5 Detective Novels Magazine Cover — page 90: what you’re looking at

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

90 I turned to find Judy standing over me, her face so white that her lips looked as if they were made of red wax. The package of papers was clutched to her bosom, pressed there tightly. I stared at the package, wondering what good it was, now that both Van Doan and Peyton were dead. I wasn’t foolish enough to believe that without someone in authority to back her up, the girl had a chance with the governor. Feet made sudden noise on the porch. Judy twisted, and I thought for an in- stant that she was going to run. I wanted to run myself. My first thought was that it was the police. But it wasn’t. Tom Martin was standing in the door- way, his dark face taut, a drawn gun in his hand. There were three men be- hind him—men who were only shadows at the moment. He came in, his legs stiff, walking in a kind of crouch. I’ve seen killers before, and I knew I was facing one now. “Where’s Van Doan, Mike?” His tone expressed no surprise at seeing me—nothing. His men came in behind him. One carried a shotgun, its barrels cut off until they extended only a half dozen inches beyond the trigger guard. The other two had automatics. V F OR answer to Tom Martin, I pulled Judy Garron to one side. He started when he saw the body, then he stepped forward and spat directly into the dead man’s face. Something in the gesture brought rage pumping up through me. I’d never known Van Doan in life. The only time I’d seen him had been when he’d had a gun trained on my wishbone, but if it hadn’t been for the girl, I would have smashed my fist into Martin’s face. As it was, I held a check rein on my- self. I knew that if I started anything, we didn’t have a chance. These men weren't there for fun. “What did you want with him?” I asked as coolly as I could. Martin turned his dark eyes toward me. “I was going to stop his lying sheet. You kill him?” I shook my head. “Did she?” He jerked his thumb to- FIVE DETECTIVE NOVELS MAGAZINE ward the girl. Again I shook my head. He grinned crookedly, but it wasn’t from mirth. “Then both of you had better make tracks out of here. If the cops find you, you'll be tagged.” “We haven’t done anything, Tom,” I sald. : He laughed, and it was one of the coldest sounds I have ever heard. “What difference does that. make?” he demanded. “There’s a kid sitting up in the death house that’s going to die at sunrise tomorrow unless you do some- thing to stop it. As long as you keep horsing around, there’s the bare chance that he won’t die, so they’ll tag you if you don’t move out.” I studied him, trying to figure where he fitted into the picture. “Look, Tom, you know me. You know that I’ve got a lot of friends among the drill crews and wildcatters. I haven’t had time to look them up since I hit town, but a bunch of them are around, and if Mike Foster yells, they’ll come running. It will take more than a bunch of cops to push me around.” He shrugged. “It’s not my fight, Mike. I’m just advising you to get out of town, fast. Come on, boys.” They tramped out, and I looked across at the girl. I was beginning to get an idea. Someone wanted Charley Garron to hang, wanted it badly enough to kill Peyton and then Van Doan. The more I thought of it, the sorer I got. Judy had the evidence to win a reprieve, at least. That was, if we could make the governor listen, but evidently Reed, her lawyer, hadn’t had any luck. Then, too, the chief of police was dead out at her house, which wouldn’t make the rest of the police love either of us. Whatever we did, we’d have to do quick. Why had the chief been killed? It didn’t seem to make sense. My eyes were on the package the girl still held, and I was thinking that if Van Doan or Peyton were still alive to call the governor, they might at least get a stay of execution. But they weren’t alive. I looked at the body and then at the room beyond, then turned to the girl. “Listen, Judy, does Petie Smith have any pull at the state capital?” GoOMmiGcdoo ‘a S (C(O) mM