The Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps

by Penzler, Otto

  Murgier snapped his fingers twice. The men who had come up the dusty road in the travel-stained motor rounded the corner of the walk. The Countess laughed insolently at the man who faced her.

  “In a measure,” Murgier said quietly, “your statement is true. No one will ever reclaim the de Valois pearls. Let me tell you something. When the Wolf made his appearance that night at the warehouse, you saved the necklace from him by dropping it into the mouth of an open cask. Is that not correct? You marked this cask so you might distinguish it again. When you foiled the Wolf your agent began a search for the cask. It had been stored away in the warehouse—there were difficulties—so far your aid has not been able to locate it—but you have hopes. Madame Countess, it is my duty to disillusion both you and—” he nodded toward de Remec “—your husband. There was one thing you over-looked—the contents of the cask in question—”

  The Countess drew a quick breath, leaning forward as if to read the meaning of the other’s words.

  “The contents?”

  Murgier smiled.

  “The cask,” he explained, “we found to be half full of vinegar. The pearls are no more— eaten up like that! Pouf! Let us be going.”

  Snowbound

  C. B. Yorke

  HAROLD B. HERSEY, the publisher who created Gangster Magazine, wrote in his memoir, Pulp Editor (1937), that this was the magazine “that enabled me to lose money in that enterprise until the depression wiped out the business.” He had also created Racketeer Stories, Mobs, Gun Molls, and Gangland Stories. The American public had become enthralled with gangsters and their luxurious lifestyle, so vividly reported in the nation’s newspapers. While ordinary people suffered privation as the country plunged into what is now referred to as the Great Depression, they took solace and guilty pleasure from reading about the fun gangsters enjoyed as they partook of music, wine, beautiful women, fast cars, and so on. Little of it was true, but it made for good reading. Tastes change, and soon it was the FBI and the G-Men, those who captured or killed the criminals, who suddenly became the heroes, killing off the gangster publications.

  Many of these pulps came to an abrupt end as the Roaring Twenties drew to a close. During their brief lives, they had failed to seduce the top writers into working for them, and most of the bylines appearing in their pages are unknown today. It is entirely possible that many of the stories were produced by popular writers using pseudonyms on their lesser work that appeared in less prestigious publications. Nothing could be discovered about C. B. Yorke.

  “Snowbound” was first published in the October 1931 issue of Gangster Stories.

  Snowbound

  C. B. Yorke

  Queen Sue was the toughest moll that ever pulled a gat this side of Hades—she was in the rackets for what she could get out of’em—But peddliny snow was entirely out of her line, and not even Garland’s “persuasive” methods could make this baby change her mind!!

  CHAPTER I

  OVER HER HEAD

  SHE WAS NERVOUS from the moment she entered my apartment. I didn’t blame her much. Suds Garland had given her a tough job.

  “Here’s the money,” she said, fumbling in her purse with trembling hands. “Five grand, cash.”

  I laughed softly. The girl looked up at me with wide eyes. Something in her gaze told me she feared more than what I might do to her.

  “Chicken feed,” I said, still smiling.

  “Seven thousand?” she countered.

  “That’s funny!”

  “Ten grand? That’s a lot of money.”

  Perhaps ten thousand was a lot to her. She looked like a kid who wasn’t accustomed to dealing in big figures when it came to cold cash. But as for me, ten thousand dollars didn’t even get me interested in her proposition, and I told her so.

  “Well,” she went on, her thin voice shaking slightly from excitement and nervousness, “I’ll give you fifteen thousand. Suds will go that high just to get you—”

  “Make it fifty grand,” I told her sharply.

  A little gasp escaped her. I knew she didn’t have fifty grand with her, and in all probability Suds wouldn’t consider that price. It made no difference to me. So when she got over the shock of the figure I’d named I gave it to her straight.

  “Listen, kid,” I explained quietly. “I was just kidding about that fifty grand limit. No matter what—”

  “Then you’ll take fifteen grand?” she interrupted.

