10-Story Detective Magazine Cover — page 88: what you’re looking at

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

than five minutes’ | Lucky Ball, one of the town’s bright- walk, was the est gambling houses. Drake had been working there, his nimble finger twir- ling the little ball, his nimble eye watching, his nimble brain absorbing. He would have been working there tonight, only this was his night off, which was lucky, because Joe Grail, manager of the Lucky Ball, was dead. Joe, with a bullet in him, was in a small private office, up over the back end of the building; not the regular office, but one Joe used on confidential occasions. 3 Drake Judson didn’t mind Joe being dead, but he didn’t want to be around when it was found out. Ten twenty-nine, Through the hotel windows, Drake could see the passen- gers surging into the bus. He waited until the last one was on, then hurried around the corner. The lights height- ened the pallor of his lean face and brightened the alertness of his blue eyes. He showed his ticket to the driv- er and ducked in. The bus was fairly full. However, the bench along the back seemed va- cant. Drake edged down the aisle to the back, dropped to the bench. He started to get up again, changed his mind and merely shifted his posi- tion. He glanced down at the corner of the bench. He had sat on a small foot. A girl was lying on the bench, curled up, as if taking a nap. The foot was trim. The leg was silk-clad and shapely. The face which was turned up at him was well-formed. The lips, nicely turned, were just full enough. The eyes were brown and looked now as if short of sleep. RAKE whistled softly. “Meg Larkin! Well!” The bus was pull- ing away from the curb now. “So you wanted to get out of town without being seen!” Meg Larkin made a grimace. She kept her position. “I was pretty care- ful,” she admitted. “I got on while you were in the hotel.” ~ ms eran = = metas ae up Jeon backed 4 a - but- 3 cart ae - 96 —_____—10 8 Tor DETECTIVE emi — : ton. Lights went out. The bus was = ee turning south, would soon be speed- ing’ through the country, up through the passes, down into California, across the desert. Drake peered at Meg. He thought perhaps he should have kept more of an eye on her. He had been tempted to, for purely per- sonal reasons, but business came first. Meg said nervously: “Don’t stare at me like that.” Drake grinned, “Sorry. You’re safe enough now—for a while. We’re out of town. If you sit up you'll be more comfortable.” She swung to a sitting position. She was quite close to Drake. Her arm felt — soft against him. She said: “You’re a strange one. I didn’t know you planned to leave.” “T didn’t, either, until an hour. ago.” She seemed calm now. “You never had me fooled.” “Ah! Meaning what?” “That eroupier job you had was | just a blind.” “What made you think that?’ “Nothing definite. Maybe it was the way you kept your beautiful blue eyes busy. What’s your game, anyway?” Drake Judson’s smile was disarm- ing. His own story was simple, but he wasn’t going to tell her that he was a private agency detective, and that his job in Las Vegas had really been to watch Joe Grail. & A bad one, Joe Grail. A mean oily _ fat little man with the cunning of - three foxes. For years he had been as- sociated with the big Hollywood gam- = bling chief, Cy Knox. Just a few months ago Knox had built the Lucky See oe Ball in Las Vegas and put Joe in to — run it for him. Drake didn’t care about that. But Joe Grail had other affairs; side lines which were more profitable than his job as manager of the Lucky Ball. In- deed, he valued his job only because it gave him contacts which were gee 22 and a door to hide behind. His fanciest side line was blackmail. | A month ago, Drake, with the prop- er credentials, had come to Las Veg Nia a eee 7 j i aT eict A yy a nee Ui We Sia PEA Beaty alg . , wee } A —_ TRL ¢\ beet | / SS hk aa L Bit td hn ae & La / ‘ ‘ , 4 As ‘) wy} hy Wye y, , rf . ce WS de aegety 5) cofiicboake com =