5 Detective Novels Magazine — page 115: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

COMPLIMENTS OF A FIEND after ten-thirty that we parted. Any- way, there wasn’t time for me to get to Janson’s and back before Joe Brophy can tell you I got back to the hotel. He sent for Doc Reynard, who was taping me up about the time the barn was fired. Doc didn’t leave until nearly midnight.” He grunted. “Sounds pretty good. Of course there’s only your story that Dave was dead before he reached that barn. He still might have been drunk and wandered in there and lighted a ciga- rette—” I laughed so hard it hurt my rib. Magnus turned and looked at me, and after a second he realized how silly his words had been, for if there’d been neither murder nor arson I needed an alibi as badly as I needed sinus trouble or a wooden leg. He chuckled, too, and slowed down the car. “Near as I’m going to the middle of town. Be seeing you.” I remembered my promise to the press and went to the Chronicle office. “Got your murder for you, Aunt Mar- garet,” I told her. “And in time for this week’s paper.” “You found Dave Otis?” I told her everything that had hap- pened, except the part that was private between the sheriff and me. “Thanks a lot, Tommy. How about findng out for me, before we go to press tomorrow morning, who did it?” “That’s not my job, thank heaven. As long as I’ve convinced Ed I didn’t do it, I’m in the clear. I see Reeder tonight at ten, I make the rest of my inquires about him, and then I’m through. And by the way, now that you know the rest of it, what is your opinion about Reeder ?” “You mean whether he’s crazy on this extra-terrestrial angle? I don’t know, Tommy. He’s brilliant, in a feeble-mind- ed sort of way, if you know what I mean.” “A genius, except for occasional blind spots ?”’ “About that. One thing I will tell you, though; he’s honest. He thinks he’s got something all right, or he wouldn’t try ' to borrow money for it. I understand he tried to borrow from his own lawyer, Ambers. But the deal didn’t go through.” 115 4 does surprised me. “Ts he broke?” I asked. “Oh, he has enough income to live on, but the research he wants to do on that radio idea, whatever it is, would cost several thousand ddllars.” “You don’t know what it is?” “Some new form of radio—about as radical as ‘frequency molulation’. As he told it to me, he’s got it so it works, but wants to perfect it himself rather than release it half-baked._Say, young man, what was the idea of handing Mary that yarn about falling out of a tree when you were in service?” “Yarn?” I asked. I hung my head. “Listen, Aunt Margaret, the truth sounded so silly. Did I want to tell her I’d been discharged because I strained my back carrying a garbage can while I was on KP for not having my shoes shined ?” “Shut up and get out of here, you impudent young puppy—Wait a minute. Are you carrying a revolver?” “A revolver? What would I want with a revolver?” “For hunting a homicidal maniac, of course. And don’t try to tell me you won’t be doing it, as long as you’re around town. I’ve got one here, a thirty-eight, and you can use it if you haven’t one.” “Put that thing away,” I told her. “T’m not hunting any homicidal maniacs. I’m strictly minding my own business.” She grinned at me, but I dead-panned my way out. From there I went to the Haverton Municipal Library. I browsed in vain for a while until I thought of looking up “werewolf” in the Brittanica. That gave me the word I hadn’t been able to think of. Lycanthropy. Lycanthropy is that rare form of mad- ness in which the maniac believes him- self, at times, to be a wolf. While under the influence of that belief, he will kill— if he kills at all—in the manner of a wolf. Lycanthropy is the basis for the werewolf legend. Lycanthropy, itself, is not a legend at all. I went through the indices of the most promising volumes and put aside those which had more than a casual reference to lycanthropy. A deposit served in lieu of a library card and I took them back with me to MICLOO (CO <S) (C(O)