»• > - • ’ J' • • ' • • \ * ■ ' * , <
I ^ 1^ I Max and Deek were hired to write murder stories for a crime magazine. They could not think
| J I / \ III of anything to write even after they had spent a night with Death by the side of the road.
' By The Side Of The Road
There was no doubt in Max's
mind nor that of Deek’s either.
The girl was dead. Their flash
light revealed that she had been
strangled to death for it showed
horrible marks on her throat. Her
face still held fear and pain in its
death mask and made the two men
shudder to realize how she had
died.
“Gosh, and on a lonely road at
this time of night,” muttered Max
as if thinking out loud what a ter
rible fate this pretty girl had met.
They had been driving to Chi
cago and had just stopped for a
little sleep before continuing on
the highway. It was not unusual
on a long motor trip. Often this
time of night, or morning, for it
was nearly three, drivers pulled to
the side of the broad dual highway,
and rested unafraid.
Deek had insisted he heard a
blood curdling scream just as he
was about to doze off.
“It’s coming from back in that
direction,” he said as he pinched
his companion, Max.
“Doggone if it ain’t,” replied
Max immediately coming to life.
“Somebody’s g e tting murdered,
sounds like.”
“Well, what’re we waiting for?”
said Deek getting a flash light out
of the pocket and opening the door
at the saipe time.
They followed the last weak
strains of the hysterical scream
toward a side road and proceeded
cautiously down in what they
thought might be the direction.
The last cry of pain and horror
seemed not too far away so they
slowed their steps and flashed
their light around with care, peer
ing into the under brush at inter
vals where it appeared to have
been parted.
Then, suddenly they came upon
the still warm body. Whoever did
the deed had not taken time to
cover up. She lay almost on the
dirt of this side road, her legs ex
tending into the weeds which grew
close to the edge and her lovely
hair in the powder-fine dust of the
little-used country road.
They were looking around now
for something or someone, when
they heard the motor of their car
start up and they realized it was
being driven off at a high rate of
speea.
“Well, I’ll be!” said Max, know
ing it was too late to run after
the car even to catch one last
glimpse.
He’s taken our car! And we so
He’s taken our car. And we so
conveniently left it wide open for
him.” Deek’s face bore the look of
utter disgust.
Now they not only had a dead
body on their hands but no car
with which to rush into the city
and notify police.
“Wait here. I’ll go to the road
and flag a car. Someone will pass
in a few minutes,” Max said, add
ing the last phrase to comfort any
hesitance Deek might express at
being left with a dead girl for
company.
But the resourceful Max was
sadly disappointed as he returned
fully half an hour later. These
Chicago people were wise to lone
men standing by the road-side at
this hour. Rarely did they even
Blow down to see what was the
m
matter when confronted by a wild
ly waving figure. They rather in
creased their speed.
“Hell, no one trusts anybody
these days. Not one car stopped, and
I’ll bet a hundred guys passed me.
It’d be too bad if someone were
dying and needed to get into the
city to the hospital.”
“Well,” volunteered Deek who
had seated himself beside the mur
dered girl whom he had covered
with his coat, “you can’t blame no
body. Death often occurs by the
side of the road and especially at
about this hour. We got a good
example right here.”
He pointed with the flash light
and they both stood looking into
the girl’s face once again.
“Not a bad looking girl and
young too. rrobably her “honey"
got mad and gave her the works.”
Deek resumed his road-side seat
and went on, “Guess we’d better
wait until it’s daylight. Then
someone might see we’re not the
killing kind.”
“Guess I’ll take a seat too. If
dawn doesn’t come soon we’ll have
to put out this light. It's almost
gone now. Thejp, the three of us
will have a good time hoping that
whoever drove our car away really
was the killer.” Max stretched
his long legs and rested his back
against a tree.
“The fool must have been mad
at the girl. Mad as the dickens
too. Did you notice those marks
on her throat. He had some huge
hands too. Marks all around her
neck.”
Deek volunteered a little in
formation he had gathered for he
had a guilty feeling that they
should begin to think seriously
about what may have happened
since they obviously were the only
ones to have heard the scream and
found the body.
Any idea of sleep had left them
and they were beginning to shivver
fn the cool winds that preceed a
late September dawn. Max played
with a dry twig he had picked
up and seemed to be thinking.
Finally he said, “Big guy, he was.
You can tell from the marks his
hands left. He must have weighed
200 pounds, was about 6 feet two.
“Sure, he was every bit of that,”
Deek added. “She’s about 5 foot
7. A girl that height would pick
a boy friend about 6 foot one or
two.”
“Think I’ll look for some foot
prints in the dust. Dirt’s pretty
dry. We haven’t had any rain in
the Middle-West for a few weeks.*’
Max got up carefully and flashed
the light within an area close to
the body. %
“Yep. Here we are. Some dern
good prints.” Max assumed the air
of a detective as he squatted close
by and examined the foot prints.
