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040 _aUtSlPG
041 7 _aen
_2iso639-1
050 4 _aPS
100 1 _aGardner, Erle Stanley,
_d1889-1970
245 1 0 _aMore than skin deep
264 1 _aSalt Lake City, UT :
_bProject Gutenberg,
_c2026
300 _a1 online resource :
_bmultiple file formats
336 _atext
_btxt
_2rdacontent
337 _acomputer
_bc
_2rdamedia
338 _aonline resource
_bcr
_2rdacarrier
490 1 _aProduced from the November 15, 1926 issue of Top-Notch Magazine.
500 _aRelease date is 2026-04-25
508 _aPrepared by volunteers at BookCove (bookcove.net)
520 _aMore than skin deep by Erle Stanley Gardner is a crime fiction short story written in the early 20th century. Set in a small mountain town, it centers on a supposed safe-blowing robbery and murder, contrasting flashy “modern” forensic showmanship with steady, common-sense policing. The likely topic is a staged crime exposed by a local constable who trusts character and clear observation over superficial clues. In Mesa Flat, merchant Silas K. Mears raises the alarm: his safe has been blown, $10,000 in gold stolen, and clerk Ben Drake lies dead. A celebrated city detective, Big Bill Poindexter, storms in, dazzles the townsfolk with fingerprint talk, and pins the crime on bank cashier Dick Lamb, even “finding” stained overalls and a sack with stray gold coins. Calm constable Dad Anderson keeps his head: he notes the suspect prints on the safe are upside down from someone casually sitting atop it the day before, and the blast marks show dynamite was ignited inside an already opened safe, not blown from without. Reasoning that Mears staged the robbery to evade debts and killed Drake when the clerk surprised him, Dad stops Mears from fleeing, clears Lamb, and escorts the shaken family home—underscoring that what matters in detection runs deeper than skin. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
534 _pOriginally published:
_cNew York, NY: Street & Smith Corporation, 1926
653 _aShort stories
653 _aWestern stories
653 _aDetective and mystery stories
653 _aConstables -- Fiction
830 0 _aProduced from the November 15, 1926 issue of Top-Notch Magazine.
856 4 _uhttps://s3.us-west-1.wasabisys.com/luminist/PU/TN_1926_11_15.pdf
856 4 0 _uhttps://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/78545
999 _c119263
_d119263