10-Story Detective, June 1945 — page 18: what you’re looking at

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

ee 10-STORY, DETECTIVE its neighbor by a narrow lane. He walked slowly by the house, noted that it was in complete darkness. From the sidewalk he could see a white sign on the front door, but he wasn’t very curious. “Probably room to ket,” he muttered to himself. Then he gave a dry chuckle. Tomorrow she could change that sign to reoms. to let. - Dan looked quickly up and down the dark street, before he ducked into the lane and made his way to the back of the _ house, Over on the other street a dog started to bark, After a moment of fright, . reason told him that he wasn’t the object of the barking. He was too far away. Nevertheless he waited until the barking had stopped. Then, he went to the kitchen window and raised it gently. It opened with the same ease as of yore. There was a peculiar smell in the house. Like nothing he had ever smelled . before, He choked for a minute, then held his breath for fear he had been heard. But there was no sound. He shivered slightly, It felt like a dead house. He erept across the kitchen and opened the door that led into the hall. The smell was even stronger there. His eyes start- ed to water and his-head felt curiously light. He staggered toward the stairs. Funny how much effort it took to climb them. He would just sit down for a min- Yow ease off beard in truth. Yeah . ute and rest. It wouldn’t matter if Bill lived a few minutes longer , , . few min- utes... longer. ©6 Bg ELLO. Put Warden Brown on the phone, will you, please?” Jimmy Salmon was plenty excited. “Hello, Ward- en? I’ve got news for you. You don’t have to worry any more about Dan Bellinger. He was found dead in a rooming house | over on the other side of town. “No...no, he wasn’t.shot, He died un- der most unusual circumstances. It seems that old Mrs. Benson who runs the place, decided to call in some fumigating experts to destroy the roaches and bugs that have been making the lives of her roomers unbearable, “Well, the exterminators arrived last = evening ‘and used some new kind of poi- son, spraying it around the house. No one was to be allowed back into the house for thirty-six hours. “Seems that the fumes are as fatal to humans as they are to the bugs, In fact, the men hung a sign on the front door when they left, warning people of the danger, “What that, Warden? Oh, he crawled in a window at the back. I guess he never even saw the sign. And, Warden, when Bellinger talked in his sleep he told the . he was out gunning for a guy named Bill.” jigtime, men, With Thin Gillettes—four blades for ten — They save you dough and treat you well— And your face sure looks and feels swell! nicboo Ss (E@) m ;