My copy of 'Crisis 1999' appears in Space On My Hands, a collection of Fredric Brown stories. It was originally published in 1949, which means readers of today get to smile at everything Mr. Brown got wrong about the future, such as having newspapers appear in micro print and carrying a special device to read them. He didn't predict fashion trends very well, either. His story gives the lie detector a prominence it still doesn't have.

That out of the way, Bela Joad is the current holder of the title 'the world's greatest detective'. Unlike Sherlock Holmes or Nero Wolfe, the public doesn't know it. Bela Joad could be compared to Bruce Wayne, if Bruce solved crimes by using lots of aliases instead of being Batman.

Bela Joad visits Dyer Rand, chief of the Chicago police. They're both wondering how Gyp Girard managed to beat the lie detector at his trial for the murder of Pete Bailey. Bela Joad's evidence against Girard should have ensured his conviction.

The rest of the story involves Joad's attempts to find out what's going on. From what we know now, it wouldn't work in real life, but it does raise an interesting question, similar to one in my favorite 'Babylon 5' episode. ( )