"Murder or Suicide, It Is Still Impossible!"

TODAY we return to our favorite literary thaumaturgist, John Dickson Carr (JDC), and our favorite British cop, Colonel March, "head of D3 Department at Scotland Yard, better known as the Department of Queer Complaints," as together they disassemble the mystery of . . .

"The Lion's Paw."

(a.k.a. "Error at Daybreak").

By Carter Dickson (John Dickson Carr, 1906-77; Wikipedia HERE; the ISFDb HERE; the IMDb HERE; Wikipedia HERE).

First appearance: The Strand Magazine, July 1938.

Reprints page (ISFDb HERE).

Collected in (The) Department of Queer Complaints (1940; ISFDb HERE).

Reprinted in EQMM, July 1967 (today's text).

Short story (13 pages).

Online at The Luminist Archives (HERE; go to text page 51.)

   "I'm afraid this is murder."

"There had to be an independent witness." And let's not forget a body. A murder just doesn't seem like a murder without a body. Ask the "independent witness": "For 'unsuspicious,' he said, read 'imbecile'. . ."

Main characters:

~ Bill Stacey ("Murdered? How could he have been murdered?"), Norman Kane ("You traitor"), Marion Kane ("I have looked up to him all my life"), Dr. Hastings ("Yes, he's dead right enough; but possibly not for the reason you think"), Lionel Pell ("I was in bed and asleep when it happened"), Superintendent Morgan ("Because it's an impossible thing you tell us"), and Colonel March ("there are one or two things here that are rather in my line").

References and resources:

- "Those air rifles":

  Definitely not a child's toy:

  "An air gun or airgun is a gun that uses energy from compressed air or other gases that are mechanically pressurized and then released to propel and accelerate projectiles, similar to the principle of the primitive blowgun. This is in contrast to a firearm, which shoots projectiles using energy generated via exothermic combustion (detonation) of chemical propellants, most often black powder or smokeless powder." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "Other financiers have been known to do it":

  NOTE: DO NOT GO TO THESE SITES UNTIL YOU'VE READ THE STORY! Examples from long ago would include Timothy Dexter (Wikipedia HERE) and William Goodwin Geddes (Mental Floss No. 4 HERE).

- "there was no pulse":

  NOTE: DO NOT GO TO THIS SITE UNTIL YOU'VE READ THE STORY! A magician explains how it's done in detail (Nathan Tr!cky Allen WARNING! SPOILERS! HERE).

- "The stranger weighed some 250 pounds and his waterproof made him seem even larger":

  Our author's description of Colonel March seems to be at variance with the actor who played him on television (HERE), especially the eyepatch.

- If you're in the mood for another "impossible crime"—but one not solved by JDC—then consult John Sladek's tongue-in-cheek "The Locked Room: Another Fenton Worth Mystery" (HERE).

- Amazing. It was over five years ago now that we examined JDC's classic "The Third Bullet" featuring Dr. Gideon Fell (HERE).

Unless otherwise noted, all bibliographical data are derived from The FictionMags Index created by William G. Contento & edited by Phil Stephensen-Payne.

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