"After Requesting the Loan of a Magnifying Glass, Leffing Got Down on His Hands and Knees and Crawled Slowly Along the Floor."

"Were You Searched?"

By Joseph Payne Brennan (1918-90; Wikipedia HERE; Tellers of Weird Tales HERE; and the IMDb HERE).

Lucius Leffing No. 6.

First appearance: Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine, October 1965.

Reprinted in The Casebook of Lucius Leffing (ISFDb HERE).

Short short short story (4 pages).

Online at Archive.org (HERE).

   "I am not searching for crevices, Mr. Bainbridge."

SHERLOCK HOLMES was once moved to remark: "Life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent"; from it come those "strange coincidences" stemming from "wonderful chains of events" and culminating in "the most outré results." When the Mantzen diamond, valued at twenty thousand dollars, goes missing (fortuitously at just about the same time that private investigator Lucius Leffing's bank account has been nearly depleted), he will have a chance to replenish it by sorting through one of those strange coincidences coming from a wonderful chain of events that will lead to a solution that is splendidly elementary . . .

Main characters (present or mentioned):

~ Lucius Leffing, Brennan, Gerald Mantzen, Lionel Bainbridge, Mr. Steiger, Mr. Harlend, and Mr. Cassman.

Resource:

- Although Joseph Payne Brennan was very prolific in pulpdom, producing nearly two dozen adventures featuring Lucius Leffing alone, we weren't impressed with Leffing's nineteenth adventure (HERE).

The bottom line:

By John Longstaff

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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Testing! Testing!

"Examination Day."

By Henry Slesar (1927-2002; Wikipedia HERE; the ISFDb HERE; the SFE HERE; and the IMDb HERE).
Filmed for TV in 1985 (IMDb HERE).

First appearance: Playboy, February 1958.

Illustration by Leon Bishop.
Reprints page (ISFDb HERE).

Short short short story (2 pages).
Online at SFFaudio (HERE or transcribed HERE).

   "It's just to make sure you answer the questions truthfully. Not that the Government thinks you won't tell the truth, but this stuff makes sure."

WHEN was the last time you took a test? Was it anything like this? "Lights appeared on the machine, and a mechanism whirred. A voice said: 'Complete this sequence. One, four, seven, ten . . .'"

Principal characters:
~ Mr. and Mrs. Jordan, Dickie, and the attendant.

Resources:
- In the past we have and in the future will continue to touch base with Henry Slesar, the latest instance being "The Candidate" (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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"He Was Lying in an Aisle Between a Couple of Overturned Chairs, and a Knife Handle Protruded from Between His Shoulder-Blades."

"The Stars Foretell."

By Frank Gruber (1904-69; Wikipedia HERE; the ISFDb HERE; the GAD site HERE; The Thrilling Detective HERE; and the IMDb HERE).

First appearance: Pocket Book Storyteller Weekly, June 25, 1949.

Short short short story (4 pages).

Online at Archive.org (HERE; go to Page Four).

(Note: Some text smeared but legible.)

   "'Six and one dead is seven,' he said aloud. 'That's strange—everyone's here'."

SERGEANT DEERING'S job is on the line, so in order to keep it he needs to do three things: Solve a murder committed in front of more than a half dozen witnesses (including himself!), rightly interpret a bloody dying clue from another murder, and not get himself killed by someone who's way too proficient with a knife . . .

Main characters:

~ Detective-Sergeant Sam Deering, the swarthy assistant, Professor Hyde, L. B. R. Pawling, William Connolly, Simon Gray, Captain Holman and two or three detectives, two lawyers, and the lab man.

Typos: "gradually dimmed the" [what?] "of the room"; "to determmine predictions"; "he gripper it"; "stood frowing".

References:

- "the fundamental rules of astrology" (HERE; Wikipedia).

- "the twelve signs of the zodiac" (HERE; Wikipedia).

- "an astrolabe" (HERE; Wikipedia).

- "by Hipparchus" (HERE; Wikipedia).

- "the mariner's sextant" (HERE; Wikipedia).

- "the swami" (HERE; Wikipedia).

- "the equivalent of a carbon copy" (HERE; Wikipedia).

