"Oh, It’s True! Santa Claus Is Dead!"

LET'S KICK OFF the Yuletide season with a story about someone who would dare assassinate Santa Claus (the cur!) and another one featuring one of those perfect 

crimes that somehow fail to achieve perfection. Both stories overlap each other 

in the same magazine issue, so you won't have to go far for the second one.

(1) "A Slay for Santa Claus."

By Davisson Lough (?-?).

First appearance: 10-Story Detective, February 1946.

Short story (9 pages).

Online at Archive.org (starts HERE and finishes HERE).

(Note: Text faded but legible.)

   "Aw nuts!"

WHEN SANTA CLAUS gets gunned down on a busy street full of Christmas Eve shoppers, somehow nobody sees it. Police Detective Wilson Cory almost does when he arrives just moments later. What Cory doesn't anticipate is that Old Saint Nick's untimely demise isn't a robbery attempt but the result of a long and involved custody dispute, and he definitely doesn't suspect that before the night is over there'll be another murder and, curmudgeon 

that he is notwithstanding, a heart-warming reconciliation . . .

Comment: With his addiction to cigars even when he's on the job, Cory seems to prefigure a certain shabby LAPD detective; and with a clue etched in glass, we can't help thinking of another detective who specialized in dying clues.

Principal characters:

~ "Santa Claus" ("It's just some old man"), Detective Wilson Cory ("thought they sang a little too sadly and just a bit off key"), Detective Spuggler ("I threw its hat in the wind"), Dr. Armin Thomsen ("After I returned home tonight and had put the car away, the killer tried it again"), Olun Thomsen ("It didn't cut any ice with me"), Handy Andy Laggard ("was out to get something for nothing, but this time it worked the other way around"), Roy Bubb ("This is where she lived and died"), and Mrs. Rose ("Some scabby heel had walked out on her").

References and resources:

- "the dip nearly got caught":

  The holidays usually see a population explosion of this particular variety of criminals (Wikipedia HERE).

- "Eccentric dancing, I think it’s called":

  "The style was used in stage performances such as minstrel shows, music hall or vaudeville. Dance styles which used eccentric moves and encouraged improvisation, such as the Charleston, became popular crazes in the 1920s." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "O, what may man within him hide,

  "Though angel on the outward side":

  From Measure for Measure, Act 3, Scene 2 (HERE).

- "spent three cents for a newspaper":

  "The business model of having advertising subsidize the cost of printing and distributing newspapers (and, it is always hoped, the making of a profit) rather than having subscribers cover the full cost was first done, it seems, in 1833 by The Sun, a daily paper that was published in New York City. Rather than charging 6 cents per copy, the price of a typical New York daily at the time, they charged 1-cent and depended on advertising to make up the difference." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- Davisson Lough's FictionMags listing is pretty short (nv = novelette; ss = short story):

  "The Slay Must Go On," (nv) New Detective Magazine, January 1946

  "A Slay for Santa Claus," (ss) 10-Story Detective Magazine, February 1946 (above)

  "You Can’t Kill Me Twice," (ss) 10-Story Detective Magazine, July 1947.

(2) "Crime Slips a Cog."

By Bill Morgan (?-?).

First appearance: 10-Story Detective, February 1946.

Reprinted in Cavalcade (Australia), August 1951.

Short short story (4 pages).

Online at Archive.org (HERE; go to text page 67).

(Note: Text faded but readable.)

   "Five minutes: ample time to be somewhere else and have an airtight alibi rigged up."

Self-justification is so easy, isn't it?

  "The idea of murder was one he'd never contemplated before. Only it wouldn't be murder, he told himself. Not by any means. Murder was something you associated with tabloid newspapers, with fingerprinted guns, and with poisons the police could trace by autopsy. This was something else again, an accident, pure and simple. Neither clues nor suspicion to arouse the Law. What had happened accidentally to one man could happen to another . . ."

Of course. Just an accident . . .

Principal characters:

~ Earl Fannin ("A pattern of sweat beads gleamed on Fannin’s upper lip as he thought about it"), Eileen Kelsey ("Once when I opened my eyes he was standing over me"), Ben Kelsey ("had been home for three frightening days"), and Whitey Dunn ("There's your man!").

