Hampton Stone is a pseudonym for author Aaron Marc Stein, who also wrote detective novels under the name George Bagby (starring 'Inspector Schmidt' in which author Bagby writes himself in as sidekick on cases.)
A New York Assistant District Attorney is called to the Hotel Jefferson, one of the dingy hotels you have never heard of surrounding Grand Central Station, frequented by salesmen who usually have a farmer's daughter with them.
"If I never see the Hotel Jefferson again, it will be too soon...the smell of the mice, the dusty carpeting, the leather lobby chairs with broken springs, the desk clerk's acne, the house dick, the innocence of the girl at the cigarette counter."
Vincent Laramie was found beaten to death in room 412. He checked in 30 minutes earlier with a young man who has disappeared. Paid in advance, no luggage. The night manager with the pink necktie saw nothing and asked no questions, the desk clerk didn't care the young man registered as 'Charlie Brown', and the house dick was drinking in the lobby bar that night. Witnesses saw Laramie pick up the tough sailor-type earlier, recognizable by his tattooed knuckles spelling AMOUR. Everyone assumed they were queers, and didn't care. Maybe Charlie needed flop for the night; maybe he was a sadist who liked it rough, "many of these fruits do".
Mrs. Laramie is no longer shocked by her husband's philandering, and finding his affair was rough trade this time doesn't surprise her. Laramie's attorney and friend Johnston helps console her through the grief.
Another witness is Dorothy Jordan, who heard the fight from the next room. She looked in from the hallway and discovered the body. Tall and elegant, she says she was staying overnight in town after the theatre. She definitely wasn't prowling the lobby for tricks, and no one knew the man she shared her room with had also disappeared - could it have been the one who registers with a new girl each time under the alias 'Mr. Scott'?
District Attorney Gibson joins the case and 'Charlie Brown' is found - a man with the AMOUR knuckle tattoos, yet states he is the wrong guy. He is innocent; many seamen have this tattoo.
These handful of characters become intimately woven together, and a forgotten culprit is brought up deftly in the last pages. This staid novel is motive heavy, filled with ruminations in the mind of our narrator, and seemingly endless conversations about who and how and why. There is a lack of action, the pace needed to be sped up - however, this has elements which make it unique. It appears Laramie got this young man drunk enough to lure him up to his room, no one caring if they were gays - not his friend or wife, not the staff, not the investigators. Just another day in New York.
Our District Attorney works well with his partner Gibson. Friendly enough to stay overnight at his apartment, shaving in the morning while Gibson lies half dressed on the bed, and Gibson even feeding him coffee and bites of breakfast bun on the drive downtown. Are we in Patricia Highsmith's neighbourhood? Readers in the know can spot subtle signs of intimacy - the gay undertone to Highsmith's Strangers On A Train, and Hitchcock's Rope, knowing that Leopold & Loeb were a couple out to commit the perfect crime.
With over 100 novels published, Stein (Bagby/Stone) was awarded the 1979 Grand Master Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America. His hallmark seems to be clever titles, such as The Strangler Who Couldn't Let Go, The Corpse That Refused To Stay Dead, The Corpse Who Had Too Many Friends, and The Swinger Who Swung By The Neck.
1951 / Paperback / 224 pages
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