"How Much?"

"The Great Secret."

By George H. Smith (1922-96; Wikipedia HERE; the ISFDb HERE; and the SFE HERE).

First appearance: Super-Science Fiction, October 1959.

Reprints page (ISFDb HERE).

Short short short story (3 pages).

Online at SFFAudio (HERE).

   "It was those eyes, those unblinking, unwavering, somehow truthful eyes."

NEARLY two dozen people have been paying a lot of money to what the police and the D.A. understandably regard as a blackmailer, with a handful of others having taken their own 

lives. A clear-cut case of extortion, of course—but, as they'll soon discover, it's a lot more 

than that . . .

Principal characters:

~ Detective Lieutenant Bolasky ("They had Maraat kicked out of their offices, but within a week of his visit they all committed suicide"), District Attorney Waters ("We know you've been practicing blackmail, but we don't know how you you're doing it"), and Maraat ("I knew that if I waited long enough you would send for me").

Resources:

- Previous ONTOS perusals of George H. Smith's work: "The Undetected" (HERE), "Witness" (HERE), "Paradox Lost" (HERE), and "Benefactor" (HERE).

The bottom line:

Hollywood has used the concept as a reliable plot kick-starter for a long time.

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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