Two Disturbances from Fredric Brown

(1) "The Hobbyist."

By Fredric Brown (1906-72; Wikipedia HERE; the ISFDb HERE; the SFE HERE; and the IMDb HERE).

First appearance: Playboy, May 1961.

Reprints page (ISFDb HERE).

Short short short story (1 page).

Online at SFFaudio (HERE).

   ". . . you have a completely undetectable poison."

THE thought is, as Carlyle noted, the parent of the deed. Deeds, though, have consequences—offspring, if you will—that can turn against their parent in unexpected and very unpleasant ways . . .

Main characters:

~ Sangstrom and the druggist.

(2) "Crisis, 1999."

By Fredric Brown (1906-72).

First appearance: Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, August 1949.

Reprints page (ISFDb HERE).

Short story (14 pages).

Online at The Luminist Archives (HERE; go to text page 12; text magnification may be necessary).

   "The very foundations of our society can crumble. We're up against something very evil and very powerful."

IN a moment of self-reflection, Falstaff observes: "Lord, Lord, how subject we old men are to this vice of lying!" But it isn't just old men who are subject to that particular vice . . .

Main characters:

~ Bela Joad, Chief Dyer Rand, Joe Zatelli, Mike Leary, and Dr. Ernst Chappel.

References:

- Erasistratus (HERE; Wikipedia).

- Cesare Lombroso (HERE; Wikipedia).

- Reverend Walter G. Summers and the psychogalvanometer (HERE, Vintage News Daily, and HERE, Global Polygraph Network).

- "who had lived on Lake Shore Drive" (HERE; Wikipedia).

- "ninety percent of them are committed by a few hundred professional criminals" (HERE; Wikipedia).

Resources:

- Other stories that involve lie detectors include Erle Stanley Gardner's "A Fair Reward" (HERE) and Leroy Yerxa's "The Lying Lie-Detector" (HERE).

The bottom line:

Unless otherwise noted, all bibliographical data are derived from The FictionMags Index created by William G. Contento & edited by Phil Stephensen-Payne.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~