«No Pockets in a Shroud» by Richard Deming

Two gambling kingpins go to war – and Manville Moon is caught in the middle.

When an upstart gangster named Byron Wade threatens Louis Bagnell's gambling empire, Bagnell attempts to hire Manville Moon, a detective whose loss of a leg has not diminished his reputation as a tough guy. Preferring to remain neutral, Moon turns down Bagnell's offer and refuses Wade's as well. But Wade does not want another gunman. He wants a sleuth – to investigate his own murder, should the coming war leave him dead. They are negotiating over a platter of chop suey when Louis Bagnell turns up murdered.

Was Wade using Moon as an alibi, or did Bagnell's killer come from within his own gang? Double-crosses come faster than bullets in this twisting novella, but even on one leg, Manville Moon will have no trouble keeping up.