La guillotina portátil

This Spanish-language pulp detective story, "La guillotina portátil" (The Portable Guillotine) by Arnold Briggs, translated by Justo Elías, concerns journalist Ned Carleton in New Orleans who receives a wooden carved miniature guillotine with a threatening message. The carving bears an inscription warning that six individuals who influenced the execution of René Basil will be judged—three impartially, three will be executed. Carleton and severe prosecutor Homer Caddox have both received identical plaques. Carleton convinces the reluctant Caddox to host a dinner gathering the six principals involved in Basil's recent execution: themselves, Judge Irving, Police Commissioner Cavalier, newspaper publisher Dudley Dupont, and an unnamed sixth party. The story establishes an atmosphere of mystery and menace surrounding the execution of the "decadent aristocrat" René Basil, with Carleton's investigation potentially uncovering judicial conspiracy or revenge.