
Len Zitts is the galaxy’s most celebrated detective, a man who mixes razor‑sharp intuition with gadgets that seem to anticipate his every need. He reclines in a desk that reshapes itself into a chair, slipping on plastic moccasins and flashing a lit cigarette with a flick of a button, while a mechanical comb perfects his chestnut hair. The opening scene crackles with retro‑future charm, setting a tone that is both witty and wonderfully absurd.
Into his high‑tech haven steps a nervous blonde, pleading for help after her husband’s sudden, inexplicable death. Instead of the gold she offers, Zitts is fascinated by exotic trades—bacteria, coal, even whispers of Martian relics—hinting at a mystery that reaches beyond ordinary crime. With his enigmatic Venusian secretary, Zoo, and cryptic references to the shadowy “beyondlaws,” the story promises a clever, interstellar whodunit that will keep listeners guessing.
Language
en
Duration
~35 minutes (34K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Release date
2021-04-22
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
A pulp-era science fiction writer whose stories mixed brisk adventure with offbeat speculative ideas, he appeared in genre magazines during the early 1950s and is still read today through public-domain and audio editions.
View all books
by Hal Annas

by Hal Annas
by Hal Annas

by Hal Annas

by Vinceslas-Eugène Dick

by Royall Tyler

by Philippe Aubert de Gaspé

by Abraham Cahan