The X Street Murders
Encyclopedia
"The X Street Murders" is a locked room mystery
short story by Joseph Commings
, featuring his detective Brooks U. Banner.
, where the New Zealand
legation is located. Caroll Lockyear walks out of the legation
at 11:29. The secretary, Gertrude Wagner, writes down an appointment that Lockyear has for next week with Mr. Gosling. On her desk is a sealed envelope
containing something heavy that is inscribed, Deliver to Mr. Kermit Gosling, at 11:30 a.m. sharp. As Lockyear leaves, Gertrude walks past Captain Cozzens and Alvin Odel, whose job it is to watch Gosling's office. Gertrude opens the door, and three shots ring out. Gosling has three bullet holes in him, and he is dying. Odel and Cozzens run in, asking "Where is the gun?" Gertrude opens the envelope on her desk, and a wisp of smoke comes out. The gun that killed Gosling had been sitting on Gertrude's desk in a sealed envelope since it was delivered earlier that morning.
Senator Banner is at The Idle Hour Club when a letter calls him to the legation to lend his investigative talents. The gun is revealed to be a Russian Tokarev. Banner investigates, and discovers the envelope was delivered at 10 a.m. by a 10-year-old kid who didn't say whether it had been given to him by a man or a woman. The envelope was untouched until it was taken to Gosling's room.
Gertrude is stalked by Odel, who is convinced she is the killer. Gertrude tries to convince him that she is not the killer but Odel believes it is her, because she is from East Germany
. Gertrude leaves, but before she does, she slips Odel a piece of paper with two circles on it; a small one inside a big one. Gertrude leaves, and meets up with the real killer, on X Street, who shoots her to death.
A patrolman
finds Gertrude's body. The gun that shot her is revealed to be an American
.38
. Odel shows Banner the drawing of a circle within a circle. Banner rushes McKitrick and the group to the legation, where he is waiting. As they arrive, Banner gives everyone the answer. They search the legation, looking for a recording tape
, which is found in a light socket. Banner has them arrest Caroll Lockyear.
Banner reveals that Gertrude was being forced to help Lockyear with his murder plot. Lockyear was a Communist agent, and Gertrude's mother and father were stuck in East Germany
. Lockyear claimed he could get them out, but threatened to have them killed unless she helped him. Using a tape recorder
, Lockyear recorded three minutes of silence, then fired three shots with the Tokarev, then recorded more silence. The day he killed Gosling, Lockyear arranged for the delivery of an envelope containing a toy gun to Gertrude's desk. He then went to the legation with a briefcase
that had an identical empty envelope in it, and a silenced Tokarev. He stalled Gosling until a time as close to 11:30 as possible, then shot him and started the tape recording. Lockyear sealed the gun into the empty envelope. As Lockyear left, he put his briefcase
on Gertrude's desk, holding the envelope against it. He picked the other envelope on Gertrude's desk up and replaced it with the envelope holding the real gun. After the shots on the tape recording were heard, when everyone was examining Gosling's body, Gertrude shut off the tape recorder. She had drawn the two circles to draw attention to a reel
of recording tape
. Lockyear killed her, thinking she had already destroyed the tape
.
Locked room mystery
The locked room mystery is a sub-genre of detective fiction in which a crime—almost always murder—is committed under apparently impossible circumstances. The crime in question typically involves a crime scene that no intruder could have entered or left, e.g., a locked room...
short story by Joseph Commings
Joseph Commings
Joseph Commings was an American writer of locked room mysteries. He wrote a series of soft-core sex novels, but is best known for his locked-room mystery/impossible crime stories featuring Senator Brooks U. Banner."...
, featuring his detective Brooks U. Banner.
Plot summary
The story begins on X Street in Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, where the New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
legation is located. Caroll Lockyear walks out of the legation
Legation
A legation was the term used in diplomacy to denote a diplomatic representative office lower than an embassy. Where an embassy was headed by an Ambassador, a legation was headed by a Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary....
at 11:29. The secretary, Gertrude Wagner, writes down an appointment that Lockyear has for next week with Mr. Gosling. On her desk is a sealed envelope
Envelope
An envelope is a common packaging item, usually made of thin flat material. It is designed to contain a flat object, such as a letter or card....
containing something heavy that is inscribed, Deliver to Mr. Kermit Gosling, at 11:30 a.m. sharp. As Lockyear leaves, Gertrude walks past Captain Cozzens and Alvin Odel, whose job it is to watch Gosling's office. Gertrude opens the door, and three shots ring out. Gosling has three bullet holes in him, and he is dying. Odel and Cozzens run in, asking "Where is the gun?" Gertrude opens the envelope on her desk, and a wisp of smoke comes out. The gun that killed Gosling had been sitting on Gertrude's desk in a sealed envelope since it was delivered earlier that morning.
