I didn’t think they might not get hired again, I have to say; though I guess Cramer being potentially out of action would make that more likely.
I was also thinking of it in terms of the fact that this case is getting a LOT more publicity than their cases usually get-- I mean there are huge crowds around the brownstone within an hour or so of Phoebe getting killed just because there's a rumor about a break in the case! So if Wolfe (working for the NIA) fails to solve the case, that is going to be a huge thing in the papers. (Like, worst case scenario, people will assume what Phoebe Gunther sort of half-assumed at first, and come to the conclusion, "Wolfe never fails to solve the crime, but this time he didn't. So the NIA must have paid him off to NOT catch the killer." And then Wolfe gets tied in with the demonization of the NIA building up in people's minds, etc.)
So I think failing to solve *this* case would be a lot worse for Wolfe's professional reputation than other cases where there isn't that "glare of the spotlight" level of public interest.
I was thinking about this earlier-- maybe I've lost track, but is this the first time san innocent person has been *murdered* in/near the brownstone? ....
There was the other guy in Red Box, but I don’t know if he counts as an innocent exactly – he wasn’t The Killer but he wasn’t someone particularly sympathetic, either.
Oh, right, yeah. And you make a good distinction in that he *died* in the brownstone but the murderer didn't specifically choose to (or *dare* to) make Wolfe's office the site of the murder. Actually choosing to kill someone on Wolfe's doorstep is a big deal.
Yeah, not to mention, that doesn't even make any sense as something Archie would expect if Wolfe didn't like women on *misogynist* grounds. If ONLY it were true that "misogynist" and "man who appreciates the sight of attractive women" were non-overlapping groups!
Seriously! It actually reads way more like Archie has been trying to work out exactly how heterosexual Wolfe is and is entirely discomfited to find that he might be a bit. *g*
Haha, yeah. I think in one of the later books Archie references Wolfe being "allergic to women" and I think that's a really apt way to put it-- I mean, I'm lactose intolerant so in a way you could say I'm "allergic" to ice cream, but that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it in the past, or that I wouldn't like to have any if I somehow magically could. (Because I would like to. Ice cream!) It just affects me really badly, so I choose to avoid it completely and not think about it too much. I think that's how Wolfe feels about women. (And I think Archie eventually figures this out, or something like it.)
Also, I think that "Bronx cheer" is probably a genteel gloss on "middle finger". *G*
See, I totally thought that too, but when I looked it up everything said it meant blowing a raspberry! But maybe that was another use of it, or Stout liked the phrase enough to use it instead, in the same way he tells us people swear without actually going there. :)
Oh, yeah, I know that it *actually* means "blowing a raspberry" but I figure, you know, that's just what Archie SAID their reaction was. He's not going to write "And then they all told me to fuck off and die." :D
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I didn’t think they might not get hired again, I have to say; though I guess Cramer being potentially out of action would make that more likely.
I was also thinking of it in terms of the fact that this case is getting a LOT more publicity than their cases usually get-- I mean there are huge crowds around the brownstone within an hour or so of Phoebe getting killed just because there's a rumor about a break in the case! So if Wolfe (working for the NIA) fails to solve the case, that is going to be a huge thing in the papers. (Like, worst case scenario, people will assume what Phoebe Gunther sort of half-assumed at first, and come to the conclusion, "Wolfe never fails to solve the crime, but this time he didn't. So the NIA must have paid him off to NOT catch the killer." And then Wolfe gets tied in with the demonization of the NIA building up in people's minds, etc.)
So I think failing to solve *this* case would be a lot worse for Wolfe's professional reputation than other cases where there isn't that "glare of the spotlight" level of public interest.
I was thinking about this earlier-- maybe I've lost track, but is this the first time san innocent person has been *murdered* in/near the brownstone? ....
There was the other guy in Red Box, but I don’t know if he counts as an innocent exactly – he wasn’t The Killer but he wasn’t someone particularly sympathetic, either.
Oh, right, yeah. And you make a good distinction in that he *died* in the brownstone but the murderer didn't specifically choose to (or *dare* to) make Wolfe's office the site of the murder. Actually choosing to kill someone on Wolfe's doorstep is a big deal.
Yeah, not to mention, that doesn't even make any sense as something Archie would expect if Wolfe didn't like women on *misogynist* grounds. If ONLY it were true that "misogynist" and "man who appreciates the sight of attractive women" were non-overlapping groups!
Seriously! It actually reads way more like Archie has been trying to work out exactly how heterosexual Wolfe is and is entirely discomfited to find that he might be a bit. *g*
Haha, yeah. I think in one of the later books Archie references Wolfe being "allergic to women" and I think that's a really apt way to put it-- I mean, I'm lactose intolerant so in a way you could say I'm "allergic" to ice cream, but that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it in the past, or that I wouldn't like to have any if I somehow magically could. (Because I would like to. Ice cream!) It just affects me really badly, so I choose to avoid it completely and not think about it too much. I think that's how Wolfe feels about women. (And I think Archie eventually figures this out, or something like it.)
Also, I think that "Bronx cheer" is probably a genteel gloss on "middle finger". *G*
See, I totally thought that too, but when I looked it up everything said it meant blowing a raspberry! But maybe that was another use of it, or Stout liked the phrase enough to use it instead, in the same way he tells us people swear without actually going there. :)
Oh, yeah, I know that it *actually* means "blowing a raspberry" but I figure, you know, that's just what Archie SAID their reaction was. He's not going to write "And then they all told me to fuck off and die." :D