10-Story Detective, September 1941 — page 38: what you’re looking at

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

36—_———_——_______——10.-STORY DETECTIVE been embezzling from the firm for years. You knew that Grove was go- ing to marry Carla. You could see it in the cards. That meant Grove would get a high position in the firm and would find out about your defalca- tions. You had to prevent that mar- riage, or get Grove out of the way. A robbery would do it. A murder would do it better.” “Say,” said Tom, his eyes glowing with excitement. “If Diehl was the bookkeeper he could have gotten wise to what Kirk was doing. He may even have been blackmailing him.” “Certainly,” I added. ‘“He probably lured Diehl into your room under some pretext and killed him there. You found the money in your bag, didn’t you, Tom? You wanted to hide it until you could find out what it was all about.” Tom snapped me up quickly. “That's right.” Kirk hadn’t moved, hadn’t flickered an eyelash. “And now,” he said, “how are you going to prove all this?” I smiled. “By searching your be- Word's Around Town... ~ That You Can't Match Twenty Smooth-Shaving PROBAK Jr. Blades For A Quarter! longings and finding the silencer from the gun with which you kiHed Diehl and planted in Grove’s bureau.” That hit home. It cleared all bases. Kirk moved fast. There was a plain- clothes man guarding the hall door and one at the door leading into the other room. Both those exits were blocked, but the third was free. It was the one Tom had planned on using to get rid of Diehl’s body. The window— Kirk reached it in one long flying lunge that carried him clean through the pane of glass with shattering force. He let out a blood-curdling scream as he ripped through. And then, seconds later, there was the dull thud of his body impacting against the concrete down in the courtway. Carla’s head was buried in Tom’s shoulder. I looked at Rider and said: “Don’t look so glum. You won’t have to sit in a sticky courtroom and give testimony. The state saves the expense of a trial. The local mortician gets a little business. The Las Vegas police force gets credit for recovering a stolen payroll. Everybody wins—ex- cept Kirk.” comuicbook C©