Mammoth Detective, February 1945
DIBBLE DABBLES IN DEATH
By DAVID WRIGHT O BRIEN
Dibble swore he wouldn t be found dead in such drawers. But the choice was no longer his.
TANDING there in the mid-July heat of his  Damned inefficiency! That laundry was promised
hotel room, clutching the telephone savagely for this morning. It is already late afternoon. It has
S
and shouting into it, Delbert Dibble looked not arrived.
little short of ridiculous. Mr. Dibble was silent long enough to catch his
A middle-aged executive, with a middle-aged breath. And in that moment the voice on the other
paunch, balding head, and round cherubic face, end of the line was evidently guilty of making a
Delbert Dibble could, on occasion, present a rather reassuring remark.
forceful dynamic-businessman sort of appearance. The full force of Dibble s ire exploded.
Unfortunately, however, this was not such an  It had damned well better be right up! he
occasion for it. shouted. Then he slammed the telephone hard into
Indignant though his mien, thunderous though the cradle.
his voice, expensively tasteful though his attire, Mr. Mr. Dibble turned from the telephone and went
Dibble s inability to create awe-at-a-glance was over to the bourbon and water he d left by the
due to one incongruity in the picture. dresser. The sight of his trousers on the bed
He was completely without trousers and quite deepened the purple of his complexion.
denuded of drawers. A gentleman, he told himself savagely, never
The trousers, pin-striped and in perfect taste donned trousers without first donning drawers. He
with the rest of his attire, lay on his bed. But of was damned if, after working forty years to get to
drawers waiting to be donned, there was no visible be a gentleman, he was going to break any of the
evidence. rules now.
 Damned nonsense! Dibble roared into the But he didn t have any drawers.
telephone. He owned a deep rasping voice that Not any, that is, that he could put his hands on
threw salesmen and secretaries into a panic. at the moment. He had drawers back at his home in
 MAMMOTH DETECTIVE 2
Scranton. Scads of them. Probably as many or more saved him several hours, less mental agony, not to
drawers than other men as financially well situated mention necessary nudity. And on discovering that
as he. his last pair of drawers had vanished, and that his
However, when he had embarked on this trip to laundry was already overdue in arriving, Dibble
Chicago, he had taken half a dozen pairs of drawers had inaugurated the first and most violent of his
with him enough to carry him comfortably over every-ten-minute telephone calls to the
the laundry situation for his brief stay. management.
But he hadn t figured on having them stolen by Now he glared at his pin-striped trousers atop
an eager but witless bellhop who was a solicitor for the bedspread and made for his bourbon and water.
a Chinese laundry on the side. This was the dozenth call he had made, and on the
Dibble had been sound asleep when it next one, by Judas, he was going to call his lawyers
happened. and institute suit.
The bellhop had entered his room while Dibble Dibble plunked himself in the rather scratchy
slumbered. He had spied Dibble s neatly folded confines of an armchair and picked up his drink.
linen lying on a chair, presumed it had been left  I ll have this case dragged to the highest court
there to be taken to the laundry, and had made off in the land, he muttered, taking a savage swallow
with it. from the glass.  If that laundry isn t here this time,
That had been twenty-four hours previously. I ll sue that sticky-fingered management for every
last 
N RISING to discover the absence of his At that moment, there was a discreet knock on
O
undershirts, handkerchiefs and most Mr. Dibble s door.
important drawers, Dibble had put in a Dibble was about to shout for the knocker to
thundering call to the management, reporting the enter, then he remembered his embarrassing lack of
theft. attire and demanded to know the identity of the
But the management had assured him that there person seeking entrance.
had been no theft. A regrettable mistake had been  Bellhop with your laundry, sir.
made, that was all. Mr. Dibble could rest assured Dibble almost fell over himself in his haste to
that his linen had merely been mistakenly carried unbolt the door and admit the pimply, uniformed
off to the laundry. The bellboy had gotten his room young bellhop.
numbers mixed. Mr. Dibble could count on the By way of a tip, Dibble shot the youth a glare
return of his laundry within twenty-four hours. In that sent him scooting off in terror. And when he
spite of the wartime laundry shortage, the was safely out of the room, Dibble took the
management of the hotel added proudly, they could package of laundry to his bed, snapped the strings,
still secure swift service for a customer of Dibble s removed the wrapping paper, and stared perplexed
status. at the contents which lay before him.
