
Part 1
A desperate salesman narrates his frantic scramble for a fortune tied to the newly discovered planet Balsavius Six. He believes a modest investment could multiply his wealth, but his mother‑in‑law, a wealthy and stubborn matriarch, blocks the path. Their strained relationship and her control over the family’s finances push him toward a dark, calculated solution.
Obsessed with finding a “clean” method, he rejects blunt weapons and searches for a subtle poison that would go unnoticed. While wandering the eclectic streets of Greenwich Village, he stumbles into a bizarre jewelry shop run by a bearded merchant whose alien heritage hints at hidden resources. The shop’s uncanny wares and the proprietor’s mysterious aura suggest a possible shortcut to the lethal means he craves. As he weighs his options, the line between ambition and morality begins to blur, setting the stage for a tense, morally charged gamble.
Language
en
Duration
~21 minutes (20K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Original publisher
United States: Great American Publications, Inc., 1960.
Credits
Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Release date
Feb 26, 2023
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
1911–1981
A prolific mid-20th-century writer, he moved easily between crime novels, true-crime reporting, and the occasional science-fiction story. His work is especially remembered for tough, fast-moving books about juvenile delinquency and for a wartime account drawn from his experience in Hong Kong.
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