Pulp Fiction, 1938 · page 78 of 116
10-Story Detective Magazine Cover — page 78: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Page Analysis: 10-Story Detective This page contains story prose from a hardboiled crime narrative. Two criminals, Malthus and Ringler, discuss a plot to murder an unknown man and steal money. Malthus explains they can identify their target by the white thread visibly sewn on his coat's rip. The twist arrives when Ringler shoots Malthus and leaves—revealing that *Ringler himself* wears a coat with a rip sewn with white thread, suggesting he was the intended victim all along or is the mysterious man Malthus described. The page concludes with a Cremo cigar advertisement.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
= he'll follow us to the ends of the aS earth.” He stopped and looked at the a other as if he had explained every- 23 “So,” said Ringler, “the idea is to 3 knock off this big shot, so the girl = will feel safe to go away with Malthus squirmed. “Well, not ex- actly. I’m not interested in going Rear sak ie away. My idea is, if this guy is = bumped, she’ll go get the dough from = wherever it’s hidden, and then we can SS take it away from her—you and I. = A hundred thousand apiece!” “Not a bad stunt,” said Ringler, re- ee : flectively. “But how do you figure to — knock off this big shot, if you don’t oa know who he is?” 2 “That’s easy. She’s never told me S&S his name. But he was in her house » 4 =e today ; he came while I was there, and Bs I had to lay low in the kitchen. And while he was there, he happened to rip his coat, and she sewed it up for a him—with white thread! I heard her tell him she had no other thread. And re - *, - — q Dat esl X « hes c - 2 she said it was too bad, because he’d have to wear it that way all day, since = he wasn’t going home till tonight. And then they made a date for him to Fit 4h, a 4 yn ' x ; . da : Ue he i : be ‘ ; any P53 fy AD \ “a ts) tg og! Paha ‘ ; 4 , , \ \ Ltt ann ’ ‘ : tI & we } hart nA | Be uy Wr ne Cry) hit. 4 ’ t ih is ‘ WORRIES ARR “7 uit ’ Vaiehatet } mY. % ; wen” EP es ee Sena ‘ a) eR Ce : tom. Pe ih nt “ a ee —<e ; fae yo c <_ ed SS en ee ee 4 SUN | ly a id = - = ae a rey ee se ee ze | » 1 | | come back this evening at seven o'clock. So there you are—you lay for a guy whose coat is sewed with white thread! He is all marked for you 1”? Ringler said, “It’s certainly a swell lay.” “You'll de it? You won’t pass it up?” Ringler stood up. “What’s the ad- dress?” “Four-eighty-six Snider Street.” “Pll be there.” Malthus exclaimed eagerly, ‘Atta- boy. And we go fifty-fifty. Remember, the back of his coat is sewed with white thread.” Ringler said, ““Yeah. White thread.” He opened the drawer of his desk, took out a gun with a silencer at- tached. He pointed it at Malthus. Malthus’ eyes widened in dread as he saw the deadly purpose of Ringler. He shouted, ‘‘Don’t—” His words were cut off by the thud of lead in his body. Ringler put the gun down on the desk, and turned away. As he did so, there showed on the back of his coat -a long rip that had been sewed with white thread. vake ~ ee ¢ @ ‘MANUFACTURED “AT. SMALLEST. PROFIT tf Ge MOW P-LOf pee e) CREAM OFMCH | Mth - = — ; —- _ "2 poe