"C" is for Corpse, (Chapters 15-20)

Kinsey Millhone’s process for solving a case is fascinating to watch.  One gets a strong impression that we’re seeing a very realistic depiction of what it is like to do the kind of work she does.  She doesn’t like to “get behind on her paperwork,” knowing how that can jeopardize her chances of finding a solution.  She follows the strongest leads she has (often very flimsy) without hesitation.  She itemizes expenses so that she can show the client what he’s getting for his money.  She even follows through with what she’s been paid to do after her client dies, which others find strange, but admirable.  Clues do fall in her lap sometimes, but it’s because she puts herself in their way; it wouldn’t happen without her conscientious pursuit of good leads.  One has to think this is how it’s really done in the real private-eye world. 

The psychology of working with people, in particular, is where we see some nice insights:  “You can always push people around, but it’s not a good idea.  Better to let them volunteer information for reasons of their own.  You get more that way.”  On the other hand, playing hardball with Sufi – almost like a cross-examining attorney - was exactly the right play:  “‘I found Bobby’s address book.’ ‘Why tell me?’ ‘I was curious about your relationship with him.’ ‘I didn’t have a relationship with him.’ ‘That’s not what I hear.’ … ‘Why’d you need to meet him down at the beach, then?’ ‘I never “met” Bobby down at the beach,” she snapped.  “Somebody saw you on more than one occasion.’ … I could see her shifting gears, trying another tack.  Some of the huffiness dropped away.  She apparently decided to roll out the charm.  ‘God, I don’t know what’s the matter with me.  I’m sorry if I sounded rude.  As long as you’re here, you might as well sit down.” 

There are numerous such passages showing our heroine’s “people skills” and the reader enjoys the “lessons.”  This is a great example of how reading can make you smarter.  There are authors that irritate me when I make the mistake of reading them.  My theory is that this is largely because I don’t have the patience to read the writings of someone who isn’t as smart as I am. (The fact that there seem to be so few of these does give me pause!)  Ms. Grafton, here, never tests my patience.  Her prose seems to drip with intelligence, and I enjoy that very much.  Are there people who prefer to read books that are written at an intelligence level lower than their own?  That would explain the popularity of…oops, I almost named names! 

“There are times when things begin to break by sheer dint of dumb luck.  I don’t pretend to take credit for what happened next.”  Kinsey could have told us that she went out to her car after her conversation with a suspect and waited to see if she would rush out of the house, or have someone come over.  But no, she was just rummaging in her cluttered back seat for a sweatshirt and the delay caused her to see the suspect backing out just in time to follow her.  Again, I have to think that in any real investigation of this type, cases can turn on precisely these little flukes.

 

We can’t help but love how human Kinsey is.  In her walk down the hall at the psychiatric hospital to see Kitty, she half expects to see “women writhing and babbling to themselves, men imitating ex-Presidents and jungle beasts.”  But they all looked normal.  “I couldn’t see any difference between them and me, which I thought was worrisome.”  The story continues to provide us with subtle humorous quips of this kind; a definite plus, and a trademark of most of the authors I love so much to read.




Next week: Conclusion.