The Conjure Man Dies: A Mystery Tale of Dark Harlem

Bubber visits Jinx in jail a second time. He happily tells Jinx that he has evidence that will ensure his release, but Jinx still doubts him. He tells Jinx what he saw and what he learned from Dr. Archer, but Jinx tells Bubber that because there is evidence of a dead body now, Jinx could now be charged with murder rather than assault and spend life in prison or face execution. Bubber fails to reassure him and leaves the jail, dejected.

Detective Dart visits Dr. Archer and shows him the club. He reveals that he found the dental mechanic, who revealed the bridge’s owner was N. Frimbo. However, the dental mechanic told him N. Frimbo had crossed eyes. Dr. Archer realizes that the bridge belonged to Frimbo’s assistant, who is the corpse. Bubber arrives and tells them about his and Jinx’s worry. He says that he knows Jinx would not have killed anyone, especially by using a handkerchief. Dr. Archer agrees and theorizes that someone put Jinx’s fingerprint on the club using powder and a sticky substance, demonstrating with Dart’s fingerprint. Dr. Archer also shows Dart that Jinx’s fingerprint is a thumbprint on the clubbing end, a grip that would make it impossible to club someone on the head. He concludes that Jinx did not use the club to kill the person. This delights Bubber, and he joyfully leaves Dr. Archer’s house.

Dart is now convinced that Jinx did not kill the assistant and also rules out Doty Hicks. He reveals that Doty Hicks’s accomplice to counter Frimbo’s alleged curse was another mystic named Bolus, who gave him the gray powder that they found on the floor. They then rule out all the former suspects. Dart then guesses that Spider Webb’s boss, Si Brandon, ordered Frimbo’s death due to his gambling wins. He hired the assistant because he envied his master, but Frimbo killed him in self-defense and made it look like he was killed himself.

Dr. Archer gives an alternate guess: Frimbo’s paranoia and obsession with the gonad ritual led him to kill his assistant and then stage his death and resurrection to get away with it. Dr. Archer then reveals that he saw another jar of male sex glands, which shocks Dart.

After leaving Dr. Archer’s house, Bubber eats a large celebratory meal while saying the words he plans to tell Jinx upon his release. He then joins Detective Dart, Dr. Archer, and all the former suspects at Frimbo’s house. There, Bubber sees Frimbo’s assistant and tells Dart, saying they must have made a mistake. The assistant leads them into the chamber and leaves. Frimbo soon appears and begins revealing the suspects’ innocence or guilt. He reveals Jinx is innocent. He then calls Spider Webb, but Dart interrupts him and confronts him with the evidence that he killed his assistant and tells him that he is under arrest.

Frimbo calmly tells him that he burned his assistant’s remains, but he did not kill him. His assistant was a fellow tribe member named N’Ogo who joined him after struggling in Western society alone and took the last name Frimbo. He then explains that burning N’Ogo’s remains by the third sunset was a necessary tribal ritual to remove the shame of being killed by an outsider. To keep this from stopping the investigation, he decided to hide his death and pose as him as they entered that night. Furthermore, neither he nor N’Ogo had any reason to kill the other. To protect himself from danger as the king, he and N’Ogo switched roles, and he used a device in his laboratory to project his voice and make it appear that N’Ogo was speaking. He realized something was wrong when he searched for Jinx’s future but says that N’Ogo was killed before Jinx entered the room.

Someone then appears behind Frimbo and shoots him twice before pulling the switch box. Dart has Officer Brady turn on the extension light, and the group sees a man by the switch box. Dr. Archer notices his hand on the handle—it has been burned—and he and Dart pull him up by his clothing to turn back on the lights. They are shocked to see that the man is Easley Jones. Dr. Archer tries to help Frimbo, but he shortly dies. Dart tries to learn Easley Jones’s motive, but he does not speak. Martha grieves over Frimbo’s death, and Dr. Archer realizes that she is in love with him. She angrily attacks Easley and claws at his face. When the officers pull her away, everyone sees that she pulled off a wig and that Easley Jones is actually her husband, Samuel Crouch.

One early morning, Bubber and Jinx walk down Seventh Avenue. They express amazement at the revelation of Samuel Crouch as the killer and his use of disguise. Bubber also tells Jinx about Dr. Archer’s demonstration and that Mr. Crouch took Jinx’s handkerchief and his thumbprint from the chair before he began conversing with him. Jinx is stunned by this and suspects that Crouch must have wanted him dead, but Bubber states that he would have just as likely tried to incriminate someone else. Bubber also understands Crouch’s jealousy over Frimbo’s affair with his wife. They then hear the song that played in Oliver Hicks’s club—“I’ll Be Glad When You’re Dead, You Rascal You,” and after Bubber remarks on the song, he and Jinx continue their walk.