The attorney blinked his eyes at Sidney Zoom.
“Well, by heaven,” he said, “you’re the coolest customer I ever had to deal with! Some day I’m going to see you on your road to jail.”
“In the meantime,” said Sidney Zoom, “I will have derived a lot of amusement from life, and have, perhaps, done some good.”
“You’ve got all the money you want,” the attorney rasped. “You’ve got nothing to do except cruise around and enjoy life. Why the devil do you mess around the big cities, mixing into crime?”
“For the same reason,” said Sidney Zoom, “that I am going into tropical waters and fish for swordfish with light tackle — because I like it. When it gets dark I’ll swing in close to the shore, put you in a launch and see that you’re landed — just like the rum-runners used to land their cargo. And, of course, you’ll add to my bill fair compensation for whatever inconvenience is caused you.”
The lawyer sighed.
“Well,” he said, “I guess it’s all right. You saved Carter’s life. They probably would have killed him when they got ready to take it ‘on the lam,’ as the crooks express it. But you certainly skated on thin ice yourself. You stole some of the crooks’ thunder.”
Zoom lit a cigarette.
“Yes,” he said, as he sent twin streamers of smoke through his satisfied nostrils, “I stole some of the crooks’ thunder, and, all in all, it was a very satisfactory job of larceny.”
The Cases of Sidney Zoom
“The Higher Court.” Detective Diction Weekly, March 8, 1930.
“Willie the Weeper.” Detective Fiction Weekly, March 8, 1930. Collected in The Casebook of Sidney Zoom.
“ ‘My Name Is Zoom’.” Detective Fiction Weekly, April 12,1930. Collected in The Casebook of Sidney Zoom.
“Time in for Tucker.” Detective Fiction Weekly, September 13, 1930.
“Stranger’s Silk.” Detective Fiction Weekly, January 3, 1931.
“The Death Penalty.” Detective Fiction Weekly, January 17, 1931.
“Borrowed Bullets.” Detective Fiction Weekly, March 21,1931. Collected in The Casebook of Sidney Zoom.
“The Vanishing Corpse.” Detective Fiction Weekly, August 15, 1931.
“Higher Up.” Detective Fiction Weekly, September 19, 1931. Collected in The Casebook of Sidney Zoom.
“The First Stone.” Detective Fiction Weekly, October 24, 1931. Collected in The Casebook of Sidney Zoom.
“It Takes a Crook.” Detective Fiction Weekly, October 24, 1931.
“The Green Door.” Detective Fiction Weekly, August 20, 1932. Collected in The Casebook of Sidney Zoom.
“Cheating the Chair.” Detective Fiction Weekly, September 17, 1932. Collected in The Casebook of Sidney Zoom.
“Inside Job.” Detective Fiction Weekly, January 7, 1933. Collected in The Casebook of Sidney Zoom.
“Lifted Bait.” Detective Fiction Weekly, October 21, 1933. Collected in The Casebook of Sidney Zoom.
“Stolen Thunder.” Detective Fiction Weekly, March 19, 1934. Collected in The Casebook of Sidney Zoom.