“I suppose the article in the newspaper the other day about the vanishing hitchhiker gave them the idea for the stunt. Its main purpose was to send me off after a phantom Cazar while the Bermuda penny made a safe trip to Saratoga Springs.”
“But what put you onto Blaze—or Cazar—this morning?”
“Remember, I told you last night the wrong man had disappeared. I was considering the possibility I’d been duped by a ventriloquist and mimic. Cazar fitted the bill, but he was the one who vanished. I couldn’t believe both men in the car had that talent.
“But then I remembered how quickly Blaze left me last night when we stopped by a poker game where Chetwind was playing. He couldn’t risk the Canadian seeing him and calling him by his real name. This morning Blaze showed up when I was expecting Cazar, and I took a gamble. I slugged him in the men’s room and went through his pockets. He had both Bermuda pennies, ready to hand over to Chetwind.”
“Will he come after me now?”
“I doubt it. He’s a gambler and he knows when he’s beaten. Besides, he won’t want the police digging into your father’s death. If he does give you any trouble, have him arrested for assaulting you in your room last night.”
“How can I ever thank you?”
Nick had an answer. “You can start by paying me the balance of my fee. Then we’ll go on from there.”
THE END
Bibliography
(FIRST AMERICAN AND FIRST British magazine publications are given, as well as all American book and anthology appearances. EQMM is Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, and Argosy is the British short-story magazine, not the American publication of the same name. The Spy and the Thief is a 1971 paperback issued by Davis Publications, Inc.)
1. The Theft of the Clouded Tiger, EQMM 9/66; Argosy 11/68; Best Detective Stories of the Year, ed. Anthony Boucher, Dutton, 1967; The Spy and the Thief.
2. The Theft from the Onyx Pool, EQMM 6/67; Argosy 12/68; The Spy and the Thief.
3. The Theft of the Toy Mouse, EQMM 6/68; Argosy 1/69.
4. The Theft of the Brazen Letters, EQMM 11/68; Argosy 2/69; Crime Without Murder, ed. Dorothy Salisbury Davis, Scribners, 1970; The Spy and the Thief.
5. The Theft of the Wicked Tickets, EQMM 9/69; Argosy 2/70; The Spy and the Thief.
6. The Theft of the Sacred Music, Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine 9/69 as “Dead Man’s Song”; Argosy 12/69.
7. The Theft of the Meager Beavers, EQMM 12/69.
8. The Theft of the Laughing Lions, EQMM 2/70; Argosy 6/70; Ellery Queen’s Headliners, ed. Ellery Queen, World, 1971; The Spy and the Thief.
9. The Theft of the Silver Lake Serpent, Argosy 1/70.
10. The Theft of the Coco Loot; EQMM 9/70; Argosy 1-2/71 as “Theft of the Convict’s Calendar”; Best Detective Stories of the Year, ed. Allen J. Hubin, Dutton, 1971; The Spy and the Thief.
11. The Theft of the Blue Horse, EQMM 11/70; Argosy 3/71; The Spy and the Thief.
12. The Theft of the Dinosaur’s Tail, EQMM 3/71; Argosy 8/71; Ellery Queen’s Magicians of Mystery, ed. Ellery Queen, Dial, 1976.
13. The Theft of the Satin Jury, EQMM 6/71; Argosy 2/73; Ellery Queen’s Champions of Mystery, ed. Ellery Queen, Dial, 1977.
14. The Theft of the Leather Coffin, EQMM 11/71; Argosy 7/72.
15. The Theft of the Seven Ravens, EQMM 1/72.
16. The Theft of the Mafia Cat, EQMM 5/72; Argosy 8/72.
17. The Theft from the Empty Room, EQMM 9/72; Ellery Queen’s Crookbook, ed. Ellery Queen, Random House, 1974; Masterpieces of Mystery (Vol. 6), ed. Ellery Queen, Meredith, 1977.
18. The Theft of the Foggy Film, EQMM 11/72; Argosy 5/73.
19. The Theft of the Crystal-Crown, Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine, 1/73.
20. The Theft of the Circus Poster, EQMM 5/73.
21. The Theft of the Cuckoo Clock, EQMM 9/73.
22. The Theft of Nick Velvet, EQMM 2/74.
23. The theft of the General’s Trash, EQMM 5/74.
24. The Theft of the Legal Eagle, EQMM 7/74.
25. The Theft of the Bermuda Penny, EQMM 6/75.
26. The Theft of the Venetian Window, EQMM 11/75; Ellery Queen’s Searches and Seizures, ed. Ellery Queen, Dial, 1977.
27. The Theft of the Admiral’s Snow, EQMM 4/76.
28. The Theft of the Wooden Egg, EQMM 7/76.
29. The Theft of the Sherlockian Slipper, EQMM 2/77.
30. The Theft of Nothing at All, EQMM 5/77.
31. The Theft of the Child’s Drawing, EQMM 10/77.
32. The Theft of the Family Portrait, EQMM 3/78.
33. The Theft of the Turquoise Telephone, EQMM 8/78.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following publications for permission to reprint the stories listed:
Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine for “The Theft of the Clouded Tiger” (September 1966), “The Theft from the Onyx Pool” (June 1967), “The Theft of the Toy Mouse” (June 1968), “The Theft of the Meager Beavers” (December 1969), “The Theft of the Seven Ravens” (January 1972), “The Theft of the Mafia Cat” (May 1972), “The Theft from the Empty Room” (September 1972), “The Theft of the Circus Poster” (May 1973), “The Theft of Nick Velvet” (February 1974), “The Theft of the General’s Trash” (May 1974) and “The Theft of the Bermuda Penny” (June 1975).
Argosy for “The Theft of the Silver Lake Serpent (January 1970).
Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine for “The Theft of the Crystal Crown” (January 1973).
Copyright © 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1978, by Edward D. Hoch. New material copyright © 1978 by The Mysterious Press.
Cover design by Jason Gabbert
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Thefts of Nick Velvet Page 22