Two from DT

DETECTIVE TALES (DT) proved to be a durable magazine; while it was launched in the middle of the Great Depression, DT outlived the economic downturn. FictionMags elucidates:

   "The second most successful of Popular Publications’ detective magazines, Detective Tales ran for 18 years, mainly on a monthly basis, producing a total of 202 issues. Most of the issues offered twelve stories for ten cents, which has occasionally led to it being mis-listed as Twelve Stories Detective Tales. Finally, in 1953, it merged with New Detective to form Fifteen Detective Stories."

AS to the quality of the stories, most of them seem to have been at or above the standards of the prevailing pulps; certainly the ones that we've read so far meet the minimal criteria of being readable and entertaining. Two brief examples, both of the "perfect crime" variety, follow:

(1) "Too Many Alibis."

Edward S. Williams (?-?; FictionMags HERE).

First appearance: Detective Tales, April 1943.

Reprinted in Detective Tales (Canada), October 1943.

Short short short story (5 pages).

Online at pulpmagazines.org (HERE; go to text page 41).

   "Harvey Brandt had planned a crime with the meticulous skill of a campaign strategist. He had figured on everything but . . . TOO MANY ALIBIS."

THE next time you turn up the thermostat on a cold winter's night, give a thought to Harvey. He's earned it . . .

Main characters:

~ Harvey Brandt ("Think, you fool!"), The Burtons ("Why don't you come over and have breakfast with Tom"), Old Pop McAtee ("Too bad, he thought, about Pop"), and the McDaniels boy ("The kid will never notice the additional twelve miles on his speedometer").

References and resources:

- "this damned war":

  Since it's 1943, everybody reading this story would know immediately it was a reference to the Second World War and probably nod their heads in agreement. (History.com HERE.)

- "classed 4-H, so far, by the Draft Board":

  According to the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, that would be Brandt's draft status: "IV-H - Deferred, age 38 to 44 inclusive - Valid from January 1, 1943 to March 6, 1943." (Wikipedia HERE; also see HERE.)

- "the Leverton Company, retooled to turn out parts for tanks":

   ". . . Chrysler broke ground on what would come to be known as the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant, situated in what is now the suburb of Warren. Its goal: to build swarms of tanks according to auto-making mass production principles—something never accomplished before. . . . In the end, the Detroit Arsenal built more tanks than all of the Third Reich during the war years, tanks that roared through enemy lines all the way to Hitler’s Berlin." (History.com HERE). For every tank the Germans produced the United States built three. (See MotorTrend.com HERE; also see Wikipedia HERE.)

- "Murder in the commission of a felony is murder in the first degree":

  This is known as the Felony Murder Rule: "As of August 2008, 46 states in the United States had a felony murder rule, under which felony murder is generally first-degree murder. In 24 of those states, it is a capital offense. When the government seeks to impose the death penalty on someone convicted of felony murder, the Eighth Amendment has been interpreted so as to impose additional limitations on the state power. The death penalty may not be imposed if the defendant is merely a minor participant and did not actually kill or intend to kill. However, the death penalty may be imposed if the defendant is a major participant in the underlying felony and exhibits extreme indifference to human life." (Wikipedia HERE; see also HERE.)

- Cars also played an important role in the Columbo TV series, being both character designators and alibi busters (think "odometers"). Go to The Columbophile Blog (HERE) for more.

- FictionMags's story list for Edward S. Williams is impressive; his first effort was his only Western in December 1931, after which he started generating crime fiction at a prodigious rate for Dime Detective in 1934 and the other available detective pulps of the '30s and '40s, only stopping with Street & Smith's Detective Story Magazine in November 1944. Series characters: Jonathan Stark (2 stories in Detective Tales, 1937) and Dennis O'Ryley, a.k.a. "The Voice" (11 tales for Ace G-Man Stories, 1940-43).

===============================

(2) "A Drink for Aunt Louisa."

By Francis Fredericks (?-?; FictionMags HERE).

First appearance: Detective Tales, October 1944.

Short short short story (3 pages).

Online at pulpmagazines.org (HERE; go to text page 71).

   "Arnold called the turn . . . Aunt Louisa'd have her soup first, then, as usual, she'd make her tea. And—incidentally—make her nephew into a wealthy man, who would be very, very brave at her funeral. . . ."

"It was so simple. . . ." They all think that, don't they?