References and resources:

- "stared resentfully at the assembly belt that crawled endlessly":

  "The massive demand for military hardware in World War II prompted assembly-line techniques in shipbuilding and aircraft production. Thousands of Liberty ships were built making extensive use of prefabrication, enabling ship assembly to be completed in weeks or even days. After having produced fewer than 3,000 planes for the United States Military in 1939, American aircraft manufacturers built over 300,000 planes in World War II. Vultee pioneered the use of the powered assembly line for aircraft manufacturing. Other companies quickly followed. As William S. Knudsen (having worked at Ford, GM and the National Defense Advisory Commission) observed, 'We won because we smothered the enemy in an avalanche of production, the like of which he had never seen, nor dreamed possible.'

  . . . "Sociological work has explored the social alienation and boredom that many workers feel because of the repetition of doing the same specialized task all day long." (Wikipedia HERE.) But we're pretty sure that Earl's resentment is fueled by more than "sociological" reasons.

- "those returned soldiers were tough customers"; "back from the Pacific"; "a post-war nest egg"; "shrapnel groove":

  Indirect references to the recently ended Second World War. (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "the arm of the drill press":

  "Bench and floor-standing drills are powerful and dangerous machines, and work accidents are more common than many people think. Getting stuck in the machine can result in lost fingers or arms. Therefore it is recommended to not wear gloves, clothes with long sleeves or have long hair hanging while working." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- Job-related murders form the nuclei of several stories: Isaac Asimov's "The Billiard Ball" (HERE), L. A. G. Strong's "The Clue That Wasn't There" (HERE), and Randall Garrett's "Stroke of Genius" (HERE). And then there's the one about a worker robot, Dan Morgan's "Insecurity Risk" (HERE), as well as a workplace "accident" in space, John Brunner's "Puzzle for Spacemen" (HERE).

- Beginning in 1944, Bill Morgan seems to have produced only fiction for the crime pulps (ss = short story):

  "Cancel the Camouflage," (ss) Thrilling Detective, March 1944

  "Valley of Vengeance," (ss) Thrilling Detective, July 1944

  "No Hits, No Aryans," (ss) Popular Detective, August 1944

  "Blood Over the Dam," (ss) Ten Detective Aces, November 1944

  "Hairbreadth Homicide," (ss) 10-Story Detective Magazine, August 1945

  "Death Paints a Poster," (ss) Ten Detective Aces, September 1945

  "A Corsage for the Corpse," (ss) Thrilling Detective, January 1946

  "Murder Off the Record," (ss) Ten Detective Aces, January 1946

  "Crime Slips a Cog," (ss) 10-Story Detective Magazine, February 1946 (above)

  "The Big Red Splash," (ss) 10-Story Detective Magazine, September 1946

  "Killer’s Cargo," (ss) Mystery Book Magazine, Spring 1948.

The bottom line:

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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"Sawdust on the Floor"

TODAY'S STORY was a commemorative republication in Blue Book in honor of the author, who had just passed away a few months earlier. The story introduces a character who starred in Blue Book in more than 40 adventures over 13 years. That explains why the magazine's editors altered the title to . . .

"Enter: Tiny David."

(Original title: "The Gilman Case").

Corporal Edward "Tiny" David No. 1.

By Robert R. Mill (1895-1942; Pulpflakes HERE).

First appearance: The Blue Book, July 1929.

Reprinted in Blue Book, October 1942 (today's text).

Short short story (6 pages).

Online at Archive.org (HERE).

   "A super-cop has certain privileges."

THREE DEATHS, two bullets, one conflagration, and zero suspects. That's the situation confronting Corporal Edward David of the Black Horse Troop of the New York State Police when he arrives in Tranquil Lake. He makes notes about the victims, all siblings:

  "Gilman brothers lived alone. Had office on first floor of house. Insurance and investments. Also played stock market. Regarded as close and universally disliked. No friends. No known association with women. All regarded as wealthy. Recreations, golf and target shooting. Brothers were apparently on best of terms."

While all three were "universally disliked," however, only one of them loses his mojo as a stock market "oracle," disappointing others who've invested a load of money in the market, and pays the ultimate price. It's up to Corporal David to find out who those "others" are while at the same time saving the reputation of the Black Horse Troop . . .