  “No. Now listen closely. No matter what Suds Garland offers I’m not accepting it. See? Not even fifty grand in cash could tempt me to tie up with him in the dope racket. And that’s final. What’s your name?”

  The girl looked at me with troubled eyes. She had come to my apartment that afternoon to try to get me to change my mind. I’d already told Suds that I wasn’t interested in dope, wouldn’t be interested, and couldn’t be interested. He had sent the girl over to my place to see if money talked louder than words.

  That had been a smart move on his part, but not smart enough. Had he known the real Queen Sue he wouldn’t have wasted his time. Sure, I could probably supply much needed brains in his racket, but dope is one thing I don’t touch, not even the racket angle of it.

  Apparently the girl hadn’t heard much about me, either. The kid figured I needed cash and would take anything she offered, gladly. Now when I asked for her name she snapped her purse shut and started to get up.

  “Sit still,” I told her gently. “There’s nothing to get excited about. You’ve done your part, and you can’t help it if I refuse the offer you’ve made. So now, just as one woman to another, let’s have a little talk. Smoke?”

  When we had cigarettes going she seemed to forget her nervousness. But she still watched me with sort of a sidewise glance as though she expected a couple of guns to appear around the corners of the rug and begin shooting. Perhaps she had heard something about me.

  “Tell me your name,” I went on presently.

  “Kate Travers,” she said softly.

  “All right, Kate,” I continued. “You know who I am, and now that we’re acquainted I’m going to tell you something. You look like a nice sort of girl to be mixed up in this dope business. Just how—”

  “Oh, I don’t use it myself,” she broke in quickly.

  “I didn’t think so,” I responded, smiling faintly. “You’re just playing along with Suds for what you can get out of it. That right?”

  Kate Travers nodded and dragged at her cigarette. I framed my next speech carefully.

  “I’m going to tell you something, Kate. Maybe you know it already, and maybe you don’t. It doesn’t matter much. I just want you to know that I’m not the least bit interested in Suds Garland, personally or financially. Feel better now?”

  “But you—”

  “Sure,” I broke in swiftly. “Suds and I teamed up against Buzz Mallon. That was business, but I didn’t take a cent from Suds. Partners in a business arrangement aren’t necessarily friends. Suds and I worked together to protect ourselves. But that’s all over now.”

  “Then you won’t consider my proposition at all?”

  I pitied the kid. She asked that question out of sheer ignorance. She was in the middle of something she didn’t know a thing about, just acting as a cat’s paw for Garland.

  “No,” I answered, moving my head slowly from left to right. “The proposition doesn’t interest me. We’re talking as friends now.”

  “But what will I tell—”

  She stopped suddenly and stared at the cigarette in her hand with frightened eyes. She knew she had said too much, but it was too late to take back her words.

  “You’ve got an out, Kate,” I explained. “A good out. Suds can’t blame you if I won’t agree to throw in with him. I’ll put it in writing if you want me to. I don’t want to get you into trouble.”

  “Kind of you,” she murmured.

  I paused a moment and during the brief silence I wondered why I was being so lenient with the kid. I should have tossed her
out the minute she tried to bribe me to join Suds Garland’s mob. But I didn’t.

  Perhaps I saw in her a vision of myself a few years ago—young, slightly innocent of certain phases of gang life, and a little fearful of everybody and everything. Well, I was still young, but no longer innocent. And I was entirely without fear of physical forces. I’d managed to take care of myself, had fought my way up to the top of a big mob, and had seen it crumble under me.

  Now I was lone-wolfing it, freelancing in crime for what I could get out of it. But I wasn’t taking part in a dope racket, and anything Suds Garland had to offer was connected with dope. I had the Club Bijou, and was making money. For the moment that was all I wanted.

  Later, perhaps, I would start building another mob. If I could find the right men to work with I’d do that. But it was all in the future. The loss of Dan Reilly, Biff Brons and Blimp Sampson, who had died in my fight with the cops, was still too recent to raise my hopes of ever finding men who could take their places.