- "a ring of skeleton keys" (HERE; Wikipedia).

- "the lift operator" (HERE; Wikipedia).

- "a bucket shop" (HERE; Wikipedia).

Resources:

- Frank Gruber definitely earned his status as an uberpulpster. He told us how he did it in The Pulp Jungle (1967), which we highlighted last October (HERE).

- A remarkably similar situation as regards the witnesses to the murder and the murder weapon itself also occurred in a TV episode (WARNING! SPOILERS! HERE; the IMDb).

- Knives as murder weapons and not eating utensils figured heavily in Robert Bloch's "Wolf in the Fold" (HERE and HERE), Allan K. Echols's "The Unseen Death" (HERE), Jeffrey Farnol's "Footprints" (HERE), Marc Connelly's "Coroner's Inquest" (HERE), and Carter Sprague's "The Triangular Blade" (HERE). (Note: This is only a partial list.)

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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"And That Was Rather Strange, Because It Was Murder That Brought Him Here."

"Killer."

By James E. Gunn (1923-2020; Wikipedia HERE; the ISFDb HERE; the SFE HERE; and the IMDb HERE).

First appearance: Rocket Stories, September 1953.

Illustration by Freas (1922-2005; ISFDb HERE).

Short story (13 pages as a PDF).

Online at Project Gutenberg (HERE).

   "He came to me from the stars, spewed out from his own world by his hates. I found him, I gave him all he could ask for, and I made him mine. But in the end, there was still his hate, and the killer drive within him . . . ."

WE should never forget that paradise always comes at a price—a steep price . . .

Principal characters:

~ Sam Newman, Fran, Bambi, and Louise.

References:

- "Jump" (HERE; Wikipedia).

- "the G0-type sun" (HERE; Wikipedia).

- "Parallel evolution?" (HERE; Wikipedia); also see (HERE; Alec J. Ott).

- "countless millions of parsecs" (HERE; Wikipedia).

- "Bambi" (HERE and HERE; Wikipedia).

Resources:

- Our story's basic situation reminds us of several, much later, TV show episodes (WARNING! SPOILERS! HERE, HERE, and HERE; Wikipedia).

- Our only other encounter with James E. Gunn was his "Private Enterprise" (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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Two from THE SAINT (Number 4)

(1) "Vase of Tu San."

By Dan Ross (1912-95).

First appearance: The Saint Detective Magazine, April 1958.

Short short short story (3 pages).

Online at Archive.org (HERE).

   "I’m here to finish you and maybe help myself to a few of your trinkets."

WOULD-BE killers, like just about anybody who might be aiming a weapon, sometimes suffer from target fixation . . .

Main characters:

~ Mei Wong, Blake, the messenger, Tu San, and three policemen.

References:

- "for your ancestors" (HERE; Wikipedia).

- "target fixation" (HERE; Wikipedia).

Resource:

- Today's story marks the first appearance to the wider reading public of Mr. Mei Wong, the wise Asiatic rival of Charlie Chan. Four of the Mei Wong stories were co-written with Dan Ross's wife, Charlotte, and twenty-seven by Ross (who often used the byline of W.E.D. Ross). Six appeared in The Saint and eighteen in Mike Shayne (FictionMags data).

(2) "Ready Money."

By John Falkner (Ernest John Gale, 1917-76; the ISFDb HERE).

First appearance: The Evening Standard, December 22, 1954.

Reprinted in The Saint Detective Magazine, November 1955 (today's text).

Short short short story (3 pages).

Online at Archive.org (HERE).

   "But there’s no such thing as sentiment in business, is there?"

THE Scout Motto is "Be prepared." While today's central character seems ready for just about any contingency, a Boy Scout he ain't . . .

Main characters:

~ Mrs. Hanson, Mr. and Mrs. Conway, both Miss Weatherheads, a couple of students, the actor, Mr. Miles, Lieutenant Reece, and the unnamed narrator.

References:

- "Scout Motto" (HERE; Wikipedia).

