ALFRED AUGUST 60< K MTCHCOCKS tAYSTERY MAGA2INE NEW stories presented by the master of SUSPENSE LICENSED TO UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED August 1970 Dear Reader: =^!=—s>j=iL^ The summer sun is a dim light bulb ^ [j \\ riA when compared with the heat put upon "^—-^— ^ the personahties in this issue. Some of these souls are more deserving than others, but ill fates are handed down without fear or favor. Surely these new and well-plotted plights will diminish your own, as is my wish. If thinking processes slow in this season, there is no sign of it within, particularly in this month's novelette. There­ in the human mind begins to realize its full potential. Intelligence also comes to the fore in matters of job ad­ vancement, the newer math, classified prevarication and, for well-rounded midsummer learning, the fine arts. Yet, whatever else may be involved, the mayhem is ever-present. It matters not at which point you enter this domain. Each beginning is devised by professionals to ensnare you hopelessly and hold you to the end. May your final exit be reluctant. ' .^^^:^^,A>^^^c£e^ R chard E. Decker, Publisher Gladys Foster Decker, Editorial Director Ernest M. Hutter, Editor Patricia Hitchcock Associate Editor Nick J. Sartorio Circulation Director Marguerite Blair Deacon Art Director LICENSED TO UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED VOLUME 15, NO. 8 AUGUST 1970 CONTENTS NOVELETTE STRANGE PREY by George C. Chesbro 116 SHORT STORIES A PINK SUNSET by James McKimmey 2 THE PROBLEM by Pauline C. Smith 19 THE ART OF LYING by Al Nussbaum 30 YANKEE NIGHT RIDER by Waldo Carlton Wright 35 CRASH PARTY by Carl Henry Rathjen 44 A DIP IN THE POOLE by Bill Pronzini 58 GRANNY by Ron Goulart 62 STRIPED RABBIT by George Graver Kipp 74 GLORY HUNTER by Richard M. Ellis 89 CAUSE OF DEATH by George Antonich 96 THE LEAKAGE by Fran\ Sis\ Ill ALFRED HITCHCOCK'S MYSTERY MAGAZINE Lt^.tt^„U7^o"o'?frV.''/?eSrS>r&Vlte«.%^a°,'?s and Possessions; elsewhere $8.00 (In U.S. funds) for one year. Published monthly by H. S. D. Publications, Inc., 2441 Beach Court, Riviera Beach, Fla. 33404. Publications ofUce, 10 Ferry Street. Concord, N. H. 03302. Second class postage paid at Concord. N. H. Conyrlght H. S. D. Publications. Inc.. 1970. All rights reserved. Protection secured under the International and Pan-Amf^rlcan convrlght convention. Title registered U.S. Pat. Office. Reproduction or use without express permission of editorial or pictorial content !n anv manner Is pro­ hibited. Postage must accompany manuscripts If return Is desired but no responsibility will be assumed for unsolicited materia!. Manuscripts and changes of addresses should be sent to Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Maga­ zine, 2441 Beach Court, Riviera Beach. Ha. 33404. No similarity between anv of the names, characters, persons and/or Institutions appearing In this magazine and those of any living or dead person or institution Is Intended and any Bimllarlty which may exist Is purely coincidental. Printed In the U.S.A. LICENSED TO UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED Lady LucJ{ seldom begrudges a helping hand, but even that hand may need a bit of reciprocation. DDENNY MULHANE stood morosely caught in the current-sweep of life, behind the front desk of the large • as he liked to phrase it. There was Reno hotel, contemplating luck. so very little he could do about Luck, he had long believed, was that beyond keeping himself afloat, the final decider of a man's des­ because it was luck, finally, that tiny. He also believed, of course, brought a man to his level of that a man was required to be con­ worth, accomplishment and re­ scientious, hard-working, dedi­ ward. cated, eager, and scrupulous be­ And this was his level of worth? yond a fault. Still, a man was His accomplishment.? His reward.J" ALFRED HITCHCOCK'S MYSTERY MAGAZINE LICENSED TO UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED Denny sighed and turned his that of assistant manager, a posi­ lean figure, suited conservatively in tion finally vacated two weeks ago dark blue. He rolled up a check-in and refilled by Andy Applehoff, slip of a recently arrived guest and manager, with the yellow-shirted stuffed it into a tube. As he sent it Jack Beeker. Beeker, in his weeks on its pneumatic way to the in Reno, had also taken something switchboard upstairs where it else from Denny Mulhane. He'd would go into the rack, a tali man, taken Denny's bride of two years: broad-shouldered and gifted with Sharon, a sweet-looking