"Anyone Knows You Don't Go Buck-Hunting with the Idea of Killing a Man"

MURDER is usually an indoor sport, but today's two tales of misadventure take us into the Great Outdoors . . .

(1) "Blood Money."

By Owen Cameron (1902-60).

First appearance: Collier's, September 6, 1952.

Illustrated by Saul Tepper (1899-1987; Wikipedia HERE).

Short short short story (3 pages).

Online at Archive.org starting (HERE; page 48) and finishing (HERE; pages 50-51).

   "He was about sixty feet off when I reached into the pickup, and got my rifle and shot him. In the head. I didn’t think, just pulled the trigger; and he kind of jerked and laid over the saddle horn and stayed like that a minute and then slid sideways without ever saying a word."

THEY may all be neighbors but that doesn't necessarily make them friends, and one of them is a murderer . . .

Principal characters:

~ Clyde Matson, Ruth Matson, Lloyd Fells, Joe Gruber, Jake Metterman, Hap Powell, Adam Burns, Parker, and Milly Powell.

(2) "The Quick and the Dead."

By Owen Cameron (1902-60).

First appearance: EQMM, May 1945.

Reprints:

Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine “Overseas Edition for the Armed Forces” #22, May 1945.

Shocking Tales, 1946.

Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine (Australia) #27, September 1949.

Short short short story (3 pages).

Online at The Luminist Archives (HERE; go to text pages 96-98).

   "Too slow, I'm always too slow."

THEY say that guns don't kill people; people kill people. Basically it's often just a matter of finding the right occasion . . .

Principal characters:

~ Ed May and Clarence.

Reference:

- "a .300 Savage" (Wikipedia HERE).

Resource:

- FictionMags's thumbnail about Courtney Owen Cameron: "Born in Oregon; settled in California; short story writer and novelist."

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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