Contents COPYRIGHT INFO . 3 A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER . 5 . The MEGAPACK™ Ebook Series . 8. THE ART OF DEDUCTION . 19 . THE CLOCK IS CUCKOO . 37 . SAY IT WITH FLOWERS . 55. STOLEN GOODS . 77 MR . OLEM’S SECRET . 99 . CHEERS . 114 HE’LL KILL YOU . Sample . .file . 135 A GIRL MUST BE PRACTICAL . 139 ACTING JOB . .156 . BLACK BELT . 166 A PUTTING AWAY OF TOYS . 178. DAN AND THE DEATH-CELL BLUFF . 199. HOUSEBOAT . .254 . NICE GUY . 274 Contents | 1 A GOOD FRIEND . 297 THIS IS MY NIGHT (Novel Sample) . 311 DRAGNET: THE CASE OF THE COURTEOUS KILLER (Novel Sample) 329 PACIFIC STANDOFF (Novel Sample) . 353 . Sample file Contents | 2 COPYRIGHT INFO The Richard Deming Mystery MEGAPACK™ is copyright © 2015 by Stacy Ford . All rights reserved . Cover art © Fotolia . * * * * The MEGAPACK™ and MINIPACK™ ebook series names are trademarks of Wildside Press, LLC . All rights reserved . * * * * “The Art of Deduction” was originally published in Alfred Hitch- cock’s Mystery Magazine, June 1973 . Copyright © 1973 by Richard Deming . “The Clock Is Cuckoo” was originally published in Alfred Hitch- cock’s Mystery Magazine, May 1969 . Copyright © 1969 by Richard Deming . “Say It with Flowers” was originally published in Alfred Hitch- cock’s Mystery Magazine, July 1974 . Copyright © 1974 by Richard Deming . Sample file “Stolen Goods” was originally published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, November 1979 . Copyright © 1979 by Richard Deming . “Mr . Olem’s Secret” was originally published in Alfred Hitch- cock’s Mystery Magazine, August 1971 . Copyright © 1971 by Rich- ard Deming . “Cheers” was originally published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, February 1968 . Copyright © 1968 by Richard Deming . “He’ll Kill You” was originally published in Detective Tales, No- vember 1950 . Copyright © 1950, renewed 1958 by Richard Deming (renewal #RE0000005385) . COPYRIGHT INFO | 3 “A Girl Must Be Practical” was originally published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Nov . 1963 . Copyright © 1963, re- newed 1991 by Ruth Deming (renewal #RE0000579214) . “Acting Job” was originally published in Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine, January 1961 . “Black Belt” was originally published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, November 1972 . Copyright © 1972 by Richard Deming . “A Putting Away of Toys” was originally published Alfred Hitch- cock’s Mystery Magazine, April 1974 . Copyright © 1974 by Richard Deming . “Dan and the Death-Cell Bluff” was originally published in New Detective Magazine, October 1952 . Copyright © 1952, renewed 1990 by Ruth Deming (renewal #RE0000050445) . “Houseboat” was originally published in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Magazine, April 1966 . Copyright © 1966 by Richard Deming . “Nice Guy” was originally published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mys- tery Magazine, November 1969 . Copyright © 1969 by Richard Deming . “A Good Friend” was originally published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Aug 1965Sample . Copyright file © 1965 by Richard Dem- ing . Sample chapters from Pacific Standoff are copyright © 1983 by Richard Deming . Sample chapters from Dragnet: The Case of the Courteous Killer are copyright © 1958; copyright renewed in 1986 by Ruth L . Dem- ing . Sample chapters from This Is My Night are copyright © 1961, copyright renewed in 1989 by Ruth L . Deming . All rights reserved . COPYRIGHT INFO | 4 A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER A year or so ago, I began tracking down the estates of mystery writers whose work I admired, but who had somehow become “lost” in the shuffle of publishing. Robert Holding. Fletcher Flora. Talmage Powell . Rufus King . Jack Iams . And especially Richard Deming . Deming (1915-1983) wrote prolifically for magazines (more than 200 short stories) as well as for major book publishers (more than two dozen novels, ranging from original crime novels to media tie- ins (Dragnet and The Mod Squad) to even a pseudonymous nautical series involving submarines . He was a meticulous professional who never disappointed readers . After much bibliographic, copyright, and genealogical internet research, I managed to track down his granddaughter, Stacy Ford . Stacy was well aware of her grandfather’s writing talents, as she had been raised by Deming and his wife, Ruth, as if she were their own daughter . Stacy and I found we had a lot in common (including college-age kids) and really hit it off . I offered to manage the estate on her behalf, and she acceptedSample . file And almost immediately I discovered skulduggery worthy of a Richard Deming novel! A literary agent Stacy had never heard of had been licensing work by Richard Deming for years (mostly in ebook form) and keeping it “in escrow” until the estate turned up . I quickly extricated Deming from said agent’s grasp, and we haven’t looked back . We have already released a pair of standalone Deming novels— Dragnet: The Case of the Courteous Killer and This Is My Night— and begun to release the Periscope series . And there are lots more on the way . Enjoy! A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER | 5 —John Betancourt Publisher, Wildside Press LLC www .wildsidepress .com ABOUT THE SERIES Over the last few years, our MEGAPACK™ ebook series has grown to be our most popular endeavor . (Maybe it helps that we sometimes offer them as premiums to our mailing list!) One ques- tion we keep getting asked is, “Who’s the editor?” The MEGAPACK™ ebook series (except where specifically credited) are a group effort . Everyone at Wildside works on them . This includes John Betancourt (me), Carla Coupe, Steve Coupe, Shawn Garrett, Helen McGee, Bonner Menking, Colin Azariah- Kribbs, A .E . Warren, and many of Wildside’s authors…who often suggest stories to include (and not just their own!) RECOMMEND A FAVORITE STORY? Do you know a great classic science fiction story, or have a fa- vorite author whom you believe is perfect for the MEGAPACK™ ebook series? We’d love your suggestions! You can post them on our message board at http://movies .ning .com/forum (there is an area for Wildside Press comments)Sample . file Note: we only consider stories that have already been profession- ally published . This is not a market for new works . TYPOS Unfortunately, as hard as we try, a few typos do slip through . We update our ebooks periodically, so make sure you have the current version (or download a fresh copy if it’s been sitting in your ebook reader for months .) It may have already been updated . If you spot a new typo, please let us know. We’ll fix it for every- one . You can email the publisher at wildsidepress@yahoo .com or use the message boards above . A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER | 6.