Main characters:

~ Warren Gilman, Nathan Gilman, and Elmer Gilman ("Maybe suicide and murder; or maybe just murder"), Corporal Edward David ("it's a wholesale killing!"), Trooper Henry Linton ("Linny, there are times when your name should be Ninny"), Chief Edward McCormick ("Then you wiped out the best, and maybe the only clue"), District Attorney Jerome Sellers ("I made a hasty preliminary investigation"), John Small ("Reckon I be a thousand years old"), Dr. A. D. Prince ("Death was instantaneous in both cases"), Albert James ("These bullets were fired from this gun"), George Knight ("of the Star"), Jess Putnam ("he owns me body and soul"), William North ("He hands out cards"), Peter Wilson ("His lips moved, but no sound came from them"), and Captain Field ("We merely wish to end the bungling that has existed in certain quarters").

References and resources:

- "You may have been to France":

  An oblique reference to Corporal David's military service in the First World War.

- "Ain't we got fun?":

  The little song that Linton sings is a parody of a popular tune of the era with the same title:

  "'Ain't We Got Fun?' and its jaunty response to poverty and its promise of fun ('Every morning / Every evening,' and 'In the meantime, / In between time') have become symbolic of the Roaring Twenties, and it appears in some of the major literature of the decade, including The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and in Dorothy Parker's award-winning short story of 1929, 'Big Blonde'." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- Other stories with a stock market connection: Edwin Lefèvre's The Plunderers (HERE), the nonfictional "Guarding Wall Street Against Thieves" (HERE), and Arthur B. Reeve's "The Mystery of the Vault" (HERE).

- Note: The last original Tiny David story was "Cracked Ice" in Blue Book, September 1942.

- Other Tiny David stories that we've looked at: "Murder on the Island" and "Murder at Dark Lake" (both HERE) and "Bank Night" (HERE).

- Other Robert R. Mill stories not featuring Tiny David: "Jail-Bait" (HERE) and "Mrs. Murder" (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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Miscellaneous Monday—Number Thirty-nine

WHEN IT COMES to thorough research, especially with regard to detective fiction, today's author has proven quite capable. Acting as a sort of literary archaeologist, he has unearthed information about detecfic that would otherwise have remained buried in history's catacombs. In this brief overview essay, Gruesser traces and explains why there was in the early 20th century a concerted push at . . .

"Codifying Detection — Collections of, Apologies for, and Criticism on Detective Fiction, 1900-1930."

By John Gruesser.

Sam Houston State University, Department Member.

Essay (7 pages).

Online at Academia.edu (HERE).

LIKE SCIENCE FICTION, which was to emerge as a distinctive genre a generation later, detective fiction had to work at gaining respectability. Detecfic had already achieved wide popularity with the public at large (unlike SF, which started out as a niche genre), and it only remained for the movers and shakers in the publishing world to secure it as a worthwhile pursuit.

  BETWEEN 1900 and 1930, steps were taken on both sides of the Atlantic to delineate, defend, organize, and popularize detective fiction through the publication of articles, introductions, collections, and anthologies, resulting in the construction of a genealogy for the genre.

  Scholars, editors, and collectors, including Brander Matthews, William Patten, Julian Hawthorne, and E. M. Wrong, were joined by writers, such as G. K. Chesterton, Arthur Reeve, Carolyn Wells, S. S. Van Dine, and Dorothy Sayers, in an effort to specify what detection was, when it arose, how it developed, who made significant contributions to it, and why it deserved to be read and studied.

  Anthologies began to appear at the turn of the twentieth century, and Edgar Allan Poe received credit for founding the form and influencing French and English authors, and, through them, American detective and mystery writers.

  The response to the appearance of hard-boiled writing in pulp magazines beginning in the early 1920s, however, subverted attempts to define detection narrowly, and by the end of the decade this upstart subgenre reached a significant peak with the publication of Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon at roughly the same time that many of the key practitioners of what would come to be known as classic detection were promulgating a strict code for the writing of such stories and actively attempting to police the form.

The next generation, however, was waiting for its chance to introduce its own set of standards:

  Assessing the genre of detective fiction at the middle of the twentieth century, Raymond Chandler celebrated its "fluid" and "various" nature, the form's inherent ability, as he saw it, to defy "easy classification."

