"His Right Hand Came Up Out of His Pocket with the Automatic Already Spitting Fire"

"Not a Leg To Stand On."

By Don Mardick (?-?).

First appearance: Suspense Magazine, Fall 1951.

Short story (10 pages).

Online at SFFAudio (HERE).

   "Autopsy shows lots of angles you don't figure."

WHEN a cat plays with a mouse it's usually a prelude to lunch, but what if there are two cats? You'd think that between them they'd be able catch that elusive mouse, piece of cake. Now imagine the mouse is a man in a wheelchair harboring a criminal secret and our two cats are investigators trying to pry it out of him—but, despite normal expectations, it's looking like wheelchair guy just might be able to work his way out of this bind . . .

Main characters:

~ Jack Conroy:

  "Jack? He wouldn't come here. He knows the insurance people've been watching me ever since the payroll robbery three years ago."

~ Prentice:

  "Then what's all the palaver about? And the gun?"

~ Conroy:

  "Cops or not, I told you fellows to get out of my house and I mean it."

~ Davidson:

  "You expected him. You were spending the payroll money. You wanted to keep on spending it."

References and resources:

- "the battered Sears, Roebuck catalogue":

  Published by a company that's still making profits after more than 130 years: "Richard Warren Sears started a business selling watches through mail order catalogues in Redwood Falls, Minnesota, in 1888. By 1894, the Sears catalogue had grown to 322 pages, featuring sewing machines, bicycles, sporting goods, automobiles (produced from 1905–1915 by Lincoln Motor Car Works of Chicago, not related to the current Ford Motor Company brand of the same name) and a host of other new items." (Wikipedia HERE, HERE, and HERE.)

- "No fatted calf":

  A meaningful metaphor if you know your Bible: "Fatted calf is a metaphor or symbol of festive celebration and rejoicing for someone's long-awaited return. It derives from the Parable of the Prodigal Son in the New Testament." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- When it came to short stories, Don Mardick was hardly what you would call prolific (FictionMags data):

  (1) "Needle in the Haystack," (ss) Hollywood Detective, December 1949

  (2) "Not a Leg to Stand On," (ss) Suspense Magazine, Fall 1951 (above).

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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