  So while I looked at the pathetic, frightened figure of Kate Travers I felt sorry for her. I did the best I could, but it wasn’t much. Her troubles were not mine. She was sitting in with Suds Garland and there was nothing I could do about it. But I told her something I thought she should know.

  “I’ll be frank with you, Kate,” I said finally. “You’ve probably heard that Queen Sue, Sue Carlton, was the toughest mob leader that ever pulled a rod. Well, I am hard sometimes. You’ve got to be in this life. But there’s a time and place for everything. So you’ve got nothing to worry about now. How long have you been with Suds?”

  “Two weeks, but I’ve known him—”

  “No matter about that, Kate,” I interrupted. I didn’t want her life history. “He expecting you back right away?”

  “I’m seeing him tonight to give him your answer.”

  “Fine. Now, I’ll tell you what you do. Got a boy friend?”

  Kate looked up, then nodded slowly. I went on.

  “Well, run around and see him for a while. I’ll get in touch with Suds myself and deliver my message in person. Then when you see him tonight there won’t be a chance for him to get sore at you. Okay?”

  “That’s awfully kind of you, Queen,” the girl said tremulously, “but Suds said I’d have to arrange things with you or—”

  “Don’t worry about that. Suds won’t have anything to say, won’t do anything to you.” I smiled my assurance and she brightened. I honestly believed at that moment I was telling the truth. “So just run along now. It’s not quite three o’clock. Have dinner with the boy friend and I’ll fix everything with Suds.”

  After again thanking me, the kid moved to the door. I saw her to the elevator and then went back to my apartment and watched her leave the front entrance of the building a few minutes later. Suds should have known better than to pick a kid like her to talk to me about joining a racket.

  When the kid passed out of sight along the street I turned away from the window, went over to the telephone, and called Suds Garland’s number. There was no answer, so I made a mental note to call him later and dismissed the frightened little Kate Travers from my mind.

  I had other work to do, what with managing a night club, arranging for liquor deliveries, entertainment, and a lot of other details, and it wasn’t until almost an hour later that I remembered I had to call Garland and arrange for a meeting with him.

  I’d just lifted the receiver when the door-bell rang. I got up, moved across the room, opened the door and got a real surprise.

  Standing in the doorway, his soft felt hat pushed back off his brow, was Sid Lang, the big detective from the District Attorney’s office who had broken me as a mob leader. I hadn’t seen him since that night in Cincinnati when I had trapped him in my room and had purchased my freedom by sparing his life.

  Since then the indictments against me had been quashed. So I put a big smile on my face, knowing full well there was nothing to fear.

  “Come in, Sid,” I said, not stopping to wonder why he was calling on me. “Certainly is nice to see you again. How’s the D.A. and all your flat-footed playmates?”

  The broad face of Sid Lang didn’t relax in a smile. His cold eyes held mine steadily as he stepped into the room. He kept his hands in plain sight so I didn’t make any moves toward the gun on my right leg.

  “’Lo, Queen,” he said laconically when the door was closed. “Heard the news?”

  “The D.A. after me again?” I laughed.

  “No. I’m not with the District Attorney’s office any more. I’m working for an agency now—private dick.”

  “Trying to drum up business with me?”

  “Cut it, Queen!” he said sharply. “I just heard something I thought you ought to know.”

  “Nice of you, Sid,” I nodded, wiping the smile from my face. “When did you start playing on my side of the fence?”

  “Don’t be funny,” he continued. “A kid by the name of Kate Travers was gunned out a while ago, a half dozen blocks from here.”

  My heart stopped.

  “I got it straight,” Sid Lang went on slowly, his voice sounding strangely hollow, “that she left you a few minutes before she got it. She was running with Suds Garland’s mob. I happen to know that he wants you to join up with him.”

