HAMMETT HERALD-TRIBUNE: "Pickup" aka "The Whosis Kid" (1936)

The Continental Op story "The Whosis Kid" made its first appearance in the March 1925 issue of Black Mask. It showed up next in the newspapers, under the title "Pickup." Why the new name? Beats me. The clips below are from the Philadelphia Inquirer back in July and August of 1936. The artwork, by John R. Flannagan, was new. As we saw with "Girl Hunt" ("Fly Paper"), the Op was given a number. Why? Again, I have no clue.

To read the story, I suggest you check out  the 2001 Library of America volume Crime Stories and Other Writings, the 2016 Mysterious Press ebook The Continental Op: The Complete Case Files, or 2017's magnum opus, The Big Book of The Continental Op. All other versions, with the possible exception of these newspaper serializations, have been edited.