10 Story Detective, July 1942 — page 90: what you’re looking at

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

§8——________——————_10-STORY DETECTIVE————— didn’t notice a tall good-looking young woman in a white bathing suit?” “No, sir. I’d just come into the water about a minute before.” Then I told Swanson about Augie Shor. There was very little I could tell except that he knew Gregg and that he’d been right there on the beach. Swanson rubbed his chin and then looked me over again and asked: “You say you weren't near them your- self ?” “Tl was for half a minute or so, then I moved farther over toward the —let?s see—north.” I smiled. “Of course you'd be silly to take my word that I’m a policeman. I can show my credentials easily enough if you'll send aman with me to my hotel.” Swanson shook his head. “You wouldn’t lie about that. Too easy to check.” He thought that over and then said: “Still, I guess I’ll send somebody along. Thanks for helping us, lieu- tenant.” “T wasn’t much help.” “You never can tell,” Swanson said. PATROLMAN accompanied me to my hotel and I satisfied him as to my identity. When he’d gone, I slid out ef my trunks and took a shower and then stretched out on the bed and tried te nap. It wasn’t any use, I told myself that now there was a good chance that my vacation would be ruined. When murder inves- tigation is a daily routine, you look at it only as work, and I’d come to Miami to lie in the sun and do very little else. Several hours later I was about to leave for dinner when there was a knock on my door, A big man with the face of a movie idol stepped into my room and said: ‘Hello, lieutenant. Remember me?” ‘Sure. You were one of the plain- clothes men on the beach.” Bill Raft,” he said. He seated him- self on the only chair in the room and carefully crossed his legs. “Sergeant ee SE ee er 6a Swanson is busy at headquarters with a couple of suspects, so he sent me down to see you.” ‘Any fresh suspects?” I asked. “Or just Betty Boyer and Augie Shor?” “In a way I guess everybody who was on that section of the beach can be called a suspect,” he said. “Some- body moved over beside Gregg with the knife hidden in his bathing suit. When a high wave came, it was sim- ple to slit Gregg’s side open and then ease away. People are always ducking under the water; it wouldn’t mean anything if Gregg suddenly dropped down. People don’t watch each other to see if they’re coming up again.” “What about the knife?’ I asked. “The killer would have dropped it at once in the water to get rid of it.” “It’s being hunted for, but the tide was pretty sure to have carried it out.” “It’s a chance anyway. Water doesn’t necessarily wipe off finger- prints.” “True enough, but we can’t bank on that kind of break,” Raft said. “The fact remains that anybody on the beach could have done it, but our job is to narrow the circle to the peo- ple who knew Gregg and were on the spot. Well, we know three already. Augie Shor says that he wasn’t in the waiter at all. He can’t prove that he wasn’t and we can’t prove that he was. “Betty Boyer says that she had an appointment with a hairdresser, and that she just went in for a dip with Gregg and then rushed to keep her appointment. We checked with the beauty parlor and she was right about. the appointment.” *““Doesn’t mean a thing,” I said. “She could have knifed Gregg and then hur- ried to the beauty parlor. The time element can’t be shaded fine enough to provide her with an alibi.” “We know that, but at the same time it’s not enough to hold her.” I sat down on the bed. “You said there were three suspects.” Raft fingered the immaculate crease (C(O) ANH o DOOKS (C(O) nn