A TERROR DETECTIVE Twofer

WE COULDN'T pass up an opportunity to feature two of our favorite pulpsters as they appeared together in an issue of the same magazine:

(1) "Seeds of Death."

By Arthur Porges (1915-2006; Wikipedia HERE; the ISFDb HERE; the SFE HERE; and his Fan Site HERE).

First appearance: Terror Detective Story Magazine, October 1956.

No known reprints.

Short short story (7 pages).

Online at Archive.org (HERE).

(Note: Text faded but not too badly.)

   "Now say that I have a policeman’s mind if you like, but it always makes a difference when a man leaves money."

INSPECTOR KING reminisces about a bizarre murder that he solved while on vacation: "I was reminded of the case by an item on the menu tonight."

Typo: "they call if from the Yard".

Principal characters:

~ Inspector King ("It seemed a perfect alibi—too bloody perfect"), Will Howard ("No brains?"), Peter Loret ("And the solution required no brains at all"), Francis Raymond ("He was quite intrigued over the immense number of excited gulls that had been noticed at the scene of the accident"), and Joel Hoffman ("The old story, of course: gambling, women, and liquor").

References:

- "a tricky little Forester" (HERE) "item—a Hornblower" (HERE) "yarn—" (HERE).

Source: Wikipedia (HERE).

Resource:

- We've seen Arthur Porges's work several times here, the latest being "These Daisies Told," "The Missing Bow," and "A Model Crime" collected (HERE).

IF YOU scroll down to page 98, you'll come to . . .

(2) "See No Murder."

(a.k.a. "Witness in the Dark").

By Fredric Brown (1906-72; Wikipedia HERE and A Guide to Classic Mystery and Detection HERE).

First appearance: New Detective Magazine, June 1953.

Reprints:

  Terror Detective Story Magazine, October 1956 (today's text).

  Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Stories to be Read with the Lights On, 1973, as "Witness in the Dark"

  Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Stories to be Read with the Lights On (Volume I), 1976, as "Witness in the Dark"

  Carnival of Crime, 1985, as "Witness in the Dark"

  The Freak Show Murders, 1985.

Novelette (22 pages).

Online at Archive.org (HERE).

(Note: Somewhat faded text.)

(Further note: Page 113 is missing and page 111 printed twice.)

   "When all candles be out, all cats be grey."

Segments:

  Chapter One. "Go at it cold and maybe you'll get something we missed."

  Chapter Two. Murder Without Motive

  Chapter Three. Blind Man’s Bluff.

IT WAS JUST a matter of a burglary gone wrong; even the homicide detective assigned to the case is inclined to agree. Sure, there are some oddball aspects to it: the blind shooter, the chicken feathers, the way the burglar behaved; but everybody associated with it has an airtight alibi, and peculiar, inexplicable things do crop up in any investigation from time to time. But, then, there's that missing cat . . .

Principal characters:

~ Detective George Hearn ("I’m not too bright, but I’m not too dumb"), Captain Eberhart ("Screwy as it seems, George, we’ve almost decided that it really was plain and simple robbery"), Marge ("You mean the killer gave him the gun?"), Max Easter ("And he did begin to see"), Louise Easter ("was a good-looking woman, even in a house dress. It would have been interesting to examine her to see if she had any bullet scrapes"), Armin Robinson ("Of course he didn’t know about the embezzlement or that they were planning to run away together"), Mrs. Armin Robinson ("Not for the loss of a husband, Mr. Hearn"), Lloyd Eldred ("You’ve heard of hysterical blindness, haven’t you?"), and the doctor ("Mr. Easter should have recovered his sight in not over six hours").

Resources:

- With reference to Terror Detective Story Magazine (1956-57), FictionMags notes the following:

  "Despite the title, the stories in Terror Detective Story Magazine displayed neither terror nor detection, but focused instead on blatant sexual content. Despite the presence of well-known authors like Harlan Ellison, Fredric Brown & Henry Slesar, the magazine had little to recommend it and folded after 4 issues."

- Josephine Tey (HERE) invalided her Scotland Yard detective Alan Grant in The Daughter of Time (1951), but he was able to see. Sleuths that weren't blessed with sight include, of course, Max Carrados (HERE) but also the scarcely-heard-of John Dyce (HERE) and Stephen Garth (HERE), as well as others.

- It's been over a year since we last perused a Fredric Brown production, namely "Murder and Matilda" (HERE).

The bottom line:

  Our very eyes

  Are sometimes like our judgments, blind.

   — Shakespeare

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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