"Plain As the Pug Nose on That Moon Face of Yours"

"Money Talks About Murder."

By Ray Black (n.d.).

First appearance: Mammoth Detective, March 1943.

Puzzle (2 pages).

Online at Archive.org starting (HERE) and finishing (HERE).

   "A minute mystery to test your detective ability. Can you find the answer? There are several clues."

For a smart cop, a couple of blood-smeared dollar bills inevitably point towards the 

murderer . . . .

Characters:

~ The victim: Sam Frasier.

~ The police: Patrolman Kindellen and Detective Inspector Jennings.

~ The suspects: Frank Mattison, Symmes Perry, and Bill Joiner.

References and resource:

- "an office in the Flatiron Building":

  Like many an eyesore, the locals have come to love it over time. See Wikipedia (HERE).

- "parimutuel machines":

  They're used in a rather complicated way for betting on the ponies. See Wikipedia (HERE).

- Ray Black wasn't what you'd call prolific; FictionMags gives him just two credits:

  (1) "Death by Radio" (puzzle), Mammoth Detective, September 1942

  (2) "Money Talks About Murder" (puzzle), Mammoth Detective, March 1943 (above).

Unless otherwise noted, all bibliographical data are derived from The FictionMags Index created by William G. Contento & edited by Phil Stephensen-Payne.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"We Are Not Dealing with an Ordinary Murder"

"Weapon, Motive, Method ~"

By Robert Arthur (1909-69).

Illustration by Don Neiser (1918-2009; HERE and HERE).

First appearance: Bluebook, June 1953.

Reprinted in 13 Ways to Kill a Man (1965) (briefly reviewed HERE).

Short short short story (4 pages).

Online at Archive.org (HERE).

   "Mystery novels, the baron said, are stupid, just fairy tales for grown-ups. Consider instead the way a really clever killer does it, in real life . . ."

What do the ancient Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu and the murderer in today's story have in common? "Sun Tzu focused his work on the only weapon that never gets outdated: the human mind" . . . .

Main characters:

~ Baron de Hirsch:

  "Believe me, my friend, when human beings murder each other—and the practice is a common one—their weapons, motives and methods, of which you mystery-mongers make so much—pardon the unintentional alliteration—are far removed from your fictional creations."

~ Narrator (unnamed):

  "It is true that most murders in real life are crudely committed and lacking in drama," I retorted. "However—"

~ "Lucy":

  ". . . is a clever woman, she is beautiful, and she is without scruples. I think that if you study history, you will find no record of a clever, beautiful woman who did have scruples. I do not go so far as to say no woman has scruples, which of course includes morals, but I do say that such women never make any impression on history."

~ "Tom Johnson":

  ". . . was quite incapable of any original thinking whatever."

~ "Ferdinand Relling":

  ". . . knows what tricks to guard against."

~ "the Great American Public":

  ". . . that puzzling paradox."

References and resources:

- "If you go back to Petronius, perhaps":

  Most historians are agreed that Petronius (his middle name) was not only the author of The Satyricon but also one of Emperor Nero's favorites, which should give you an idea of which way Petronius's moral compass pointed. See Wikipedia (HERE), (HERE), and (HERE).

- We have met with Robert Arthur on several previous occasions in reviews of "Midnight Visit" (HERE), "Too Dumb to Be Fooled" (HERE), and "Time Will Tell" (HERE).

Unless otherwise noted, all bibliographical data are derived from The FictionMags Index created by William G. Contento & edited by Phil Stephensen-Payne.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"This Was a Case Where There Were Too Many Suspects and Too Little Motive"

"The Party Began . . . with Murder."
By Octavus Roy Cohen (1891-1959).
Illustrations by Gwen Fremlin (HERE).

First appearance: This Week Magazine, October 5, 1952.

Short short story (5 pages; 4 illos).
Online at Archive.org starting (HERE), continuing (HERE) and (HERE), and finishing (HERE).

     "There was plenty of excitement in the house, not unnatural, considering that murder had been done. The tension ranged from simple disbelief to complete hysteria."

Concerning one of humanity's least admirable emotions, Robert Heinlein once observed: "Jealousy is a disease, love is a healthy condition; they are almost incompatible; one emotion hardly leaves room for the other." And so it is with the malefactor in today's story. As Ophelia would remark in a different context: "O, what a noble mind is here o’erthrown!"

