What's the Name of That Book??? discussion
This topic is about
The Mirror of Infinity
SOLVED: Adult Fiction
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SOLVED. Sci Fi short story; surveillance vs. murderers / perfect crime [s]
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Have to admit from time to time I find myself wondering about this story too. It left a vivid impression.
Are there any details I got wrong? Or any details that you can add, that I am missing?
Found the one I was thinking of. It's called "Private Eye" and is by "Lewis Padgett" (pen name for Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore). I have it in the collection The Mirror of Infinity.Yay!
That's the one:http://arthursclassicnovels.com/sci-f...
It was sensitive enough to pick up the "fingerprints" of light and sound waves imprinted on matter, descramble and screen them, and reproduce the image of what had happened.
organizing, nothing to see here.
This had to have been a short story. Read in a larger book, perhaps MMPB. Old-school. Definitely land-line days, not a lot of technology was developed (don't know if there were computers mentioned in this story, for example).
Premise is that they've developed a technology that allows them to go back into the past (up to 50 years?) and view whatever happened, and what was said - but not to read minds (and probably not see things that happen in complete darkness?, tech might be based on light-waves embedding into objects?)
Beta guy has an amazing girl. Loses her to an Alpha-male.
He goes and gets drunk, and then determines to murder his rival.
Problem: the technology is going to foil him, and he won't be free for long to savor his victory.
He devises a cunning plan, and keeps it all in his head.
(view spoiler)[
He then gets into a fist-fight with Alpha, and then breaks down - then 'gets over it'. He then works for the dude (or they work in the same company?) and eventually weasels his way into becoming dude's assistant. Then arranges to have a deadly alien (Martian?) whip imported (they're in import/export business, perhaps?). Sets up Alpha to bully him (over years?), and lets Alpha strike him, then grabs whip and uses it in 'self-defense' and 'doesn't know it would kill him'. Obviously gets caught, cops are called in, turn on the machine, and gather evidence. They only go back in time to when he was 5 years old, and determine that he can't have premeditated the murder, everything has a logical explanation / other use, etc, etc. He gets off on accidental manslaughter, and walks out a free man.
What they don't see is that when he was 3yo, he was locked in the closet by his father, and told that the 'eye is always watching'. Which would've tipped off police investigators.
Wife (his ex) is hitting on him now that her meal-ticket is done, and he's so strong and powerful, etc, etc. He doesn't even like her anymore, but she taunts him - after he rejects her - that he's weak and ineffective and in revenge/pride, he blurts out that he planned to murder his rival, and thus gets caught.
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