Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for August 06, 2017

So now we know how the scam will be played……

Good morning, Vista Bill, Master vocalist !  How is your Kentucky tenor coming along ?  Silver needs a little help !

Sprocket is very “Hands-On”

De Martinville displayed rare skill. Phonautograph he made

He captured images of sound, observed yet never played.

There’s a legend, maybe myth, he recorded Lincoln’s voice

An artifact of the great man who freed the slaves by choice.

There came a day, some scholars say, the cylinder was lost

Holy Grail that seekers fail to secure at any cost.

A fabled item of vast worth. Rare beyond all measure

To own a piece of history some part with a great treasure.

Silver is a con man. Classic cinema he forges

Trained Lena to be deadly. On human flesh she gorges.

So slick his style, spread a fresh pile, laying it on so thick

Quick with a smile and all the while his act is a good trick.

Of and by and for the People. We recall Lincoln’s speech

We do not need a cylinder, his ideas within reach.

At his tomb in Springfield, at his Memorial in DC

With malice toward none, charity for all, he set the people free.

Dedicated to the proposition all men created equal

We struggle on toward that ideal to write a fitting sequel.

Use my voice to play a game

Boy or girl it’s all the same

Help them part with lots of dough

We’ll be gone when they’re filled with woe

Hit the road my sis and I

My greatest friend I’ll tell you why

Some might think we’re a little strange

Like Bullwinkle singing Home on the range

But together we’ve been through thick and thin

Yet somehow in the end we always seem to win

A wee bit huggy yes she might be

But the road ahead she helps me to see

Blood is thicker than water they say

That’s definitely true, I’d have it no other way.

Typo police: there’s an A missing from Édouard-Léon I Silver’s speech at the 3nd of the second row.

I’m hoping to post my State of the World when the identity of the mark is revealed.

Might the ultimate undoing of this scheme be using words which Lincoln had not yet written at the time of the alleged recording session?

Does anybody remember that Diet Smith Industries once invented a “Voiceprint” machine, that could ID a speaker just as perfectly as a fingerprint?

Pardon my ignorance, but there have to be different artists. During the week, Sprocket seems to have sort of a normal mouth. Today, she reminds me of Rocky yelling “Adrian”.

who knew? Jingle Bells published in 1857: https://youtu.be/k7ua9pzGagY

I love the bond these two have.

Good afternoon all!

A very long sleep for this old guy! I’ll be back after I fully awaken to read the comments.

It gives me a thrill to see a true craftsman at work and excelling at his job. If anyone can pull this scam off, It’s Silver Nitrate! Looks as though Sprocket has very little part in grift other than offering periodic encouragement to her brother. Huggies!

Now, I feel a need to learn who the mark is. Is she someone we already know, or not?

What a genius plot for this story. Entertaining and educational. I’ve never heard of the phonautograph. Great story!!!