Jean Backus - Ellery Queen. The Best of Suspense

The editor hereby makes grateful acknowledgment to the following authors and authors’ representatives for giving permission to reprint the material in this volume:

Jean L. Backus for Last Rendezvous, © 1977 by Jean L. Backus.

Barrie & Jenkins, Ltd. for This Is Death by Donald E. Westlake, © 1978 by Barrie & Jenkins. Ltd.

L. E. Behney for The Man Who Kept His Promise, © 1966 by Davis Publications, Inc.; and for Why Don’t You Like Me? © 1966 by Davis Publications. Inc.

Lloyd Biggle, Jr. for Have You a Fortune in Your Attic? © 1963 by Davis Publications, Inc.

Georges Borchardt, Inc. for A Drop Too Much by Ruth Rendell, © 1975 by Ruth Rendell.

Brandt & Brandt Literary Agents, Inc. for Jericho and the Deadly Errand by Hugh Pentecost, © 1972 by Hugh Pentecost; for Jericho and the Studio Murders by Hugh Pentecost, © 1975 by Hugh Pentecost; for One for Virgil Tibhs by John Ball, © 1975 by John Ball; for The Pool Sharks by Ursula Curtiss, © 1976 by Ursula Curtiss; and for Virgil Tibbs and the Cocktail Napkin by John Ball, © 1977 by John Ball.

Curtis Brown, Ltd. for The Killer with No Fingerprints by Lawrence G. Blochman, © 1964 by Lawrence G. Blochman; for Nothing But the Truth by Patricia McGerr, © 1973 by Patricia McGerr; for The Pencil by Edmund Crispin, © 1953, renewed by Edmund Crispin; for The Raffles Bombshell by Barry Perowne; © 1974 by Phillip Atkey; for A Stroke of Genius by Victor Canning, © 1964 by Victor Canning. Curtis Brown Associates, Ltd. for The Happy Brotherhood by Michael Gilbert, © 1977 by Michael Gilbert.

Curtis Brown Associates. Ltd. for The Merry Band by Michael Gilbert, © 1957 by Michael Gilbert.

Barbara Callahan for The Pinwheel Dream, © 1977 by Barbara Callahan.

Celia Fremlin for A Case of Maximum Need, © 1977 by Celia Fremlin; for Dangerous Sport, © 1976 by Celia Fremlin; for Etiquette for Dying, © 1976 by Celia Fremlin; and for Waiting for the Police, © 1972 by Celia Fremlin.

Brian Garfield for Charlie’s Shell Game, © 1977 by Brian Garfield; and for Hunting Accident. © 1977 by Brian Garfield.

Kathryn Gottlieb for Dream House, © 1977 by Kathryn Gottlieb.

Joyce Harrington for Blue Monday, © 1976 by Joyce Harrington; and for The Plastic Jungle, © 1972 by Joyce Harrington.

Edward D. Hoch for Captain Leopold Gets Angry, © 1973 by Edward D. Hoch; for Captain Leopold Plays a Hunch, © 1973 by Edward D. Hoch; for The Spy and the Cats of Rome, © 1978 by Edward D. Hoch; and for The Theft of Nick Velvet, © 1973 by Edward D. Hoch.

International Creative Management for The Men in Black Raincoats by Pete Hamill, © 1977 by Pete Hamill.

Richard Laymon for Paying Joe Back, © 1975 by Richard Lavmon.

Ann Mackenzie for I Can’t Help Saying Goodbye, © 1978 by Ann Mackenzie.

Harold Q. Masur for Lawyer’s Holiday, © 1973 by Harold Q. Masur; for Murder Never Solves Anything, © 1976 by Harold Q. Masur; and for One Thing Leads to Another, © 1978 by Harold Q. Masur.

Harold Matson Co., Inc. for Cry Havoc by Davis Grubb, © 1976 by Davis Grubb.

Florence V. Mayberry for The Grass Widow, © 1977 by Florence V. Mayberry; and for Woman Trouble, © 1973 by Florence V. Mayberry.