Dibble had been somewhat mollified on finding There were handkerchiefs atop the pile of
one last pair of drawers in his luggage. They would laundry. Unfamiliar handkerchiefs, with the initials
see him through until the morrow, and the laundry  JK on them. Dibble frowned irritably, tossed
would be on hand then. these aside, and began to burrow deep into the pile
Yet this was the morrow, and the laundry had for his precious drawers.
not arrived. Worse, there had been another mistake There were many other items unfamiliar to
made by the eager bellboy. Once again, as Dibble Dibble. Impatiently, he tossed these aside and
slept, the youth had mixed his room numbers, ferreted on. Suddenly, to his shocked rage, he was
entered Dibble s sanctum, and carried off his sole down to the last item in the pile and suddenly
remaining pair of drawers. aware that none of this was his laundry.
It was this second stupid pilfering which had It was the last item that brought this fact
resulted in Delbert Dibble s blowing his top to the forcibly to Dibble s consciousness a pair of
hotel management. Not only was he left bereft of drawers.
any clean drawers, he was left without any drawers They represented the only drawers Dibble had
whatsoever. encountered in the entire bundle, and they were
Fortunately Dibble hadn t risen until noon. This distinctly not Delbert Dibble s kind of underwear.
 DIBBLE DABBLES IN DEATH 3
These drawers were hideously colored, wildly  Damn, Dibble muttered.  Half an hour. Not
patterned; Dibble owned drawers only of a chaste, much time. Can t very well afford to put him off,
unpatterned white. These drawers were not drawers however. Guess I ll have to hurry my dressing and
at all, but the sort of modern garment called get down there.
 shorts. The drawers Dibble owned were drawers It was then, as his eyes again caught the
in the strictest sense of the word. They were long, flamboyant drawers, that Dibble remembered his
extending modestly to the ankle. And finally, these predicament.
drawers were silk, whereas Dibble s had always  My God! he gasped hoarsely.
been soft, fine linen. His blood pressure jumped several registers.
 No drawers! he groaned.
R. DIBBLE cried his dismay hoarsely to the But it was preposterous, utterly preposterous
M empty room, and held the offending drawers that he should be held from such an important
aloft like a man who had just discovered a thumb in appointment because of a lack of drawers. Dibble
his hash. told himself this several times in the next few
The flashing splendor of the colors and the minutes.
wildly shouting pattern smote Dibble in the eyes, Then he went to the telephone.
and he dropped the hideous garment quickly.  Hello, he said resolutely,  I want the laundry
 This, he gasped, shaking with indignation,  is service.
not only not my laundry, it is the laundry of some
race track tout, some some gigolo, some HILE he waited for the connection to be
W
harebrained collegiate playboy! made, Dibble reminded himself that he had
Dibble stood there, staring down in horror at the sworn to keep cool during the ensuing
drawers, his fists clenching and unclenching as conversation. He had been blowing up all day, and
wave upon wave of anger smote him. His breath it hadn t been getting him anywhere. There was no
came heavily through his nostrils. time for rage now, even though he felt it burbling
 I ll sue them for every damned penny they deep inside him. He had to keep cool. He had to get
own, he whispered shakily.  I ll  this thing straightened out as quickly as possible.
The telephone rang.  Hello, Dibble said again, a few moments
Mr. Dibble found it difficult to tear his eyes later,  laundry service?
from the grim fascination of the multicolored He was told that it was.
drawers, but the insistent ringing of the bell would  This is Mr. Delbert Dibble speaking. You
not be denied. delivered a package of laundry to my room just a
He walked slowly to the telephone, looking over few minutes ago. Now, tell me, was any other
his shoulder several times at the atrocity that lay on package sent along to any other room at the time
the bed, as if he were uncertain that it was safe to you sent the young halfwit along with it?
turn his back on the drawers. Mr. Dibble listened, satisfaction corning into his
 Hello, Dibble rasped. expression.
