Challenge To The Reader - Hugh Pentecost

Story: Challenge To The Reader

Author: Hugh Pentecost

Source: EQ’s Twentieth Century of Detective Stories

Story Number: 94

“A tantalizing tale of mystery and deception by one of the most versatile and accomplished of modern master – a tale still as probing and provocative a puzzle as you have ever matched wits with ….” quotes the introduction from Ellery Queen, who incidentally was also responsible in providing the very apt title to this story which was originally titled “Darling, It’s Me!”

Nancy Bradford and her daughter are found brutally murdered in their apartment, the doorman of the apartment sees a man talking on the phone, is invited to come over, he watches the man step out of the elevator on Bradford’s floor and an hour later the two mutilated bodies are found, the doorman stays in the lobby but there’s no sign of the murderer as both the elevator and the stairs which open into the lobby was under constant observation by the doorman. This forms a very small portion of the story.

Two men who are very interested in the Bradford murders end up in a conversation regarding the murderer when they are out fishing. The rest of the story revolves around these two men , and as the tale progresses, the reader becomes increasingly aware that one man is the murderer and the other man is the detective. The question is: which is which? At various points in the story, the reader decides he knows; then with consummate cleverness, Mr. Pentecost twists the very fact which made up the reader’s mind think one way into making him think exactly the opposite!

The Stripper - Anthony Boucher

Story: The Stripper

Author: Anthony Boucher

Source: EQ’s Twentieth Century of Detective Stories

Story Number: 93

He was called Jack The Stripper because the only witness who had seen him and lived had described the glint of moonlight on bare skin. After six murders in three months, the only clue that Lieutenant Marshall has is the fact that the murderer is always naked when he commits the murder.

Sister Ursula calls Marshall and tells him about her professor friend who has sent a mail to her informing her about his knowledge of the identity of the stripper. But Marshall gets this news too late for the professor is found dead in his house – killed by one of his three roommates as the door to the house was locked from inside. The professor, in his mail to Sister Ursula, has left a clue to point to one of his roommates as the naked murderer.

But Sister Ursula needs much more than the religious clue which her friend has left for her – she inspects the rooms of all the three suspects and the clean freshly made bed in each of the rooms with one anomaly gives the vital clue to catch the murderer red handed!

Death At Stonehenge - Norma Schier

Theme: Authors from the pages of AHMM

Story: Death At Stonehenge

Author: Norma Schier

Source: Alfred Hitchcock's Tales to Make You Quake And Quiver

Story Number: 92

The name of Norma Schier rang a bell but couldn't place it till a simple google search gave me the result - it was featured first by Tomcat and then later by Patrick on their blogs in reviewing the collection of short stories The Anagram Detectives. For a detailed analysis of the stories, please check here and here. This story written in 1969 is a late entry in the author's output though it looks like a deviation from the anagram puzzles. A simple search through the listing of AHMM magazines and anthologies didn't yield any other entry for her.

Chief Inspector Harlan Faulkner is called in to investigate the death of Felicity Carmichael, an archaeologist who was assisting the research activity at the Stonehenge site. The body at the Stonehenge site looks as though she was being sacrificed as part of a ritual but the Inspector who is extremely knowledgeable in the matter knows that the scene has been set up by a person of somewhat cracked brain.

Her  husband believes that she was having an affair with her fellow research scientist Donat but Donat claims that it was strictly a professional relationship. Donat has an alibi for the time of the crime - he was with another lady who also happens to be the consulting psychologist for Felicity. The clues are fairly provided for the reader to arrive at the solution before the Inspector lays his trap to nab the murderer - a person whose characteristics have been well anticipated by the Inspector!

Martin For The Defense - Jaime Sandaval

Theme: Authors from the pages of AHMM

Story: Martin For The Defense

Author: Jaime Sandaval

Source: Alfred Hitchcock's Tales to Make You Quake And Quiver

Story Number: 91

Jaime Sandaval was a pseudonym used by Dan J. Marlowe for a group of detective short stories that appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and Mike Shayne’s Mystery Magazine. This story is a pure court-room drama in the tradition of a Perry Mason story but without the dramatics of the famous lawyer sleuth.