Vincent McConnor for Just Like Inspector Maigret, © 1964 by Davis Publications, Inc.

McIntosh & Otis, Inc. for When in Rome by Patricia Highsmith, © 1978 by Patricia Highsmith.

Scott Meredith Literary Agency, Inc. for Locks Won t Keep You Out by Nedra Tyre, © 1972 by Nedra Tyre; for The Living End by Dana Lyon, © 1975 by Dana Lyon; and for Still a Cop by James Holding, © 1975 by James Holding.

Henry T. Parry for Homage to John Keats, © 1973 by Henry T. Parry.

Barry Perowne for Raffles and the Dangerous Game, © 1976 by Barry Perowne.

Bill Pronzini for Under the Skin, © 1977 by Bill Pronzini.

Ellery Queen for Dead Ringer, © 1965, 1968 by Ellery Queen; for Uncle from Australia, © 1965 by Ellery Queen; and for The Odd Man, originally appeared in Playboy Magazine, © 1971 by Ellery Queen.

Ernest Savage for Count Me Out, © 1978 by Ernest Savage; and for Doc Wharton’s Legacy, © 1977 by Ernest Savage.

Douglas Shea for Advice, Unlimited, © 1976 by Douglas Shea.

Larry Sterling Literary Agency for Nobody Tells Me Anything by Jack Ritchie, © 1976 by Jack Ritchie; and for The Seed Caper by Jack Ritchie, © 1977 by Jack Ritchie.

Thayer Hobson & Company for The Clue of the Screaming Woman by Erle Stanley Gardner, © 1948, 1949 by The Curtis Publishing Company, copyright renewed by Jean Bethell Gardner.

Lawrence Treat for A As in Alibi, © 1965 by Davis Publications. Inc.

Robert Twohy for Installment Past Due, © 1978 by Robert Twohy.

James M. Ullman for Operation Bonaparte, © 1963 by Davis Publications. Inc

Penelope Wallace and A. P. Watt, Ltd. for Warm and Dry by Edgar Wallace, © 1975 by Penelope Wallace.

Thomas Walsh for The Sacrificial Goat, © 1977 by Thomas Walsh.

Stephen Wasylyk for The Krowten Corners Crime Wave, © 1978 by Stephen Wasylyk.

Lieutenant Randall telephoned me on Tuesday, catching me in my cell-sized office at the public library just after I’d finished lunch.

“Hal?” he said. “How come you’re not out playing patty-cake with the book borrowers?” Randall still resents my leaving the police department to become a library detective — what he calls a “sissy cop.” Nowadays my assignments involve nothing more dangerous than tracing stolen and overdue books for the public library.

I said, “Even a library cop has to eat, Lieutenant. What’s on your mind?”

“Same old thing. Murder.”

“I haven’t killed anyone for over a week,” I said.

His voice took on a definite chill. “Somebody killed a young fellow we took out of the river this morning. Shot him through the head. And tortured him beforehand.”

“Sorry,” I said. I’d forgotten how grim it was to be a Homicide cop. “Tortured, did you say?”

“Yeah. Cigar burns all over him. I need information, Hal.”

“About what?”

“You ever heard of The Damion Complex ?”

“Sure. It’s the title of a spy novel published last year.”

“I thought it might be a book.” There was satisfaction in Randall’s voice now. “Next question: you have that book in the public library?”

“Of course. Couple of copies probably.”

“Do they have different numbers or something to tell them apart?”

“Yes, they do. Why?”

“Find out for me if one of your library copies of The Damion Complex has this number on it, will you?” He paused and I could hear paper rustling. “ES4187.”

“Right,” I said. “I’ll get back to you in ten minutes.” Then, struck by something familiar about the number, I said, “No, wait, hold it a minute, Lieutenant.”

I pulled out of my desk drawer the list of overdue library books I’d received the previous morning and checked it hurriedly. “Bingo,” I said into the phone. “I picked up that book with that very number yesterday morning. How about that? Do you want it?”