{"product_id":"2940013740761","title":"A Cue For The Corpse","description":"Ed grinned at that. He was used to it now, though it had been a little\u003cbr\u003ethrilling for the first couple of years. It was ten years since he had\u003cbr\u003efirst gone up in electric lights. And now he was the highest-paid\u003cbr\u003eperformer on the Partages Circuit. He liked it. He liked to juggle\u003cbr\u003ethose heavy guns, and bring down the house in thunderous applause when\u003cbr\u003ehe shot out the flames of a dozen candles in succession thirty feet\u003cbr\u003eacross the stage. Every night it was a new thrill.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe pulled open the door and started to step out into the corridor. But\u003cbr\u003ehe suddenly stopped with his hand on the knob, and said in surprise,\u003cbr\u003e\"Well, for the love of Pete!\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThere was a girl in the hall, and she was lugging a dead man by the\u003cbr\u003efeet!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSHE was hardly more than seventeen or eighteen, and her figure was\u003cbr\u003eslender and supple in a thin silk dress. She must have put it on in a\u003cbr\u003ehurry, because, even in the dim light of the hallway, it was easy to\u003cbr\u003esee that she wore nothing at all underneath it. And she had no shoes\u003cbr\u003eor stockings on, either.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe stared.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShe was dragging the man by the feet. His shoulders bumped along the\u003cbr\u003efloor, and his arms did a crazy slithering act on the wine-colored\u003cbr\u003erug. He was on his back, and there was a large black hole in his left\u003cbr\u003etemple. The blood was dried around the wound. His eyes were open and\u003cbr\u003eglazed, and his jaw hung slack. There was no doubt that he was dead.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe girl apparently had dragged him out of Room 814 across the hall,\u003cbr\u003ebecause the door of that room was ajar. When she heard Ed Race, she\u003cbr\u003edropped the man's feet as if they were scorching hot. Her eyes became\u003cbr\u003ewide and round. Her lower lip was trembling, and her small breasts\u003cbr\u003ewere rising and falling with trip-hammer speed.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShe stared at Ed Race without speaking.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEd said gravely, \"Why, you're only a kid. How come you're lugging a\u003cbr\u003ecorpse? Don't you know you mustn't touch dead men till the police\u003cbr\u003ecome?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I want to get rid of the body,\" she told him matter-of-factly.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I guessed as much,\" he said dryly. \"Who killed him?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I killed him.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEd raised his eyebrows. \"With what?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"With a gun.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Why?\" he asked.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Because he was no good. He's a gunman--Lefty Mott. I'm--I was his gun\u003cbr\u003emoll. We had a fight and I shot him.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEd looked at her thoughtfully. \"A gun moll, eh? Aren't you a little\u003cbr\u003eyoung to be a gun moll?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I'm twenty-five!\" she lied defiantly.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEd grinned. \"Twenty-five, eh?? A pretty ripe old age at that. Do you\u003cbr\u003emind telling me what you were going to do with Mr. Lefty Mott?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I was going to put him in the incinerator,\" she said.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"There isn't any incinerator here. This isn't a housekeeping hotel.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHer eyes widened. \"But--but I thought every New York building had an\u003cbr\u003eincinerator.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"You haven't been in New York long, have you?\" Ed asked.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I have so! And I'm a moll, too. I'll prove it. Want me to prove it?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"How?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Like this,\" she said.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShe knelt swiftly beside the dead man, and thrust a hand inside his\u003cbr\u003ecoat. She brought it out holding a huge automatic which she had taken\u003cbr\u003efrom under the corpse's left armpit. It was so heavy she had to hold\u003cbr\u003eit in both hands as she pointed it at Ed.","brand":"WDS Publising","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47070259183856,"sku":"2940013740761","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013740761","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}