Main characters:

~ Arnold Hewes ("The second best was for Arnold"), Aunt Louisa ("She believed in the rights of the first-born"), Walter ("dead at thirty in a soldier's grave in Italy"), Doctor Paine ("He told me to call the police"), and Lieutenant Hallard ("I'm going to perform an experiment").

Resources:

- "A Drink for Aunt Louisa" is the only story credit listed on FictionMags for Francis Fredericks; no other data are available.

- Could "Francis Fredericks" have been Ray Cummings cruising under an alias? Certainly Cummings's affinity for the "perfect crime" has been amply demonstrated on this weblog, for examples: "The Clue Got Lost" (HERE); "The Note on the Dead Man" (HERE); "That Well-Groomed Look" (HERE); "Time for Murder" and "Time Out for Murder" (HERE); and "The Clue Outside" (HERE).

- The last story that we featured which first appeared in Detective Tales was Fredric Brown's "To Slay a Man About a Dog!" (HERE).

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

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

"The Only Possible Clue Came from the Victim Himself"

TODAY'S story is a pastiche (usually distinguishable from a parody but also, on some occasions, combined with it), one of three that appeared in EQMM centering on S. S. Van Dine's sleuth Philo Vance, written by one of those rare individuals who have a talent not just for imitation but also innovation, Jon L. Breen:

   (1) "The Austin Murder Case," (ss) Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, December 1967

   (2) "The Vanity Murder Case," (nv) Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, July 1970

   (3) "The Circle Murder Case," (ss) Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, October 1972 (below).

"The Circle Murder Case."

By Jon L. Breen (born 1943; Wikipedia HERE; ISFDb HERE; FictionMags HERE).

Philo Vance Pastiche No. 3. 

First appearance: EQMM, October 1972.

Reprinted in Hair of the Sleuthhound (1982; online HERE; borrow only).

Short story (14 pages).

Online at The Luminist Archives (HERE; go to text page 115).

(Note: Text is very faded but readable.)

   "It's the psychology of the murdered man that intrigues me. And of the murderer."

For Philo Vance, commonplace policework doesn't merit his full attention. Instead of the "how" it's the "why" that's more important. So when a wealthy man (who, paradoxically, deals in horseracing without actually participating in it) is murdered and a hefty number of possible suspects present themselves for examination, Vance is confronted early on with what the victim has done; namely, he has "provided us with the world's most unhelpful dyin' message." Deciphering such a clue is all in a day's work for Ellery Queen (the detective), but how about for the man who re-translates Menander for relaxation? Need we ask?

Principal characters:

On the side of justice:

   . . . Van (the narrator), Philo Vance, John F.-X. Markham, and Ernest Heath.

Circling around in the suspect pool:

   . . . Phineas Circle, Frances Circle, Samuel Circle, Arnold Cramer, Gifford White, Henry Gilfoyle, and Tree.

References and resources:

- "re-translatin' Menander":

  "He was one of the most popular writers and most highly admired poets in antiquity, but his work was considered lost before the early Middle Ages. It now survives only in Latin-language adaptations by Terence and Plautus and, in the original Greek, in highly fragmentary form, most of which were discovered on papyrus in Egyptian tombs during the early to mid-20th-century. In the 1950s, to the great excitement of Classicists, it was announced that a single play by Menander, Dyskolos, had finally been rediscovered in the Bodmer Papyri intact enough to be performed." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "his handicapping":

  "A handicap race in horse racing is a race in which horses carry different weights, allocated by the handicapper. A better horse will carry a heavier weight, to give it a disadvantage when racing against slower horses. The skill in betting on a handicap race lies in predicting which horse can overcome its handicap." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "a shyster":

  "Shyster is a slang word for someone who acts in a disreputable, unethical, or unscrupu-lous way, especially in the practice of law, sometimes also politics or economics."

(Wikipedia HERE.)

- "Dashiell Hammett's famous review":

   "The incompetence of the genre’s detectives and the sloppiness of authors’ research continued to earn Hammett’s scorn. When he was reviewing books for the Saturday Review, Hammett excoriated The Benson Murder Case, one of S. S. Van Dine’s novels featuring detective Philo Vance:

   'Alvin Benson is found sitting in a wicker chair in his living room, a book still in his hand, his legs crossed, and his body comfortably relaxed in a lifelike position. He is dead. A bullet from an Army model Colt .45 automatic pistol, held some six feet away when the trigger was pulled, has passed completely through his head. That his position should have been so slightly disturbed by the impact of such a bullet at such a range is preposterous, but the phenomenon hasn't anything to do with the plot, so don't, as I did, waste time trying to figure it out. The murderer's identity becomes obvious quite early in the story. The authorities, no matter how stupid the author chose to make them, would have cleared up the mystery promptly if they had been allowed to follow the most rudimentary police routine. But then what would there have been for the gifted Vance to do?'

