Characters and Plots in the Fiction of James M. Cain

Characters and Plots in the Fiction of James M. Cain ALSO BY ROBERT L. GALE AND FROM MCFARLAND Characters and Plots i...

Author: Robert L. Gale

285 downloads 812 Views 2MB Size Report

This content was uploaded by our users and we assume good faith they have the permission to share this book. If you own the copyright to this book and it is wrongfully on our website, we offer a simple DMCA procedure to remove your content from our site. Start by pressing the button below!

Report copyright / DMCA form

DOWNLOAD PDF

Characters and Plots in the Fiction of James M. Cain

ALSO BY ROBERT L. GALE AND FROM MCFARLAND Characters and Plots in the Fiction of Raymond Chandler (2011) Truman Capote Encyclopedia (2010) Characters and Plots in the Fiction of Ring Lardner (2009) Characters and Plots in the Fiction of Kate Chopin (2009) Characters and Plots in the Fiction of Graham Greene (2006) An Edwin Arlington Robinson Encyclopedia (2006; softcover 2010)

Characters and Plots in the Fiction of James M. Cain Robert L. Gale

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers Jefferson, North Carolina, and London

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGUING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Gale, Robert L., 1919 – Characters and plots in the ﬁction of James M. Cain / Robert L. Gale. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-7864-5969-8 softcover : 50# alkaline paper 1. Cain, James M. (James Mallahan), 1892–1977 — Criticism and interpretation. I. Title. PS3505.A3113Z67 2011 813'.52—dc23 2011027866 BRITISH LIBRARY CATALOGUING DATA ARE AVAILABLE

© 2011 Robert L. Gale. All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Cover photograph by David Sutherland (Getty Images) Manufactured in the United States of America

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640 www.mcfarlandpub.com

For my family, near and far

This page intentionally left blank

Table of Contents 1

Preface Chronology

5

CHARACTERS AND PLOTS, A–Z Bibliography Index

vii

233 236

9

This page intentionally left blank

Preface James M. Cain had a varied life. This is made evident in the Chronology that follows and is of special interest to readers of this reference book because elements of it impinge upon his ﬁction. Cain’s four grandparents migrated from Ireland to Connecticut. His father was associated with higher education. Cain graduated from college at the age of twenty, tried various jobs, and aspired to be an opera singer but lacked ability. In 1914 something impelled his own voice to say to him, “You’re going to be a writer!” So he started writing short stories he couldn’t sell. In 1917 three things happened: Cain completed work for a master’s degree; he became engaged to a woman whom he later married (he ultimately married three more times); and he joined the American army and served in France. When World War I ended, Cain resumed writing in earnest. He became a hard-driving, heavy-drinking, liberal reporter, ﬁrst in Baltimore after admiring and meeting H. L. Mencken, and then in New York. Mencken published “Pastorale,” Cain’s ﬁrst short story, in his American Mercury (March 1928). Through friendship with theatrical-producer Philip Goodman and screenwriter Vincent Lawrence, Cain grew interested in drama and moved to Hollywood in 1931. For seventeen years Cain toiled there in several studios, highly paid but rarely happy. Earlier, in 1930, Alfred A. Knopf had published Our Government, a collection of Cain’s satirical political pieces originally appearing in Mencken’s Mercury. So when Knopf liked “The Baby in the Icebox,” Cain’s third short story, he encouraged him to try a novel. The Postman Always Rings Twice, Cain’s sensational ﬁrst novel, was the result two years later. Thus began his contributions to “tough-guy” ﬁction, a ﬁeld in which he would hold his own with the likes of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, among others. Their novels, and his, also inspired many noir ﬁlms. Cain sold movie rights to his best-selling Postman, but it was years before Hollywood censors were forced by changing times to permit it to be ﬁlmed and released. It starred John Garﬁeld opposite sultry Lana Turner. Cain’s Double Indemnity followed, ﬁrst in serial form in 1936, then in expanded book form, and — again, tardily — in an equally successful reincarnation on the big screen, starring Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray, and Edward G. Robinson. And again, like Postman, Double Indemnity concerned adultery, murder, and its inevitable unforeseen consequences. Small wonder, then, that Cain could never shake off his label as a hardboiled writer, try though he did. For example, in a prefatory note to Double Indemnity, he wrote this: I make no conscious effort to be tough, or hard-boiled, or grim, or any of the things I am usually called. I merely try to write as the character would write, and I never forget that the average man ... has acquired a vividness of speech that goes beyond anything I could invent, and that if I stick to this heritage ... I shall attain a maximum of effectiveness with very little effort.

To the “heritage” of natural speech and his plot formula of love plus murder plus tragic consequences, Cain brought in the controversial topic of homosexuality — in Serenade, published

1

PREFACE

2

in 1938. Many reviewers regarded it as an attempt to capitalize on the sensational. So Cain changed course, and with monumental success, with Mildred Pierce. It was hailed as a brilliantly innovative novel, which Cain narrated in the third person for a change, and is about a gutsy heroine in a male-dominated world. It is also remembered as a successful vehicle for movie actress Joan Crawford. Changes for Cain as well as for America came in the 1940s. Pearl Harbor was bombed in 1941. And Cain, suffering after dangerous stomach surgery that same year, navigated through permanent shifts in his career. The conduct of his readers and his reviewers led him to fear that his best years as an author were behind him. Several critics have later said as much — and wrongly, in my view. Admittedly, his ﬁrst four novels, as well as many of short stories— especially “Pastorale,” “Dead Man,” “Brush Fire,” and “The Girl in the Storm”— may be regarded as premier Cain. Most of his later short stories are comparatively hasty. But even while sometimes doubting his ability he doggedly continued to produce remarkable novels, often in the face of marital trouble. His second marriage ended in divorce in 1942, his third in 1947. Fortunately, his fourth marriage, begun in 1947, lasted until his beloved Florence, a former opera singer, died in 1966. In his busy 1940s, Cain published seven novels in addition to Mildred Pierce. Love’s Lovely Counterfeit (1942) mixes amorous double-crosses and crooked urban politics. Career in C Major (1943), an expanded short story, combines operatic ambitions and marital squabbles. The Embezzler (1943), another revised short story, features Cain’s most tangled story lines (until The Moth). The titular “embezzler” is a ﬁscally and maritally crooked husband, whose wife tries to cover for him even while delaying sexual gratiﬁcation with a wouldbe helper. Cain enjoyed a professional and ﬁnancial boost with Knopf ’s 1943 publication of Three of a Kind, the three being his Double Indemnity, Career in C Major, and The Embezzler. Past All Dishonor (1946), Cain’s ﬁrst adventure in historical ﬁction, is the result of his decades-long interest in the Civil War, sends his pro-Confederate narrator to California, and contains autobiographical infusions. The Butterﬂy (1947) is another fascinating treatment of lust and adultery, betrayal and murders— this time with (possible) incest, and told by a narrator involved but unreliable. In many ways, it is Cain’s most critically challenging novel. Sinful Woman (1947) was Cain’s ﬁrst novel to be ﬁrst issued as a paperback. Awkwardly limned are two mysterious sisters, a competent but too idealistic sheriff, and some ugly Hollywood types. The Moth (1948), Cain’s most autobiographically tinged novel, includes his biggest and most varied cast of characters, and features a versatile narrator escaping from and returning to a troubled family and tangled romances. Cain produced less in the 1950s, since he was ﬁghting alcoholism and was often ill. Jealous Woman (paperback, 1950) resurrects the fraud-investigator from Double Indemnity and makes him investigate a woman he falls in love with. The plot is so complex and improbable, it should be regarded as a tough-guy romp. But The Root of His Evil (paperback, 1951) is a brilliant study of a canny young woman, an initially pusillanimous stick of a husband, and his evil mother. Talk about mothers-in-law from hell — and their comeuppance. Galatea (1953), perhaps Cain’s most outlandishly plotted piece of ﬁction — but gripping, presents an ex-boxer, the initially obese object of his interest and then affection, and her professionally competent but maritally and mentally challenged husband. In Mignon (1962) Cain rekindled his interest in the Civil War. It presents an ex–Union soldier, mustered out injured, and working as a civilian engineer in and north of Union-occupied New Orleans. The relationship of the Union veteran and spicy, vacillating Mignon, daughter of a cotton speculator, is Cain’s most poignant treatment of his often-resonating theme of “all for love”— or almost all. The Magician’s Wife (1965) is really too much of a redaction of The Postman Always Rings Twice plot to be totally welcome; it is, however, salvaged by a terrifying climax. Rainbow’s End (1975) was inspired by D. B. Cooper’s real-life hijacking of a Boeing 727 passenger aircraft on November 24, 1971, his parachuting over

3

PREFACE

Reno, Nevada, with $200,000 — and his disappearing into legend. In the novel, the loot-loaded parachutist doesn’t survive but the loot does. Cain adds not only ﬁbs by lustful loot-ﬁnders to confuse the police but also some inbreeding à la The Butterﬂy to reattract old readers. The Institute (1976) links Maryland and District of Columbia academics, researchers, ﬁnanciers, and politicians, and ends with hard-to-accept solutions to adulterous relationships, deaths, and a baby. Two Cain novels were published posthumously. They are Cloud Nine (1984) and The Enchanted Isle (1985). Both are testaments to Cain’s admirable determination to struggle to the end, though widowered, in his eighties, and physically failing. Cloud Nine pits good brother and bad brother, selﬁsh mother and surrogate mother, pregnancy and miscarriage, intended rape and accomplished murder. The Enchanted Isle, a troublesome novel, features an adolescent daughter and an impotent boyfriend. The two are rebellious and criminal would-be escapists. Misidentiﬁcations cause a dreadful congeries of fatalities. It is reassuring, however, that in this ﬁnal work by restless Cain a child and a long-lost parent ﬁnd one another, and passion-spent peace in the process, in a fairy-tale ﬁnale. It is my hope that Characters and Plots in the Fiction of James M. Cain will appeal to a variety of readers. Youthful ones may ﬁnd in it an introduction to his ﬁction, which is better to read than to read about. Undergraduate and graduate students should ﬁnd it helpful in placing Cain not simply in the tradition of hardboiled ﬁction but in the main stream of enduring American writing in general. And professors and other scholars should ﬁnd it useful as a quick refresher course and perhaps even of help in their efforts to publish. This reference book offers a plot synopsis of every ﬁctional work by Cain. Summaries are meticulously divided to conform to Cain’s sections— by chapters and white spaces in novels, by white spaces in stories. And the book identiﬁes and discusses every named character. Cain’s twenty novels contain a grand total of 775 characters; his seventeen stories, 124. The novel with the most characters is The Moth, with an astounding 97. The Postman Always Rings Twice, notable for its terseness, has the fewest characters, only 15. The story with the most characters is “Come-back,” with 16, including non-humans. “The Girl in the Storm,” with only two characters, is stark, and in more ways than one. I retain italics in quoted material but otherwise do not italicize. It is evident that I make use of numerous critics, praising often, trying not to be overly negative too often, and also keeping my own insights to a minimum. The critics I have relied on the most are Roy Hoopes, David Madden, Bobbie Robinson, and Paul Skenasky. Since quotations and excerpted material found in this work lie within the fair-use concept, as applied to academic books, acknowledgment of permission to quote is omitted here. For professional help and personal encouragement, I heartily thank H. David Brumble III, Patricia Duff, Robert Hallead, Frank N. Kremm, Susan Neuman, Eugene M. Sawa, Linda Tashbook, and Thomas M. Twiss, all of the University of Pittsburgh; Carla Hess and Sylvia J. Wilson of the Carnegie Public Library in Pittsburgh; Luisa Tonzig Coraluppi, independent scholar and linguist; and my friends Carmen and Leslie Miller DiCiccio.

This page intentionally left blank

Chronology 1850s Cain’s Cain grandparents and his Mallahan grandparents, all born in Ireland, migrate to the United States and settle in New Haven, Connecticut. 1860 Cain’s father James William (1860 –1938) born in New Haven, becomes college administrator and professor of English. 1863 Cain’s mother Rose Mallahan (1862–1958) born in New Haven, becomes coloratura singer. 1890 Cain’s father becomes head of St. John’s College, Annapolis, Maryland. James Cain and Rose Mallahan marry. 1892 James (“Jamie”) Mallahan Cain born July 1 in Annapolis, Maryland, where father teaches at St. John’s College. 1894 Virginia Cain, sister, born (1894 –1958). 1896 Rosalie Cain, sister, born (1896 –1978). 1898 Edward (“Boydie”) Cain, brother, born (1898 –1919). 1900 Genevieve (“Baben”) Cain, sister, born (1900 –1958). 1903 Father becomes president of Washington College; family moves to Chestertown, Maryland. 1907–10 Cain attends Washington College, excels in German, French, mathematics, is voracious reader. 1910 Graduates from Washington College. 1910 –14 Holds variety of jobs— selling insurance, inspecting roads, teaching, etc. 1913 Takes voice lessons in Washington, D.C., brieﬂy intent on becoming an opera singer. 1914 Abruptly decides he will be a writer. 1914 –17 Returns to Chestertown, teaches English and mathematics at Washington College; writes short stories but fails to sell them to magazines. 1917 Receives master’s degree in English drama and American short stories at Washington College; works during summer for Baltimore meatpacking company. 1917–18 Is reporter for Baltimore American and then Baltimore Sun. 1918 –19 Enlists as private in U.S. Army, serving with 79th Infantry Division in France, sees action during the Meuse-Argonne campaign (September 1918). 1919 Edits The Lorraine Cross, his company newspaper. Brother Edward Cain , U.S. Army pilot, is killed in airplane crash after war ends. 1919 –23 Cain is reporter and feature writer for Baltimore Sun. 1920 Marries college friend Mary Rebekah Clough (1891–1951).

5

CHRONOLOGY

6

1921 Is hospitalized with typhoid fever. 1922 Meets H. L. Mencken (1880 –1956), starting lifelong friendship; publishes article in Atlantic Monthly. 1923 Publishes article in The Nation; starts but abandons novel based on his experience covering unsuccessful treason trial of William Blizzard, West Virginia labor leader. 1923 –24 Teaches English and journalism at St. John’s College, Baltimore; resigns after dispute with St. John’s president. 1924 Publishes ﬁrst essay in American Mercury. Separates from wife Mary, is treated in Sabittsville, Maryland, for tuberculosis; moves to New York City. Mencken introduces Cain to Arthur Krock (1886 –1974), Washington, D.C., correspondent for Louisville, Kentucky, newspapers; Krock introduces Cain to Walter Lippmann (1889 –1974), editor and author. 1924 –31 Writes editorials for the New York World under Lippmann, who becomes his mentor, and editor-journalist Herbert Bayard Swope (1882–1958). Publishes pieces for other newspapers, and in American Mercury, Bookman, Nation, New Freeman, Saturday Evening Post. 1925 Publishes dialogue of play, “Servants of the People,” American Mercury. Through Mencken, meets Philip Goodman (1885 –1940), advertising man and play promoter; through Goodman meets fellow-drinker Sinclair Lewis (1885 –1951) and Goodman’s daughter Ruth (later Ruth Goodman Goetz, 1908 –2001), playwright. 1926 Crashing the Gates, Cain’s play, staged in Stamford, Connecticut, and Worchester, Massachusetts, soon closes. Begins valued friendship with Hollywood screenwriter Vincent Lawrence (1889 –1946). 1927 Divorces Mary Clough Cain, agreeing to pay her $150 a month; marries Finnish divorcée Elina Sjosted Tyszecka, mother of Leo and Henrietta by previous marriage. 1928 “Pastorale,” ﬁrst short story, American Mercury (March). 1929 “The Taking of Montfaucon,” American Mercury (June). Meets Thornton Wilder (1897– 1975), socializes with him later. 1930 Our Government, satirical dialogues, published (Knopf ); several of them ﬁrst published in American Mercury. 1931 Is managing editor of The New Yorker, February-November; dislikes eccentric foundereditor Harold Ross (1892–1951) but likes Ross’s associates, including humorist James Thurber (1894 –1961) and essayist E. B. White (1899 –1985). Engages James Geller as his Hollywood agent (until 1942). 1931–48 Works as Hollywood scriptwriter, ﬁrst for Paramount, then for Columbia, MGM, Universal, Warner Bros., Arnold Productions, 20th Century–Fox, Universal, RKO, Lou Brock (writer-producer); continues to write articles and columns. (While in Hollywood, Cain made $380,000.) 1932 Through friendship with Lawrence, meets movie comedian Harold Lloyd (1893 –1971) and screenwriter-playwright Samson Raphaelson (1894 –1983). 1933 “The Baby in the Icebox,” American Mercury (January). 1934 Engages Edith Haggard as his New York agent; renegotiates with ex-wife Mary, paying her $12,750 instead of further alimony. 1933 –35 Writes syndicated columns for William Randolph Hearst (1863 –1951).

7

CHRONOLOGY

1934 She Made Her Bed, ﬁrst movie based on his ﬁction (adapted from “The Baby in the Icebox”—see “Movies based on Cain’s ﬁction,” for later ﬁlm adaptations); The Postman Always Rings Twice (Knopf ). 1936 Serializes “Double Indemnity,” Liberty (beginning February 15); adapts The Postman Always Rings Twice as Broadway play (72 performances). Considers moving to Mexico. 1937 Serenade (Knopf ). 1938 “Two Can Sing,” American Magazine (April). Play 7–11 presented in summer stock, Cohasset, Massachusetts. Engages attorney Martin Gang when legal problems arise in connection with Serenade. Father dies. 1940 Serializes “Money and the Woman”(Liberty). Critic Edmund Wilson (1895 –1972) popularizes Cain in his essay “The Boys in the Back Room.” 1941 Mildred Pierce (Knopf ). Has surgery for ulcers, gallstones, and diseased stomach. 1941–42 Engages William Morris Agency to represent him in Hollywood. 1942 Love’s Lovely Counterfeit (Knopf ). Unsuccessfully sues Universal for plagiarizing part of Serenade for its movie When Tomorrow Comes (1939). Engages colorful H. N. Swanson (1899 –1991) as his Hollywood agent (until 1977). 1942 –43 Writes unacceptable movie scripts for Signal Corps of U.S. Army, receiving $34,000. 1943 Three of a Kind (Knopf ) contains a crotchety preface, and Double Indemnity, Career in C Major (originally “Two Can Sing”), The Embezzler (originally “Money and the Woman”). Divorces Elina Cain, settling $27,500 on her. Works with MGM noir-ﬁlm producer Arthur Hornblow (1893 –1976); disputes with Warner Bros. producer Jerry Wald (1911–1962) about altering plot for movie Mildred Pierce. Meets mystery-writer Raymond Chandler (1888 –1959) and movie-maker Billy Wilder (1906 –2002). 1944 Marries movie actress Aileen Pringle (1895 –1989). Is interviewed by gossip-columnist Hedda Hopper (1885 –1966). 1945 Engages Harold Ober as his literary agent (until Ober’s death, 1959). 1946 Separates from Aileen Pringle Cain. Past All Dishonor (Knopf ). 1946 –47 Attempts to launch American Authors’ Authority, organization aimed at protecting and administering authors’ copyrights; disputes with novelist James T. Farrell (1904 –1979), associates with liberal Hollywood-writer Ring Lardner Jr. (1915 –2000). 1947 The Butterﬂy (Knopf ); Sinful Woman (Avon). Martin Gang represents Cain in divorce case against Aileen Cain; settlement costs Cain $6,000 and fraction of royalties from Past All Dishonor and The Butterﬂy. Begins happy marriage with opera-singer Florence Macbeth (1891–1966). 1948 The Moth (Knopf ). Moves with Florence to Hyattsville, Maryland, permanently. Contributes money to Committee of One Thousand to Abolish the House on Un-American Activities Committee, but also defends studio blacklisting of supposed Communist and supposed left-leaning writers. Composer Leonard Bernstein (1918 –1990) suggests opera based on Serenade with Cain as librettist; Cain declines. 1949 –50 Is sued, unsuccessfully, by state of Massachusetts for obscenity in Serenade. 1949 –51 Is threatened with baseless suit by Mae Caro, author of script which she says she sent him in 1937 for advice on, and which she says he used in Mildred Pierce; case settled when Warner Bros. pays her $750. 1950 Jealous Woman (Avon).

CHRONOLOGY

8

1951 The Root of His Evil (Avon). Mary Clough Cain dies. 1952 Suffers cholesterol difﬁculties, starts working on play he calls The Guest in 701. 1953 Galatea (Knopf ). Adapts The Postman Always Rings Twice for stage performances in Pittsburgh, Chicago, St. Louis. 1957 Abandons work on The Guest in 701. 1958 Rose Cain (mother), Virginia Cain (sister), and Genevieve Cain (sister) die. 1959 Engages Ivan von Auw and Dorothy Olding as literary agents. 1961 Admires Jim Silberman, Dial editor-in-chief; begins professional and personal association with David Madden (1933 –), critic and Cain enthusiast. 1962 Is forced to give up car and permission to drive after an accident. 1963 Mignon (Dial). Sells his thousand-book Civil War library. Abandons novel called The Pink Buttercup. Receives Distinguished Service Award from University of Maryland. 1965 The Magician’s Wife (Dial). 1966 Florence Macbeth Cain dies. 1967 Jinghis Quinn rejected. 1968 Cain has heart attack. 1969 Cain X 3 (Knopf, The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity, Mildred Pierce), with introduction by Tom Wolfe (1931–). 1970 Accepts Grand Masters Edgar award from Mystery Writers of America. Kingdom by the Sea (novel begun in his seventies) rejected ﬁnal time, never published. 1974 Writes articles and reminiscences for Washington Post. 1975 Writes The Cocktail Waitress, unpublished novel; Rainbow’s End (published by MasonCharter). 1976 The Institute (Mason-Charter). 1977 Dies in his Hyattsville home (October 27). Memorial tribute held at University of Maryland (November 11). 1978 Rosalie Cain (sister) dies. 1984 Cloud Nine (posthumously published, by Mysterious Press). 1985 The Enchanted Isle (Mysterious Press).

C HARACTERS

AND

P LOTS , A–Z

A Adler (The Embezzler). He is the Glendale bank guard, shot by Charles Brent during his attempted robbery. Adler left a wife and a child.

After all, Lloyd recruits Dr. Carter from the University of Pennsylvania as a “gumshoe.” Aldrous, Rev. Dr. (Mildred Pierce). He is the tall, gray, kind clergyman who presides over Ray Pierce’s wake and funeral.

Adlerkreutz, Baron Vicki (Sinful Woman). Baron Victor Alexis Olaf Herman(n) Adlerkreutz is Sylvia Stoneham’s Hollywood husband, until she divorces him. He threatens to marry Sylvia’s demented younger sister Hazel Stoneham and winds up shot dead—accidentally, according to Ethel. Vicki is also called Vic. Cain outdoes himself in describing Vicki. Sylvia’s hand resembles a water lily as Vicki kisses it. He is reluctant to utter her name because doing so almost kills him. He is large but so graceful that he seems tiny. He combines a cavalry ofﬁcer’s lean toughness with the daintiness of a ballet instructor. His black eyes are those of a pimp; his mouth is that of a poet; his throat has a robin-like throb when he whispers “Sylvia.”

Alec (Jealous Woman). He is a bartender at the Washoe-Truckee hotel in Reno. He relays phone calls and handles Richard Sperry’s gold pen. Allen, Madge (The Postman Always Ring Twice). She runs a farm outside Los Angeles raising lions, tigers, pumas, and jaguars. When Frank Chambers sees Cora Papadakis off at the railroad station to visit her dying mother, he notices Madge with a stalled car. He drives her to her home and propositions her for a week-long ﬂing. Later, Madge brings Frank a baby puma to the Papdakis tavern and thus meets Cora, who has returned home. After Cora is killed during a car accident caused by Frank, Madge testiﬁes about his adulterous behavior.

Adlerkreutz, Baron Vladimir Alexis Gustavus (Sinful Woman). He was Vicki’s father, who lived in Lithuania and for whom Dmitri Spiro once worked.

Allen, Uncle (The Institute). He was Hortense’s deceased father’s alcoholic brother. Her mother, as a neophyte nurse, ministered to him.

Adrian (The Moth). She is a ﬁne dressmaker “in Beverly.” The (initially) unnamed Navy lieutenant is so gracious that her uniform, Jack thinks, resembles an Adrian dress. In The Root of His Evil, Muriel Van Hoogland, Grant Harris’s ﬁancée, ﬂies to California to buy her trousseau from the celebrated Adrian.

Anderson (The Moth). He is a Baltimore church organist. He teases Jack, who beats him up. Eleanor Grant says Anderson “has beautiful hands but an ugly mind.” Anderson, Bub (“Brush Fire”). This is the ﬁrst name among several names that the foreman of one CCC ﬁreﬁghters shift calls out when he needs to identify his workers. Other names, shouted in alphabetical order, include Lonnie Beal, K. Bernstein, Harry Deever, Paul Larkin, Ike Pendleton, and Guy Ritter.

Al (Cloud Nine). He is Burl’s friend from their army days together in Japan. Burl’s mother Edith Stuart meets Al when he visits Burl back home. Albaugh, Jack (The Institute). He attends Lloyd’s lecture at the National Newspaper Club, criticizes his discussion of Shakespeare’s sonnets, but is outfaced by Lloyd’s erudite verbosity. It is unlikely but possible that when Cain named Albaugh as he did he had in mind the name Albert C. Baugh (1898 –1981), distinguished University of Pennsylvania professor, literary critic, and editor.

Anna (Mildred Pierce). She is a waitress at the TipTop, where Mildred meets her. Mildred later hires Anna to work for her. Annabelle, Aunt (Cloud Nine). She is or was Louis Lang’s sister and Sonja Lang’s aunt. She lived in Pa-

9

10

Antoine ducah. The Langs visited her during a vacation drive to New Orleans. Antoine (Mignon). This is the name of a New Orleans restaurant. Bill and Marie Tremaine dine there early. Later, Bill’s friend Sandy Gregg and Marie dine there shortly before the two get married. Arabella (The Moth). She is the Dillon family’s “colored cook” in Baltimore. Archie (Mildred Pierce). He is the huge chef at the Tip-Top. He later works for Lucy Gessler at her Laguna restaurant. Arline (Mildred Pierce). She is a small, partly pretty waitress at the Tip-Top. She is 25 when Mildred meets her. Later Arline works for Mildred, at which time Hans, Mildred’s baker, feels Arline’s leg — among other legs. Armbruster (“The Taking of Montfaucon”). He is the narrator’s companion when the two handle the army water wagon. Audrey (Mildred Pierce). She is a waitress at the Tip-Top. Hans the baker feels her up. She later works for Mildred. Hans continues to feel legs.

B Babe (Serenade). She is Paul Bunyan’s Big Blue Ox in the movie John Howard Sharp stars in. “The Baby in the Icebox” (short story, American Mercury, January 1933). (Characters: Duke, Lura, Rajah, Romeo, Ron, Wild Bill Smith.) The unnamed narrator works for Duke and Lura. They have an establishment in California combining car park, gas station, and lunchroom, just outside a town. The narrator handles cars stopping there. Duke and Lura get along — until Duke, who used to raise and sell rabbits, bees, and canaries, decides to show “some cats to draw trade.” A fellow sells him some caged wildcats. The narrator notices Duke has killed a wildcat with a stick. Duke tells the narrator to bury it, and, scared of the other coughing, spitting beasts, leaves. Lura appears, wonders what’s up. The narrator tells her to get a stick, because he must bury the dead cat. Instead, Lura enters the cage. This terriﬁes the narrator, who says she’s not “hard to look at” and could get herself mauled. Lura pats one cat after another, talks gently, lifts the dead one, and gives it to the narrator, who buries it. At supper, Duke asks how he extricated the cat; the narrator “heared” himself saying he did so by a stick. Lura says nothing.

Duke buys a mountain lion. She squalls all night. In the morning there’s a male lion caged with her. when Duke is off in town buying provisions, the narrator kids Lura about providing the loud female with “Romeo.” Lura gives the narrator “a dead pan,” then says people shouldn’t separate “two loving hearts.” Duke preens himself as an animal trainer, buys a tiger named Rajah, straps on a six-gun, enters the cage, ﬂourishing a black whip for Sunday shows. Luna gets sore, because she likes to let children pet cub lions’ ears and hates Duke’s antics, which scares the animals. Parents also object, and business declines. Lura handles Rajah lovingly; Duke boasts to the narrator that he’ll show Rajah “who’s boss.” The narrator, wondering aloud who is boss, warns Duke, who explains that tigers fear the human eye. Duke enters to show off before a crowd, soon ﬁnds Rajah between the gate and himself. The spectators panic. Rajah, “the brightest boy in the class” when “brains ... mean meat,” edges toward Duke, too terriﬁed to reach for his gun. The narrator opens the trap door in the cage, where they lure the beasts with food. Duke dives into it. When Lura, out front, hears accounts from the departing visitors, she gripes “plenty” to Duke. With a shrug, he says trainers gotta keep cool. When the narrator looks at Lura —“medium size,” ultra-shapely — her eyes glint green, exactly like Rajah They’re practically twins. Duke says he’s going into the hills to trap some “stuff ” for more shows, but mostly goes ﬁshing. Once, while he’s gone, Wild Bill Smith, a fake “snake doctor” but pleasant, stops for gas, has a noisy differential, goes to the lunchroom, shows his snake-eyed ring, evidently gets fresh with Lura, who scratches his hand. Next day Wild Bill returns; the narrator, jealous, ﬁnds him reading Lura’s palm and saying she was born under “Yin,” the Chinese new-year’s tiger. One day enraptured Bill approaches Lura in the cage with Rajah, where the narrator put a stump he could sharpen his claws on. While whispering to Bill, she pets Rajah. Bill visits “a few times,” whenever Duke is absent. Once, his truck rattles up, and he remains overnight. Duke rushes up to the narrator, saying he’s to be a father. Alone with Lura, the narrator accuses her of double-crossing Duke with Bill. Denying this, she says Bill wanted her to leave with her when he appeared overnight, but she wouldn’t—because she was pregnant. She weeps in the narrator’s arms. She spends more time with Raijah, big as a mule after six years. His head is huge in her lap, with fourinch teeth curved like swords. Suddenly Duke gotta rush Lura to the hospital. She gives birth to their son she names Ron. Duke packs clothes in her bag for getting mother and

11 baby home, ﬁnds a snake-eye ring. A jeweler’s offer of $200 for it makes him start accusing Lura, who ﬁnally says “another man” was here when Duke was supposedly trapping; she loved him but didn’t escape with him; she’ll try to like Duke because of their baby. Duke’s jeering causes her to accuse him of faithlessness in the hills, dares him to explain. Silence. One Saturday Duke orders the narrator to go get extra oil for Sunday’s expected business. He does so, with misgivings about one more “nutty” idea of Duke’s. (Lura explains events to the narrator later.) That night Duke walks out, leaves the door open, and soon the one-ﬂoor house starts shaking. Duke has loosed ponderous Rajah after Lura. She fears he’ll smell Ron, the baby, quells Rajah brieﬂy with a burning stick from the ﬁreplace, grabs Ron and gets him out back and into the electric icebox, cuts its current, ﬁnds Rajah’s meat in it, and hurls it into the house. Rajah lunges for it. Lura ﬁgures she can pet him into calmness, goes to the sitting room — only to ﬁnd Duke “peering around.” She asks why he’s got his gun. Because the cats are fussy. Rajah is heard cracking bones. Lura accuses Duke of trying to have Rajah kill her, says that redhead in Ventura is the only “cat” he ever trapped. Duke jeers that Rajah is devouring Ron, whom Duke hates; then he orders her to rescue Ron. Instead, Lura pushes Duke’s gun to the ﬂoor, beats him up, forces him outdoors, and throws the gun after him. Duke shoots her in the head, places the gun in her hand, phones the police, says crazy Lura fed their baby to the tiger and shot herself. However, that burning stick which Lura discarded has caused a ﬁre; so, to escape, Rajah crashes into where Duke is phoning. Police and an ambulance come for Lura. The house burns. In the ruins is Duke, dead with fang holes in his head. The narrator goes to the hospital. Lura, all bandaged, mutters something that makes one cop rescue the baby, safe in the icebox. Lura declines a movie offer. As for “the place”? Well, “her and I run” it — until one night he hears a truck with a bad differential. So the narrator leaves before breakfast. Perhaps Lura left him a note. David Madden describes Duke’s 1930s place as “the garish highway restaurant-ﬁlling station-zoo combination to be seen all over the country today [1970].” Roy Hoopes reports that H. L. Mencken bought “The Baby in the Icebox” for $250 for his Mercury, that it was often reprinted, and that Paramount paid $1,000 for ﬁlm rights. The movie became She Made Her Bed (1934), starred Sally Eilers (1908 –1978) as Lura Gordon, Robert Armstrong (1890 –1973) as Duke Gordon, and Richard Arlen

Baker (1899 –1976) as Wild Bill Smith. In the movie, villain Duke Gordon owns a carnival. His wife Lura, in love elsewhere, remains faithful. A tiger gets loose, enters their home. Duke tries to save their child but gets consumed. Fire erupts, Lura stuffs baby in icebox, ﬁghts her way to safety. Baby is found later, safe and sound, wearing a necklace of hot dogs. The summary of this movie, the earliest one to mangle a Cain plot, is given in detail to indicate the habit of movie producers, writers, and rewriters to alter Cain’s originals. (Katz, 49, 51, 415; Hoopes, 225 –226; Madden 1970, 46, 107) Bacon, Dr. (Mignon). He is the regular rector of Christ Church, in New Orleans. Bill mentions him during his abortive plan to marry Mignon. Bailey, Captain (Mignon). He is a Union ofﬁcer from Wisconsin. Bill says that Bailey ﬁrst thought of damming the Red River to aid naval vessels there. Bill boastfully adds everything was “a mess” until he arrived, after which things “began to go right.” Bailey is presumably the real-life model of ﬁctional Captain Seymour. Baker, Sally (The Enchanted Isle). She is supposedly Steve Baker’s wife, though never legally married to him. When 14, Sally had a ﬂing with Benjamin Wilmer, then 18, and got pregnant. She married Edward Vernick, wrongly accused him of impregnating her, gave birth to Mandy Vernick, divorced Ed, and started living with Steve in Hyattsville. Steve seemingly abused Mandy, who runs away. Sal, now almost 30, marries Wilmer in Dover. After much derring-do, mother and daughter are reconciled. Mandy and Rick Davis reluctantly participate in a Baltimore bank robbery. Once legal ramiﬁcations are cleared up, the Wilmers plan to surprise Mandy by news of her real father. But Rick mistakes Sally for Mandy, shoots Steve as he shields Sally, then shoots Sally, and then is gunned down by the police. Wilmer, dead Sally’s husband, watches with their lovable daughter as Sally is buried on an island near his distillery. Baker, Steve (The Enchanted Isle). He is a Hyattsville truck driver, 30, heavy, and not handsome. He is often away on runs to New York and back. He is allegedly married to Sally Vernick, likes her daughter Mandy Vernick, who ﬁnds his fondling and paddling unacceptable and runs away. After many adventures, she returns home, is reconciled to Steve, and regards him as her father. But while Steve is trying to protect Sally from Rick Davis, Mandy’s former boyfriend, Rick shoots both Steve and Sally before being gunned down by the police. Cain describes Steve as resembling both a frog and a bull — probably to lead canny readers to

Ball

12

doubt that he could possibly have sired beautiful Mandy.

Bella (Mildred Pierce). She is a cook whom Mildred hires to assist Mrs. Kramer, already her cook.

Ball, Lieutenant (Mignon). He is a Union naval ofﬁcer. When Lieutenant Powell is murdered, Ball retrieves his notes. Ball, described as “a grizzly, twostriper,” helps Bill.

Belle (Double Indemnity). She is Phyllis Nirdlinger’s maid. Phyllis is able to be especially busy when Belle is off for a while.

Banks, General (Mignon). He is the Union ofﬁcer in command of occupied New Orleans. Bill is a guest when Banks hosts the Washington Birthday party (1864). Banks leads the unsuccessful Red River campaign. Nathaniel Prentiss Banks (1816–1894) was a lawyer, a governor of Massachusetts, a United States congressman, and then an able Speaker of the House of Representatives (beginning in 1856). He volunteered for duty in the Union army (1861) and was appointed major general. He opposed Stonewall Jackson during the latter’s Shenandoah Valley Campaign (May-June 1862) and at Cedar Mountain, Virginia (August 9, 1862). As head of the Department of the Gulf, with headquarters in New Orleans, Banks effected the surrender of Port Hudson (July 1863) and was a part of the ill-fated Red River Expedition (1864). After resigning from the Union army (July 1865), he was reelected to Congress (Wagner, 404). Bardie (Galatea). He is a boy brought by Homer to Valenty’s cocktail party to wash the dishes. Barnett, Vincent (“Come-back”). He is a pickpocket whom Hapgood tells Tim Kennelly he won’t hire to stage a holdup. He is planning a ﬁlmable stagecoach holdup instead. Barnham, Dr. (The Moth). He is a physician in the Charleston hospital and encourages Jack when he is convalescing there. Barrios (Serenade). He is a skillful baseball pitcher in Guatemala City. John Howard Sharp feels inchoate homosexual inclinations toward Barrios. Baughman, Red (The Moth). He is a football player Jack tries to hire for what proves to be his non-existent Atlanta football team. Beal (The Moth). He works at Hannah’s Signal Hill oil well and is deﬁned as her “state man.” Beal (Serenade). He is the producer of Woolies, the movie John Howard Sharp stars in. Beale, Lonnie (“Brush Fire”). See Anderson, Bub. Beauvais (The Root of His Evil). He is the president of Geerlock, a vehicle manufacturing company. Holden leads a strike against this 250-pound executive. Carrie takes advantage of Geerlock stock by information that Holden innocently provides.