blonde dark good looks, stepped out of with an angel's face. one of the nearby self-operating Denny felt incredulous that it elevators. He walked across the had actually happened, but it had. small well-appointed lobby with Now, Beeker, with a rich, the springing grace of a bounding snappy voice, said "Come on, Mul­ buck. He wore a tan suit that had hane. Are we running a mor­ cost at least $200, Denny estimated tuary?" A hand wearing a flashing grimly; yellow shirt, Italian shoes. , ring on the little finger slapped the The man had also just bought a desk. "How much did you hold cream-colored Cadillac. out of the last check-out tip, huh.?" Denny stared at the man in total resentment. "I've never held out i^at on a tip in my life!" he said hon­ estly. The hotel tips were pooled among the bellrrien and desk clerks—just as they were pooled upstairs in the casino among mem­ J^ bers of a given game and shift. Yet Denny had been certain that Beek­ Denny stared down at the regis­ er, when he'd been on the desk, ter, trying to look preoccupied. had held out just as much as he'd Jack Beeker had come to town just figured he could get away with. six weeks ago, with slight hotel ex­ Where was the justice.? perience from San Francisco. He'd "I ever catch you at it," Beeker gotten a job on the desk, working said, "you're finished. Trim up, swing, four to midnight. Now, Mulhane, or you're gone." just six weeks later, Beeker had "Listen . ." Denny managed, taken from Denny the job that he feeling his voice leaving him. had been counting on for years: "To what.?" A PINK SUNSET- LICENSED TO UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED "Sharon . ." he whispered, maybe one of these days I'll .put in gripping his hands into fists. a raise for you. How about two "Stay away from her." cents a week.?" He grinned, heeled "What?" about and disappeared into an "I said stay away from her!" elevator to go up to the adminis­ "But—she's my wife!" trative floor to confer with Andy Becker's dark look passed; his Applehofif, the manager. white smile gleamed. "Is that He should be doing that, Denny right.?" thought. Yet Beeker had every- "I married her! Legally!" thing ... "I thought she kicked-you out." He shook his head, eyes misting. "That's none of your business!" No, he was not going to be assis­ "Are you honestly being serious, tant manager. Even' the job he Mulhane.?" now held had become impossible "I tell you—" under Beeker. So, finally, he made "Keep your voice down. You'll the decision he knew he should wake them up all the way to the have made earlier. As soon as that top floor. Get hold of yourself, conference was over upstairs, he Mulhane. Sharon's done with you. would give Andy Applehoff no­ And I don't want you going over tice, then try for another front- there bothering her anymore." desk job in town. If he couldn't Denny felt his teeth gritting. find anything here, he would have He'd gone back to his own house to leave, giving up virtually every­ just once after Sharon had shouted thing. at him to leave two weeks ago. Five minutes later the elevator He'd tried to talk sense to her, but opened, and Jack Beeker stepped it had been no use. Now, he'd out, face flushed with anger. heard that Beeker had moved in. Denny stared as the man marched His house! His wife! grimly across the lobby and out the The telephone on the desk rang. glassed door to the drive. Beeker Beeker arrogantly lifted it and stopped, walked down the macad­ said, "Beeker." His smile flashed am, turned around and stopped again, and his voice took on the again, as though he had been mov­ texture of false subservience. ing blindly. Then, dark eyes "Right, Andy. Be straight up." He gleaming, he came back inside to put the telephone down and eyed get on an elevator, which rose and 'Denny with cool contempt. "Shape then stopped, Denny saw by the up, keep away from Sharon, and indicator, at casino level. ALFRED HITCHCOCK'S MYSTERY MAGAZINE LICENSED TO UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED Minutes later Andy Applehoff said. "What else is new.? Nothing.?" got out of. a second elevator and "Applehoff fired Beeker." walked across the lobby to stop by Briggs' smile widened slowly. the desk and stare out the win­ "That's going to make me feel dow, eyes looking mean. He was a good all the way into next week!" short man, broadly built, in his Denny took an elevator up to early sixties, with short-cropped the casino level and went into the white hair. "That creep," he said in men's room to wash. He damp­ his rusty voice.