   "Philo Vance, Hammett continued, 'is a bore when he discusses art and philosophy, but when he switches to criminal psychology he is delightful. There is a theory that anyone who talks enough on any subject must, if only by chance, finally say something not altogether incorrect. Vance disproves this theory: he manages always, and usually ridiculously, to be wrong.' Later, when he wrote for the Evening Post, he tried again to get through a Philo Vance novel but found the district attorney and police sergeant 'as incomparably inefficient, as amazingly ignorant of even beat-walking police routine, as ever'."

     - The Library of America Story of the Week (HERE).

- "that lame gelding":

  "A male horse is often gelded to make him better-behaved and easier to control. Gelding can also remove lower-quality animals from the gene pool. To allow only the finest animals to breed on, while preserving adequate genetic diversity, only a small percentage of all male horses should remain stallions." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "to the glue factory":

  "Stereotypically, the animal in question is a horse, and horses that are put down are often said to have been 'sent to the glue factory'. However, other animals are also used, including cattle, rabbits and fish." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "he's dropped from allowance races into claimin' races":

  Allowance race: "A race for which entries are restricted to horses meeting certain earnings or other race criteria. The track operator's designated official (usually the Racing Secretary) establishes specific conditions that determine what weights are to be carried by any competing horse based on factors from the horse's previous performances including races won and/or earnings."

  Claiming race: "Race in which any competing horse is subject to be purchased for a preset price. A claim is made before the race and can only be acted upon by a licensed owner or their agent. The price is set by the conditions of the race. If the horse wins prize money during the race, the money goes to the previous owner. Prior to 1925 they were called a Selling race." (Wikipedia HERE; also see HERE.)

- Jon L. Breen's initial foray into mystery spoofery came as the 305th "Department of 'First Stories'" publication in the May 1967 EQMM. As Ellery Queen (the editor) says, "The Crowded Hours" is "a bitingly accurate parody-pastiche of Ed McBain and his 87th Precinct police procedurals" (McBain approved, by the way). You can find it at The Luminist Archives (HERE; 8 pages; go to text page 103).

- We encountered Breen's Ellery Queen pastiche "The Lithuanian Eraser Mystery" (HERE) earlier this year.

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

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

"There Was a Vast Wrongness to Them"

"The Crowd." 

By Ray Bradbury (1920-2012; ISFDb HERE).

First appearance: Weird Tales, May 1943.

Reprinted many times, including in Shock, May 1960 (today's text).

Reprints page (ISFDb HERE).

Tarted up and filmed for TV in 1985 (WARNING! SPOILERS! HERE).

Short story (9 pages).

Online at The Luminist Archives (HERE; go to text page 35) and Archive.org (HERE; text page 87).

(Parental caution: Some strong language.)

   "Maybe they wanted her dead."

DID you ever think they are out to get you? Wait now. That's being what they call "paranoid," isn't it; and nobody wants to be called that. But think about what you've already seen. Can it be the problem isn't really with you, it's with them? No, that's crazy. That's . . . paranoid. The same people every time. Gathering together. Gathering together to do . . . to do what?

Main characters:

~ Mr. Spallner:

  "You murder much easier, this way."

~ The doctor:

  "Simple shock."

~ The cabbie:

  "There's always a crowd. You'd think it was their own mother got killed."

~ Morgan:

  "Who are they? What do they want? You keep hinting and never telling."

Resource:

- We last made contact with Ray Bradbury through his story, "The Fruit at the Bottom of the Bowl" (HERE).

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

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

"But I Don’t Know Which of Us He Is These Days"

"Fondly Fahrenheit."

By Alfred Bester (1913-87; Wikipedia HERE and the ISFDb HERE.

Illustrations by Nick Solovioff (1927-94; Wikipedia HERE; 

ISFDb HERE).

First appearance: Fantasy & Science Fiction (F&SF), August 1954.

Reprints page (HERE).

Online at SFFAudio (HERE).