Bennett, Arthur (The Embezzler). He is the baby son of Dave Bennett and the former Sheila Brent. Arthur was born after Dave and Sheila got married and moved to Honolulu. The child’s ﬁrst name is that of A. G. Ferguson, Dave’s boss. Bennett, Dave (The Embezzler). He is the narrator, 30. A former half back for USC, he is now a vice president of a Los Angeles bank with branches. While living in Hollywood, he is assigned to the Glendale branch. He meets and falls for Sheila Brent, whose husband George Brent is head teller at the bank. George has systematically stolen money from depositors. Dave tries to help Sheila cover the losses without any exposure. But George hides in the bank vault to steal more money, emerges armed, disguised, and loaded with cash, and is killed. This frees Dave to woo Sheila. He is transferred to a Honolulu branch bank, marries Sheila, welcomes her two little daughters; he and Sheila soon have a son, Arthur. Paul Skenazy aptly notes that “Cain ... reverses himself on the myth of rebirth offered by California when the couple [Dave and Sheila] (and children) travel on to Hawaii, a new West ... to establish a new branch of the bank free from rumor, gossip, or past ‘disgrace.’” (Skenazy, 65) Bennett, Logan (Career in C Major). See Borland, Leonard. Bennett, Sheila (The Embezzler). See Brent, Sheila. Beragon, Miss (Mildred Pierce). She is Monty Beragon’s sister, called “the Infanta” by Veda Pierce. Miss Beragon doesn’t appear in the novel. Beragon, Monty (Mildred Pierce). Montgomery Beragon is an attractive but parasitic polo-playing wastrel. He is 33 when he meets Mildred. He boasts of his allowance from the Beragon Bros., a ﬁrm established in 1893. (It later goes bust.) Mildred and Monty quickly become lovers. When she develops successful restaurants, he becomes her self-confessed gigolo, lets her ﬁnance his polo-playing lifestyle, and lets her buy his family’s run-down mansion and expensively renovate it. Mildred divorces her husband Bert Pierce, to improve her ﬁnancial position without him, and marries Monty — only, ﬁnally, to learn that he sleeps with her daughter Veda. Beragon, Mrs. (Mildred Pierce). She is Monty Beragon’s mother. She lets Mildred’s daughter Veda

13 practice her piano playing on her piano in her mansion. Later, Monty phones his mother, who is then in Philadelphia, to announce his plan to marry Mildred. The two woman speak courteously to each other. Mrs. Beragon doesn’t appear in the novel.

Birthday Brewer builds a bigger, quiet house for her on A Street, which she loses when Roger kills Brewer. Biloxi, Han (“Coal Black”). He is a coal miner who tells Lonnie that Eckhart has been accidentally killed.

Bergson, Inga (The Institute). She is Richard Garrett’s Swedish maid. He sleeps with her. When Richard returns to his wife Hortense, Inga shoots him dead; but while doing so she is fatally knocked down by Lloyd.

Bin Ben Bon (Cloud Nine). He is a Vietnamese soldier who told Burl and Al how he sabotaged steering wheels of vehicles to make them crash. His nickname was “Bing Bang Bong.”

Bernstein, K. (“Brush Fire”). See Anderson, Bub.

Bingo (Jealous Woman). He is a horse at Ed Horner’s ranch.

Biederhof (Mildred Pierce). He is an oil man who strikes it rich in Texas. His wife Maggie leaves Glendale to join him. Biederhof, Maggie (Mildred Pierce). She is a neighbor of Mildred and Bert Pierce. Bert ignores Mildred to visit with Mrs. Biederhof too often. Mildred tells Bert to pack and leave. He does. When Mildred’s daughter Ray dies and later when her other daughter Veda gives Mildred grief, Maggie is genuinely sympathetic. Still later, Maggie rejoins her husband, an oil man who has struck it rich in Texas. This is a plot convenience. Maggie exits at the very time when circumstances throw Mildred and Bert back together. Biedermann (“The Visitor”). He and Rossi own the Biedermann-Rossi Circus. Their tiger Rajah gets loose and visits Greg Hayes via his open bedroom window. Biedermann happily oversees Rajah’s return to captivity — and subsequent TV stardom. Biggs (Jealous Woman). He is Richard Sperry’s valet, brought from Bermuda. He evidently was the big lover who secretly entered Constance Sperry’s hotel room late one night. Bill (Sinful Woman). Bill’s place, six miles below Lone Pine, was a rendezvous spot for over-sexed Hazel Shoreham, who registered as Mrs. John L. Smith, stayed with Carlos Loma there, but signed the name “Sylvia Shoreham” for autograph seekers. Bill (“Two O’Clock Blonde”). He and Maria, Zita’s maid, conspire unsuccessfully to shake down Jack Hull, a businessman, during his stay in a hotel suite. Hull gets wise and chokes Bill into submission. Biloxi (Past All Dishonor). She is a madam from San Francisco and now runs a house on D Street in Virginia City. Maybe almost 40, she is pretty, with a big bosom and slim hips. Her constant lover is Renny, her piano player. She befriends Morina Crockett, one of her girls, and Roger Duval. George

“The Birthday Party” (short story, Ladies’ Home Journal, May 1936). (Characters: Hope, Burwell Hope, Mrs. Hope, Jackie, Junior LeGrand, Liza, Marjorie Lucas, Mrs. Lucas, Red, Spencer.) Burwell Hope disconsolately bounces a tennis ball by the garage, doesn’t dare go swimming because Red, whom he owns 10¢, might be there. Red drives the ice-cream truck evenings. Burwell’s mother yells at him to write a card to include with a birthday present for Marjorie Lucas, whose mother told Burwell’s mother about Majorie’s surprise party. The gift is perfume that Burwell’s mother bought for him to give. Burwell says he’s not going, only sissy boys would attend. He writes the card, then sneaks off to the creek. Red isn’t there. Burwell peels off his shirt, puts on his trunks, swims, ﬂops trying a back dive, thinks of some swimming stunts to show off with. Marjorie suddenly appears, says she’d like to swim but didn’t bring her suit. He lends her his shirt, which she pins at the bottom, seems to fear the cold water. So he jeers. She dives in beautifully. He didn’t know little girls could do that better than little boys. He boasts he can do a back ﬂip. She expresses genuine admiration. After climbing to the top of some piles, he freezes in fear. She tells him to avoid dizziness by looking up, not down. He snarls. She dives from the piles. He snorts that she got run out of her house so her mother could plan the surprise party. She says telling her that is “mean” although she did know. He calls her surprise cake “bum.” She says she “peeped and saw it,” and it’s nice, asks if he’s coming. He says, “Wouldn’t you like to know?” and ﬁbs he’s busy working with Red. She says she hasn’t seen him doing that. He ﬁbs that he works inside Red’s truck and also acts out how he steers it. They get dressed separately. He boasts he can run out of the woods faster than she can, but falls and cuts his face trying. She wipes his face gently, says to close his eyes, kisses him. As happiness suffuses him, she disappears. Burwell returns home, startles his mother ﬁrst by his appearance and then by announcing he’s going to bed. His father ﬁrmly says that after supper, he

Blair will shine his shoes, get some “collodion” on his face to look handsome, and attend Marjorie’s party. He says, “Yes sir.” Cleaned up and with present in hand, Burwell loiters along some streets, plans to tell Marjorie she was dumb ever to believe he worked with Red, gets a bit “wan about the eyes” though, and yet intends to ﬁb he saved from money earned with Red to buy her a present. He sees the party “in full swing” in the Lucases’ back yard, peers inside their house, and spies on Marjorie secretly cutting a wedge of cake, taking it to the driveway and waiting. Sudden “shame, panic, fear, and love” stab him. He slips her gift under her porch rail and runs away. Down the street he hears Red’s ice-cream truck bell tinkling. Roy Hoopes reports that the Ladies’ Home Journal paid Cain $750 for “The Birthday Party.” David Madden calls it a “story ... of genuine sweetness,” adding that “although ... [it] deals with characters, situations, and sentiments traditionally exploited sentimentally in ... women’s magazines, the tone is perfectly controlled.” (Madden 1970, 106; Hoopes, 267) Blair, Gwenny (Career in C Major). She gives a cocktail party to which Doris Borland drags her husband Leonard Borland. When teased unmercifully, he sings beautifully, which causes Doris to become inordinately upset. Bland (The Moth). He is a Long Beach city attorney, involved in problems concerning Hannah Brand and her oil wells. Bledsoe, James J. (Rainbow’s End). He is an attorney in Marietta, who helps Dave Howell and Jill Kreeger—not least by suggesting how they can fabricate a lie as an alibi. Cain has a supposedly reputable lawyer collude with two clients without having anyone seriously object. All of which suggests Cain’s low opinion of the Establishment. Bleeker, Mrs. (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). She accompanies her husband to Olaf Jansen’s ﬁrst political rally, after which the two go to Jansen’s home. Bleeker, Oliver Hedge (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). He campaigns for Olaf Jansen. When Jansen is elected, “Ollie” becomes city attorney. Blount (The Butterﬂy). He is a well-to-do man who owned the Llewelyn coal mine near a town called Blount (West Virginia). He and his wife are the parents of Wash Blount, who was accused of having a baby named Danny with unmarried Kady Tyler. His parents wouldn’t let Wash marry Kady, but Blount did give Kady’s mother Belle Tyler money to support the child. Wash soon wishes marry Kady,

14 but her alleged father Jess Tyler tells Wash that Moke Blue is the father. The wedding is canceled. Wash’s parents return to Philadelphia. Blount, Mrs. (The Butterﬂy). She is rich Blount’s pretty wife and Wash Bount’s mother. They are to attend Wash’s marriage to Kady Tyler, until it is canceled. Blount, Wash (The Butterﬂy). He is the son, 20, of Blount and his wife. Kady Tyler accused him of fathering her illegitimate son Danny. Jess Tyler tells Wash that Jess’s estranged wife Belle slept with Moke Blue and Moke is Danny’s father. Wash temporarily deserts Kady and goes after Moke, ineffectively. Later Wash and Kady get together. Blue, Birdie (The Butterﬂy). He is one of Moke Blue’s cousins. When Belle Tyler tries to stab Moke to silence him, she kills Birdie’s dog instead. Blue, Ed (The Butterﬂy). He is one of the Blue boys, is Moke Blue’s half-brother, and is Jess Tyler’s enemy. Ed and his relatives won’t let Jess attend his own estranged wife Belle’s funeral. Ed lends Moke Blue a riﬂe with which to kill Jess, who kills Moke instead and hides both riﬂe and victim forever. Jess catches Ed searching Jess’s home for the riﬂe. Ed agrees to stop feuding. At the end, however, Ed and other Blues surround Jess’s house. He is inside, unarmed. Blue, Luke (The Butterﬂy). He is another Blue boy. Blue, Moke (The Butterﬂy). He is related to Birdie, Ed, and Luke Blue, and maybe a Blue named Mort. Moke slept with Jess Tyler’s wife Belle, who gave birth to Kady Tyler. She abandoned Jess, taking Kady and Jess’s and her daughter Jane with her. Moke and Kady have a baby named Danny, who Jess now thinks is his grandson. The result of much trouble is that Moke, now 39 and popular because he plays the banjo, tries to ambush Jess, who, however, kills him. As Moke dies, he tells Jess the hideous truth. Jess dumps Moke in an abandoned mine shaft and seals it with a dynamite blast. Joyce Carol Oates seems irrationally attracted to Moke. She avers that “we have a mysteriouslygifted singer, whose hypnotic effect is not enough to prevent his being murdered by the hero.” In reality, Moke is disgusting. He glares offensively at Jess; worse, when Belle tells Moke she is dying, he says, “Then die.” Two important critics psychoanalyze Moke’s relationship to Jess. Paul Skenazy says that when Jesse “buries Moke beneath the rubble of an abandoned mine, Moke’s body is the physical analogue of Jess’s deeper psychological ‘burial’ of truths about himself in relation to wife and children that he wants to leave unacknowledged.” Philip Dubuison Castille explicates a similar con-

15 tention that Moke is Jess’s “dark double and secret sharer.” (Castille, 154; Oates, 116; Skenazy, 97) Blue, Mort (The Butterﬂy). He is named as the owner of a riﬂe that Moke Blue tries to use on Jess. Jess kills Moke and throws Jess and the riﬂe down a mine shaft. Mort is mentioned in only one paragraph. It is likely that the name “Mort” is a typo for “Moke,” because the riﬂe Moke wields is owned by Ed Blount. Bohunk, The (“Hip, Hip, the Hippo!”). He owns a hippopotamus and rents him to movie-producer J. P. Hornison at $30 a day. Bolton, Charlie (The Root of His Evil). He has lived in the Riverside, in Reno, for 10 years because of a lung ailment. He meets Carrie when she is there to get a divorce. Bolton knew Agnes Harris, Carrie’s hateful mother-in-law, and advises Carrie in a very knowledgeable manner. Charles Bolton’s name is close to that of Charles Bohlen (1904 –1974), a well-educated American diplomat who served with distinction at various posts (1929 –1969). Bond, Lester (The Enchanted Isle). He is a Baltimore bank guard shot dead either by Matt Caskey or by Howie Hyde during their botched bank robbery. Boole, Mrs. (Mildred Pierce). She is a receptionist at the Los Angeles ofﬁce of Corasi Bros. Co. She honestly and amiably tells Mildred there is no point in her seeking work there. Borland, Doris (Career in C Major). She is Leonard Borland’s vindictive, spiteful wife, 26. They married when she was 19 and was a promising singer. She fancies having two children, Randolph and Evelyn, has delayed her career for seven years now. She ignores her husband and so captivates Hugo Lorentz and Jack Leighton, among others, that they pretend to regard her as still having a ﬁne voice. It is only when Leonard, an out-of-work contractor who has a splendid singing voice, is made to quit singing by his amateurishness, that Doris, ﬁnally humbled, returns his unwavering love. Paul Skenazy says that at the end of Career in C Major Doris “abandons her aristocratic pretensions ... to become the nurturing mother to ... her children.” Most readers would probably nod approvingly, however, when Skenazy adds that she “is too much the debilitating female for one to believe in her selﬂessness as a mother.” (Skenazy, 53) Borland, Evelyn (Career in C Major). She is the younger child of Doris and Leonard Borland. Her brother is Randolph.

Brems Borland, Leonard (Career in C Major). He is Doris Borland’s husband, and the father of Randolph and Evelyn Borland. When about 33, he and his partner Craig, in construction, get no business. When Doris turns frigid, Leonard begins a singing career with the help of Cecil Carver, a splendid opera singer; they tour successfully. Ultimately, Leonard lacks the ﬁery temperament of an opera singer willing to outface an adverse audience; therefore he returns home. Craig fortunately has a contract for the two; so their business is ﬁnally saved. Even better, Doris likes Leonard’s failure as a professional singer, because now he can sing only to her. Leonard is too willingly henpecked too long by an indulged, articulately shrewish wife. Borland, Randolph (Career in C Major). He is the older child of Doris and Leonard Borland. Evelyn is his sister. Bosway, Emil (Mignon). He is identiﬁed in the ﬁrst “Lorl Patrot” letter Burke wrote as a clerk in “Mifﬂins jobers” who could verify information in the letter. Bowman, Wally (“Everything but the Truth”). He is Edwin Hope’s friend from Annapolis. When Wally visits the Hope family in Fullerton, he is unsuccessful in trying to prove that Edwin ﬁbs. Brady (Jealous Woman). He is a plainclothes police ofﬁcer who is with Lindstrom when Lindstrom questions Jane Delavan about her bracelet. Brady, Jack (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). He is Mayor Maddux’s secretary. Bramwell, Ned (The Institute). He is Richard Garrett’s head attorney in Delaware. Branch, Hannah (The Moth). She is from Ohio, has property near Long Beach, California, married the much older Jim Branch when he successfully drilled there for oil. She is now about 25, very attractive, and has “hot pants.” Jack begins to work for her and repays Jim’s friendliness toward him by sleeping with her, but only brieﬂy. Hannah discovers that Jack is “torching” for Helen Legg and therefore ﬁres him. Branch, Jim (The Moth). He is a California oil man, 42, who married a woman named Hannah whose oil wells he drilled near Long Beach. When he learns that Jack can sing, he befriends him, has him sing in his church choir, and introduces him to his business friends. Jack betrays their friendship by having sex with his young wife Hannah. Brems, Mrs. (The Moth). She evidently is the Legg family’s housekeeper in Baltimore. Legg sends Helen to her after the beach ﬁght between Jack and the Finley boys, Dick and Jack.

Brent Brent, Anna (The Embezzler). She is the older daughter, ﬁve, of Charles and Sheila Brent. Charles robs the bank in which he works, escapes brieﬂy, and seizes Anna and her sister Charlotte, three. He drives away with them, hoping to evade capture and start a new life. In an ensuing chase, Charles shoots at the police but wounds Anna, and is shot dead. Anna, hospitalized for weeks, recovers. Sheila marries Dave Bennett, who also works at the bank and has tried to help Sheila cover up Charles’s embezzlement. Dave welcomes both Anna and Charlotte, and he and Sheila provide the two with a baby brother. Brent, Charles (The Embezzler). He is Sheila Brent’s husband and the father of Anna, ﬁve, and Charlotte, three. He is the head teller at the Glendale branch bank to which Dave Bennett is assigned. Charles has stolen thousands belonging to depositors. He gets sick. Sheila and Dave try to restore the funds secretly. Charles intends to escape with Miss Church, the bank bookkeeper. He hides in the vault, packs up thousands of dollars, emerges disguised and armed, and in the ensuing shootout kills Adler, the guard, and then escapes. He gets Anna and Charlotte in his car, drives to pick up Miss Church, but is chased by the cops. He shoots toward them, wounds Anna, and is shot dead. Brent, Charlotte (The Embezzler). See Brent, Anna. Brent, Sheila (The Embezzler). She is the daughter of a University of Southern California history professor named Dr. Henry W. Rollinson, formerly of Princeton University and living in Westwood. At 19, Sheila married Charles Brent and now, at 25, has two daughters, Anna, ﬁve, and Charlotte, three. She discovers that her husband is embezzling from the Glendale branch of a Los Angeles group of banks. She meets Dave Brent, sent from the Los Angeles bank, where he is a vice president, to the Glendale branch to investigate Charles, a popular teller. The two try to rectify Charles’s dangerously skewed deposit books, and in the process fall into decorous love. The outcome is that Charles is observed when he emerges from the vault with money, is pursued after killing a guard, and ultimately is shot dead. This frees Sheila to marry Dave, and they have a child together to go with her two. For no apparent reason, Cain explains that after Sheila was born, she remained unnamed for a time because of a dispute among relatives. Paul Skenazy strangely comments that “[b]ecause Sheila is as good, and smart, as she is, the reader cannot share Dave’s suspicions ... or even think of her as married to Charles in the ﬁrst place.” (Skenazy, 66) Bresnahan, James Joseph (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). He is the ace reporter for the Pioneer. On Ben

16 Grace’s tip, Bresnahan interviews Sol Caspar about the whereabouts of bank robber Arch Rossi. Brewer, George (Past All Dishonor). He is a big, heavy-set owner of a silver mine in Virginia City, having money from lumbering in Wisconsin. He builds a house for Biloxi, who is Morina Crockett’s friend, and wants to marry Morina; but Roger Duval hopelessly loves her and kills Brewer. Brewer, Raymond (Past All Dishonor). He is George Brewer’s brother, manages the mill near George’s silver mine, and runs errands for George. Brewer, Will (Past All Dishonor). He is George Brewer’s brother and is a banker in San Francisco. Brice (Galatea). He is the lawyer Holly Valenty hires to defend both her and Duke when they are accused of murdering her husband Valenty. Bright, Bessie (The Moth). She is the typical sensible shopper that Jack advertises he will appeal to when her gets his frozen-food business started. He will appeal to her husband Louis Bright and their son, Louis Bright Jr., also. Bright, Louis (The Moth). See Bright, Bessie. Bright, Louis, Jr. (The Moth). See Bright, Bessie. Brisson, Eloise (Mignon). This is a ﬁctitious name. Bill and Marie Tremaine say they will send Eloise Brisson to lure Pierre Legrand out of his master Burke’s room so Bill can search it. Marie assigns herself the mission. Britten, Cy (Sinful Woman). He is the city police inspector and works loyally with Parker Lucas, the county sheriff. Bronson, Louise (Career in C Major). She is a casual friend of Doris Leonard, who tells her husband Leonard Borland that Louise is related to Rudolph Hertz, a Herald Tribune critic who, Doris says, will review Doris’s singing recital. Brown, Hosea (The Moth). He is a hobo, nicknamed “Hosey,” with whom Jack rides the rails for a long time. Buck Mitchell, their friend, tells Jack that Hosey has been a hobo since 1917. Jack says that tall, thin, gray Hosea could be anywhere from 30 and 50, and has bright hobo eyes. These “three musketeers” travel together through several states, making their way by subterfuge and theft, in Phoenix, Yuma, Indio, Banning, and ﬁnally Las Vegas, where Buck is killed during a gas-station robbery and Jack drives away, deserting Hosea. In Long Beach, after Jack has become Hannah Branch’s oil executive and lover, Hosea spots and calls out to Jack. When ignored, he tells the police about their Las Vegas job. He adds that when he was 22 [in

17 1917?] an I-beam damaged his head and he’s bummed ever since. Jack denies Hosea again and last sees him being beaten up by two witnesses from Las Vegas who absolved Jack of wrongdoing. Frank’s father reads Jack’s account and tells Frank that justice was served sufﬁciently with respect to Hosea. Cain told David Madden that he researched The Moth in various ways, and that at one point connected with “a guide to Hobohemia who was ... [t]he most erudite man” he “ever met,” a “tramp [who] got his knowledge of literature from the public library in which he took refuge from the cold” (Madden 1970, 51). Cain may have modeled Hosea on this unknown victim of the Great Depression. Brownie (The Institute). He was Lloyd’s pony, remembered from Lloyd’s childhood days. “Brush Fire” (short story, Liberty, December 5, 1936). (Characters: Bub Anderson, Lonnie Beal, K. Bernstein, Harry Deever, Paul Larkin, Ike Pendleton, Mrs. Pendleton, Guy Ritter.) A down-and-out fellow named Paul Larkin answers the rumor that the CCC in California is hiring people to ﬁght brush ﬁres in the hills. He joins a gang beating out ﬁres with shovels and setting back ﬁres. The work is dreadful. Paul, gasping and coughing smoke, agrees with fellow workers that they should have been provided with brush hooks instead of shovels. The foreman shouts for his shift to move off, keep their shovels, and answer a roll call for pay. It is Sunday. When alphabetized names get to Paul, he answers the usual “Yo.” But when Ike Pendelton’s name is shouted and there’s no answer, Paul remembers clearing a brier patch with Ike and not seeing him again. Paul rushes through a back ﬁre, ﬁnds Ike lying face down and inert by his shovel, and carries him to safety. At ﬁrst, the foreman is more concerned about Ike’s missing shovel, but they soon get water from a cart and splash his face. Ike recovers. Dawn breaks. Roll call completed, Paul and another man help Ike trudge half a mile to the road and the camp of army tents nearby. The others ﬁle along, “two and two,” like soldiers or prisoners. Paul awakens sometime after noon, shaves with others in his six-man tent, heads in his underwear for the shower area — until someone reminds him it’s Sunday and families are outside from hereabouts to visit relatives in the CCC. He stands in the shower tent under cold water, dresses in denims, wolfs a meal — beef, cabbage, potato, pie, and coffee — rinses his mess kit, and lines up for pay — $4.50 for nine hours— his ﬁrst money since graduating from high school, seeking work, riding the rails, bumming, and sleeping in ﬂophouses. And

Brush here he is, now 22. The foreman says his men can volunteer for a night shift starting at eight. Visitors in rickety cars line the road for half a mile, along with trucks offering ice cream, popcorn, cold drinks. Reporters with photographers ask the talkative foreman for news. He mentions one guy overcome by smoke and says another “guy ... pulled him out, nothing at all.” Identiﬁed, Paul gives his name, poses for pictures, gets interviewed, and says please mention he’s from Spokane, so as to let his “people back there” learn about him. A girl chides him for getting his picture in the newspaper. He looks at her. Lovely, about his age. He buys two chocolate ice-cream cones. Daintily licking one, she says she came to see the ﬁre. He offers to show her burned-out places a mile away. Once there, she sits on his jacket, to keep her dress clean. They embrace and kiss. By late afternoon she tells Paul her family came to visit an uncle among the ﬁreﬁghters. Paul and the girl snicker that she hasn’t seen ﬁre or relative. Returning, she joins the crowd. Paul, aware this nameless girl “was almost the sweetest human being he had ever met,” lines up for supper, eats, smiles, inhales nearby ocean air. Paul suddenly feels “something ominous.” He notices Ike threatening and cursing that sweet girl. Cops break them up. A woman, perhaps her relative, shouts that the girl’s walking off with a worker to see the ﬁre is nothing; Ike “don’t live with her” now, “never ... support[ed] her”; she didn’t come to see Ike, didn’t know his whereabouts. Paul guesses she’s Ike’s wife. Gossipers in the crowd whisper that Paul bought her an ice-cream cone. A cop confers with her and her relative, then speaks with Ike. Ike slouches over his supper, until two boys ﬁnd him, point out Paul, saying, “Hey, mister, that’s him.” Ike chases the boys away, eats sullenly, pays Paul no need. The men begin to jeer Ike’s wife, with two children in her car, when she’s unable to start it. “Get a horse!,” one fellow shouts. Spying her, Ike rushes at her with his mess knife, shouting he’s going to kill her. Paul, urged by a “force ... apart from himself,” ﬁghts through the crowd, grabs Ike, and twists him against the car. Ike’s wife hits Paul, tells him to “Git away from here!” Ike growls low that Paul has “nothing to do with this.” Paul, however, swings at but misses Ike, who stabs him in the arm. Paul seizes a shovel and hits Ike over the head. Policemen come. Ike’s wife sobs. Ike is dead. A reporter seeks access to a phone, to report his “hell of a story”: man saved guy this morning, killed him this night. From the ambulance, Paul, handcuffed, hears but can’t answer the third-shift roll call. The CCC was the Civilian Conservation Corps. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration

Buchhalter established it (March 31, 1933) to relieve massive unemployment by affording emergency jobs to men ages 17 to 28. By 1941, almost three million CCC men, directed by army and forestry ofﬁcers, had checked countless forest ﬁres, added 17 million acres of new forest lands, fought diseases in animals and plants, built dams and bridges, stocked ﬁsh hatcheries, and strung telephone lines, and performed other jobs of incalculable value to the country. It is typical of Cain to weave criticism of the CCC into his ﬁction. He says that the foreman is more concerned with property than with lives; the men have improper tools; one man compares their ordered march after work to a prison “lockstep.” Both David Madden and Roy Hoopes accuse CCC-worker Paul of seducing Mrs. Pendleton. This seems too severe. Did he lead her astray by persuasion or a false promise? She is described as coyly kicking a pebble while teasing him about his sudden tabloid fame; she tells him she has a packed lunch in the car and therefore surely isn’t starving for an ice-cream cone; she leaves her two kids with relatives for a stroll with a stranger. Her pummeling him when he rescues a knife-wielding spouse from a spouse is yet more evidence of the danger anyone, cop or civilian, faces when interfering in “a domestic dispute.” (Hoopes, 276n; Madden 1985, 129) Buchhalter, Dr. (The Moth). He is a college metallurgy professor whose advice about blacksmithing Jack fortunately remembers when, as a hobo, he gets a road-gang job as a replacement blacksmith, for a day or two. Bud (The Enchanted Isle). His real name is Howie Hyde. See Caskey, Matt. Bullock (Mildred Pierce). This is the name of a store where Mildred shops for dresses. Bunyan, Paul (Serenade). He is the main character in Paul Bunyan, the second movie John Howard Sharp stars in. In Guatemala, the movie character is renamed Pablo Buñan. Burbie (“Pastorale”). He is a roughneck who returns to his home town after being in traveling shows, falls in love with Lida, who is an old farmer’s unprincipled wife. They plot the old man’s murder, with Burbie’s ex-con friend Hutch’s assistance. They kill and behead the farmer, and Burbie throws the head in a creek and runs home. Hutch drowns trying to retrieve the head. Burbie, experienced in reciting yarns on stage, cannot keep from talking and likes to wink to suggest his superiority to everybody, reveals the truth, is arrested, convicted, gets religion in prison, and is to be hanged. David Madden deﬁnes Burbie as “a man who

18 fails to keep the dramatic instinct under control, to subordinate it to larger concerns, even to the preservation of freedom and life.” Roy Hoopes less subtly calls Burbie “a young man not able to live with the knowledge of a crime for which he probably would not be arrested.” (Hoopes, 271; Madden 1970, 106) Burgan, Wally (Mildred Pierce). He is an attorney, about 40 at the outset, described as fat, decent, and single. He works with Bert Pierce in real-estate ventures. They don’t like each other. When Mildred has trouble with her husband, she brieﬂy sleeps with Wally. He advises her to incorporate when her restaurant business expands. He backs off when she starts associating with Monty Beragon. Wally advises her again when she is in severe ﬁnancial trouble. Wally mentions that his mother lives in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Burke, Frank (Mignon). He is an Irish-born adventurer, naturalized in the United States, and with experience in Nicaragua, Mexico, Paris, and now Louisiana. He makes himself personally attractive to Mignon and commercially so to her father Adolphe Landry. Burke’s aim is to make millions by trading in rebel-grown cotton in and near wartorn New Orleans. Bill outwits and discomﬁts Burke, who winds up shot dead by Captain Seymour when he, Landry, and Mignon attempt to destroy a dam Bill has built to aid the Union navy. Cain, whose four grandparents were born in Ireland, goes out of his way to present Burke as an unprincipled Irishman with an atrocious accent. Buster, Busty (The Magician’s Wife). She is a performer in Alec Gorsuch’s magic acts. She likes Alec, is unhappy when Alec, who has hinted at marriage with her, returns to his wife Sally. Buster ﬂirts with Clay Lockwood, and perjures herself in court by testifying that she saw Sally’s car when Sally was in the process of killing Alec. Clay’s written confession clears her, after which she, remaining sluttish, and her attorney John Pender may become an item. It is said that she likes to “bulge ... the who of her sobriquet.” Buster’s real name is Edith Conlon. Butch (Serenade). He owns a café in Mexico City. When John Howard Sharp is reduced to poverty, he bums meals off Americans there. Butler (The Moth). He is an oil driller who works for Jim Branch. The Butterﬂy (novel, 1947). (Characters: Blount, Mrs. Blount, Wash Blount, Birdie Blue, Ed Blue, Luke Blue, Moke Blue, Mort Blue, Lew Case, Bobby Hunter, Jack, Mellie, Liza Minden, Morgan, Mr. Rivers, Belle Tyler, Danny Tyler, Hiram Tyler, Jane Tyler, Jess Tyler, Kady Tyler.)

19 Chapter 1. The narrator, 42, was a coal miner until the mine played out and the company closed it. He now lives in a cabin on his own land and farms on company property. One day, after milking, he sees a girl, 19 or 20, sitting on his porch, with a suitcase. She says she knows he’s Jess Tyler. He says she looks like a Morgan (her mother’s family). She asks for a cup of milk. Questioned, he reluctantly reveals that his wife Belle left him and took their daughters Jane and Kady with her. Jess says Jane was cold but Kady was “cute.” They eat some chicken and take a walk. [Bobbie Robinson alerts readers to notice at the outset that in this novel “Cain uses ﬁrst-person narration to its maximum potential in Jess’s self-doubt and delusion.” (Robinson, 65)] Under his apple trees she tries to hold his hand. He resists. They dispute about ﬁghts and bad blood. Jess tells her to leave. Instead, she takes her suitcase in the back room, undresses, puts on a nightgown, robe, and slippers. Laying her head on his shoulder, she says she’s Kady. He embraces her, his child to care for — not expecting “what happened later.” Chapter 2. Sunday morning. Kady is lying on the porch, unhappy; blames some man who left her; discusses Belle, who ran a boarding house for miners at nearby Blount; Kady and her sister attended school; Belle got sick. From drinking, Jess adds. Kady rambles on. Jane ran Belle’s place; after Kady “led the class” and graduated, she began teaching second grade; Wash Blount, whose father owned the Llewelyn mine, impregnated her, and left her; her baby boy was born, in July; Old Blount wanted Wash to marry well in Philadelphia; so he paid hospital costs, gave Belle money to care for the baby. Kady says she regrets being good. She adds that Belle two-timed Jess with no-good Moke (Blue), who’s still around with his ever-present banjo. When Kady says she’ll be bad, Jess takes her to church. They see Mr. Rivers (preacher?) and men from Tulip, including Ed Blue, ogling Kady. He proved troublesome later. [Does Philip Dubuison Castille need to suggest that Moke’s banjo is a “phallic image”? (Castille, 154)] At harvest time, Jess hires Jack and Mellie for temporary help. Kady shops for necessities at Carbon City. When she sees Jess shelling corn for meager sales, she says he could meal and mash it, run off the liquid, make $5 a gallon, or barrel it and sell it later for twice that. He says the repeal of Prohibition has made moonshiners quit. Denying this, she says she’s got wise friends in Carbon. Jess says it’s illegal. Kady retorts that lots of things are, and she wants money for clothes. She ﬁnds a job in Carbon City serving drinks, says with the right guy she’d enjoy having another baby. She stays away

Butterﬂy nights, returns at times with special clothes— bought, she says, with “tip” money. One morning, she’s gone. Jess visits an old shack he built near where he used to hunt, and retrieves his old water heater and a huge tank “him and his friends” bathed in. Kady returns after an overnight stay. Thrilled, he hugs her, holds her hand at supper, and tells her if she quits town work, stays home, and helps with the corn, they can share “ﬁfty-ﬁfty.” Chapter 3. Jess and Katy seek a restricted place for their plant. Jess explores the idled mine; its interior has shifted and is partly ﬂooded. They ﬁnd a tunnel and a mine shaft, and decide to truck equipment close, hoist it near a cliff and into the shaft, and safely work nights. They must get the tank by mule to the shaft. [Paul Skenazy theorizes that “[t]he abandoned mine in which Kady and Jess ﬁrst distill liquor represents Jess’s unconscious” (Skenazy, 97). Philip Dubuison Castille says that “[t]he mineshaft ﬁgures importantly in Cain’s imagery throughout The Butterﬂy, serving as a symbol for Jess’s buried feelings of abandonment, sexual impotence, and misogynistic rage.” (Castille, 151) Cain will uncork his well-aged theme of making moonshine in another old coal mine in Rainbow’s End, 28 years later.] By wagon, ropes, planks, and chocks, Jess lowers everything. With lumber scavenged from a nearby railroad platform he builds scaffolds, uses pipes from an abandoned ﬁlling station to run water from a stream to his still, and fashions a cooler from an old heater coils. Kady shops in Carbon City for tubs and for kegs they “char.” She ﬁlches a hydrometer from the high school. Jess meals corn, makes charcoal, puts mash in warm water, tests with toothpicks and skewers. They ﬁnd by hydrometer that one batch is 170 and plan to “run it clear” to marketable readings after kegging. Kady prefers money now. While they watch, she turns on a radio she got. They mix a sample with Coca-Cola. She likes it too much; he says they must stay sober to avoid accidents. Although he adds that bootlegging is “wrong” and that he responds to feelings generated by attending church, he’s also aware that he loves Kady dangerously and fears he would if drunk do what Katy “could make me do.” Chapter 4. They truck some hundred quarts into Carbon City, where Kady knows a guy. It’s agreed she’ll do the talking. When the guy complains of the caramel color, she threatens to sell elsewhere. They argue, but he buys the shipment for six dollars a gallon. Kady suggests a celebration with Jess, who suspects she has been ﬂirting with their buyer. They drive to the White Horse, a café of the sort

Butterﬂy Jess often heard about and knew was bad. A crowd, some dancing, shout greetings to Kady. Jess learns she once worked there. He orders two cokes. She wants hers with rum. When he says they gotta go home and she says she’ll stay, he caves in — because he fears “she might leave me.” A girl with two ex-mine guards leaves. One of them, tall and thin, dances with Kady. They feed nickels into a music box. They sip drinks while dancing and whispering. Grabbing her handbag, she says she’s going to get some fresh air. When Jess says they must go home, a guy she danced with tells “pop” that “her and me” are taking a walk ﬁrst, then Jess can take her home. Jess wilts and sits, aware that he could break that guy in two but ex-guards have guns. First, Kady goes to the toilet. When she returns, Jess, his “throat pounding,” pulls a booth partition on top of the guy, takes his gun, slugs him with it, and aims and pulls the trigger. The safety is on. Court time: Jess and Kady are lectured. Jess, though defending his daughter’s honor, could have committed murder and been hanged. When he is asked and says he has $14 with him, he is ﬁned $10 and more for “disorderly conduct.” Kady, saying she’s “[n]ineteen, sir,” admits she isn’t sure but that someone could have spiked her Coke. The judge smells her breath, calls her “half shot,” and remands this “wayward minor” to her father, who mustn’t “grab a gun” if Kady misbehaves but instead report her and she can be committed [So far, this chapter, though absorbing, is hasty. Who says what in the dialogue is not always instantly clear; furthermore, court action seems too rapid for the Tyler family’s case to be disposed of before Kady sobers up.] That night Kady laughs because she had $150 for the moonshine sale, undisclosed. Jess rebukes her for ﬂirting with one man after another and making him ashamed for almost committing murder. When he adds that Morgan blood, bootlegging, and “shivareeing ... kin” are shameful, Kady hints that Jess acted through jealousy and really wants to sleep with her. Chapter 5. Kady spends excessively on cheap, gaudy dresses. They also frequent the White Horse, although she’s denied alcohol. One day at their still she complains of the heat, mostly undresses, sways to the radio music, and says that if a girl got raped by a strong man in this mine no one would ever know. This makes Jess closer to doing what she wants. He walks past Tulip and the church—maybe to pray. Suddenly he hears Moke shouting “Danny,” and sees Moke run into his cabin and start sobbing. Pondering all this, Jess returns home, hears a baby, and recognizes a tall, skinny girl as Jane, his

20 long-absent daughter. She and “Pappy” don’t quite kiss. Jane reveals this: Kady is admirable; when their mother got sick, Jane cared for Kady’s baby Danny; Moke stole him; the mother said Moke has a cabin near Jess’s; Jane took the bus to ﬁnd Moke; when Moke was at a neighbor’s for water, she grabbed Danny, took the bus for home but saw Kady hanging laundry here; Danny is in Jess’s cabin now; Kady is off buying food for him. Jane says she’s reunited with two loved ones, Kady and Danny [not Jess]. Returning laden, Kady heads for Jane and Danny. Jess thinks Kady may grow peaceful now and he won’t be teased by nasty thoughts. She asks him if he wants to see his grandson. Jess says no. Kady retorts that Jane and Kady will move with unwelcome Danny to Carbon City; Moke kidnapped Danny because he heard Wash Blout, Danny’s father, wants when 21 next year to marry Kady and provide happily relenting Old Blount with a grandchild. Jess hates his own behavior. Jane plants “cutest little” Danny in his lap. Jess holds his beloved grandchild—until he sees a scary “moth”-like birthmark under his navel. Jane calls it “his butterﬂy.” [Paul Skenazy says that when tough Jess becomes soft, upon ﬁrst holding his supposed grandson, the novel “shifts from the illicit to the maudlin.” (Skenazy, 99)] Jess says Kady must stay, his ornery “devilment” is gone, he’ll welcome Wash if she wishes to marry him. Jess and Kady exchange kisses, not “hot” ones as before, but “cool and sweet,” like little Danny’s goodnight kiss. Chapter 6. Kady awaits the arrival of Wash Blount. He drives up, a tall, dark mountain man. He is courteous. He wants to marry Kady. Jess likes him. He meets his son, feels the butterﬂy birthmark, and says he plans to have Moke Blue arrested for kidnapping Danny. Wash and Jess see Birdie Blue, Moke’s cousin, and soon ﬁnd Moke in his cabin nearby, in a wooded hollow. Wash grabs him, says he’s jailing him “[f ]or what you did.” They take the weeping fellow to Wash’s car, secretly, so as not to arouse his well-armed relatives in nearby cabins. They drive him to Jess’s cabin, where Kady is. An argument starts. Wash wants to haul him to the police for kidnapping Danny. Kady says this: Danny mustn’t be gossiped about as “a love child”; she won’t swear Wash is Danny’s father; anyway, Moke’s “arrest” would be in the wrong county; Wash would resemble “a simple-looking imitation of a West Virginia bad man.” Releasing Moke, they laugh about everything. While everyone is holding Danny, he suddenly says “Wash.” They laugh. A car of the sort taking people from the state road to the creek releases a passenger near Jess’s place. Belle shufﬂes in, with a satchel.

