10-Story Detective Magazine Cover — page 55: what you’re looking at

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

at ‘bee. ‘end. sodded: They ~_ —— = “You've oot pals one rod, in your right pocket,” he guessed. “Bach of us has two. But we don’t want to use them.” I nodded toward the coat without taking my eyes off them. Droopy scowled. “We wouldn’t know about that,” he said. The odds were against me and we weren’t getting anywhere, so I took my hands from my pockets. “That’s really sensible,” declared Stellman. He made no attempt to take » my gun, but moved quickly about the room and looked in the closet and lavatory and shifted the bureau from the wall. “There’s no dictaphone,” I assured him. “You can believe what you saw in the paper, that I’m not working with the police.” He smiled. “You’ve no objection, have you, if I satisfy myself?” I glanced at alert Droopy Donlan. “T have no objections.” Satisfied, Stellman faced me. “Okay, what do you know?” he de- manded. “Yeah,” frowned Droopy. it. “Reports have it,” I stated, “that Doctors Hardwicke and Plunkett either fell or jumped from their win- dows, though I’m inclined to believe they were pushed.” “We wouldn’t know about that,” Droopy cut in. “Go on,” prompted Stellman. I shrugged. “That’s as far as I’ve jearned,”’ I admitted. Sometimes the truth accomplishes more than lying in situations like this. Droopy leered at me. “Cover him,” he said to Stellman, “while I light a cigarette and take his shoes off.” “Forget that,” growled Stellman. “He’s so cool he’d put the cigarette out. Listen, McCarty, you look like: a right guy. We'll make a deal with you, We’ll put our cards on the table.” “T’d like it better,” I said, “if you’d put your hands on the table.” . _ Sielhaye stared at me, then looked is “Spill SS we ae ag “ os re = ae at = pa Ie Fay et er. SS ln mers - > —— = oe Se = gts ee f <5 hay Teas oN a eC ) =z, = "- § = — i a eee their hands from their pockets. = © “Two months ago,” began Stell- man, “Keller, a guy we had a nodding = acquaintance with, heisted a small green heart, made of emeralds, from an ice shop on Madison Avenue, Com- = = ing out, he ran smack into a dick who ee was stubborn and got killed.” a “We—” began Droopy. a “T know,” I smiled. “You wouldn't = know about that.” a “Keller,” informed Stellman, “got lead poisoning bad before the dick went out. Traffic bulls were closing =—- in, so he ducked into a private hos- — pital and hid there till he took his = final powder about ten minutes later, The bulls didn’t find the green heart — on his body. Now, here’s the deal we'll Ss make with you.” a “It’s this, isn’t it?” I suggested. = “You know something about the deaths of the two doctors, and you'll ae tell me what it is in exchange for in- formation about the green heart.” a. “How did you know?” demanded a Stellman. eee “Oh, I’m good at that sort of ee thing,” I replied. SS “Well, make it good then,” snarled Droopy, “and spill.” ace “Tell me,” I evaded, “why come to > me for information? Why not go to the people you suspect? The staff of — Se the small hospital, for instance; the — 3 =. patients who were there at the time eo Keller blew in?’ eee wes = “Because we're saving ourselves a : pee lot of trouble,” replied Stellman. = — “Why have you delayed so long?” I probed. “Or did you strike blind al- leys when you imterrogated Hard- wicke and—” he wenn a eee sae “You see,” informed Stellman, “we = = ee just got out of stir today, and then we read about you in the papers. So: here we are, Well?” = “You just got out of 3 stir? Then how could you know | mee anything about Ss y death fae ee SS eee ae = See ety pees : Oe @ SMILED. e =X ee <— ee : ee — sy eee a5 ae ee See Ae 7 ef @ — os ne