"The Pain of Something Wet and Hot Stinging the Wound in His Shoulder Roused Him"

IN 1941 science fiction and fantasy writers fondly imagined the surfaces of Venus and Mars as places where people could run around in shirt sleeves; if only . . .

"Pin the Medals on Poe."
By F. Anton Reeds (?-?; FictionMags HERE and the ISFDb HERE).

Illustration R. Isip (1911-79; HERE).
First appearance: Astonishing Stories, September 1941.

Short short story (6 pages).
Online at Archive.org (HERE).

     "I figured there was only one place in Midland City that you could see three people from other worlds and not get suspicious . . ."

It's as plain as the grox stains on your face . . .

Principal characters:
~ Police Chief Xenophon Marks, of the W.B.I.:
  "Reading again, eh, Dugan?"
~ Inspector Eddie Dugan:
  "This is a book of stories by a fellow named Edgar Allan Poe."
~ Patrolman Quinby Cobb:
  ". . . whose failure to observe small and seemingly unimportant details had often kept him from promotion in the past, did not notice the grim lines at the corners of the inspector's mouth."
~ James Winthrop, Chief of the W.B.I.:
  ". . . stood smiling into the visa-plate . . ."
~ Pher Nor:
  ". . . made a successful break from the prison mines at Navvar, Venus; walking unmolested through the gates marching two other prisoners before him at the point of a deadly pneu-
matic handgun."

Typos: "Xenophone Marks"; "a searing, nausceating pain".

Resources:
- Apart from the name he used here (what did the "F" stand for, we wonder), Reeds also wrote SFF under the byline of "Anthony Riker"; as you can see, his bibliography isn't what could be called extensive.
- "by the magic of cunningly-concealed light transformed from strips of painted carnival scenery to the black reaches of outer space.": Unlike the one in our story, an amusement park "spaceship" that proved to be more than anyone thought was featured in an Outer Limits episode, "Second Chance" (IMDb HERE).

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"While You Were Gone, We Had a Murder"

IMPOSSIBLE CRIMES were a specialty of our author, and while he does push the envelope of plausibility in today's story, it could work—if you don't think about it too much . . .

"The Black Friar Murders."
By Joseph Commings (1913-92; HERE).

Senator Brooks U. Banner (here named "Mayor Thomas Landin") No. 4.
First appearance: Ten Detective Aces, January 1948.

Collected in Banner Deadlines (2004; reviewed HERE and HERE).

Novelette (17 pages).
Online at Archive.org starting (HERE) and finishing (HERE).

     "He left the cell at will and roamed in the night, seeking blood."

A woman who knows too much is murdered in a classic locked room situation by none other than, if legend is to be believed, an evil monk who lived and died centuries ago; further complicating matters is another killing coming close on the heels of the first one. What started out as an innocent invitation to Thanksgiving dinner will likely end up in a double funeral—with possibly more to come, unless this mad, murderous spectral monk can be stopped first . . .

Major characters:
~ Viki Martinique:
  ". . . vice queen, the notorious Lavender Lady."
~ Eric Bayne:
  "He's the man with no face."
~ Carrie Ponzi:
  "I know who Eric Bayne is."
~ Alonzo Ponzi:
  "You know, the cloister is haunted."
~ Pam Thackery:
  "A friend of Carrie's. Pam's staying with us."
~ Sherry McCord:
  "I don't wanna stay here any longer than I have to."
~ Ben Dolan:
  "In that getup he looked like a low-budget movie director's dream of the perfect sleuth."
~ Friar App:
  "The tangle of black hair growing on the backs of his hands and fingers made them look 
like two five-legged tarantulas plucking at the sides of his habit."
~ Mayor Thomas Landin:
  ". . . they use me for transfusions to bloodhounds."

Comment: This is how to do an impossible crime story right—plenty of suspects.

Typo: "we'll know all we'll ever have know".