21 Belle announces she wants to see Danny before Kady and Wash go away; but then she looks and waves at him only once. With her sloppy clothes and her raucous dirty jokes, she ruins the evening. It’s a relief when she has milk for supper and beds down in the front room. Wash, who’s staying in a Carbon City hotel, and Kady drive off brieﬂy to discuss marriage plans. Jess remarks to Jane that Belle is thinner but not bad looking after being gone 18 years. Jane says Belle has consumption “bad,” and her fever increases at night, which makes her eyes bright and her cheeks red. Jane ﬁgures Belle is here because of Moke, says Belle and Moke always “got along all right,” but they fought after Danny’s birth. [West Virginia is ﬁrst mentioned here. It is again sometimes difﬁcult to identify speakers when strings of crisp dialogue start. This can be effective, because Jess’s zigzag narration is like his own thoughts and actions.] Chapter 7. That night Jess is sleeping in a bunk in his stable. Belle gets herself to Moke’s cabin, ﬁghts him, but has a lung hemorrhage. Moke escapes to Kady, swears he didn’t know Belle was here, and describes her bleeding. Kady tells Jess to drive her to Moke’s cabin, then bring a doctor from Carbon City. Jane will remain with Danny. Jess will truck Kady’s bed for Belle to use in Moke’s dirtﬂoor cabin. Jess drives Kady and Moke, who says Belle found him in bed, wielded a knife but instead slashed Birdie Blue’s dog, asleep beside Moke. Moke won’t tell Jess why Belle attacked him. People are already arriving from the hollow and helping Belle. They get the bed into the shack and put bleeding Belle in it. Someone buries the dead dog. On Kady’s order, Jess drives to Carbon City, for ice to pack around Belle to stop the bleeding. Jess, packing his .45, orders the hotel clerk to ﬁlch ice for him, ﬁnds Wash, tells him to drive a doctor to Belle. The doctor gets the bleeding stopped, then asks if Kady is Mrs. Tyler’s daughter. She says yes. He tells Kady that since he can’t get Belle to a hospital in time for a transfusion and then collapse her lung, she is “on the end of the plank” and will die in hours. Kady says she was expecting this. He asks her to meet him, and he’ll “sign the papers.” At dawn the birds sing. Belle, her hair combed by Kady and now waxen, looks beautiful. She and Jess reminisce. She was 14 when they met in church and married a month later. She says they loved each other, but she messed up her life by disliking his church-going and his avoiding drink, she did “things” he never knew about, then “started with Moke,” and he “sung comical songs at me” and they drank applejack at the creek. Jess hopes for more information, but she asks to see Danny. While Jess holds him tenderly, Belle, sinking back, asks him

Butterﬂy to love Danny. Suddenly Moke appears, staring in utter hate at Jess. Belle says goodbye to her daughters fondly, tells reluctant Moke he must hear something from her, says, “I’ve loved you,” and whispers something to him. Chapter 8. Late that afternoon Jess goes to Tulip, has the doctor sign the death certiﬁcate, meets Kady at the church, and sees Moke’s men with an abandoned tool chest for a cofﬁn. Moke plans the ceremony. Kady says Belle was Moke’s wife “[b]efore God.” Lew Cass, Bobby Hunter, and Luke Blue bring laurel but ignore Jess. Next morning preacher Rivers drives by, picks up Kady, Jane, and Danny for the funeral, and includes Jess reluctantly. Ed Blue and several others prevent Jess from entering the church, on Moke’s orders. Kady and Jane persuade Jess to leave. He walks home, taking Danny. Wash is there by then, hears Jess’s complaint, and wants to take riﬂes and “clean the place out.” That would endanger Danny, says Jess. So Wash intends to eavesdrop at the burial ceremony, then “throw down” on Moke and take him in for kidnapping Danny. But the group at graveside separates, and Kady tells Moke she’s getting married to Wash and she’ll tell Jess to keep Moke from the ceremony exactly as Moke prevented Jess from attending Belle’s funeral. When Wash relates this to Jess, both are satisﬁed, plan to “kick him [Moke] out of our life,” and shake. Kady tells Jess that burying her mother ends the part of her life dominated by feistiness inherited from her and that Jess’s welcoming Kady here kept her from “devilment” she was “sliding into.” Jess explains that money from that still they’re not even thinking about anymore enabled him to clear added land where he’ll grow more crops and raise added stock. He likes Wash, will visit; Jane will live with Jess, and they’ll babysit Danny when Kady visits rich in-laws in Philadelphia with Wash. Jess, Kady, and Jane hold hands and swig Coca-Colas. Kady says she’ll marry Wash in Carbon City’s Methodist church full of ﬂorist-bought “lilies and things.” [Chapter 8 is a pivotal chapter, with seven chapters preceding it and seven to follow.] Chapter 9. Jess puts on his best suit for the wedding, decides to stick a wild rose in his buttonhole, and therefore seeks one in the woods near his still. He sees something moving, creeps close, fears a deputy might be reconnoitering, but spots Moke with Ed Blue’s Winchester on his knees. He’s obviously planning to shoot Jess from there when the wedding party hits the road. The mine is always full of rats, stinks of mash, and is ﬁercely hot. Suddenly he knows why Belle fought Moke about Danny. Moke is stripped to the waist — with a butterﬂy birthmark near his navel.

Butterﬂy Jess returns to the cabin. Kady, dressed simply, is talking to a neighbor who is busy praising the Blount family. Jess takes his riﬂe, would like to kill the “rotten little slut” Kady for wanting to bed her father, for bedding her mother’s lover Moke, and for being about to marry Wash, who’s not Danny’s father. But Jess resists. Jess tells Wash, waiting in his hotel room before the wedding, about the butterﬂy. Disbelieving at ﬁrst, Wash soon plans to kill Moke. Jess says that he won’t reveal where Moke is and he’ll do the killing of Moke. Wash threatens to kill Kady. When Wash’s parents appear, Wash introduces Jess but says there will be no wedding, sorry about your “trip,” and “we’re going home.” Chapter 10. Jess proceeds to the mine; gets dynamite, caps, and fuses; places everything near the shaft; sneaks near Moke, who is kniﬁng beans from a can; shoots him in his butterﬂy birthmark; and walks to where he’s twitching. Jess explains he shot Moke not in the heart but through his butterﬂy birthmark. He pours water over dying, puking, stinking Moke, who gloats thus: Belle and he generated Kady before Belle ever left Jess; he and Kady generated Danny; butterﬂy birthmarks are in Blue males only; Belle hated “you samsinging bastard”; she sought to silence Moke by stabbing him; later she whispered to him to maintain silence, because Jess, if kept ignorant, could continue to adore Danny—Moke’s, not Jess’s, grandson. Jess throws Moke and his riﬂe down the shaft, climbs down after his corpse, elaborately dynamites the tunnel over it — sealed forever. Jess throws his spent shell into the creek, reloads and cleans his gun, plans to go tell Wash what Moke revealed, suddenly realizes Kady is no longer his daughter. [Ah!] Chapter 11. Jess drives toward home, sees Jane caring for Danny, proceeds to the White Horse, spies on Kady, drunk and dancing with a stranger. Over drinks, she and Jess talk. She thinks his disappearance is connected with her non-wedding. He says he went to the woods for a rose, muddied a shoe, missed Kady at home, went to town for a shine and a haircut, went to church — nobody there. No, he didn’t see Wash. At the hotel, Jess learned Wash left with a man and a woman. Kady says the two were Wash’s parents, who talked him out of marrying her. Kady and Jess agree life is funny, continue drinking, dance, sidle outside, and kiss passionately. Kady suggests they shack up in a hotel. Fearing publicity, Jess offers marriage instead. Whooping, she objects— they’re related. He suggests going to Gilroy, a distant town; if required there to specify her parents, she could name Moke as her father. [Why doesn’t Kady explode at this revelation?] She

22 says she wants to sleep with Jess, who, however, mustn’t connect her with Moke, who was “bad enough” with Belle. He agrees. She’ll “make up some names” for their wedding. Jess’s heart leaps. Chapter 12. They wed in Gilroy; if caught they can say they did it as a drunken joke and return home to Jane and Danny. Jess lies that he was gone a few days seeking Kady. One night Kady says Danny reminds her so much of his daddy Wash that she must avoid the child. Kady drinks cokes spiked from their hidden hooch. She and horny Jess must ﬁnd a hide-out away from Jane. Kady suggests their old mine. One day she gets him to join her in picking wild grapes. They proceed to the mine, where she confesses she has already prepared a “little nook.” They plan chicken and moonshine. He thinks of dead Moke. She turns on her radio, is naked, swings her hips, and “[t]hat was one dance she never ﬁnished.” [Shades of Dante’s Inferno, V, 137–138, about lovers Paolo and Francesca: “Galeotto was the book and he who wrote it. / That day no farther did we read therein.”] Chapter 13. A few months later, Ed Blue visits Jess and asks him if he knows what happened to his riﬂe. Jess says Moke must have been gunning for him, then bluffs Ed into leaving. One night when Kady, Jane, and Danny are at the movies, Jess strolls outside to ponder everything. When he sees a light in his cabin, he re-enters and ﬁnds Ed searching for his riﬂe. Drawing his pistol, Jess calls Ed a “goddam ... rat.” Ed admits he was looking for his riﬂe, thought after the church squabble Jess braced Moke and “tooken it.” Jess says he didn’t, says he could legally kill trespasser Ed now, but lets him go. One day Jess and Kady are at the tunnel again when their carbide lamp, in front of their curtainlike quilt, whispers as it’s dying. Jess slugs at the quilt, is slugged back, hears someone running in the dark. He knows it’s Ed, snooping again for his riﬂe. Next day Jane catches a sneaky kid shouting that Kady is a “pappy-lover.” Kady hears, knows gossip is spreading, says she’s taking Danny and Jane today with her for the evening Carbon City bus— and maybe on to Washington. She won’t let Jane ever know the truth. Jess ﬁgures telling either daughter the truth won’t help but tells Jane he and she could “go east” together. Delirious while driving the three toward Carbon City, Jess gets halted. The sheriff ’s two deputies say he’s wanted for incest. Jane drives Jess’s truck, with Danny and one deputy in it, while the other deputy drives Jess and Kady. They meet in town. Chapter 14. Word spreads over the radio. That night in the court house Jane rebukes Jess, who says there’s “more to it.” When Ed enters, with a Tulip entourage, Jess knows what he’s “in for.”

23 The judge charges Jess with “sexual misconduct” with Kady, a minor. Jess hears all pertinent legal details; realizes that Kady, accused only of “indecent exposure” but not in public, will remain unpunished; “pleases [sic] guilty” himself; can’t make $5,000 bail; is about to be jailed. Kady blurts to the judge that Jess is her husband. The prosecutor turns wolﬁsh as Kady says she told the ofﬁcial in Gilroy recording her marriage license that she was 22 and her dead father was Hiram Tyler. The judge orders her held for grand jury action. Her “back talk” follows: Jess loves her, wanted her “in wedlock,” was ignorant of “the law.” Wanting to clear Kady even if he would never see her again, Jess asks to change his plea to perjury and says Kady is Moke Blue’s daughter. The judge batters him with questions. His answers combine lies and truth: Moke broke up his home, took Belle and Kady away; Kady returned to him a year ago; it would be bigamy to marry Kady before Belle died; he slept with Kady only after their marriage, during which he forgot her age; he thought she knew Moke was her father until she lied and named Hiram; he doesn’t know where “no-account” Moke is. Kady and Jane maintain silence. Nobody checks sleeping Danny when Jess mentions the butterﬂy. Jess ﬁgures he and Kady are both “sunk”— until he sees Ed in court, now visibly upset. Jess says this: Ed lent Moke his riﬂe, now missing, to kill Jess with; Moke failed; Ed would lie about Jess to get him jailed; Ed is Moke’s half-brother and also has a butterﬂy. The judge orders Ed’s and Danny’s birthmarks to be shown. Ed admits Moke “has” one. The judge dismisses charges against Kady and Jess but warns him he’ll be nailed if new evidence appears. Jess reasserts his love for Kady and his innocence. Chapter 15. For a week Kady sleeps in the cabin, avoids Jess, bedding in the stable. Then one morning she confronts him. He says he knew all along that Moke was her father, resisted her “passes” because he was still married. She says he might be moral at church but not on week days, therefore still thought she was his daughter. He says Belle tried to kill Moke only because she thought Kady didn’t know the truth. She says that once Belle died he was free to marry but let her plan anyway to marry Wash, whose reneging Jess somehow facilitated. He lies that he wasn’t involved with Wash or Moke, whose riﬂe he tossed in the creek. She says he killed Moke and laughs at his delayed, croaking denial. Jane says she’s got a job at a café in Blount, is leaving today, and will walk to the bus stop, not even let Jess drive her there. That afternoon Kady says she’s leaving, will be free to marry Wash next week. Jane just phoned and discussed everything. Wash drives up in the

Butterﬂy rain with Jane and Danny, picks up Kady. Jess looks around; his riﬂe and .45 are missing. He heads for his truck to get to town, is shot at twice, gathers his money, creeps toward the road, is shot in the leg. Still surrounded, Jess is writing all this for a week. His leg is better. He loves Kady as much as Wash does. Maybe killing isn’t necessary. They don’t know about the mine. He sneaks there, ﬁgures on escaping via the shaft to the bus. He hears Moke prying rocks with his riﬂe. [Paul Skenazy compares guilty Jess and the guilty narrator of “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe; each imagines sounds coming from his victim. (Skenazy, 97)] Jess returns to his cabin. It wasn’t Moke in the mine; it was dripping water, sounding like this rain on his roof. Tonight he’ll escape. But Ed “is out there and[.]” Jess’s account trails off. Cain told David Madden that he regarded “The Butterﬂy as his best novel,” because it came “closest in ‘theme and treatment’ to art.” Roy Hoopes summarizes the difﬁculties Cain had with Alfred A. Knopf, who worried about incest hinted at in the novel, admitted that its “‘fancy fornication’ would sell, authorized a print-run of 30,000 copies, and was pleased by Cain’s preface for it. Paul Skenazy remarks, “The Butterﬂy is Cain’s most complex psychological novel, in which he takes fullest advantage of the technical possibilities of the ﬁrstperson point of view to reveal Jess’s self-delusion.” Tom S. Reck regards The Butterﬂy more simply as a typical “confessional novel.” He says, to readers of many such ﬁrst-person narrations, that “since you are being addressed rather personally, your politeness and your sentimentality win out over morality,” and rather like a “Father-Confessor,” your “ﬁrst instinct is to offer absolution.” Philip Dubuison Castille reports that Cain originally planned to locate The Butterﬂy in California, to which some murderous and incestuous mountaineers would trek; but then he “reinvented his story as a darkly inward tale about a pathological loser” whose “confession” would reveal “how male lust and rage fatally provoke one another.” When Cain “delved into the incest taboo,” Castille continues, he “came to regard ‘sunny’ California as a liability and to see ‘dark’ Appalachia as a symbolic asset.” Castille says that Butterﬂy the movie “bombed at the box ofﬁce and became known as one of the worst movies of the 80s.” He offers many reasons why. West Virginia, its proper locale, becomes a Nevada desert. The exhausted coal mine becomes an abandoned mine in which silver is sought by Jess, played by Stacy Keach (1941–), while Kady, played by Pia Zadora (1954 –), presents “a ﬂitting personiﬁcation of lepidoptera.” The trial for supposed incest features Orson Welles

24

Byrd (1915 –1985) as “a crusty, small-town judge” whose mumbling self-parody comes off close to “farce.” (Leonard Maltin, however, says “Welles steals the ﬁlm.”) Innocent of incest, Jess, who survives, and Kady hold hands when she decides to marry Wash to gain her Danny a moneyed future. Edward Albert (1951–2006) plays Wash, and Ed McMahon (1923–2009) and June Lockhart (1925-) play Wash’s parents. (Castille, 150, 151, 159, 161; Hoopes, 421; Madden 1970, [12], 136; Maltin, 203; Reck, 379; Skenazy, 96) Byrd, Curley (The Moth). He is the University of Maryland football coach when Jack and Denny Deets play there.

C Cain’s Fiction, in Chronological Order of Publication “Pastorale,” March 1928. “The Taking of Monfaucon,” June 1929. “The Baby in the Icebox,” January 1933. The Postman Always Rings Twice, 1934. Double Indemnity, 1934. “Come-back,” June 1934. “Dead Man,” March 1936. “Hip, Hip, the Hippo!,” March 1936. “The Birthday Party,” May 1936. “Brush Fire,” December 5, 1936. Serenade, 1937. “Coal Black,” April 3, 1937. “Everything but the Truth,” July 17, 1937. “Two Can Sing,” April 1938 (as Career in C Major, 1943). “The Girl in the Storm,” January 6, 1940. “Money and the Woman,” 1940 (as The Embezzler, 1943). Mildred Pierce, 1941. Love’s Lovely Counterfeit, 1942. Past All Dishonor, 1946. The Butterﬂy, 1947. Sinful Woman, 1947. The Moth, 1948. Jealous Woman, 1950. The Root of His Evil, 1951. “Pay-off Girl,” August 1952. Galatea, 1953. “Cigarette Girl,” May 1953. “Two O’Clock Blonde,” August 1953. “Death on the Beach,” October 1958. “The Visitor,” September 1961. Mignon, 1962. The Magician’s Wife, 1965. Rainbow’s End, 1975.

The Institute, 1976. “Joy Ride to Glory,” 1981. Cloud Nine, 1984. The Enchanted Isle, 1985. Calenso, Bugs (“Joy Ride to Glory”). He is a hardened convict serving multiple sentences in a California prison near Los Angeles. He escapes in a truck and takes reluctant Red Conley, a mild prisoner, with him. Bugs kills the truck driver, orders Red to drive into a sedan, kills its driver, and takes his clothes and car. In the ensuing chase, Red deliberately wrecks the truck, a motorcycle cop kills Bugs, and Red accidentally escapes down a storm drain. Cam (Past All Dishonor). He and Lee are “colored” silver miners in Virginia City. Cameron, Bill (“Cigarette Girl”). He is a musician from Baltimore who on a professional job for composer Art Lomak goes to Jack Conner’s Here’s How honky-tonk outside Washington, D.C. Cameron grows instantly fond of Lydia Stark, who works there and is sought by would-be killer Vanny Rocco. Cameron ﬁghts with armed Vanny, who wounds him in the leg before being killed by Joe, who works for Conner. Cameron then proposes marriage to Lydia. Cannon (The Moth). He is a University of Maryland student. At a beer party, he and Salt Morton argue. Cannon says that after graduating (in 1932) he’ll work for the Consolidated Engineering company, owned by his uncle. Cantrell, Joe (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). Joseph P. Cantrell is Lake City’s corrupt police department inspector. When Olaf Jansen replaces Maddux as mayor, Ben Grace arranges for Joe Cantrell to become chief of police. He and Ben soon are at odds. Cantrell, Mrs. (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). She is corrupt Joe Cantrell’s wife. She says she believes in mental telepathy. Captain (“Death on the Beach”). He is the Brazos Santiago station pilot who tells the narrator about Gil’s drowning, his mother Maria’s sorrow, Diego’s valiant effort to save the boy, and her marrying him. Career in C Major (as “Two Can Sing,” serial in American, beginning April 1938; revised as novel, Career in C Major, 1943). (Characters: Gwenny Blair, Doris Borland, Evelyn Borland, Leonard Borland, Randolph Borland, Louise Bronson, Cecil Carver, Christine, Craig, Ethel Gorman, Guizot, Mrs. Hertz, Rudolph Hertz, Bert Horn, Alice Hornblow, John Frederick Jevons, Jack Leighton, Hugo Lorentz, Mario, Nils, Cesare Pagano, Parma, Giuseppi Rossi, Gustave Schultz, Siegal, Woods.)

25 1. The narrator, Leonard Borland, and his senior partner Craig in the Craig-Borland Engineering Company, in New York, have been idle for years during the Depression. They get nothing but an order to build a concrete chicken coop in Connecticut. With his share of the proﬁt, Craig returns to his upstate farm. One fall afternoon Leonard walks from the building they own on East 35th Street, where his ofﬁce is, to the apartment building that he bought “on a deal” on East 84th Street, where he and his wife Doris live. Leonard forgot it’s Wednesday; she has her well-to-do, “nitwit” Social Register friends gabbing. He doesn’t like them, and they dislike him. (Hugo) Lorentz is present. Back from Europe, about 40, this Austrian-Italian American had been Doris’s singing instructor. She was 19 when seven years ago she and Leonard, now 33, got married. They soon had a son, Randolph, and a daughter, Evelyn; and Doris, at ﬁrst a willing homemaker, now blames Borland for her giving up a career in opera. Leonard greets Lorentz perfunctorily. Doris, pouring drinks, stares. Doris always speaks “phony” to Borland. Now, though, she is sincerely whispering to Lorentz, at the piano, before starting to sing for the bunch. When the guests leave, Leonard mixes drinks to prepare for Doris and himself, to have a planned dinner date with others. But Doris, high-hatting him again as “a low-brow,” says she’s resuming her career; she and he must sacriﬁce, what with his understandable lack of projects; she’ll have to slave (but not help with household expenses); she will “earn a living.” Leonard recalls he earned “the dough” while “her ﬁne family” didn’t. Leonard, recalling he has accumulated savings and owns buildings and has never crimped her style, resents her self-sacriﬁcing, “dying swan” act. They argue. He says she’s got the singing bug because Lorentz has been back two months and he’s letting her pay him $40 a week for lessons. She says she explained to Lorentz that they’re poor. Leonard explodes, tells her he can afford her lessons but she should stop the hypocritical act. He asks “what the hell” she married him for. That just slipped out. He knows why. She married him for his money, which was plenty. She has a saint’s soul and a snake’s soul, and treated him “like a dog.” Still, he remained inexplicably “nuts about her,” therefore apologizes. Home again, Doris, in a kimono, announces she has exercises to do. He agrees— until she tells him to sleep in the nursery, which the kids have outgrown and which becomes his “abode.” 2. After three months of vocalizing, Doris prepares for a Town Hall recital. She and Leonard both call up friends and relatives, and they call others, to buy $2 tickets to hear this Social Registerite.

Career Leonard gradually realizes that Doris, despite her ﬁne coloratura soprano voice, can’t sing. Still, he continues to take abuse, continues to adore her, and knows Lorentz is aware of her inability. February. Leonard is getting into the cutaway and striped pants Doris told him to wear, when suddenly she gets a phone call. She says her friend Louise Bronson told her relative Rudolph Hertz the wrong day for her recital. Hertz is a Herald Tribune critic, who promised Doris a review; so Leonard simply must, Doris screams, phone Hertz or go see him and say two tickets are awaiting him. Objecting fruitlessly, Leonard dashes to the Hertz residence in person, and is insulted because he’s at breakfast with wife and friend. Leonard and their two kids attend the recital; Doris sings; the audience claps furiously. But the people Doris and Leonard sandbagged to buy ticket got even by sending their kids, with nursemaids, to the recital. Doris takes the kids home. Leonard loafs in his ofﬁce. The Hertzes’ breakfast friend, (Miss) Cecil Carver, phones him, says not to mind, Hertz is “crusty” before having coffee, says she attended the recital and wants him to come hear her opinion of Doris’s voice. She lives on Lexington Avenue, a few blocks away. 3. Cecil, on the 10th ﬂoor, is 28, has pale skin, black hair, dazzling black eyes. She and Leonard enjoy some drinks. He says he’s a contractor, not a singer. She offers “faint praise” of Doris’s voice. A messenger brings news that someone forgot to give Cecil the words to a Navy song she’s to sing tonight. She plays the tune on the piano; Leonard, whose brother was “a gob” [sailor], says he knows the words, sings the song. Cecil is astounded at Leonard’s trumpeting baritone, criticizes Doris’s voice but praises his. Cecil gets seductive. They kiss. Cecil complains that Leonard was “slow enough,” that she wanted the “big gorilla.” [What happened? Paul Skenazy says that in this novel “[t]here is adultery of a sort, but it is played for laughs” (Skenazy, 51).] He complains about being henpecked by but adoring Doris. She says Doris has amorously enslaved Lorentz only to repulse him. Leonard admits he’s not sleeping with Doris. The upshot: Cecil will give Leonard voice lessons—he already knows Italian through prolonged architectural study in Italy — and she will sing with him to bring Doris around to him through jealousy. About 6:00 P.M. Leonard returns home. Doris gushes to her cousin Ethel Gorman that Alice Hornblow just called to tell her that Cecil Carver attended Doris’s recital and said she was “swell.” Doris rebukes dumb Leonard when he asks who Cecil Carver is, says she’s a sensational singer. Doris bids Leonard goodnight in his nursery room. 4. Leonard practices singing in his Craig-Bor-

Career land Building, installs a piano to check notes, listens to harmonized symphony themes on phonograph records, and learns sight-reading with Cecil’s help. One day he hits a Caruso-like tenor tone, and falls in love with his own voice. He pays Cecil in kisses. Within four months Leonard is certain that Doris’s voice is mediocre. Cecil has him learn Germont’s role in La Traviata [1853, by Giuseppe Verdi (1813 –1901)]. He sneaks Doris’s score for it and studies in his nursery. By coincidence Doris is singing her part in La Traviata in a wrongly measured manner. He hums along his part, critically, and laughs at her lacking “any artistic soul.” Complaining of hot weather, Doris parades naked but for an orchid-festooned scarf, says she can’t ﬁnd her Traviata score; says Jack Leighton can book her a Cathedral recital; boasts she’s “a pro” and Jack gave her the orchids; laments they can’t afford orchids and fears Jack may demand “his price” for kindness. Leonard says that he’d slug Jack if he tried but that Jack wouldn’t try. Leonard lies that from non-existing phone talk with Jack he knows Doris not Jack bought the orchids to frustrate Jack. To Doris’s saying Leonard looks “awful,” he retorts “bored” men do. She storms out. 5. It’s “a lousy summer.” August: Doris and the kids go to the Adirondacks, while Leonard masters two additional roles and enjoys being with Cecil. Doris’s letter about Lorentz’s being with her nettles Leonard. Doris comes home. Cecil goes on tour September-November. Friends invite Doris to sing at a Wilkes-Barre club. Cecil wires Leonard in October to come to Rochester to replace her sick tenor. Though apprehensive, he books a Newark-toRochester ﬂight, wires Doris he has business out of town, wires Cecil he’s coming. Cecil meets Leonard, kisses him, and warns him that her tenor “got the bird” in Buffalo and Leonard must ram his singing into a possibly hyena-like audience — tonight. Leonard meets Ray Wilkins, Cecil’s accompanist, who produces printed proofs of their John Frederick Jevons program, Thursday, October 5, for her to check. He tells her to change his name on the program to Logan Bennett. She checks Leonard’s vocalizing “ha-ha,” then tells him to rest. [This date fell in 1933.] He has thought the event would be “cock-eyed” fun, but Cecil is cool. He naps in his hotel room, showers, dresses, and goes to her room. Cecil tells him how to walk out, bow once, look businesslike, thus demand applause; after singing, await Wilkins’s piano ﬁnish, bow center, left, right, and hit the wings quickly. Also, since Wilkins plays from memory, he’ll look at Leonard and the audience will therefore ﬁgure he admires Leonard. Cecil rehearses his entrance, etc. His ﬁrst song will be

26 “Vittoria mio core” by [Giacomo] Carissimi [c. 1604 –1674]. Taxi to the Eastman Theatre. Leonard peeks at an accomplished-looking audience. Cecil’s ﬁrst performance — Rossini in Latin, etc.— rises to pure “ﬁreworks,” applause, and bows. Out goes Leonard, sees “faces, faces, faces,” awaits Wilkins’s cue chord, then sings “so big it startled me.” Too fast. A “bit” of applause. Second song. Too loud. A “ripple” of applause. Third song. Disaster. Audience provides “a hog-calling contest.” Bows and exits. Cecil shouts that he “ﬂopped!” Wilkins forces Cecil to go smile at the audience, so as not “to lose them for good.” Cecil says the audience is “cold as dead ﬁsh,” criticizes Leonard for bellowing like a train announcer, but permits him to go ahead after intermission. She does her Mozart, plus an encore. Wilkins, who heard the two arguing, signals Leonard on, and he starts his “recitative”— which Wilkins “mumble[s]” is terriﬁc. Leonard relaxes. Wilkins makes his accompaniment “really ... drip,” and Leonard hits the proper “high G,” throttles his bellow, ﬁnishes in “nice control.” The balcony and then the rest start “yelling ... bravo.” Bows, a lipsticky kiss from Cecil, and for an encore Leonard presents “Di provenza il mar” from La Traviata by “old man Verdi,” which Wilkins paces slowly, so that Leonard can keep “all the sadness” in it. The bravo shouters are so enthusiastic that he regards them as “the nicest people in the world.” [This section, magniﬁcently written, is especially meaningful for opera lovers.] Flowers for Leonard. A duet with Cecil from The Marriage of Figaro [1786, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 –1791)]. Dinner with Wilkins. While Cecil powders her nose, Wilkins tries to disillusion Leonard by saying that Cecil will prove typical of all opera singers, that Cecil — dumb, pretty, vain, cruel, egotistical, and jealous— will dump Leonard tomorrow. He bets Wilkins “two bits” she won’t. Leonard goes to Cecil’s room for a “goodnight” smoke. When she complains that something is wrong with her expensive dress, he agrees that it makes her look like a sofa and her “bozoom” like a “dairy,” praises her ﬁgure, but says she should “[d]ress the woman, not the shape.” She hints he knows about such “from her [Doris],” confesses to being essentially a hard-worked “hick” recently successful, whereas if “she,” that woman with “class,” tells Leonard to hop, he jumps. He replies he isn’t “ashamed” of Doris or of Cecil either. He is proud of Cecil, “a pro.” She says she wanted him to sing well but feared he’d then go away. While embracing her fondly, he’s aware he wants to be meaningful only to Doris and would, though tortured, jump when she ordered. Cecil praises his manliness and wants to be a woman not a singer. He says she made

27 him manly. Yes, she counters, for him to return to “her”; meanwhile, they should make a “tiddle-dewinks game” of singing together for a while. He feels like crying but laughs with her instead and repeats he’s proud of her. She suddenly laughs— about something concerning him that he learns details of later. 6. They tour together. Cecil pays Leonard’s expenses, but he declines her $50 a night offer of pay. Many reviews praise her; a few, his “power,” “sweep,” “authority.” In Columbus, he sees “a little wop in gray spats” conferring with her. He is (Giuseppe) Rossi, a busy worker for Cesare Pagano, the proﬁt-making American Scala Opera Company “impresario” who owns her contract and who has scheduled her for New York’s Metropolitan. Rossi wants Leonard there too at $125 per week for four trial weeks. He reluctantly agrees to be costumed and use facial make-up. Next day, Chicago. Wilkins departs for New York. Leonard is to be baritone in La Bohème [1896, by Giacomo Puccini (1858 –1924)] and to sing as the hunchbacked Rigoletto [Rigoletto, 1851, by Verdi, for which he’s ﬁtted with “hump” and red wig.] The troupe reluctantly does a sit-down La Bohème rehearsal to prime uneasy Leonard, whose singing as Mario the conductor evidently deplores. Rossi demands more “pep” from Leonard. When reporters interview Leonard as “Bennett,” he ﬁbs about having gone abroad with an uncle and studying “musical stuff in Italy.” The Chicago auditorium stage, big enough to house a blimp, scares him. Cecil makes him up in her dressing room and instructs him about hanging his costume changes in proper order and about understanding curtain calls. Leonard nervously vocalizes “ha-ha, m’m-m’m, ee-ee,” until he’s called. Rossi arranges the singers, including pretty Cecil in black. Leonard reads the calls on the bulletin board; he and Parma the tenor, among others, enter. Seconds pass. The orchestra opens with a crash like birds suddenly ﬂying from a hunting shoot. Leonard starts badly, is rescued by the experienced conductor, glides into his role better, and exits promptly. Cecil, smoking in the wings, says he’s “all right,” goes on stage. In due time Parma uncorks a beautiful voice, thrills the audience with “Che gelida manina,” and Cecil also proves they earn their “dough.” In the wings, Parma and then Cecil warn Leonard to watch Mario the conductor furtively while singing to the audience. During the next act he follows that advice and “got a hand.” Parma gives Leonard a sincere “O.K., boy” during the third act and advises him for their coming duet to be “dolce ... a sweet, a

Career sad.” Parma starts the duet magniﬁcently, then winks at Leonard, who melts into it with “imitation tears, but ... tears just the same.” On stage, quietly, Parma affectionately calls him “son-bitchbast.” Toward the ﬁnish, the two “stopped the show” and had to do an encore then and there. Cecil makes Leonard escort Mario with her for a ﬁnal curtain call. After meeting autograph hunters, Leonard dines with ecstatic Cecil. She is greatly thrilled; he, less so, saying he’s only “a dumb contractor” and this career is a “big joke,” though a successful one. They kiss and hug in their restaurant booth. After more touring, the troupe ﬁnishes in Indianapolis and Leonard substitutes for a jailed singer by quickly learning a part in Faust. This so pleases Mario that Leonard is offered $200 a week to train further with him. His declining upsets Cecil. He regards this whirl as temporary, wants no operatic career, must return to Doris even though she never answered his wires from city after city. Cecil, hoping to train him so he could upstage “her [Doris],” now ﬁnds herself a sobbing “home-wrecker.” Leonard, though not in love with Cecil, also cries. 7. At New York’s Grand Central, Leonard hopes, vainly, to be met by Doris; puts Cecil in a cab, soon to go to the Met; gets his trunk to his ofﬁce and himself to his apartment—oddly empty after these “six weeks.” Nils, “the houseman,” says he took Leonard’s kids to school, says his wife Christine, who is Doris’s cook-maid, was with Doris. Lorentz phones. Trouble. Leonard goes to the Cathedral Theatre, ﬁnds Doris in convulsions because she was jeered. While a nurse soothes her, Lorentz explains: Doris can’t sing; he couldn’t dissuade her; she started, got “the bird”; she’ll blame Lorentz, her “chief lackey”; he adores her, but she’ll never forgive him. Lorentz exits. Leonard takes Doris, with Christine, home. He undresses Doris. She’s like a beautiful, crushed ﬂower in bed. A doctor comes with some pills. Drowsing, she tells Leonard she’s a failure; he knew it but egged her on; she ﬂirted with others to make him jealous; she loves him, kisses him tenderly, sleeps. He checks his ofﬁce for mail, thinks happily about Doris, must “lay it on the line” with Cecil and say they “have to break.” He goes to Cecil’s suite. She says she heard that Doris ﬂopped. He says Doris wants him back and yes, he wants back. Cecil says she herself wants no “consolation prizes” and orders him never to return; sure, he was honest; she feels no bitterness; he mustn’t return as a friend; that woman controls the terms, will treat Leonard like “her little whimpering lapdog.” Kissed once, he leaves. Home again, Leonard gives his kids some presents. Doris, better, asks about his “nice trip.” He