Senator Banner is at The Idle Hour Club when a letter calls him to the legation to lend his investigative talents. The gun is revealed to be a Russian Tokarev. Banner investigates, and discovers the envelope was delivered at 10 a.m. by a 10-year-old kid who didn't say whether it had been given to him by a man or a woman. The envelope was untouched until it was taken to Gosling's room.
Gertrude is stalked by Odel, who is convinced she is the killer. Gertrude tries to convince him that she is not the killer but Odel believes it is her, because she is from East Germany
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
. Gertrude leaves, but before she does, she slips Odel a piece of paper with two circles on it; a small one inside a big one. Gertrude leaves, and meets up with the real killer, on X Street, who shoots her to death.
A patrolman
Police officer
A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force...
finds Gertrude's body. The gun that shot her is revealed to be an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.38
.38 Special
The .38 Smith & Wesson Special is a rimmed, centerfire cartridge designed by Smith & Wesson. It is most commonly used in revolvers, although some semi-automatic pistols and carbines also use this round...
. Odel shows Banner the drawing of a circle within a circle. Banner rushes McKitrick and the group to the legation, where he is waiting. As they arrive, Banner gives everyone the answer. They search the legation, looking for a recording tape
Magnetic tape
Magnetic tape is a medium for magnetic recording, made of a thin magnetizable coating on a long, narrow strip of plastic. It was developed in Germany, based on magnetic wire recording. Devices that record and play back audio and video using magnetic tape are tape recorders and video tape recorders...
, which is found in a light socket. Banner has them arrest Caroll Lockyear.
Banner reveals that Gertrude was being forced to help Lockyear with his murder plot. Lockyear was a Communist agent, and Gertrude's mother and father were stuck in East Germany
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
. Lockyear claimed he could get them out, but threatened to have them killed unless she helped him. Using a tape recorder
Magnetic tape
Magnetic tape is a medium for magnetic recording, made of a thin magnetizable coating on a long, narrow strip of plastic. It was developed in Germany, based on magnetic wire recording. Devices that record and play back audio and video using magnetic tape are tape recorders and video tape recorders...
, Lockyear recorded three minutes of silence, then fired three shots with the Tokarev, then recorded more silence. The day he killed Gosling, Lockyear arranged for the delivery of an envelope containing a toy gun to Gertrude's desk. He then went to the legation with a briefcase
Briefcase
A briefcase is a narrow box-shaped bag or case used mainly for carrying papers and other documents and equipped with a handle. Lawyers commonly use briefcases to carry briefs to present to a court, hence the name...
that had an identical empty envelope in it, and a silenced Tokarev. He stalled Gosling until a time as close to 11:30 as possible, then shot him and started the tape recording. Lockyear sealed the gun into the empty envelope. As Lockyear left, he put his briefcase
Briefcase
A briefcase is a narrow box-shaped bag or case used mainly for carrying papers and other documents and equipped with a handle. Lawyers commonly use briefcases to carry briefs to present to a court, hence the name...
on Gertrude's desk, holding the envelope against it. He picked the other envelope on Gertrude's desk up and replaced it with the envelope holding the real gun. After the shots on the tape recording were heard, when everyone was examining Gosling's body, Gertrude shut off the tape recorder. She had drawn the two circles to draw attention to a reel
Reel
A reel is an object around which lengths of another material are wound for storage. Generally a reel has a cylindrical core and walls on the sides to retain the material wound around the core...
of recording tape
Magnetic tape
Magnetic tape is a medium for magnetic recording, made of a thin magnetizable coating on a long, narrow strip of plastic. It was developed in Germany, based on magnetic wire recording. Devices that record and play back audio and video using magnetic tape are tape recorders and video tape recorders...
. Lockyear killed her, thinking she had already destroyed the tape
Magnetic tape
Magnetic tape is a medium for magnetic recording, made of a thin magnetizable coating on a long, narrow strip of plastic. It was developed in Germany, based on magnetic wire recording. Devices that record and play back audio and video using magnetic tape are tape recorders and video tape recorders...
.