The Stolen Manuscript by Ray E. Spencer

Author:Ray E. Spencer [Spencer, Ray E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781665725248
Publisher: Archway Publishing
Published: 2022-06-26T04:00:00+00:00

Tuesday, 10:00 a.m. PST

Santa Monica Police Department

“Gumshoe Tender, why are you on the West Coast? I thought you were safely tucked away in Baltimore, where you’d stay out of my hair.”

“Flatfoot Sands, what hair are you referring to? You’re as bald as a cue ball, as Rip would say, huh.”

“How’s Ripken Omaha doin’ these days? He’s a good cop. Has he called in sick yet?”

“Great cop, and he’s fine. Nope, still works even when he’s ill.”

“What can I do for you?” Lt. Sands asked.

“Read about a body found near here yesterday.”

“Yes, between Topanga Beach and the I-10 Freeway off State Road 1; found the corpse stuck among some large rocks, quite a bit of skin lost from the fall I imagine. Why, what’s it to you?”

“Or the push, you mean. You find a .22 short between his eyes, huh?”

“How’d you know that?”

“Came from a Beretta Minx?”

“That’s right.”

“Webster’s Dictionary tied to his right arm?”

“How do you know those things? And it was a Doubleday Dictionary.”

“You mean the guy who supposedly invented the great American pastime also published reference books, huh?”

“No, now you’re as dumb as a cue ball. Frank Doubleday’s company, not Abner’s,” Sands said.

“Touché. I was just kidding.”

“Keep the wise-guy stuff for your buddy, Omaha, will ya.”

“Did the dictionary have any words highlighted in it? One of the words is a form of deserve, right?” Tender thought for sure that word would be emphasized.

“Along that line. It’s starting to sound like you’ve experienced a similar case. The message said, ‘A blackmailer gets what is coming to him.’”

“Did your M.E. find snake venom in the system?” said Tender.

“No. Why do you say that?”

“You sure?”

“Yes, yes.” Sands was getting irritated.

“You know the terror writer, Jake Venom?” Tender said.

“I’ve read his book The Fascist Dean.”

“Me too. I think we bought 50 percent of the paperbacks that were sold. Not one of his better efforts. Did you see Cronkite’s report and then short biography on Jake Venom on CBS?”

“Don’t watch the television news; I don’t want to see and hear the same stuff I live every day. What about Venom?”

“Jake and a small-time hood, which just happened to have his name and address in Venom’s telly register, were both shot in the same manner as the senior editor of Premature Burial Publishing, which ironically is the company that distributes Venom’s books. But the horror writer and the punk were done in by snake juice, not the .22 short. Sudanese red cobra for Venom and king cobra for King Bench were the vipers of record.”

“The MO seems to be the same except for the snakes. Odd,” said Lt. Sands.

“In my experience, serial killers—if that’s what this scum is—don’t usually change their method,” Tender returned.

“Maybe your professed coast-to-coast killer couldn’t manage to get a snake out here and decided just to plug Price.”

“Baltimore PD thinks the snakes were used to try to make some sort of point.”

“What point would that be?” asked Sands.

“Haven’t quite figured that out yet. I think it’s obvious it has to do with the names Venom and King.

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