 That you, Dell?  I see. You sent one other package along with
Dibble recognized the voice. Benning. the young nincompoop, eh? And to what room was
Important business connection. Dibble had an he supposed to deliver that other package?
appointment with him later in the evening. Wise to Mr. Dibble smiled in grim triumph.
be nice to Benning. Dibble fought for control of  I see. Room eight-oh-nine. Thank you very
himself, forced his voice to sound reasonably level much. What? No. Nothing at all. I was merely
as he talked to Benning. curious. Thank you.
 Why, yes, Benning. Yes, of course. I can make Dibble hung up the telephone in triumph. It had
it earlier. Glad to. Glad to dine with you. At your worked much better this way. Very much better. He
club? Fine. Fine. Be there in half an hour. Glad you felt quite proud of himself. He had restrained a
caught me in. Goodbye, old man. natural homicidal rage and succeeded in getting all
Dibble put the telephone back in the cradle, the information he desired. The laundry people had
gently this time, his mind occupied with the matters wondered what was up, why he was curious. But he
of business suggested by the call. hadn t told them. Had he told them they would
 MAMMOTH DETECTIVE 4
have sent the same halfwitted bellhop up to R. DIBBLE felt considerably pleased with
straighten out the situation and it would have been Mhimself. He shifted the bundle of mis-
messed up beautifully once again. Mr. Dibble was delivered laundry into his other arm, glanced at the
taking no chances on having the situation messed room numbers on the doors he passed, then halted.
up again. Eight-oh-nine. This would be it. This was the room
He went over to the bed, stared martyr-like at to which his own laundry had been quite
the atrocious drawers lying there, steeled himself mistakenly delivered. This was the room, to which
with a deep breath, and picked them up. the laundry Dibble had received should have been
 Just for a few minutes, Dibble muttered. delivered.
 After all, dammit, I am still a gentleman. He knocked briskly on the door.
Mr. Dibble, looking much like a man stepping Although Mr. Dibble gave the occupant time
into a pool of flaming oil, grimly donned the enough to drop whatever he was doing, there was
atrocious drawers. Then, quickly, as if he were no answer. Dibble waited another moment, then
washing down bitter medicine with a chaser, he pressed the buzzer at the side of the door. He could
stepped into his pin-striped trousers. hear it ringing in the room. But he heard no
He sighed, releasing his breath. For the first movement in answer to it. Heard nothing, in fact, to
time that day, he was completely, if not decently, indicate that anyone was in.
attired. Dibble frowned and, for the first time, began to
Mr. Dibble glanced at himself in the mirror, and be worried. He hadn t counted on this. If the person
felt much better. There was no visible sign of the were out, he was in a hell of a predicament. He d
atrocious taste mercifully concealed by his not be able to get his drawers in time to make his
pinstriped trousers. And no one would ever know, business appointment, and he felt slightly
unless he were suddenly to drop dead of a heart nauseated at the prospects of having to wear the
attack and be hauled off to the morgue for an atrocious drawers for the next eight or more hours.
autopsy. But then death would make his shame Mr. Dibble knocked again. Impatiently. He tried
quite without pain. the door knob, and it turned easily in his hand. The
Mr. Dibble closed the door of his room behind door swung inward. Dibble coughed, by way of
him, lighted an expensive havana, and his self- mannered warning, then called:
respect almost completely restored, walked  I say, there!
confidently down the hotel hallway to the elevator. Dibble waited, while his words rang into the
He punched the button, waited for a car to stop, room and back into his ears. There wasn t any
stepped in, dropped a floor, and stepped out on answer. There wasn t any sound.
eight. Dibble stepped into the room, peering down the
 I shall explain the situation to the fellow as short half hall leading into the bedroom. He sniffed,
quickly as I can, Dibble told himself.  After all, I frowning. Something was odd. There was an odor
won t want to tarry with any person capable of in the air that was extremely peculiar. An acrid,
owning such absolutely shameful drawers. smoky odor. Much like cordite.
Mr. Dibble suddenly asked himself how he was He moved more rapidly, into the bedroom, then
going to explain the absence of the unknown stopped quite suddenly, frozen in shock at what
gentleman s loud drawers from the package he confronted him.
carried. Then he smiled. A simple little lie would There was a man in the room. A man sprawled
suffice. on the floor next to the bed.
