Penguin Modern Classics – Crime & Espionage

An injured, housebound man believes he might have witnessed a murder and must uncover the plot without leaving his apartment. An accidental killer hides the corpse of his neighbour in a fold-down bed - just as his landlord decides to start holding viewings. An innocent youth accused of murder goes on the run, only to discover he has an unexpected aptitude for crime. In this new selection of his best short stories - including the one that inspired Alfred Hitchcock - Cornell Woolrich shines as one of the twistiest, smartest and most thrilling crime writers of the 20th century.

Flemming Borck is the ideal bank teller: quiet, meticulous, perhaps even a little dull. He even stays late to tidy up, which is how he finds the note: THE THING IN MY POCKET IS A REVOLVER. HAND OVER THE CASH YOU'VE GOT IMMEDIATELY.

This draft of a stick-up, discarded at the counter, is Borck's warning that the Father Christmas outside the shopping centre is not all that he seems. So Borck hatches a plan. But he soon finds out that being quiet and meticulous won't save him from the messy and dangerous situation he's got himself into...