The Black Lizard Big Book of Black Mask Stories

Permissions Acknowledgments

“Come and Get It” by Erle Stanley Gardner from Black Mask Magazine, April 1927. Copyright © 1927 by Erle Stanley Gardner, copyright renewed 1954. Reprinted by permission of the Estate of Erle Stanley Gardner and Queen Literary Agency.

“Cry Silence” by Fredric Brown from Black Mask Magazine, November 1948. Copyright © 1948 by Fredric Brown. Renewed. Reprinted by permission of the author’s estate and Barry Malzberg.

“Arson Plus” by Dashiell Hammett writing as Peter Collinson from Black Mask Magazine, October 1923. Copyright © 1923, copyright renewed 1951 by Dashiell Hammett. Reprinted by permission of the Dashiell Hammett Literary Property Trust, administered by the Joy Harris Literary Agency, Inc.

“Fall Guy” by George Harmon Coxe from Black Mask Magazine, June 1936. Copyright © 1936 by George Harmon Coxe. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission of Brandt & Hochman Literary Agents, Inc.

“Doors in the Dark” by Frederick Nebel from Black Mask Magazine, February 1933. Copyright © 1933 by Pro-Distributors Publishing Company, Inc., copyright renewed 1961 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by special arrangement with Keith Alan Deutsch (keithdeutsch@comcast.net; www.blackmaskmagazine.com) proprietor and conservator of the respective copyrights, and successor-in-interest to Popular Publications, Inc.

“Luck” by Lester Dent. This previously unpublished piece is an earlier draft of the selection “Sail” from Black Mask Magazine, October 1936. Copyright © 2010 by the Estate of Norma Dent. Reprinted by permission of Will Murray, Agent for the Estate of Norma Dent.

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett from Black Mask Magazine, September-December 1929, January 1930. From the novel The Maltese Falcon. Copyright © 1929, 1930 by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc., copyright renewed 1957, 1958 by Dashiell Hammett. Reprinted by arrangement with Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc.

“Ten Carats of Lead” by Stewart Sterling from Black Mask Magazine, August 1940. Copyright © 1940, copyright renewed 1968 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by special arrangement with Keith Alan Deutsch (keithdeutsch@comcast.net; www.blackmaskmagazine.com) proprietor and conservator of the respective copyrights, and successor-in-interest to Popular Publications, Inc.

“Murder Is Bad Luck” by Wyatt Blassingame from Black Mask Magazine, March 1940. Copyright © 1940 by Pro-Distributors Publishing Company, Inc., copyright renewed 1968 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by special arrangement with Keith Alan Deutsch (keithdeutsch@comcast.net; www.blackmaskmagazine.com) proprietor and conservator of the respective copyrights, and successor-in-interest to Popular Publications, Inc.

“Her Dagger Before Me” by Talmadge Powell from Black Mask Magazine, July 1949. Copyright © 1949, copyright renewed 1977 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by special arrangement with Keith Alan Deutsch (keithdeutsch@comcast.net; www.blackmaskmagazine.com) proprietor and conservator of the respective copyrights, and successor-in-interest to Popular Publications, Inc.

“One Shot” by Charles G. Booth from Black Mask Magazine, June 1925. Copyright © 1925 by Pro-Distributors Publishing Company, Inc., copyright renewed 1953 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by special arrangement with Keith Alan Deutsch (keithdeutsch@comcast.net; www.blackmaskmagazine.com) proprietor and conservator of the respective copyrights, and successor-in-interest to Popular Publications, Inc.

“The Dancing Rats” by Richard Sale from Black Mask Magazine, June 1942. Copyright © 1942, copyright renewed 1970 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by special arrangement with Keith Alan Deutsch (keithdeutsch@comcast.net; www.blackmaskmagazine.com) proprietor and conservator of the respective copyrights, and successor-in-interest to Popular Publications, Inc.

“Bracelets” by Katherine Brocklebank from Black Mask Magazine, December 1928. Copyright © 1928 by Pro-Distributors Publishing Company, Inc., copyright renewed 1956 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by special arrangement with Keith Alan Deutsch (keithdeutsch@comcast.net; www.blackmaskmagazine.com) proprietor and conservator of the respective copyrights, and successor-in-interest to Popular Publications, Inc.

“Diamonds Mean Death” by Thomas Walsh from Black Mask Magazine, March 1936. Copyright © 1936 by Pro-Distributors Publishing Company, Inc., copyright renewed 1964 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by special arrangement with Keith Alan Deutsch (keithdeutsch@comcast.net; www.blackmaskmagazine.com) proprietor and conservator of the respective copyrights, and successor-in-interest to Popular Publications, Inc.

