# XIX: The Prophecy Realized explained — Pudd’nhead Wilson > Chapter companion for Pudd’nhead Wilson by Mark Twain. ## What happens Tom Driscoll, having murdered Judge Driscoll, disposes of his disguise and evidence, flees Dawson's Landing, and reads a telegram blaming the Italian twins for the murder. He arranges to sell Roxana to herself and returns home feigning grief. Meanwhile, Pudd'nhead Wilson investigates the crime scene, notes fingerprints on the knife handle that do not match the twins, and suspects a third party. The twins are arrested and indicted. Wilson reflects on Judge Driscoll's blind affection for Tom, and the chapter ends with Tom preparing to steal the safe key from his uncle's room, setting the stage for the murder. ## Themes in this chapter ### Deception and Appearance Tom disguises himself as a girl and a tramp, burns his clothes, and plays the grieving nephew while being the actual murderer. ### Justice and Injustice The innocent twins are arrested and indicted for a murder they did not commit, while the real murderer escapes suspicion. ### Fate and Free Will Tom believes he has outsmarted fate by framing the twins, but Wilson's discovery of fingerprints suggests that justice may eventually prevail. ## Character check-ins ### Tom Driscoll Flees after murdering Judge Driscoll, disposes of evidence, reads the telegram blaming the twins, and returns home to play the grieving nephew. ### Pudd'nhead Wilson Takes charge of the crime scene, examines fingerprints on the knife, deduces the twins are innocent, and reflects on Judge Driscoll's infatuation with Tom. ### Count Luigi Arrested for murder, insists on a duel with Judge Driscoll, and is indicted for first-degree murder. ### Count Angelo Capello Arrested as accessory to murder, indicted alongside Luigi. ### Judge Driscoll Murdered by Tom; his body is found by the twins, and his death is initially blamed on Luigi. ### Roxana Tom mails a new bill of sale selling her to herself, completing her legal freedom. ## Key lines > Tom said to himself, “Those old maids waited to dress—they did the same thing the night Stevens’s house burned down next door.” Tom noted that the old maids delayed dressing, just as they had during a previous fire. _Tom uses their predictable behavior to avoid detection while escaping._ > He cleansed his hand on the straw, and cleaned most of the smut from his face. Then he burned his male and female attire to ashes, scattered the ashes, and put on a disguise proper for a tramp. He wiped his hand and face, burned both sets of clothes, and disguised himself as a tramp. _Tom meticulously destroys all evidence of his identity and crime._ > “All the detectives on earth couldn’t trace me now; there’s not a vestige of a clue left in the world; that homicide will take its place with the permanent mysteries, and people won’t get done trying to guess out the secret of it for fifty years.” Tom boasts that no detective could ever find him, believing the murder will remain unsolved forever. _Tom's arrogance and confidence in his perfect crime are highlighted._ > “One of the twins!” soliloquized Tom; “how lucky! It is the knife that has done him this grace. We never know when fortune is trying to favor us. I actually cursed Pudd’nhead Wilson in my heart for putting it out of my power to sell that knife. I take it back, now.” Tom thinks the twins being blamed is lucky, and he is grateful that Wilson prevented him from selling the knife. _Tom's twisted sense of fortune and his reliance on the knife as a framing device._ > Wilson examined the fingermarks on the knife-handle and said to himself, “Neither of the twins made those marks.” Wilson studies the fingerprints and concludes the twins are innocent. _Wilson's forensic insight sets up the eventual revelation of the true murderer._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/pudd_nhead_wilson_se/chapters/xix-the-prophecy-realized - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/pudd_nhead_wilson_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/pudd_nhead_wilson_se/chapters