Manhunt. Volume 14, Number 1, February/March, 1966

“Thanks, Hon. I really appreciate this.” I noticed that her earlier frightened look had disappeared. In its place there was a concern that I knew was directed to me. Suddenly I felt very warm inside. It had been a long time since I’d seen anything like that in Anita’s eyes. A long, long time.

I went to work on the pictures. There were quite a lot of them but most of them were studio portraits and after a quick glance I could eliminate them. The rest were mostly shots I’d taken around town the past week. Some street scenes I’d shot for my own amusement, several I’d taken to test some film, and then I came to the batch I’d taken of the Happy Times 4-H Club. As I picked them up I remembered that these must have been taken the day of the murder if the coroner bore out Clyde’s first assumption that the woman had been dead about forty-eight hours. Day before yesterday. Sometime during the morning.

I’d gotten up early that morning for the Happy Timers were leaving on the seven-thirty bus to the capital city. They were already at the bus station when I arrived. I’d taken quite a few pictures of them: group shots, their leader boarding the bus, even some after they were on the bus. I glanced quickly through the enlargements. If there was something in these the killer was afraid of I couldn’t imagine what it would be. I handed the stack to Anita.

“See if you see anything in these pictures, Anita. I sure can’t but maybe I’m missing something.”

Anita took the stack over to a table and began to examine them. I heard footsteps and looked up in time to see Cal Lewis come in. He wriggled his nose at the coffee pot.

“Say, Matt, you couldn’t spare a fellow a cup of that could you?”

“Sure thing, Cal. What about your partner?”

“Naw. John don’t drink coffee, Matt. Say, you found anything yet in those pictures?”

“Not yet, Cal, although I’ve pretty well got it narrowed down to one batch. There’re the only ones that could possibly have anything in them. Anita’s looking them over now.”

“Well, guess I’d better get back outside. John’s out in back keeping an eye on things.” Cal ambled on out the door.

“Matt, do you still get Y’s and Z’s on your automobile licenses in this county?”

“Sure. Why?”

“Then come here and look at this car in the background of this picture.”

I looked. Sure enough there was a car with a strange license tag in the background. Then I saw something else. How I’d missed it before I didn’t know. But there she was, getting into the car with the strange tags. She was looking right at the camera and that gaudy dress was unmistakable.

“It’s her!” I cried.

“Who?” Anita asked, puzzled.

“The woman who was murdered. She’s getting in that car with the strange tags. Well, I guess this wraps it up. All we have to do is trace the owner of this car and we should have the killer. Looks like Clyde’s first hunch about this being an out-of-town killing was right.”

“I’m not so sure, Matt,” Anita answered slowly. “If it were someone from out of town they surely wouldn’t be hanging around here now. And the killer must be still around.”

“Guess you’re right, Anita. Of course, the killer no matter who it is knows about this picture. But it’d be pretty hard for a stranger to hang around without being seen. And he must know the body’s been found. I’m going to run this picture down to Clyde’s office. You wait here. I’ll either be right back or call you from up there.”

“What about the negative, Matt. Don’t you think you’d better lock it up?”

I grinned at her. “Say, maybe you should be around more often. Keep me from forgetting things.”

I locked the negative in the safe and then left the studio.

“Find it, Matt?” Cal called to me as I went out the door.

“I think so, Cal. I think so.”

The suddenness of the blow sent me sprawling. I struggled in a swirling fog to keep my feet and then the world came down on me and I felt myself slipping into a bottomless pit.

The sunlight burned into my eyes, making my head pound faster. “The blinds,” I whispered, “Please close the blinds.” Instead I felt a moist cloth fall over my eyes and the sunlight disappeared. I sighed deeply, relaxing. In another moment I was asleep.

When I awoke again the sun had disappeared and a cool soothing breeze drifted in from the open window. My head felt thick and full of mush and when I ran my hand over my head I felt a good-sized knot. Otherwise I seemed to be all right. Then I ventured to look about me. With a start I recognized a hospital room. “What the...?” I exclaimed. Then a gentle hand fell over my mouth. “Hush,” Anita whispered.

“What happened? What am I doing here?” I insisted.

“As Clyde said, someone cold-cocked you,” she announced.

“Clyde!” Now I remembered. “The picture! What happened? Who hit me? What happened to the picture?”

“Not so fast, Matt. One question at a time. Someone hit you and knocked you out after you left the studio. I’m afraid he took the picture, Matt. But we still have the negative and you can make Clyde another print when you get on your feet.”