Ellery Queen
The Best of Suspense
Acknowledgments
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.
James Holding
Still a Cop
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?”