 I shall tell him that I might have left them in Dibble was no coroner, but he knew
my room, and will send them down with a instinctively that the man was dead. The man s
bellhop, Dibble thought.  I can then go up to my head and torso lay across a mass of old newspapers,
room, slip out of these awful drawers, get into and the newspapers were stained with something
something respectable, and call a muddle-headed reddish purple that oozed slowly from a gaping
bellhop to take the hideous things down to the hole in the man s forehead.
owner. Very slowly, Dibble put down the laundry
package in his arms. Then he stepped gingerly
forward, bent over to have a better look at the
 DIBBLE DABBLES IN DEATH 5
corpse. feet, stared reflectively again at the corpse.
The face was half turned, partly covered by  Damned nuisance! Dibble muttered. Then he
blood from the wound. But Dibble was able to see moved to the telephone at the head of the bed.
that the face had been handsome, the hair dark and Telephone in hand, Dibble said impatiently:
wavy, and the body of somewhat athletic  Hello. Hello. Get me the management. This is
proportions. The corpse, Dibble judged, was that of urgent.
a man in his middle thirties. Mr. Dibble repeated this twice before he
In spite of the thousand-and-one other reactions realized that the line was dead and that he was
that were running through his mind, Dibble found getting no response.
himself concerned with the attire of the corpse. A He put the instrument back in the cradle, traced
flannel suit, gray, pin-striped, much too sharply cut. the wires to the box, and discovered that they had
Black and tan shoes, very pointed at the toes. Silk been pulled, or snipped, at the point of entry to the
socks with loud red and gray patterning. box.
Just the sort, Dibble thought sourly, who d wear Mr. Dibble snorted in exasperation.
such atrocious drawers.  Vandals!
And then it occurred to Mr. Dibble that he was He left the telephone, stepped once again
staring at the very violent results of someone s around the corpse, glanced at the laundry bundle he
dislike for another. It came to him, very suddenly, had dropped on the floor, and left the room.
that he was looking at murder for the first time in Downstairs, Mr. Dibble crossed the lobby
his life. without undue haste and walked, without knocking,
It is to Mr. Dibble s considerable credit that he into the manager s office.
didn t get rattled. He could feel that his heartbeat The manager, a thin, nervous, too-eager little
increased and that a strangely pleasurable tingling man, was sitting at his desk. He looked up as
of excitement was creeping over him. But his Dibble entered.
nerves, his emotions, were calm.  You ve had a murder in your establishment,
 Well, Dibble said slowly.  Well, I m Dibble said without any preamble.  Person in room
damned. eight-oh-nine.
The manager stared at Mr. Dibble in horror. . . .
IBBLE fished into his pocket unthinkingly,
D automatically bringing forth a cigar. He bit HIS is the room, Dibble said, some five
off the end, lighted it, inhaled deeply.  Tminutes later, pausing before eight-oh-nine.
Dibble glanced at the bed, then, and saw an With him was the thin, nervous little hotel manager
open laundry parcel there. He stepped back from and a bulking, indolent, triple-chinned person
the corpse and around to the bed. There was named Fagin, who was the house detective.
nothing left in the laundry bundle save four  Well, let s go in, Fagin said in his sandpaper
handkerchiefs. On each of these Dibble recognized voice.
his own monogram.  Yes, said the little manager tremulously,
He felt a small satisfaction in knowing he d sounding very much as if it were the last thing in
been right in his analysis of the laundry mix-up. the world he wanted to do.
But where was the rest of the laundry, his laundry, Dibble pushed the door open, and they followed
that should have been in that bundle? him in.
He stepped over the corpse, moved to the closet  Nasty looking mess, Dibble began, moving
off the small hallway from the door, and glanced through the narrow hallway into the bedroom. And
inside. A quick, thorough inspection revealed no then he stopped short.
sign of the rest of his laundry. The house detective, Fagin, almost plowed into
He went back to the bedroom, stepped over the Dibble as he stopped suddenly.
corpse once more, and went to the dresser. He  Where  Fagin began. Then his sentence, too,
opened each drawer noiselessly, but again found no hung incomplete in the air.
trace of the rest of his laundry. Dibble was staring speechlessly at the bedroom.
