Pulp Fiction, 1950 · page 29 of 132
15 Story Detective, April 1950 — page 29: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Page Description This page contains story prose from a hardboiled crime narrative titled "Two's Company—Three's a Shroud" (page 29). The narrator, a detective investigating a murder case, receives a phone call revealing that a key suspect has an alibi, forcing him to reconsider his theory. He then visits Joey Moore's apartment and discovers a hidden microphone and recording device, suggesting surveillance or blackmail. The page concludes with a vintage advertisement for Blue Star razor blades.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Two's Contpany—Three’s a Shroud his shoulder. He’s in pretty bad shape.” “1 could tell Mike how that had hap- pened —but not at the moment. His laugh- ter was sandpaper on my nerves. “What the hell’s so funny, Mike? That guy—he and Al—titled a chauffeur, stole a hun- dred grand necklace and murdered Dawn Layne. That's funny, like a broken glass sandwich.” . He was fairly roaring, now. “ You're the joke,’ he wheezed. “But don’t let me hurt your feelings. Harry Luwen couldn’t possibly have pulled that De troit job a year ago. Up until four months” ago, he was finishing off a two-year robbery stretch in San Quentin,” It wasn’t thought, as [ slowly put down the receiver.’ Al and Harry had to be the pair who pulled the robbery. That had been the’ very” key- stone of my theory. But [ couldn’t deny that Mike Sheil had touched off a charge of dynamite beneath it. { was lost. [| had to start all over again. But { still hesitated. So many pieces of the pattern had clicked that ‘I hated to [ had one more chance, There was one person, out- side of the murderer, who knew more about this case than either Mike Sheil or f, It was time to call on Joey’ Moore. The Sheridan-Plaza is one lof those gray brick-and-chrome, of glass, apartinient houses southeast of Melrose and Vine. It’s no longer an exclusive dis- passible, | throw the whole thing away. lots ee trict, but you don’t-get an apartment there for bottle taps. Joey Moare’s place, ac- *cording to the neatly printed directory, was on the third of fiye floors I knocked, then pushed, and the door - swung wide. The noonday sunheht: was streaming in the hig window. It was still, and peacelul There was no one in the tastefully furnished living room, -and empty. The hedroom was empty, too [ sniffed rettes, moment There was an odor of -civa- - Joey must have stepped out for a { sat down behind the «kneehole desk to wait. There the desk Joey wasn't the mast original guy m the world, { thought. But he thought of most of the angles. [ was fidting around, was a stack of humar hooks an just looking, when [ noticed a thick, black rubber cord trailing out of the top desk drawer. Tf [ was going to stop being curious, | might as well stop being a detective. I slid the drawer open, and gazed with sharp sur- prise on the small microphone nestled there. STILL didn’t understand, until TL. traced the rubber cord behind the floar- length window curtains and into the hed- room. Then the blood pounded hard through my face. The machine, a gray, metal box: about the size of an overnight bag, was on the floor behind the door. MOLY SA SAVING SHAVES For Men with Tough Whiskers PRODUCTS AMERICAN SAFETY RAZOR CORP., BKLYN 1, N.Y, Now Finest Single or Double Edge BLUE STEEL | Blades in handy DISPENSER 10 for 25¢ SINGLE EDGE CORMICLOOOKS. 29).