  No fan of what he called the "deductive" variety of detection, Chandler, in his statement, takes aim, at least in part, at the previous generation of detective and mystery writers, who, while participating in the effort to establish detective fiction as a literary genre with a traceable history, sought to limit it by means of a rigid set of rules of "fair play."

References and resources:

Our author covers a lot of territory, so we offer just a few items for further research:

- "CONAN DOYLE didn't invent the modern fictional detective; that honor goes to Edgar Allan Poe. Doyle took Poe's template, however, and expanded it into new literary dimensions that Poe didn't explore . . ." (HERE).

- "Generations of detective story readers and writers owe a great deal to Edgar Allan Poe." (HERE).

- ". . . given the culture which the Victorians evolved, mystery and detective fiction as we've come to know them were inevitable . . . " (HERE).

- ". . .  if modern writers are going to ignore the existence of crime, as so many of them already ignore the existence of sin, then modern writing will get duller than ever." (HERE).

- "SUPERCILIOUS persons who profess to have a high regard for the dignity of 'literature' are loath to admit that detective stories belong to the category of serious writing." (HERE).

- The Long Arm and Other Detective Stories (HERE).

- Great Short Stories: A New Collection of Famous Examples from the Literatures of France, England and America (HERE).

- Library of the World's Best Mystery and Detective Stories (HERE).

- ". . . Poe's Dupin is the father of Sherlock Holmes; his 'analytical reasoning' is the forerunner of 'deduction.' If we re-imported Poe in the vastly inferior form of the dime novel from France, we re-imported him in a vastly better form as Sherlock Holmes from England." (HERE).

- "There is, however, between a good detective story and a bad detective story as much, or, rather more, difference than there is between a good epic and a bad one. Not only is a detective story a perfectly legitimate form of art, but it has certain definite and real advantages as an agent of the public weal." (HERE).

- "I am perfectly willing to admit that the pure detective story is extremely rare . . ." (HERE).

- "Brief comments about Brander Matthews's then-new article about Poe, and the rules of the game, if there are any, when it comes to detective fiction." (HERE).

- "We have read and enjoyed mystery and horror for years, and the faint air of apology with which people show the title of a detective story when asked what they are reading seems to us an affectation, and a confession of the most poisonous form of pseudo-intellectual snobbism." (HERE).

- Masterpieces of Mystery in Four Volumes: Detective Stories (HERE).

- "The argument that incredible situations and amazing coincidences are the commonplaces of everyday life will not avail. Truth is stranger than fiction; but fiction dare not be as strange as truth." (HERE).

- We've already considered John Gruesser's "Illustrating Poe's Detection" (HERE).

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"This Kind of Thing Robs Detective Work of All Its Intellectual Charms"

TIME AFTER TIME H. G. Wells demonstrated that he was far more capable as a literary man than a political reformer and lay preacher. One early example of what we mean would have to be . . .

"The Thumbmark."

By H. G. Wells (1866-1946; Wikipedia HERE; the ISFDb HERE; the SFE HERE; and the IMDb HERE). 

First appearance: Pall Mall Budget, 28 June 1894.

Reprints page (ISFDb HERE).

Short story (12 pages as a PDF).

Online at Roy Glashan's Library (RGL) (HERE).

   "You know we scientific people are rather fond of problems of evidence."

A POLICE INSPECTOR'S house goes up in flames, and the first thing people think of is that it must be the work of Anarchists. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries the violent activities of Anarchists are on almost everybody's mind. A mild-mannered chemistry prof sets out to prove how the arson was done, but it doesn't seem to occur to him that his scientific investigation could make him a target . . .

Principal characters:

~ Professor Somerset Smith and his chemistry class: Chabôt, Wilderspin, Porch, Askin, and Mason; Inspector Bulstrode (in absentia); and a very unwelcome intruder.

References and resources:

- "Great Anarchist outrage!":

  "Anarchists employ diverse approaches, which may be generally divided into revolutionary and evolutionary strategies; there is significant overlap between the two. Evolutionary methods try to simulate what an anarchist society might be like, but revolutionary tactics, which have historically taken a violent turn, aim to overthrow authority and the state. Many facets of human civilization have been influenced by anarchist theory, critique, and praxis." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "phosphorus dissolved in carbon bisulphide":

  "The name Phosphorus in Ancient Greece was the name for the planet Venus and is derived from the Greek words (φῶς = light, φέρω = carry), which roughly translates as light-bringer or light carrier." (Wikipedia HERE and Wikisource HERE.)

