"As in 'The Thin Man'?"
"Yeh," he retorted.
I mulled that over for a minute as we drove to the station and told him that yes I guess it does a bit, and that was that...for now.
FROM WIKIPEDIA:
FROM WIKIPEDIA:
As elaborated on in the highly successful film series, Nick and Nora are a married couple who solve murder mysteries while exchanging sharp and smart repartée. The tremendous popularity of the characters made them a media archetype, as the bantering, romantically involved detective duo has become a well-used trope in literature, stage, screen, and television ever since.
Novel
The characters first appear in Dashiell Hammett's best-selling last novel The Thin Man (1934). Nick is an alcoholic former private detective who retired when he married Nora, a wealthy Nob Hill heiress. Hammett reportedly modeled Nora on his longtime partner Lillian Hellman,[1] and the characters' boozy, flippant dialogue on their relationship. (The novel also mentions that Nick was once a Pinkerton detective, as was Hammett.) The novel is considered one of the seminal texts of the hard-boiled subgenre of mystery novels, but the chief innovation distinguishing it from previous Hammett works such as The Maltese Falcon or The Glass Key was its relative lightness and humor. It is nearly as much a comedy of manners as a mystery, and the story tumbles along to the sarcastic banter of Nick and Nora as a reluctant and jaded Nick is dragged into solving a sensational murder, cheered on by the fascinated thrill-enjoying Nora.
In 2018, author Christopher Allen published an unauthorized prequel to the Thin Man, titled Before the Thin Man: The Prequel to Dashiell Hammett's "The Thin Man". Set in 1928, the prequel explores the origin of the Nick and Nora characters from Hammett's original novel.
FOOTNOTE: The 1950's radio serial and subsequent TV series Mr. & Mrs. North starring George Denning and Barbara Britton, and the incredibly popular Hart To Hart series of the 1970's starring Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers on television were successful follow-ups as previously noted.
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We arrived and after parking went pell mell into the station to get updated. Which we did.
The upshot is:
'Richard Case struggled valiantly according to Forensics, the entire struggle being contained within the house kitchen since there were no signs of struggle anywhere else. He had evidently been surprised by someone OR it was someone he knew.
The death had occured at or about 9:55 so a bit more than an hour after the murder of his partner. He had been stabbed multiple times and then mutilated and both castrated and decapitated. His head was in residence, the family jewels so to speak were not. Trophies? The murder weapon had evidently been removed as it had not turned up either on or in the body nor in the kitchen.
There were traces of blood leading outside to the driveway and then nothing leading one to figure that he or she had gotten into a car and drove off. I made a note to myself to ask John (the neighbor) if he had noticed a car in the driveway last night.'
That was all that had turned up so far at that murder scene, but about two hours ago, the duty officer had gotten a call about a body lying in an alley and another couple of officers had been dispatched. Forensics was at the scene now and we wouldn't know anything more until they reported in.
"GOOD MARY POOPINS. Why do all these bodies have to keep piling up HERE. What did WE ever do?" I thought but didn't say. A bit miffed I was.
"How long as it been since the last murder here?"
"Not long enough," Rob looked pained and I agreed.
I looked at my watch. 8:53pm. Hmmm.
Since there were other officers covering the scene and Robbie wasn't needed there, and since we had no idea what had happened, we were forced to sit idly by...or one would have thought. No, we had the first two murders still unsolved AFTER 59 minutes and counting. GASP.
Well, OBVIOUSLY, this isn't TV.
I told Rob I was gonna touch base with John and he nodded, and I did. John hadn't noticed a car because he had left his house about 7:30 and hadn't gotten back until after midnight. Hope dashed. Pfui. I called my station and gave an update which was pretty sparse, but again this ain't TV. Ok, they are but...
Rob's desk phone rang, and I having nothing better to do listened in. It was a strange voice...raspy and it seemed obvious it was an attempt to camouflage it.
"Sgt Ciccoletti, may I help you?"
"This the cops?"
"This is the police station, yes."
"Like the presents I give yah?"
"What presents?"
"Don't act stupid, stupid. Yah knows damn well which."
"What if I don't?"
"Maybe yah will like the next ones."
CLICK.
"SHIT," Rob spit rather than said.
"Good God."
Pause.
"Uh, was that recorded?"
"Of course," and with that he got up and left to go check the recording equipment.
I waited and within a few minutes back he came.
"Got it."
"Good."
"Yeh, and it would appear that we have a braggart for a murderer. Likes to show off."
"Yep."
"But that doesn't tell us much. I'll have forensics go over the tape when they get back in."
Which he did. That was about all the excitement for a bit until they file the pathology report on the latest victim and crime scene.
