Pulp Fiction, 1938 · page 43 of 116
10-Story Detective Magazine Cover — page 43: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "Murder on the Cuff" by Eric Lennox This is an interior story page featuring an illustration at the top and prose text below. The illustration shows a dead body being discovered, with a detective figure standing nearby. The visible text introduces the story's protagonist, Lee Ainsley, a newspaper columnist who must briefly turn detective to expose a murderer through his column. The prose excerpt shows Ainsley entering a seedy bar, searching for a dry spot at the counter while looking for the bartender, Charlie Meeks, to order a drink.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
4 RAR mM Murder on the Cuff ee eS ea He was a sensational columnist—tops in his line. But he had q to turn detective for ten seconds. For he was unmasking a murderer in his column. EE AINSLEY legged his way a bit un- certainly over to the sloppy bar. Little puddles of water covered its surface : and made the red mahogany-stain shine and reflect the lights of the back bar. “Sloppiest bar in town,” Lee told himself as he hunted for a dry spot on which his elbow might be allowed to rest so as to steady his slightly weaving body. Finally he found it, let his elbow and forearm rest on the bar and looked down its gleam- ing surface for the barkeep, Charlie Meeks. “Hey, Charlie,” he called, “a half- and-half and don’t»snooze over it. In other words, I crave service. My head’s muggy, my throat’s dry and I’m broke as the Common Peepul. In cComichbooks