“Murder in the Ring” by Raoul Whitfield from Black Mask Magazine, December 1930. Copyright © 1930 by Pro-Distributors Publishing Company, Inc., copyright renewed 1958 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by special arrangement with Keith Alan Deutsch (keithdeutsch@comcast.net; www.blackmaskmagazine.com) proprietor and conservator of the respective copyrights, and successor-in-interest to Popular Publications, Inc.

“The Parrot That Wouldn’t Talk” by Walter C. Brown from Black Mask Magazine, January 1942. Copyright © 1942, copyright renewed 1970 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by special arrangement with Keith Alan Deutsch (keithdeutsch@comcast.net; www.blackmaskmagazine.com) proprietor and conservator of the respective copyrights, and successor-in-interest to Popular Publications, Inc.

“Let the Dead Alone” by Merle Constiner from Black Mask Magazine, July 1942. Copyright © 1942, copyright renewed 1970 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by special arrangement with Keith Alan Deutsch (keithdeutsch@comcast.net; www.blackmaskmagazine.com) proprietor and conservator of the respective copyrights, and successor-in-interest to Popular Publications, Inc.

“Knights of the Open Palm” by Carroll John Daly from Black Mask Magazine, June 1923. Copyright © 1923 by Pro-Distributors, Inc., copyright renewed 1951 by Popular Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reprinted by arrangement with Argosy Communications, Inc., agency for Jay Daly, heir of the Carroll John Daly Estate.

“Waiting for Rusty” by William Cole from Black Mask Magazine, October 1939. Copyright © 1939 by Pro-Distributors Publishing Company, Inc., copyright renewed 1967 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by special arrangement with Keith Alan Deutsch (keithdeutsch@comcast.net; www.blackmaskmagazine.com) proprietor and conservator of the respective copyrights, and successor-in-interest to Popular Publications, Inc.

Rainbow Diamonds by Ramon Decolta. Copyright © 2009 by Keith Alan Deutsch. Originally published in Black Mask Magazine in six parts as: “Diamonds of Dread” (February 1931); “The Man in White” (March 1931); “The Blind Chinese” (April 1931); “Red Dawn” (May 1931); “Blue Glass” (July 1931); “Diamonds of Death” (August 1931). Copyright © 1931 by Pro-Distributors Publishing Company, Inc., copyright renewed 1959 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by special arrangement with Keith Alan Deutsch (keithdeutsch@comcast.net; www.blackmaskmagazine.com) proprietor and conservator of the respective copyrights, and successor-in-interest to Popular Publications, Inc.

“The Ring on the Hand of Death” by William Rollins Jr. from Black Mask Magazine, April 1924. Copyright © 1924 by Pro-Distributors Publishing Company, Inc., copyright renewed 1952 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by special arrangement with Keith Alan Deutsch (keithdeutsch@comcast.net; www.blackmaskmagazine.com) proprietor and conservator of the respective copyrights, and successor-in-interest to Popular Publications, Inc.

“Body Snatcher” by Theodore A. Tinsley from Black Mask Magazine, February 1936. Copyright © 1936 by Pro-Distributors Publishing Company, Inc., copyright renewed 1964 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by special arrangement with Keith Alan Deutsch (keithdeutsch@comcast.net; www.blackmaskmagazine.com) proprietor and conservator of the respective copyrights, and successor-in-interest to Popular Publications, Inc.

“Murder on the Gayway” by Dwight V. Babcock from Black Mask Magazine, October 1939. Copyright © 1939 by Pro-Distributors Publishing Company, Inc., copyright renewed 1967 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by special arrangement with Keith Alan Deutsch (keithdeutsch@comcast.net; www.blackmaskmagazine.com) proprietor and conservator of the respective copyrights, and successor-in-interest to Popular Publications, Inc.

“The Key” by Cleve F. Adams from Black Mask Magazine, July 1940. Copyright © 1940, copyright renewed 1968 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by special arrangement with Keith Alan Deutsch (keithdeutsch@comcast.net; www.blackmaskmagazine.com) proprietor and conservator of the respective copyrights, and successor-in-interest to Popular Publications, Inc.

“The Bloody Bokhara” by William Campbell Gault from Black Mask Magazine, November 1948. Copyright © 1948, copyright renewed 1975 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by special arrangement with Keith Alan Deutsch (keithdeutsch@comcast.net; www.blackmaskmagazine.com) proprietor and conservator of the respective copyrights, and successor-in-interest to Popular Publications, Inc.

“A Taste for Cognac” by Brett Halliday from Black Mask Magazine, November 1944. Copyright © 1944, copyright renewed 1972 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by special arrangement with Keith Alan Deutsch (keithdeutsch@comcast.net; www.blackmaskmagazine.com) proprietor and conservator of the respective copyrights, and successor-in-interest to Popular Publications, Inc.

