Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. Vol. 100, Nos. 4 & 5. Whole Nos. 603 & 604, October 1992

“C’mon, guy, you gave me Canadian again.” He had to be wrong. I walked back and looked. Just like before. Where I had dropped American change now sat Canadian coin. That’s when I felt the knot that must have tied Caspar’s stomach. Slowly, I looked at the watch. It said 11:59. The scarf felt tight around my neck. Shaking, I reached for the ID in my pocket and glanced at it.

I ran from the cafe, leaving the door open behind me. Ignoring my complaining feet, I smashed through the underbrush and began running up the tracks. I knew why Caspar ran, why he had hopped the 11:15, why he left the stuff piled on the body. Ahead of me was the bridge over Casco Bay. I searched the tracks for the body as I ran, my eyes watering in the cold, my lungs icing. It had to be between here and the bridge. He must have shoved it out right after I threw it on. I had to find the body. I’d even jump in the bay for it. Because in my pocket there was a watch ticking to midnight and a not-so-faded ID with my face on it.

Chocolate

by Leslie Meier

Leslie Meier is the author of two previous stories for EQMM and a novel entitled

Mail-Order Murder, published by Viking Books. The following story was inspired by an article she saw about the potentially lethal effects of a popular sweet...

* * *

Peering anxiously around her apartment door, Minnie Mittelstadt checked the hallway to see if he was there. Since that last dreadful episode, she had decided to take no chances. If he was there, she would simply duck back into her apartment, lock and bolt the door, secure the safety chain, and wait until he was gone.

She had never been so frightened, and she was certain she was lucky to have escaped with her life. Living in the big city held plenty of terrors for a single, middle-aged woman, but Minnie had lived in the Bronx all her life and she wasn’t about to leave her pleasant cooperative apartment in the attractive neighborhood known as Riverdale.

Minnie simply took reasonable precautions to guarantee her safety, as she was doing today. She read all the advice the newspapers thoughtfully provided for single women, and carefully followed their suggestions to thwart muggers and purse snatchers. She stayed alert, she remained aware of who was around her, she carried her purse close to her body, and she only carried the cash she absolutely needed. Charge cards, or large amounts of money, she tucked securely into a dress or skirt pocket.

Minnie didn’t worry too much about being mugged; the small amount of money she usually carried could easily be replaced. The threat of violence, especially rape, was something else, however. Dear Mama had brought her up believing that a woman must save herself for marriage. She realized she had been saving herself for quite a while, as she was now retired from her job at a downtown department store, but she was determined to preserve that which was most precious to her.

Minnie never got in an elevator with a stranger, she never spoke to strange men on the street, and she always checked her peephole before opening the door. If she didn’t recognize the delivery man or the telephone man, she asked him to hold up his identification, and then she called the company and checked before allowing him to enter her apartment. Minnie didn’t believe in taking unnecessary risks. In fact, she never even went out after dark.

That’s why it was so frustrating to have this situation taking place right in her own apartment house. However could the members of the cooperative association have voted to allow that dreadful man to move in, and with a dog no less?

Minnie enjoyed the fact that the cooperative allowed pets, as she was the proud owner of a beautiful Siamese cat. King Tut was every bit as regal as his name implied, and he ruled the household with a velvet brown paw. Like all Siamese cats, Tut was stunningly attractive, sporting eight lovely chocolate-brown points: one nose, two ears, one tail, and four paws. His tail curved in a question mark, his sapphire-blue eyes were crossed, and he loved to talk. “Meeyowww,” he would yowl when Minnie returned from a shopping trip. “Where have you been and what have you brought me? I was so lonely without you,” he would complain, or so it seemed to Minnie.