"Do You Think I'd Take Sandwiches to a Robbery?"

HERE we have two entirely different crime stories from the same author, the difference being in their tone as much as anything . . .

(1) "The Practically Perfect Crime."

By Morris Hershman (1926-2016; the ISFDB HERE and the SFE HERE).
First appearance: Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine, February 1964.

Short short story (8 pages).
Reprinted in Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine (U.K.) #105, July 1964.
Collected in Every Crime in the Book (1975).
Short short story (8 pages).
Online at The Luminist Archives (HERE; go to text page 63).

   "This is probably the first occasion in the whole history of crime, organized or free-lance, that a getaway car stops in mid-flight because one of the gang has to go to the bathroom."

THEY always say it's best to keep it in the family, but that has its limitations. Of all people, Marge would know . . .

Principal characters:
~ Tom, Marge, Candy and Junior, and two detectives.

Typo: "looking throughtful".

References:
- "stoolpigeons" (HERE; The Free Dictionary).
- "work as a bookkeeper" (HERE; Wikipedia).
- "a show-up line" (HERE; Wikipedia).
- "a thermos bottle" (HERE; Wikipedia).

(2) "Room-and-Board."

By Morris Hershman (1926-2016; the ISFDB HERE and the SFE HERE).

First appearance: Edgar Wallace Mystery Magazine, November 1965.

Reprinted in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Magazine, September 1966.

Short short story (8 pages).
Online at The Luminist Archives (HERE; go to text page 114).

   "Being in this room is like solitary confinement for me. It's going to drive me bughouse if something doesn't happen soon. Do you want to have a nut on your hands?"

STONE WALLS might not make a prison, as Lovelace wrote, but there's more than one way to do hard time . . .

Principal characters:
~ Kane, Molly Fleming, and the cop.

References:
- "a Gay Nineties-type mirror" (HERE; Wikipedia).
- "solitary confinement" (HERE and HERE; Wikipedia).
- "some old rummy" (HERE and HERE; Wikipedia).
- "Hopscotch around town?" (HERE; Wikipedia).
- "a bug doctor" (HERE; Wikipedia).

Resources:
- If you'd like to examine all of the criminological theories that seek to explain why Kane does what he does in our story, see Wikipedia (HERE). Good luck.
- This is our first meeting with Morris Hershman.

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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~