The New Adventures of Ellery Queen by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2012-01-15T12:13:59+00:00

MAN BITES DOG

Anyone observing the tigerish pacings, the gnawings of lip, the contortions of brow, and the fierce melancholy which characterized the conduct of Mr. Ellery Queen, the noted sleuth, during those early October days in Hollywood, would have said reverently that the great man's intellect was once more locked in titantic struggle with the forces of evil.

“Paula,” Mr. Queen said to Paula Paris, “I am going mad.”

“I hope,” said Miss Paris tenderly, “it's love.”

Mr. Queen paced, swathed in yards of thought. Queenly Miss Paris observed him with melting eyes. When he had first encountered her, during his investigation of the double murder of Blythe Stuart and Jack Royle, the famous motion picture stars, Miss Paris had been in the grip of a morbid psychology. She had been in deathly terror of crowds. “Crowd phobia,” the doctors called t. Mr. Queen had cured her by the curious method of making love to her. And now she was infected by the cure.

“Is it?” asked Miss Paris, her heart in her eyes.

“Eh?” said Mr. Queen. “What? Oh, no. I mean—it's the World Series.” He looked savage. “Don't you realize what's happening? The New York Giants and the New York Yankees are waging mortal combat to determine the baseball championship of the world, and I'm three thousand miles away!”

“Oh,” said Miss Paris. Then she said cleverly: “You poor darling.”

“Never missed a New York series before,” wailed Mr. Queen. “Driving me cuckoo. And what a battle! Greatest series ever played. Moore and DiMaggio have done miracles in the outfield. Giants have pulled a triple play. Goofy Gomez struck out fourteen men to win the first game. Hubbell's pitched a one-hit shutout. And today Dickey came up in the ninth inning with the bases loaded two out, and the Yanks three runs behind, and slammed a homer over the right-field stands!”

“Is that good?” asked Miss Paris.

“Good!” howled Mr. Queen. “It merely sent the series into a seventh game.”

“Poor darling,” said Miss Paris again, and she picked up her telephone. When she set it down she said: “Weather's threatening in the East. Tomorrow the New York Weather Bureau expects heavy rains.”

Mr. Queen stared wildly. “You mean—”

“I mean that you're taking tonight's plane for the East. And you'll see your beloved seventh game day after tomorrow.”

“Paula, you're a genius!” Then Mr. Queen's face fell. “But the studio, tickets . . . Bigre! I'll tell the studio I'm down with elephantiasis, and I'll wire dad to snare a box. With his pull at City Hall, he ought to—Paula, I don't know what I'd do . . .”

“You might,” suggested Miss Paris, “kiss me . . . goodbye.”

Mr. Queen did so, absently. Then he started. “Not at all! You're coming with me!”

“That's what I had in mind,” said Miss Paris contentedly.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.