Something for the Sweeper
Something for the Sweeper
Book Excerpt
ou again, is it? Listen, Morganwaite, this is Jones, the detective that was there this morning. I want to know if Sarah Boone is there and by there I mean where you are. Now, quit playing around and answer me."
"No," said Morganwaite.
Jones choked and then recovered himself. "Are you saying no, you won't answer me, or no, she isn't there?"
"No, she isn't here."
"Is Mrs. Boone there?"
"No. She left as soon as she got Sarah's message."
"Message?" Jones said. "Sarah sent her a message?"
"Yes."
"How do you know?"
"Mrs. Boone told me."
"When?"
"When she got it."
"That's what I want to know!" Jones said explosively. "When did she get it?"
Morganwaite was silent while he evidently considered the matter at some length. "About a half hour ago."
"What did the message say?" Jones asked.
"I don't know. Mrs. Boone didn't say. She just left."
"What kind of a message was it? Telephone--telegraph?"
"No."
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Readers reviews
2.7
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This short story would have made a good novel, it boot through the the story line so quickly that it turned out rather hokey......
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Early days in Norbert Davis' writing career, I think, and written for the "pulps." Characters are flat, not real people at all. Plot was kind of rickety but some of the dialogue was fun. Davis developed Doan's character more as years went by (about 5 stories by Davis on manybooks.net as I write this, last one copyrighted 1943). Other characters also became a little more rounded, and his female characters are very well done. Doan will be a stronger, more individual character in the later stories, and Carstairs gets MUCH more room in the later stories. Here, he's mostly a gimmick.
07/09/2011
Not a particularly good story and definitely not a Doan and Carstairs story.
08/05/2007