Resources:
- "a program for Rimsky-Korsakov's opera Le Coq d'Or": Not the usual lady's purse item. 
"The Golden Cockerel is an opera in three acts, with short prologue and even shorter epilogue, composed by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, his last opera he completed before his death in 1908. Its libretto written by Vladimir Belsky derives from Alexander Pushkin's 1834 poem The Tale of the Golden Cockerel. The opera was completed in 1907 and premiered in 1909 in Moscow, after the composer's death. Outside Russia it has often been performed in French as Le coq d'or." (Wikipedia HERE).
- "the role of Octavian in productions of Der Rosenkavalier": One of Richard Strauss's comic 
operas. "The opera has four main characters: the aristocratic Marschallin; her very young lover, Count Octavian Rofrano; her brutish cousin Baron Ochs; and Ochs' prospective fiancée, Sophie von Faninal, the daughter of a rich bourgeois. At the Marschallin's sugges-tion, Octavian acts as Ochs' Rosenkavalier by presenting a ceremonial silver rose to Sophie. However, the young people fall in love on the spot, and soon devise a comic intrigue to extricate Sophie from her engagement. They accomplish this with help from the Marschallin, who then yields Octavian to the younger woman." (Wikipedia HERE).
- "illicit sugar selling": Thanks to wartime rationing; see The Saturday Evening Post online 
(HERE).

From a 1945 newspaper

- "Sherry shook a parson's nose at him": A case where culture and the culinary arts 
intersect. "The term 'parson’s nose' comes from the idea of an arrogant English 
parson having 'his nose in the air' like a chicken’s rear. If you’re wondering, it’s the 
butt of every joke." (Food Republic HERE).

- Steve Lewis has a recent review of Joseph Commings's most famous impossible 

crime story, "The X Street Murders" (HERE), while TomCat at Beneath the Stains 

of Time focuses on our author's "Serenade to a Killer" (HERE).

- We've already featured Commings's uncharacteristically hardboiled "Gems Glow 
with Blood" (1950; HERE).
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"One Man's Head Had Been Squeezed Completely Off"

A CYBERNETIC PERRY MASON mounts his own case for the defense . . .

"Robot A-1."

By Oscar J. Friend (1898-1963; HERE and HERE).
Illustration by Alex Schomberg (1905-98; HERE).
First appearance: Startling Stories, July 1939 (cover story).

Short short story (7 pages).
Online at SFFAudio (HERE; PDF) and Archive.org (HERE).

     "I plead guilty of making the Tri-octopus, and not guilty of operating it to take human life."

How much culpability do inventors have for their inventions; in other words, just how far does responsiblity extend? For instance, some people would like to bring suit against gun manufacturers whenever such a weapon is used to kill someone, even though the manu-
facturer wasn't there to pull the trigger—and that brings us to the case of Robot A-1, him-
self an invention, on trial for murders committed, in turn, by his own invention . . .

Principal characters:
~ The Forsythe Mechanical Man, a.k.a. Robot A-1:
  "If it please the Court, I will conduct my own defense."
~ The Tri-octopus:

  ". . . a seven-foot tall mechanically motivated machine which stands on three multi-joined legs and has eight cabled arms, and which was used to kill seven persons on the lower subway level at Times Square before it was fortunately knocked off the platform in front of 

an express train and destroyed."

~ Judge McElvery:
  "Is the counsel for the defense invisible or not prepared?"
~ Robert Chaldow:
  ". . . a thin-nosed man with the hands of a skilled mechanic, took the stand, looked nervously at Robot A-1, and gave his testimony in a jerky, high voice."
~ Mr. Martin:
  "I object! The hearsay gossip of the witness has no bearing on the question."
~ Miss Marie Lemar:
  ". . . identified them as particles of the seven-foot monstrosity that had slain several 
people in the subway."
~ Lamkin:
  "I tell you that—that thing has a personality."
~ Robbins:
  "My God, Lamkin! Look!"

Resources:
- "indicted June twenty-first for the manufacture of . . .": "In criminal law, strict liability is liability for which mens rea (Latin for 'guilty mind') does not have to be proven in relation to one or more elements comprising the actus reus (Latin for 'guilty act') although intention, recklessness or knowledge may be required in relation to other elements of the offense. 
The liability is said to be strict because defendants could be convicted even though they were genuinely ignorant of one or more factors that made their acts or omissions criminal. The defendants may therefore not be culpable in any real way, i.e. there is not even criminal negligence, the least blameworthy level of mens rea." (Wikipedia HERE).
- "like the locks of a metal Medusa": Never look her way. "In Greek mythology, Medusa ('guardian, protectress') was a monster, a Gorgon, generally described as a winged human female with living venomous snakes in place of hair. Those who gazed into her eyes would turn to stone." (Wikipedia HERE).

