District Attorney Gerard Winston is beckoned to the abandoned Morgan mansion by a mysterious note.
He intended to arrive exactly at the strok.
It was ten minutes before twelve.
He allowed his powerful car to slow down.
The Morgan home was but a mile away.
But his pride quickly vetoed such a proposal and he went on alone.
His car sped easily and quickly beyond the business district, through the residential section and on into the sparsely settled region beyond.
As he drove through the business section of the small city he considered stopping at police headquarters and taking an officer with him.
Two minutes later his trim, low-hung roadster swept out of the driveway.
A dark cap and a revolver completed his equipment for the journey.
The girl had hung up.
He hurried upstairs, his face grimly purposeful, and changed into a dark suit.
He jiggled the hook and the operator inquired with irritating calm: Number, please? He growled an oath and set the instrument back on the table.
There was no response.
He waited.
It\'s a matter of life or death.
He spluttered half a dozen questions into the instrument before he realized that he was talking only to himself.
Don\'t fail me tonight, please.
The girl of the notes, you know.
Winston.
His heart was pounding until he could barely hear the sound of his own voice.
This is Marie, Mr.
It was a soft, cultured feminine voice.
Yes.
Gerard Winston? came a voice in response to his hurried Hello.
From Chapter 1: Is this Mr.
Visit Coachwhip Books for more vintage mysteries.
Coons did not adapt well to fame and fortune, as alcoholism and luxurious living quickly took a toll-he died of a heart attack at age 28.
When Howard Hughes bought the rights to Scarface (adapted into the 1932 film), Coons moved to Los Angeles.
Coons\' gangster material was informed by his socializing with Chicago gangsters in the 1920s.
While he is best known for his 1930 novel, Scarface, it was preceded by this 1929 mystery, The Thirteenth Guest, and a couple dozen short stories (both detective fiction and gangster fiction) in The Underworld Magazine, Detective Tales, and other pulp magazines.
Maurice Coons (July 18, 1902 - October 10, 1930) often wrote as Armitage Trail.
Winston and his colleague, Detective Grump, set out to solve the mystery of the Morgan house, as it soon becomes clear that others have set their sights on a hidden inheritance.
Arriving late, he discovers the glooming shadows hold a dining room set for thirteen-and a body.
District Attorney Gerard Winston is beckoned to the abandoned Morgan mansion by a mysterious note
