The Body Looks Familiar // The Late Mrs. Five — Richard Wormser

THE BODY LOOKS FAMILIAR This was no crime of passion. The killer sat patiently on the girl's satin-covered bed, drinking Scotch and soda, awaiting her return. He didn't smoke -- some Sherlock might trace his brand. He had already taken care to plant the leads, to weave together the web of evidence that would direct the police unerringly to the wrong man. He didn't know the girl. When she entered, he thought it a pity to kill such a good-looker; then he held the cushion over the gun, and fired. The silk and feathers made an excellent muffler. It was too bad about the girl, but she was just a means to an end -- and the end was to send another man to the chair… THE LATE MRS. FIVE When factory representative Paul Porter arrived at the small rural town of Lowndesburg, he little suspected that he would soon be under arrest for murder. Soon after his arrival he had been shocked to see his beautiful ex-wife Edith, getting into an expensive limousine. He had never seen her for years. Nor had he any idea that she was now married to the rich landowner John Hilliard the Fifth, to whose mansion he had later made a visit hoping to sell agricultural machinery -- only to find nobody was at home. But the local police knew of his visit, and when they discovered Edith's dead body there, he became the prime suspect as the slayer of the late Mrs. Five!