| Show V 12 ewa FICTION SHORTY outmatches outmatched OUT MATCHES A KILLER 9 aw VI H 4 N by JOE STEEL 1 va chief 1 u WELL I 1 says bays to shorty no legs this is it you bust it or it b busts UI is you it was undoubtedly a very tough sheriff cass case sheriff shorty no legs would first have to prove it accident or murder murde r if murder then hed have to ca catch t ch the murderer and it he failed anywhere along the line hed have t to a resign but that was the way shorty world war I 1 veteran had asked tor for it there had been so many unsolved murders in dry creek county that shorty ran on his word that he ha ifould resign whenever he failed to solve olve abase a case th the name shorty had given when he first firs came to scenic city come came from the h fact act that he actually had no legs leg there were barely enough stump below shortys Shor tys powerful body to enable him to do what he cheerfully called walking im blowing me like a winded horse shorty said glancing back over the boulder strewn way down have stayed with medicine or low law barbers are always skinny 11 id hunted with him many times andreen and seen him climb around in the mountain lots but now he amazed even me he ha was driving hard on this case wo we clambered up to the higday just as the ambulance arrived take him to docs no legs said but we found out alter after a long delayed breakfast that the doc find any trace of 0 drugs or liquor on the body maybe he went to sleep I 1 said maybe agreed shorty now just prove it and I 1 can resume nf my disturbed slumbers A I 1 ol of course who found him I 1 asked doc comin back from a night call over in the hills somewhere and noticed the broken guard rail 11 what do you think 1 I dont he said 1 I aint got nothing to think on theres got to be some soma other angles ins ing that thai now he never seemed to have to ask questions hed just watt wait the other guy him dry with the weight 0 of dead silence I 1 could see the pressure on rhodes like everybody every bod y else hed a lot rather no legs would fire questions than just stare forced on the defensive and obviously angry at havink having to explain further to the legless owl beora before him rhodes started again you see I 1 came out on the train sov for a deer hunt while lefty wound up our business he was to meet me here today and wed go on to tai gether he ground his conversation to a stop no legs sure surprised both chick and me with his next kovei he twisted his wrist and the big gun in his hip holster moved into rhodes stomach youre under ar ari i rest tor for murder he said rhodes soon recovered red from ahls hl surprise and grinned wickedly 1 I X X A FF 0 1 4 1 the roadster had been moving on the steep down grade toward scenic city when it failed to make a 9 hairpin turn and jitterbugged jitter bugged its dance ol of death down the almost sheer mountainside which he had slipped and slid to where the battered sports roadster and the mans body lay several hundred feet above looped the narrow concrete ribbon of blue river R iver pass highway the roadster had been moving on the steep down grade toward scenic city when it failed ailed to make a hairpin turn and jitter jitterbugged bugged its dance ol of death down the almost sheer mountainside no legs mopped his face with a huge bandana and began a painstaking search of the wreckage there much the dead man wore a rather flashy suit he had on yellow shoes so new that match scratches in the instep of the left one could plainly be seen cigarettes e odds and ends and a picture of ct the dead man and a little geezer evidently named chick rounded out ou the inventory somebody said no legs ile could have got this guy drunk or drugged driven him to this curve headed the roadster lor for the railing end and stepped out the pavement show any tracks he added sadly shorty I 1 says maybe I 1 could carry you pick a back back up this mountain I 1 could see he was ready to leave yen yeh he snorted giving me a backhanded slap in the midriff with one of his ham hands me weighing without legs and you weighing legs and all you should what do we do now nothing when youre hunting geese the first thing to do Is stay in the blind then if 11 they dont fly 4 in to you after so long you try to crawl up on them we aint stayed in the blind long enough yet he ha was right soon alter after dinner a smallish fellow showed up at shortys Shor tys office he was in hunting togs and would have looked like little lord fauntleroy if it been for beetling black eyebrows and the vicious looking cigar he was smoking im chick rhodes he said and I 1 wanted to talk with you about the wreck out on blue river pass heard about it at the cafe no legs kept rhodes talking then finally tossed the picture he had taken from the dead man on to the desk three words were under it lefty and chick lefty all right rhodes said and that s me pointing to the other figure taken in chicago just before me and lefty sold our pool hall and headed for california lefty was going to be drafted and I 1 run the place myself figured maybe I 1 could handle a sandwich stand in california tor for the duration you could never tell from looking at no legs what he was thinking hed spread his stumps apart roll his eyes up at your face and stare as unblinking as an owl ile he was do can prove I 1 was back up tn in the hills for a week until an hour ago I 1 ll 11 have done it 1 right said no legs leesi but you probably helped engineer over rhodes threats of suit and vengeance no legs had him locked up lets go to rhodes hotel he be said without giving me a chancello chan chance celto ipox ask questions arrived in chicks room he began digging in suit cases here they are he said it just like he be knew be bd there they were insurance policies on the life of george lefty allitto El litto twenty five thousand dollars in all that dead man aint allitto El litto no legs said 1 I think allitto must have done the actual murder I 1 still get it but that evening no legs met me to in the cato cafe and gave roe me the dope rhodes had confessed it was like I 1 said el litto killed him you see allitto and R rhodes h odes found a guy in chica chicago go that looked just like allitto El litto they offered him a good proposition to go west with them up on the pass allitto stops the car on a pretense of getting the other fellow to drive then he knocks him in the head stows him behind the wheel and maneuvers the car over the cliff we tell whether the fellow had been hit in the head or got the bump in the wreck I 1 began to see rhodes wa was 3 to collect the insurance meet eletto in old mexico or some place and live happily ever after then I 1 got outtie out the question that had tor dented rne me all afternoon how did you know the dead man el litto that was easy no legs said lett handed guys dont scratch matches on the bottom of their left shoes right handed guys do that |