Career ﬁbs about looking over contract possibilities. She parts her hair from all over his face for a tiny kiss, says she could just weep for gladness. 8. Doris suddenly remembers they must both go to Gwenny Blair’s “stinkaroo” (afternoon) cocktail party. She dresses showily. When asked, he nods his approval. They walk to Gwenny’s Park Avenue penthouse nearby. To numerous people there, including her Cathedral show contact, Doris is honest enough to say she ﬂopped but then adds she won’t be receiving the high pay she expected and can’t therefore go to Bermuda. She approaches Leonard, looks at him so seductively that he turns groggy. Doris says they gotta leave, because she’s furious with Gwenny for not alerting her to the fact that she also invited Cecil Carver to the party. Doris wanted to meet her but can’t remain now only to be pitied. Cecil enters, with Wilkins. Doris disappears. Gwenny introduces Cecil to guests happy to meet a star. Cecil and Leonard are introduced. Leonard assures her that he didn’t plan this, that Gwenny invited Doris to meet Cecil. Doris is hiding because she ﬂopped. Cecil will go comfort her. Cecil returns to tippling Leonard, says she “half way liked” Doris, confessed that she too once ﬂopped and says anyone can get over it. When Leonard asks if he can say something, Cecil, stopping him, says he caused her to put her heart on ice, she must sing, she must go after another man. She kisses Lorentz. Doris returns and to Leonard upbraids Cecil for “purring” false sympathy at her like a cat. When Leonard says maybe Cecil was sincere, Doris replies thus: Leonard, like other men, doesn’t understand; Cecil’s dress is frumpy; Doris won’t quit, will try again. Leonard realizes that Doris will never change and that he has been a fool. Gwenny calls attention. Cecil says she’ll sing not to Wilkins’s accompaniment but, rather, as Lorentz, now at the piano, taught her in Berlin. The song is Titania’s from Mignon [1866, by Ambroise Thomas (1811–1896)]. Doris whispers that Cecil is publicly stealing Lorentz from her, will get her comeuppance from Doris, and is “ﬂatting.” Cecil asks if her singing pleased Doris. Just wonderful. Cecil suggests a duet with Doris. Though scared, she agrees to start Mozart’s “La dove prende,” and Cecil will follow on. Doris appears jealous and whispers about revenge to Leonard. Wilkins is at the piano. Although the result is “terrible,” Cecil carries Doris to “a big hand.” When Doris puts her arm around Cecil, Leonard fears “something ... [will] pop.” Doris laughingly accuses Cecil of trying to “steal my men.” Doris says Leonard lied about looking for commercial business out of town when in reality he was following Cecil, who says she didn’t mean anything to

28 “Mr. Borland” but that they toured and sang together. Doris roars, “Imagine Leonard — singing — ha-ha.” Joining the roast, Gwenny challenges Leonard to sing “Polly-achy.” Leonard feels something crack in him, asks Wilkins to start Pagliacci’s “Prologue.” [Pagliacci, 1892, by Ruggiero Leoncavallo (1858 –1919).] Cecil warns he’ll regret it. But he sings magniﬁcently, stuns the audience, pours himself a fourth drink, and sees Doris staggering out like a blind person. 9. Leonard sees Wilkins and Cecil at the elevator. Her talk to Wilkins puzzles him. Wilkins gets a cab, would offer Leonard and Cecil a lift but is going downtown. Leonard determines to be with Cecil from now on; a doorman brings a cab; she enters it; while he starts to tip the doorman, Cecil is off alone, waving. Leonard walks around, drunk, with his decision evaporating. He gets home and is instantly attacked by Doris, clawing him and pounding him with her shoe, screaming her humiliation and indifference to “who [Cecil] you have.” The children cry. Bleeding, Leonard staggers to Central Park, wipes his torn face, takes a cab to “a dump” on Twenty-Third Street. The clerk watches him register “Leonard Borland City” but buzzes for the house detective. When Leonard demands “bedroom, bath and sitting room” and plunks a $50 bill, the detective helps him upstairs and will send up a turkey dinner. People take his coat for repair, bring pajamas, and a doctor “plastered me up.” He gets some wine, bathes, tries about 9:30 P.M. to sleep, has visions of Doris’s attack, feels like “a jackass” for his stunt at Gwenny’s, and wants nothing but to have Doris again. 10. Leonard rents a hotel suite in the Fifties by the month, reads about Doris and Leighton in the society columns, returns to his ofﬁce. One day a man named Horn calls on him, says Rossi recommended Leonard Borland, when he was singing in Pittsburgh as Logan Bennett, offers Leonard $150 to sing in a Hippodrome opera group. Leonard, sick of any “idea of singing,” declines. He sees Cecil near the Met, leaves phone calls, gets no answers. In December, Leonard’s check for his hotel suite bounces. He discovers Doris has cleaned out their joint account. He has to borrow $300 from a friendly Newark shovel manufacturer to cover immediate expenses. He won’t grovel to Doris. He remembers Horn. He phones Bert Horn, who contracts with him to sing “Marcel [in La Bohème], Germont, and Rigoletto,” and quickly to learn parts in Cavalleria Rusticana [1890, by Pietro Mascagni (1863 –1945)] and Pagliacci as well. Horn says his tenor Parma is in

29 the cast, suggests Hugo Lorentz as trainer, but Leonard requests another. Horn names Siegal, who costs Leonard $25 per hour, whereas Cecil taught him free. Leonard sizes up the gigantic Hippodrome stage, meets conductor Gustave Schultz, requests a Rigoletto rehearsal, complete with his Rigoletto’s being manhandled. Everyone obliges, including Parma, who is proud like most singers of his muscles and tosses Leonard hard. Leonard, Parma, and Schultz have some wine. Leonard has a late lunch, rests, feels good. In his dressing room, Leonard puts on his makeup and costume from his trunk. Entering, Horn explains that when a certain small “wop” comes in and asks $10 from Leonard, he is to pay him for a claque of professional clappers. Leonard realizes Cecil must have paid for such on their tour. He strides conﬁdently toward the stage, checks his entrance cues. The opera begins. Parma does well. Leonard starts excellently. The singer for Gilda is nothing like Cecil but is adequate. When time comes for him to mock “the Ceprano,” he is astounding. Bravos ring out. He rests before the last act. The famous Rigoletto quartet is difﬁcult; but Parma starts it well, and it goes superbly. The audience shouts for an encore. Parma starts; “the Maddalena” follows, then Gilda; Leonard begins. Something feels wrong. This is “what happened,” Leonard recalls (for his readers). The “operatic hack” Maddalena sings early, pulls in Gilda, who pulls in Leonard. Schultz can’t organize it. The audience courteously delays guffawing. But Leonard’s looking about as “for help” is “the white feather” to the mob. Roars erupt. He realizes in a ﬂash that he’s heard “the bird” and knows “why.” He faces the jeerers. They continue. The entire theatre seems to spin in front of him. He is committing that cardinal sin — neglecting to watch the conductor. So when Schultz signals Parma to resume, Leonard instead bellows his part, gets heckled remorselessly, runs off-stage and clutches a stairway despite Gilda’s shouting curses. Schultz resumes by skipping ahead “ﬁve whole pages.” Cecil materializes through a ﬁre door, orders Leonard to get back on that stage, stop being “yellow” and instead “lick” that audience; she says Doris and their kids are in the audience. But he freezes. Cecil sheds two tears, departs. Leonard locks himself in his dressing room, realizes now why Cecil and even Horn had doubts about him. He has “smoke” but no true trouper’s ﬁre. He realizes he’s just “another Doris,” having

Career “everything but what it takes.” The bass, named Woods, doubles to the ﬁnale for Leonard’s Rigoletto, while Leonard remains off-stage “blubbering” like a scared kid. Woods is long extolled for having “what it takes.” 11. Leonard recalls reading that “a lady novelist” named Alice Duer Miller was hired to write about the Dempsey-Carpentier ﬁght “in 1921.” She chose to visit loser Carpentier’s dressing room but found nothing there to write about. That’s how Leonard feels now. No one seeks him out. But Doris enters, nicely dressed in green and brown, asks what happened, says she took the children home before the last act. When he says he got the bird, Doris, who knew pangs of defeat, uses her “cobra strain” to curse the audience. Which delights Leonard. She tenderly wipes off his make-up, helps him into his street clothes, and they taxi to his hotel. He ﬁgures he needn’t return, only to be told he won’t be signing the contract Rossi prepared for him. [Jack Dempsey (1895 –1983) defeated Georges Carpentier (1894 –1975) for the world heavy-weight boxing title (July 2, 1921). Alice Duer Miller (1874 – 1972), poet, novelist, and dramatist, is most famous for her wartime, pro–British, book-length poem The White Cliffs (1940).] In the lobby is Leonard’s partner Craig. He’s been looking for Leonard. Doris ﬁbs that their kids had the measles and Leonard took a hotel room to avoid being quarantined. Craig explains that he found Leonard only by chance seeing a newspaper picture of him in an opera costume, has a contract pending for a bridge in Alabama, two tickets for Leonard and Doris to get there by train and wow those Southerners by taking a whole hotel ﬂoor and lavishing the liquor. Leonard says their bridge construction succeeded, but that’s ahead of his story. Leonard and Doris call home, make arrangements, get to the train on time. When Leonard returns from the club car with cigarettes, Doris is in their upper berth. He starts a duet, thus: La ci darem la mano! La mi dirai di si Vedi non e lontano Partiam ben mio da qui.

[There we will join hands! / There you will say yes to me. / Look, it is not far. / Let’s go, my dear, from here.] She asks if he ever sang all that “with her [Cecil].” Never, he avows, explaining that he was to “do Don Giovanni,” heard Doris hum this lyric, and studied it himself. She pops down into his lower berth and begins murmuring. She’s glad he ﬂopped, because she “couldn’t stand” his outdoing her; the voice he’s got in his throat is exclusively hers now; his singing from Pagliacci at Gwenny’s nearly killed her; she’ll always be “jealous, and

30

Carl spiteful”; when too awful, he can sing to her and thus enslave her again; “that woman” did the two of them a favor; Doris has fallen in love with Leonard again. As she kisses his throat, he repeats the four hummed lines from Don Giovanni [1787, by Mozart]; then she sings the four that follow: Vorrei e non vorrei Mio trema un poco il cor Felice e ver sarei Ma puo burlarmi ancor.

[I would and I would not. / My heart trembles a little. / I would be happy, it is true. / But he may deceive me again.] Leonard concludes his narration by saying that their duet was “terrible” and yet “the sweetest” singing he ever heard. “That’s all.” [Opera-loving readers may hope “that’s all” indeed, because Mozart’s unprincipled lover Don Giovanni is trying to seduce little Zerlina, singing after him with a properly trembling heart. Yet again, never fear; not Leonard but only Don Giovanni pays for his sins by winding up in a ﬁery pit. Career in C Major may be interpreted as a morality play, in which unselﬁshness is pitted against selﬁshness, and amateurishness opposes professionalism.] Roy Hoopes explains the evolution of Career in C Major. It began as “Two Can Sing,” a serial, which Cain boasted he typed in 28 days; Twentieth Century–Fox paid him $8,000 for movie rights to the plot; serialized successfully, the story gained Cain $5,000 more; expanded and retitled, it was included as Career in C Major in Three of a Kind by canny Alfred A. Knopf (1944), along with The Embezzler and Double Indemnity, and including a special preface by Cain. Cain informed David Madden that movie-rights money paid for “Two Can Sing” enabled him to visit Mexico to seek background information for what became Serenade. Based on the original serial, then the expanded novel, were two movies: Wife, Husband and Friend 1938), which Cain saw and ridiculed; and Everybody Does It (1949). (Hoopes, 280, 285, 288, 300, 331, 447; Madden 1970, 47; Maltin, 430, 1551) Carl (Mildred Pierce). He is a lad, 17, when Mildred hires him to drive her pie truck. He is Tommy’s younger brother. Carroll, Dr. (Galatea). He is a person whom Holly accuses her husband Valenty of being afraid to see in church. Carroll, Mrs. (Galatea). She is Dr. Carroll’s wife. Holly ridicules her husband Valenty because he is afraid to see her in church. She ﬂourishes a lorgnette. Carter, Dr. (The Institute). He is a retired professor from the University of Maryland. Lloyd hires

him to investigate the academic backgrounds of grant applicants. Carter recommends Dr. Johnson, retired professor from the University of Pennsylvania, to Lloyd, who also hires him. Carter, Gordon (Cloud Nine). He and Jack Kefore and Mel Schlachtman are three real-estate salesmen working under Graham Kirby. Cartogensis, S. (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). S. Cartogensis & Son is the name of the Castleton shippers that Ben Grace uses to transport sealed betting slips from Lake City in a seemingly legal manner. Carver, Cecil (Career in C Major). She is an attractive, accomplished opera singer, from Oregon, 28, and heading for the Metropolitan Opera Company. When during the Depression, Leonard Borland is an out-of-work contractor and discovers he has a surprisingly ﬁne voice, Cecil takes him under her wing, falls in love with him, and lets him tour with her troupe. Though mercilessly henpecked by his wife Doris, Leonard ultimately return to her. Cecil vows to ignore him thereafter, and almost does. Her prediction that he lacks the ﬁery spirit of a true professional singer comes true when he fails as a substitute in Rigoletto. Many readers will remember that Cecilia is the patron saint of music. Though hardly saintly, Cain’s Cecil is indeed prophetic; she predicts quite early the outcome of her relationship with Leonard. Casey (The Moth). He is a road-gang superintendent east of Kansas City. He hires Jack, and his hobo pals Buck and Hosey also, because Jack is able to be a brief substitute blacksmith. Caskey, Matt (The Enchanted Isle). He is a notorious criminal, heading the ominously named Casket gang in Baltimore. One of his partners is Howie Hyde. The two drag Mandy Vernick and Rick Davis into a scheme to rob a Baltimore bank. During the attempt, both criminals are shot dead; while dying, one of the two mortally wounds Lester Bond, the bank guard. To avoid identiﬁcation, Matt tells Mandy and Rick to call him “Pal” and to call Howie “Bud.” Caskie, Red (Past All Dishonor). He works for Raymond Brewer and is in charge of taking silver shipments from Virginia City to the San Francisco mint and returning to Virginia City with the equivalent in gold. Roger Duval plots to rob him on his way back, does manage to kill him, but then Roger’s plans fail. Caspar, Franklin (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). He is Sol Caspar’s four-year-old son. When Sol is about to be arrested, Sol, his wife Maria, and their Frankie escape to Mexico.

31 Caspar, Maria (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). She is Sol Caspar’s wife and Franklin Caspar’s mother. When corrupt Sol is in danger of exposure, the three Caspars escape to Mexico. Cain’s deft characterization of this woman, brighteyed, fat, and Italian, comprises the ﬁnest touch of this novel. When it becomes obvious that Sol must make a quick exit, Cain says she “looked wearily at the ﬂoor, with the ancient dead pan of a woman who knows nothing and can guess all that matters.” This is because she is “seeing clues that would have been invisible to anyone else.” She then “got up and followed.” Caspar, Sol (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). Solomon (“Sol,” “Solly”) Caspar (real name, Salvatore Gasparro), is the leader, about 35, of criminals backing corrupt Mayor Maddux of Lake City. His political cronies are Oliver Hedge Bleeker, Joe Cantrell, and Yates. His criminal associate in Chicago is Bill Delany. Sol owns and lives in the Columbus Hotel. His thuggish employees in and out of the hotel are Lefty Gauss, Ben Grace, Goose Groner, and Bugs Lenhardt. When a bank robbery organized by Sol goes awry, Ben Grace ﬁngers him to the newspapers; so he takes wife, son, and self to Mexico. He is extradited to Lake City, tries to kill Ben, but is shot dead by Ben’s girlfriend Dorothy Lyons. Cain particularizes Solly by saying that his dark brown eyes are “arresting” but that they are “ever so slightly out of line” and look glassy when focused. Further, Cain contrasts Sol by saying that, though posed in a Pioneer newspaper photo “as though he were a great Gatsby,” he is in reality “a little Caspar.” Cain is obviously capitalizing on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, published in 1925, dramatized on Broadway in 1926, and ﬁlmed for the ﬁrst of four times in 1926. (Maltin, 562) Cass, Lew (The Butterﬂy). He and Bobby Hunter are friends of the Blue boys. The two participate in blocking Jess Tyler from attending his own wife Belle Tyler’s funeral. Cassidy (Mignon). He is a Union navy sailor lost, as is Mignon, when the cutter both are on is inexpertly steered, rushes past the dam Bill built, and sinks. Their bodies, grappled for, are never found.

Chin Juana, which causes John to depart suddenly with Juana. Chambers, Frank (The Postman Always Ring Twice). Frank, the narrator, is a tall, sturdy drifter, 24, and originally from “Frisco.” He stops at Nick Papadakis’s tavern 20 miles from Los Angeles, falls in love with Nick’s wife Cora Papadakis, and they plot to murder Nick. While Cora is driving Nick’s car, Frank crushes his skull with a wrench. The two then stage a car accident. After elaborate hearings, Cora is convicted of manslaughter but gets a suspended sentence. Frank and Cora marry. Already pregnant by him, she gets sick swimming, and while trying to drive her to a Santa Monica hospital, he veers off the road, accidentally hits a culvert wall, and she dies. He is tried, convicted, and will be hanged for murder. David Glover says that by making “the criminal the narrator,” Cain involves “the reader directly in the planning and commission of a murder.” Bobbie Robinson deﬁnes Frank as “the signature Cain hero,” but then she adds, too expansively, that “he became the tough character against whom all hard-boiled heroes are measured.” [All?] Patrick J. McGrath reports that Tay Garnett (1894 –1977), who directed the ﬁrst movie (1946) based on The Postman Always Rings Twice, said that the performance of John Garﬁeld (1913–1952) as Frank made “the picture an unqualiﬁed success.” Ephraim Katz notes that Garﬁeld died of a heart attack soon after he was questioned by anti-communists in the Un-Amer ican Activities Committee of the U. S. House of Representatives, was suspected of being a left-winger, but was never accused. (Glover, 144; Katz, 511; McGrath, 80; Robinson, 58) Charlie (The Root of His Evil). He is the Karb restaurant cook where Carrie works. He boils Korn on the Karb. Charlie (Serenade). He is an imaginary person that three girls pretend to be seeking aboard Captain Conners’ docked boat. They do this so that when they are ordered to sneak back ashore, they can have Juana Montes, who is illegally hiding aboard, join them and thus escape to American soil. Chief (The Enchanted Isle). He is Baltimore’s chief of police. He cooperates with other law-enforcement personnel in their unsuccessful attempt to capture Rick Davis in Hyattsville.

Cassidy (Mignon). This is the name of a New Orleans bar in which Bill ﬁnds Dan Dorsey, for whom he has been looking. Cain seems unimaginative when he uses the name Cassidy for two different people in Mignon.

Childs, Esther (The Enchanted Isle). See Davis, Esther.

Chadwick, Elsa (Serenade). She is the American actress playing opposite John Howard Sharp in the movie Woolies. She invites John and Juana Montes, his Mexican girlfriend, to a party but mistreats

Chin, Dr. (The Institute). He is a librarian of Chinese extraction. Lloyd hires him to work at the Institute. Lloyd subsequently refers to him as Dr. Lin.

Chinchin Chinchin (Past All Dishonor). She is a half–Chinese prostitute working for Biloxi. Christine (Career in C Major). She and her husband Nils are servants working for Doris and Leonard Borland in New York. Christolf, Jack (Double Indemnity). He is an actor in unimpressive movies. Huff regards him as “a ham” but knows that he is popular in Gun Play, which Huff attends as part of an alibi for the night he intends to kill Phyllis Nirdlinger. Huff doesn’t need the alibi because she shoots him. Church, Miss (The Embezzler). She is the bookkeeper in the Glendale bank where Charles Brent is a teller. Although she is an obese apple-polisher, the two fall in love. Charles, married to Sheila Brent, and Miss Church plan a robbery, after which they intend to escape, taking Charles’s two little daughters with them. Plans go wry, when the cops seize Miss Church with their loot, pursue Charles in his getaway car, and kill him. Miss Church plea bargains and is “sent over to Tehachapi for a while.” Tehachapi State Prison is located near Tehachapi, in southern California. “Cigarette Girl” (short story, Manhunt, May 1953). (Characters: Bill Cameron, Jack Conner, Joe, Art Lomak, Mrs. Rocco, Vanny Rocco, Lydia Stark.) Narrator Cameron is a musician and arranger for composer Art Lomak’s Baltimore band. Art thinks a tune he adapted as a song he titled “Nevada” from the aria “O Tu Palermo” from Sicilian Vespers [(1855), opera by Giuseppe Verdi (1813 –1901)] has been “lifted” from him by three musicians broadcasting their version by FM radio every 10:00 P.M. from Here’s How, a “honkytonk” outside Washington. At 8:00 P.M. Cameron goes there to check for Art, buys cigarettes from an attractive “cigarette girl,” offers a declined tip, starts ﬂirting. Proprietor Jack Conner says she’s subbing for the regular cigarette girl, isn’t just any easy pickup, has come here as his friend from the better-mannered West. Cameron says he’s a musician, plays many instruments, including the guitar. Conner, smelling “something ﬁshy,” brings a guitar from the musicians’ unoccupied stand. Cameron says he’s heard the Here’s How trio is good, came here to listen. He plays some pieces splendidly; the customers clap. Conner returns, says the girl heard his playing and “you’re in”; but wait until midnight, after she’s processed tonight’s income. She perches on a chair, saying it’s a “balcony scene.” Cameron plays some Romeo and Juliet music. The “crew” offers occasional accompaniment. Conner introduces the girl as Lydia Stark. Cameron plays tunes from “Showboat.” [Show Boat was a musical (1927) by Jerome Kern (1885–1945) and Oscar Hammerstein II (1895–

32 1960) based on Show Boat (1926), a novel by Edna Ferber (1887–1968).] Lydia asks his name. It’s Bill. Conner brings champagne. Lydia, trembling, sips and says she’s leaving tonight, by 1:00 A.M. plane — bag packed and at airport. He asks where to. Home, but exactly where isn’t important, is her answer. Cameron spins an imaginary story about her — until she interrupts and says he’s wrong, because she’s a gambler. She spills her story: Nevada, where gambling is legal, is home; she worked in the Paddock, a Reno club, owned by Senator Tony Rocco; the feds closed it for tax evasion; Rocco sold his property for $250,000; naive Lydia was lured to Maryland by a tip, pleasing to Mrs. Rocco, that Maryland was going to legalize “wheels” in addition to “tracks.” The Roccos and Lydia ﬂew to Maryland. Lydia says working brieﬂy for Conner beats getting killed. Cameron, smitten by Lydia, considers rescuing her from having to return to Nevada. But a rumpus starts. A waiter removes an empty wine bottle from the table of “a little noisy guy” who shouts that the bottle was full, grabs it, staggers back. Cameron thinks the drunk act was faked; Conner agrees. When the “drunk” demands his check, Conner tells the waiter to order Joe to make him wait. Conner locks the back door, whispers to Lydia that the “drunk ... is a ﬁnger he [?] sent in to spot you,” that “he” is “parked in back,” waiting to kill her. Conner will drive her to Friendship Airport nearby, with Cameron along. He says no, he’ll follow them in his car. Lydia kisses Cameron and starts away. He plays a song called “Nevada” as a parting “bouquet” to her. She peeks into the dark, says “he” is outside, alerted by “Nevada” music, that troublesome song “he”—whom she names Vanny— knows; she wrongly ﬁgures it’s a signal. She tells Conner that Cameron not the “drunk” is the “ﬁnger.” The “drunk” shouts “Vanny! ... She’s leav ing!” and pulls a gun. Jack rushes at him but slips. Joe, Conner’s head waiter, knocks him ﬂat, reaches toward the dropped gun. But Vanny enters, his gun hand calmly in his double-breasted coat pocket like “a movie gangster.” He demands answers. Jack calls him “Mr. Rocco.” Lydia reviles Vanny Rocco for mistreating her and also her parents. Vanny wonders who Cameron is. Chancing it, Cameron, aware that guitar-playing has made his left hand strong, grips Vanny’s concealed gun hand ﬁercely, is shot in the leg. Simultaneously, Conner kills Vanny with the gun the “drunk” dropped. Lydia, aware now, treats Cameron’s wound. The police come, soon are “catching up.” Cameron tells Lydia to forget the airplane, since they legalize some things in Maryland, involving not wheels but rings. “The Cinderella Story.” See The Root of His Evil. The City Marshal (Past All Dishonor). He is Virginia

33 City’s marshal, conducts an inquest after Roger Duval kills several men in Rocco’s Esperanza gambling house, and declares that Roger was justiﬁed. Clark (The Enchanted Isle). He is the vice president of a Baltimore bank. Bald and middle-aged, he is agreeable to bending the law in order to recover loot from his bank in a heist botched by Matt Caskey and Howie Hyde, both killed. Rick Davis escapes with the cash — but not for long. Clawson, Jim (The Enchanted Isle). He is a clever Baltimore attorney in the ﬁrm of Digges, Clawson and Llowndes. Their ofﬁces are in the Fidelity Building on Charles Street. Clawson’s friend Benjamin Wilmer enlists his help in extricating Mandy Vernick from responsibility after she unwilling participated in a botched bank robbery. Clawson, about 40, tall, slim, and dressing well, successfully enlists help from Jack Haynes, an attorney of the state’s attorney ofﬁce, Clark, vice president of the bank, and Richter, an involved insurance agent. Cleopatra (Mignon). This is the name assigned by Bill to the Mardi Gras reveler who, costumed as Egypt’s famous queen, bumps into him. Cain can’t resist having this drum-beating person accompanied by “a beautiful little fairy.” Cline, Dr. (Rainbow’s End). He is a physician who accompanies Edgren when they are ﬁrst summoned to Dave Howell’s home Cloud Nine (novel, 1986). (Characters: Al, Aunt Annabelle, Bin Ben Bon, Gordon Carter, Florence Crittenton, Elsie, Hamell, Mrs. Hamell, Clint Jervis, Rod Jervis, Jack Kefore, Kirby, Graham Kirby, Louis Lang, Mrs. Lang, Sonja Lang, Mort Leonard, Lieberman, Mrs. Lucas, Lynn, Mabel, Stan Modell, Modesta, Pat Moran, Dale Morgan, Mrs. Morgan, Helen Musick, Mrs. Persoff, F. X. Reilly, Ryon, Dr. Sandoval, Mel Schachtman, Jane Sibert, Burwell Stuart, Harrison Stuart, Edith Stuart, Aunt Sue.) Chapter 1. The narrator, Graham Kirby, 30, is a successful real-estate agent in Prince Georges County, Maryland. His father died when Graham was eight. His mother then married Harrison Stuart. They had a wild son named Burwell (“Burl”) Stuart. Graham disliked Harrison; so “Mother” let Mrs. Jane Silbert raise him on her farm. Following for Graham were happiness, high school, Yale, and success in his father’s real-estate business. Following for Burl, however, was trouble. When 12, he raped his teacher, Dale Morgan, visited her again, and they found true love. When Burl was 15, his father died. Burl was in the army, and smitten Dale followed him to Japan, later died in a car crash also killing her mother. One June morning Sonya Lang, 16 and pretty, awaits Graham outside his ofﬁce. She

Cloud tells him that Burl raped her, got her pregnant, and her father plans to make trouble. Graham gladly drives Sonja to his home for a talk. Chapter 2. Graham and Sonya enter his mansion in College Heights Estates. He grabbed the place through a lucky trade-in. When he phones his ofﬁce to say he’s busy, his secretary Miss Helen Musick reports that his mother phoned twice, saying a girl (Sonya) also phoned and seemed to indicate trouble. Sonya admires his place, cries, and sits on a couch — showing her “most beautiful legs— and tells her story: Dale, whom Burl raped but then attracted, was Sonya’s best friend; Dale’s death in the car accident depressed Burl, whom, therefore, Sonya tried to comfort; they dated a little; a girlfriend of Sonya’s invited her to a party, at which boys with six-packs were guests; Burl threw Sonya onto a bed; her girlfriend and his date fornicated on the bed; aroused by their joyful moaning, Burl raped innocent Sonya while the other two held her down; the girlfriend called her boyfriend “chicken” for turning remorseful and exiting; then Burl “had” the girlfriend also. Sonja returned home, refused brazen Burl when he sought more time with her, conﬁded in her mother only when the doctor said Sonja was pregnant. Her mother and perhaps Burl’s mother as well are opting for an abortion, but to have it in Maryland she must charge Burl and she never revealed about those two witnesses; Burl’s mother has given Burl “until sundown” to respond to threatened exposure; Sonja’s father remembers his grandfather shot a guy who “played around” with his wife, favors jailing Burl or forcing money from him. Graham says Burl, 21, lacks money. Sonja says her father “means business,” Graham has money; furthermore, his business couldn’t stand adverse family publicity. So he asks Sonja what she wants to do. She’d like to have the baby in Crittenton House, make Burl pay the $1,100 bill, and leave the baby for adoption. Graham offers to pay and wants to see Sonya’s father — which merits him “a strange, virginal, young girl’s kiss.” He phones her father. They’ll meet immediately. Sonya is to remain here. She reminds Graham that they met when he gave a Christmas speech at her school assembly; she played some music, sat by him; he signed her program. She shows more leg. They kiss again, less purely. Chapter 3. Graham visits the Langs’ University Park home. He recalls seeing (Louis) Lang, a Farmers’ Trust bank teller, and also Mrs. Lang, a furniture saleswoman in the Plaza. Lang says Graham’s mother phoned the Langs to hold off until tonight. Graham says the problem is two-fold: Burl was immoral; Graham may help with money. Instead, Lang reminisces that his grandmother collected eggs from farm women, resold them on Saturdays

Cloud in Ryon’s store near the railroad station; crowds were there, watching an “old buzzard” bet he could make his oxen stop his cartwheel precisely on a silver dollar in the road; when grandfather noticed grandmother and Ryon were in the closed store, he called Ryon out and shot him dead. [The silver-dollar bet is a rehash from Galatea, ch. VIII.] Mrs. Lang interrupts with this: Ryon was innocently helping Louis’s grandmother candle “thirteen dozen eggs”; grandfather made snide assumptions, shot Ryon, would have been “hung” but for lying to “claim the unwritten law”; gossip “blackened” grandmother’s name; and now Louis wants to blacken Sonya’s name for money. Graham forces Louis to admit that instead of shooting Burl he wants Sonya to be paid — not just for Crittenton House expenses, either. Lang says that as a banker he knows Burl has money. Graham leaves, disgusted. Chapter 4. Around 11:15 A.M. Graham drives to his mother Mrs. Stuart’s comfortable house in Riverdale [south of University Park, east of Washington, D.C.]. Mother embraces her “Gramie” with surprising warmth. He explains about Lang, who wants money from Burl, knows Burl has plenty. Graham says he saw troubled Sonya this morning. Mother blurts that Burl, who has lived with her since leaving the army, bothers her greatly; he’s a sex maniac; “it happened” with her colored maid, with her white servants, one of whom simply because she’s old. After consulting books on the subject, she concludes Burl likes “off beat things,” like that “pale, colorless, and prissy” Dale Morgan. Mother continues: Dale bought life insurance on Burl and herself, with double-indemnity clauses for death in car accident. When Dale died thus, an insurance adjuster visited Burl; Mother was present. The $50,000 “had to be paid,” she says. [Devoted Cain readers of Cloud Nine when it ﬁrst appeared (1984) would immediately recall his novel Double Indemnity (1934, 1943) and the ﬁlm based on it (1973).] Mother tells Graham that an army buddy of Burl’s named Al visited them once and spoke about a South Vietnamese undercover agent named Bin Ben Bon, who explained how he sabotaged steering-assembly set screws to cause four North Vietnamese generals to die in car accidents. Mother thinks Burl may wish to kill Sonja. Graham agrees to hide her. Mother admits she gave Burl $500 to disappear before the sundown deadline she mentioned to Lang. Graham will have lunch with Jane Sibert and give her $500, her four-week allowance he drew from the bank. It’s 12:15, he notes. Kissing Mother, Graham says he’ll keep her posted and also Sonya, who, he avers, is “damned easy to look at.” [As in other Cain breakneck-action novels, much occurs here one ﬁne morning — hero meets heroine, likes her, learns about vicious half-brother,

34 gets money from bank for Jane, drives to heroine’s father’s home, is threatened with blackmail, drives to mother’s home, learns of half-brother’s possible murderous intent — in 2 hours and 40 minutes.] Chapter 5. Graham visits Jane Sibert, who raised him from age 15. The Maryland Agriculture College (later the University of Maryland) gradually encroached on her 67 acres near College Park. To keep her taxes moderate, she retained her “rural agriculture” status by continuing to farm, which she did by hiring a man from Berwyn. Graham also gave her $100 a week after his start in business. This was costly; but Jane had helped him, she was “pretty,” and, surprisingly, she promised him her acres in her will. His dream is to develop that land, with its Southern Maryland climate, to overshadow Montgomery County’s more northern properties. Mother is already Graham’s politically connected, tactful, silent partner in his scheme. Graham drives to Jane’s sparse 1910 house, longs to morph it into “a Southern mansion,” is upset to see “a Caddy” out front. It belongs to the Hammels, a couple just about to take Jane to Canada for a month’s tour. Unwillingly, Graham takes the Hammels and Jane to a Royal Arms lunch, slips her $400, and hypocritically downplays her thanks. Asked if he has seen his mother, Graham conﬁdes in Jane, expresses sympathy for Burl’s rape-victim Sonja. Jane brushes off the offense and suggests his paying “the Florence Crittenton charges”; he replies that his offer to do so was rejected. Saying try again, Jane leaves for her trip with the Hammels. [Foreshadowing starts when Cain writes that Jane, though in her sixties, is still pert, and that Graham pats her bottom while smothering her with kisses.] Chapter 6. Returning home, Graham ﬁnds Sonja, in a shirt of his and shoes, cleaning everything meticulously. While she washes, he says he “struck out” even when offering Lang twice the $1,111 needed, because Lang wants revenge on Burl. Graham doesn’t add anything about Mother’s wanting Burl to “skip,” about how Dale probably “got killed,” about “the possible money angle,” about Lang’s “family honor.” Sonja volunteers that her father wondered about insurance on Dale “in Burl’s favor.” Graham warns Sonja about Burl and how she shouldn’t go home tonight. She says her father knows how Burl arranged the death of Dale and her mother. Sonja says that, to avoid trouble with her father, Graham could marry her, thus become her legal guardian, ﬂy to New York for a $200 abortion, dump her as “not being consummated,” or keep her, since he’s been looking at her legs already. To his “no” she says “yes,” “strips” naked, parades, asks whether he likes what he’d be missing, removes his shirt, smells him, and says that, whereas Burt smelled “like feet,” Graham smells like “grass that’s just been cut.” She suggests

35 marriage license today, marriage Monday, “surgery” Tuesday, and she’s his Tuesday night. He agrees. [Body odor, once again, has an aphrodisiacal effect on Cain’s ladies; Sonja will soon sniff Graham’s armpit.] Chapter 7. Sonja scampers to his upstairs bedroom, gets dressed. For “parental consent,” they call the Langs; Sonja browbeats them into providing it. With the Langs, they drive to Rockville, Montgomery County, where Graham is less well known than here in Marlborough, Prince Georges County. Bantering on the way, they get to the proper bureau, ﬁll out forms, and make a date for a deputy clerk to marry them. Lang says that the solution is excellent, agrees that Graham should guard Sonja over the weekend, and adds that he’s glad he’s “off the hook.” This mystiﬁes Graham, brieﬂy. Chapter 8. They stop at the Langs’ house. Graham favors reserving two rooms in the Mayﬂower Hotel, Washington, D.C., as their discreet “hideout.” Sonja demands what becomes an “efﬁciency suite,” Pocahontas Motel, Ocean City, New Jersey. Graham phones Helen Musick, his secretary, that he’s marrying the girl she saw in the ofﬁce and will return Tuesday. Graham avoids stopping at his place and packing, which might make people wonder what he’s doing with Sonja waiting in his car; instead, she suggests his shopping at College Park’s People’s store. He gets what he needs, plus some Arpege perfume for her. She is thrilled to have a scent of her own. They cross the bay bridge about 7:00 P.M., have dinner at an East Shore Country place. When Sonja orders crab and steak, the waitress says Graham’s “daughter” is sure hungry. Telling the embarrassed waitress she’s “his wife,” Sonja gorges while he phones Mother. News of the marriage stuns her; she asks to speak with Sonja; Sonja reminds “Mrs. Stu” they met when Sonja played the piano at an elementary school event; Mother remembers, is invited to the wedding ceremony — but still seems uneasy. Sonja uses cosmetics to make herself look older, dons a wig, and practices walking like a middleaged woman. Entering the Pocahontas, they register as married, from Hyattsville, Md. In their suite, Graham feels “up tight,” with Sonja—maybe for the rest of his life? Chapter 9. Sonja likes the twin-bedded bedroom, pull-down bed, kitchenette, bath, room ocean view. They banter. She cries, expresses vague fears. They sniff each other. She gets him to paddle her sensually. They get into separate twin beds. Pre-abortion sex would be too “messy.” Sonja awakens screaming. She says in a dream she gave painful birth to a “goriller.” Graham soothes

