Monday, March 25, 2019

"Let Me Erase Further Doubt by Telling You Why I Am Here to Kill You"

"Murder in the Past."
By John York Cabot (David Wright O'Brien, 1918-44; info HERE, HERE, and HERE).
Illustration by Julian S. Krupa (1913-89; info HERE).
First appearance: Amazing Stories, March 1941.

Short story.
Online at Roy Glashan's Library (HERE: HTML; 22 pages) and (HERE: EPUB; 22 pages).
(Parental caution: Some strong language.)

     "His clothes were extremely and expensively cut—and he carried an automatic pistol in his hand."

Revenge may be a dish best served cold, but it really helps to know the recipe . . .

Characters (only two):
~ Starman:

  "I'll recite a little personal history for you."
~ Faydon:
  ". . . your scheme will never work."


Comment: The original editor's headnote spoils the plot (editors are bad about blabbing too much), and with it the suspense.

Typos: "Faydon relaxed once moire"; "KM you".

Resource:
- Our last meeting with David Wright O'Brien concerned another time travel tale, "24 Terrible Hours" (HERE), with a faintly similar set-up.

The bottom line:

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