“He was an expert fisherman. Must have done a lot of it up around those mines of his,” Striker added. “Probably never failed to hook that bed first cast off the reel. This passkey, that let him in here at will, must have been mislaid years ago and he got hold of it in some way. He brooded and brooded over the way he’d been swindled; this was his way of getting even with the world, squaring things. Or maybe he actually thought these various people in here were spies who came to learn the location of his mines. I don’t know, I’m no psychiatrist. The money was just secondary, the icing to his cake. It helped him pay for his room here, staked him to the supplies he took along on his ‘prospecting’ trips.

“A few things threw me off for a long time. He was away at the time young Hastings fell out. The only possible explanation is that that, alone of the four, was a genuine suicide. By a freak coincidence it occurred in the very room the Hermit had been using for his murders. And this in spite of the fact that Hastings had less reason than any of the others; he had just become engaged. I know it’s hard to swallow, but we’ll have to. I owe you an apology on that one suicide, Courlander.”

“And I owe you an apology on the other three, and to show you I’m no bad loser, I’m willing to make it in front of the whole Homicide Squad of New York.”

Young asked curiously, “Have you any idea of just where those mines of his that caused all the trouble are located? Ontario, isn’t it? Because down at the station tonight a Press Radio news flash came through that oil had been discovered in some abandoned gold-mine pits up there, a gusher worth all kinds of money, and they’re running around like mad trying to find out in whom the title to them is vested. I bet it’s the same ones!”

Striker nodded sadly. “I wouldn’t be surprised. That would be just like one of life’s bum little jokes on us.”

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

•Which of the detectives was your favorite? Why?

•Reading this anthology, did you learn anything about the Golden Age detective story genre that you didn’t already know? If so, what?

•How did the cultural history of the era play into these stories? Did anything help date them for you?

•Were you able to solve any of the mysteries before the main character? If so, which ones?

•Did any stories surprise you in terms of subject, character, or setting? If so, which ones?

•Did any stories remind you of work from authors today? If so, which ones?

•What characteristics do you think made these authors so popular in their day? Do you think readers today still want the same things from their reading material?

American Mystery Classics

AMERICAN MYSTERY CLASSICS

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