“I wear a size 9. This must be
an 11 or 11^. He was a big boy.”
Deek rose to view the shoe
shaped in the dust. Then he
started peering around in the half
light of the coming dawn for any
thing else which might be a lead
to the murderer’s identity.
Max went closer to the body and
removed his coat from over it.
“The ladies nearly always have
a purse, a ring or a watch some
thing to start on the trail of as
to whom she might be.” He was
looking as closely' as he could with
out touching the girl.
“One thing we know she died
around three o’clock. Although
I forgot to look closely after that
guy drove away with our car.”
Deek was beginning to get angry
again about the murderer taking
the car although he knew it was
useless to cry over the situation.
It was almost daw7n now7. They
must have been there two hours
with no one but the murdered girl.
Both of them wrere becoming im
patient and to say the least both
men w7ere tired.
“May as well wait a little while
longer until it gets light enough
for someone to realize we’re in
distress.” Deek took his seat again
and started to summarize his
findings.
“You can tell by the size of
those murdering hands and the
foot prints, he was about 6 foot
two. Bet he was a dark sort of
a man, real dark. She’s fair and
looks like the kind who wrould
arouse jealousy. He caught her
wrong and got even with her. Bet
he ditched his owm car somewhere
around in these woods and drove
ours back to town. He’ll probably
hit it over across the State line
into Indiana and run it over a cliff.
Then he’ll steal another car and
hide out aw7hile.”
“Yeah, that’s the way these Chi
cago guys operate. She’s a pretty
kid, swell clothes too. Look at them
fine stockings. He’s bound to be
a man who know7s how to commit
murder and get away.” Max
yawned and looked at his w7atch.
“I’ll start out here toward the
highway and see who’s smart
enough to pick us up.
“Oh no you won’t smart guy.
Get ’em up high!”
Max discovered a man had come
up behind them and was forcing him
back against a tree. Deek was still
sitting down, looking up in disbe
i lief at the tall image which had
so quietly appeared.
He was about 6 foot 2 or three.
He was large with a big head, a
dark complexion and black pierc
ing, evil eyes. He had a gun. The
men knew instantly here was the
murderer.
“Take it easy boys. If you be
have I’ll let you stay around long
enough for me to get my bill fold
I dropped around here. Then you
know what’ll happen ? I’ll leave
you right here to figure it all out
again while I follow those wonder
ful ideas about a clean get-away
I heard you forming when I came
up.”
The tall man bent over the girl’s
form, moved her body slightly, and
retrieved his bill fold. It was large,
black and bulging with money.
He had been careful to keep his
gun alert and pointed on the
astonished Deek and Max. As he
rose and began feeling for his
j hip pocket to replace his bill fold,
! Deek lunged at him from his po
sition by the tree. In a flash Max
was upon the murderer who fell
under Deek’s weight into the dust.
The two men beat the criminal
soundly and then took his gun, giv
ing him a head blow which would
keep him quiet for awhile. Work
like mad, they disarmed the man,
went through his pockets for any
thing else with which he might
“start something’’ on the trip to
the Chicago police if he should
“wake up.’’ They then dragged
him to their car which he had
parked on the highway a little
closer than he had found it.
“How come we didn’t hear him
drive up?’’ Deek was talking as
he opened the car door.
“I don’t know. But I’m sure glad
he did.” Max seemed very pleased.
“We’ve got our “boat” back, we
know where body is and we got the
guy what-done it! Let’s get going.
Here’s where the police take over.”
“Yeah, man. A dead dame by
the side of the road, a stolen and
returned car, with the murderer
walking right into our hands.
That’s a full night for any nran.”^
“We’ll give it to the cops all i^
one package, killer included. We«
don’t have long now either. Got£p^ -
be on the job at 8:30. At t^er-True
Crime Magazne1 Publirttfmg Com
pany they tell erttTyou gotta be on
time .'SiTwork. And this is our
first day on the staff.” Max was
talking and thinking out loud
agai u
D< ek, 'sitting in the back seat
wjth the still unconscious mur
d&x Fs head on his lap and h:s gun
in h is hand, stretched his legs, out
full length and said. “First day,
new job, and I’ll be too tired to
think of anything to dope out to
wri;e up.”
Max added as he Increased his
speed to 75, “These editors want
yov to come up with a new murder
angle every day. Dem if I can
thi ik of any after all I’ve bee*
through in the last few hours.”
The End
w : -swa*. ••••.■ ••:;:;-:X-:%;:::;>>.. x-x-x :
v.v- -Suix^v:
The beam of the flashlight revealed the body of a girl who had been horribly murdered. ^
\
