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"THE ADVENTURES OF VIC SOCOTRA, PRIVATE DICK"
TODAY'S EPISODE: "MEETING WITH THE FAT MAN"
I DON'T KNOW HOW LONG I LAY UNCONSCIOUS IN THAT LITTLE CUBICLE. It was dark all the time. When I came to, my head throbbed like the thumb you just hit with a hammer. It took two Luckies to get my thoughts back together. The front of my cranium was starting to feel like Ted Williams worked it over with a Louisville slugger. It was starting to get me mad - mad»at the Fat Man and determined to foil his foul plot to hi-jack the L.A. International Airport. He wasn't trifling with just anyone, y'know. He was trifling with Vic Socotra, Private Dick.
I made up my mind to locate the Fat Man, pronto. This was going to take some ace sleuthing. I put my Luckies back in my shirt and worked up my Number Two grim expression - the one I save for special occasions. I undid the dogs on the hatch and stepped out into the corridor. It seemed like it might be night. I didn't see any scrubwomen around. They must have finished up this part of the large gray building early and knocked off for coffee. I followed the corridor for a while, and it started to jink around. All the jinks had steel doors, hiding secrets. The Fat Man was leaving nothing to chance. He could shut this building up like Fort Knox if he wanted. I came past some sort of a cafeteria entrance where a lot of denim-clad Joes were having food thrown onto steel plates. I sleuthed on by, taking note of everything. Later there was a long room with a low ceiling and dozens of guys, sitting around eating. I strolled through casually. Next to the wall was a steel door in the floor with a red cross painted on it. I sauntered on by and looked down the narrow metal stairs. "'X" marks the spot," I thought. And I hit the jackpot. There was a crowd of guys down at the bottom, lined up at the heavy-duty scale. Most of them had their shirts off. I gave a low whistle. I had hit Big Casino. There wasn't a single one of them under 2l0 pounds. Bingol Now all I had to do was put the pinch on my man and I was home free. I stepped down the ladder and realized how tough it was going to be. I was surrounded by fat men I I pinched the first one I bumped into. He squealed. "All right, Bub, what's the scam?" I growled. "What on earth are you talking about?" he said. "Oh, a wisecracker, eh?" I punched him in the kidney. "Now, out with it. What's the bird's-eye lowdown on this caper?" "Weight control," he moaned - and slid to the floor. NEXT: "THE QUACK IN THE BACK" |