Cloud her back to sleep. He feels “consecrated” to be “the instrument of her deliverance”—from her overeating, her father’s stupidity, her fear she isn’t loved Chapter 10. Saturday morning. Sonja wolfs a huge breakfast. Graham’s is moderate. They shop for her wedding outﬁt, then beach togs. Paid for. Then Sonja picks out an engagement ring and a wedding ring, totaling just over $1,000. The jeweler won’t accept Graham’s check, and his credit-card limit is $500. Sonja says they’ll buy her rings in Rockville later. They gripe, laugh, return to their suite. To the beach in swim clothes. Following uneasily pleasant application of “lotion,” they wade through the surf and waves. She is an expert, but he needs her hand to give him courage. While swimming on their backs, she points out, “Cloud nine — where we’ll be Tuesday night.” To his oddly saying everything is fair in love and war, she tells “Mr. Kirby” that “I’m ’n try” to make him happy. Ashore again, she is warned by a lifeguard she regards as “cute” that there are sharks in the water and they like “a goodlooking chicken, all white meat.” He asks “Dad” if he “can ... date her up.” Graham says she can if she wants. She retorts she’s Graham’s wife. They argue in their suite. He says that she can have dates if she wants, that she blew the lifeguard a kiss. He paddles her. They embrace, get naked; she “sicked” a ﬁnger at his “male anatomy”; they shower, “bellyto-belly ... like Adam and Eve in the Garden.” As he helps her out of the shower, though, she slips, falls, starts bleeding. He phones for a doctor. Graham tells the sobbing girl that she “aborted.” Chapter 11. While Sonja continues crying, Graham grows suspicious: Was she raped? Did she hate Burl? Is “this marriage all an act?” Sonya puts on her wig, draws adult-looking lines between her eyes and from her nose-side cheeks. Dr. Sandoval enters, examines her behind a closed door, and soon tells Graham she discharged fetus and placenta cleanly, needs no curettage, is packed with bloodabsorbing gauze, is in shock diminished by sleeping injection. Accepting a $25 fee, he tells Graham women take miscarriages differently; so he should do whatever she craves. Graham ﬁnds Sonja still crying. He says this was what she wanted. She says they needn’t marry now. Though that didn’t occur to him, he replies only that they can “cross that bridge” later and then talk. He goes to the beach. The lifeguard courteously apologizes. Graham ﬁgures he can return Sonja to her home—no harm done—and avoid “utter disaster.” He phones to discuss it with Mother. Burl answers. Graham hangs up instantly. He wonders why Mother has Burl in her house; the “rat” is off the hook now. Graham recalls three women he casually slept with. Sonja is different. Though just a kid, she has brains; for example, she ﬁgured out how to “mop

Cloud up that awful mess” (i.e., to foil her father by marrying Graham). She’s the one he’s determined to marry; when he’s with her he “think[s] about God.” Graham has dinner, then returns to their suite. Sonja is packing and says she’s going home. He says he’s thought things over, is crossing that bridge with her now, wants to marry her at once. How at once? she wonders. He says that “when two people get married, who does it is them”; ofﬁcials are merely for records and law; “[w]hat for God they do.” She wants to think about it. Riled and saying she can get out, he kicks her arousingly. She likes that, says she’s ready so “wed me!” Chapter 12. For that evening and tomorrow he weds her, often. Many times “those weddings lasted an hour,” etc. She frequently praises “the view, up here from Cloud Nine.” Her sightings include “[d]ucks ... ﬂying over, V-shape”; his, beautiful stars. But he hopes the cloud doesn’t drop them. She says she and “Mr. Kirby” gotta prevent that. He asks her to call him “Gramie,” as Mother does. [Repeated sex beginning hours after a miscarriage?] Graham tells her about his success as a Hyattsville real-estate agent, how he makes seven sales out of ten, and how he loses the three because customers foolishly want him to sell at their unattainable price. During their second night, Graham reveals his “Dream” to Sonja. He will remake Jane Sibert’s house into a Southern mansion and his demonstration model, divide her acreage into 67 one-acre lots, build every residence with an exterior according to his demands—various trees, rec rooms for one annex and garage for the other, circular drive brick-outlined and with oyster shells enclosing a rose garden. Sonja says that instead of roses she’d plant cotton, and describes rows of beautifully blossoming cotton she saw during a drive with her parents one summer through Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana to visit Aunt Annabelle and Aunt Sue. Graham calls the idea an “inspiration.” Sonja is happy she “thought it up.” When Graham tells her why Jane is leaving her land to him, Sonja fears Jane will be silly, love him, but not love her. [The ﬁrst half of the 24-chapter novel is ﬁnished, with pregnancy ended and marriage yet to be.] Chapter 13. Graham phones Mother. She says that she let Burl return long enough to pack and be ordered out and that the Langs want to take Sonja themselves to New York for the abortion. Graham says she had a miscarriage but he’s still marrying her. Mother says he needn’t and shouldn’t; Jane Sibert loves him, says he’s been “laying her ... for ten years”; if he marries elsewhere, Jane won’t bequeath him her acres. He denies he was “whatting” Jane. Mother says she let Jane raise him from age 15 because she was “cute and ... hot” and always wanted

36 him. He says he can negotiate, because he can stop sending her “her checks.” Mother says she herself has been liquidating securities for money to ﬁnance his dream and asks him to delay the wedding until he talks with Jane since “she’s entitled to be heard.” He says she’s on a month’s trip somewhere unknown. She hopes he’ll make Sonja cool it to keep Jane in the dark. He won’t. So Mother says she’ll drive the Langs to Rockville and attend the wedding with them there. Graham muses on the beach a while, relates Sonja (once again) to God, whom he doesn’t remember last praying to, and determines to keep his mind made up “for keeps.” Graham ﬁnds Sonja ready to leave, tells her that Mother praised her on the phone and is “hauling your parents to Rockville.” Sonja kisses him but squints at him. Chapter 14. Graham shops that morning at a Salisbury ﬂorist’s for wedding items and at a jeweler’s for a sapphire engagement ring and a platinum wedding ring for Sonja. She is as delighted as a child with a toy. But while about to put her wedding dress on, she says she’s leaving him because rumor has it he’s slept with Jane. He says, “Well, goddam it, I didn’t!” Still, she insists she’s not worth the million he’s giving up, and suggests they could secretly rendezvous unmarried. He says he’ll kick her “tail” again, as a sure-ﬁre introduction to their getting married. Rockville, 2:00 P.M. Mr. Lucas, the deputy clerk, conducts the service. Present in addition to the happy couple are Mother, the Langs, the weddinglicense “lady,” and two of Graham’s ofﬁce girls as witnesses. Mother thrills Sonja by promising a piano as a wedding present. Lang promises a gift later, so as not “to be skunked.” Much laughter. To rice tossers, Sonja tosses her corsage. Home by 4:00 P. M., Graham carries Sonja over their threshold. Her three wishes are to be carried upstairs, tossed on the bed, and converting it to Cloud Nine. Done. Chapter 15. Turning energetically to work, Graham is congratulated on his marriage by ofﬁce personnel. Next day he “land[s]” four of six listed houses, including one in Riverdale owned by an ex-admiral, now a defense contractor transferring to San Diego. Mother visits Graham, phones Sonja to ask permission to lunch with him, and at the Royal Arms lectures him on abnormally oversexed men in history, and, concluding with sex-maniac Burl, says he’s back in town and living in “a pad” in the Harrison Stuart Building. Where Mother’s late husband “took lady visitors,” Graham chortles. Mother says she discussed Graham and Sonja with Burl, says Burl believes Sonja never miscarried, says Graham is a “fag” unable to “husband Sonja,” and later they’d say her baby was Graham’s. Mother says Graham must keep

37 Sonja from getting entangled with Burl again. Graham says he’d like to slug Burl. Graham goes home and ﬁnds Sonja has invited his secretary Helen Musick for a big dinner, with ﬁxings she set out for drinks. Graham chops ice with a handy icepick, makes martinis for Helen and himself, and pours a Coke for Sonja, who dislikes alcohol. [The icepick gets mentioned again at intervals.] Graham tells Sonja that Mother left some of his school pictures in his ofﬁce and that they discussed Burl, who’s batching it at the Stuart Building, and adds that they discussed Jane Sibert. Sonja boasts she’s no “kook” fearful of Burl but worries about Jane. Partly to change the subject, he suggests more “cloudy” [Cloud Nine] bed action. Chapter 16. During the next month, Graham and Sonja entertain the Langs. With them, he prepares wedding announcements. He opens a checking account for Sonja for $1,000, buys her a car, sends her to driver’s school, and she gets her license. Modesta remains as their cleaning woman. The piano, Mother’s gift, arrives; Sonja weeps, plays nicely. Sonja has small dinner parties but remains puzzled as to mixing cocktails. One afternoon at the ofﬁce, Elsie, at Graham’s telephone switchboard, signals him to get home at once. Graham drives home fast. Burl is in the house — crafty, surly, toughly handsome. Sonja says she admitted Burl, mixed him a drink in the kitchen so as to phone for Graham from there. She explains she wants Burl to explain to them both right now, then get out. She says Burl feels that she is still pregnant by him, will give birth to his child, and he must “do his duty” by it. Second, she says he stinks like unwashed feet and he’s no “God’s gift to women.” Infuriated, Burl counters that an army guy he knew in Japan knew Graham at Yale and told tales about him [that he was gay]. Sonja boasts oh no, she and Graham make love morning noon and night, and he smells good and manly, and if Burl returns here she’ll puke on him. At her request, Graham throws Burl out, in the process knocking him down and kicking him. Sonja tosses Burl’s gabardine jacket after him. In his car, Burl shouts that Gwenn Cary regarded Graham as a “fag,” not “a big bad two-balled horsestud.” Graham lurches after Burl, grabs his jacket; Burl guns his car and drags Graham brieﬂy. Neighbors witness his being injured. Burl drives away. Sonja doctors Graham’s bloody contusions, then asks who Gwenn was. He admits she visited him here long ago, and they slept on one of the twin beds here. To placate outraged Sonja, Graham phones Mrs. Lang where she works and orders new mattresses pronto and from Goodwill Industries orders beds in satisfactory condition. Graham goes to their spare bedroom and calls for Sonja, who starts

Cloud to undress but then says Burl’s lie about Graham’s relations with that Gwenn woman “pees on our cloud,” and they never had more than “one cloud.” He disagrees. But she zips up and goes downstairs to cook their dinner. Graham remains in bed, in his own “puddle of pee.” From what Burl shouted about Sonja’s love of “malts with egg,” Graham concludes Burl “knew her pretty well.” The phone rings. Sonja answers it downstairs, shouts it’s for him, and listens in as he uses the upstairs extension. Jane, calling, says his “kept woman is back!” He says he’s married. She hangs up. He hears Sonja hang up. He lies down in the other bedroom. Sonja brings his dinner on a tray, says Jane has popped their cloud and they’ll “go bump” when they “hit the ground.” [This chapter ends with dialogue handled in Cain’s characteristic way — an exchange of 17 he said–she said blurts with no indication of who is speaking. Implications make it barely clear.] Chapter 17. No bumps in the night that night. In the morning, cold-shoulder breakfast. Mother pops in, looking frazzled, and says Jane visited her, was terribly upset; so Mother drove her home because she wanted to be alone to consider what to do with the remainder of her life. Sonja asks if Jane will remove Graham from her will, on account of her. Mother says yes. Graham says he’ll send Jane’s next regular check, which she’ll cash if she wants to eat. Sonja graciously serves Mother coffee and plays “Chopsticks” on the piano, which Mother remembers Sonja’s playing endearingly in school. Sonja will have to leave Graham, she tells Mother; his kicking Sonja into sexual responses won’t do now; she persuades Mother to “kid her [Jane] along a little”; Sonja must “face” her future too. Goodwill Industries exchanges the beds, pleasing Sonja. Mother phones to report Jane’s apparent willingness to await improvements. Graham hopes next week’s check will assuage her. But Mother phones again: Jane, reconciled to losing Graham, is bequeathing her property to Mother; so Sonja needn’t leave. More cloud action follows. Midnight Sunday, Mother’s phone puts the couple off their cloud: Jane has made an appointment with Mort Leonard, her attorney, for tomorrow. But Burl found Jane, told her about Sonja’s pregnancy, comforted distraught Jane, angered she wasn’t informed earlier. Sonja advises Graham to deliver Jane’s check tomorrow personally. Chapter 18. Graham takes Jane the check. She appears disheveled, shows cleavage, turns “gamy.” She rebukes him: Sonja is still pregnant, by Burl; there was no abortion; Graham couldn’t sleep with Jane because he’s impotent. Graham says he sexually satisﬁes his wife Sonja “every night,” couldn’t have done that with Jane because she’s “so beautiful.” He resists saying because she’s “too old” for sex. She

Cloud details his youthful failings, because of which she resisted making passes at him. He grabs her and offers to satisfy her instantly. Her screaming brings Burl down from the bedroom, hammer in hand. Instead of ﬁghting, Graham demands a sit-down confab. Jane and Burl reveal that Burl has been intimate with Jane, now satisﬁed as never before. When she demands her check, Burl boasts of having money and won’t let his “Honey” accept it. He gloats that he will continue to love her, will inherit her “million-dollar farm.” She orders Graham to return her will, now in his bank box. He says if and when “convenient.” Burl predicts Sonja will give birth to his “good stock” baby for “lucky” Graham. Cursing Burl, Graham exits. Graham reports to calm-enough Sonja and coffeesipping Mother, who repeats that Jane, when 43, began housing Graham, then 15. Mother says she thought Graham was sleeping with Jane for the next 15 years. [Nice talk with mother, son, and daughter-in-law.] Mother says that, once Jane knew Graham was married, Burl, that “practiced seducer,” inevitably took over. While Graham has been doing dreary real-estate work, Mother has been busy. She reports: Stan Modell, her lawyer, will meet with Jane’s lawyer Leonard, and see if Graham can surrender her will in “an action” to recoup the roughly $10,000 he gave her over the years; they could threaten to expose her phony tax-evading farming; they should give Jane time to become sensible. Sonja, however, interrupts to report that Jane just phoned to gloat that she and Burl, to avoid legal delays, got married quick-like in Dover, Delaware, and to add that she’s drawing a new will favoring Burl. Mother tells “Sonja” she’s forgetting Jane. Sonja orders “Mrs. Stuart” to address Sonja as “Mrs. Stuart.” [Shades of The Root of His Evil, ch. 17, in which Carrie Harris forces her mother-in-law Agnes Harris to address her as “Mrs. Harris.”] Mother does so. Taking charge, Sonja then taunts Graham by describing his lost dream of renovating Jane’s house into a Southern mansion, etc., then ominously adds that unless someone prevents Jane from signing that new will she’ll be dead before the next snow falls on her grave. Chapter 19. Graham helps his salesmen, but they make fewer sales during the recession-plagued summer. Modell reports that Leonard reports that he made a new will for Jane, giving everything to Burl. Modell advises Graham to threaten to expose Jane’s land-use dodge, which would cost her ruinous back taxes, unless she repays his allowance checks to her. Mother abhors that approach, says Jane if cornered could say Graham slept with her and promised marriage, hence colluded; otherwise, Mother would relish seeing Burl have to pay for Jane’s mistakes out of money gained from Dale’s

38 death. At the same time, Mother fears Sonja is right— Burl will kill Jane quickly, just as he killed Dale. Neither Mother nor Graham knows what to do. When the twin beds and mattresses are ready, Graham’s servant Modesta makes them up, Graham lies in one eagerly, but no Sonja. [Cloud Nine accoutrements were ordered for immediate delivery, and many phone calls and much action followed before they came without the ex-lovers’ coming to any solution. Unsought remedy? A Cloud Nine editor. Moreover, Pocahontas is spelled two ways. Miss Musick becomes Mrs. Musick. Jack Kofoe becomes Jack Kefore. The Langs give no promised wedding present.] Graham ﬁnds Sonja in the spare bed reading Playboy. He demands a husband’s rights. She ﬁghts him, then weeps tears not to be assuaged by love-making. Graham backs off, sobbing. An anonymous “guy” phones Graham in his ofﬁce to go see what’s what at the park by Forty-Fourth Street. Driving there, he sees Sonja and Burt on the grass. He lacks nerve to confront them. That evening Sonja says she saw him drive by. He demands an explanation. Reverting to the “brash teenager” she always was, she says she phoned Burl “[a]t his ofﬁce” to “’gradulate him, on his marriage.” They met in the park; he wanted to “[s]crew me,” she adds. He explained he tried lotions so he mightn’t “stink” again. She agree to sniff and tell. Graham contends Burl never raped her, says she never named those two persons holding her down, never told her mother—until she turned pregnant. With wet thumb on forehead, Sonja solemnly swears Burl did rape her. Though not vowing via thumb concerning today with Burl, Sonja tells Graham that their cloud popped with Jane’s return, that she must leave him brieﬂy, to make Burl believe she’s “going to lay up with Burl” so as to “use him” to do something she “must do.” This because she loves Graham. Chapter 20. Mother tells Graham that a contractor named Pat Moran wants to bring her into a “milliondollar” Riverdale building scheme requiring her political clout, but she’s too ﬁdgety right now. One night Sonja, beautifully dressed for leaving Graham, prepares their ﬁnal dinner, complete with ﬁxings for martinis, says she wrecked Jane’s marriage to Burl; Jane is kicking him out about now; Graham should go stretch Jane on the ﬂoor and satisfy her long-dreamed longings for him; Sonja is keeping the car Graham bought her, and the $1,000, plus $400 she “imbizzled” since their marriage. [Embezzlement details are never provided.] After dinner, they kiss fervently. The doorbell rings. It’s Jane. Chapter 21. Jane is surprised to see Sonja. The upshot: Sonja, plotting to wreck Burl’s marriage, offered to meet him in his ofﬁce in the Stuart Building; made him give her an ofﬁce key so she could

39 await him inside rather than in the hallway; made a duplicate key, sent it to “Miss Jane”; phoned she could spy trouble in the ofﬁce at 3:15 today; she arrived in time to see Burl exposing his “hanging” thing that girls should swoon before; says Burl told her Jane fondled it when he drove her home that night from Mother’s residence and quickly “thought of a place to put it.” Jane wilts, shrivels. Sickened, Graham voices doubts she remained unassaulted in Burl’s ofﬁce. Sonja disrobes enough to show what she calls her “cincher de chastity” that she’s wearing and had College Park Hardware workers amusedly fashion to her measurements, complete with lock and key. She feared Burl’s aggressiveness. Now she undoes the belt. When Graham says she ought to leave now, she slaps him, says she’ll leave her house when she chooses. Sonja puzzles Jane by saying this: Burl killed Dale in some “slick way,” can support Jane and himself on the resulting $50,000, plans to kill her and inherit according to the new will; Jane must avoid driving, avoid Burl, get her lawyer to make a will, tell Burl she’s therefore worth less dead than alive, maybe make Graham her ever-rightful heir. Jane doubts all this. Sonja tells her to go to bed here with Graham, maligned by Burl; Graham’s more normal than Jane, being 30 years younger. Sonya scampers to the kitchen. Graham assures Jane of Sonja’s truthfulness. Jane seeks Sonja to hear more, but she’s gone. Sonja phones Graham from a pay station, says she’ll check up on him at times, blows him a kiss. Graham tells frantic Jane to have her car towed and not driven, drives her to Mother, initially reluctant to shelter her for the night, and returns home to a “black” night in a “black” house. Chapter 22. Graham works brilliantly, sells 10 houses for an estate for $20,000 apiece, in a single month, but feels lousy because Sonja phones a few times a week hoping all’s nice but unwilling to return. She phones her mother Mrs. Lang, who knows but can’t tell Graham where Sonja is. In Reno? he wonders. Mother hints that Jane is so disgusted that her new will may name Mother as heir not Burl, who phones Jane so viciously that she fears him. Sure enough, Jane had her car towed to Clint Jervis’s lot, delayed having it checked, and Clint’s son Rod decided “to ride his girl around” in it. The steering wheel malfunctioned, and they swerved into a ditch, fortunately unhurt. The insurance people questioned things. Graham’s 31st birthday comes, September 12th. Wan, he wanders home. Sonja is there, playing the piano; she’s thrilled, she says while smothered with kisses, because he sent her a wire saying “Love Love Love, Gramie.” Like a fool, Graham denies sending it, says he didn’t know her address. Sonja says she was delighted he troubled to ﬁnd it. He counters he never tried, through pride. Agree-

Cloud ing to initiate a “fresh start,” he says he’ll mumble in her ear, travel mouth to mouth, and carry her up to “our cloud.” The doorbell rings. Sonja yells she’s suddenly sensible and he mustn’t open the door. Opening the door “pigeonhole,” Graham sees a man with an Afro hairdo and admits him. Masked, he has a shiny gun. Graham says he’ll give him his wallet but doesn’t want his wife, here, to get hurt. Sonja recognizes Burl, though in a mask, which he complains is hot and removes. Burl tells her yes, he sent the wire because he knew both he and Graham pined for her and could thus gather “two birds with one stone.” He will explain his meaning and says he holds the gun. Chapter 23. Burl takes one sofa, orders Graham and Sonja to sit on the opposite one but ﬁrst to remove the cocktail table obstructing his view up Sonja’s legs. He half-hysterically orders her to remove her pantyhose. Telling him he stinks like dirty feet or a dead rat, she obeys. He orders her to sit and part her legs. Wet-lipped, he stares, says he’s mimicking Sonja, got Graham’s door key from his cleaning woman because Sonja got his ofﬁce key secretly as well, etc. When Burl accuses Sonja of wrecking his marriage to Jane, Sonja says he planned to kill Jane. Killing reminds Burl of Graham, who he recalls slugged and kicked him, and in revenge must now watch what he’ll do to Sonja before he kills Graham. Sonja says their Mother would reveal him as their murderer and use her clout to have that masked man with the Afro identiﬁed. He explains he talked to the Bijou Theater ticket girl and she’ll swear he was at the show, which he just ducked out of. Sonja is snarling at Burl, belly to belly, when, in a ﬂash, she kicks him in the crotch. Graham seizes his gun. [This section is literary porn. The next section is no better.] Sonja tells Graham to give her the gun while he beats Burl’s face to a jelly. Declining, Graham says call the police — 864-7000. She says Burl will mess their lives by talking. Graham says they can see him jailed. She blows out some birthday-cake candles and starts to dial the phone. Burl must have moved the cake with some candles still burning. Sonja’s dress and hair start burning. Graham rolls her on the ﬂoor, extinguishing the ﬂames. Burl stands woodenly, gun in hand. The phone rings. Ordered by Burl, Sonja though in pain answers and tells a neighbor woman on the phone that she screamed when she got burned but she’s all right. Burl orders her to strip naked and get into a nearby closet, which he locks. He knocks Graham unconscious. Reviving, he ﬁnds himself tied hand and foot with wet towels, and being kicked, vengefully. He tries but can’t struggle free, sees Sonja naked, burned in blotches, watches Burl wrestle her and seize the discarded gun she was trying to reach. He orders her

Coal to “get on the ﬂoor.” Coyly, she says if she’s gotta be raped at least let her spread a napkin from the cocktail table onto Graham’s nice carpet to avoid a mess. OK. She half-waltzes toward him, the napkin dangling from one hand. Under it is the icepick she thrusts into his chest. He staggers and falls. Graham loses consciousness again. [Would Burl acquiesce to Sonja’s alleged desire to keep unstained “my rug. It’s a beautiful thing”?] Chapter 24. Graham, in a coma for some time, awakens hospitalized. Sonja appears. Then Mother. He waves weakly. They cheer, having been told he might be paralyzed. Sonja proves she’s recovering only from second degree burns, by showing her medicated bottom, which he praises. A nurse enters with juice. His plea for a full breakfast causes the doctor to unhitch the intravenous tube. Sonja cries, joyfully. Sonja explains: Graham has been here six days; the doctor trepanned him, and blood drained from his brain. And Burl? Sonja pounded the icepick into his heart. Mother ordered Burl’s body cremated and his ashes scattered. Sonja briefs Graham thus: Burl phoned Sonja’s mother, pretended he was a postal ofﬁcial, to ask where Sonja was; her mother revealed she was at Reno’s Truckee Motel; Burl wired her as from loving Gramie, thus got her home; Sonja phoned the cops about dead Burl and tied-up Graham; they got both patients to the Prince Georges General. Sonja says they can start anew. The Langs enter. Mr. Lang praises Sonja; Mrs. Lang tells him to hush; they leave. Sonja brings stacks of newspapers. Graham reads about Sonja’s killing her brotherin-law Burwell Stuart, who inherited insurance money after Dale Morgan’s suspicious death and who was in Jane Sibert’s will and then was not. Sonja wants Graham to clarify what’s missing by dictating his narrative to Helen Musick, who could transcribe it and let a newspaper print it. Changing some names for protection, he complies. Graham is still in the hospital for tests when Jane enters. Mother suggests that she deed her acreage to Graham, go partners with him, let him spiff her house and become a belle among seniors. Jane says she’s got the necessary papers awaiting her signature, once she knows Graham won’t die, and kisses her “little boy.” That evening when others have left, Sonja says her hospital room is nearby and she can install “a nice cloud ... scrubbed up and pink.” He could come and see “moonlight and shells.” The night nurse leaves. Ah. Roy Hoopes reports Cain’s chagrin when he was unable to get Cloud Nine published. He was 79 when he ﬁnished writing it and starting peddling it. (It ﬁrst appeared seven years after his death.) Its curious plot might be diagrammed by a judicious

40 placing of dots on a board representing the key words “bottom,” “cloud,” “Cloud Nine,” “dream,” “God,” “smell,” and of course “stink” (uses of which total three score and more times), and then by connecting them. Paul Skenazky introduces his prolonged criticism of Cloud Nine thus: “Cain is ill-served by the book.” He says that “[a]ll the old stuff is still here: the sadomasochistic kicks, the conjunction of sexuality and intimations of God,” etc. He echoes Hoopes by saying it “is built from overused motifs,” and spells out reuse of elements from no fewer than nine earlier novels. Obviously, the most blatant is the insurance scam from Double Indemnity. Is Cain clever or otherwise when in the ﬁrst sentence of Cloud Nine Graham says “I ﬁrst met ... this girl that I married a few days later ... on a Friday morning in June...” Cain similarly weakens the suspense of The Enchanted Isle, his next, and last, novel, by yet another ﬁrst-chapter plot giveaway. (Hoopes, 511–512; Skenazy, 127, 128, 128 –129) “Coal Black” (short story, Liberty, April 3, 1937). (Characters: Han Biloxi, Eckhart, Jake, Lonnie.) The blackness of the coal mine is illuminated by the motor passing through Lonnie’s trap in the tunnel Then darkness again. Lonnie, 19, hesitates to eat one of his sandwiches. A sound comes from the trap’s other side. A girl, about 16, emerges. He is furious. She explains her father just came to town, is a photographer; she wanted to see what a mine looks like, got lost, tore her dress; she’d like to be led home. He says when a miner is killed or even when a woman enters a mine, the men must blow it out, that is, quit work a whole day. Otherwise, there’s trouble. Work is scarce as it is; if she were found, the men might beat her up. She must hide, until he can sneak her out by “the drift mouth.” Some men are approaching. She hides. One miner says Eckhart just got killed, and they’re taking Jake’s train out before “blowing out.” Lonnie tells them he needs wire for a rabbit trap, will ﬁnd some at the drift mouth. The men leave. Lonnie, with bucket and lamp, leads the girl until they come, by a brief mistake, to a horrifying “dead entry.” Part of its cave-like top suddenly falls. Concussion extinguishes his lamp. Its carbide needs water, but he has none. He explains that this entry is haunted, because a man was crushed there, they couldn’t retrieve his body, and they’ll soon hear his ghost tamping his powder. Sure enough, they hear a repeated clinking sound. They hug each other “in an ecstasy of terror.” But she says the sound is water. Sure enough, it sounds again. Just above a slab she places his bucket, and water clinks on it steadily. Lonnie pours some water in the lamp and lights it with his ﬂint. The two ﬁnd their way into the open air. It’s twi-

41 light. The girl starts down the hill toward her place. He hesitates, then calls to her. She returns. He starts to apologize for criticizing her at ﬁrst for being there. They kiss. He says they should get married. She says neither of them has money. He suggests their holing up brieﬂy in a miner’s shack. He says he might get a promotion for proving that the chamber wasn’t haunted and can be mined proﬁtably again. For the moment, they plan to catch and cook a rabbit. The “astral miner” leaves the chamber and “sadly” joins the unemployment line. David Madden dismisses “Coal Black” as “[o]ne of Cain’s least effective stories in third person.” It has its moments, however, especially when Lonnie decorously feels the girl’s warm skin where her dress is torn. Once again, though, Cain adverts to olfactory arousal, saying Lonnie also likes “the heady, sweetly sensuous scent that hung about her.” He doesn’t get around to asking her name. It would help many ordinary readers to know the meanings of “trap,” “motor,” and “drift mouth,” but probably not “feed wire.” (Madden 1985, 129) The Cocktail Waitress. A novel which Cain wrote (1975) but which was rejected by Mason-Charter and was never published. Roy Hoopes summarizes its plot. A rich man ﬁnds a widowed young waitress so appealing that he gives her a check for $45,000. When she suggests passes and wedding bells might be better at ﬁrst, he says he suffers from angina and any sex would be fatal. (Hoopes, 537–538) Collins, Dr. (Mildred Pierce). He is a physician in the hospital to which Ray Pierce is taken when she develops ﬂu symptoms. She also has an infection. Dr. Gale, the Pierce family physician, calls Dr. Collins, who administers oxygen, to no avail. Ray dies. Colypte (The Enchanted Isle). This is the unusual name of a Baltimore factory that makes helicopter blades. Mandy Vernick observes this place both before and after she is reluctantly involved in the robbery of a nearby bank. “Come-back” (short story, Redbook, June 1934). (Characters: Vincent Barnett, Polly Dukas, Fanchon, Goebels, Chester Gump, Happy Hapgood, Jack Hornison, Tim Kennelly, Art A. Jones, Marco, Mowgli, Manny Roberts, Buddy Sadler, Burton Silbro, Silver, Silver Heels.) A sardonic observer of the Hollywood scene narrates the story of the come-back of Tim Kennelly, a singing cowboy in Westerns: Kennelly did well, had “a bank-account, a ranch and a future,” until his horse Silver died. If he’d been replaced, all would have been well. But Kennelly’s agent, “a heel” named Happy Hapgood, buried Silver in a well-publicized ceremony, with

Come cowgirls tossing roses into the grave, Kennelly singing “Home on the Range,” and a bugler blowing taps. Trouble followed. Movie-going kids wanted Kennelly’s broken heart never to mend and countenanced no replacement for Silver. Kennelly, now 27, had no future. So Happy planned for Kennelly’s return to popularity by dreaming up a scene involving a stagecoach robbery staged before a tipped-off crowd near Malibu Beach. Kennelly would ride a new horse — Happy just bought Silver Heels—and rope the bad guys. Everything went wrong, beginning with squeals by frightened Silver Heels near his mocked-up stable; and the mob of viewers guffawed. At this very time, Burton Silbro, an independent producer, was ﬁlming a short at Jack Hornison’s Malibu Beach “cottage” (really an $80,000 “palace”) while Jack was vacationing. Silbro asked Kennelly to sing in his short. No, too tired, in a cowboy movie-shoot today. Tapdancer Polly Dukas, appearing in Silbro’s ﬂick, begged Kennelly to reconsider. Kennelly agreed, drove Polly to Silbro’s place where a party was starting, told her to get his luggage from Happy’s place, so he could avoid a party Happy was throwing for him and he could get into evening clothes for Silbro’s party. While smoking outside, Kennelly suddenly saw something. Polly returned with his luggage. Kennelly told her to get into the house, because a lion — escaped from Silver Heels’ stable area — was sitting on the nearby wall. But Mowgli the Untamed (named in the narrator’s introduction) forced them into the swimming pool, roared terrifyingly, scaring the party guests. Happy, a cocktail shaker and towel in hand, appeared. Kennelly told him to call the cops, that this was no gag. Happy: “’S grea’s gag ev’ pulled. Shows y’ can do com’dy.... Y’r las’ chance.” The guests safely watched. Mowgli charged Happy, paused to tear up the dropped towel. Getting inside, Happy called the cops. Mowgli got onto the diving board of the pool. Polly said if this was Kennelly’s last chance it’s her ﬁrst, told Kennelly to get his rope from his car. Mowgli won’t let him out. Polly swam under water to near the car. Kennelly splashed Mowli with water. Polly returned with the rope. Kennelly lassoed Mowgli, pulled him into the water. Happy saw all this, shouted to his “cow-outﬁt” crew to approach, seized a gun from one, and ﬁred at Mowgli. Happy’s blanks recoiled. He fell into the pool, gasped. Polly and then Kennelly dived in, rescued Happy, exhausted. Polly noticed Kennelly’s face was scratched bloody. Mowgli crawled out, lay down, then thought “horse.” That’s what he’d thought when Happy opened those stable doors, letting him out. The crew thought shooting was restarting, and

Conley reassembled the coach and horses. Mowgli bit one horse, and the others pulled the coach — until horses, riders, and coach were in the pool. Kennelly approached Mowgli, now raising “holy hell” and with the rope dangling from him. Kennelly took its loose end and “snubbed it” to a tree. Mowgli attacked Kennelly, ripping his clothes, slashing his shoulders and chest. Cops and reporters arrived. Happy, reviving, saw Kennelly and the newsmen: “Y’ got the gag, boys? Tozzan o’ th’ Apes! Tozzan th’ Apeman!” Kennelly, weeping, says it was “a great gag two years ago ... for Weissmuller.” A doctor repairs Kennelly. Some Goebels guys put Mowgli back “where he belonged.” The outcome was Kennelly’s come-back. His new movie will be called Mowgli, named thus by Polly, who Kennelly insisted must be featured in the “love-interest.” Happy collected news clips about Kennelly and the lion, and boasted about his own success. Polly explained she read a book about a Mowgli. The unnamed narrator begins by criticizing the newspapers for not getting Kennelly’s comeback straight. This is criticism by Cain, a journalist himself, of American reportage at the time. The same unnamed narrator of “Hip, Hip, the Hippo!,” the sequel to “Come-back,” is similarly critical of journalists’ reporting of Kennelly’s later problems. Early readers of “Come-back” could date its action as 1934, since the ﬁrst Tarzan movie starring Johnny Weissmuller (1904 –1984) was Tarzan the Ape Man (1932). It was followed by 11 more, ending in 1948. Cain provides Hollywood local color by having Hapgood drop the names of movie executive Harry Cohn (1891–1958), actor W. C. Fields (1879 –1946), movie tycoon Carl Laemmle (1867–1939), and movie executive Irving Thalberg (1899–1936). Critics have ignored “Come-back,” which, though slight and poorly narrated, does show Cain’s contempt for Hollywood nonsense. The book in which Polly read about Mowgli was undoubtedly The Jungle Book (1894) by Rudyard Kipling (1865 –1936), in which Mowgli the jungle boy is reared by friendly wolves in India. Like Kennelly, Kipling’s Mowgli had a second career and then some, starring in The Jungle Book (Disney animated feature, 1967), Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book (Pavision, 1994), and The Jungle Book: Mowgli’s Story (direct-to-video movie from Walt Disney Home Entertainment, 1998). (Katz, 1446 –1447; Maltin, 734, 1190) Conley (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). He is chairman of Olaf Jansen’s political campaign, rallies of which are attended by June Lyons and spied on by Ben Grace. Conley, Red (“Joy Ride to Glory”). He is an inmate, 23, in a California prison near Los Angeles. Up for parole after serving one year for stealing tires, he

42 works with hardened convict Bugs Calenso. Bugs arranges an escape in a truck, takes unwilling Red along, kills the driver, and forces Red to crash into a sedan. When the driver gets out, Bugs kills him, and they take his car. In the ensuing chase, Bugs is killed by a cop and Red is thrown into a storm drain. He is washed into the Los Angeles River, is rescued by a kind benefactor, and is allowed by him — and fate — to plan to join a non–American army. Conner, Jack (“Cigarette Girl”). He runs Here’s How, a honkytonk in Maryland, and tries to befriend Lydia Stark, whom Vanny Rocco wants to kill. Bill Cameron, who happens to be at Here’s How, scufﬂes with Vanny Rocco, and Conner’s helper Joe shoots Vanny dead. Conners, Captain (Serenade). He is a happy-golucky, daring Irish sea captain, about 50 and the owner of Port of Cobh. A music lover, he takes such delight in John Howard Sharp’s singing and guitar playing that when John and his girlfriend Juana Montes need help, he gets them from Mexico to Los Angeles. When they are in New York and need help again, he takes them to Havana. Aware of John’s nature, Conners warns him repeatedly — to no avail. Conners and Juana respectfully admire each other. Cain lets Conners utter many racial slurs, unacceptable today. Converse, Faith (Jealous Woman). She is Tom Delavan’s beloved. The granddaughter of an Anglican bishop, she shadows Constance Sperry, sees her kill Tom, sneaks into Ed Horner’s ofﬁce, and tries to kill Connie. Keyes takes her gun, which Connie uses to kill herself. Faith’s nickname is Penny, because she is petite. There is some confusion about Faith. She is called Tom’s beloved and his ﬁancée and his wife. Corasi (Mildred Pierce). The Corasi Bros. Co. in Los Angeles specializes in household furnishings. Mildred unsuccessfully applies for work there. The Coroner (Sinful Woman). He conducts the inquest after Vicki Adlerkreutz is shot dead. Coulter, Miss (Galatea). She is one of Valenty’s Ladyship restaurant waitresses. She is the girlfriend of crooked cop Danny Daniel. Valenty lent her money, which he says she needn’t repay once Danny forces Duke to sign a confession so that Danny can send Duke to Valenty as a kind of farm slave. Count Ten (Jealous Woman). This is the name of Ed Horner’s thoroughbred horse at his ranch. Horner watches in amazement as Jane Delavan beautifully rides and even trains “the Count.” Count Ten wins a cup.

