10-Story Detective Magazine, April 1946 — page 72: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

70—__—_—_——_—_——————_10STORY. DETECTIVE plain unpainted shelves with dolls stand- ing and sitting like « tascinated audience in a theater. Clayfus looked up. “Policemen! Oh, my! Ah, Miss Geral- dine, my child, you’re not in any danger, then. I was worried. And your young man—”’ “Took, Clayfus,” Nelson said, “if you were so worried about Miss Geraldine, | you might have sent the police to her rescue.” “Oh, but I did!” Clayfus nodded at Blair and Duffy. “We picked these up, ourselves!” Nel- son said, “Then you must have left right after I,” the doll-maker answered. “I tele- phoned at once!” Duffy said, “You’d better pack that there doll away and hide behind some- thin’. We’re expectin’ visitors. From what this man says”—meaning Nelson—“they have guns.” “Oh, dear me, no!” Clayfus wrinkled his forehead, “But I must finish Lucrezia here, It’s a rush order.” He smiled, “If I’m working as I should be, whoever it is won’t think anything’s wrong, and won't try to make trouble.” ‘“Lucrezia?” Blair asked. *“Lucrezia Borgia,’ Gerry explained. “This doll is a replica of the famous poisoner who lived back in old Italy in the fifteen or sixteen hundreds.” “Fourteen hundreds,” corrected Nel- son. : Blair said, “Okay, pop, have it your way.” He pointed a thumb to the cur- tained storeroom. “Get in there, you two.” They squeezed in a narrow space, boxes on one side, and the partition wall on the other. Duffy entered last, just as the front door rattled with knocking. He pointed his gun through the curtain’s coarse web. “Sister, you had an all-right hunch,” he murmured to Gerry as old Clayfus arose and shuffled to answer the sum- mong, Gerry huddled so close to Nelson at the sound of Jenny’s voice that she tipped him off-balance. He reeled against a barrel of waste paper and scraps, his hand falling on a tiny set of fingers. He lifted them—a broken doll’s arm, as denny and Taylor entered the back room and Jenny said: “Clayfus, what’s the name of the girl who works here?” But old Clayfus didn’t answer. Then Taylor snapped, “Better tell us, if you want to keep healthy!” Whereat Duffy said, “All right, put ’em up!” and barged out from behind the curtain, He caught Taylor and Jenny by surprise. Neither had taken out guns as yet. Blair emerged on Duffy’s heels. Nelson dropped the doll’s arm back among the fragments of silks, paper, bits of plaster and sawdust stuffing, He took Gerry’s hand and led her to the opening. “And now we'll have a little talk,” Duffy said. “Just why do you want the girl’s address?” “Her boy friend killed my Elmo!” Jenny’s eyes alighted on Nelson. “You know you did!” Why was Taylor sidling toward one of the shelves? Nelson followed the fellow’s intent gaze, Then, as neatly as suddenly, everything clicked into place. “You needn’t slap me again, Miss — Jacques, even if only with words,” Nel- son said. “I didn’t do it, but now I know who did!” Three things happened at once. Taylor lunged to the shelf and snatched a - duplicate Napoleon doll from it; old Clay- fus gazed interestedly over his wobbling glasses to Neison; and Jenny made a dive for Duffy’s gun. Blair swung at Taylor, who warded off the blow with the doll. Duffy twisted his wrist, and instead of grasping the gun, Jenny was thrown to the floor. As she scrambled up, the second Napoleon doll’s fragments—Blair’s blow broke it— rained around her. A flashing purple necklace rolled snakily among them. Clay- fus sat calmly sewing. Let the ceiling fall, let the floor fall apart, he’d still be sewing. : Duffy’s weapon was covering Jenny. She didn’t care. She clawed for the neck- lace. With an inarticulate cry, Taylor swooped down for the jewels. Blair clipped him with his nightstick, pushed the falling man aside and tore the beads from Jenny’s fingers. The redhead scrambled up. “Tryin’ to lie your way out of it!” she yelled at Nel- son. Her hands curved into serviceable talons. “T’ll get you before you can say anythin’ much!” “Now, now,” Duffy murmured gently, seizing her by the arm and dragging her Gomichdoo Ss C@