Story summary
Samenvatting van Het probleem van Cel 13
- 8 min. leestijd
- 10 parts
- Binnenkort te beluisteren
A scientist locks himself in a death cell and swears he will walk out within a week.
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Het probleem van Cel 13 in het kort
Samenvatting: 8 min leestijd
- Leestijd
- Ongeveer 5 h 10 min4 h 5 min fast, 6 h 10 min slow
- Lengte
- 73.800 woorden
- Bibliotheekniveau
- Gemiddeld longer sentences, everyday words
- Voor het eerst verschenen
- 1905by Jacques Futrelle
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). Hoelang het duurt om de klassiekers te lezen · Bijgewerkt
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Het probleem van Cel 13 in short
The Problem of Cell 13 gathers seven cases for Professor Van Dusen, The Thinking Machine. A cell, a gas jet, a man with no name, a murder in a car, a flaming ghost, a robbed bank and a vanished model all test the same belief. Careful thought can solve what looks impossible.
What Het probleem van Cel 13 is about
Can a man think his way out of a prison cell? Professor Augustus Van Dusen, the scientist the newspapers call The Thinking Machine, says he can. He bets two friends that he can leave the death cell at Chisholm Prison within a week, carrying only necessary clothing.
That bet opens The Problem of Cell 13, seven detective stories by Jacques Futrelle, who died in 1912. Hutchinson Hatch, a newspaper reporter, brings the strange cases to the little laboratory of Van Dusen, who squints, asks odd questions and rebuilds each case from small facts. Each story gives you the clues and dares you to follow the reasoning.
Voor wie is het?. Readers who love clever puzzles, sharp reasoning and fair clues will enjoy this collection. Fans of early detective fiction and crisp short stories will find it especially appealing.
The story in 10 parts
Key idea 1 · free to read
A bet sends a scientist into Cell 13
The book opens with an argument. Van Dusen insists that nothing is impossible and that the mind is master of all things. His visitors name the one thing they think thought cannot beat, which is a prison cell. Van Dusen replies that he can leave any cell, anywhere, within a week.
They test him that night at Chisholm Prison. He is searched and treated like a man under sentence of death. He asks for only tooth powder, a few bills and shoe polish. Seven doors lie between Cell 13 and the street, and the warden stakes his reputation on it.
The days pass. The warden finds a cipher on a scrap of linen, catches a bribe attempt and finds two bits of steel that look like a plan to saw the window bars. Each time he feels sure he has won, and each time the prisoner seems only to lose. Rats run in and out, and the money the warden counts never quite adds up. A prisoner two floors up screams that a voice is accusing him.
Every clue lies in plain view. The warden is no fool, only a man who watches the wrong things. Notice what is ordinary and ask why it is there.
- 2Begin gratis met lezen
A gas jet keeps going out at night
In The Scarlet Thread, Hatch tells Van Dusen a strange tale.
- 3Begin gratis met lezen
A rich man wakes with no name
In The Man Who Was Lost, a caller has no name to give.
- 4Begin gratis met lezen
A girl in a racing car is stabbed
The Great Auto Mystery starts with laughter.
- 5Begin gratis met lezen
A haunted house and buried jewels
In The Flaming Phantom, Hatch is sent to look at a haunted house on a cliff, unused for five years.
- 6Begin gratis met lezen
A bank is robbed and a handkerchief is dropped
The Ralston Bank Burglary opens with a careful count.
- 7Begin gratis met lezen
A famous model vanishes from view
The Mystery of a Studio starts in an art museum.
- 8Begin gratis met lezen
Logic beats the impossible every time
Every story answers the same dare.
- 9Begin gratis met lezen
People are the real puzzle underneath
Behind the clever machinery stand ordinary feelings.
- 10Begin gratis met lezen
A reporter, a scientist and a final explanation
The book is built the same way each time.
Read all 10 key ideas now
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Characters, plot and themes
Main characters
- Professor Augustus Van Dusen The scientist called The Thinking Machine, who believes pure logic can solve any problem, and who snaps whenever anyone says something is impossible.
- Hutchinson Hatch A newspaper reporter who brings strange cases to Van Dusen and runs his errands, hoping for a big story.
- Detective Mallory A solid Boston police detective who arrests whoever Van Dusen names, and who prefers a suspect he can handcuff.
- The Warden of Chisholm Prison A proud prison chief who stakes his reputation that no prisoner can leave Cell 13.
- Martha Van Dusen's elderly housekeeper, cook and maid, who announces callers and keeps the scientist fed.
- Dr. Charles Ransome A scientific friend who challenges Van Dusen to escape a death cell and expects him to fail.
- Ernest Weston A Boston broker about to marry, who wants to restore his family's haunted seaside house.
- Louise Clarke President Fraser's polished private secretary at the Ralston National Bank, who is close to young Dunston.
How it ends (spoiler)
In Cell 13, the prisoner escapes and later explains his methods step by step over supper in his own rooms. The other cases also close with Van Dusen explaining them. Cabell's valet is arrested for Regnier's murder and the attempts on Henley's life. The lost man proves to be a drugged banker. The actress is alive and an innocent friend is freed. The ghost is a cousin using mirrors. The bank robber is Miss Clarke. The model is found alive, but the artist is dying.
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Vragen over Het probleem van Cel 13
What is The Problem of Cell 13 about?
It is a set of seven detective stories about Professor Van Dusen, The Thinking Machine. It starts with his bet to escape a death cell and goes on to a murder, a ghost, a bank robbery and more.
Who is The Thinking Machine?
He is Professor Augustus S. F. X. Van Dusen, a scientist and logician with a huge head and a squint. The papers gave him the nickname after he beat a chess champion by pure reasoning.
Is The Problem of Cell 13 a true story?
No, it is fiction. Jacques Futrelle wrote the stories in the early 1900s for readers who loved clever puzzles. The Boston places, newspapers and police give them a lifelike setting.
Are the stories easy to follow?
Yes, they are easy to follow thanks to short chapters, plain language and a steady pattern. Hatch brings the case, Van Dusen asks odd questions, and a final explanation ties the clues together.
Who is Hutchinson Hatch?
Hatch is a Boston newspaper reporter who brings Van Dusen most of his cases. He runs errands, gathers facts and often tells the story of what he has seen, standing in for the reader.
Verwijs naar deze uitgave
Futrelle, Jacques. The Problem of Cell 13. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-problem-of-cell-13.
Futrelle, J. (2026). The problem of cell 13. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-problem-of-cell-13 (Original work published 1905)
Futrelle, Jacques. The Problem of Cell 13. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-problem-of-cell-13.
@book{futrelle2026problem,
author = {Futrelle, Jacques},
title = {The Problem of Cell 13},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-problem-of-cell-13},
note = {First published 1905}
}
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