- "a far better physiognomist":

  "Physiognomy (from the Greek φύσις, 'physis', meaning 'nature', and 'gnomon', meaning 'judge' or 'interpreter') or face reading is the practice of assessing a person's character or personality from their outer appearance—especially the face." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "a bottle of starch mucilage":

  "Mucilage is a thick gluey substance produced by nearly all plants and some micro-organisms." (Wikipedia HERE.)

  "Psyllium has been used as a thickener in ice cream and other frozen desserts. A 1.5% weight/volume ratio of psyllium mucilage exhibits binding properties that are superior 

to a 10% weight/volume ratio of starch mucilage." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "You may have heard of Professor Galton":

  "In a Royal Institution paper in 1888 and three books (Finger Prints, 1892; Decipherment of Blurred Finger Prints, 1893; and Fingerprint Directories, 1895), [Sir Francis] Galton estimated the probability of two persons having the same fingerprint and studied the heritability and racial differences in fingerprints. He wrote about the technique (inadvertently sparking a controversy between Herschel and Faulds that was to last until 1917), identifying common pattern in fingerprints and devising a classification system that survives to this day. He described and classified them into eight broad categories: 1: plain arch, 2: tented arch, 3: simple loop, 4: central pocket loop, 5: double loop, 6: lateral pocket loop, 7: plain whorl, and 8: accidental." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "He has published a book of his prints":

  Galton's book saw print two years before our story:

  "Using statistical methods, he [Galton] showed that the possibility of fingerprints of two different people being identical is nearly zero. This result made it possible to identify a person from his fingerprints. This method of identifying criminals was accepted in the judiciary." (Wikipedia HERE and galton.org HERE.)

- "bowled over a Bunsen burner":

  "A Bunsen burner, named after Robert Bunsen, is a kind of ambient air gas burner used as laboratory equipment; it produces a single open gas flame, and is used for heating, sterili-zation, and combustion." (Wikipedia HERE.)

(Click on image to enlarge.)

- "a bottle of sulphuric acid":

  Bad news if it's hurled in your direction:

  "Sulfuric acid is capable of causing very severe burns, especially when it is at high concentrations. In common with other corrosive acids and alkali, it readily decomposes proteins and lipids through amide and ester hydrolysis upon contact with living tissues, 

such as skin and flesh." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "A small bottle of hydrochloric acid":

  What goes for a bottle of sulphuric acid goes for this as well:

  "Being a strong acid, hydrochloric acid is corrosive to living tissue and to many materials, but not to rubber. Typically, rubber protective gloves and related protective gear are used when handling concentrated solutions. Vapors or mists are a respiratory hazard, which can be partially mitigated by use of a respirator equipped with cartridges specifically designed to capture hydrochloric acid. Airborne acid is an irritant to the eyes and may require the use of protective goggles or a facemask." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "that most unendurable gas, sulphuretted hydrogen":

  "Hydrogen sulfide is a highly toxic and flammable gas (flammable range: 4.3–46%). It can poison several systems in the body, although the nervous system is most affected . . . Although very pungent at first (it smells like rotten eggs), it quickly deadens the sense of smell, creating temporary anosmia, so victims may be unaware of its presence until it is 

too late." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "the ammonium sulphide":

  "Aqueous solutions of ammonium sulfide, also known as diammonium sulfide, are commercially available, although the composition of these solutions is uncertain as they could consist of a mixture of ammonia and [NH4]SH. Ammonium sulfide solutions are 

used occasionally in photographic developing, to apply patina to bronze, and in textile manufacturing." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "white clouds of ammonium chloride":

  "Ammonium chloride was used in pyrotechnics in the 18th century but was superseded by safer and less hygroscopic chemicals. Its purpose was to provide a chlorine donor to enhance the green and blue colours from copper ions in the flame. It had a secondary use to provide white smoke, but its ready double decomposition reaction with potassium chlorate producing the highly unstable ammonium chlorate made its use very dangerous." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- The works of Herbert George Wells have caught our notice from time to time:

   - The Poison Belt, with updated links (HERE)

   - The Time Machine, The Invisible Man, and The War of the Worlds (all HERE)