Professional insight: "Most of what we had on him was circumstantial, but then most murder evidence is. A murderer doesn’t usually invite spectators to witness his crime."

Comment: This story could be considered a distillation of the classic country house mystery, minus that subgenre's normal paraphernalia.

Principal characters:
~ Sharon Webster, age 22:
  "Completely dead."
~ Narrator (unnamed):
  "Marty and I waited, patiently. That’s what professional cops do — let the suspect keep the center of the stage."
~ Lieutenant Marty Walsh:
  "I had worked with Marty a good many times. He had a way of pulling rabbits out of hats, but it seemed to me that this time he must be stumped. There was too much to go on, rather than too little."
~ George L. Webster:
  "He looked as though he'd been hit by a club."

~ Ann Foster:
  ". . . was tall, dark, graceful and competent-looking. At that moment, however, she looked as though she needed someone to hold her up."
~ Paul Duncan:
  "I didn’t know these people and knew very little about the case, but from what I had gathered, it seemed to me that Duncan would have less motive than any person present for killing the girl."

~ Ronald Norton:
  "So I ask you: Presuming the truth of what he says, what possible motive would I have for killing Sharon?"

Resources:
- We first encountered Octavus Roy Cohen way back in 2013 (HERE), with his novel Midnight (1922), and yet again (HERE). One of Cohen's novels, The Crimson Alibi (1919), was adapted as a play, a description of which is (HERE). Indeed, quite a few detective fiction works have been turned into stage plays and, if they're lucky, movies; see our compilation (HERE).

Unless otherwise noted, all bibliographical data are derived from The FictionMags Index created by William G. Contento & edited by Phil Stephensen-Payne.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Quick Note

OF NECESSITY this will have to be a quick note. You haven't experienced reality in the raw until you've lost your balance and become wedged face down between a toilet and a sink cabinet for a half an hour, partly paralyzed and unable to move your lower body until the EMT's come to the rescue. Such a highly unlikely event happened to us recently, which should explain why there won't be as many ONTOS postings in the near future, our time at the keyboard being severely limited. But we're not closing up shop just yet. The website analytics tell us that ONTOS has a large and faithful audience, some going back to the very beginning of the weblog, and we're extremely grateful to you, as well as you newcomers, for sticking with us. We'll continue doing our randomized Internet search for the good, the bad, and the ugly in SFF and/or crime fiction. Thanks to all of you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"By Human Values, I Believe This May Be Regarded As Worse Than Physical Murder"

"Mirror Image."

By Isaac Asimov (1920-92).

Illustrations by Leo Summers (1925-85; HERE).

First appearance: Analog, May 1972.

Reprints page (HERE).

Short story (15 pages).

Online at The Luminist Archives (HERE).

     "A game of intellectual chicken."

The Laws of Robotics (1940):

  First Law:

  A robot my not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

  Second Law:

  A robot must obey orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

  Third Law:

  A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Being a detective, Lije Baley often has to search for the truth under difficult circumstances; but he comes up against a really tough conundrum when what's at stake are professional reputations keyed to maintaining cordial interplanetary relations . . . .

Principal characters:

~ Elijah (Lije) Baley:

  "I'm sorry, R. Daneel, but I see no reason for your having involved me."

~ R. Daneel Olivaw:

  "Consider, friend Elijah, that if you succeed in solving this puzzle, it would do your career good and Earth itself might benefit."

~ Alfred Barr Humboldt:

  ". . . is one of the top three mathematicians, by long-established repute, in the galaxy."

~ Gennao Sabbat:

  ". . . has already established himself as the most remarkable new talent in the most abstruse branches of mathematics."

~ R. Preston:

  "Such cases must be decided on their individual merit, sir. There is no way of establishing a general rule."

~ R. Idda:

  "Such cases must be decided on their individual merit, sir. There is no way of establishing a general rule."

References and resources:

- Our two main characters in today's story have their own Wikipedia pages (HERE) and (HERE). Our author's involvement with robofiction is discussed (HERE).

