Death Spins the Platter

When a famous DJ is murdered mid-set, a reporter searches for the killer

From 3:00 to 4:00 every afternoon, Tutter “Tut” King reigns supreme. The dreamy disc jockey is a favorite of the sock-hop set, spinning all the records that are too rocking for their parents to let them buy. When Tut is implicated in a payola scheme—taking as much as $100,000 under-the-table to push third-rate records—his teenage fans stand behind him. For Tut’s last radio appearance, the teenyboppers turn out in force. He promises them a shocking announcement at the end of his set. Instead, they get a murder.
 
During intermission, some unfriendly listener buries an icepick in the record spinner’s chest. Reporter Jim Layton believes that Tut was about to implicate his bosses in the corruption. Now it’s up to Layton to determine who put radio’s coolest DJ on ice.