Walls That Hear You is a terrific little early tale from Cornell Woolrich, the absolute master of suspense. It was first published in Detective Fiction Weekly in August of 1934. Walls That Hear You moves swiftly, has a gruesome and terrific opening, and a thrilling conclusion.

Twenty-year-old Eddie Mason is lying in a hospital bed. He was found sprawled on a lonely road — minus his tongue, and all of his fingers. Cops locate his brother, and it’s from his viewpoint that the narrative goes forward. There’s a sarcastic cop named Kane his brother doesn’t like, but he likes what’s been done to his brother even less. Without the ability to talk, or even write, it’s difficult questioning Eddie. Finally, they find a slow and methodical way to get his side of the story — at least the little he remembers — and those efforts add a touch of poignancy to the tale.

While you’d think this story would be overly fatalistic, considering the reputation of the writer, it is not. This is nearly a whiz-bang pulp story, due to the swiftly paced narrative. There is definitely a lot of movement to this pulp story, which is one of Woolrich’s short mystery/suspense tales not about fate. For that reason, Walls That Hear You has much more in common with Death in the Dentist Chair or Mystery in Room 913, than Too Nice a Day to Die or For the Rest of Her Life.

Eddie’s brother hits on something when the cops aren’t around, which leads him to a hotel, and some fancy — for the time — gadgetry to try to get the goods on the man he believes responsible for what happened to his brother. But then the tables are turned, and the cops may not be in time to prevent Eddie’s brother from suffering the same fate.

This is a very fun little pulp mystery, especially when you consider this was written in 1934. Great stuff when you’re in the mood for something swift and fun. ( )