10-Story Detective Magazine Cover — page 79: what you’re looking at

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

SrA vee. J2 a */ , ae ag ~_ ” = gi se * i ea “An ex-convict—working for ‘eet -_-You’re fired, Yager.” The chauffeur gave him a look that needed a lightning rod. I said: “Did you knock him off, Ya- ger?” “No, and you can’t prove other- wise.” “Strangely enough,” I said, “I be- lieve you. If I find you didn’t kill him I'll give you the check back. If the evi- dence points towards you, I’ll turn it over to the county prosecutor.” “Fair enough.” Yager turned and strode out. Duke Glynn Jooked at me. “Now what?” “T don’t know,” I told him, “T'll have to sleep on it. In the morning we'll try to stop a car on the road and see if we can’t get some law in.” Glynn thought that would be the best thing and we parted on that note. I got out a pocket flash and tried to trace the break in the telephone wire before I went to sleep. It was a hope- | less job. If I was a monkey and could climb up and down the side of the building I might have found it. I went up to my room. It was a big - square chamber with heavy cross- ~ beams on the ceiling, The bed was big enough for a herd of Indian elephants, comfortable, too. But I couldn’t sleep. COUPLE of things troubled me. I hadn’t figured Holloway for the kind of shyster who’d stoop to pet- ty blackmail. Yet he certainly had been ‘preying on Yager. Unless the auto- mobile jockey was the slickest liar I’ve ever met. I wanted to know just ex- actly how Winnie Easton had come to ‘be connected with him, why he’d _ brought her up here. I liked that girl—liked her more than I care to admit, If I hadn’t been pene once and taken a divorce rap _ from a little deb after two months of married life I would have been think- an ing a lot more seriously about Win- = | i nie. And that, my friend, after know-' ie her only two days. Sara ae —— Sats ee aot Se ars es aed shuffled down the hall. A single light Ai hee? eee was burning at the end of the corridor and my shadow danced grotesquely on the floor ahead of me. I stopped before: Holloway’s door for a moment and then slipped in. I — turned on the bed lamp and light spread over his twisted face. It seemed to have shrunk a little since I last saw it. I prodded him with my finger. Rigor was setting in. I looked down at the floor and my heart gave one vio- lent knock. The Banker’s Special was gone. I dropped swiftly to my knees and looked under the bed, thinking some- body might accidentally have kicked it there. But they hadn’t. This was bad, plenty bad. There was‘a killer loose and he had a gun. I jeft Holloway’s room and con- tinued down the hall to Winnie’s door, — I hated to wake her at this hour, but my mind was fresh and I wanted to get whatever information I could about Holloway before morning. I lifted my hand to knock softly on her door and it faltered in mid-air. At that instant something happened beyond the door. Perhaps it was ten- sion, perhaps nerves, but I detected what I thought was the beginning of a cry that sudcenly. choked off at its birth and became a muffled gasp. In- side, someone stumbled. Or maybe it was the sound of a scuffle. At any rate, there was action and I suddenly want- ed in as badly as I’ve wanted any- thing. I grabbed the doorknob, twisted it and yanked. I almost pulled my wrist . out of the socket. The door had been locked from the inside. Uneasiness transformed to a sort of panic that clutched my chest like a grappling hook. I realized that I was breathing heavily. You don’t think at times like that. You don’t lay campaigns. I dropped back three steps and hit that door with my shoulder. The lock snapped, the jamb splintered, the center panel flew out, and I reeled inside. There wasn’t much light, only that i a os sae) y ‘ cD : | Lay (' ‘lf f « i hn 2 Pian) . Pree My k / ' tek Mee CAA Um POT El gePce te huey Ph ch ONT rg Ng : PLA MOR SRW ME ee RAE eka tana) PrAwS YY) He. ny Hi A ies Let a pa id i (a9 Va Las! ta Pa AR Alls ye Ae Aan Ma Bis, TL WLLAY iia Ad oie 3 ij a) i ils el) ea 4 7 eh LATA INE sted iC)