43 Paul Skenazy surely goes too far when he theorizes that “Cain’s class standing and human worth” are validated by his calling “the horse Count,” then adds that all this is surprising given “Cain’s social loyalties” (Skenazy, 102). After all, the name “Count Ten” might have started as a reference not to aristocracy but to boxing and then been shortened. Craig (Career in C Major). He is the partner of Leonard Borland in the construction business. They have ofﬁces in New York City. The Depression causes them to lack commissions; so Craig starts farming in upstate New York. When Leonard fails as an opera singer, Craig [as a veritable deus ex machina] reappears with a contract for a bridge in Alabama and two train tickets for Leonard and his wife Doris to get down there fast and succeed. Cresap, Bill (Mignon). He is the hero-narrator of the novel, from Annapolis. William Cresap was a Union soldier wounded at Chancellorsville, mustered out, and painfully limping. Now 28, he goes to New Orleans (early 1864) to make money as a hydraulic engineer with his friend Sandy Gregg. Bill meets the young widow Mignon Fournet and her cottonseeking father Adolphe Landry, crosses swords with their unscrupulous ally Frank Burke, and is helped by a military friend Dan Dorsey and moneyed Marie Tremaine. In the course of his efforts to help Mignon, Landry, and himself, Bill meets General Banks, proposes marriage to both Marie and Mignon, and heroically dams part of the Red River to aid Union naval forces. The sad upshot is that Mignon drowns and Marie marries Sandy. However, Marie will ﬁnance the peacetime construction work of Sandy and Bill. William Cresap, son of Joseph Cresap, is called Bill, Willie, and Guillaume. Cresap, Joseph (Mignon). He is Bill Cresap’s father. He was head of Joseph Cresap & Co., Annapolis, Maryland, construction ﬁrm, but joined the Union navy when the Civil War began. For a touch of verisimilitude, Cain has Bill tell Mignon that his father knew the famed engineer James Buchanan Eads (1820 –1887). Crittenton, Florence (Cloud Nine). She is or was evidently the founder of the Florence Crittenton Home which cares for girls who have babies then put up for adoption. The establishment is evidently pricey. Crockett, Morina (Past All Dishonor). She is a beautiful prostitute, 23. She says she was born in Mobile, lived in Louisiana and elsewhere, and is a Venezuelan general’s widow. She now works for a madam named Biloxi in Virginia City. Biloxi calls her “Rina.” Roger Duval falls hopelessly, permanently,

Dasso in love with Morina, would try to buy her love with $1,000 but is robbed of the money he has won by gambling. When she tells Roger she is marrying George Brewer, wealthy silver-mine owner, Roger kills Brewer, after which she and Roger plan to rob a gold shipment coming from San Francisco to Virginia City. Plans go awry. When pursued by a posse, Roger accidentally kills her. David Madden reports this: Cain told him that in early drafts of Past All Dishonor Morina “was not of the oldest profession; she was the niece of the lady who ran the brothel, and for four versions the story laid an egg.” Cain continued: “I then had to admit to myself that it had point only when she was a straight piece of trade goods.” Paul Skenazy contends that Morina “ﬁnds her ... [virtue] when she discovers that she can love a man not for what she gains in money or objects, but for what he is willing to do in her behalf: rob and kill.” (Madden 1970, 116; Skenazy, 91) Croupier, Mr. (Jealous Woman). This is the generic term which Ed Horner uses to identify roulette men who, he tells Jane Delavan, may be honest all right but can still tinker and stop a gambler’s run of good luck.

D Daley, Hal (The Magician’s Wife). He is the topnotch meat salesman working under Clay Lockwood. When Clay is promoted, he sees to it that Daley replaces him. Daly (Sinful Woman). He is Sylvia Shoreham’s lawyer. At one point, he is called Dr. Daly. Daniel, Danny (Galatea). He is a crooked cop. Valenty, who has clout, orders him to make Duke sign a confession admitting he stuck up a gas station, and give Valenty the confession. In this way, Valenty can force Duke to work on his farm as a kind of slave. Darnat, Roscoe (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). He runs illegal pinball machines, represents other such businessmen when he pleads guilty and complains that Solomon Caspar forced him to accept the machines. The machines are conﬁscated by Sol and Ben Grace, but are not destroyed as supposedly ordered. Dasso (The Moth). He is an oil man, about 30, from Maryland and is now a “super” for one of oil-man Jim Branch’s wells. At a party Branch gives, “Daz,” as Jim’s wife Hannah calls him, identiﬁes her friend Jack Dillon as having played football back east, after which Dasso and Jack become friends. Dasso mentions a “forged title case” involving him in Santa Fe. Dasso later sides with men opposing Jack.

Davey Davey (Past All Dishonor). He and Ike are bartenders at Rocco’s Esperanza gambling hall in Virginia City. Davis (The Institute). He works as a Library of Congress genealogist. Lloyd learns that Davis is about to retire and hires him to work at the Institute. He proves troublesome, and even maneuvers to try to replace Lloyd as director. Davis, about 55, worked for 22 years at the Library of Congress, and says he wished to retire. [Another early Federal pensioner?] Davis, Esther (The Enchanted Isle). She is evil Rick Davis’s sister, who criticized him a lot — until he leaves home, helps rob a bank, and returns home to hide from the police. He wants a key to the heist loot in a suitcase. So he sends Esther with a gun to confront Mandy Bernick, who has the key. Mandy’s mother Sally disarms Esther, and Sally’s friend Steve holds her for the police. After Rick is dead, Esther’s parents criticize her for mistreating poor Rick. Davis, H. P. (Jealous Woman). He is the vice president of the General Pan-Paciﬁc of California, headquartered in Los Angeles. Davis, John P. (The Enchanted Isle). He and his wife are the parents of Esther Davis and vicious Rick Davis. He kicks Rick out of their home for repeated crimes he lies about. After Rick and Mandy Vernick participate in a Baltimore bank robbery, he tries to shelter Rick. John Davis calls Mandy a Jezebel. Davis, Mrs. (The Enchanted Isle). She and her husband are parents of Rick and Esther Davis. Mrs. Davis bawls out Esther for criticizing Rick. The Davises are a dysfunctional family. Davis, Rick (The Enchanted Isle). He is a 19-yearold repeat thief, ﬁnally ejected by his father from their Baltimore house. Rick meets Mandy Vernick, and they unwillingly participate in a bank heist orchestrated by Matt Caskey and Howie Hyde. Both Caskey and Hyde are killed. Rick rushes the loot into a car driven by Mandy. By tricking her in Savannah, Rick takes some of the money but can’t unlock the bag containing it. Mandy repents and returns home to Hyattsville. Rick sends his reluctant sister Esther to make Mandy surrender the key. Esther is caught. Rick disguises himself as his mother, mistakes Mandy’s mother Sally for Manny, shoots Sally and her friend Steve Baker, and is mowed down by the police. Rick Davis qualiﬁes as Cain’s most inept and selfdestructive would-be brainy thug. Manny regards his sexual inability as evidence of something she doesn’t specify. Paul Skenazy has it right when he notes that “Rick pretends away his impotence by

44 imagining himself as her [Mandy’s] protective father.” (Skenazy, 131) Dawson (Sinful Woman). At Dawson’s crap game in the Monte Carlo, over-sexed Hazel Shoreham found Carlos Loma, who handled “the stick” and who became her lover. Dayton, John (Galatea). He is a congressman whom Valenty invites to a cocktail party, along with other politicians whom Valenty controls. Dayton gets drunk and affects an exaggerated Southern drawl. Cain enjoys having Mr. Commissioner say that since it’s a “mawttah of prowtocowl,” he’ll “sit hyaw” a while. “Dead Man” (short story, American Mercury, March 1936). (Characters: Ben Fuller, Oscar Hook, Elsie Snowden Nott, Larry R. Nott, L. R. Nott Jr.) 1. Lucky is a 19-year-old hobo, new at riding the rails out of Los Angeles, but feeling sharper than other tramps. Railroad detectives have a habit of letting hoboes rest overnight in stalled ﬂat and refrigerator cars, wait until the engine begins to pull its cars slowly out of town, then shout, “Rise and shine, boys,” and make them jump out. Only thus can two or three detective brush off 200 to 300 hoboes “like caterpillers from a twig.” Lucky, however, hides in the coal gondola, cramped but safe, and braces himself as the train picks up speed, then brakes. A detective atop a boxcar spots him by ﬂashlight and forces him to jump. Lucky hurts his ankles and begs to be let go. The detective shouts that no one can “hide out on Larry Nutt!” and pursues him, catches him, and starts kicking him. Lucky, down and seeking a hold, chances to seize a loose rail spike, ﬁghts back “convulsive[ly],” and crushes Larry’s skull. 2. Lucky throws the spike into a watery ditch, makes his way to a road, then the highway 17 miles back to Los Angeles, and to the soup kitchen at 6:50 A.M., according to a clock. He establishes an alibi by chatting with Shorty, a kitchen worker. Shorty says this is Lucky’s third morning in a row here. Lucky asks if it’s Sunday. No, Saturday; a Shriners’ parade is scheduled for today. Outside, Lucky sees a Lincoln Park sign, makes his way toward it, ﬁnds a hay-ﬁlled stable, and rests. Suddenly he imagines being hammered at by questions. He must answer about his recent whereabouts. He would say he was in a nondescript ﬂophouse; then woke up 4:00 P.M., being nuzzled by an elephant’s trunk; saw more elephants; it was a zoo; in the dark, he thought they were horses. 3. He imagines more questions. Don’t you know that the coal dust on your denims is from the one train bringing coal into Los Angeles and that a detective

45 riding it was killed? Lucky must get rid of the telltale denims. People might see them and phone the police. He recalls dreams he had of walking through crowds naked. But this is reality. He goes to a ﬁlling station, asks the owner, Oscar Hook, for a job. Hook can’t earn much of a living himself and offers him a dime to be gone. Lucky, refusing the dime, says he’ll return better dressed and talk Hook into hiring him. Lucky asks where cheap clothing stores are, goes to Los Angeles and Temple, and lies to a Mexican storekeeper that he has been hired by Mr. Hook, at an Acme ﬁlling station at Main near 20th, starting Monday if he can return dressed in white pants and white shirt. Laughed at initially by several Mexicans there, he is outﬁtted by the generous storekeeper— shirt, tie, pants, underwear, shoes— on trust, at $6.98. After dressing out back, Lucky gets the storekeeper to burn his ﬁlthy clothes in his brazier holding rubbish. The crowd laughs so much when the storekeeper adds a dollar service charge that he cancels the dollar. Promising to pay next Sunday, Lucky walks out, feels a dollar bill in his pocket, waves thanks to everyone, takes a streetcar to Hook’s, is turned down again, ﬁgures his alibi is perfect now anyway, and spends 35¢ on steak and potatoes— “the hungry man’s dream of heaven”— has a cigarette, leaving a dime for tip. But he sees on his table a newspaper with a headline reporting “L. R. NOTT, R.R. MAN, KILLED.” 4. Lucky buys a night newspaper, can’t read it under the street lights, Highway 101, and hitches a ride on a hay truck heading for San Francisco. On Sunset Boulevard, the driver stops to repair a leaking air hose. Lucky sees a police station nearby, is tempted to run, instead reads his newspaper by the truck’s headlights. Railroad detective Nott’s decapitated body was found on tracks near San Fernando; he probably lost his balance aboard shunting freight cars, fell under wheels; funeral tomorrow; left widow, the former Miss Elsie Snowden, and son L. R. Nott, Jr. Lucky sees the police station’s red lights, wishes the trucker would hurry taping the hose, but then gets that “old Sunday-night feeling.” It used to come to him when he played hookey and avoided answering the church bells calling him to “hear about the necessity for being saved.” Then he used to hide in a livery stable, be lonely with no buddies to play with, and go sneak into church to hear about salvation. So he enters the police station, says he killed a man in San Fernando; the cop, preparing to take notes, asks his name. He says “Ben Fuller,” but he’s called “Lucky like in good luck.” “Dead Man” won the O. Henry Memorial Award as one of the best short stories of 1936. Hoopes reports that the Mercury editor told Cain he wanted to print “Dead Man” in the next issue but asked

Death him to rewrite the original ending of “Dead Man,” which he called “damned Pollyanna.” Cain told the editor to send a messenger at once, and by the time he arrived Cain had prepared his revision. David Madden regards “Dead Man” as “[o]ne of Cain’s best works in the third person. and one of his best stories.” It should be added, however, that although the basic narration is in the third person, Lucky’s imagining what the cops will ask him and how he will answer is strictly ﬁrst-person stream-of-consciousness. (Hoopes, 275; Madden 1985, 129) “Death on the Beach” (short story, Jack London’s Adventure Magazine, October 1958). (Characters: Captain, Diego, Gendarme, Gil, Maria.) One Sunday, Diego, a handsome, rather tall mestizo (a Mexican of Spanish-Indian mixture) in his late 20s, drives his taxi out of Matamoras, on the Rio Grande, to a beach called Playa Washington. Hoping for passengers later, he parks in a ﬁeld near some buses, gives some kids “coppers,” and watches crowds of people on the beach beyond the tall sand dunes. By a soft-drink stand he hears a customer complain that a certain little bully, about four but unusually strong, wrestles older lads down into the sand and is praised by a girl, perhaps his mother. Diego buys the kid a “Jippo drink,” which, sticking out his tongue, he grabs. The girl, calling him Gil, says, “Say gracias.” Nodding agreement to the complainer that the bully does need disciplining, Diego watches the girl, about 20, as she displays her dolllike though voluptuous ﬁgure and ﬂirty eyes, black like her hair. Diego praises Gil. She says he’s her son but she’s no longer married. He buys her an Orange Crush. She says that she’s seen him before, parked by the Matamoras cafe where she is a kitchen worker; that her name is Maria; that, if he bought her “little Hercules” some supper back in Matamoras, some relatives could babysit him and they could spend the evening together; that, if he should have paying passengers to drive home, she and Gil could sit up front with him. While they ﬂirt, cocky Gil swims too far out. A Gendarme, assigned among other beach authorities, tries to whistle him back to safety. Sassing the Gendarme, Maria says her tough Gil is an accomplished swimmer. But he goes out too far. Sudden disaster strikes. Porpoises cavort around him. He disappears. The Gendarme, insulted and sullen, orders two boys to paddle an inﬂated rubber raft out and try to rescue Gil. No luck. The Gendarme abruptly calls off the risky search, restrains screaming Maria, and asks who she is. Diego is quick to say she’s his friend. The Gendarme curtly replies that the body will wash ashore, that he wants no more trouble like this, that her unwillingness to control her son caused his death. The Gendarme brings in an “escriban publico,” who records data

Deets concerning Gil, Maria, their residence, etc. The Gendarme signs “the ofﬁcial relato.” Diego, sitting with “huddled” little Maria, refuses would-be passengers. Twilight, darkness, cold. People leave. The son of a tamale vender says that they really ought to leave, that the sharks will devour the body anyway. The soft-drink lady voices shock. Diego persuades Maria, staring at the “deep indigo” waters, to let him drive her home, with “dinner somewhere” along the way. “Whatever you say” is her answer. A sudden “wail” from the water. Unmistakably insistent, it could not be a gull’s cry, not at night. Maria, shouting “Gil!,’ heads for the water. Diego restrains her “by main force.” The Gendarme threatens to arrest her, but another wail jolts him. Diego tells the Gendarme to hold Maria, and he pulls off shoes and hat, prays, and plunges to the rescue. Or at least to end this uncertainty. Unable to locate the wail, he circles, panics as he sees a shark ﬁn—when, suddenly, he insisted later, Gil in his red trunks rises and “plop[s] in his arms.” Though terriﬁed, he shoulders the child, gets ashore, and staggers shouting for help. The Gendarme commends his bravery, whistles for aid. No luck. Gil, “so cold,” says Maria, is dead. The narrator, entirely disbelieving, later relates the events to “Captain,” his friend, a Brazos Santiago station pilot just north of Playa Washington. But Captain, who believes it all, explains that dolphins are animals, not ﬁsh, speak to each other and maybe to us as well; that dolphins can bump sharks away and even bite their gill feathers; probably they protected Gil, wailed to his distraught mother, and saved his body for her until it could be rescued. Captain says that Maria, a true “soldadera” (soldier’s girl), was necessarily a hero-worshipper; ﬁrst calling Gil her Hercules; then admiring the Gendarme, who drove ahead of Diego, Maria, and dead Gil in her arms, and made all arrangements for the funeral; but mostly extolling “big Diego,” whom she profoundly admired. Captain explains that on that cold night before their drive back to Matamoras, Maria sat beside Diego “clucking with concern” at his soaked clothes; that he heard the beach band playing Estrellita, which he said was for Gil, her “little star”; but that she said no, it was for Diego, her “Big Star.” Captain concludes: Maria lost one, gained one; she and Diego are happily married now, and though uncertain about “the true explanation of what happened,” are certain that a brave man answered that call from the sea that night. Roy Hoopes discusses “Death on the Beach” brieﬂy. He says that Cain wrote it strictly for needed cash, received $200 from Liberty for it, and admitted to his agent that it was “no masterpiece.” Hoopes agrees that “it was no masterpiece and ... was never

46 reprinted. For that matter [Hoopes continues], it is impossible to ﬁnd a copy of Jack London’s Adventure Magazine, even in the Library of Congress” (Hoopes, 469). Not so. It is available there. Moreover, copies are available for sale on e-bay ($45, please). Deets (The Moth). He is Denny Deets’s big, selfimportant father. Jack later learns that he has died. Deets, Eunice (The Moth). She is Glendenning Deets’s aunt, in Baltimore. Deets, Glendenning (The Moth). Denny Deets lives in Frederick, visits his aunt, Eunice Deets, in Baltimore, and while there becomes Jack Dillon’s friend. They play football at Baltimore Polytechnic and at the University of Maryland. Denny switches from engineering to commercial courses and feels hopeless as graduation approaches (June 1932). When Jack begins to work for oil-woman Hannah Branch in Long Beach, California, he sends for Denny to work for them. He surprises Jack ﬁrst by his commercial cleverness and next by bringing his wife — the former Margaret Legg, Jack’s one-time ﬁancée. Ultimately, Hannah retains Denny and ﬁres Jack. Deets, Mrs. (The Moth). She is Denny Deets’s tiny, attentive mother. Deever, Harry (“Brush Fire”). See Anderson, Bub. DeGrand, Junior (“The Birthday Party”). See Jackie. Deidesheimer (Past All Dishonor). He was an expert in timbering mines. He taught George Brewer how to do it safely. Delany, Bill (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). He is a rich Chicago racketeer, 40, tall, single, and “leathery” look ing from playing polo. He is associated with gangster Solomon Caspar in nearby Lake City. Delany backs Olaf Jansen, campaigning against Mayor Maddux there. Bill’s less able older brother is Dick Delany, a reporter. When Dick is grabbed by Sol’s men and is shot trying to escape, Bill blames Sol’s uninvolved chauffeur Ben Grace and warns Ben that if he sees him again he’ll kill him. Delany, Dick (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). Richard Delany is a Chicago reporter and is rich Bill Delany’s less noticeable older brother. During publicity connected with crime in nearby Lake City, crooked Sol Caspar’s men seize Dick and kill him when he tries to escape. Delavan, Jane (Jealous Woman). She was Richard Sperry’s wife and is now the second wife of Tom Delavan. She is in her mid–20s and is attractive. Delavan, in Reno for an annulment, gets insurance-agent Ed Horner to a write a policy on him with Jane as beneﬁciary. Ed Horner begins to like her when he sees

47

Dolan

her ride his thoroughbred Count Ten expertly. She is caught up in the machinations of Connie Sperry, Richard Sperry’s current wife. Connie kills Richard and plants evidence to blame Jane. But Jane is in Reno when Connie kills Delavan. Under suspicion but declared innocent, Jane ultimately marries Horner.

recuperates in army hospitals including one in Charleston, falls in love with an unnamed Navy lieutenant in Savannah, discovers when home again in Baltimore with his dying father that she is Helen Legg, and elopes with her. To humor his father, he writes this account of his life, which his father reads, corrects, and reorganizes for him.

Delavan, Tom (Jealous Woman). He hires Ed Horner in Reno to prepare a life insurance policy on him, with his wife Jane as beneﬁciary. He wants to shed her, by an annulment, to marry Faith Converse. Connie Sperry, married to Richard Sperry, who was Jane’s ﬁrst husband, kills him and tries to put blame on Jane. Connie kills Delavan, but Faith is a witness, which puts Connie in terminal danger.

Dillon, Louise Thorne (The Moth). Born in Baltimore, she is Patrick Dillon’s wife and Jack Dillon’s mother. She leaves them, evidently after a “Philly” love affair. Jack sees her in his Baltimore church. Later he learns that she saw him secretly a few times before her death. His father never tells Jack what went wrong in his marriage.

Dennis, Lloyd (Galatea). He is Holly’s uncle. In church, he doesn’t recognize her, because she has lost so much weight. Dent, Sam (The Institute). He is Richard Garrett’s chief of legal staff, based in Washington, D.C. Tall, about 45, he becomes Lloyd’s steadiest professional friend. Dent is hard put trying to advise Hortense, Richard’s wife and then widow. Diego (“Death on the Beach”). He is a handsome taxi driver who ﬂirts with Maria on the beach, tries to rescue her boastful little son from drowning, but can only bring his body ashore. The two get married. Dietz, Chief (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). He is Lake City’s corrupt chief of police. He works closely with corrupt Mayor Maddux and gangster Sol Caspar until Maddux is defeated by Olaf Jansen and is replaced by equally corrupt Joe Cantrell. Digges (The Enchanted Isle). He is a member of the Digges, Clawson and Llowndes law ﬁrm in Baltimore. Clawson helps his friend Benjamin Wilmer’s family. Dillon, Francis (The Moth). He is the father of Patrick Dillon, Sheila Dillon, and Nancy Dillon, and hence is Jack Dillon’s grandfather. Born in Derry, Northern Ireland, Francis immigrated to Baltimore, where he became a powerhouse engineer. His wife remained in Ireland and moved to Dublin. Dillon, Jack (The Moth). John Dillon, called Jack, is the narrator and hero of the novel. Born in Baltimore, he dislikes his father Patrick, misses his absent mother Louise, sings in a church choir until his voice changes to bass, disengages himself from Margaret Legg while liking her little sister Helen, becomes a lawless hobo, becomes an expert in the oil industry in California, makes love to his oil-man friend Jim Branch’s wife Hannah, becomes a major in the American Army in France, is wounded there,

Dillon, Nancy (The Moth). Born in Derry, Northern Ireland, she is Jack Dillon’s aunt. She sings feebly in church. She welcomes him when he ﬁnally returns home. Dillon, Patrick (The Moth). Born in Derry, Northern Ireland, he is Jack’s father. He studied law in Dublin, immigrated to America, and became an automobile mechanic, then a successful car salesman. He and Jack argue, and Jack leaves on a series of adventures. When Jack learns that his father is dying, he returns home. They have a partial reconciliation, during which Patrick persuades Jack to write an account of his picaresque life. This novel is the result, which Patrick corrects and reorganizes. Jack indifferently leaves Father to die by himself. Meticulous readers may note that Patrick (or someone else) didn’t proofread carefully. The ﬁrst edition of The Moth (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1948) contains typographical or grammatical errors on the following pages (with lines also indicated): 7, 30; 60, 30; 7, 24; 100, 25; 108, 12; 120, 1; 129, 5; 161, 35; 190, 9; 206, 32; 248, 25; 249, 35; 280, 21; 316, 7; 339, 2, 21; 345, 12. (Apologies to Knopf.) Dillon, Sheila (The Moth). Born in Derry, Northern Ireland, she is Jack’s aunt. She is a pianist. She is happy when he returns home. DiVola (Rainbow’s End). He is the owner of the Marietta ﬁre department. His men include Ed and Rufe. Doaks, Joe (The Moth). He is a typical ﬁctional person Denny Deets names when he tells Hanna Branch and Jack Dillon that he has quizzed numerous passersby about his idea for gas-station astronomy observatories. Dobbs (Sinful Woman). He works with Hirsch at Tony Rico’s Galloping Domino. Both men are friendly with Ethel, a blackjack dealer there. Dolan, Jim (The Enchanted Isle). He is a Hyattsville

Dolly trucker. When Sally Vernick needs Steve Baker, also a trucker, to be near her, she phones Dolan to substitute for him. Dolly (Jealous Woman). She is the fox terrier belonging to Connie and Richard Sperry. Dolly is too frisky on the roof of the Washoe-Truckee hotel. Dominick, Nick (The Magician’s Wife). He manages the Lilac Flamingo, to which Clay Lockwood sells meat. Clay calls Nick “the old maﬁoso” in conversation with Alec Gorsuch. Doris (The Magician’s Wife). She is the switchboard operator at the Marborough Arms, where Clay Lockwood lives. Doris frequently relays messages to him. Dorsey, Dan (Mignon). He is a friend of Bill Cresap, also from Annapolis. Dan, big and beefy, is now a captain in the Union army occupying New Orleans (1864), and is an aide to General Banks. Dan reluctantly helps Bill when he brashly tries to have his way with army personnel. Double Indemnity (serial in eight weekly installments in Liberty, beginning February 15, 1936; novel, 1943). (Characters: Belle, Jack Christolf, Ethel, Hobey, Walter Huff, Jackson, Keswick, Keyes, Ling, Nettie, Herbert S. Nirdlinger, Lola Nirdlinger, Phyllis Nirdlinger, Norton, Joe Pete, Benianimo Sachetti, Ike Schwartz, Shapiro.) Chapter 1. Walter Huff, narrator, is an insurance agent for the General Fidelity of California. While in Glendale, signing truck drivers on a company bond, he visits the Nirdlinger residence in “Hollywoodland.” Nirdlinger should renew his car policy. Huff says that the Nirdlingers’ house, of routine Spanish style, doesn’t resemble “this House of Death” the papers have reported about recently. A courteous maid admits Huff. Mrs. Nirdlinger appears, in pajamas. They talk business. Her asking about accident policies unsettles him. Her shape under those pajamas could “set a man nuts.” She tells him to return after dinner tomorrow to talk to her husband. Huff goes to his ofﬁce, where Keyes, the Claim Department chief and “a wolf on a phony claim,” is griping, as usual, about young Norton. Keyes is a holdover from when Norton’s father, now deceased, ran the company better. Keyes says the company ignored Huff ’s insightful warning about a policy he regarded as unsafe. Before Huff leaves, his secretary Nettie says a Mrs. Nirdlinger phoned to cancel tomorrow’s meeting and to say she’d call him later. Chapter 2. She phones three days later: Come at 3:00. When he gets there, she has a nice sailor suit on, says Belle is off, and persuades him to have tea. He says he drinks tea straight, the way Chinese customers of his do. They chit-chat. He notices her pro-

48 minent white teeth and praises her freckles. She says her husband probably will “renew with you.” She says he is the Western Pipe and Supply Company’s Los Angeles representative, often away in the oil ﬁelds. Huff offers to talk with him directly about the accident policy. She suggests her buying the policy with her “little allowance” without his knowledge. With 15 years of experience, he understands and kisses her fervently. She is responsive. Minutes pass. She says she liked Huff from the start, purposely invited him when Belle was out. They hug. She says she’ll call him again soon. He demands a kiss goodbye. It rains that night. Huff has a bugalow in Los Feliz. His Filipino servant is daytime only. Huff builds a ﬁre, ponders matters, aware he’s at a dangerous edge he enjoys approaching too closely. She rings his bell about 9:00. She says she got his address from the phone book; her husband is away supervising a new Long Beach well; liked this afternoon’s action but it should stop; “love[s]” her husband. He entices her further, though knowing the danger. She’s worried her husband could get hurt. He retorts that she came here tonight wanting her husband to be hurt. Offended, she leaves. Away from that edge, he’s relieved that she’s gone. She returns next night. It’s still raining. Calling him Walter and naming herself Phyllis, she says she wants him to know she’s tempted no longer. But he says she’ll kill her husband and he’ll assist. She denies wanting help. He says someone must assist and he’ll do so for the money and for her, and she’d better understand there can be no foolish slip-up. Lying crying in his arms, she asks to be dissuaded from this insanity, then rationalizes that her husband will be better off dead. Huff doubts that. She admits she’s attracted to “Death,” sees herself as death aﬂoat and beautiful, says she’ll actually be doing something good for her husband. Huff denies all this but says they’ll do it “[s]traight down the line.” Some nights later they casually discuss plans. Knowledgeable about insurance scams of many sorts, he explains that a clever murderer requires help, good timing, and “audacity,” and describes effective teams killing their victim and escaping justice, even though the authorities know the details. He says that accident policies can include “double indemnity” clauses covering railroad accidents, since such occurrences are rare. He names $50,000 “we’re going to cash.” He prefers selling this policy directly to Mr. Nirdlinger, with a witness, and with Phyllis opposing the idea. Boasting to her about his insider’s knowledge, Huff compares himself to a croupier who knows that when someone “crooks” the “biggest gambling wheel in the world” (that is, the insurance business), fatal

49 consequences can follow (arson, car wrecks, murder)— which the croupier loses no sleep over. He quietly recognizes Phyllis as his “plant.” [V. Penelope Pelizzon and Nancy M. West rightly believe that early Double Indemnity readers on encountering the words “double indemnity” might recall the notorious Snyder-Gray murder case. In Queens, New York, on March 20, 1927, Albert Snyder was strangled by Ruth Snyder, his wife, and by Judd Gray, lover of Ruth, who would gain $100,000 on a doubleindemnity insurance policy she took out on Snyder without his knowledge. Tabloids covered the event, from discovery of the perpetrators, to their testimony and conviction, to their electric-chair executions on January 12, 1928. Pelizzon and West demonstrate that the newspapers “provided narrative material and tactics that Cain appears to have reworked, and that ﬁlm noir later revamped.” (Madden 1970, 91; Pelizzon and West, 212; Skenazy, 22)] Chapter 3. Walter Huff persuades Nirdlinger to include a free bail-bond guarantee in his car-insurance policy. He vapidly signs the forms. What bothers Huff is the witness Phyllis includes—Lola, Nirdlinger’s daughter, 19 and pretty. Phyllis shouldn’t have involved Lola, who, to make matters worse, after the signing gets Huff to drop her off at a movie she wants to see. Her purpose, however, is to introduce Huff to her boyfriend Nino Sachetti and get Huff to “haul” both to the movies— secretly, because she doesn’t want her father to know. Huff ﬁnally returns home. Phyllis soon arrives, and when asked he ﬁbs that he saw no one waiting for Lola, whose father, Phyllis explains, forbids Lola to see “a terrible person” named Nino Sachetti. Huff goes to Nirdlinger’s ofﬁce, says he must make his ﬁrst payment by check for $79.52. Lola and Nino are waiting for Huff in his ofﬁce. Sachetti wants to borrow on his old car, to ﬁnance the completion of his dissertation at the University of Southern California. Running his own private ﬁnance agency, Huff reluctantly promises to “manage” a $250 loan. Lola gushes gratitude. Nirdlinger’s policy comes through. Huff tells Nirdlinger that an error in “multiple-card bookkeeping” was made, and persuades him to write a check for $58.60 and pocket the $20 difference in cash. Fuddled but pleased, he agrees. Lola and Nino get their $250 loan, and Nino promises to send him a copy of his dissertation, on colloids and gold ores. Chapter 4. Spring-like February. Nirdlinger drives to his business engagements. When Phyllis tells Huff that Nirdlinger charged his company when he wrote that new $58.60 check, Huff worries because Nirdlinger might boast he proﬁted by $20. Huff sells numerous policies elsewhere to show he’s a company success.

Double Phyllis tells Huff by one of their cleverly arranged phone calls that Nirdlinger is going to his June class reunion at Palo Alto, in six weeks. He wants to drive and take her along. Huff tells her not to accompany him but to let him drive. Huff puzzles her by saying they “need the car” and Huff ’s too— and the train idea too. A sudden “piece of luck.” Phyllis reports that Nirdlinger was holding a neighbor’s frisky dog, slipped, and broke his leg. Huff tells Phyllis to get her husband, cast and all, up and about, and tell him he must go to his reunion—“a vacation” after what “he’s been through”— and go by train. On Decoration Day, the General Delivery watchman brings in the company mail. Beniamino Sachetti has just sent Huff a copy of his dissertation— “in appreciation.” Chapter 5. Huff prepares an alibi. Nirdlinger’s train leaves at 9:45 P.M. So at 4:00 P.M. Huff calls on a wine company manager to discuss employers’ liability, in the ofﬁce tells Nettie to record his progress, is home by 6:00 for his just-paid Filipino servant to serve him dinner fast and dress for a date, prepares in front of him for bed to do paper work, and phones his ofﬁce’s night watchman Joe Pete to locate his misplaced rate book to send a messenger with it immediately. Huff knows Joe won’t ﬁnd it. Time? 7:38. Phyllis phones at 7:45: “Blue,” meaning Nirdlinger will be wearing a blue suit. Huff puts on a blue suit, wraps one leg to resemble its being in a cast, pockets horn rims like Nirdlinger’s and some rope and an iron hook. Huff phones Nettie in Burbank a toll call about the rate book. She says she didn’t see it. He rigs both his bell box and doorbell clapper to alert him if anyone phones— he’d be in the shower not answering. Huff, disguised, parks near the Nirdlinger’s residence, hears the two get in their car, and hears Phyllis, at the wheel, tell her husband—crutches and all— to go get her purse left accidentally in the house. While he does so, grousing, Huff hides in her back seat, is soon listening to their harmless husbandand-wife jabber. Phyllis talks as though he’s heading for Palo Alto—casually, because “[a] woman is a funny animal.” The three drive by prearrangement to a dark street. Her signal is two honks. Huff breaks their cigarsmoking victim’s neck “in two seconds.” Chapter 6. Huff ties the rope under Nirdlinger’s neck and under his shoulders, attaches the hook, slumps him in the passenger’s seat. They park a distance from the station. Huff, disguised as Nirdlinger and with his cigar, stumps on Nirdlinger’s crutches to a porter who takes Nirdlinger’s briefcase and bag, while Phyllis says his ticket is “Section 8, Car

Double C.” The porter obeys with “’yas’m.” Huff boards, wanting no aid. She says “Dear” to signal his telling her, with the conductor listening, he’ll say goodbye from the observation platform and deboard from there. He starts back inside; she walks back outside. Observant, sympathetic passengers make way for Huff, with the cigar screwing his face. Trouble: A passenger is smoking on the observation platform. Huff mouths “Parking” at Phyllis, who, thus cued, loudly apologizes for parking too far away. Huff tells “Phyllis” to “forget it,” kiss him, leave now. Saying “cheers for Leland Stanford,” she leaves. Huff must make the smoker leave. He gets him to go look for “Nirdlinger’s” ticket, possibly safe in his briefcase, in Section 8, Car C. As the train picks up speed, Huff watches for a certain dairy sign—the prearranged spot — and drops off, together with lighted cigar and crutches. Chapter 7. He waits in darkness. Phyllis staggers up with her husband’s corpse. They haul it onto the correct track, return to her car. While she drives, he discards rope, then hook, then spectacles, and listens to the radio, to remember as part of his athome alibi. Her speeding at 70 miles an hour triggers a snarling argument: Yes, she’ll bring a minister to the inquest; yes, Belle’s out; yes, Lola’s out; stop these rehearsals. He threatens to hit her. Phyllis gets Huff to his car. No kiss this time. He returns home, burns his fake bandage, suddenly chokes and sobs, tries to sing, tries to pray. He calls Ike Schwartz, a fellow salesman, to request some rate-book info. Ike phones back, helpfully. Huff gets violently sick, ﬂops down, tries to think, and concludes that by killing a man he could be ﬁngered and “have to die” for a woman whose love “a drop of fear ... [has] curdle[d] ... into hate.” Chapter 8. The morning newspapers report the death of H. S. Nirdlinger, 44, Long Island oil pioneer, Western Pipe and Supply Company representative, on his way aboard the Express to Stanford University and falling, through unfamiliarity with crutches after leg fracture, from observation platform; his widow is the former Phyllis Nirdlinger, earlier the Verdugo Health Institute head nurse; his daughter is Lola Nirdlinger. Before 9:00 P.M. Norton, company president, orders Huff to report. He and Keyes are arguing. Huff relays his information about the Nirdlinger accident clause. Norton dislikes Huff, whom Keyes praises as able to spot suspicious claims. Norton hopes the inquest — death by broken neck — will mean suicide, voiding the claim; Keyes, demeaning Norton’s pampered past, expresses doubts. Reporters have located Jackson, the man “Nirdlinger” shooed away from the observation platform before

50 jumping. Keyes says no double-indemnity policy netting $50,000 three months later is “on the upand-up”; it means murder not suicide by diving off a slow train. Norton: Who? Keyes: Phyllis, though not on train; “somebody ... was.” Norton asks what they can do; Keyes suggests an unprecedented move. File a complaint against the widow on suspicion of murder; have authorities sweat her, get something from nothing. Norton fears failure followed by a law suit. The two dispute, the upshot being that Norton opts for suicide and Keyes, saying the responsibility is Norton’s, still feels the murderer—he, she, or they — should be sought, instantly. At the inquest, silent Phyllis brings her minister, needed in case the verdict was death by suicide June 3. The company sends two discreet investigators. But the jury decrees death by broken neck in “manner unknown.” Norton and Keyes converse more genially, with Norton opting to go to court and seek to prove Nirdlinger committed suicide hoping to beneﬁt heirs. Thus the company needn’t pay. He adds that the police, with whom he has conferred, ﬁgure it was murder, but their investigation produced no evidence. Keyes says an allegation of suicide will fail and the $50,000 will be a gift to the widow. Keyes terriﬁes Huff when alone with him, by saying that experience enables him to know something without knowing how, by saying Norton should’ve attacked Mrs. Nirdlinger, and by saying Nirdlinger “was never on the train,” that no witness at the inquest described seeing Nirdlinger closely, that old Norton would have already made Phyllis confess, that young Norton will ruin the company yet. Keyes numbs Huff by suggesting details of what Phyllis and an accomplice did — two cars, creating alibis, etc. Keyes says that while Norton lets Phyllis sue, he will investigate her and her “guy’s got to show.” Huff recognizes he’s trapped. He can’t call Phyllis, for fear her phone might be tapped. He got “stinko” on cognac before the inquest. No good. He feels terrible, and mustn’t get drunk again. Phyllis phones her “Walter,” safely, from a drug store. She says Lola is often hysterical. Huff tells Phyllis to take the policy, in her husband’s safe deposit box, to her lawyer, confer with him and the tax man; let the company, which isn’t paying her, sue and claim Nirdlinger killed himself, otherwise the company will remain suspicious; and don’t communicate with him for a while. Agreeing, Phyllis says, “Do you still love me?” He says yes. Sure, he loves her the way “a rabbit loves a rattlesnake.” Chapter 9. A week later, black-dressed Lola comes to Huff ’s ofﬁce, evidently liking him. She doesn’t want to talk about “Mr. Sachetti” but does conﬁde thus: Phyllis was an experienced nurse in the

51 hospital where Lola’s mother was sick. She got better, became friendly with Phyllis, and they vacationed in the Nirdlingers’ remote shack beyond Lake Arrowhead. One winter when the two were there, Lola’s mother contracted pneumonia; Phyllis walked in snow to the main hotel 12 miles away and alerted a doctor, who went to the shack, treated Lola’s mother with oxygen, but she died. People thought Phyllis heroic for trudging in the snow, but she could’ve phoned. Within a year she married Lola’s father. Huff asks Lola to let him ponder things, warns her to keep mum. Lola has taken an apartment in Hollywood. Huff knows he should tell Keyes but won’t. Keyes suddenly says “the guy in the Nirdlinger case” has telephoned daily. Keyes won’t elaborate but says, “Now watch me.” That night Huff sneaks into Keyes’s ofﬁce, ﬁnds his desk and ﬂing cabinets locked, but tries his “dictation machine.” Amid minor calls comes a message to Norton that an investigator shadowed Huff, checked his whereabouts when Nirdlinger died, and concludes that Huff is a valuable worker whose help in fraud cases is exemplary and may be needed now. The next pertinent recording concerns Lola’s moving June 8 to a Yucca Street apartment, Mrs. Nirdlinger’s routine movements, and her receiv ing visitor three hours June 11, visitor identiﬁed as Beniamino Sachetti, age 26 or 27, of La Brea Avenue. Huff takes Lola to dinner in Santa Monica. They talk neutrally — until when asked about Phyllis she admits to jealousy when her father married her but concludes that her suspicions are unwarranted. Huff agrees, urges her to say nothing to anyone. Asked about Nino, Lola reveals that his father was a doctor, that Nino visited Phyllis about joining an association just getting started, but that when Phyllis observed his interest in Lola she bad-mouthed Nino to her father. Against orders, Lola continued dating Nino— until now, because after her father’s death, Nino is pursuing Phyllis, spending part of that $250 on her. Lola says the night her father died Nino was to see her but pleaded sickness. Alone again, Huff ponders murder for money and woman but having neither. Phyllis and Nino made him their cat’s paw and also mistreated poor Lola. She’s 19 to Huff ’s 34. Huff realizes he’s in love with her. [Paul Skenazy notes that “Huff ’s desires for Lola arise ... from his unrecognized [by Lola] guilt, projected outward as a desire to protect and be forgiven by the vulnerable innocent whom he has victimized.” (Skenazy, 41)] Chapter 10. Phyllis ﬁles her claim. Keyes declines payment since no accident has been proved. She ﬁles suit through her husband’s lawyer. She repeatedly calls Huff, who warns her Keyes will seek to prove suicide or murder. Huff ﬁgures she’ll win.

