Interview with Abe Slaney

Moderator Note: This interview was conducted in the prison where
​Abe Slaney now resides for murdering Hilton Cubitt.

​​CAMPBELL: Good evening, Mr. Slaney. Thank you for agreeing to discuss the infamous case of the Dancing Men cipher and your involvement in the events surrounding Hilton Cubitt's murder.

ABE SLANEY: [coldly] I'm here. But I want to make it clear - there's more to this story than most people understand.

CAMPBELL: We're interested in hearing your perspective. Could you explain your connection to the mysterious dancing men figures that played such a crucial role in the case?

ABE SLANEY: Those dancing men were our secret communication system - a code my gang and I used to send messages. Elsie - Hilton Cubitt's wife - she knew the code from her past with me in Chicago. We had history, complicated history.

CAMPBELL: So the dancing men drawings were more than just innocent child-like sketches? They were actually a sophisticated criminal communication method?

ABE SLANEY: Sophisticated? [chuckles darkly] Let's call it practical. In our line of work, you need ways to communicate that can't be easily traced or understood by outsiders.

CAMPBELL: Mr. Holmes ultimately deciphered the code. How did you feel when you realized your secret method of communication had been exposed?

ABE SLANEY: Holmes was... uncomfortably brilliant. Most detectives would have been lost, but he saw through our system quickly. It was like he could read between the lines - or in this case, between the dancing figures.

CAMPBELL: Your relationship with Elsie seemed particularly complex. Would you be willing to provide some context about your shared history?

ABE SLANEY: [sighs] Elsie and I go back to my days in Chicago. She was part of our criminal circle - young, smart, and looking to escape her past. We were more than just associates. She was my partner, both in crime and... well, in life for a time. When she left Chicago to start a new life in England, marry Hilton Cubitt, I couldn't just let her go. Those dancing men messages? They were my way of reaching out, of reminding her of our shared history. I wanted her to know I could find her, that our connection wasn't something she could simply walk away from.

CAMPBELL: So you were essentially stalking her?

ABE SLANEY: [defensive] Stalking? No. Maintaining a connection. Elsie knew our world, understood it in a way her proper English husband never could. She had roots in our life in Chicago that she couldn't just erase, no matter how much she wanted to pretend otherwise.

CAMPBELL: And when she didn't respond the way you wanted?

ABE SLANEY: [quietly] Sometimes people leave you no choice but to make them listen.

CAMPBELL: The case ended tragically for Hilton Cubitt. Do you feel any remorse about the events that transpired?

ABE SLANEY: [coldly] Remorse is a luxury criminals can't afford. Every action has consequences, and in our world, those consequences can be fatal.

CAMPBELL: Mr. Slaney, looking back on everything that has transpired, would you do anything differently if you could go back in time?

ABE SLANEY: [long pause] Different? [bitter laugh] Hindsight's a cruel thing, isn't it? If I could go back... [contemplative tone] The mistake wasn't in my feelings for Elsie. It was in how I approached them. I should have understood that people can truly change, that she had chosen a different life. My desperation - sending those dancing men messages, forcing my way back into her world - that was my true downfall. I'd been a creature of violence for so long that I didn't know how to let go. In Chicago, problems were solved with a gun, with threats. But England wasn't Chicago. Hilton Cubitt wasn't one of our gang members who would back down. He was an honorable man who loved his wife, who fought to protect her. If I could go back, I'd have let Elsie be. I'd have understood that her silence, her new life - that was her choice. Not a challenge to be confronted, but a decision to be respected.

CAMPBELL: That sounds like genuine reflection.

ABE SLANEY: [quietly] Reflection comes expensive in prison. Plenty of time to understand the cost of your mistakes.

CAMPBELL: Thank you for sharing your perspective, Mr. Slaney.

ABE SLANEY: [sardonic laugh] Perspective. That's one way of putting it.