Thumbs of Truth

A clever deduction through anatomical analysis helps discover the truth in this short story

BY GEORGE THAKUR

“Now, I will ask both of you to explain separately, so I may reach a conclusion,” advised the Judge. “Ms. Reybolds, you go first.”

“Your Honour, when this man moved into the apartment next to mine, I welcomed him to the block, introduced myself and offered to help him settle down,” related a composed Ms. Reybolds. “But once when I was inside his apartment, this monster held me against my will and asked me to sleep with him. I vehemently declined, and anticipating danger, I made my escape as fast as possible!”

“That’s a lie, Your Honour!” cried Mr. Silverton, agitatedly. “I did not want her help, but she insisted so that she could enter my apartment. Instead of helping me as she states, she held me and asked me for youknow-what. I declined, and told her I already had a girlfriend I was marrying in a month. Somehow I managed to get rid of her, but whenever I met her by chance she would ask me to reconsider her proposal which, she promised, would be highly enjoyable.”

“That is a fabrication of facts, Your Honour! This freak entertained wicked intentions on me since we first met!” exclaimed Ms. Reybolds angrily. “He actually forced himself inside my apartment and sexually assaulted me!” She pulled out a blouse from her bag and displayed it. A distinct imprint of two hands over where her breasts should have been was revealed, with the thumbs on the outside and upwards, and the fingers splayed outwards from the middle. “This imprint, Your Honour, corroborates my story,” she said meaningfully.

“Your Honour, I entered her apartment to save her life after she rushed into the corridor outside her apartment shouting that there was a snake in her bedroom,” Mr. Silverton explained. “I would never enter this depraved woman’s apartment for any reason other than to save a life!”

“Those imprints on her blouse, Mr. Silverton, speak volumes of a strong man’s ill-intent to abuse a beautiful, tender woman,” the Judge said, looking concerned. “How do you explain those prints?”

“Those are not my prints, Your Honour!” protested Mr. Silverton. “When I was inside her apartment, she handed me a stick with which I could tackle the snake. In her bedroom I noticed that the lower half of the stick had red paint on it, which was now on my hands. At that time she told me that she had made up the snake story as a pretext to get me inside her apartment for only one purpose.”

“This man is telling stories to get out of the jam he is in, Your Honour! Who knows how many other women has he abused,” barked Ms. Reybolds. “There was no snake, and I never offered him a stick with paint on it; most probably he was painting something in his apartment before he barged into mine!”

“Ms. Reybolds,” said the Judge softly. “Please tell me exactly what happened from the time Mr. Silverton entered your apartment.”

“He knocked on my door, Your Honour. When I opened it, he forced himself inside, locked the door behind him, fixed his wicked eyes into my scared ones, and said something like: ‘We are going to have sex today!’ I was terrified,” she replied.

“No-o-o-o-o! That is not true!” cried Mr. Silverton.

“Silence!” admonished the judge. “Mr. Silverton, you must wait for your turn to speak.”

Turning to Ms. Reybolds, the judge said, “Let me clearly understand what happened. This man forced himself into your apartment, locked the door, approached you while speaking and directly touched you from the front. Would that assessment be accurate, Ms. Reybolds?”

“That assessment would be entirely accurate, Your Honour!” said Ms. Reybolds, breathing an audible sigh of relief. “That’s when I noticed his hands were full of paint which became imprinted on my blouse. It’s irrevocable evidence.”

“Ms. Reybolds, if you view the imprint on the blouse, you will realise that the thumb imprints are on the outside and pointing upwards, while the fingers are in the middle,” said the Judge quietly and determinedly. “If Mr. Silverton had touched your breasts from the front as you claim, the imprint of his hands would show the two thumb prints facing each other between your breasts and his fingerprints would be on the outside. The evidence is irrevocable and categorically proves that the imprint was made by a woman scorned, who chose to incriminate an innocent man!”