Dropping to his knees, Dibble peered under the The place was not at all as he had found it some ten
bed. Nothing there. He sighed, clambering to his minutes before. Ten minutes ago there had been a
 MAMMOTH DETECTIVE 6
corpse stretched beside the bed, its head oozing said.  We ve both got work to do.
blood onto a smear of old newspapers. There had  Just a minute! Dibble had just remembered
been the laundry, which Dibble himself had something.
dropped on the floor, not to mention the open
laundry package which had contained Dibble s own E STEPPED over to the telephone by the bed
monogrammed handkerchiefs. Hand picked up the wires leading from the
None of these was now present. No corpse, no instrument to the box. Something hadn t changed,
newspapers, no laundry packages. at any rate. The wires were still disconnected from
 Well? Fagin said ominously.  Where is the the box.
body?  How about this! Dibble exclaimed
Dibble s speech returned to him, and a sense of triumphantly.  Didn t I tell you the phone
outrage, of indignation, began to flood him. connection had been broken?
 This is absurd! he choked. Fagin turned his weary, red-rimmed eyes
 That s what I m thinking, Fagin said dryly. pityingly on Dibble.
 Is this some sort of a joke? the little manager  Next time you have a telephone out of order
ventured timidly. and want to report it, do so to Repair or Room
Dibble turned on the two. Service, not to the house detective or the manager,
 See here, he said indignantly,  there was a he said.
body. Right in this room. Ten minutes ago. I saw it. Fagin and the manager filed out of the room,
I m no damned fool. My vision is perfect. There leaving Dibble standing there holding the severed
was a body. wires aloft. As they moved out into the hallway,
Fagin stepped past Dibble into the bedroom. He Dibble heard Fagin mutter something
looked carefully around, grunted, bent his huge unintelligible, then chuckle pityingly. Dibble s
bulk over to peer beneath the bed. He groaned, complexion slowly grew purple.
stood upright, turned to glare at Dibble, then moved He dropped the telephone wires and stood there
into the small bathroom. He reappeared a moment glaring at the door.
later.  Damned idiots! he snorted.
 Maybe, he said acidly,  the corpse went for a Dibble looked carefully around the room in the
walk. next five minutes, paying particular attention to the
 This is highly unusual, the nervous manager carpeting where the dead man s head had lain.
declared uncertainly.  Highly unusual, Mr. Then he recalled the newspapers that had obviously
Dibble. prevented any of the blood from staining the carpet.
Dibble had opened the closet door, seen He sighed then, and started for the door.
nothing, closed it again. He turned angrily on the At the door, his hand on the knob, Dibble felt
little manager. his outrage and indignation returning to him. He
 I am not in the habit of being made a damned clamped his jaws hard on the cigar in his teeth,
fool of, Dibble snorted.  There was a corpse here. snorted angrily, and slammed the door in his wake.
I saw it. Dibble s disposition, by the time he had traveled
Fagin rejoined them. the scant floor between his own room and the one
 Maybe it was some other corpse, some other he had just left, was quite definitely growing worse.
time, some other place, he said.  Maybe you re He was muttering to himself as he reached the
just mixed up. ninth floor and started down the corridor to his
Fagin was a big hulk of a man; Dibble a vest room.
pocket dynamo. He rose up on his toes, pushed his  Ought to call the police! Dibble grunted.
face close to Fagin s.  Maybe they d be idiotic, too. Never heard of such
 Maybe you d like a punch in the nose, you stupidity.
insolent boob! Dibble rasped. He found his key and was about to insert it in
 Gentlemen! cried the little manager in alarm. the lock of his door when he saw that the door was
Fagin sighed. Dibble came down off his toes. slightly ajar. In his departure a while back he d
Fagin spoke wearily to the manager. probably forgotten to close it completely. He
 Maybe we d better get back to the lobby, he shoved his key in his pocket and pushed into his
 DIBBLE DABBLES IN DEATH 7
room. is it?
Dibble smelled cigarette smoke at once, and  Supposing, said Dibble,  I don t know what
heard the voice an instant later. you re talking about.
