While Jim goes to Headquarters to arrange the arrest of Darnell the Fence of Stolen Goods, Speed inquires after whether Diamond Merchant Brent has booked passage back to Europe.
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| I want to live in a world where everyone's plot function is highlighted by a small plaque at the front of their desk. |
But then, while checking in with Headquarters, which is where he's from, Speed receives some rattling news!
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| Well. Looks like Darnell's not a very good fence, is he? |
Apparently, Darnell can't tell paste from diamond, which you really should be able to do if (1) you are a fence of stolden goods and (2) the object in question is 200 carats. Elias Brent, the Biggest Diamond Merchant in Europe, is no fool; he dumped a fake diamond off on Darnell to throw Speed on his trail (which wasn't getting warm after all!).
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| PRETTY sure that's just not how warrants work, Speed. Do ANY of your cases make it through court? |
Oh, look, that ship must be the S.S. Gotham, since that's Reginald Denny as Commodore Schmidlapp, who's got a deucedly clever invention stored in the hold below, should be worth millions of yankee dollars, pip pip!
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| "KISS him, if you must!" |
Inside Brent's cabin, Speed finds chloral, because apparently Brent never throws ANYTHING away.
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| Except jeweler's pouches, I guess. |
Then, weirdly, Speed is all worried that Brent will board the boat, which will somehow put him out of Speed's jurisdiction. This seems silly for two reasons; first, the idea that Speed's jurisdiction has limits OF ANY KIND is laughable, and, second, Speed started in the Harbor Patrol, so the water is where his jurisdiction STARTED.
Anyway, they do catch Brent before he boards and fortunately they don't have or need a warrant.
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| I say fortunately because Speed (and the writer) has forgotten that Brent's first name is ELIAS. If the warrant had been made out with the wrong name, it would have been void. |
Brent then asks the question we've ALL wanted to ask Speed, but never dared to.
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| Mr. Brent; have you SEEN Speed's clothes? Seems like a silly question. |
The Speedspanation is supposed to make everything clear, but, as usual, it does no such thing.
Trying to make it look like a suicide by locking the door on the inside was exactly what let Speed know it wasn't a suicide because...
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| If it had been a REAL suicide, he would have left the door open so his son could be the first person to find his corpse. Solid reasoning there, Speed. |
You win, Speed. I cannot for the life of me figure out why Brent would bring an insanely valuable diamond from Europe, then kill a diamond merchant he'd told about it, then pretend to sell the diamond, all in order just to get right back on the boat to Europe. With the diamond.
I can ONLY assume that the writer simply got it BACKWARDS and the plot was supposed to be that HILTON was showing the diamond to BRENT. There is no other interpretation that makes any sense and even THAT one would still point directly to Brent and the missing diamond, since the secretary knew about their appointment.
Jeez, with stories like this, it's no WONDER Detective Comics was so easily taken over by Batman.
5 comments:
This story has a true dream-like quality. Not like in TV where they do a dream sequence but it's far too linear; this is like a real dream. It moves in leaps and bounds, details shift like sand; your brain sometimes gives everyone the same face.
- HJF1
"It's like a beautiful dream, Rock." That's actually a good way of describing their charm.
I wonder if the writer or artist changed for some reason. Theoretically, the writer hands a script (more or less) to the artist who renders everything and then the writer adds the dialog. This almost seems like there was a disconnect in that process. I've seen a couple of comics (contemporary) where people try to salvage the artwork by adding different dialog and they have this sort of disjointed feel.
So, to recap:
1) Speed’s very first suspect was the culprit.
2) Speed could have arrested him for shooting at someone from Headquarters because that’s, ya’ know, likely a crime in and of itself.
3) The Worlds Best Diamond Brent stole the 200 carat diamond from Speed Jr. biological DNA donor, but gave fakes to a fence who is known for fencing diamonds.
4) The ONLY clue that Speed reveals that gave away it was murder was a locked door. Not, you know, the theft, the duping of the fence, or the poor shooting techniques by Donald McBrentface.
5) No one complimented that dapper ship’s captain for pulling off a gray suit, checkered hat, monocle, and pipe. Game recognizes game and this man deserved some in-panel love.
I just….good gravy, I love Speed Saunders stories. This is yet another winner among winners!
1. He is the ONLY suspect.
2. No, because APOLOGIZED, which is exculpatory in the Golden Age.
3. As noted, Darnell does not seem to have been good at his job, despite his fame.
4. Yup. That's actually the cool part of the story, and clearly the ONLY part the author gave any thought to.
5. In the interest of time...
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