- "the crisp century notes" (HERE; Wikipedia):

  "$100 bill is occasionally a 'band' or 'C-note' (C being the Roman numeral for 100, from the Latin word centum) or 'century note'; it's more commonly referred to as a 'Benjamin' or 'Benny' (after Benjamin Franklin, who is pictured on the note), or a 'yard' (so $300 is '3 yards' and a $50 bill is a 'half a yard'). 'A stack' is $1,000 in the form of ten $100 bills, banded by a bank or otherwise."

- "in Atlantic City" (HERE; Wikipedia).

- "a one-time Hollywood extra" (HERE; Wikipedia).

- "the Irish Sweepstakes" (HERE; Wikipedia).

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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"I Suggest You Don’t Try To Leave Until the Argument Is Settled."

"Death of an Asteroid."

By Sam Moskowitz (1920-97; Wikipedia HERE; the ISFDb HERE; and the SFE HERE).

First appearance: New York Inquirer, March 15, 1950.

Reprinted in The Saint Magazine, April 1967 (today's text).

Short short short story (5 pages).

Online at Archive.org (HERE).

   "The bleeding had been pretty bad when he pulled the knife out."

IS it a sign of progress when it gets harder and harder to commit murder in space and get away with it?

Principal characters:

~ Don Grant, Charlie, and the inspector.

Typo: "the inspector questioned?” [bad punctuation].

References:

- "a craggy, splintered asteroid" (HERE; Wikipedia).

- "his magnetic shoes" (HERE; Wikipedia).

- "a Geiger counter" (HERE; Wikipedia).

- "the little Martian moon Phobos" (HERE; Wikipedia).

- "like most space miners" (HERE; Wikipedia).

- "lead-lined boxes containing the uranium" (HERE; Wikipedia).

- "the asteroids were once a planet" (HERE; Wikipedia).

Resources:

- We first met Sam Moskowitz in his nonfiction mode: "The Sleuth in Science Fiction" and "The Super-Sleuths of Science Fiction" (both HERE). In a related article, Robert W. Lowndes took on "The Futuristic Detective" (HERE).

Artwork by Frank Kelly Freas

- Moskowitz edited an anthology of vintage SFF called Exploring Other Worlds (1963) (HERE; The Luminist Archives and HERE; ISFDb TOC) as well as a historical text entitled The Immortal Storm: A History of Science Fiction Fandom (1954) (HERE; also The Luminist Archives).

- There is an asteroid prowling around out there that you might want to enter into your day timer, just in case it decides to change its orbit (HERE; Wikipedia). You're not worried, you say? Just remember, it's happened before (HERE; EarthSky).

- Other stories involving asteroid mining that we've come across include (but definitely aren't limited to) Edmond Hamilton's "Murder Asteroid" (HERE), Donald E. Westlake's "The Risk Profession" (HERE; first story), and Isaac Asimov's "The Talking Stone" (HERE).

The bottom line:

NASA Phobos mission

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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"Anybody That Kin Figure Out a Mess Like This Is Okay!"

"The Masked Alibi."

By John Gregory (house pseudonym).

First appearance: 10-Story Detective, January 1938.

Short short short story (5 pages).

Online at The Pulpgen Archive (HERE).

   "When he took a shot at me last night, he was playing right into your hands.”

CRIMINALS in fiction tend to be slippery cusses, often taking deceptive practices 

to ever higher levels. Which is why we should be grateful for law enforcement types 

like the one in our story who's blessed with the ability to engage in what you might 

call perceptive practices . . .

Main characters:

~ Corporal Hal Robberts, Fred Dorgan, and Amos Norton.

Typo: "of his" [unnecessary phrase].

References:

- "the Adirondack forest" (HERE; Wikipedia).

- "the big .45 Colt" (HERE; Wikipedia); "a .32-40" (HERE; Wikipedia); "a .30-30" (HERE; Wikipedia).

- "pine marten" (HERE; Wikipedia).

- "a big tri-motored Douglas": Douglas Aircraft never produced a tri-motor airplane. Our author might be thinking of the Ford Tin Goose (HERE; Wikipedia).

Resources:

- Another New York state trooper somehow earned the nickname of "Tiny" David; he had quite a lot of adventures, two of which were "Murder on the Island" and "Murder at Dark Lake" (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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