Double Huff dates Lola frequently, though knowing it’s all weird. But she’s “so sweet.” One night, parked on Santa Monica’s moonlit beach, they hold hands. She reveals that, suspicious that Nino helped Phyllis kill her father, she eavesdropped on them one night and his innocent talk convinced her that he wasn’t involved but that Phyllis sure was. Lola adds that before her father’s death two things happened: Lola caught Phyllis made up in her room like death in red and white, and waving a dagger at her mirror; also Lola followed Phyllis as she was shopping for a mourning dress a week before her father died. Despite Huff ’s plea, Lola vows to shout the truth in court. Chapter 11. Huff decides he must kill Phyllis. Their love was “kind of unhealthy.” “This” with Lola is different. He must act fast, before Lola shouts in court and Phyllis lashes back ruinously. He also plans to implicate Nino in Lola’s mind. Huff gains secret access to the company ﬁles, locates in Beniamino Sachetti’s ﬁle a key to his car as required in case repossession is required, has a duplicate made, and puts the original back. When Phyllis phones him again, he says they must meet secretly to discuss her court strategy, explains she isn’t being followed any longer after 11:00 P.M., and tomorrow she’s to put the house lights out, drive to Grifﬁth Park just past Los Felix on Riverside, and he’ll drive in a blue car he saved money by trading for, and she can hop in at 12:30 A.M. for a ride and talk. [Paul Skenazy praises Cain for his “ingenious use of Griffth Park as the setting for the rendezvous and shooting near the end of the story. The Park’s combination of roads and bridle paths, situated above the city yet within it, serves as a perfect image for Los Angeles as a moral and ethical wilderness.” (Skenazy, 43)] Huff reads in the papers about a midnight movie called Gun Play featuring Jack Christolf, to whom he sold a $7,000 paid-up endowment policy. Huff attends the movie, next day calls Christolf for an appointment to sell him more. [The name Gun Play will soon be recalled as a foreshadowing ﬂag.] About 4:00 P.M. Huff drives past Grifﬁth Park to a scenic spot above the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood. He will park his car and also Nino’s car there, get Phyllis into Nino’s, and roll it off the cliff. He returns to town, has dinner, tells Joe Pete after some ofﬁce work he’s going to see that “ham” Christolf before interviewing him tomorrow. Huff buys a dated ticket to the movie and ﬂirts a bit with an usher so she’ll remember him. Huff seats himself but soon exits by a side door, drives past the park to his selected spot by 11:24, walks to Los Felix and Hollywood Boulevard, takes a streetcar to La Brea at 11:55, gets to Nino’s place, notices his lights on, and drives his blue sedan to Hollywood Boulevard by midnight and hence to

Double the spot where his own car is parked. Phyllis isn’t there yet. His watch says 12:30. He hears a twig. Rolls down the window to listen and is shot in the chest. He came to kill her, but she beat him to it. Footsteps trail off. Well: Huff sits here in a car stolen from Nino, whom Keyes has been tailing for six weeks. He staggers to his own car, puts his key in the ignition. Thus “that night” ends. Chapter 12. Huff gags coming out of the ether. A nurse brings ice for his dry mouth. He feels chest bandages. Keyes, there, says the movie program slowed the bullet, which nicked his lung. Asked if they “got the woman,” Keyes says yes. Keyes leaves. Huff reads the morning newspaper: Huff, insurance agent, was shot in his car; Lola Nirdlinger, 19, and Beniamino Sachetti, 26, are held, deny any responsibility, but say nothing more. Huff knows Phyllis ambushed and shot him, feels “sunk,” is concerned only about Lola’s opinion of him. Keyes returns after more investigating and tells Huff this: Nino, who “plugged” him, was in Huff ’s ofﬁce when Huff gave Nirdlinger the policy; the Nirdlinger family therefore knew of it, which “ties the girl in”; Huff surely can think of something they want to “knock you off for.” When Keyes says the cops will apply “the rubber hose” to make that girl “spill,” Huff confesses that he killed Nirdlinger. Chapter 13. Huff reveals almost everything in about 10 minutes. Promising nothing with respect to the cops’ handling of Lola, Keyes leaves. Huff experiences a sense of relief. The afternoon papers report nothing about Huff, but a reporter interviewed Phyllis and has described blood-red curtains in her House of Death. At 8:00 P.M. Keyes brings Norton, his corporate lawyer Keswick, and his legal-department head Shapiro. When assured that Huff has spoken only to Keyes, they whisper “a proposition” for Huff. Then only sour Keyes remains. The upshot of their long talk: Lola thinks Nino shot Huff for jealousy; she likes Huff; Nino doesn’t love Phyllis, a veritable “Irrawaddy cobra,” but learned she was responsible for causing death by pneumonia of some of his late father Dr. Sachetti’s patients and of his children, one of whom was related to Mrs. Nirdlinger, who as that child’s executrix inherited substantially; Nino learned of Nirdlinger’s ﬁrst wife’s death, pursued Phyllis, only to fall in love with Lola, who he thought would be “pathological” killer Phyllis’s next victim; Lola suspected Nino’s attentions to Phyllis, followed his car, which Huff was driving; Nino wanted to follow her, but his car was missing; he taxied to Grifﬁth Park, parking details of which Phyllis had just asked him about; Lola and Nino, apart brieﬂy, heard the shot, rushed to aid Huff; Lola told the cop Nino was the shooter. Aware he’s “sunk,” Huff agrees when Keyes says the company can’t take the

52 publicity if he is tried for murder; so he will write a full confession, have it notarized, and mail it registered next Thursday to him. Providing details, Keyes tells Huff to take a ship from San Pedro under a different name for Balboa. On Friday, Keyes will receive and give the authorities Huff ’s confession and post a reward. If he’s caught, Keyes will deny any involvement. While Huff ’s hearing is pending, Nino is held and Lola, on bail, remains ignorant of Huff ’s guilt. Keyes leaves. Lola enters, all apologetic, says she loves Nino, makes Huff agree not to prosecute him. However, Huff can’t kiss eager Lola, “whose father I killed.” Keyes returns, surmising maybe he’s doing Huff a favor. Chapter 14. Huff writes this confession the reader may now be reading, has it handled as promised. About 7:00 P.M. he leaves the hospital and has dinner. This minute he’s aboard a ship off the Mexican coast. Phyllis greets him, says this: Keyes is “quite a matchmaker”; the ship’s radio just announced Nino Sachetti has married Lola, whom Keyes gave away and whose company gave Nino a bonus; so the truth is out concerning Huff and Phyllis. They decide not to wed. Phyllis says she’ll drop off the boat and feel what she really wants, the icy ﬁngers of her “bridegroom.” Huff says he’ll drop off with her and give her away. They see a shark. She wants to see its ﬁn by moonlight. Huff senses that the captain has been apprised by radio of their presence and will collar them before Mazatlan. Huff spits blood from his painful lung. Ah, the shark. Huff is concluding this manuscript. Phyllis, painted and dressed in red and black for death, approaches. The moon rises. Roy Hoopes reports that when Cain ﬁnished writing Double Indemnity and it was rejected by Redbook, he became discouraged, especially when his agent James Geller told him that Hollywood censors wouldn’t permit such a plot to be ﬁlmed. However, the editors of Liberty liked it, bought it for $5,000, and turned it into a best-selling serial, running weekly. Its allure gained Liberty an eight million increase in circulation. (Hoopes, 267–269, 303; Robinson, 60) David Wyatt says that “[t]he settings [of Double Indemnity] are quintessentially LA — a supermarket, a drugstore on Sunset and Vine, the Hollywood Hills— and driving is at once leisure, rendezvous, and means of crime.” Robert G. Porﬁrio praises the much-delayed movie version of Double Indemnity (Warner Bros., 1944) because it “mitigated the constraints of Hollywood’s Production Code just enough for the ﬁlm noir cycle to develop in earnest.” Agreeing, Thomas Doherty says that “ﬁlming of Postman was delayed until Double Indemnity (1944) ... opened the door on Cain’s material.” John C. Tibbetts and

53 James M. Welsh report changes between novel and ﬁlm at the hands of screen-writers Billy Wilder (1906–2002) and Raymond Chandler (1888–1959). “Chandler’s signature similes and metaphors” replace “Cain’s naturalistic cadences.” The two scriptwriters also toned down “sexual frankness and ... bracing amorality” in the novel. Much of the plot is also altered. At the outset, Neff (Huff in the novel) records his guilt on a dictaphone, and the ﬂashbacks that follow “heighten ... [a sense of ] fatalism.” When Phyllis wounds Neff but won’t ﬁnish him off, he kills her. Wilder had Neff ’s car, placed near the murder scene, not start, which causes Neff and Phyllis to panic. Wilder also included a scene showing Neff executed in the gas chamber — a scene deleted by Wilder’s executives, even though, according to V. Penelope Pelizzon and Nancy M. West, the producers of the movie had spent $150,000 to build “the gas chamber set,” Claire Johnston begins a complex analysis of the movie by asserting that “[t]he use of the ‘novelesque’ [Neff ’s dictaphonic confession] ... as a continuous, ﬁrst person narrative discourse co-extensive with the image track — semidiegetic speech — undoubtedly draws the ﬁlm closer to literary speech, but within the ﬁlmic discourse its function within the text is displaced and transformed. While the ﬁlm poses a ﬁrst person narrating discourse which takes the form of a memory, the ﬁlmic/diegetic image is always in the present.” Johnston adds that this “narrative device” was “extremely rare in classic Hollywood cinema in the 40s.” Hugh S. Manon reports that Wilder has the movie begin with Neff ’s confession, including this: “I killed him for money — and for a woman — and I didn’t get the money and I didn’t get the woman. Pretty, isn’t it?” After which, Neff ’s “voice-over throughout ... serves as a constant reminder that what we are seeing is not a tale of atonement but the crestfallen lament of a wounded man.” Wilder’s ﬁlm, Manon asserts, “thus stands as one of Hollywood’s quintessential articulating of perverse desire, a veritable treatise on the paradoxes and pitfalls of a game without a goal.” Ruth Prigozy theorizes at great length. She feels that Billy Wilder, having coauthored the script with mystery-writer Chandler, “uses the basic structure of the crime-detective formula to offer a commentary on American values and American society during the World War II years. Superimposed on the money-sex-death story of Walter Neff and Phyllis Dietrichson [Cain’s Phyllis Nirdlinger] and the Keyes-Neff ’s father-son rivalry is Wilder’s statement about the potential for social disintegration—even fascism —that exists in America.” Getting speciﬁc, Prigozy says that Wilder makes Neff embody “Nazi ideology”; then she contends that “Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment is a pervasive, although diffuse, inﬂuence on Wilder’s Dou-

Downing ble Indemnity.” This is so because, Prigozy asserts, “Dostoyevsky’s view of the world, his exploration of crime, guilt and psychological metamorphosis was extremely important in Wilder’s artistically formative years.” (For Raymond Chandler’s inﬂuence on Billy Wilder during their collaboration, see Gale.) Repeated mention of Chandler makes it relevant to report that Chandler in a letter (October 22, 1942) to Blanche Knopf says the following: “James Cain— faugh!— Everything he touches smells like a billygoat. He is every kind of writer I detest, a faux naif, a Proust in greasy overalls, a dirty little boy with a piece of chalk and a board fence and nobody looking. Such people are the offal of literature, not because they write about dirty things, but because they do it in a dirty way.” After the movie Double Indemnity was released, Chandler somewhat hypocritically wrote “Dear Jim” Cain (March 20, 1944) to praise his handling of dialogue in the novel, saying “[n]othing could be more natural and easy” but then adding that “it wouldn’t “quite play” if translated to the screen. (Chandler, 23, 28; Doherty, 114; Gale 2011, 207–208; Johnston, 89; Manon, 18, 19; Pelizzon and West, 211, 233n1; Porﬁrio, 102; Prigozy, 161, 165; Tibbetts and Welsh, 97, 98; Wyatt, 113) Douglas (Rainbow’s End). He is one of several neighbors who bring food to Dave Howell when he is publicized after shooting hijacker Shaw. Douvain (The Moth). He is the Creole New Orleans millionaire whom Jack Dillon talks into investing in his projected frozen-food business. Douvain, Mrs. (The Moth). She is wealthy Douvain’s wife, who is a gracious hostess when Jack is invited to dinner. Dow, Dr. (Mignon). He is the Episcopal rector at Alexandria, Louisiana. When Bill tells Mignon that Dr. Dow can marry them, she says she doesn’t want to be married in Alexandria, since she married her late husband Raoul Fournet there. She prefers Cincinnati. Fate decrees otherwise. Downey, Miss Ruth (“Everything But the Truth”). She is Mr. Charlie Hand’s friend. The two supposedly watch when a group of children, including Wally Bowman, Edwin Hope, Phyllis, and Roger, go swimming. The two young people are too occupied with each other to notice when Wally, Edwin, and Roger fall from a schooner timber into the water. Downing, Leonard (The Institute). He is a lawyer representing Tombigvannah’s interests in Bagastex, a product that entrepreneur Richard Garrett is interested in. “Tombigvannah” is Cain’s clever ﬁctional place name combining Savannah, Georgia, and the Tombigbee River in Alabama and Mississippi.

Drusilla Drusilla (The Moth). She is a Navy ofﬁcer, about 40 and plain, who knows the [initially] unnamed Navy lieutenant whose gracious appearance instantly intrigues Jack Dillon. The lieutenant sends her off so as to be alone with Jack. Dubois, Mort (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). He is one of four young fellows whom Solomon Caspar sends from Lake City to rob the Security Bank of Castleton. Mort’s confederates are Buck Harper, BoogieWoogie Lipsky, and Arch Rossi. They kill the bank cashier Guy Horner, grab $22,000, half of which Sol takes; but Rossi is wounded. The three get Rossi to Sol’s Columbus Hotel and leave him there. Sol takes half of their loot and has Rossi killed elsewhere. Dukas, Polly (“Come-back”). She is an inexperienced actress whose bravery when the lion Mowgli attacks the actor Tim Kennelly earns her a part in his next movie. In “Hip, Hip, the Hippo!” she works with Tim Kennelly again, tells him he can ride the hip’ by holding on his ears. She is upset when she catches Kennelly singing with movie-producer Jack Hornison’s secretary in a canoe but helps rescue both of them in order to get Hornison’s contracts. Duke (“The Baby in the Icebox”). He and his wife Luna run an outﬁt outside a town in California. They have a car park, sell gasoline, and include a lunchroom. Duke buys wildcats, tigers, and such to put on a show for money. He foolishly fancies himself a lion tamer but actually is timid. When Lura gets pregnant, he wrongly suspects snake-charmer Wild Bill Smith of being the father, and tries to get Rajah, Duke’s tiger, to kill Luna and their newborn baby, Ron. But Rajah likes Lura and kills Duke instead. The narrator sarcastically notes that Duke returns from the hills pretending he has been seeking game like Martin Johnson. In real life, Martin Johnson (1884 –1937) and his wife Osa Johnson (1894 – 1953) were famous big-game hunters, documentary moviemakers, and adventure-story writers. Cain will mention Martin Johnson again, in “The Visitor.” David Madden has Duke in mind when he suggests that “The Baby in the Icebox” is “[a] study in American exhibitionist masculinity.” (Madden 1985, 129) Dumb, Dora (The Moth). She is the sort of person too stupid to be likely to order Jack Dillon’s frozen foods. He won’t consider her husband John Q. Dumb either. Dumb, John Q. (The Moth). See Dumb, Dora. Dumont (Mignon). He is a New Orleans banker with whom Marie is associated. He is described as gray, small, and mousy. Duncan, Miss (Rainbow’s End). She is attorney

54 Bledsoe’s client Rich Duncan’s daughter. Duncan’s daughter took his car for an overnight date with a boyfriend. Duncan reported it stolen. Bledsoe straightens matters out with the authorities. Duncan, Rich (Rainbow’s End). He is one of attorney Bledsoe’s clients. Rich appeals to Bledsoe to get his daughter out of a jam. He quickly does so. Dunne, Hovey (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). He is the United States Attorney in charge of extraditing Sol Caspar from Mexico City back to Lake City to prosecute him there for income-tax violations. Joe Cantrell and Yates, a corrupt Lake City pair, aware that Sol’s men killed Lake City reporter Dick Delany, ponder what to do. Duval, Roger (Past All Dishonor). He is a tall, handsome Southern sympathizer, 21, during the Civil War. He narrates his story. Friends all him “Rog.” He leaves Maryland for Sacramento, under orders to send information about Union activities there back to Maryland. He falls in love with Morina Crockett, a beautiful prostitute working for a Virginia City madam named Biloxi. Morina says Roger can “have” her for $1,000, which he gathers by gambling. But robbers beat him up and get the money. Her telling him she is marrying rich George Brewer prompts him to kill George. Roger persuades Morina of his love, and the two plan to rob a gold shipment coming from San Francisco to Virginia City. Plans miscarry, in the process of which he kills several persons guarding the gold, and after which, while they are evading a posse, he accidentally shoots Morina to death. While awaiting the arrival of the posse, he piles his gold at his feet, write his narrative, and puts it beside his head. Paul Skenazy calls this tableau “a perfect image for the way narrative becomes a form of self-creation to Cain’s heroes.” (Skenazy, 92) Dyer (The Embezzler). He is the chief guard of the Los Angeles bank of which Dave Bennett is a vice president. When Dave is aware that Charles Brent, the Glendale branch bank teller, has embezzled money and is planning a heist, he orders Dyer to bring some of his men to Glendale to foil Charles. Dyer, a tall ex-detective with gimlet eyes, brings Halligan and Lewis, and all three participate in the ensuing gunﬁre.

E Eads (Mignon). Mignon mentions “M’sieu Eads” to Bill, who says he doesn’t know him but his father does. Mignon says Eads wanted to follow the plans of Adrien de Pauget [sic] and divert the Mississippi

55 River at New Orleans, to make it a cosmopolitan capital. Adrien de Pauger (not Pauget) (?–1726), French military engineer and architect, was sent by the French Compagnie des Indes to Louisiana to head a construction crew. He was ordered by the founder of “La Nouvelle–Orléans” to draw city plans. He memorably drafted the ﬁrst plan for the city (c. 1723), within which is the Vieux Carré, notable for its right-angle streets. Earl (The Magician’s Wife). He is a cook at The Portico. Bill Jackson, manager, is critical of Earl when he and Clay Lockwood inspect the kitchen. Eckhart (“Coal Black”). He is a coal miner accidentally killed, as reported by Han Biloxi to Lonnie. It is notable that the miners are casual when Han simply tells Lonnie that “Eckhart got it.” Eckstein (Mildred Pierce). He is a butcher who does business with Mildred. He is pleasant when Mildred is doing well. His mood changes when her restaurant business begins to fail and she cannot make payments. Ed (Past All Dishonor). He is mentioned as running “the steam” in the Virginia City silver mine where Roger Duval works. Eddie (Mildred Pierce). He runs a place across the street from Ida’s restaurant in Beverly. Ida tells Mildred that Mildred’s daughter Veda and a cheap actress named Elaine pick up men at Eddie’s. Edgren, Sergeant (Rainbow’s End). He is in charge of Marietta police headquarters when the sheriff is in Europe on business. Edgren is sorely tried as he and his deputy Mantle sort out events leading to, and following, the deaths of hijacker Shaw, Dave Howell’s “Mom” (Myra Howell), and her brother Sid Giles. Cain has the sheriff far away so that poor Edgren can be as confused as the reader. Elaine (Mildred Pierce). She is a pretty but loose actress whom Mildred’s daughter Veda meets. Elaine knows Hollywood director John Lenhardt. Veda uses this contact to advance her own career. Eliza (The Institute). She is Lloyd’s cleaning woman who helps tidy up his College Park apartment. Ellen (The Magician’s Wife). She is Clay Lockwood’s cleaning woman. Elsie (Cloud Nine). She is the switchboard operator in Graham Kirby’s ofﬁce. The Embezzler (serialized as Money and the Woman, in Liberty, 1940; expanded as novel, 1943). (Characters: Adler, Arthur Bennett, Dave Bennett,

Embezzler Anna Brent, Charles Brent, Charlotte Brent, Sheila Brent, Miss Church, Dyer, A. G. Ferguson, Lou Frazier, Gaudenzi, Halligan, Helm, Jake, Bunny Kaiser, Lewis, George Mason, Dr. Henry W. Rollinson, Mrs. Rollinson, Sam, Snelling, Mrs. Snelling.) 1. Dave Bennett, the narrator, played football at the University of Southern California, is now vice president of banks with headquarters in Los Angeles. The Old Man (A. G. Ferguson) has sent him to learn why their Glendale branch bank on Anita Avenue has been doing unusually well. He found that Charles Brent, head teller Charles Brent there, was able to persuade customers to develop unusually substantial savings accounts. Charles, 30 but stooped and looking older, declined Dave’s invitation to lunch, had milk and crackers at closing time instead. He seemed evasive with Dave, who didn’t like him. Now, two weeks later, Charles’s wife, Sheila Brent, phones Dave asking to see him at his home in Hollywood on business. Arriving by bus, Sheila, 25 and beautiful, explains over drinks. Sam, Dave’s Filipino house boy, is out. She says she was born in Princeton, New Jersey; at 10, moved with her father Henry W. Rollinson and her mother when Dr. Rollinson began teaching history at the University of California at Los Angeles; worked at this Glendale bank, met and married Charles six years ago; they have two little daughters (Anna, ﬁve, and Charlotte, three). She says that Charles has neglected his health and now needs surgery for an ulcer, and asks Dave to let her replace him while he’s hospitalized. Attracted to Sheila, Dave is amenable. He drives her to her Glendale home on Mountain Drive. They agree she should and can “sell” her husband on the job idea herself. [David Madden says that Cain presents Glendale here “as a representative middle-class residential area.” (Madden 1970, 107)] 2. Dave is sold, all right, but not Charles. He “squawked,” continues to refuse treatment other than pills, but one day faints and is ambulanced to the hospital. Sheila successfully replaces him, and the depositors remain happy. Dave delivers “an ofﬁcial gift” of a fruit basket to Charles. Sheila is there, having had her [unnamed] maid remain to babysit her daughters; Dave drives Sheila around. After x-rays, it’s surgery for Charles. Dave and Sheila begin to meet regularly for drives. When she is in the hospital, he takes in movies and waits for her. He makes no passes at her. They chat about books and sports. He’s glad the physicians want Charles to remain in the hospital until healed. When George Mason, the bank cashier, is transferred, Dave replaces him. Other workers include bookkeeper Miss Church, and tellers Snelling and Helm, both of whom head-teller Sheila supervises. One day while at a nearby lunch cafe, Dave sees Sheila sitting near two businessman. She tells Dave that

Embezzler one man is Bunny Kaiser, Glendale’s biggest furniture dealer, who is “putting up a [new] building” and by using sex appeal she can handle his loan. Dave agrees it’s worth a $2.50 raise. That afternoon Sheila remains busy. Two depositors in a row hand savings to Dave, in her place. He notices their passbook totals are larger than their cash boxes show. To stall, Dave blobs their deposit books with ink and promises new ones. After checking other savings records, Dave becomes suspicious of Charles, who talked business evasively with him. He checks record after record, sees suspicious pencil checkmarks at shortages, and with his “adding machine mind” totals more than $8,500 missing. At almost closing time, Sheila waltzes in, patting fat Bunny Kaiser and signaling Dave to let the workers go. The three ﬁnalize the deal. Dave gets an OK from headquarters by phone. Kaiser leaves. Sheila sings a success song but suddenly grows aware of Dave’s puzzled stare. He says he was merely wondering about her dress. 3. Home alone, Dave feels that Sheila played him for a sucker. Knowing he must keep his promise to take her to the hospital tonight or she’d wonder, he drives to her place, honks. She coolly gets in, boasts about the Kaiser deal, says she can vamp guys for more deals if he agrees, then turns “ﬂirty” with him. He waits outside while she visits recuperating Charles. He wonders whether she might go for him too, if ﬂirting “was her game.” Trembling, he takes her to his home. Dave prepares drinks, sits close to Sheila, tries to put his arm around her, tries to kiss her, ﬁguring she’s a trollop. She indulges him momentarily, then stands up and rebukes him. She says she hoped for friendly relief from the strain of her marriage, especially since Charles in his hospital bed has mumbled another woman’s name, wonders what caused Dave to stare at her in the bank today. Dave wants to reveal his suspicions, but when he thinks she wants to use his bathroom she really goes upstairs to phone for a cab and is soon gone. Dave concludes he’s “nuts about her.” At the bank she continues to be “pleasant, polite, and pretty.” For a few days she goes to the hospital alone. The day comes when Dave has to verify depositors’ balances. All’s well, even Sheila’s, because of those false entries. Dave gotta behave “like a white man”[!]; so he drives to Sheila, signals by horn toots, and she gushes “So glad” he’s here. He drops her off at the hospital, takes in a newsreel, rehearses things to say to her. Maybe Charles has another woman, and Sheila, not involved in his bank cheating, can be his. When she returns to him, she says they must talk. They get to his place. He chases Sam out. They sit by a cozy ﬁre. She wants nothing to drink, drapes his arm around her but won’t let him kiss her, says

56 Charles is short by $9,113.26 in his accounts, says he’s spent it on another woman, and asks what will happen. Dave says the bonding company will have Charles indicted and could “bear down” on him hard. Sheila says he’s spent the money “on another woman,” couldn’t make restitution. Dave says restitution couldn’t save Charles from being made an example of. Sheila says she knows how to return the money without anyone’s knowledge, and must do so— only for their children, to avoid their having a disgraced father. Dave says that since she’s come clean he will too, and confesses he wanted to seduce her, still wants her, but now prefers to behave honorably. They kiss fervently. While driving her home, he promises to “think it over” but knows he’ll “do anything she asked.” 4. Sheila explains that her father owns his house in Westwood, carefully paid for over the past 15 years, and can “get something on that” and also has some savings. Next night Dave drives her to her parents’ home. She emerges, crying, saying her father will cooperate, only for her children, not for her or Charles, whom he dislikes and who, Sheila reveals, has fallen for a worthless “simpleton.” Sheila’s mother doesn’t know about the deal yet. Dave restlessly worries— about “the old history professor,” Brent with his belly tube and “washed up” with his wife, his “simpleton” girlfriend, and Dave himself — enmeshed in a scheme. Before his ﬁre next night, Dave tells Sheila that he, not her father, will “kick in the dough,” by means of his own house. She says she’d feel bought. He says she should feel important, bought for $9,000. They kiss wildly. She says she loves feeling like a woman “in a veil, and a harem skirt.” They vow their love. 5. Dave wonders how to conceal the fraud. Sheila won’t let him expose Charles and have Sheila pay without revealing her source and then ﬁre Charles. Doing all this might land Charles in jail and would surely embarrass the children. One day she says the problem is with cash, deposit cards, passbooks with entries. Therefore? Issue new passbooks with revised total entries, destroy old passbooks, return proper cash to bank repositories. If customers wonder about their old passbooks, say the stitching came loose, they got smeared, etc. If a customer asks for his anyway, she’ll ﬁrst render it unreadable “under the punch.” She’ll send notices, a few at a time, to the 47 “doctored” passbook holders that it’s interest time and come see “Sheila Brent” with their passbooks for $1.22 or so interest. Dave “plasters” [i.e., mortgages] his house for cash. The plan works except when Sheila goes once for lunch and Dave substitutes for her, he must rebuff apple-polishing Miss Church’s desire to help him. Sheila tells Dave she’ll handle Miss Church. Sheila and Dave “plugged about $400 into the cash” most days, often more.

57 The founder of the main bank and its branches, A. G. Ferguson, gives another of his popular dinner dances in Los Angeles. The crowd of guests includes Dave, Sheila, Helm, Snelling and his wife, and Miss Church, all from the Glendale branch. Ferguson hopes Dave can return to his Los Angeles duties soon. Dave says he’d like to study Glendale successes further, and write an article for “the American Banker.” Agreed, says Ferguson, who asks to meet “the girl in blue,” Sheila. He dances with her, says he’s vacationing in Honolulu starting tomorrow. Dave and Sheila talk later. She says the doctors are sending Charles “up to Arrowhead” to recuperate for three or four weeks, staying with friends there. She says she’ll let “that young man” worry a while, tell him she repaid what he embezzled, not say who helped — then she’s off to Reno. 6. One day Charlotte, Sheila’s younger daughter, is sick. Dave drives Sheila home, and for the ﬁrst time sees where she lives—“nice, and smelled like her.” He also sees Anna, the older child. All’s well at the end of the month. The last savings depositors get their new books. Adler, the bank guard, is about to lock up—when Charles, all suntanned, surprisingly enters, holding a grip. He accepts greetings all around. Even Dave, gritting his teeth, shakes his hand. Charles soon leaves. The sudden appearance of a big spider causes confusion. Adler removes it, and a cop takes it home as a souvenir. Dave gets Sheila to his car, drives her to his home to talk. He wants to take her to her residence, tell Charles everything, bring her and the children to Dave’s place immediately, and make plans. Adamantly refusing, she explains: Dave is unbelievably wonderful; Charles got home last night; she’ll let him stew a while before telling him he’s in the clear ﬁnancially, “hasn’t ... looked at me that way in over a year” [i.e., no sex]; she must tell her parents, etc. First, she wants to celebrate; so she phones her maid she’s staying out; they dine; they go to a Sunset Boulevard night club; he gets her home by 1:00 A.M.; they kiss. Alone, Dave experiences that chronic “prickly feeling.” 7. As he’s entering his house, Dave hears his name called. Helm, about 25 and new at the bank, says he saw Dave earlier with Sheila, must talk with him. He invites Helm in and hears this: “Charlie” re-entered the bank, with his key, after it closed this afternoon; Helm, thinking little of it, accompanied the Snellings to a movie, argued afterwards with Snelling about “Mexican stuff in it”; they tried at midnight to phone Charles to referee, since he’d spent time in Mexico; the maid answered, said Charles wasn’t home; midnight is late for anyone recuperating from “a bad operation.” Dave drives Helm immediately to the bank, and with the night watchman they search everywhere, ﬁnd nothing. Helm hints they should phone Sheila. Dave says it’s

Embezzler too late tonight. Alone, he proceeds to her residence. Sheila tells Dave that Charles is in the vault, that she found out because when Charles wasn’t home she returned to the bank and saw the vault light winking, to indicate someone was inside. Feeling suckered, Dave retorts thus: Charles plans to riﬂe the vault, emerge disguised as a getaway robber taking funds Dave gave her but she didn’t return to depositors’ cash boxes; Dave intends to trap him when the bank opens at 8:30 tomorrow. Sheila, alternately looking tigerish and then crushed, says that Charles, not knowing the money had been returned, went to her father, who needn’t have mortgaged his house but did and held the money “just in case”—and gave it to Charles. What to do? Dave says if Charles returned the money they’re “sunk”; if he’s still there, Dave can recheck totals; anyway, the truth will cost Dave his job. Sheila suggests letting Charles, a “wizard at books,” doctor everything fast, because all the records are there for him to handle; he’d be “a boob” to return money when he sees money already returned. The two hug. [Chapter 7 is the pilotal chapter of this 13-chapter novel. Charles’s machinations are its tipping point, after which Dave behaves differently.] 8. Restless when home again, Dave ﬁgures he’ll tell suspicious Helm they should await Charles’s action, then grows aware of Sheila’s “holding out” on him. To counteract, he phones Dyer, the L.A. bank system’s chief guard, says he suspects someone is in the Glendale bank vault, orders him to report at 7:00 A.M. with some assistants to Dave’s house, for further information. He wants Dyer close enough to protect him and the bank if Sheila is lying, far enough for her to explain to Charles if she isn’t lying, and ready enough with other men to shoot if Charles is “up to something.” At 7:00 Dyer and ex-cops Halligan and Lewis arrive. Sam serves everyone a quick breakfast. Dave informs Dyer only about Charles Brent’s returning to the bank and Sheila Brent’s think ing she saw the winking vault light, but not about any shortage or about Sheila’s father. Dave says he wants Dyer and his men handy in case Charles is in there, either “up to something” or in the vault accidentally and needing an ambulance. Dyer contends that Charles is there “on purpose”; his men agree. Dave reluctantly says he doubts Charles “pull[ed] anything,” says he’s here to check Charles’s success in “the savings department,” mentions the big, furry spider. Dyer says those spiders aren’t from around here but are plentiful at Arrowhead, where Dave said Charles had been recuperating. Dyer wants to grab Charles like a possible criminal and check later. Dave says that would wreck bank “morale.” Ayer accepts Dave’s order but says he’s on record as opposing, with Halligan and Lewis being witnesses.

