10-Story Detective Magazine Cover — page 86: what you’re looking at

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

1 ]0- STORE DETECTIVE ness queered you.” He turned to Ing- ham, “Listen, your housekeeper, Mrs. Hankin, has a habit of preparing spe- cially frezen ice cubes for your mint juleps. If Brockton had taken a friendly drink with us before dinner tonight, he’d have noticed that the ice cubes were green! Yes, green! Why?... Because Mrs. Hankin mixes a concentrated mint flavoring and col- oring matter with the water when she fills the trays.” Retreating panic wheeled and re- attacked Brockton, driving his brain into utter confusion. He could not frame a single coherent sentence. He sat stunned, staring up at Blake, his jaw wobbling inanely. Blake went on: “There is a very | slight green stain on Pendleton’s bed where the cube must have rested a short time. There is a larger green stain on the tapestry covering the trunk. And there is a light-green stain in-the shape of a fingerprint on this certificate you handed me to fill out, A stain which got there, I sup- pose, when you reached in your hand, wet from the ice cube, to make sure the papers which were so important Look for the June to your murder scheme, were safe, I don’t know just how... .” Brockton jumped up, overthrowing the card table. He bellowed in rage as he struck at Blake—then found out what had really caused the bulge in Blake’s pocket. There was a sharp report and Brockton clutched at his shoulder, Blake had whipped out a small .32:and fired without warning. “T guess that'll hold you till we get the police.” Blake turned to Ingham. “T borrowed this from your trophy case in the hall. I was almost afraid to use it, you know how relics are, but —well, that’s that.” He held the gun in one hand, lighted his pipe with the other and made himself comfortable in an easy chair, keeping an eye on Brockton. “If yeu’ll call the police—” he suggested gently to the speechless ‘Ingham. Brockton sat down heavily, wearily. A fleeting, annoying thought played unholy tag in his mind, If he had only accepted the drink when they offered -it in spirit of good fellowship, he wouldn’t have made the one mistake which turned the transcript of death into a transcript of murder. SECRET AGENT X Featuring a Sensational “‘Secret Agent X”’ Novel THE CORPSE THAT MURDERED By Brant House o = ALSO a @ AN-INVITATION TO BULLETS wyNDERCOVER AGENT “Ex-Marine Kennedy’’ Story By William Benton Johnston By Leslie Gordon Barnard KILLERS’ ROW By Lewis A. Keppen June SECRET AGENT X ® OUT NOW com (@) books (E(@)