 Okay, buddy. Come on in. I ve been waiting  The hell you don t.
for you. Dibble realized that the young man could not be
persuaded anything to the contrary.
IBBLE stepped through the hallway into his  You know me? Dibble asked.
D bedroom quickly. His outrage and indignation  Only from today, said the gunman.  You went
had left him in the sudden surprise and resultant into Soltz s room, after I d plugged him. That s the
curiosity. first I knew of your connection with him. But I
He saw his visitor as he reached the end of the didn t have time to learn all Soltz s connections in
hall and the threshold of the bedroom. The man just two days.
was sitting in an armchair. He had a glass in his  You saw me go into his room? Dibble
hand, and at his elbow was a bottle of Dibble s demanded.
bourbon.  I d have followed you in and plugged you, the
Dibble s eyebrows and temperature both went young man said matter-of-factly,  only there were a
up a notch. number of people in the corridor outside the room
And then Dibble saw that the man a youngish, at that time.
wrestler-like fellow with a broken nose, bushy How d you know this was my room? Dibble
black eyebrows and thick black hair held a pistol asked.
in his other hand. The pistol, which Dibble had no  I asked the operator who d dropped you off of
way of knowing was a .45 was pointed at Dibble. the elevator at Soltz s floor. He knew your name
 Take a seat on the edge of the bed, buddy, and room number. You left your door open. I
said the bearish young man. His voice was decided to wait here for you.
surprisingly soft, curiously touched by a faint and Dibble could restrain his curiosity on this matter
unrecognizable accent. no longer.
Dibble stared a moment at the gun. Then his  What did you do with the body?
eyes met those of the gunman.  After you left the room I waited until the hall
 Put that damned thing down, Dibble snapped. was clear. I stuffed the whole works into a mop
 It might go off. closet right next to Soltz s room.
The young man grinned. But it wasn t a
humorous grin. IBBLE S mouth went tight with satisfaction.
 It already has, once, today, he said.  If you DThat would teach that blundering idiot Fagin
don t want it to go off again, you d better sit down a few things.
there on the edge of the bed. And keep your hands  I just wondered, Dibble said vaguely.
up.  But that doesn t mean a damn thing. Where is
Dibble sat down reluctantly. He held his hands it? That s all I want from you, the young man said.
aloft.  Not here, Dibble said with certainty.  You
 This is a lot of damned nonsense. Can t expect don t think I d leave it here, do you?
to get away with this sort of thing. Give me that The young man cursed. Dibble wished he knew
gun and I ll put in a good word for you if I can. what the young man was babbling about.
The young man thought this very funny. At least  Where is it? he snarled.  I ll give you just two
worth a brief chuckle. He put down his drink, minutes to tell me. To hell with this bantering.
leaned forward in his chair, the gun still trained on The gunman s eyes were blazing now.
Dibble. Dibble swallowed hard.
 Okay, cough up. Where is it?  In a safe deposit box, of course, Dibble said.
Dibble frowned.  My money? I left it all in the  Where?
room here. Don t tell me you were damned fool Dibble named a bank.  I m the only one who
enough to miss it. can open it, he said, pleased with his deception.
The young man s eyes narrowed.  None of that  They know me at the bank.
guff. I m not a fool. You know what I mean. Where The young man rose abruptly. He glanced at his
 MAMMOTH DETECTIVE 8
watch. pocket.
 We re going there, he said,  right now. Get  Let them go out first, he whispered.
up. Dibble did so, and in the noise of their
Dibble rose, still holding his hands aloft. The movement, was able to drop the safety razor blade
gunman moved up to him, frisked him swiftly for to the floor of the car without its being heard.
weapons, stepped back, satisfied.  Okay, hissed Dibble s escort.
 Okay, he said.  You can drop your hands.
 Keep  em natural from now on. I ll be right beside IBBLE moved out of the car slowly, making
you and just a half step back, all along. This gun ll Dsure that the young man did not drop more
be in my pocket. My finger will be on the trigger. than three or four inches back of him.
Any false move on your part will be the last.  Easy does it, said Dibble s escort softly.  Be
Understand? natural, or be dead. Take your choice.
 Naturally, said Dibble. He let his hands fall to  Of course, said Dibble.
his sides.  That s the way, applauded his captor.