(Parental caution: Strong language.)

WE'RE all familiar with the human condition, not only because it has been the subject of the world's literature for centuries but also because, no matter how much we'd like to escape from its less desirable aspects, we're destined to experience it every day:

   "The human condition can be defined as the characteristics and key events of human life, including birth, learning, emotion, aspiration, morality, conflict, and death. This is a very broad topic that has been and continues to be pondered and analyzed from many perspectives, including those of art, biology, literature, philosophy, psychology, and religion. As a literary term, 'human condition' is typically used in the context of ambiguous subjects, such as the meaning of life or moral concerns."

   You could say the human condition is universal and eternal, but up until now it's never been contagious . . .

Principal characters:

~ James Vandaleur:

  "Work at what? You know I’m good for nothing. How could I compete with specialist androids and robots? Who can, unless he’s got a terrific talent for a particular job?"

~ James Valentine:

  "'Sometimes,' it said, 'it is a good thing to be property'."

~ Dallas Brady:

  "She screamed and collapsed, her hair and clothes flaming, her skin crackling."

~ Jed:

  "What do we do? Call the police?"

~ Wanda:

  "No. We don’t know if it’s an MA for a fact. If it turns out to be an MA and the killing android, our paper comes first anyway. This is our big chance, Jed. If it’s that android we can run a series of controlled tests and — "

~ Blenheim:

  "I am the wizard of the Theory of Number, Mr. Vole, and I have exhausted the charm of number for myself."

~ Nan Webb:

  "Synesthesia, obviously."

References and resources:

- "Androids can't destroy. They can't harm":

  "The tension between the nonhuman substance and the human appearance—or even human ambitions—of androids is the dramatic impetus behind most of their fictional depictions. . . . Android stories, therefore, are not essentially stories 'about' androids; they are stories about the human condition and what it means to be human. . . . One aspect of writing about the meaning of humanity is to use discrimination against androids as a mechanism for exploring racism in society, as in Blade Runner." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "Lyra Alpha":

  More properly, Alpha Lyrae, also known as Vega: "Vega is the brightest star in the northern constellation of Lyra. It has the Bayer designation α Lyrae, which is Latinised to Alpha Lyrae and abbreviated Alpha Lyr or α Lyr. This star is relatively close at only 25 light-years (7.7 parsecs) from the Sun, and one of the most luminous stars in the Sun's neighborhood. It is the fifth-brightest star in the night sky, and the second-brightest star in the northern celestial hemisphere, after Arcturus." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "All reet! All reet!":

  Our author seems to be echoing a 1940s Cab Calloway jive tune. (See SongMeanings HERE; Archive.org HERE; Wikipedia HERE.)

- "Lalande . . . Lacaille . . . Indi . . . Eridani":

  Lalande: One of the stars named by a French astronomer (Wikipedia HERE) . . . Lacaille: One of the stars discovered by another French astronomer (Wikipedia HERE) . . . Indi: One of the stars located in the constellation of Indus (Wikipedia HERE) . . . Eridani: One of the stars found in the constellation of Eridanus (Wikipedia HERE).

- "Theory of Number":

  "Number theory (or arithmetic or higher arithmetic in older usage) is a branch of pure mathematics devoted primarily to the study of the integers and arithmetic functions. German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777–1855) said, 'Mathematics is the queen of the sciences—and number theory is the queen of mathematics.' Number theorists study prime numbers as well as the properties of mathematical objects constructed from integers (for example, rational numbers), or defined as generalizations of the integers (for example, algebraic integers)." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "Antares II, Alpha Aurigae, Acrux IV, Pollux IX, Rigel Centaurus":

  Antares II: "Antares is a red supergiant star with a stellar classification of M1.5Iab-Ib, and is indicated to be a spectral standard for that class. Due to the nature of the star, the derived parallax measurements have large errors, so that the true distance of Antares is approximately 550 light-years (170 parsecs) from the Sun." (Wikipedia HERE.)

  Alpha Aurigae: "Capella is the brightest star in the northern constellation of Auriga. It has the Bayer designation α Aurigae, which is Latinised to Alpha Aurigae and abbreviated Alpha Aur or α Aur. Capella is the sixth-brightest star in the night sky, and the third-brightest in the northern celestial hemisphere after Arcturus and Vega. A prominent object in the northern winter sky, it is circumpolar to observers north of 44°N. Its name meaning 'little goat' in Latin, Capella depicted the goat Amalthea that suckled Zeus in classical mythology. Capella is relatively close, at 42.9 light-years (13.2 pc) from the Sun. It is one of the brightest X-ray sources in the sky, thought to come primarily from the corona of Capella Aa." (Wikipedia HERE.)