   - "The Man Who Seemed to Know Too Much" (HERE)

   - "A Contemporary Reaction to THE TIME MACHINE" (HERE)

   - "The Chronic Argonauts" (HERE)

   - "The Stolen Bacillus: A Tale of Anarchy" and "The Hammerpond Park Burglary" (both HERE)

   - and The War of the Worlds, the deluxe RGL Edition (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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"If I Told Them the Truth, They Would Simply Lock Me Up As Insane"

IT WAS Robert Heinlein, if memory doesn't fail, who asserted that the main difference between science fiction and fantasy is the difference between Karl Marx and Groucho Marx: similar in name but very different in substance. In today's story, our author threads that line between Karl and Groucho with . . .

"Martie and I."

By Miriam Allen deFord (1888-1975; Wikipedia HERE; the ISFDb HERE; the SFE HERE; and the IMDb HERE).

First appearance: Fantasy and Science Fiction, February 1956.

Short story (11 pages).

Online at SFFAudio (HERE).

   "I know—I keep putting off telling it. It's so weird I wouldn't believe it myself if somebody else told me about it. But it did happen, and I'm not crazy."

WHENEVER someone goes missing it's usually resolved with a rational explanation, such as, but not limited to, kidnapping, amnesia, skipping out on big debts, an unhappy marriage, or, saddest of all, death. When Martie disappears, though, only her grandmother knows that there's no way an ordinary, rational explanation is going to account for it . . .

Main characters:

~ Mrs. Newcomb, the narrator ("But nobody, nobody on earth would believe me"), Martie ("What worries me is, I know too much"), the chief ("That's not the girl!"), and the man with the pistol ("don't open your mouth or I'll shoot").

References and resources:

- "Leghorn hat":

  "leghorn: fine plaited straw. Leghorn hat: a hat made of leghorn."

"The Leghorn Hat" by Roswell T. Weidner

- "You can see how long ago it was!":

   When this story first saw print deFord was 68.

- "white slavers":

  "Noun (archaic): A person who tricks or forces a white woman into prostitution."

  "White slavery (also white slave trade or white slave trafficking) refers to the enslavement of any of the world's European ethnic groups throughout human history, whether perpetrated by non-Europeans or by other Europeans." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "a single closed car":

  "The vintage era lasted from the end of World War I (1918) until the Wall Street Crash at the end of 1929. During this period, the front-engine car layout dominated, with closed bodies and standardized controls becoming the norm. In 1919, 90 percent of cars sold were open; by 1929, 90 percent were closed." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "my silver chatelaine watch":

  "A chatelaine is a decorative belt hook or clasp worn at the waist with a series of chains suspended from it. Each chain is mounted with useful household appendages such as scissors, thimbles, watches, keys, smelling salts, and household seals." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "it was a trap":

  "A trap, pony trap (sometimes pony and trap) or horse trap is a light, often sporty, two-wheeled or sometimes four-wheeled horse- or pony-drawn carriage, usually accommodating two to four persons in various seating arrangements, such as face-to-face or back-to-back. In the eighteenth century, the first carriage to be called a trap was a gig with a hinged trap door, under which was a place to carry a dog. In late nineteenth century USA, four-wheeled dog carts with convertible seats also started to become known as traps." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "two ladies who visited Versailles, in France":

  "The Moberly–Jourdain incident (also the Ghosts of Petit Trianon or Versailles, French: les fantômes du Trianon / les fantômes de Versailles) is a claim of time travel and hauntings made by Charlotte Anne Moberly (1846–1937) and Eleanor Jourdain (1863–1924).

  "In 1911, Moberly and Jourdain published a book entitled An Adventure under the names of 'Elizabeth Morison' and 'Frances Lamont.' Their book describes a visit they made to the Petit Trianon, a small château in the grounds of the Palace of Versailles, where they claimed to have seen the gardens as they had been in the late eighteenth century, as well as ghosts, including Marie Antoinette and others. Their story caused a sensation and was subject to much ridicule." (Wikipedia HERE.) This explains the editor's headnote comments.

- Luckily for her, Mrs. Newcomb didn't have this problem:

- Miriam Allen deFord had the knack that all writers cherish, the ability to hold the reader's attention. Previous deFord appearances on ONTOS: "The Eel" (HERE), as well as "The Absolutely Perfect Murder" and "Murder in the Transcontinental Tunnel" (both HERE).

