TODAY'S intense offering was published just over a hundred years ago; with slight alterations (language mainly) it would have been ideal for Alfred Hitchcock's half-hour TV series in the '50s. Follow the progress of a killer with a perfect murder in mind as he makes his crime . . .
"Fool Proof."
By Luke Thomas (1894?-1949).
Illustrated by Mori (Roger Burton Morrison, 1874-1945; HERE).
First appearance: Argosy All-Story Weekly, July 19, 1924.
Short short story (6 pages).
Online at Archive.org (HERE).
(Note: Faded text.)
(Parental note: Mild profanity.)
"There’ll be no mysterious clews, no finger prints or third degrees or alibis when I’m through with you."
IT'S a perfect set-up, making this murder look like a suicide, "a lead-pipe cinch," as they used to say. Now, if only the victim will cooperate . . .
Main characters:
- Walter Lathrop ("You’re a swine and a skunk and a yellow pup"), Jack Freyne ("That gun is certainly a help to your vocabulary"), Jean Avery ("If I could only see him for a minute I wouldn’t make a scene"), Cary Lee ("The trouble is with these nuts that plan all the fancy crimes, once their minds get running crooked, they never can think straight"), and Detective Lannen ("You're under arrest, so—let's go").
References:
- "this Grand Guignol stuff" (HERE).
- "I spent three years in France" (HERE).
- "full of hop" (HERE).
- "oakum that ship-builders use" (HERE).
- "on the L" (HERE).
- "He does crossword puzzles":
We noted another cruciverbalist who had his moment in the sun solving a murder (HERE).
Resource:
- Here's FictionMags's thumbnail about our author: "Playwright and short story writer. Died in Queens, New York."
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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