- "Mirror Image" is dealt with at TV Tropes (WARNING! SPOILERS! HERE) and at lesser length on the Math Fiction site (HERE).

- Another case involving prevaricating automata is Robert Leslie Bellem's "Robots Can't Lie" (HERE).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What a Temptation To Kill Her When There Was a Perfect Fall Guy in the House"

"Revolvers and Roses."

By Q. Patrick (Richard Wilson Webb, 1901-70, & Hugh Callingham Wheeler, 1912-87).

Illustrations by Ben Prins (1902-80; HERE).

First appearance: This Week Magazine, December 7, 1952.

Reprinted in EQMM, March 1956 (as "On the Day of the Rose Show") and Suspense (U.K.), April 1960 (as "Roses and Revolvers").

Short short short story (3 pages).

Collected in The Cases of Lieutenant Timothy Trant (2019).

Online at Archive.org starting (HERE) and finishing (HERE).

     "A very sinister pattern it seemed."

For a smart police detective there's an old French proverb that perfectly fits the problem he's confronted with: "No rose without a thorn."

Main characters:

~ Mrs. Weiderbacker:

  ". . . on the carpet in front of them, large, stately and formidable even in death, lay Mrs. Weiderbacker with a crimson stain on her chintzed bosom."

~ The local law:

  ". . . the tough, round-faced inspector."

~ The butler:

  "An anxious, hovering butler took them both through the living room toward the music room. He had discovered the body."

~ Lieutenant Timothy Trant:

  "As I thought. Not natural grief . . ."

~ Freda Trant:

  "My speech never got to Mrs. Weiderbacker. Thank heavens, Daisy knows shorthand."

~ Miles Groves:

  "So Mrs. Weiderbacker disapproved of your new wife. She threatened to stop your allowance and cut you out of her will."

~ Chloe Carmichael:

  ". . . the late Mrs. Weiderbacker's new and controversial niece-in-law."

~ Daisy Groves:

  "In the hallway, Daisy Groves, her pretty face red and swollen and her eyes wet, rushed toward Freda."

~ Gordon Groves:

  ". . . dark and disturbed, on a sofa, a blanket over the plaster of his leg cast."

References and resources:

- "copied it out in shorthand":

  "Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed and brevity of writing as compared to longhand, a more common method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek stenos (narrow) and graphein (to write). It has also been called brachygraphy, from Greek brachys (short), and tachygraphy, from Greek tachys (swift, speedy), depending on whether compression or speed of writing is the goal" (Wikipedia HERE).

- Today's tale is the 23rd of 29 stories featuring Lieutenant Timothy Trant beginning in 1937, stopping and then resuming in 1939-40, taking time out for the war and then going again continuously from 1945-55, pausing until 1959, and finishing up in 1964 (FictionMags data).

- Previous ONTOS encounters with Timothy Trant are (HERE) and (HERE).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"But They Are Capable of Killing?"

"Have You Tried Turning It Off and Turning It Back On?"

By Melissa Olisse.

First appearance: Cabrera Brothers Free Bundle Magazine, November-December 2021.

Short short short story (4 pages).

Online at Archive.org (HERE).

     "She cursed herself for not doing something sooner when she first noticed the problem."

Jason and his Argonauts were fortunate to have Medea along for the ride when they encountered Talos on Crete, for she was able to destroy that bellicose automaton. Maxine, however, isn't so lucky . . . .

Principal characters:

~ Maxine Elliot:

  "Although she managed to even out her breathing, her heartbeat remained erratic. From her spot crouched in the closet corner, she would periodically peer through the gaps between the doors to view her room. She knew it hadn’t made it in yet, as she hadn’t heard anything or seen any signs of movement; however, she wasn't going to take any chances."

~ Jerry:

  "I understand ma’am, but unfortunately I’m not equipped to deal with this situation, I mostly deal with general questions and transferring to other departments."

~ Margaret:

  "Have you called the police, Ms. Elliot?"

~ Juno:

  "Every time she called out 'Juno', she was met with stoic empty eyes."

Resources:

- On a couple of occasions, a very famous detective has appeared in a form that duplicates the human without actually being human; see (HERE) for what we mean. For more grounding in what our story involves, it wouldn't hurt to refer to (THIS) Wikipedia article.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~