  Acrux IV: "Acrux is the brightest star in the southern constellation of Crux. It has the Bayer designation α Crucis, which is Latinised to Alpha Crucis and abbreviated Alpha Cru or α Cru. With a combined visual magnitude of +0.76, it is the 13th-brightest star in the night sky. It is the most southerly star of the asterism known as the Southern Cross and is the southernmost first-magnitude star, 2.3 degrees more southerly than Alpha Centauri. This system is located at a distance of 321 light-years from the Sun." (Wikipedia HERE.)

  Pollux IX: "Pollux is the brightest star in the constellation of Gemini. It has the Bayer designation β Geminorum, which is Latinised to Beta Geminorum and abbreviated Beta Gem or β Gem. This is an orange-hued, evolved giant star located at a distance of 34 light-years, making it the closest giant to the Sun. Since 1943, the spectrum of this star has served as one of the stable anchor points by which other stars are classified. In 2006 an extrasolar planet (designated Pollux b or β Geminorum b, later named Thestias) was confirmed to be orbiting it." (Wikipedia HERE.)

  Rigel Centaurus: "Alpha Centauri (α Centauri, α Cen, or Alpha Cen) is a triple star system in the southern constellation of Centaurus. It consists of three stars: Rigil Kentaurus (α Centauri A), Toliman (α Centauri B), and Proxima Centauri (α Centauri C). Proxima Centauri is the closest star to the Sun at 4.2465 light-years (1.3020 pc)." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "a lone flight of bustards":

  "The birds were once common and abounded on the Salisbury Plain [in England]. They had become rare by 1819 when a large male, surprised by a dog on Newmarket Heath, sold in Leadenhall Market for five guineas. The last bustard in Britain died in approximately 1832, but the bird is being reintroduced through batches of chicks imported from Russia. In 2009, two great bustard chicks were hatched in Britain for the first time in more than 170 years. Reintroduced bustards also hatched chicks in 2010." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "in a lunatic rumba":

  "The rhumba dance that developed on the East Coast of the United States was based on the bolero-son. The first rumba competition took place in the Savoy Ballroom in 1930. Nowadays, two different styles of ballroom rumba coexist: American style and International style. From 1935 to the 1950s, the Mexican and American film industry expanded the use of the term rumba as rumbera films became popular. In this context, rumberas were Cuban and Mexican divas, singers and actresses who sang boleros and canciones, but rarely rumbas. Notable rumberas include Rita Montaner, Rosa Carmina, María Antonieta Pons and Ninón Sevilla." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "Projection, Wanda warned me":

  "Psychological projection is a defence mechanism of alterity concerning 'inside' content mistaken to be coming from the 'outside' Other. It forms the basis of empathy by the projection of personal experiences to understand someone else's subjective world. In its malignant forms, it is a defense mechanism in which the ego defends itself against disowned and highly negative parts of the self by denying their existence in themselves and attributing them to others, breeding misunderstanding and causing untold interpersonal damage. Projection incorporates blame shifting and can manifest as shame dumping. Projection has been described as an early phase of introjection. . . . Freud considered that, in projection, thoughts, motivations, desires, and feelings that cannot be accepted as one's own are dealt with by being placed in the outside world and attributed to someone else. What the ego refuses to accept is split off and placed in another." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- It's been years since we last examined Alfred Bester's work, in this instance "Star Light, Star Bright" (HERE).

The bottom line:

Philippe de Champaigne's "Vanitas" (c. 1671)

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

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

"A Small Contented Smile Spread Across His Lips"

"Exhibit A".

By William O'Farrell (1904-62; Wikipedia HERE).

First appearance: EQMM, January 1955.

Short short story (6 pages).

Online at SFFAudio (HERE).

   "Anyone could have done it. Anyone with a taste for torturing small children, that is."

WHENEVER somebody pushes too hard too often, there's only one direction things can take: a parting of the ways, which can be peaceful—or . . .

Main characters:

~ The narrator (unnamed):

  "It's true that I sometimes run into people who might be described a 'characters,' and that I occasionally invite one to drop in at our apartment in New York."