The young gunman dropped his pistol into the Dibble made for the door at the south end of the
pocket of his baggy brown tweed coat. lobby. It entailed passing the desk, where he saw
 Okay, he said, pointing to the door with his the big-stomached Fagin leaning negligently
bulging pocket,  you first. against the counter.
Dibble looked at the young man s hand in the Dibble walked as slowly as he could without
bulging pocket. He sighed, turned, and led the way creating suspicion in the young man s mind. The
out of the room. gunman kept close to him.
There was no one in the corridor, no one Behind them, Dibble heard somebody giggle. It
waiting for the elevator. But Dibble realized that it was a feminine giggle, and Dibble flushed faintly
wouldn t have been any help had there been but continued his easy saunter toward the door.
someone around. The young man was too close. He was almost at the desk when he heard a
His hand was ready on the gun. man s hearty guffaw. Then there was more
At the elevators, the young man pushed the laughter, rising rapidly in volume and growing
 Down buzzer. Dibble stared morosely at the vase greater until it was a contagious thing that swept
of sand and cigarette butts just beside him, between the lobby behind them.
the elevator doors. There was the usual array of The young gunman s step almost faltered. He
match sticks and gum wrappers, and someone had looked at Dibble suspiciously.
tossed a single-edge safety razor blade into the  What the hell s wrong?
debris. Dibble shrugged.  Haven t any idea.
The indicator showed that the elevator was on The young man turned to look back over his
the way up. Dibble took his cigar from his teeth shoulder. Dibble did so, too. Several dozen of the
and looked at it distastefully. lobby occupants were gathered in small groups,
 Damn thing s gone out, he snorted. convulsed in laughter, pointing at Dibble and his
He bent over the vase, grinding the cigar butt companion.
into the sand, and when he straightened he had the  Say! the young man grated savagely.
safety razor blade palmed quite inconspicuously in  Something is 
his right hand. His sentence was interrupted by a sudden loud
The elevator arrived. The doors opened. Dibble frightened voice.
stepped in ahead of the young gunman. He took a  Mr. Dibble. I say, Mr. Dibble! the voice cried.
place in the far corner of the cage and the young Dibble saw the thin, nervous little manager
man moved beside him. There was no one else in running toward him. He had obviously been
the car save the operator. somewhere behind them in the lobby crowd. His
They picked up several passengers at the face was flushed in crimson dismay and he was
seventh floor, however, and three more at the staring at Dibble wide-eyed.
fourth. There were three more passengers by the  Listen, grated the gunman ominously, his
time the car reached the lobby. The young man suspicions now quite thoroughly aroused.
prodded Dibble inconspicuously with the gun in his At the sound of the manager s voice, they had
 DIBBLE DABBLES IN DEATH 9
both stopped and turned to face the elevators they d IBBLE sat in the manager s office half an
just left. That put Fagin, and the hotel guests at the Dhour later. He had changed his trousers and
desk behind them. was busily answering the questions of a business-
Fagin s laughter was the first, and the loudest, like, gray-haired homicide lieutenant. The hotel
to roar forth. Then the new laughter was manager, Fagin the house detective, and a number
immediately added to it. of other official persons were present.
The little manager paused breathlessly before  That s how I happened to find the body,
Dibble and his companion now. Dibble said.  Had to get a decent pair of drawers,
 Mr. Dibble, he gasped, his voice barely heard you know. These damned fools  he shot a
above the laughter that filled the lobby.  You are withering glance at the chastened Fagin and the
apparently unaware of it, but I mean, I feel it is manager  just about drove me crazy. Wouldn t
my duty to tell you ah  believe me.
But Dibble hadn t been paying any attention to The lieutenant from the homicide squad smiled
the manager. He had been too intent on the young wryly.
man at his side. And now, as he saw the gunman s  And you say you used that razor blade you
attention distracted a dozen ways by the laughter picked up to slit the seat out of your trousers on the
and confusion, he acted. way down in the elevator?
