him that a photocopier is a lie detector (“The Colander Lie Detector”). In a similar vein, there are earlier stories about clever cops who fool an unsophisticated murderer by using an alkali indicator to turn his hands red, which he is led to believe are traces of his victim’s blood. I have found three variants of this tale, all from comic books from three different publishers. Does it appear anywhere else in print media or TV or film? Has it ever been told as true?

 https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=31044

 “Blood on His Hands!” Western Thrillers #3, Dec. 1948.

https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=15038

 C. H. Moore, “How They Were Trapped!” (detail), Crime Does Not Pay #88, June 1950.

https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=19517

 “Down the Drain,” Crime and Justice #14, July 1953.



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