Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, December 1956 — page 39: what you’re looking at

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

4 “Why I'd...Id already opened the door. How the hell do you suppose?” “But later, in the kitchen, when I suggested that we take the body down, you told me I should know better. You said the coroner would skin us alive if we moved the body before he had seen it.” “So?” “So if you opened the door, like you just said, how did you know the rope was tied around the door knob? How did you know it was- n't merely slipped over the hinge and dangling on the inside and that the body wouldn’t fall when - you opened the door? Then you'd have been responsible for moving the body.” “Why, I...” he sputtered. “I assumed the rope was tied.” The coroner looked angry. “You'd be a hell of a lot better off if you quit ‘assuming’ things and started using your head.” “Okay,” Bartel choked. “Okay. I made a mistake. But the rope was tied and the girl’s body didn’t fall. No harm done.” I let it pass. “You knew Liz Peterson pretty well?” “TI knew her,” he admitted. _ “Ever date her! - “Once or twice.” “When was the last time you saw her?” “About fifteen minutes ago,’ ’ he snapped. -“T mean alive.” “Four, five days ago, I guess. DEATH OF A TRAMP Maybe longer. How the hell should I know? I don’t keep track.” “But you didn’t see her today, or last night?” “Alive?” I nodded. “No.” I moved close to him, close enough to see the tiny beads of perspiration on his forehead, al- most close enough to smell the fear. “How did you get out here this morning, Charley?” I asked him. 5 A drove, “Where’s your car?” “Ain’t ... ain’t it outside?” I sighed. “Why don’t you save your wind, Charley? Your car isn’t here because you didn’t drive it out here. You came out with Liz Peterson, in her car, last night after all the gin ‘mills had closed. You knew Ed was gone. You knew the guests would be in bed. You knew you could have all the free liquor you could drink and, afterwards ... you knew there were plenty of spare bedrooms up- stairs. But the one thing you ap- parently didn’t know -was that Mrs. Donald showed up every morning at seven. “Sometime early this morning, Liz overplayed her hand. She told you that she was pregnant, and that you were the father of her ~ unborn child. She wanted money, didn’t she, Charley?” Bartel shook his head angrily. “You're nuts. You don’t know what you’re talking about.” 37 EOMMICLOOKS.€©