Out the Window (Matt Scudder) by Lawrence Block

It's really cool that Amazon.com gives us the chance to read short stories like these. Originally from 1977 I think this might be the first Matt Scudder short story published when it first came out.
In 1977 Scudder was still an unlicensed investigator, drinking his coffee mixed with booze and a real loner. He's hired to find out if Paula Wittlauer really jumped from her window, committing suicide or if it was murder.
We are treated to a compact little mystery that hits all the right notes. It's not a masterpiece or very original but it is very entertaining. It made me all nostalgic for this incarnation of Matt Scudder and ready for the movie adaption of A Walk Among the Tombstones.