10-Story Detective Magazine Cover — page 70: what you’re looking at

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

oe _ erory DETECT ———— said. “How many other punks here knew about that drawer and the gun?” “Not a soul, but me and Benny,” Tony said. He had to pile the works up fast before Benny barged in. Let the big punk alibi himself out of the spot. Ed the waiter would say that Scott left ahead of Kreger, and would have had time to get to that apartment house and knock the big shot off. Tony would tell Bragan about the shake-down, how Benny had threatened to get Mike Kreger. Benny could not prove he had. been over at the loft, because Benny would have made very sure that no one had seen - him go in through the back door of the tacky building. | Leo Bragan said, “Then it had to be you or Benny Scott, Tony. Nobody else could have possibly used that gun?” “They couldn’t,” Tony said. “We—” “And you were here the time the mur- der was committed — all the time,” Bragan went on, interrupting Tony every time he started to say something. “Yeah. I had a lot of bookkeeping to do, Bragan. Help is tough to get.” He wished Benny would come in and get it all over with. 6é¢9 GOT to take you downtown,” Bra- gan said and drew his police per- suader. “I’m going to book you for mur- der, Tony. Long time I’ve been waiting. Remember Sammy Fay?” The cigarette hung loosely from Tony Sava’s lips. “I—I don’t get it, Bragan.” “You will—and itll be warm, punk!” Bragan said. “You see, Tony, the guy we picked up in the lobby of that apartment house was Benny Scott!” “Benny!” Tony Sava got to his feet and put out a hand to steady himself against the desk. “Yeah,” Bragan said. “It looks like Benny wanted to be as well-dressed as Mike Kreger. Kreger and me had a talk about that, once. Mike laughed a lot, and said Benny was his sincerest flatterer. Aped the ties he wore, the hats, and the shoes. He said Benny offered him five C’s for that camel’s hair once. “Kreger finally broke down and let Benny have it—he said he would when it got a little worn. Kreger and Benny Scott were about the same build. The coat fit nice, - Tony. Only the holes you put in it can’t be fixed as easy as if only moths put them there. So you admit it had to be you or Benny who took the gun. And Benny being the corpse, it leaves just one 2? Tony’s ears were filled with a dire rumbling sound, there was a terrible weakness in his legs, and an awful sick- ness in his stomach. Benny had not gone to the cutting room, but most likely had been asked to meet Kreger later at his apartment, after Mike had taken the platinum blonde home. He had heard about the plans of mice and men, They sometimes went wrong. Rats could slp up, too. : More people came im. One of them was Mike Kreger. The big shot said, “So you tried for me, you dirty skunk. I warned Benny he was doing business with a snake, and to remember Sammy Fay. You wanted all of the Green Table and that dame of Benny’s. It’s a good thing J gave Benny that coat.” Kreger wiped his moist face with a big mauve handkerchief. “Okay, Tony,” Leo Bragan said. “Where’s that gun? Once we get you un- der the strong lights and ask you to ac- count for every minute between the hours of twelve and one-thirty last night, you’ll have to be smart with the bookkeeping. You had Benny framed better than you figured, Tony. Framed for a slab at the morgue, If that corpse really had been Mike Kreger’s, Benny would have taken the rap also and got a much hotter way out. Where is the gun?” “Try and find it,” Tony screamed. “You got to get it to pin this on me!” “Okay. We’ve got a bunch of cops dry- cleaning the neighborhood within a ra- dius of four blocks of that place,” Bragan said. “You knew the gun had to be put where the cops would finally fall over it —or Benny might have skinned through. Yeah, I know we'll find it.” ~