Solved! The Eerie End of Theodora Finch
— From the Archives: A 1920s Article by Lanie Price —
Dear Reader:
A year has passed since the mysterious and tragic death of Harlem's most renowned spiritualist, Theodora Finch, at age 32. As you may recall from our previous article, Finch suspected that one of her guests at the fateful gathering on July 12, 1924, was plotting to kill her. She intended to use her electric scrying mirror to reveal the would-be murderer. Instead, she met her untimely end through electrocution, caused by deliberate tampering with the device.
After extensive investigation and analysis of the clues, we were able to identify Finch's killer. We began by visualizing the crime scene.
The séance room in Finch's elegant townhouse on Strivers' Row was the site of chaos and confusion. Finch's dramatic collapse, convulsions, and the acrid smell of burning wires created a scene of panic. The electric scrying mirror, central to her séances, had been tampered with. Someone had stripped its wires and repositioned them to cause a fatal short circuit. Experts said that anyone with basic knowledge of electrical wiring could've sabotaged the device in ten minutes using an everyday tool. Hence, police searched the guests and this is what was found:
Tools Found on Suspects:
Walt Turner: Pocket knife capable of stripping wires.
Claude Bennett: Small pair of scissors, useful for cutting wires.
Reverend Calvin Leonard: Nail file that could’ve been used to scrape insulation off wires.
Viola Conway: Bent hairpin that could’ve been used to manipulate wires.
Nathan Grant: Pair of pliers, commonly used for electrical work.
Motives, Means & Skill Levels:
Further investigation and a review of the guests’ backgrounds revealed that each had a motive for wanting Finch dead, sufficient knowledge to carry out the sabotage, and a tool to do it.
Walt Turner:
Turner was aware of Finch’s anger toward him after he left her. He feared that Finch was manipulating his new romantic interest, affecting his girlfriend's decisions and damaging their relationship. As an electrician equipped with a pocket knife, he had the highest skill level and the best tool to tamper with the scrying mirror. This moved him to the top of the suspect list.
Nathan Grant:
Finch’s younger half-brother, Grant had a serious gambling habit and a history of begging Finch for help in paying his debts. Unfortunately for him, she’d recently put her foot down and told him to “go leech off somebody else.” Grant stood to inherit Finch’s valuable townhouse and, it was later learned, before her death had already approached real estate agents to ask how much he could get for it. Trained as a radio technician during World War I, Grant had more than enough knowledge to carry out the crime—and knew where Finch kept her pliers. This placed him squarely in the crosshairs of homicide detectives.
Claude Bennett:
Finch’s neighbor Bennett had been fighting with her for months and recently suffered repeated setbacks. He’d come to believe that Finch had cursed him, causing his misfortunes and loss of job contracts. As an architect, Bennett understood electrical wiring. He also had a small pair of scissors, useful for cutting wires. This made him a very strong suspect.
Reverend Calvin Leonard:
Leonard was engaged in a heated power struggle with Finch, accusing her of being a fraud who was leading his congregation astray. Did he fear a loss of influence, not only worried about the souls of his flock but also his status as a community leader? As someone with hands-on experience in supervising church renovations and community construction projects, he had sufficient knowledge to commit the crime—and a nail file perfect for scraping insulation off wires.
Viola Conway:
Conway’s grief over losing her husband had driven her to ignore her pastor’s warnings and place her faith in Finch. The result was a new double blow: the loss of her life’s savings, including what money her husband had left her, and a deep sense of having been betrayed and humiliated by someone she’d trusted. Conway not only wanted revenge for her lost savings but also relief from the profound anger she felt toward Finch. As a widow without funds, Conway had learned to take care of small home repairs herself, using whatever tools she had at hand—small coins, for example, that could be used to undo screws, and a hairpin for manipulating wires.
Conclusion:
Each of the five guests had a motive for wanting Finch dead and varying levels of the skills needed to carry out the crime. However, only one had what may be termed a "double" motive. A review of the clues, as well as the suspects' motives and backgrounds, made it abundantly clear that
Viola Conway was the most likely culprit.
Her already damaged psyche, combined with her anger at Finch, made for an extremely powerful determinant. Additionally, her technical skills from home repairs, along with the bent hairpin found near the séance room, all pointed to her as the one who committed the crime. Moreover, her choice of the mirror as the murder weapon could be seen as reflecting the need for an especially pointed and dark reckoning: Conway sought to punish Finch by using the very device she believed Finch had used to defraud her and likely others.
I contacted Conway and visited her at the humble rooming house where she'd been forced to take refuge after losing her life savings. She was using a cane and one side of her face appeared paralyzed. She'd suffered a stroke, she said, soon after Finch died. Aware that I'd written about the case, Conway said she'd been expecting me and had reached out to Reverend Leonard, who was there when I arrived. "He's been leading me in prayer, helping me find strength." She was ready to take responsibility for what she’d done, she said. "I'm prepared to face what's to come."
The Finch case is a stark reminder of how multiple layers of motive and intensifying degrees of desperation can drive otherwise kind and gentle people to commit unthinkable acts. Viola Conway, in her bid to seek revenge, chose to eliminate Finch in the most cunning and darkly ironic way possible.
Readers, your keen insights and analytical minds were invaluable in solving this mystery. Thank you.
Yours in pursuit of the truth,
Lanie Price
Society Reporter for The Harlem Chronicle
19 July 1925
(Note: This case is a work of fiction and the characters involved are wholly imaginary.)