~ Felicity:

  "Under her pose of aloofness my wife is as interested in people as I am, and I was curious to see how she'd react to Joe."

~ Joe Haller:

  "The funny thing is, Joe didn't seem unhappy."

~ Martha Maynard:

  "Except for certain natural ravages, Martha hadn't changed much from the scornful Roman debutante who, back in the old super-colossals, had sat in Caesar's Colosseum box and egged on the lions to eat their dinner."

Resources:

- One of William O'Farrell's novels, The Twisted Image, was adapted as the premiere episode of the Thriller TV series. (Wikipedia HERE, the IMDb HERE, and A Thriller a Day HERE.)

- William O'Farrell never developed a series character, ensuring at the least that his stories wouldn't grow formulaic; here's a list of some of his contributions:

  For EQMM:

  (1) "Exhibit A," (ss) Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, January 1955 (above)

  (2) "The High, Warm Place," (ss) Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, October 1957 

       (online HERE)

  (3) "The Girl on the Beach," (ss) Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, April 1958 (online HERE)

  (4) "Lady of the Old School," (ss) Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, September 1960

  (5) "A Paper for Mr. Wurley," (ss) Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, July 1963 (online HERE).

  For AHMM:

  (1) "Long Drop," (ss) Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, June 1959

  (2) "In a Tranquil House," (ss) Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, October 1959.

  For Manhunt:

  (1) "It Never Happened," (na) Manhunt, June 1958 (online HERE)

  (2) "One Hour Late," (na) Manhunt, April 1959 (online HERE)

  (3) "Death and the Blue Rose," (ss) Manhunt, December 1960.

  For The Saint:

  (1) "The Girl in White," (ss) The Saint Mystery Magazine, December 1959

  (2) "The Hood Is a Bonnet . . .", (ss) The Saint Mystery Magazine (U.K.), May 1961

  (3) "Death Among the Geraniums," (ss) The Saint Mystery Magazine (U.K.), February 1962

  (4) "A Plague of Pigeons," (ss) The Saint Mystery Magazine (U.K.), July 1962

  (5) "Philosophy and the Dutchman," (ss) The Saint Mystery Magazine (U.K.), November 1964

       Reprinted in The Saint Mystery Magazine, January 1965 (online HERE).

The bottom line:

"You did WHAT with those Taylor Swift concert tickets?"

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

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

UPDATE: Edward Wellen's "Non-fact" Articles

Completed links to seven of Wellen's "Origins of . . ." series in Galaxy (HERE).

It's in the Bag

"Vigilance."

By George Harmon Coxe (1901-84; Wikipedia HERE and HERE).

First appearance: Collier's, April 19, 1941.

Illustrated by Harry Morse Meyers.

Short short short story (1 page).

Online at UNZ (HERE; go to text page 23).

   "That was when the alarm went off, a terrifying blast of sound that hammered at Steve's eardrums and comforted him strangely."

AS that venerated philosopher Yogi Berra once told us, "You can observe a lot by watchin'." 

A young elevator operator is about to find out just how observant Yogi was . . .

Principal characters:

~ Steve Rankin:

  "I wondered about it when he rode up; when he did it again I had a hunch."

~ Sergeant Grauer:

  "'When you're a cop,' Grauer said, 'always observe and remember. Never forget that, kid'."

~ Others in the box, one of them a thief:

  Miss Appleton, Mr. Van Nostwick, Stella Williams, Mr. Turner, Tod Erickson, the salesman from Hurwich Brothers, and the woman from Kalmus.

References and resources:

- "When Steve Rankin brought the car down to the main floor":

  "Automatic elevators began to appear as early as the 1920s, their development being hastened by striking elevator operators which brought large cities dependent on skyscrapers (and therefore their elevators) such as New York and Chicago to their knees. Self-service elevators were not allowed in New York City until 1922. Prior to this, non-luxury buildings that could not afford an attendant were built as five-story walk ups." (Wikipedia HERE.)

  ". . .  in 1945, elevator operators in New York went on strike. New York City ground to a halt. The strike costs New York a hundred million dollars in lost taxes. It prevented one and a half million office workers from getting to work. Building owners demanded a change. And the elevator industry decided they had to convince people to rethink what an elevator was." (NPR HERE.)

- We've already spent some time perusing George Harmon Coxe's first Paul Standish story, "The Fourth Visitor" (HERE), and his third one, "Murder Makes a Difference" (HERE).

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

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