across from him as though telling his fortune, sat on the foot locker off to one side. The lieutenant poised his pencil.
"Your name?"
"Dr. Magus."
"I mean your real name."
Dr. Magus smiled. "I've almost forgotten it, Lieutenant. And I'd much prefer to forget. But since you'll no doubt suspect me of being an escaped convict, I suppose I shall have to tell you. The name is Morris, Raymond L. Morris. If I recall aright, the L stands for Leroy. And I was born under the sign of Scorpio in the year 1900 and in the town of Green Bay, Wisconsin."
"Got a record, Morris?"
"Please call me Doc. The title is almost genuine."
"What do you mean, 'almost genuine'?"
"It would have been Doctor of Philosophy, not of Medicine, but at the age of twenty-three I was within four months of acquiring that degree when a youthful peccadillo caused my expulsion from the august halls of learning. I have, of course, a master's degree, psychology major, but I presume you would not want to call me Master."
The lieutenant said, "I'll settle for Doc. And the record?"
"Nothing really worth mentioning. A few fines for fortune telling in places where the law frowns upon my profession. A few other and minor misdemeanors."
"Done time?"
"Fifty-two years of it, but none behind bars. In front of bars, quite a bit."
"How well did you know Mack Irby?"
"Merely a casual acquaintance. And as to when I saw him last, which is what you'd ask me next if I do not anticipate the question, it would have been late yesterday evening, somewhere in the neighborhood of eleven o'clock. He'd just returned; from what I hear, he couldn't have been on the lot more than fifteen or twenty minutes. Is that right?"
"Yeah. His train got in at ten twenty-five. He took a taxi to the lot, so he'd have got here about a quarter to eleven. Where did you see him?"
"Here. He dropped in merely to pass the time of evening. I gave him a drink, but he stayed only a minute."
"You didn't see him after that?"
"Not even the empty shell from which his soul had fled. I fear that I slept through the commotion which I hear accompanied the finding of his body early this morning. It had been taken away by the time I was up and about. Who found him, by the way?"
"A halfwit named Sammy. Doesn't have any last name, or so he says. What do you know about Sammy?"
"Almost nothing except that I like him. He's done errands for me a few times. He works for Jesse Rau, who runs the milk bottle game. Sammy sets up the bottles when they're knocked down. He seems to have the requisite mentality to perform that task."
"After Irby left did you stay in this tent all night?"
"I did."
"You didn't go outside once, not even to go to the doniker?"
"I see you are picking up carney slang already, Lieutenant. No, I did not go to the doniker. But if you want to make a very fine point of whether I remained within these canvas walls, I recall that once I stepped under the back one and a few feet beyond it. On business, let us say, but not sufficiently serious business to require a longer walk than that since it was in the middle of the night."
"About what time?"
"I haven't the faintest idea. Why would it matter?"
"It might if you saw anybody while you were out there. Did you?"
"Not a soul."
"You spent the night alone?"
"On the contrary, Lieutenant. I enjoyed - and I use the word advisedly - very pleasant company."
"Who?"
"I fear it would be indiscreet for me to answer that. Unless of course the young lady in question has already told you she spent the night with me, in which case I shall be glad to confirm her story."
"She has. And otherwise, Doc, there's suspicion she may have been the dame who was with Irby last night."
"Very well. Then I spent the night with the young lady who told you she spent the night with me."
"That won't do, Doc. Maybe she didn't but if I told you the name first you'd say she did just to give her an alibi. It wouldn't mean anything if I told you first."
"You have a point there,
"Your name?"
"Dr. Magus."
"I mean your real name."
Dr. Magus smiled. "I've almost forgotten it, Lieutenant. And I'd much prefer to forget. But since you'll no doubt suspect me of being an escaped convict, I suppose I shall have to tell you. The name is Morris, Raymond L. Morris. If I recall aright, the L stands for Leroy. And I was born under the sign of Scorpio in the year 1900 and in the town of Green Bay, Wisconsin."
"Got a record, Morris?"
"Please call me Doc. The title is almost genuine."
"What do you mean, 'almost genuine'?"
"It would have been Doctor of Philosophy, not of Medicine, but at the age of twenty-three I was within four months of acquiring that degree when a youthful peccadillo caused my expulsion from the august halls of learning. I have, of course, a master's degree, psychology major, but I presume you would not want to call me Master."
The lieutenant said, "I'll settle for Doc. And the record?"
"Nothing really worth mentioning. A few fines for fortune telling in places where the law frowns upon my profession. A few other and minor misdemeanors."
"Done time?"
"Fifty-two years of it, but none behind bars. In front of bars, quite a bit."
"How well did you know Mack Irby?"
"Merely a casual acquaintance. And as to when I saw him last, which is what you'd ask me next if I do not anticipate the question, it would have been late yesterday evening, somewhere in the neighborhood of eleven o'clock. He'd just returned; from what I hear, he couldn't have been on the lot more than fifteen or twenty minutes. Is that right?"
"Yeah. His train got in at ten twenty-five. He took a taxi to the lot, so he'd have got here about a quarter to eleven. Where did you see him?"
"Here. He dropped in merely to pass the time of evening. I gave him a drink, but he stayed only a minute."
"You didn't see him after that?"
"Not even the empty shell from which his soul had fled. I fear that I slept through the commotion which I hear accompanied the finding of his body early this morning. It had been taken away by the time I was up and about. Who found him, by the way?"
"A halfwit named Sammy. Doesn't have any last name, or so he says. What do you know about Sammy?"
"Almost nothing except that I like him. He's done errands for me a few times. He works for Jesse Rau, who runs the milk bottle game. Sammy sets up the bottles when they're knocked down. He seems to have the requisite mentality to perform that task."
"After Irby left did you stay in this tent all night?"
"I did."
"You didn't go outside once, not even to go to the doniker?"
"I see you are picking up carney slang already, Lieutenant. No, I did not go to the doniker. But if you want to make a very fine point of whether I remained within these canvas walls, I recall that once I stepped under the back one and a few feet beyond it. On business, let us say, but not sufficiently serious business to require a longer walk than that since it was in the middle of the night."
"About what time?"
"I haven't the faintest idea. Why would it matter?"
"It might if you saw anybody while you were out there. Did you?"
"Not a soul."
"You spent the night alone?"
"On the contrary, Lieutenant. I enjoyed - and I use the word advisedly - very pleasant company."
"Who?"
"I fear it would be indiscreet for me to answer that. Unless of course the young lady in question has already told you she spent the night with me, in which case I shall be glad to confirm her story."
"She has. And otherwise, Doc, there's suspicion she may have been the dame who was with Irby last night."
"Very well. Then I spent the night with the young lady who told you she spent the night with me."
"That won't do, Doc. Maybe she didn't but if I told you the name first you'd say she did just to give her an alibi. It wouldn't mean anything if I told you first."
"You have a point there,
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