One For Yes, Two For No, by Will Ferguson

 "One For Yes, Two For No," by Will Ferguson, in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, July/August 2026.

Let's  talk a bit about  Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, where this story appeared. It was founded in 1956 and was inspired less by the Master's movies than by his popular TV show Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Like that show it has always favored humor, suspense, and twist endings.

There is a famous episode of that show called "Breakdown" in which Joseph Cotton plays the paralyzed victim of a car accident, trying desperately to convince the hospital staff that he is conscious. 

And that's close to what happens in this story, but Ferguson adds several layers of complication.  Mike, the man apparently in a persistent vegetative state, is a cop and he was shot while trying to help a waitress who witnessed a murder.  He can feel nothing except the tube in his throat. All he can do is listen and think.  What he hears gives him plenty allowed to think about, and he has crucial decisions to make.  

An excellent story of suspense.