Astounding Science Fiction, August 1955 (British Edition) — page 93: what you’re looking at

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

TIME CRIME 91 the aircar was dead, too, and so was the all-important witness, Salgath Trod —as dead as Nebu-hin-Abenoz, a hundred thousand parayears away. The whole thing had ended within thirty seconds; for about half as long, everybody waited, poised in a sort of action-vacuum, for something else to happen. Dalla had dropped the shoulder-bag with which she had clubbed the prisoner’s needler out of his hand, and caught up the fallen weapon. When she saw that the man was down and motionless, she laid it aside and began picking up the glittering or silken trifles that had spilled from the burst bag. Vall retrieved his own weapon, glanced over it, and holstered it. Sothran Barth, the lieutenant in charge of the landing stage, was bawling orders, and men were coming out of the ready-room and piling into vehicles to pursue the aircar which had brought the assassins. “Barth!” Vall called. ‘“‘Have you a hypodermic and a sleep-drug ampoule? Well, give this boy a shot; he’s only impact-stunned. Be careful of him; he’s important.” He glanced around the landing stage. ‘‘Fact is, he’s all we have to show for this business.’’ Then he stooped to help Dalla gather her things, picking up a few of them —a lighter, a tiny crystal perfume flask, miraculously unbroken, a face- powder box which had sprung open and spilled half its contents. He handed them to her, while Sothran Barth bent over the prisoner and gave him an injection, then went to the body of the other pseudo-policeman, forcing open his mouth. In his cheek, still unbroken, was a second capsule, which he added to the first. Tortha Karf was watching him. “Same gang that killed that Carera slaver on Esaron Sector?” he asked. “Of course, exactly the same general procedure. Let’s have a look at the other one.” The man in Proletarian dress must have had his capsule between his molars when he had been killed; it was broken, and there was a brownish discoloration and chemical odor in his mouth. ‘Second time we’ve had a witness killed off under our noses.”’ Tortha Karf said. ““We’re going to have to smarten up in a hurry.” ‘“Here’s one of us who doesn’t have to, much,” Vall said, nodding toward Dalla. ‘‘She knocked a needler out of one man’s hand, and we took him alive. The Force owes her a new shoulder-bag; she spoiled that one using it for a club.” ‘Best shoulder-bag we can find you, Dalla,” Tortha Karf promised. “You're promoted, herewith, to Special Chief’s Assistant’s Special Assistant — You know, this Organization murder section is good; they could kill any- body. It won’t be long before they assign a squad to us. Blast it, I don’t want to have to go around bodyguarded like a Fourth Level dictator, but—”’ A detective came out of the control room and approached. ‘Screen call for you, sir,” he told Tortha Karf. “One of the news services wants a comment on a story they’ve just picked up that we’ve illegally arrested Councilman Salgath and are holding him incommunicado and searching his apartment.” : ‘“That’s the Organization,” Vall said. ‘““They don’t know how their boys made out; they’re hoping we’ll tell them.” : J PINS Cconniclooolksscomn