Murder Will Out

"Private Eye."
By Lewis Padgett [Henry Kuttner and, possibly, C. L. Moore].
Long short story.
First published in Astounding, January 1949.
Online HERE.

"He could defy it. The Eye couldn't read thoughts. He bought the gun and lay in wait for Vanderman in a dark alley. But first he got thoroughly drunk. Drunk enough to satisfy the Eye."

"Actus non facit reum, nisi mens sit rea" versus "Acta exteriora indicant interiora secreta." It's the future, when the past is an open book and the Eye is always looking over your shoulder in . . .

. . . a world where we have a device that can see & hear things happening anywhere in the past . . . Cops use it in investigations. But they cannot see inside your mind—they can only observe your external actions. How do you kill someone & get acquitted, in spite of the fact that cops will see & hear everything you did—including your life before the crime? — Tinkoo Valia, VARIETY SF (February 23, 2009)

Categories: Science fiction, Detective fiction