- "rocked into Times Square": Until recently a very busy place. "Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment center, and neighborhood in 
the Midtown Manhattan section of New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue. Brightly lit by numerous billboards and advertisements, it stretches from West 
42nd to West 47th Streets, and is sometimes referred to as 'the Crossroads of the World', 
'the Center of the Universe', 'the heart of the Great White Way', and 'the heart of the world'. One of the world's busiest pedestrian areas, it is also the hub of the Broadway Theater District and a major center of the world's entertainment industry." (Wikipedia HERE).
- We have run into robots quite a few times, the latest being Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore's far more sophisticated story "Two-Handed Engine" (HERE); Adam Link, the ethical robot, experienced a similar situation to that of A-1 in "I, Robot", except that Adam had a human mouthpiece (more HERE).

- Our first sample of Oscar Jerome Friend's fiction was "I Get Off Here" (HERE).

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"Crime Detection Was His Hobby"

"On the Plymouth Express."
By Frank Conly (?-?).

First appearance: The Argosy, December 1912.

Short short story (6 pages).
Online at Comic Book Plus (HERE; select page 185 from the dropdown menu).

     ". . . they found themselves covered with a revolver, and a tense voice commanded them to be quiet, at the peril of their lives."

The best detectives know (in fiction, at least; no idea how it goes in real life) how to break 
an alibi, and the investigator in our narrative is no exception when jewels worth a hundred thousand pounds vanish at gunpoint . . .

Major characters:
~ Ferguson, a police detective:
  "We don't favor private detectives so much in England as you do in America . . ."
~ Colonel Tomlinson:
  "Really, friend, your joke has gone far enough, don't you think?"
~ Rothwell and Mrs.:
  ". . . invited him to their reserved compartment to continue their chat."
~ Norman Harley, a private detective:
  ". . . a mystery is the best thing that can happen in a big case. It's in the mystery that the clue lies. You know from your own experiences that it is the apparently simple cases that 
so often prove most baffling—the cases where there is no element of mystery."

Resources:
- According to FictionMags (HERE), "On the Plymouth Express" was Frank Conly's fourth story of six for The Argosy (1912-13); he would go on to write four for Detective Story Magazine (1915-17), two for The Black Mask (1923-24), and an assortment for other magazines of the period up to 1924. As far as we know, this may have been Norman 
Harley's only exploit.
- Eleven years after the events of today's story, Agatha Christie published "The Plymouth Express Affair" (a.k.a. "The Mystery of the Plymouth Express"), a Hercule Poirot adventure, which we featured (HERE).

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"Copyright Police?"

"Infringement."
By Timothy J. Gawne (HERE).

Illustration by Jacey (Jason Cook; HERE).
First appearance: Nature/Futures, 9 October 2019.
Short short short story (1 page).
Online at Nature/Futures (HERE; PDF).

     "I have been sent here to determine the truth of said allegation."

There's an old legal saying . . .

Characters:
~ The tall man covered in bright blue feathers:
  ". . . an official of the universal body that deals with intellectual-property violations."
~ Floyd Bromley:
  "And what is being infringed?"
~ The man wearing a striped short-sleeved shirt with khaki trousers and tennis shoes:
  "Tough break . . ."

Resources:
- As you can see from his ISFDb page, Timothy J. Gawne has seen his SFF getting published since 2012.
- We've already encountered several stories dealing with the underlying premise of today's story: "Schrödinger’s Gun" (HERE), "Third Alternative" (HERE), and "Reversal of Misfortune" (HERE).

The bottom line:

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"O'Malley Had a Knack for Handcuffs"

"Bought Silence."
By Ray Cummings (1887-1957; HERE).

Illustration by Joseph Sekell.
First appearance: Private Detective Stories, November 1947.

Short short story (5 pages).
Online at Archive.org starting (HERE) and finishing (HERE).
(Parental caution: Mild profanity.)

     "Blackmailing is such a despicable crime. It depended so wholly on the human weakness of its victim."

