Ричард Деминг: The Second Richard Deming Mystery MEGAPACK™: 23 Classic Mystery Stories

“Homicide, Inc.” was originally published in F.B.I. Detective Stories , October 1949.

“For Value Received” was originally published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine , August 1952. Copyright © 1952, renewed 1980 by Richard Deming.

“Mugger Murder” was originally published in Manhunt , April 1953. Copyright © 1953, renewed 1981 by Richard Deming.

“Strangers in the House” was originally published in Detective Tales , June 1953. Copyright © 1953, renewed 1981 by Richard Deming.

“The Blonde in the Bar” was originally published in Manhunt , May 1954. Copyright © 1954, renewed 1982 by Richard Deming.

“Hit and Run” was originally published in Manhunt , December 1954. Copyright © 1954, renewed 1982 by Richard Deming.

“The Happy Marriage” was originally published in Manhunt , August 1955. Copyright © 1955, renewed 1983 by Richard Deming.

“Sauce for the Gander” was originally published in Manhunt , February 1956. Copyright © 1956, renewed 1983 by Richard Deming.

“A Little Sororicide” was originally published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine , May 1957. Copyright © 1957 by Richard Deming.

“The Price of Fame” was originally published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine , March 1964. Copyright © 1964 by Richard Deming.

“False Alarm” was originally published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine , Feb 1965. Copyright © 1965 by Richard Deming.

“Errand Boy” was originally published in The Saint Mystery Magazine , March 1965. Copyright © 1965 by Richard Deming.

“The Most Ethical Man in the Business” was originally published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine , April 1965. Copyright © 1965 by Richard Deming.

“Honeymoon Cruise” was originally published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine , October 1966. Copyright © 1966 by Richard Deming.

“The Monster Brain” was originally published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine , November 1966. Copyright © 1966 by Richard Deming.

“The Jolly Jugglers, Retired” was originally published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine , March 1967. Copyright © 1967 by Richard Deming.

“An Element of Risk” was originally published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine , September 1972. Copyright © 1972 by Richard Deming.

“Maggie’s Grip” was originally published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine , March 1975. Copyright © 1975 by Richard Deming.

“Premarital Agreement” was originally published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine , July 1973. Copyright © 1973 by Richard Deming.

“Guardian of the Hearth” was originally published in Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine , December 1979. Copyright © 1979 by Richard Deming.

“The Evils of Drink” was originally published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine , April 1980. Copyright © 1980 by Richard Deming.

“Mother Love” was originally published in Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine , April 1981. Copyright © 1981 by Richard Deming.

“Friendly Witness” was originally published in The Saint Magazine , July 1984. Copyright © 1984 by Richard Deming.

Richard Deming (1915–1983) was an American pulp writer who specialised in mystery and detective fiction. In addition to original novels, he found a lucrative niche writing books based on movies TV series (such as Dragnet ) and also ghost-wrote no less than ten “Ellery Queen” novels. In addition to numerous stand-alone books and stories, he created series featuring Manville (Manny) Moon and Matt Rudd. This volume provides a great sampling of his work. Enjoy!

— John Betancourt

Originally published in F.B.I. Detective Stories , October 1949.

MacDonald Sprague sat sidewise at the bar, frankly admiring the grave-faced blonde who sat with an escort a few feet away. But the admiration was entirely a surface veneer covering his cold loathing for the woman.

She looks more like a kitten than a murderess, he thought, studying the grave oval face with its slightly upslanting eyes. It was a face that seemed constantly to hold the promise of a smile which never materialized, a poker face, concealing all that lay behind it, yet somehow suggesting that if the mask were lifted, only laughter and innocence would be revealed.

It was hard to imagine those soft lips tensed in a cruel line and that tiny hand deliberately pumping bullets into a man. So hard that a strange reluctance mixed with the loathing in Mac’s mind for the women he believed had killed his brother.

With his hat tilted back at a jaunty angle and with a glint of satanic humor in his eyes, no one would have suspected MacDonald Sprague’s thoughts were composed of anything but admiration. He had rehearsed his part until everything about him was carelessly jaunty: his dress, his speech, his expression — even the way he moved in sudden controlled bounces. In physical appearance he only faintly resembled the deceased killer whose name he had assumed, but his personality was an almost exact copy.

The girl, though obviously aware of his scrutiny, seemed neither offended nor gratified, apparently accepting male admiration as a matter of course. But the man seated beside her did not share her indifference. Repeatedly he scowled at Mac, and once made as though to rise, but was stopped by the girl’s small hand touching his arm. Though it was the merest touch, he subsided immediately.

The movement re-emphasized to Mac that he was playing a game so dangerous, the slightest slip would make it fatal. For the girl’s scowling escort was Thomas Cougar, sometimes referred to as “The Strangler” because of his rumored proficiency with his pale, powerful hands.

Thomas Cougar was a tall, raw-boned man with an oddly narrow face with gray skin stretched so tightly it gave him a mummified appearance, an effect heightened by sparse, nearly colorless hair and eyebrows. Momentarily the mocking smile on Mac’s lips died as his eyes unconsciously dropped to the man’s enormously long and narrow fingers, which played with the stem of a cocktail glass. A mental image of those hands reaching for his throat caused Mac to shift his gaze hurriedly back to the girl.

The Town House was one of those glittering cocktail lounges of chrome and artificial leather, new but cheap, and already beginning to tarnish on the edges. It was the kind of place where the fringe of the underworld gathered — not actual criminals, but grifters and racetrack touts and petty gamblers. A forty-foot bar ran along one wall, and facing it along the opposite wall ran a forty-foot leatherette-upholstered bench before which, at spaced intervals, were set tiny cocktail tables. The blonde and her escort sat behind one of these a dozen feet closer to the door than Mac.

At this hour of the afternoon there were few customers, Mac was gratified to note, for the scene scheduled to occur at any minute was designed solely for the lovely blonde murderess. The fewer interested spectators, the better. At the moment, aside from Mac and the couple, two men seated at the bar near the door were the only customers.

George Doud slammed open the street door and stalked in exactly on schedule. Without glancing at him, Mac drained his beer, set down the glass and slid from his stool, as though preparing to leave.

Purposefully, George stalked the length of the bar, his wide, flat face set in the belligerent stare of the slightly drunk, and his massive arms swinging at his sides. As he neared the table at which the blonde and her companion sat, he leered sidewise at her, slightly changed direction, and still looking, crashed heavily into Mac.