10-Story Detective Magazine Cover — page 52: what you’re looking at

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

50 _—__—_—___—_—__10. STORY DETECT1VE———— presence he is inserting a pin through the terse of a very colorful moth. “Good afternoon, centlemen;”’ Herman says as if the ‘had done nothing werse than step on a cockroach. “isn’t this a beauty? Imagine it beimg near a garbage dump when I snared it. A Papilio glau- CUS! y?? “And maybe you forget the specimen you knocked off awhile back, you creek!” ‘Hambone says. “A Homo morialis named Sylvanium Fritchigiucose.” Not bad for Noonan, hey Leuie? “Why I was sure you said Sylvanus “Let's stop ‘kidding, Zelch,” Noonan comes right out. “Fritchy was clunked with a statue and is deader than that moth you are committing harry kerry on. stele his—what was it Mrs. Fritchy called it, Alvin?” “All I know is it was a rare butterfly, Hambone,” I answer him. “The Citheronia regalis?” Zelch yelps. “Yeah, and iet’s stick to the Engtish ‘language from now on, Zelch. Don’t act -innocent, Where was you between the hours of eleven P. M. on Saturday night and one A. M. Sunday morning? The medical examiner says he was sure those were the hours when Fritchy get the dear friend, Sylvanus Fritchy?” “Wouldn’t we though?” Moonan yelps. | “Ain't we the dimit?” “Why, I—that is preposterous,” Her- | man says. “You are ribbing me, ha, that” “Of courst;” Hambone says. “We got nothing else to do than play April pratiks tin Noveniber. Get on and ‘hat and let’s go down to the D.A. This time of day he Sieniiuan’ lth cult Aedes: tintin atl Sis We take Herman Zeich ‘down to ‘head- quarters. We are ‘putting him .on ‘the fire in the grill room when a ‘flatfoot comes in and says ‘the boys in ‘the ‘Jab got a print from a doo knob all developed. So we hustle Herman ‘in, ‘take ‘his prints, and compare them with the other one. We ‘discover ‘that ‘the print on ‘the doorknob was from Herman's middle digit. | ‘What was more, a neighbor of Her- ee a ee ee | ne ey ee ae be 7. eee ey eee o> ees Ae.” sz . ee, oy SS or 26 <j Ee rs > _— i _ 4 = ae ee ong ie ee — ar m. man’s calls up tthe D.A. She is a Mra. Bleary who has a rose garden close te the Fritchy back fence. She says she heard a character threaten Sylvanus with mere than a birthday presenton the night the murder must have been committed. The D.A. tells Mrs. Bleary to come te see him right away, which she does. “Yeah,” the neighbor says. “This man said just as plain, ‘You are a stubborn old goat, Sylvanus. Somebody ought to hit you over the head and steal that specimen, If anybody does, you can be suze it'll be me. Once more, will you swap?’ That’s what { heard.” The D.A. takes her to the grill reom and jets her hear Merman say, a few werds. “That’s the voice,” she yips. “That is the man!” We gril Herman some more. He ad- mits he made the threat, but that it was ome as idle as a hobo with hookwoenm. “Anyway I oughter of killed him. We same time. When we lifted up our nets, I could swear the butterfly flew out of it in half and settle the argument, but jit was always whole hog or none with Pritchy.” ‘1 thought yeu was catching butter- flies ‘that day,” Mambone says. “Oh, I see what you mean. Ha! Well, you have no atibi, Herman. in my place and ask what chance you think you got?” “Get me «a lawyer,’ Zelch says. “You are wasting money that belongs to your estate,” I tell him, Louie, “It had ‘to ‘be you as none of Fritchy’s neighbors heard a dog ‘bark that might—Mr. Deeds kmew you and would let yeu in.” . “Yeah,” Hambone says. “That was just what 1 was goin’ to say. You shut up, Louie, I get sere. “Look, you big hunk of mon-esserntial manpewer;” I says right out to Noonan. ““You are a liar by the clock. This is the third time you've bor- rowed ‘brains to werk with and—” “Alvin,” Hambone says. “You go te the D.A, and tell him hew you just acted. And yeu tell ‘him to get you off this case with me. Maybe J’ll ask you te work ‘with me again when you ‘learn net to be dis- ‘Dhey ‘lock Horman wp, and 1 see che _D.A. He is a swell guy as you know — ies Se : = 4 You deft prints at the BPritchy murder scene. Put yourself