EQMM, June 2008
Page 21
The judge turned out to be a man of some fifty years, bald and well dressed.
He shook my hand with cool formality. He sat down behind his desk and invited me also to be seated, but directly before him. Then he began speaking, as if he were reciting a lesson.
"I regret to inform you, Dr. Aguirre, that it is my duty to place you under arrest, summarily, as the principal suspect in the murder of a man named Jorge Maximiliano Perez Migali, a crime that took place is his residence at Avalos Street 15**, on or about the date of August twenty-fourth, two thousand seven."
I looked him in the eye.
"Impossible,” I said. “I have never been in that house,” and I added, with a smile, “I have never even heard of Avalos Street."
The judge brought his hands together, as if he were about to pray. He said: “Señor Perez Migali sent me a letter..."
Ah, I thought to myself, a letter from Perez Migali, that chap who's so fond of the epistolary genre.
"A letter?” I said, indicating surprise.
"You may read it,” said the judge. “Here is a photocopy."
I saw once again the damned scribbling. It was a long letter, rambling and incoherent in places. Most of the text dealt with the absurd imaginings of the movements I had carried out, according to Perez Migali, in his house—wild assertions that neither the judge, nor anyone, would ever be able to believe.
But he ended the letter with these words:
"...and if after all this you don't believe me, and you doubt that Luis Aguirre was in my house and killed me, you will find his fingerprints on the cellophane wrapper of the pack of cigarettes that you will find near my body, most likely on the night table."
Christian X. Ferdinandus is the pseudonym of two Argentine writers who are planning a series of crime stories in the manner of the Don Isidro Parodi tales published sixty years ago by their compatriots, Adolfo Bioy Casares and Jorge Luis Borges. Borges's first appearance in print in English was in this magazine in 1948.
(c) 2008 by Christian X. Ferdinandus; translation (c) 2008 by Donald A. Yates
[Back to Table of Contents]
NEXT ISSUE...
MADAM SING'S GOLD by Edward D. Hoch
THE SECRET LIVES OF CATS by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
IDENTITY CARDS by Keith Miles
A BLOW ON THE HEAD by Peter Lovesey
* * * *
Visit us at:
www.themysteryplace.com
* * * *
ELLERY QUEEN'S MYSTERY MAGAZINE. Vol. 131, No. 6. Whole No. 802, June 2008. ISSN 0013-6328, USPS 523-610. Dell GST# R123054108. Published monthly except for combined March/April and September/October double issues by Dell Magazines, a division of Crosstown Publications. 1-year subscription $55.90 in U.S. and possessions, in all other countries $65.90 (GST included in Canada), payable in advance in U.S. funds. Call 800-220-7443 with questions about your suscription. Subscription orders and mail regarding subscriptions should be sent to Ellery Queen, 6 Prowitt St., Norwalk, CT 06855. Editorial Offices, 475 Park Ave. South, New York, NY 10016. Executive Office, 6 Prowitt St., Norwalk, CT 06855-1220. Periodical postage paid at Norwalk, CT and additional mailing off ices. Canadian postage paid at Montreal, Quebec, Canada Post International Publications Mail, Product Sales Agreement No. 40012460. (c) 2008 Dell Magazines, a division of Crosstown Publica-tions, all rights reserved. Dell is a trademark registered in the U.S. Patent Office. Protection secured under the Universal Copyright Convention and the Pan American Copyright convention. ELLERY QUEEN'S MYSTERY MAGAZINE (R) is the registered trademark of Ellery Queen. Submissions must be accompanied by self-addressed stamped envelope. The publisher assumes no responsibility for unso licited manuscripts. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, 6 Prowitt St., Norwalk, CT 06855. In Canada return to Quebecor St. Jean, 800 Blvd. Industrial, St. Jean, Quebec J3B 8G4. For back issues, send your check for $5.50 (U.S. funds) to Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Suite SM-100, 6 Prowitt St., Norwalk, CT 06855-1220. Please specify the issue you are ordering. Add $2 per copy for delivery outside the U.S.
* * * *
Janet Hutchings: Editor
Emily Giglierano: Editorial Assistant
Susan Kendrioski: Executive Director, Art & Production
Victoria Green: Senior Art Director
Irene Lee: Production Artist/Graphic Designer
Carole Dixon: Senior Production Manager
Evira Matos: Production Associate
Abigail Browning: Manager, Subsidiary Rights & Marketing
Bruce W. Sherbow: Vice President, Sales & Marketing
Sandy Marlowe: Circulation Services
Julia McEvoy: Manager, Advertising Sales
Peter Kanter: Publisher
Ellery Queen: Editor-in-Chief, 1941-1982
Eleanor Sullivan: Editor-in-Chief, 1982-1991
Advertising Representative
Connie Goon: Advertising Sales Coordinator
Phone: 212-686-7188
Fax: 212-686-7414
(Display and Classified Advertising)
* * *
Visit www.dellmagazines.com for information on additional titles by this and other authors.