10-Story Detective Magazine Cover — page 14: what you’re looking at

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

gee ee = 12 Otis ordered you to? Don’t Marines know how to take orders?” “Get up and ask me that again,” Mc- Kay said very, very softly. Lorimer didn’t accept the invitation. He leaned back in his chair and eyed Mc- Kay for a moment. McKay dropped his pugnacity. It wouldn’t get him anywhere. He wanted to go home. ‘Tt so happened,” he explained, “that before I could call Otis, two crooks came to see me, They duped me nicely, too, got me into a building at 1251 Biake Street, on the second floor. They pounded me around plenty. Those lumps on my face aren’t mosquito bites.” Lorimer turned to one of the detec- tives. “Why not take a detail and go to that address? See what you can find.” “Liook,” McKay said, “can I suggest something? Those erooks made me repeat the message I was to deliver to Cunning- ham. I had to do it or a girl named Peggy Garrick, Alex’s sister, would have been murdered.” “Nice,” Lorimer snarled. “Very nice. Where’s your nerve, Corporal? I didn’t think a Marine would let himself be bested.” MeKay’s right hand was-slowly folding into a fist. “Kor myself, I coufd take it, but I couldnt stand there and let them kill that girl. Sure, I talked. I’m used to fighting rats. Maybe these crooks fail into the same class with Japs, I wouldn’t know about that; but at least when you’re fighting Japs, you don’t mistake them for afiything else.” inspector took a hand then, and ordered the other detective to bring in Peggy Garrick. He told McKay to sit down, turned back to the desk, and worked with some papers. *Ah, yes.” Lorimer smiled a little. The ALF an hour went by. Twice, Mc- Kay started to tell the inspector he’d betéer get somebody over +o the lake before the crooks found what they were after, but the inspector waved him to. silence and showed considerable irrita- tion over MeKay’s interruptions, . One detective returned looking highly puazied. “This sounds funny,” he report- ed, “but I went to the address the Ma- ‘rine gave us. It’s a pool hall, going full blast with plenty of tables and lots of around, There’s no vaeant building Place near that number.” i 10-STORY DETECTIVE McKay started to protest, but Peggy Garrick was led in. She didn’t look at McKay. Lorimer seemed to appreciate her love- liness for he was being very chivalrous about seating her and making her com- fortable, His voice was friendly and pleas- ant when he talked to her. She glanced. at McKay. “{ don’t know what he means,” she said. “I drove him to Mr. Cunningham’s house and I haven’t seen him since. I’m very certain no crooks held me prisoner or pointed a gun at my head.” McKay arose. He could sense this whole _ business as a trap. Maybe the lot of them were crooks, including Peggy. He hated to think this about her, but she was so obviously lying, He knew they’d take no action against the two crooks who'd kid- - naped him. It was even likely that Lori- mer intended to stall long enough so those crooks could reach Cunningham’s sailboat and find what Alex Garrick had hidden there. It was time for McKay to take his own form of action. He pretended to be. very nervous and agitated. He got up and sidied toward the middle of the room. Suddenly he turned and made a dive for the door. He got through it and was streaking along the corridor. The desk sergeant jumped up, but he saw only a forest green uni- form go seooting past. Lorimer and the detectives pounded in hot pursuit, but they were chasing a man who knew all the tricks. Peggy Garrick walked through the main office of headquarters alone. Her eyes were misty, her steps a trifle un- steady. Nobody paid any attention to her. Lorimer was yelling orders. “Get that corporal. He’s out of his mind. Telling us wild stories. Maybe he even killed Cun- ningham. Young Garrick hated him. Maybe he got McKay sore, too, and Mc- Kay killed him. Some of those shell- shocked soldiers do funny things. Bring him back. Alive if you can, but remember heaay be highly dangerous.” The inspector began giving quiet or- ders. He seemed unimpressed by Lori- mer’s burst of activity. Reaching the big lake behind Cunningham’s house was go- ing to be difficult, McKay realized. it weukl be hike running a gauntiet. Every cop in uniform would be looking for him and there would be unrecognizable de- aS Too NS; 2 ? 4 2 ™ eee < - i ~ tm aa 542 Sr é ene Se ne a. => oad > ee : tho eid ihe ol ee ath Z a= art ar <i as = ss = SS aa aet ake : Se eee = PES Ta En EF parent a ~ = a a Pra ee ex. 7 neat and : >eAe, Se ee aie a fn: 2s Seat = Deen —— = < oe Se RAC sk wre ee : Se Seay ee ~ ate ~ q . ee Oy tt eset ipa pa hte atte ip ~ ~ = - on = 2 — Osi ee < F eg ee ee ee ae ‘ <i eee 7 _ . a =" 7 — - es ee es et go Se ee aps = ) e - a 2 = __ teotives on his trail. Yet he had to reach = 2S =e