"My Business Is Committing Murder"

HERE'S another atypical tough guy piece from a writer whose typical productions comprised clever impossible crime stories . . .

"Clay Pigeon."

By Joseph Commings (1913-92; Wikipedia HERE and the ISFDb HERE). 

Illustrated by Dick Shelton (1928-87; the ISFDb HERE and the IMDb HERE).

First appearance: Manhunt, December 1957.

Short short short story (3 pages).

Online at SFFAudio (HERE).

   "I heard a sound like a pinprick exploding the universe."

THE question arises: Just who is the "clay pigeon"?

Main characters:

~ The unnamed narrator ("I never kill anybody I know. That makes it easier") and James Harrower ("the opposing dock union leader") and his wife and children.

References:

- The title:

  "A person who is easily exploited, deceived, or taken advantage of, especially due to being in a position of vulnerability. Likened to the clay pigeons (small clay discs) used as targets in trapshooting. Primarily heard in U.S." (The Free Dictionary HERE).

- "the .38 caliber Police Positive" (Wikipedia HERE); "a .32" (Wikipedia HERE); and SFFAudio (HERE).

- "Penn Station":

  "During half a century of operation by the Pennsylvania Railroad (1910–1963), scores of intercity passenger trains arrived and departed daily to Chicago and St. Louis on 'Pennsy' rails and beyond on connecting railroads to Miami and the west." (Wikipedia HERE).

- "Massapequa":

  "Massapequa is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States." (Wikipedia HERE).

Resources:

- The Moonlight Detective, naturally enough, has dealt with Joseph Commings a few times starting in 2016 (HERE).

- So has Mystery*File with "The X Street Murders" (HERE). A review of Banner Deadlines, the C&L compilation of Brooks U. Banner stories, is also on Mystery*File (HERE), while another one is to be found at The Passing Tramp (HERE).

- And Commings is no stranger to ONTOS: "The Glass Gravestone" (in an anthology HERE), "Gems Glow with Blood" (HERE), "The Black Friar Murders" (HERE), "Ghost in the Gallery" (HERE), and "The Cardinal's Candles" combined with "The Moving Finger" (HERE).

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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