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A Hypnotist’s Case Book – Professor Alexander Erskine

It was not long before my experiments with the separation of the mind from the body suggested to me a practical use for this side of hypnosis which should prove of definite advantage to mankind. In brief, it was that I should offer my help to the police in the elucidation of crime.

A reliable police estimate places at a little over fifty the number of unsolved murder mysteries in Great Britain to-day, in which they are satisfied that they know the murderers,  but are unable to prosecute because of some missing link or other in the chain of evidence already built up against them.

[mind reading and out of body might both prove useful]

I proved this by experiment, and only a short time ago illustrated the point to a young investigator who was especially interested in this particular phenomenon.

A young patient was with me at the time, asleep. I took the young journalist into the same room.

"What is that man's profession?" I asked the patient, who, I may state, was only in the first sleep stage, whereas for the best results for this thought-reading I prefer the second, or even third.

That may account for the moment's hesitation before he replied "He’s thinking 'I am a doctor, and my name is Morgan.' Really he is a journalist, and his name.is Robinson. That thought is what you call at the back of his mind and is the truth”.

At the time of the famous Crippen case I went down to Scotland Yard and offered to solve the mystery for the police if they would take me, with a subject, into the presence of Crippen.

I saw Sir Edward Henry, the commissioner of police himself.

"Let me be brought face to face with Crippen” I said,  "and take with me a patient whom I may put to sleep there, and I will tell you whether or not Crippen committed the crime, and, if he did, every detail of motive and action."

Sir. Henry was powerless ; but he was deeply interested, and in an effort to stimulate his interest to the point of permission, I put my patient to sleep then and there, in his room at Scotland Yard, and told him to read Sir Henry's thoughts.

"He thinks you're off your head," was the instant reply.

Sir Henry burst out laughing.

 "He's right," he said. .But tell me what I am thinking about now."

Five minutes later the commissioner was a firm believer.

But it made no difference.

"Had we been in Egypt," he said, "f would have done it.  They. use hypnotism there, I am told, though I have never seen it done. But here it is impossible."

And with that I had to be content.