“Sauce for the Gander” by Day Keene from Black Mask Magazine, May 1943. Copyright © 1943, copyright renewed 1971 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by special arrangement with Keith Alan Deutsch (keithdeutsch@comcast.net; www.blackmaskmagazine.com) proprietor and conservator of the respective copyrights, and successor-in-interest to Popular Publications, Inc.

“A Little Different” by W. T. Ballard from Black Mask Magazine, September 1933. Copyright © 1933 by Pro-Distributors Publishing Company, Inc., copyright renewed 1961 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by special arrangement with Keith Alan Deutsch (keithdeutsch@comcast.net; www.blackmaskmagazine.com) proprietor and conservator of the respective copyrights, and successor-in-interest to Popular Publications, Inc.

“The Shrieking Skeleton” by Erle Stanley Gardner writing as Charles M. Green from Black Mask Magazine, December 1923. Copyright © 1923 by Erle Stanley Gardner, renewed 1950 by Erle Stanley Gardner. Reprinted by permission of the Estate of Erle Stanley Gardner and Queen Literary Agency.

“Drop Dead Twice” by Hank Searls from Black Mask Magazine, March 1950. Copyright © 1950, copyright renewed 1978 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by special arrangement with Keith Alan Deutsch (keithdeutsch@comcast.net; www.blackmaskmagazine.com) proprietor and conservator of the respective copyrights, and successor-in-interest to Popular Publications, Inc.

“The Sound of the Shot” by Dale Clark from Black Mask Magazine, September 1946. Copyright © 1946 by Pro-Distributors Publishing Company, Inc., copyright renewed 1974 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by special arrangement with Keith Alan Deutsch (keithdeutsch@comcast.net; www.blackmaskmagazine.com) proprietor and conservator of the respective copyrights, and successor-in-interest to Popular Publications, Inc.

“Flaming Angel” by Frederick C. Davis from Black Mask Magazine, March 1949. Copyright © 1949, copyright renewed 1977 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by special arrangement with Keith Alan Deutsch (keithdeutsch@comcast.net; www.blackmaskmagazine.com) proprietor and conservator of the respective copyrights, and successor-in-interest to Popular Publications, Inc.

“Odds on Death” by Don M. Mankiewitz from Black Mask Magazine, November 1948. Copyright © 1948, copyright renewed 1976 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by special arrangement with Keith Alan Deutsch (keithdeutsch@comcast.net; www.blackmaskmagazine.com) proprietor and conservator of the respective copyrights, and successor-in-interest to Popular Publications, Inc.

“Those Catrini” by Norvell Page from Black Mask Magazine, February 1933. Copyright © 1933 by Pro-Distributors Publishing Company, Inc; copyright © renewed 1961 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by special arrangement with Keith Alan Deutsch (keithdeutsch@comcast.net; www.blackmaskmagazine.com) proprietor and conservator of the respective copyrights, and successor-in-interest to Popular Publications, Inc.

“Smoke in Your Eyes” by Hugh B. Cave from Black Mask Magazine, December 1938. Copyright © 1938 by Pro-Distributors Publishing Company, Inc., copyright renewed 1966 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by special arrangement with Keith Alan Deutsch (keithdeutsch@comcast.net; www.blackmaskmagazine.com) proprietor and conservator of the respective copyrights, and successor-in-interest to Popular Publications, Inc.

“Blood, Sweat and Biers” by Robert Reeves from Black Mask Magazine, January 1945. Copyright © 1945, copyright renewed 1973 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by special arrangement with Keith Alan Deutsch (keithdeutsch@comcast.net; www.blackmaskmagazine.com) proprietor and conservator of the respective copyrights, and successor-in-interest to Popular Publications, Inc.

“The Black Bottle” by Whitman Chambers from Black Mask Magazine, April 1936. Copyright © 1936 by Pro-Distributors Publishing Company, Inc., copyright renewed 1964 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by special arrangement with Keith Alan Deutsch (keithdeutsch@comcast.net; www.blackmaskmagazine.com) proprietor and conservator of the respective copyrights, and successor-in-interest to Popular Publications, Inc.

“The Corpse Didn’t Kick” by Milton K. Ozaki from Black Mask Magazine, November 1949. Copyright © 1949, copyright renewed 1977 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by special arrangement with Keith Alan Deutsch (keithdeutsch@comcast.net; www.blackmaskmagazine.com) proprietor and conservator of the respective copyrights, and successor-in-interest to Popular Publications, Inc.

“Try the Girl” by Raymond Chandler from Black Mask Magazine, January 1937. Copyright © 1937 by Raymond Chandler. Reprinted by kind permission of the Estate of Raymond Chandler, administered by Ed Victor Ltd., London.

“Don’t You Cry for Me” by Norbert Davis from Black Mask Magazine, May 1942. Copyright © 1942, copyright renewed 1970 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by special arrangement with Keith Alan Deutsch (keithdeutsch@comcast.net; www.blackmaskmagazine.com) proprietor and conservator of the respective copyrights, and successor-in-interest to Popular Publications, Inc.