The bottom line:

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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"You've Been Reading Too Many of Those Nero Wolfe Stories"

AS WE'VE TOLD you several times already, the success of a parody or a pastiche depends largely on the reader's familiarity with the author and/or the works being parodied or pastiched. If, therefore, you're not familiar with the author who invented Nero Wolfe or his oeuvre, you might not get as much as you could from . . .

"The Woman Who Read Rex Stout."

By William Brittain (1930-2011; Wikipedia HERE and HERE; Mike Grost's megasite HERE).

First appearance: EQMM, July 1966.

(Note: Immediately followed by Stout's "The Dazzle Dan Murder Case" on page 99.)

Reprinted in The Misadventures of Nero Wolfe (2020; for sale HERE; GoodReads reviews HERE).

Short short story (6 pages).

Online at The Luminist Archives (HERE; go to text page 93.)

(Note: Text faded but legible. May need magnification.)

   "What kind of a screwball would murder a girl like Lili and leave a message like that?"

THE SNAKE CHARMER in a traveling carnival is strangled, and there isn't a suspicious-looking boa constrictor in sight. One of the carnies decides to adopt the sleuthing methods of a well-upholstered Montenegrin and ferret out the murderer. While it seems like a long shot, remember what Yogi said: It isn't over until the You-Know-Who sings—or, in this case, nails the perp . . .

Principal characters:

~ Robert Kirby, the narrator ("I only tip the scales at 75 pounds"), Gert ("I'm going on the assumption that the murderer is one of us"), Mel ("flipped the metal plate over in his hand"), Lili ("our snake charmer"), Ferdie ("our strongman"), Zeno ("The sword swallower"), Cal ("our Flatbush-born Swami"), and Sammy (the fire-eater).

References and resources:

- "Over My Dead Body":

  "In Over My Dead Body Rex Stout begins to explore Wolfe's Montenegrin background. By 1939, of course, the Wolfe/Goodwin books had become an established series, but Wolfe's youth had yet to be clarified. Stout starts to do so in this book by bringing in a number of European visitors, including some from Montenegro; the backdrop is the maneuvers of the Axis and Allied powers to dominate Yugoslavia." (WARNING! SPOILERS! Wikipedia HERE.)

- "a carnival side show":

  "In 1893, the Chicago's World's Columbian Exposition (also called the Chicago World's Fair) was the catalyst for the development of the modern traveling carnival. The Chicago World's Fair had an area that included rides, games of chance, freak shows, and burlesque. After the Chicago World's Fair, traveling carnival companies began touring the United States. Due to the type of acts featured along with sometimes using dishonest business practices, the traveling carnivals were often looked down upon." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "Fer-de-Lance":

  "In his seminal 1941 work, Murder for Pleasure, crime fiction historian Howard Haycraft included Fer-de-Lance in his definitive list of the most influential works of mystery fiction." (WARNING! SPOILERS! Wikipedia HERE.)

- "the Ten-in-One had to stay behind":

  "The Ten-in-One offers a program of ten sequential acts under one tent for a single admission price. The ten-in-one might be partly a freak show exhibiting 'human oddities' (including 'born freaks' such as midgets, giants or persons with other deformities, or 'made freaks' like tattooed people, fat people or 'human skeletons'- extremely thin men often 'married' to the fat lady, like Isaac W. Sprague). However, for variety's sake, the acts in a ten-in-one would also include 'working acts' who would perform magic tricks or daredevil stunts. In addition, the freak show performers might also perform acts or stunts and would often sell souvenirs like 'giant's rings' or 'pitch cards' with their photos and life stories. The ten-in-one would often end in a 'blowoff' or 'ding,' an extra act not advertised on the outside, which could be viewed for an additional fee. The blowoff act would be described provocatively, often as something deemed too strong for women and children, such as pickled punks." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "the ring-toss concession":

  "Ring toss is a game where rings are tossed around a peg. It is common at amusement parks." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- We have bumped into Mr. Stout and his work a few times on ONTOS:

  (1) A Family Affair (HERE)

  (2) "Grim Fairy Tales" (HERE)

  (3) "The Christmas-Party Murder" (HERE)

  (4) "An Interview with Rex Stout" (Item 4 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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