It Walks by Night

John Dickson Carr

> GAMBLING WITH DEATH Ten minutes after the Duc de Saligny entered the card room of the elegant Parisian gambling house, the police burst in - and found the Duc's severed head, standing upright on the stump of its neck, staring at them from the center of the room. >ENTER HENRI BENCOLIN >Both doors to the card room had been watched and guarded, yet the murderer had gone in and out without having been seen by anyone! But the flamboyant prefect of police, Henri Bencolin, was willing to bet if the Duc had lost his head over a losing hand, the killer was ready to deal another game of death. And the wily detective had an ace up his sleeve that might - with luck - provide the winning combination for bringing the headstrong killer to justice.