In stories like this one, the cast list is so small that the only mystery which can be invoked is exactly how the protagonist is going to solve the central problem, blackmail in this case . . .

Principal characters:
~ Robert O'Malley:
  "It was just one of those things—a big, raging, self-confident killer—and O'Malley had misjudged it."
~ Gracie O'Malley:
  "Do you think you can get my bracelet back from him?"
~ Jim Torgson:
  ". . . a swaggering, shifty adventurer, unreliable, unscrupulous . . ."

Resource:
- Being the uberpulpster's uberpulpster, Raymond King Cummings has and will continue to turn up on this weblog; our latest meeting with Cummings was "Trapped by Astronomy" (HERE) a few months back.
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"Everything Considered, It Was a Remunerative As Well As Instructive Investment"

"The Kokod Warriors."
By Jack Vance (1916-2013).

Illustration by [Paul] Orban (1896-1974; HERE).
Magnus Ridolph No. 9.
First appearance: Thrilling Wonder Stories, October 1952.

Reprints page (HERE).
Novelette (22 pages).
Online at Archive.org (HERE).

     "Financial depletion is as good a weapon as any."

As usual, Magnus Ridolph's bank account is depleted, so when he's offered a chance to shut down a couple of war profiteers Ridolph sees the prospect of "a certain measure of subsidi-
ary profits"—not to mention the personal satisfaction of putting these sleazoids out of busi-
ness, because it just so happens they're the selfsame slimeballs who swindled him in a previous deal . . .

Major characters:
~ Martha Chickering:
  "'Are you acquainted with the world'—she spoke it as if it were a social disease—'Kokod?'"
~ Magnus Ridolph:
  "Your problem assumes form."
~ Bruce Holpers and Julius See:
  ". . . have ingeniously made use of the incessant wars as a means of diverting their guests. A sheet quotes odds on each day's battle—a pastime which arouses enthusiasm among sporting visitors."
~ Everley Clark:
  "Do you think I enjoy seeing these little creatures tearing each other apart?"
~ Mr. Pilby, Mrs. Chaim, and Mrs. Borgage, Shadow Valley Inn guests:
  "An old man with a nose like a raspberry,""a heavy woman scented with musk," and "a woman with the small head and robust contour of a peacock."
~ The hangarman:
  "I tell you that tube's good as gold."
~ Captain Bussey:
  "What in God's name happened to you?"
~ The Kokod Warriors:
  . . . remind us vaguely of a planetary culture from a badly mismanaged motion picture franchise. (Wikipedia HERE).

Resource:
- "The sun, Pi Sagittarius": Our author gets the Latin genitive case wrong. "Pi Sagittarii (π Sagittarii, abbreviated Pi Sgr, π Sgr) is a triple star system in the zodiac constellation of Sagittarius. It has an apparent visual magnitude of +2.89, bright enough to be readily seen with the naked eye. Based upon parallax measurements, it is roughly 510 light-years (160 parsecs) from the Sun." (Wikipedia HERE).

Typo: "He5d be crazy".

~ ~ ~

WE'VE EARNESTLY SEARCHED the Interblab for the tenth Magnus Ridolph novelette, "Coup de Grace" (a.k.a. "Worlds of Origin"; reprints page HERE), which first appeared in Super-Science Fiction, February 1958, but haven't had any success locating it. (That is, unless you can read Polish; see HERE).

If you are interested, we regret that you'll have to pay for the privilege, either in paperback (Spatterlight Press edition, 2017; HERE) or in a Kindle e-book collection (Spatterlight Press, 2012; HERE) at Amazon.com; or the paperback (HERE) or NOOK e-book (HERE) at Barnes & Noble. "Worlds of Origin" was reprinted in Tales from Super-Science Fiction (2011; HERE) and elsewhere.

=====================================================================
- Here are all of our previous postings about the Magnus Ridolph series:

   (1) "Hard Luck Diggings" (HERE)
   (2) "Sanatoris Short-Cut" (HERE)
   (3) "The Unspeakable McInch" (HERE)
   (4) "The Sub-Standard Sardines" (HERE)
   (5) "The Howling Bounders" (HERE)
   (6) "The King of Thieves" (HERE)
   (7) "The Spa of the Stars" (HERE)
   (8) "Cosmic Hotfoot" (HERE).
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