Friday, March 29, 2019

"Everything Was All Right, Except for One Mistake, and He'd Come Back to Rectify That"

"The Murderer."
By Murray Leinster (Will F. Jenkins, 1896-1975) (FictionMags HERE).
Illustration by C. C. Senf (1873-1949; HERE).
First appearance: Weird Tales, January 1930.

Reprints page (HERE).
Short short story (5 pages).
Online at SFFAudio (HERE; PDF).


     "He had planned it perfectly. That was the only flaw in the whole plan, and he had only to pick up the monogrammed case of silver to be both safe and rich."

Some people just aren't cut out for murder, never mind the perfect murder . . .

Comment: This time it's the artist and not a blabbermouth editor who vitiates the mystery.

Resources:
- It's been almost exactly a year since we last considered a story by William Fitzgerald Jenkins, "Headline" (HERE), one of his numerous thrillers published under the Will F. 
Jenkins byline.
- For some reason this story makes us think of a famous tale by E.A.P. (HERE).

The bottom line:
   "We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light."
   — Plátōn

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