by Rufus King
Christine extended her hands in welcome and walked toward the drive.
Stuyvesant, alone in the empty, quiet room, clasped his own hands and lifted his eyes with polite piety to heaven.
“Charley, old man,” he said, “I’ve done my best. But that witch is off again.”
ABOUT RUFUS KING
Rufus King (1893–1966) was an American author of Whodunit crime novels. He created four series of detective stories: the first one with Reginald De Puyster, a sophisticated detective similar to Philo Vance; the second one with his more famous character, Lieutenant Valcour; Colin Starr, who appeared in four stories in the Strand Magazine during 1940/41; and Detective Bill Duggan, who appeared in three stories in 1956/57. The Bill Duggan stories include his most famous short work, “Malice in Wonderland” (which loaned its title to his 1958 hardcover short story collection).
Modern critics are rediscovering Rufus King’s work. Mike Grost, on Golden Age Detective, features a long writeup of King, stating: “King had a vivid writing style, with colorful characters, events, and images. He was clearly a born writer.”