There is a city block square building on the west side of town that used to be a big bowling alley etc, but is now a nightclub called 'NIGHT MOVES.' owned by 4 guys. 2 gay, 2 straight. It is a VERY POPULAR watering hole and people come from all over to go there especially on the weekends. It is not exclusively gay but it is a gay hangout. It has a coffee shop, 3 bars each one different from the others, a video arcade, a billiards room, a huge dance floor, a stage for live shows, and offices on the 2nd floor. When they remodeled the building after it had sat empty for a couple years and then bought by the current owners, they decided to leave a bit of the old bowling alley intact and so it also has 4 lanes which are fully functional and a lot of fun to use. It can easily hold 2-3 thousand people throughout the building and usually does on weekend nights.They also have a very popular Friday night all you can eat fish fry, and a stack 'em in the corners Sunday Buffet with outstanding food. One of the owners is a chef, a damned good one, who owns several restaurants here and also in both of the nearby larger cities. He is one of the two straight guys who got into this as he freely admits, for the money...but also because one of his brothers is gay.
It was that brother who was the latest victim. Like the others he had been stabbed in the chest...but no murder weapon had been found at the scene. Glenn Walters was the only victim (so far) where the weapon was found (in him).
We got the info from Forensics and after deciding to let the desk officer begin notifying
the next-of-kin. we decided to go over to the crime scene.
"Dyl, this is an in-person thing. You wanna go home, I will..."
"Hell no. We in this together, Boy. I am sticking."
He got up, leaned down and kissed me as he did, and with a crook of the finger...I got up and we headed out.
DAMN...first kiss, SHIT. Hehehe. I was damn near giddy and would have been more so if not for the reason and the bullcrap we were going through. But a kiss is a kiss and YES!
We got over to the club in about ten minutes. As soon as the first officers had arrived, they had cleared the building after coming to an initial determination of what had transpired...and after getting names and phone numbers of the customers and employees. Forensics was in the process of analyzing the scene and so there was little that could be done until they were finished.
Forensics said the club would remain closed until further notice. The owner Robert Michaelsen was presumed to be at home and had not been there tonight at all. One of his business partners was and we learned from him that Michaelsen is the senior partner...so we decided to head out there to talk with him.
He had recently built a large home on property about 25 miles SE of us off Highway M-43. He lived about 10 miles west of the intersection with M-40 and it took about 30 minutes to get there. Rob had decided he wouldn't call first. What do you say? Better in person. and I agreed.
"How long as it been since the last murder here?"
"Not long enough," Rob looked pained and I agreed.
I looked at my watch. 8:53pm. Hmmm.
Since there were other officers covering the scene and Robbie wasn't needed there, and since we had no idea what had happened, we were forced to sit idly by...or one would have thought. No, we had the first two murders still unsolved AFTER 59 minutes and counting. GASP.
Well, OBVIOUSLY, this isn't TV.
I told Rob I was gonna touch base with John and he nodded, and I did. John hadn't noticed a car because he had left his house about 7:30 and hadn't gotten back until after midnight. Hope dashed. Pfui. I called my station and gave an update which was pretty sparse, but again this ain't TV. Ok, they are but...
Rob's desk phone rang, and I having nothing better to do listened in. It was a strange voice...raspy and it seemed obvious it was an attempt to camouflage it.
"Sgt Ciccoletti, may I help you?"
"This the cops?"
"This is the police station, yes."
"Like the presents I give yah?"
"What presents?"
"Don't act stupid, stupid. Yah knows damn well which."
"What if I don't?"
"Maybe yah will like the next ones."
CLICK.
"SHIT," Rob spit rather than said.
"Good God."
Pause.
"Uh, was that recorded?"
"Of course," and with that he got up and left to go check the recording equipment.
I waited and within a few minutes back he came.
"Got it."
"Good."
"Yeh, and it would appear that we have a braggart for a murderer. Likes to show off."
"Yep."
"But that doesn't tell us much. I'll have forensics go over the tape when they get back in."
Which he did. That was about all the excitement for a bit until they file the pathology report on the latest victim and crime scene.
There is a city block square building on the west side of town that used to be a big bowling alley etc, but is now a nightclub called 'NIGHT MOVES.' owned by 4 guys. 2 gay, 2 straight. It is a VERY POPULAR watering hole and people come from all over to go there especially on the weekends. It is not exclusively gay but it is a gay hangout. It has a coffee shop, 3 bars each one different from the others, a video arcade, a billiards room, a huge dance floor, a stage for live shows, and offices on the 2nd floor. When they remodeled the building after it had sat empty for a couple years and then bought by the current owners, they decided to leave a bit of the old bowling alley intact and so it also has 4 lanes which are fully functional and a lot of fun to use. It can easily hold 2-3 thousand people throughout the building and usually does on weekend nights.They also have a very popular Friday night all you can eat fish fry, and a stack 'em in the corners Sunday Buffet with outstanding food. One of the owners is a chef, a damned good one, who owns several restaurants here and also in both of the nearby larger cities. He is one of the two straight guys who got into this as he freely admits, for the money...but also because one of his brothers is gay.