“T. McGuirk Steals a Diamond” by Ray Cummings from Black Mask Magazine, December 1922. Copyright © 1922 copyright renewed 1950 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by special arrangement with Keith Alan Deutsch (keithdeutsch@comcast.net; www.blackmaskmagazine.com) proprietor and conservator of the respective copyrights, and successor-in-interest to Popular Publications, Inc.

“Wait for Me” by Steve Fisher from Black Mask Magazine, May 1938. Copyright © 1938 by Pro-Distributors Publishing Company, Inc., copyright renewed 1966 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by special arrangement with Keith Alan Deutsch (keithdeutsch@comcast.net; www.blackmaskmagazine.com) proprietor and conservator of the respective copyrights, and successor-in-interest to Popular Publications, Inc.

“Ask Me Another” by Frank Gruber from Black Mask Magazine, June 1937. Copyright © 1937 by Pro-Distributors Publishing Company, Inc., copyright renewed 1965 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by special arrangement with Keith Alan Deutsch (keithdeutsch@comcast.net; www.blackmaskmagazine.com) proprietor and conservator of the respective copyrights, and successor-in-interest to Popular Publications, Inc.

“Dirty Work” by Horace McCoy from Black Mask Magazine, September 1929. Copyright © 1929, copyright renewed 1957 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by special arrangement with Keith Alan Deutsch (keithdeutsch@comcast.net; www.blackmaskmagazine.com) proprietor and conservator of the respective copyrights, and successor-in-interest to Popular Publications, Inc.

“Merely Murder” by Julius Long from Black Mask Magazine, July 1944. Copyright © 1944, copyright renewed 1972 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by special arrangement with Keith Alan Deutsch (keithdeutsch@comcast.net; www.blackmaskmagazine.com) proprietor and conservator of the respective copyrights, and successor-in-interest to Popular Publications, Inc.

“Murder in One Syllable” by John D. MacDonald from Black Mask Magazine, May 1949. Copyright © 1949, copyright renewed 1976 by Maynard MacDonald. Reprinted by arrangement with Maynard MacDonald.

“Three Apes from the East” by H. H. Stinson from Black Mask Magazine, March 1938. Copyright © 1938 by Pro-Distributors Publishing Company, Inc., copyright renewed 1966 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by special arrangement with Keith Alan Deutsch (keithdeutsch@comcast.net; www.blackmaskmagazine.com) proprietor and conservator of the respective copyrights, and successor-in-interest to Popular Publications, Inc.

“Death Stops Payment” by D. L. Champion from Black Mask Magazine, July 1940. Copyright © 1940, copyright renewed 1968 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by special arrangement with Keith Alan Deutsch (keithdeutsch@comcast.net; www.blackmaskmagazine.com) proprietor and conservator of the respective copyrights, and successor-in-interest to Popular Publications, Inc.

“The Color of Honor” by Richard Connell from Black Mask Magazine, June 1923. Copyright © 1923 by Pro-Distributors Publishing Company, Inc., copyright renewed 1951 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by special arrangement with Keith Alan Deutsch (keithdeutsch@comcast.net; www.blackmaskmagazine.com) proprietor and conservator of the respective copyrights, and successor-in-interest to Popular Publications, Inc.

“Middleman for Murder” by Bruno Fischer from Black Mask Magazine, November 1947. Copyright © 1947, copyright renewed 1975 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by special arrangement with Keith Alan Deutsch (keithdeutsch@comcast.net; www.blackmaskmagazine.com) proprietor and conservator of the respective copyrights, and successor-in-interest to Popular Publications, Inc.

“The Man Who Chose the Devil” by Richard Deming from Black Mask Magazine, May 1948. Copyright © 1948, copyright renewed 1976 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by special arrangement with Keith Alan Deutsch (keithdeutsch@comcast.net; www.blackmaskmagazine.com) proprietor and conservator of the respective copyrights, and successor-in-interest to Popular Publications, Inc.

“Beer-Bottle Polka” by C. M. Kornbluth from Black Mask Magazine, September 1946. Copyright © 1946 copyright renewed 1974 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by special arrangement with Keith Alan Deutsch (keithdeutsch@comcast.net; www.blackmaskmagazine.com) proprietor and conservator of the respective copyrights, and successor-in-interest to Popular Publications, Inc.

“Borrowed Crime” by Cornell Woolrich from Black Mask Magazine, January 1938. Copyright © 1938 by Cornell Woolrich; copyright renewed. Reprinted by permission of J. P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., as Trustee for THE CLAIRE WOOLRICH MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP FUND under the will of Cornell Woolrich R671100, dated March 6, 1961.