Dibble took a step backward, then kicked  Had to, Dibble said.  Only way to call
upward, football style, with his right foot. It attention without my guard s getting suspicious.
smashed squarely into the young man s hand the With my trousers ripped wide open, and those
hand in the bulging pocket. hideous drawers visible to the world, I knew I
There was a simultaneous roaring. One of the could cause enough commotion in the lobby to start
gun going off, and the other a roar of pain from the a small riot.
gunman s lips. The homicide lieutenant chuckled.  You have a
Someone screamed, and the laughter had nice kicking toe.
suddenly subsided completely. Only the raging  Great drop-kicker in my days at college. Class
torrent of obscenity from the gunman s lips now of  02 at Barrow U., Dibble said unblushingly.
split the air. He was tugging at his broken hand,  Still keep in shape. Exercise every morning and
trying to wrest it from his pocket, doubling up night. Man s a damned fool who doesn t.
instinctively with pain as he did so. A serious young man with blond hair and wide
All this happened in a split second. And in the shoulders and glasses entered the room at that
next half second Dibble took advantage of the moment. All heads turned to observe his entrance.
young gunman s doubled-over position. He The lieutenant from homicide spoke.
delivered another savage, clean-swinging kick to  Ah, Weber, glad you re here, he said. Then, to
the point of the young man s chin. the others, he added,  Gentlemen, this is Mr.
The howls of pain stopped abruptly and the Weber of the Federal Bureau.
young gunman fell forward to the floor, landing Weber nodded by way of acknowledging the
flush on his face in the manner of one out for the introduction.
count.  It was Haupt, all right, he said, speaking to
Fagin had rushed up and was making heroic the homicide lieutenant.  He s confessed to killing
efforts to kick the unconscious young thug further his ex-confederate, Soltz. Soltz was trying to make
into unconsciousness. The lobby was a chaos of a deal to sell his information to our office.
shouts and screams and confusion. Haupt  he nodded at Dibble  the chap you
Dibble turned to the almost hysterical little knocked out, was furious. He wanted to get the
manager. message from Soltz. They were both German
 Stop blubbering, man. Call the police. You ll agents. Soltz had picked up the message from a
find that body I told you about in the mop closet submarine off the coast, then failed to show up at a
next to eight-oh-nine. And get me something to meeting with Haupt where he was supposed to turn
wrap around my middle. I ve made enough of a it over. Haupt tracked Soltz to the city here, killed
spectacle of myself. him, but didn t find the message in his search.
 But what on earth was the message? Dibble
 MAMMOTH DETECTIVE 10
demanded. from the washroom. In his hand he held a pair of
Weber, the FBI man, smiled.  I m coming to silk, riotously colored and madly patterned shorts.
that. You had the message all along, Mr. Dibble.  Here, gentlemen, is the message the two spies,
Haupt didn t know that. He only knew that you Haupt and Soltz, wrangled over. These crazy
were somehow involved with Soltz and probably colors, and the utterly preposterous pattern, are
knew where it was. That s why he waited for you nothing less than a very ingenious symbol code
in your room, after seeing you enter Soltz s room. containing instructions to several of the most
 Too damned involved, said Dibble prominent German saboteurs on the east coast.
impatiently.  Get to the point. Highly ingenious, gentlemen, but we ve
 Soltz was afraid Haupt might find him. He hid encountered similar samples of it in scarves,
the message temporarily until he could figure out a handkerchiefs, and so forth, before. Our
way to sell it to us. He hid it by sending it off with cryptographers will crack it easily enough, I
the rest of his laundry. That laundry was returned, imagine.
by mistake, to you, Dibble. When the buzz of comment and the excited
 Message in the laundry? Preposterous! Dibble babble of exclamations subsided, everyone s
snorted. attention was quite suddenly stolen by a loud shout
 You have a washroom here? Weber asked the from the washroom door.
manager. The manager nodded, pointed to a door at Dibble, his head just protruding through the
the end of the room. crack of the door, had indignantly broken the spell.
 Be good enough to come with me a moment,  See here, Weber! he shouted.  You can keep
said Weber. those damned silken atrocities, but get me
Dibble frowned but followed the agent into the something decent this instant. After all, no
washroom. The door closed behind them. Those in gentleman dons trousers without drawers!
the office heard voices murmuring, Dibble s, then
Weber s. There were several indignant THE END
exclamations from Dibble. Then Weber emerged