5 Detective Novels Magazine — page 31: what you’re looking at

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

Thanks for MURDER T WAS one of those clear, blue days you get in New York before the sum- mer ceiling rolls in low and brings the high humidity and haze that nobody can sell. It gave me a mood. After parking the convertible at the curb, I went into the Clay Building on West 55th. I blew a kiss at the brunette behind the cigar counter and she said acidly: “You do that to everybody ?” “Just to females,” I countered, and made the elevator before the door closed. A Novel by TED STRATTON At the ninth floor, I told the operator: “Thanks.” “You pay for it,” he monotoned. Typewriter noise clack-clacked behind a frosted glass door that was numbered 920-928. When I entered, Miss Alice Rose sat at a desk. She had a tight mar- cel, straight lips, black dress with a de- tachable white collar to save cleaning bills, and a scowl on her fortyish face. “You look nice,” I said. “So it’s nine A.M., and what kept you (CO