  Lang paused. I wasn’t telling him anything, so I merely said, “Yes?” and waited. A moment later Lang added:

  “The cops found fifteen thousand in marked bills in her purse. I’m interested because Kate Travers was—my girl friend!”

  CHAPTER II

  CLEVER—BUT NOT ENOUGH

  Red rage gripped me as I heard Sid Lang’s words. For a moment I didn’t think about him or his feelings. I saw only the clever plot that Suds Garland had tried to trap me with.

  It was all plain enough now. Perhaps Garland had really wanted me to join his mob at first, but my refusal had angered him. So when I wouldn’t change my mind he wanted me out of the way. Perhaps it wasn’t just business that was on his mind, and in turning down his business proposition I had unconsciously insulted his amorous intentions.

  Well, it was too late to worry about what had brought on all the trouble. Kate Travers was dead. But I saw his whole plan.

  Not for a minute had Garland expected me to refuse the money that Kate had offered. He had taken it for granted that I had taken the money. Then he had the girl killed so I would get into a pile of trouble.

  And trouble it would have been. The cops would have swarmed all over me, for Suds Garland would have tipped them quietly that I’d taken money from the kid and then had had her killed so it wouldn’t become known that Queen Sue could be bought.

  Yes, it might have worked out that way. Suds Garland had planned carefully. The only hitch in his plans had been the fact that Queen Sue is her own boss. I never sell out to the side with the most money.

  In the midst of my thoughts I was suddenly brought back to the present. Sid Lang stepped in close to me and gripped me hard with a big hand on either shoulder.

  “What d’you know about the kill, Queen?” he demanded, icy points of cold rage appearing in his blue eyes. “Better talk fast because I’m going—”

  “You’re going to do—nothing!” I snapped.

  “I’m going to kill you just as sure as I’m standing here! You put Kate on the spot and—”

  My harsh laugh brought back his common sense. Looking him in the eye, every muscle in my small body steeled against the pain of that iron grip on my shoulders, I gave him glare for glare. Physically I didn’t have a chance against him, but I won that silent clash of wills.

  “Sorry, Queen,” he muttered brokenly a moment later, taking his hands from my shoulders and flopping into a chair. “I guess I—lost my head.”

  “Forget it, Sid,” I said quietly. “We all think we’re pretty tough until something comes along that hits right at our hearts.”

  He nodded slowly. “Kate meant a lot to me. You wouldn’t know how much.”

  A
bitter smile curled my lips. In a low voice I said:

  “I know exactly how you feel. Remember Chick Wilson and Dan Reilly? Well, you can’t tell me a thing about sorrow. I’ve been there myself. You’re just getting a dose of what I felt when you helped gun out Dan and Blimp and—”

  “But I had to do—”

  “Sure,” I broke in quickly. “There was nothing personal in it. I know that. You just happened to be on the side of the law. I wasn’t. If it would have done me any good I’d have killed you long before this. But that wouldn’t bring Dan or Chick back. Neither will killing me give Kate a new lease on life. How did she happen to tie up with Suds?”

  “Don’t know—unless it was the money in it. We were going to be married as soon as I got enough money saved. But you don’t put aside much in my work and—”

  “Yes, she was just the type that would try to help her man. I’d have done the same myself. She probably thought she could step out of it after she’d made a couple of thousand. What did you let her do it for?”

  “I couldn’t stop her, Queen. She was in with Suds before I knew it. Then when I found out about it I didn’t know how to go about telling her that she was making a mistake. You see—”

  “Of course I see,” I answered in a tired voice. “You men are all the same; great big stone brutes who can lick their weight in wildcats, but you’re afraid of a little woman who might get angry with you. Kate didn’t know what it was all about— didn’t realize what she was doing. Listen.”

  I told Sid Lang how the kid had tried to buy me. That part of it I told quickly so he wouldn’t get another idea that I’d had anything to do with the killing. Then I explained what had been behind her murder.

  When I finished, Sid Lang took off his hat, ran broad fingers through his thin blonde hair, and looked at me with bleak eyes.