Martin is a lawyer who won't take a case without a retainer. Mickey Bananas has an earlier conviction for burglary and this time, the charge is grand larceny for stealing an oil painting from a cathedral supposed to be worth two hundred thousand dollars. Defending Mickey seems to be a pretty hopeless situation as there are six witnesses, all nuns, who saw him steal the painting and he was later caught red-handed with the booty on him. The only alternative left for Martin is to prove that the painting was a forgery which would throw the grand larceny case out of the court. But he is in for a surprise when the prosecution brings in a star witness, a witness who valued the painting before it was donated to the cathedral, a witness who has around 20 years of experience in analyzing Italian oil paintings, a witness who happens to have written the only manuscript on the topic. It is a battle of the legal mind versus the expertise of the art critic and the appraiser - and as in so many court room procedurals, it's no wonder as to what the outcome would be but it's still a jolly good ride to see another expert fall prey to the guiles of a defense lawyer!

The Sapphire That Disappeared - James Holding

Theme: Authors from the pages of AHMM

Story: The Sapphire That Disappeared

Author: James Holding

Source: Alfred Hitchcock's A Hearse Of A Different Color

Story Number: 90

Laurie and John from the famous firm of Private Detectives 'Landis & Landis' are enjoying their holiday in Buenos Aires when they are asked to solve the problem of the missing Sapphire by the store owner Quesada.

The store had only two customers when the Sapphire went missing - a Mrs. Thompson and a Mr. Ortega. Thompson is looking for aquamarine necklaces where as Ortega is looking for  a suitable gift for his wife and requests to see some uncut stones. The clerk, on his way back to show Ortega the gems, trips over and spills a lot of stones on the carpeted floor and the stones are quickly retrieved by the store employees. But one valuable stone is found missing. The big Sapphire which would stand out on the dark carpet is nowhere to be found in the edgeless circular room. Both the customers are searched thoroughly and they are let go only after confirming that they didn't have the stone on them or on their clothes. The only clue turns out to be a discarded bubble gum wrapper - but no one was chewing any gum nor was any gum found anywhere in the store.

Laurie and John exchange a series of hypotheses as to how the Sapphire could have disappeared but each one of them turns out to have already been verified with no result. They know that Ortega must be the guilty party and that a wad of gum was somehow involved but  how he managed to use the gum and hide the Sapphire remains a mystery.  The couple stumble across the vital clue when John bumps into a blind man after existing one of the Buenos Aires subway trains. A simple solution which is neatly done and fairly clued.

The Vapor Clue - James Holding

Theme: Authors from the pages of AHMM

Story: The Vapor Clue

Author: James Holding

Source: Alfred Hitchcock's Murders On The Half-Skull

Story Number: 89

Hub Grant and his wife have had an early start on their journey from Pittsburgh to Connecticut on a bitter cold still-dark morning. The engine develops a snag and Hub pulls into a gas station at around 5.30 in the morning. Since the gas station would open only at around 7, Hub decides to walk and check out if he can find some help from one of the houses he sees in the distance. The wife remains in the car.

Sarah Benson, the waitress of a Trucker's rest house , is out on her way to open the shop so that the truck drivers who are regular customers, can stop by for their morning coffee. Sarah sees a man(Hub) walking down the hill towards her shop and when he is about to wave to her, she sees a dark sedan come down the hill, hit the man with full force and make a quick getaway even before Sarah could react.

Lieutenant Randall has very less to go on to catch the hit-and-run driver. The only description that Sarah can give is that she noticed a mist from the exhaust pipe which sort of covered up the license plate. It takes 12 more hours for Sarah to understand the significance of the mist from the exhaust pipe; she approaches Randall and tells him as to what the vapor clue signified; a fact which is more than enough to figure out who the hit-and-run driver was and apprehend him in a very short time.

Dream Of A Murder - C. B. Gilford

Theme: Authors from the pages of AHMM

Story: Dream Of A Murder

Author: C. B. Gilford

Source: Alfred Hitchcock's A Hearse of A Different Color

Story Number: 88

Harvey Fenster had committed murder, plain and simple. The crime hadn't been detected. The only trouble was, Harvey dreamed! And so begins this very intriguing tale of a man who has willfully murdered his wife and passed it off as an accident.

Each night he dreams - he dreams about the murder and the events leading up to it. The irritating voice of his nagging wife, her request for a new washing machine, the rigging up of the wiring to induce shock which eventually leads to her death - it is all very vivid and more horrific than the actual crime itself. Each time the shrilling noise of the alarm clock wakes him up out of his nightmare.

But every night, the dream goes a little further. During the initial stages it was restricted to the actual event. Further on, he starts dreaming about things which never happened in real life - the police investigation, the various clues which the police didn't notice at the time of the murder, the police restarting the enquiry, the getting rid of the washing machine and other clues in the river, the police arresting him for the murder, the court room where the jury brings in a verdict of guilty - the dreams continue to haunt him but every time the alarm clock saves him from his nightmare and brings him back to reality! Until, the dream where the judge sentences him to death.... in the electric chair....