The Project Gutenberg EBook of Dead Ringer, by Lester del Rey

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Title: Dead Ringer

Author: Lester del Rey

Illustrator: Dick Francis

Release Date: October 11, 2009 [EBook #30234]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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Dead Ringer

By LESTER DEL REY

Illustrated by DICK FRANCIS

_There was nothing, especially
on Earth, which could set him
free--the truth least of all!_

Dane Phillips slouched in the window seat, watching the morning crowds
on their way to work and carefully avoiding any attempt to read Jordan's
old face as the editor skimmed through the notes. He had learned to make
his tall, bony body seem all loose-jointed relaxation, no matter what he
felt. But the oversized hands in his pockets were clenched so tightly
that the nails were cutting into his palms.

Every tick of the old-fashioned clock sent a throb racing through his
brain. Every rustle of the pages seemed to release a fresh shot of
adrenalin into his blood stream. _This time_, his mind was pleading. _It
has to be right this time...._

Jordan finished his reading and shoved the folder back. He reached for
his pipe, sighed, and then nodded slowly. "A nice job of researching,
Phillips. And it might make a good feature for the Sunday section, at
that."

It took a second to realize that the words meant acceptance, for
Phillips had prepared himself too thoroughly against another failure.
Now he felt the tautened muscles release, so quickly that he would have
fallen if he hadn't been braced against the seat.

He groped in his mind, hunting for words, and finding none. There was
only the hot, sudden flame of unbelieving hope. And then an almost
blinding exultation.

* * * * *

Jordan didn't seem to notice his silence. The editor made a neat pile of
the notes, nodding again. "Sure. I like it. We've been short of shock
stuff lately and the readers go for it when we can get a fresh angle.
But naturally you'd have to leave out all that nonsense on Bla