It was that brother who was the latest victim. Like the others he had been stabbed in the chest...but no murder weapon had been found at the scene. Glenn Walters was the only victim (so far) where the weapon was found (in him).
We got the info from Forensics and after deciding to let the desk officer begin notifying
the next-of-kin. we decided to go over to the crime scene.
"Dyl, this is an in-person thing. You wanna go home, I will..."
"Hell no. We in this together, Boy. I am sticking."
He got up, leaned down and kissed me as he did, and with a crook of the finger...I got up and we headed out.
DAMN...first kiss, SHIT. Hehehe. I was damn near giddy and would have been more so if not for the reason and the bullcrap we were going through. But a kiss is a kiss and YES!
We got over to the club in about ten minutes. As soon as the first officers had arrived, they had cleared the building after coming to an initial determination of what had transpired...and after getting names and phone numbers of the customers and employees. Forensics was in the process of analyzing the scene and so there was little that could be done until they were finished.
Forensics said the club would remain closed until further notice. The owner Robert Michaelsen was presumed to be at home and had not been there tonight at all. One of his business partners was and we learned from him that Michaelsen is the senior partner...so we decided to head out there to talk with him.
He had recently built a large home on property about 25 miles SE of us off Highway M-43. He lived about 10 miles west of the intersection with M-40 and it took about 30 minutes to get there. Rob had decided he wouldn't call first. What do you say? Better in person. and I agreed.
We pulled up in a circle drive in front of a rather large 2 story home/mansion/stadium...and after parking got out and walked to the front door. We heard chimes, sorta like you hear BIG BEN, IF YOU ARE STANDING IN IT. Nobody was gonna sleep through those puppies, and after a minute a woman in a maid's outfit came to the door. We asked for the mister, and she showed us into the living room and offered seats after which she went to get him.
Robert Michaelson had done purty damned well for himself obviously. His bio said divorced...2 semi-grown kids both boys, one much younger brother (now deceased) and a sister living in Oregon. Lots of money and successful and by all accounts well liked. Fairly close-knit circle of very loyal friends as we would subsequently find out...but a bit of a loner too. His partners would tell us that he was a very nice, very funny guy... and while they were all fairly close as business partners usually are but he is also a dude who needs his space. They undersood and always gave it to him when he seemed to need it. This would be one of those times was my guess.
"Hello, gentlemen," he said as he strode into the room. I could tell this was a man very comfortable with himself, his accomplishments, his surroundings, and I instantly liked him. Not like Robbie but tall, slender (odd for a Chef) and a captivating smile.
"Mr. Michaelson," we said in unison as we all shook hands.
"So, Officer Rob, what can I do for you? I don't imagine you are just in the neighborhood."
"I'm afraid not. I wish it were just that."
"So tell me why you are here. I assume it's unpleasant or did I forget to buy tickets to the policemen's ball."
Obviously astute too, I thought.
"I wish. A couple of hours ago, we got a call about a body found in an alley in town. Officers were dispatched, and..."
He paused. I suddenly realized that this was maybe the first time Rob had had to do this. OMG.
"It was a young man."
"Yes?"
"Yes."
"Who? and I assume this is the part I am not going to like."
BINGO.
"I am so sorry, sir, but the victim was your brother and the alley was the one behind your club."
For what seemed at the time like an eternity, he just stood there...stoic perhaps or maybe in shock which would be understandable. He just stood, expressionless and I don't think he even blinked. Then he began to crumble. We moved and caught him and got him onto one of the sofas in the room.
"Oh my God," he whispered. Not Frankie. Please, NOT Frankie."
"We are SO sorry, so sorry," Rob said sitting down next to him.
In shock obviously, his head went down and after a second I heard sobs.
I had never felt so helpless, nor so unable to do anything to alleviate the pain of someone immersed so deeply in it. I sat next to Rob, having not a clue what to do next...so I just sat with my hand on Rob's knee. I don't know what I thought that was gonna help do, but I did it by instinct I guess.
We sat like that for several minutes, and then Robert as he had asked us to call him, sat up erect, and with a flourish with his shirt sleeve wiping his eyes...tried to regain his composure. He was not embarrassed for his emotional display nor should he have been. We sat awkwardly for a minute, and then he turned and looked at us and thanked us.
"I assume what? Where is the body?"
"Right now in police custody. They will let you know when it is released, and if you wish we can contact the funeral home for you."
"Thank you but no. I'll do that myself...and I better get busy letting the family and his friends know."
We understood and since there was nothing more we could do here we got up, expressed our condolences once again, and left. All I knew is if I NEVER have to go through that again it will be too soon.
CONTINUE TO CHAPTER VII
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