Embezzler Dave, Ayer, and his men drive to and past the bank, then park. Helm arrives, unlocks the bank. Snelling arrives. Sheila walks up, chats with him. Helm exits, signaling all’s well inside. He and Snelling enter the bank. Dave tells Sheila he hopes Charles has done nothing “dumb,” tells her to get to him fast, while Dave will stall. He adds Helm has “guessed it.” At 8:20 Adler the bank guard appears, enters with Dave and Sheila. Miss Church phones Dave, will reluctantly miss work today, feels sick. It’s 8:25. Helm tells Dave about the three men outside. Dave says he ordered them here but to say nothing yet. At 8:30 the vault time lock clicks. Adler, having put on his uniform, advances. Dave, having pocketed his automatic from his desk, tells Snelling that he and Helm will open the vault. Spinning their dials, they do. Dave barely notices how different the compartments holding the deposit boxes appear, before a bank dolly holding records rolls forward, knocks him ﬂat, topples on him, cuts his head. He hears screams, sees Adler and Snelling with hands up, then sees Charles, disguised, masked probably from items he had in his grip, waving a gun, shouting “stick-up.” Could he have a chance? Sheila screams at Charles to “cut it out.” Charles ﬁres. Dyer shoots at him through the window, misses. Adler and Dave ﬁre. Charles ﬁres, smashes a bigger opening through the shot-through rear window, jumps outside, gets to his car. More ﬁring, from Dyer, Halligan, Lewis. Charles drives off. Adler is dead. 9. Dave’s rubbery legs get him to a phone. Dyer enters, grabs the phone. First though, Dave dials Lou Frazier, Ferguson’s other vice president and special assistant, tells him about “some trouble,” a guard killed, and to bring about $20,000 because they’re cleaned out and can expect “a run.” Cops swarm about. Dave orders Dyer to maintain order, tells him Frazier is coming with cash. Ambulance people remove Adler’s body. Helm and Snelling say Charles garnered $44,000 cash, plus valuables and securities, from chiseled boxes, didn’t touch “the little boxes.” Dave, bleeding from the head, orders them to list the robbed boxes, phone and wire all box holders to report here. Sheila brings Bunny Kaiser in, the furniture man wanting that big loan. He says he’ll have his glaziers replace all the broken windows. Frazier arrives, with four tellers, a guard, and money. He shouts that only depositors will be admitted, and all of them will be repaid. Sheila swabs Dave’s bloody face. Frazier orders Dyer to get Dave some help. Many depositors line up, are paid. Others come, see all was in order, and leave. End of run. An orderly escorts Dave to an ambulance. Sheila is crying so much that they let her ride along. On the way, a doctor tends to Dave’s gashed head,

58 comforts wailing Sheila. What “a swell ride,” he observes. 10. They take Sheila elsewhere and arrange for Dave to have his head sutured. First, he calls Sam to bring fresh clothes. Dave is anaesthetized and treated, awakens in bed with a nurse reading a newspaper account of the robbery—$44,000 from bank, $46,000 from private boxes, Adler leaving widow and one child, photos of Adler, heroic Dave, and Charles Brent in his car and its license number, and mention it was moving when he jumped in, hence accomplice was involved. Sam arrives with clothes. Two detectives quiz Dave. He has to mention Helm’s worry, Sheila’s seeing the vault light, and Dyer’s unfortunately disregarded advice. Sam brings a late afternoon edition, which includes a photo of Sheila, who, still hospitalized, says she knows nothing about Charles’s whereabouts but will be questioned further. Against orders, Dave gets dressed. He must see Sheila. But the nurse conﬁdentially tells him that she’s being held, may be arrested, is suspected of concealing information. Sam taxis with Dave to his car, near the bank. The bank windows are all replaced, and a gold leafer has started lettering. Sam drives Dave around. A late afternoon paper reports “cover-up robbery,” a huge picture of Sheila, and one of Dr. Henry W. Rollinson of U.C.L.A. If he has talked, everything is “in the soup.” After Sam prepares food for Dave, Frazier appears, says Charles “was short in his accounts” and his “sexy-looking” wife obviously cooked his books. Frazier continues: Dave, innocent, was suckered, can write a curious magazine essay now; Frazier questioned Sheila’s bitter father, whom she shouldn’t have asked for money; her redoing the books was “a slick job”; her father revealed the shortage total; that spider gag let Charles hide in the vault; he could have rushed with the money, hidden it, gone home as a still recovering invalid; if caught, Charles could get ﬁve medicos to swear he’s nuts; Helm’s report implicates Sheila, sedated in the hospital and wanted for accessory to Adler’s murder. Dave, after pondering, confesses to Frazier that he “knew about the shortage.” Frazier says Dave must admit nothing but that he suspected a shortage while not reporting it. Or else “there goes our bond!” Frazier insists that unless Sheila is regarded as innocent, the entire bank’s “ﬁdelity ... and burglary bond[s]” are gone and the bank is responsible “for the whole ninety thousand bucks!” Alone, Dave phones to order ﬂowers for Adler’s funeral tomorrow. [Thus ends an impossibly action-packed 17 hours. But no normal reader would mind.] 11. The next three days are awful. Dave appears

59 before the Grand Jury, admits he provided the money, wanted Sheila to divorce Charles and marry him. Frazier wires him that the bonding company is denying liability for the missing cash, says when Ferguson returns from Honolulu he’ll have the directors ﬁre Dave. Sightings of Charles Brent — in Mexico, Phoenix, Del Monte — are featured in the newspapers, along with accounts of Dave as part of “the Loot Triangle,” and pictures of Dr. Rollinson, now caring for Sheila’s kids, pictures of Sheila ﬁlched from the Rollinson home, even old photos of Dave in college. Sheila was indicted for altering records, embezzlement, accessory to a deadly-weapon robbery, but not murder. Dave showed his mortgage papers to try to absolve her partially. No luck. He listens to radio news, learns Sheila is out on $7,500 bail provided by her father, but there’s no news about Charles. Dave drives past the bank, sees Miss Church, Snelling, Helm, and two new tellers, all at work. One night Dave drives toward Sheila’s house, wondering if she has suckered him. He sees lights and reporters. She comes out. He ducks down; strolling past, she whispers he’s being followed. Dave realizes that since she wasn’t indicted for unbailable murder, they let her out to follow her perhaps to Charles. Dave must see her, but how? He sends Sam in a white coat to deliver bread to her and tell her to meet him at 7:00 P.M., where they rendezvoused after her hospital visits to see Charles. Dave avoids a tail, gets there; she taxis up, hops in, says her taxi is undoubtedly being followed, tells him that when they were both taken away he probably had his doubts about her, says she can’t come to him with clean hands, says they must separate, says she cost him his career and good name, hopes to repay his ﬁnancial loss. Dave says he did experience doubts, then believed her, but now asks if she is two-timing him with Charles. No. Dave says she knows more than she’s revealing, asks if she knows where Charles is. Yes. She says she knows more about Charles than she’s revealed, says she wants Charles to escape so their children won’t be disgraced. He says her actions will disgrace them anyway. She disagrees. He admits they are through with each other, loves her still, sees her tears, ﬁgures they’ll never meet again, and drives toward her home. They get to Westwood. Sheila turns up Dave’s car radio, already on low, tuned to short wave. A police report comes through, that two kids are missing from Dr. Rollinson’s home. Sheila orders Dave to stop. She ﬂags the car she knows has been following them. A detective’s car stops. She tells the two men inside that her husband has abducted their kids, plans to proceed ﬁrst to his “hideout,” then “blow.” One cop drives Dave’s car with Dave along

Embezzler and Sheila directing him. The other cop follows. They speed at about 80 mph through Westwood and Hollywood. 12. They all arrive at a certain Glendale apartment house. Motioning for silence, Sheila checks the open garage. Empty. She tiptoes to a certain thirdﬂoor apartment door. Dave and the two cops follow. Inside is Miss Church, alone, and two suitcases, strapped. One cop orders “Fats” to open them. From the larger out tumbles money, Charles’s entire bank heist. Miss Church curses at Sheila, contending she tried to “send him [Charles] up” when his scheme would fail. One cop starts to phone for reinforcements. But Charles drives up, toots for Miss Church. Sheila stops her from screaming. The cops and Dave “piled down the stairs.” Charles shoots at Dave from his car and behind Dave’s car. Dave sprints to Charles’s already moving car, grabs the passengerside door handle, swings and clutches a rear-door handle just as Charles guns the car and starts shooting at the passenger side. Shots follow from the cops. The car crashes to a halt. Charlotte and Anna are in the back seat. Charlotte screams to her daddy that Anna is hurt. But he is slumping, all bloody. One cop calms the little girls. The other cop grabs Miss Church as she is trying to escape out the apartment building with the cash; he then phones headquarters. Dave holds distraught Sheila. Crowds gather. Authorities arrive, take over — Charles in one ambulance, Anna in another. By 1:00 A.M. Anna has been operated on. It happened that when Charles was driving he reached back to ﬁre at the cops and shot Anna through the abdomen. Dave takes Sheila to her parents’ home. They tell her that Charles died, “[o]n the table.” Sheila rambles that Charles was a good though unmasculine man, and was oddly attracted by Miss Church, who planned his scheme to ruin Sheila before she could ruin him. It’s touch and go with Anna. 13. The cops exonerate Sheila. The newspapers make a heroine of her and are complimentary toward Dave. Miss Church accepts a plea and is sent to Tehachapi. She admits she hatched the spider gimmick. The money is all recovered. Dr. Rollinson “got his stake back.” The bonding company is in the clear. It takes weeks for Anna to recover from peritonitis, fever, and pneumonia. Dave worries about his future. Bankers have to have “a good name.” One night he and Sheila are sitting with her little girls when Old Man Ferguson, back from Honolulu, enters, with ﬂowers for Sheila and dolls for her children. Sheila says she knew he’d come calling because the two liked each other when they danced at the company party. Ferguson calls Dave and Sheila “silly” but not crooked, says what they did “was against all rules, all prudence, but it wasn’t morally wrong” [Debatable?] Frazier is still upset; so Ferguson offers Dave

Emil the opportunity to take charge of the new branch bank he’s opening in Honolulu. Fast forward one year. Dave, Sheila, Anna, Charlotte are now in Honolulu. With them is their new baby, Arthur, named after A. G. Ferguson. That kind boss phoned recently that Frazier has been transferred east and Dave could join him. But they all like it in Honolulu. Roy Hoopes calls The Embezzler “a taut suspense story with a more upbeat ending than was usual for Cain,” and reports that Cain sold the plot to Warner Bros. for $3,500 (January 1940). Paul Skenazy downgrades The Embezzler, lamenting that it “creates some curious if ﬁnally unsuccessful twists on the saga of adultery and crime Cain patented in Postman and Indemnity.” David Madden, however, regards The Embezzler as “one of Cain’s most effective short novels in the hard-boiled manner.” David Fine (1995) notes that it “reverses the usual Cain formula with its happy ending and its focus on an attempt to undo the crime.” Later, Fine (2000) dismisses The Embezzler as “an insigniﬁcant novella” (Fine 1995, 46; Fine 2000, 93; Hoopes, 302, 303; Madden 1970, 65; Skenazy, 63). Emil (Galatea). He is a chef whom Valenty assigns to work at his cocktail party for a bunch of politicians. Emil (Mignon). He is Marie Tremaine’s bodyguard. Emil has a cane in which a sword is concealed. Emma (Mildred Pierce). She is a waitress Mildred hires when her ﬁrst restaurant begins to do well. Hans, Mildred’s baker, enjoys feeling Emma’s leg. Emory (The Moth). He is the irrigation boss at the fruit ranch near Whittier, California, where Jack Dillon works for a while. Emory, Mrs. (The Moth). She is the wife of the irrigation boss at the Whittier fruit ranch. When Jack Dillon is “tower man” there, he rooms and boards with her. The Enchanted Isle (novel, 1985). Characters: Sally Baker, Steve Baker, Lester Bond, Matt Caskey, Chief, Clark, Jim Clawson, Colypte, John P. Davis, Esther Davis, Mrs. Davis, Rick Davis, Digges, Jim Dolan, Gorsuch, Jack Haynes, Howie Hyde, Llowndes, Marconi, Mrs. Minot, O’Brien, Richter, Vanny Rossi, Vito Rossi, Amy Schultz, Vernick, Vernick, Edward Vernick, Mandy Vernick, Mrs. Vernick, Benjamin Wilmer.) 1. Amanda Vernick, the narrator, begins by confessing that, like a jerk, she helped on “the $120,000 holdup.” She sketches her background: Mother was remarried, to Steve Baker. They lived in Hyattsville, Maryland. Steve was a trucker hauling parcel post to New York and wine on his return. He played nicely with “Mandy,” as Amanda is called, until when she

60 was 13 he started to pull her “undies” down, paddle her, “feel in between smacks and get a buzz.” One day she overheard Mother on the phone and ﬁgured the woman “was stepping out.” Mandy played hooky, followed Mother, and saw her disappear in a green Cadillac. Back home, Mandy while putting the laundry away happened upon a letter to Mother addressed General Delivery and containing “a clip from the Baltimore Sun.” It described Benjamin Wilmer, his college background, his inheriting “Wilmer’s Folly” in Frederick County, his building a distillery there, and his being an eligible bachelor. Attached was a loving note saying green Caddy ordered. Maddy concluded Mother tolerated Steve’s perversity with Mandy, while Steve though knowledgeable didn’t want a divorce and thus lose fun with Mandy. Now behold Mandy one June day, age 16, 5'2", 105 lbs., “soso face,” “extra good” ﬁgure. She waits until Mother meets Wilmer again, gathers her $74 from odd jobs, packs, and rejects not only prostitution for a mink coat to show Mother and stepfather sometime, but also an Episcopal nunnery. Instead, she’ll seek out her real father and escape with him eventually to “a desert isle,” where they’ll relish clams and coconut milk. She buys a ticket to Baltimore, waits, but then meets “a boy.” 2. He seems about 19, is good-looking except for being slightly slant-faced. She says she’s leaving home for Baltimore. He says he was wrongly accused of theft, is also leaving but lacks money. Asking her name, he says he’s Rick Davis. When asked, she says she’s got $74. He accepts two dollars for his ticket. Then asks for ﬁve. She tells him about her mother’s condoning her stepfather’s sexually abusing her. When she says she’s going to ﬁnd her real father, Rick says she might not be welcome, if, for example, he’s remarried. Rick says she should get an apartment soon and then let her father come to her; meanwhile, she should check into a motel — not like a chippy, but with him. Seeing a Baby Ruth ad, he considers the names Mr. and Mrs. Baby Ruth. She suggests “John P. Ruth and wife.” 3. They get a room with twin beds and bath. Rick gripes when the clerk makes Mandy pay in advance. They buy sandwiches nearby. Rick gripes that his father kept paying to avoid trouble when Rick was accused—wrongly, always—of stealing. The father ﬁnally “put me out.” Mandy is tempted to ask him to quit griping, but then thinks Rick listened while she griped. They take a walk. She suddenly recalls places she saw then — Colypte chopper-blade factory, Chesapeake Bank and Trust branch bank, stoplight, cross-street — all near where she “drove the getaway car” after they robbed the bank. Back in their room, Rick suggests “a roll in the hay.” Casually, she says he stinks and must bathe ﬁrst. While he’s doing so, Mandy decides on an easier

61 future. She ﬁnds her father in the phone book — Edward Vernick, Lombard Street — and phones. A woman answers. Mandy says she’s Mandy. The man answers. When she identiﬁes herself as his daughter, he says he has no daughter, knows no Mandy, and warns her not to seek money. She says she wanted no money, calls him a snake, hangs up. Rick is in bed. Mandy sits, in shock, tells Rick what she did. He says he told her the idea of contacting her father “was a louse.” She repeats after Rick that daddy is an s.o.b. and says she feels sick. He says he knows the cure. But Mandy says her dream doesn’t involve a nun’s habit but a mink coat, in which she will parade in front of her father and say who needs money? Puzzled, Rick wants her in bed. But, refusing to be yanked against her will, she starts consulting a Baltimore newspaper to see about a job —for money, apartment, mink coat, she explains. Although she doesn’t mention any necessary intervening “shame” in the apartment, Rick calls her “nuts.” She agrees. 4. Mandy rouses early, cleans up, dresses, planning to report where waitresses are needed at the Gardenville on Baltimore’s Bel Air Road. Rick awakens, learns she hopes waitressing will lead to meeting a man who’ll get her a mink, and says waitresses get nothing but “sore feet.” She accuses him of laziness. While having breakfast out, he continues bellyaching. When Mandy again says she wants a mink regardless of cost, four guys, overhearing her, suggest “a package deal.” Laughter. Mandy waits for a bus to Bel Air Road. Rick tags along. She fears he’ll grab her handbag and scoot with her money. Approaching are two neatly dressed guys, out from the breakfast place. One asks if she really wants a mink. The other shows a gun to stop Rick’s attempted objections. Avoiding names, one calls himself Pal, names his “sidekick” Bud, says Mandy is Beautiful, and Rick is Chuck. Pal suggests robbing a bank and says she can have her mink tonight. When Mandy says she’d like details, Bud calls that an encouraging response. Pal says they “did have” a four-person mob, down now to two; with four again, two with guns take everything, one holds the basket, the fourth waits outside in “the getaway car.” They planned a heist today but found one confederate “stoned” and the other lagging with him. The bank has a payroll today. The job is today. Mandy says she wants to return to the hotel ﬁrst, to pay for last night’s phone call. Pal wants to accompany her. Bud says he doesn’t want anyone to be able to “idemnify” Pal later. [Mandy is occasionally malapropistic.] Mandy goes, pays, returns. Rick asks how they’ll split the loot. Pal explains they’ll use two cars to evade pursuit; Beautiful and Chuck in one car get half, be dropped off, and Chuck helps Beautiful buy her mink. All is ready. [This chapter, whether with credible action

Enchanted or not, is a page turner. So fast, in fact, that Cain often avoids saying who’s speaking.] 5. Pal hands “Chuck” (Rick) keys to a black sedan, but Bud orders “the girl,” not Rick, to drive. Mandy starts the engine, with Pal beside her, Bud and Rick in back. Pal directs Mandy’s turns, and he and Bud praise her cool attitude. As they pass the Colypte plant, approach the bank, and drive around, Pal explains all this: June 15 is payday; Colypte workers cash checks at the bank; it has more than “a hundred grand” to meet the demand; Pal will eavesdrop on bank employees, including a guard, as they wait at the phone booth for an all’s-well signal to open the bank; Pal points out his and Bud’s blue getaway car in an alley, with windowless buildings nearby; Mandy is to park behind it for their post-heist “switch ... and ... vanish”; both cars are “hot.” Pal tells Rick his part. At 9:30, Beautiful parks outside bank; Bud enters, draws gun, hands up, everyone; Rick and Pal enter; Pal, with gun, makes one girl teller tell other tellers to bring their “buggies” of cash; Rick holds a metal basket, taken from car, for the money, watches her feet to prevent her signaling cops; Bud orders teller after teller to lie on ﬂoor; “When ... done, we’re ... out of there fast[,] ... hop in the car[,] and Beautiful” drives them to the other car. By then they’ll have divided the loot into two bags; Pal and Bud will leave in their blue car with one bag, and Mandy and Rick can walk off with the other. Bud tells Rick to kick the teller if she’s about to signal. Pal and Bud agree Rick looks squeamish. 6. By 8:25, Mandy is still encouraging uneasy Rick. Pal eavesdrops when the bankers are at the phone booth and returns to Bud, says he heard one person gossip that a teller was shacking up with the boss. Bud criticizes Pal’s careless count that eight bankers were by the phone. Mandy wonders if Pal and Bud are really friends. They drive for breakfast at a Holiday Inn. While Pal takes Rick to the men’s room to make him vomit, Bud tells Mandy that the shacking-up talk means the bankers “don’t have their mind on us,” hence “no stakeout.” Bud again criticizes Pal’s uncertainty in counting bankers at the phone. Mandy remembers that made trouble later. Rick has only coffee. Pal pays for their orders. Mandy drives to the bank, 9:29. Though Rick whines to quit, Pal coldly orders otherwise. So Bud, Pal, and Rick enter the bank. A girl walks in. Then a man. Mandy, engine running and doors unlatched, hears a shot, then more shots. Rick, his basket on his back full of cash, rushes out, stumbles into the car spilling loot and with his feet dangling. He tells Mandy that Pal and Bud are shot dead, says, “Step on it!” When in the clear Mandy puts the money in the basket, gets Rick upright, and casually drives past the bank again. While buying gas, they hear a TV report about the crime, during which

Enchanted two “bandits” were shot, and one while wounded shot Lester Bond, the guard; all three were D.O.A. at the University of Maryland hospital. Mandy heads for Frederick Road. Rick describes events: Bud made people hit the ﬂoor; Pal got the teller to load the basket; Pal ordered “Chuck” to exit with it; Bud shouted that the bank’s eight from the phone are on the ﬂoor, plus the other two, but no guard; the guard was shaving in the men’s room, heard Bud, emerged, started ﬁring, shot Bud; Pal shot wildly before falling; Rick exited with basket on back; several shots at him “hit the tin,” and he got into the car. Mandy wants to switch cars. Rick wants to ditch car and swag, thus escape the gas chamber. Mandy says if he lacks nerve she’ll keep the money and he must leave her now. He says he saw Bud signal Pal they should kill Rick and Mandy afterwards. Rick sits with Mandy, who returns to the blue car, checks her ignition key to it; Rick packs the cash into the two empty bags. She stuffs stray cash Rick spilled into the car’s front ﬂoor into her handbag. 7. Rick is “peevish,” unnerved by the killings and being shot at. Mandy is aware they can’t haul their loot into a motel. She suggests that they park at shopping plaza, buy suitcase with lock, return to car, pack suitcase with money; abandon car; take taxi to bus terminal; check locked suitcase; take taxi to hotel. Rick agrees but wants also to buy a suitcase for himself, buy new shirts so he won’t stink, buy a new handbag for her Thus they can check into the hotel “in style.” Agreed. [Mandy names the plaza “the Mondawmin Center” in ch. 16.] In the swank hotel, Rick seems listless. He says yes, he’d like to be alone a while. She leaves, sends him up a drink, has a splendid lunch, reads in the newspapers that dead gunny Pal was Matt Caskey, leader of the notorious Casket gang, his gunny Bud was Howie Hyde, and basket-holder Rick was (wrongly) identiﬁed by the money-handling teller as Vito Rossi, whose brother Vanny Rossi perhaps drove the getaway car. The newspaper account includes a photo of Vito. Feeling totally free, Mandy takes a taxi to a department store the driver recommends, takes an hour studying minks, spends $1,600 on an all-brown one on spring sale, and tells the sales person that her taped packets of cash are a wedding gift. She taxis to Edward Varnick’s house, tells “Mrs. Varnick” she is her husband’s daughter Mandy. Varnick appears. He is in his 30s, long of nose, with narrow eyes. He admits he was married some years to Sally, associated with her only “ﬁve days,” and disagrees Mandy is his because there’s no resemblance. When she ﬂaunts her coat and says she needs no money from him, he suggests she earned what it cost the way her mother worked —“in bed.” She curses him and leaves. 8. In the hotel, Mandy ﬁnds Rick in pajamas,

62 abed with more Scotch, consulting later newspapers— all via room service. He sent his jacket and pants to be cleaned and pressed. In hysterics, she tells him everything she did. Rick counters that she blew their chances: “Pal” and “Bug” being dead and Rick misidentiﬁed, she then stupidly bought a mink with identiﬁable bank money. Rick phones the store, says he’s the mink-buying girl’s husband, must exchange the coat for their wedding money, which is needed to furnish their house. They say no and hang up. He phones Ed Vernick, who hangs up fast. Rick comfortably ﬁgures that neither the store nor Vernick called the cops about suspicions concerning the mink. Mandy parades naked before “jittered” Rick, then gets into pajamas— so wretched she’d surrender to “that” [i.e., sex], though preferring nothing but “warm arms.” She [naively] ﬁgures there’s no sex if a girl “gets mad enough” and a boy is “scared”— of cops. Rick tells Mandy to believe that Vernick isn’t her father, adds that even his own “sure-enough father” was initially kind to him. Manny reveals her dream of going with her real father to their special island. Rick surprisingly offers to be her father, says he’s man enough to like the idea of clams and coconut milk too, and they should escape to one of those Florida “[c]ays.” Relieved that Rick rejects sleeping with her, she grows ecstatic. He tells “little daughter” to sleep. Hungry by 9:55 P.M., they order sandwiches, milk, pie. She wants to phone Mother to apologize. Rick fears she’d “spill” about the mink, says her mother might call Vernick to verify and one or both might then alert the cops. She agrees she shouldn’t press their “dumb luck” by phoning. [Oddly, Mandy does a strip tease in front of Rick but feels relief when Rick doesn’t make “a swipe ... at my breastworks.”] 9. A valet delivers Rick’s clothes. At breakfast they plan to take buses to Miami. They retrieve the money-loaded suitcase from an agent, who notes its weight. Rick says books are in it. Hyattsville to Washington, D.C., to Baltimore, to a hotel in Raleigh. Mandy delights Rick by calling him “Pop.” Bus to Savannah. Mandy almost forgot her mink, on an overhead rack. Rick checks the suitcase. In their hotel after dinner, she undresses in front of him. No response. She likes being his daughter but “after all ... [is] human.” Again, she wants to phone Mother, this time to avoid Mother’s possibly putting out a missing-person’s notice about her, with pictures— which could lead to their being located and arrested. Rick suggests that from Miami she can write the New York Grand Central Station newsstand and send money for postcards; have them mailed to her; address a postcard to her mother as from New York saying she’s happy here; send money to have the

63 newsstand mail it. In the morning Mandy says too much time will have passed when her mother gets a postcard. Rick says OK, so call your mother, not via any nosy hotel switchboard operator, however, but from a drugstore phone booth, getting stationto-station, dialing untraceably direct. Mandy packs. Rick says he’ll check the two of them out and wait for her in the lobby. She ﬁnds a drugstore phone booth, dials, but Mother’s line is busy. Mandy says she learned later that her mother was phoning Steve’s replacement and why. She gets through after 20 minutes. Her mother interrupts her expression of considerate love by saying that Ed Vernick phoned her, mentioned the mink and said he won’t get involved with Mandy. She tells Mother she bought the coat with money from a car ﬂoor. Mother warns of possible trouble, if some man gave her money, begs her to return home. To Mother’s reminders of sacriﬁces for and trouble with “pest” Mandy, she says “cool it,” promises to let her know where she is soon, learns Mother hasn’t posted missing-daughter notices. They hang up after expressing mutual love. Mandy cries. She looks for Rick in the hotel lobby. Not there. She asks a clerk to page “Mr. Ruth.” The clerk says he checked out, left her luggage for her. [Cain often proportions his novels well. At the close of ch. 9 here, Mandy ﬁnds herself alone, with events in nine chapters yet to challenge her.] 10. Mandy reels. She knows that Rick tricked her into giving him time to “skip” with the money. Sadly, she felt “close and friendly” toward him. She taxis to the bus terminal but learns only that a fellow matching Rick’s description claimed a heavy suitcase and left either on the Atlanta local bus or the Memphis express. Obviously, she can’t report his “theft” at the police station without incriminating herself. On the way by taxi to get a cheap room at the Y, she considers seeking work, but changes her mind and returns to the bus terminal — with new plans. 11. Mandy buses to Washington, returns home by cab, walks in on Steve, disheveled and asleep, with beer cans all about. She awakens him, ﬂourishes a switchblade purchased in Savannah, tells him to clean up and keep his distance. He “rinched” his mouth with Listerine and now shows “respect.” He says he and Sally (her mother) weren’t ever married; Mother sued Vernick for divorce; when Mandy disappeared, Mother felt Steve couldn’t harm Mandy further, so she married the man “she’s been stepping out with” (the distillery man Wilmer); Steve has been “through the ﬁres,” wanted to die, loaded up on beer; now he sees wonderful Mandy. Although Mother “suspicion[ed]” Steve regarding Mandy, he has long regarded her as his “life.” If she’ll stay, he’ll “behave.”

Enchanted Steve continues: Mandy phoned Mother; therefore free, she went with Wilmer to Dover for marriage today; Steve just met and likes Wilmer; Steve got “slopped.” When Steve kisses Mandy’s hand, she accepts him as her father. He suggests dinner at that “Bladensburg place.” Over dinner, Steve asks about the mink. Mandy says “no guy gave it” to her. She says she met Rick, might have slept with him to avenge Steve’s and Mother’s treatment of her but didn’t; Rick couldn’t cooperate intimately; she helped rob the Baltimore bank (which Steve knew nothing about), drove the getaway car; Rick made her phone Mother so he’d have time to skip with the money; she hopes he’s caught and executed. She says the money’s half hers, to which Steve hushes her. Home again, he hugs, pats, and kisses her; explains that the money belongs to the bank; says he wants to involve “big shot” Wilmer, probably at home now in Rocky Ridge, Frederick County, near his distillery. He knows the newlyweds plan to head for the Riviera tomorrow. Steve gets through to “Sal.” While she screams, he says sure, this may be her wedding night, but Mandy’s here and Sal must “stand by.” Steve talks to Wilmer, who has read about the heist and offers instant help. Mandy respectfully speaks to “Mr. Wilmer” on the phone. He says he’s her new father. She retorts that Steve is. She speaks brieﬂy to Mother, “bitter” at losing out on her European dream. Steve explains that Wilmer knows a hot-shot Baltimore lawyer who may get Mandy immunity despite the bank guard’s death — if the bank gets its money back. Mandy prepares for bed in her room. Steve taps on the door. She ﬁgures there’s a ﬁrst time and Steve might be the man. He enters, kisses her on the forehead, reveals he “paddy-whacked” her only because he thought she was loose with boys the way her promiscuous friend Amy Schultz was. Steve is glad she didn’t sleep with Rick, is proud of her courageously driving Rick to freedom after the robbery. She kisses Steve on the mouth, her beloved father. 12. Next morning after breakfast Mandy sweeps outside. Mrs. Minot, a nosy neighbor, queries her; Mandy reminds her that curiosity killed the cat. While waiting for Mother and Wilmer, Mandy demands information about Vernick. Steve reluctantly reveals this: Sal, when 14 and pretty, started “playing around with Vernick,” got pregnant, gave birth to Mandy “in a home,” and “put the bite on Vernick”; his father “backed her,” made him marry her, told Sal’s father — named Gorsuch — he’d pay “the home” cost, was told bill hadn’t come, went to the home and learned by eavesdropping that it had already been paid. This news puzzled both Vernicks and Sal. [It should also puzzle Cain’s readers. The answer is never explicit.] Asked by Mandy, Steve

Enchanted says he doesn’t know who paid and doesn’t know what Sal knows. Mandy sadly concludes she doesn’t know who her father is, cries, asks Steve to be her “father always.” Agreeing, he promises never to abuse her and always to be counted on. Sal arrives, kisses Steve out of habit, reviles Mandy, and when asked about Vernick says he will strenuously deny he’s her father so as to avoid $50 a month in child support owed Sal and now totaling $9,650, then says Mandy’s character resembles Vernick’s. Steve tells Sal not to gripe about her lost Riviera vacation, because Mandy could face prison time. Mandy staggers “Mrs. Wilmer” by saying she [Mother] never married Steve so “last night” was her “hot in the pants” ﬁrst venture in “connubial bliss while united in holy wedlock.” Only to get interrupted by that “crumb” Mandy. Even so, now gracefully weeping, Mother, just under 30, and sized like Mandy, is beautiful, with “willowy” ﬁgure, long red hair, and hazel eyes “ﬂirty” but sometimes looking “haunted.” Ben Wilmer, with his Caddy gassed up, now enters. He is big, handsome, well dressed, and smiling. He comforts his Sal, who calls Mandy a “viper.” Mandy rages back. Wilmer tells her that one can silence rages with a kiss, drags her to Sal. They kiss, suddenly turning affectionate and “happy.” Wilmer takes Mandy onto his lap. She details her story about the robbery. He phones Jim Clawson, his attorney, explains everything, and agrees they will all see him in his Baltimore ofﬁce at 2:00 P.M. today. Mandy would prefer a ride in Wilmer’s Caddy but will go with Steve. Mother kisses Mandy and calls her “my wonderful child” and even kisses Steve. 13. Mandy, Steve, Wilmer, and Mother have lunch at Marconi’s in Baltimore, go to the law ﬁrm Digges, Clawson and Llowndes on Charles Street. Mandy repeats her story to Clawson, about 40, tall and sturdy. He says Mandy freely wanted the mink to “ﬂaunt” at her father, Matt Caskey terriﬁed Rick by showing his gun, and Rick not Mandy can get immunity in any trial. Weepy Mandy complains that half the money was hers. Clawson says that, assuming she wants no prison time, her “whole truth” will become that Caskey’s gun terriﬁed her and that they gotta link her case with Rick’s, must testify that their mutual terror prevented sex, that Rick’s catching the thugs’ gesture about killing them made them “a couple of panicky kids.” Mandy will help the authorities recover the bank money by ﬁnding Rick and getting him “with it too!” Mandy says she hates “the yellow-bellied rat.” Clawson describes prison life as stinking and worse than hell, with no “decent food,” nor love, no jokes, no hope. She’ll help Rick, she tells Clawson, who demands a kiss. Everyone cries laughing. Clayson says someone must go tell the Baltimore

64 authorities that a certain “friend” knows the Rossi brothers didn’t pull the heist, knows who did, wants immunity for telling. Steve volunteers to go. More kisses. 14. Clawson says they might “wrap it up, right here, this afternoon”; Steve will remain with him and Clawson will alert the state’s attorney; Mandy, Mother, and Wilmer should get a hotel suite and remain available. Doing so, they relax in the very hotel where Mandy and Rick stayed “two nights before.” Mother undresses to bra and pantyhose, to avoid mussing her nice dress. Wilmer asks Mandy her favorite poem. “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” because it’s scary. She timidly recites part — to “I shot the albatross,” at which Mother says, “I’ll say she did!” Much laughter. Daughter and Mother express mutual devotion. The three hold hands. The phone rings. Wilmer answers, says get dressed, because Steve’s arriving. He enters, says Clawson is soon bringing Haynes over from the state’s attorney’s ofﬁce, plus (two) detectives, a police stenographer, a bank vice president named Clark, and an insurance man named Richter. Steve boasts he cleverly made Richter want Steve to help recover the Clark’s bank money — otherwise, Richter said Clarke’s “goddamm bond is canceled.” Clawson phoned a judge and got immunity approval. Steve sneaked out to rush this report. Mandy gratefully kisses him while Mother pats his head. [Actually, Mandy and Rick were in the Baltimore hotel three nights before: #1, Baltimore, #2 Raleigh, #3 Savannah, and only those three nights if from Savannah Mandy buses to Washington and taxis to Hyattsville and ﬁnds Steve and dines with him all in one day and night.] Clawson takes charge, introduces Mandy as the would-be witness to Jack Haynes, who is surprised. She confesses she drove the getaway car. Hayne’s response is interrupted when the phone rings, to report to him that Vanny Rossi was in a Baltimore hotel for a week and just overdosed on heroin; so he couldn’t have driven the getaway car. Haynes asks if Mandy knows Vito Rossi. “No, sir,” but his newspaper photo resembled Rick, who held the money basket. Clawson tells Haynes to let Mandy clarify everything. Mandy dictates most of her story, stressing dislike of school, wanting to see father, then wanting to impress him with the mink, being terriﬁed by that gunny’s blue-butted gun, wanting to clear Rick by having him return the money, wanting to be free of him, praising “wonderful” Mr. Wilmer’s alleviating Mother’s “upset at losing me.” Mandy hands over what’s left of the money she scooped from the car. The mink should be impounded. Mother gripes. Wilmer, obviously “a very big wheel,” says he’ll pay for the mink plus “any turpitude it involves.”

65 Daughter is released to Mother. The FBI is to be asked to seek Rick. Mother phones Ed Vernick, explains events, says Mandy avoided criticizing him, and regardless of any “proof you think you have” she’ll sue him and have him jailed for non-payment of Mandy’s support. Half-hysterically, she tells Wilmer to force Vernick to shut up. 15. Wilmer and Mother ask Mandy to share their lavish suite. Though tempted by the color TV, she goes home to Steve, her “father at last.” He cautions that Rick remains “the wild deuce,” and let’s hope he still has most of the loot and can plead being panicked. Mandy says everything is “backwards”: Steve, once hated, she now loves; Rick once hated, is now pitiful. Steve agrees life is backwards. A phone call announces a Washington Post reporter and photographer are coming. Mandy puts on a pantsuit. Steve calls her to watch TV. It features a beach shot of her —“dug up” she doesn’t know how — and one of Rick, grinning oddly; the announcer razzes the Baltimore cops for pursuing “false [Rossi] leads.” The Post pair arrives. Mandy minimizes her answers, laughs about Vernick, poses with the mink. Baltimore Sun and Washington Star reporters arrive. The Sun interviewer inveigles comments about Mandy’s mother’s marriage to Wilmer. Steve eventually kisses Mandy goodnight and expresses his love. [The Sun was currently edited by Cain’s friend H. L. Mencken.] Morning papers include criticism voiced by Rick’s father, mother, and sister of “Junior Jezebel” Mandy’s corrupting their “good boy,” Vernick’s “no comment,” pictures of sultry Mother and of Mandy in school, including “the cheesecakiest one,” age 12, in gym class. Steve drives her to the Wilmers’ hotel suite. Mother gloats about silencing Vernick, says she and Wilmer can happily go home — to their former hideaway, “Lacuvidere,” his house by a Frederick County lake. In front of smiling Wilmer, she undresses herself and Mandy, who notes that aside from “face and hair” the two are practically twins. Mother says “we” have a surprise for Mandy, once she signs her confession. [Too much nudity among these exhibitionists? More will follow.] Wilmer and Mother take Mandy to Clawson, who takes them to Haynes’s City Hall ofﬁce, where Clawson glances through Mandy’s typed confession and tells her to sign it. She decides to read it ﬁrst. It omits mention of how the gun scared her and Rick and how he backed out, but it does mention the mink. She accuses Haynes of doctoring her statement. Clawson rebukes Haynes, who lamely says the redaction would better persuade the jury. Mother peruses it, says jurors are smarter than lawyers think, wonders if Haynes altered the statement to convince “that boy.” But then she suavely approaches

Enchanted Haynes, ﬂatters him, blandishes him to order the stenographer to produce Mandy’s original statement, which Mandy then signs. Haynes says that since he’s been turned “to putty,” he’ll “kick in” the pleasant news that the Associated Press has just run a “funny” feature about the Wilmers’ weddingnight’s “rude awakening,” saying Rick will read it and probably “surrender.” But Mandy counters that Rick lacks “any sense.” Another meal at Marconi’s, with Steve called and included. Fancy dishes for friends of Wilmer, who wants Mandy to stay and help him and Mother “paint the town red.” Mandy’s preferring to stay with Steve pleases Mother more than it pleases Wilmer. After fending off obscene phone calls and visits from gossip seekers, Steve and Mandy dine at Bladensburg. Home again, Mandy gets a surprising phone call from Rick. He reviles her for jeopardizing him. She summarizes her sworn deposition and says he’ll continue being “a jerk” unless he surrenders self and remaining loot. He says no, “bitch,” he’s going to kill her. He hangs up. Steve heard this and will call the police. 16. From hearing Rick’s phone operator tell him to deposit $5.30, Steve concludes that Rick is in a distant state. Steve calls to the Baltimore police, not the town or county police. A cop arrives. More calls, involving Clawson. The Chief wants Mandy put in jail, in protective custody. Steve says Mandy’s mother has let Steve have custody of Mandy, who can stay at home, perhaps hear from Rick again, and the call can be traced. Steve says he’ll protect Mandy, has a gun, legally, as a trucker. The cop leaves, to set up a stakeout. Mandy tells Steve about her dream island. He says his rig will soon be paid for, the house already is, and the two of them can buy an island. Sunday. At 10:00 A.M. Mother phones, after painting the town last night with Wilmer, and relieved because Clawson phoned her Mandy might be held safely in jail. At breakfast, Mandy catches Steve peeping down her open kimono. A cop outside warns them to stay inside. They lunch on canned shrimp, etc., dine on steak, etc. At 8:00 P.M. Rick phones again. Mandy expresses protracted fear; the cops trace the call to St. Louis. The Monday papers report Rick’s threat. Steve and Mandy need food; so he enlists nosy Mrs. Minot to go shopping for groceries. That night Mother visits them, saying this home is Mandy’s and Steve’s, and her home is with Wilmer, who is brieﬂy in Paris selling liquor. When Mother says Clawson said she couldn’t accompany Wilmer, Mandy apologizes but Mother says never mind. A girl rings the bell, is admitted, says she’s Esther Childs and knew Mandy in high school. Though not recognizing her, Mandy is courteous. Suddenly Mother grabs the girl’s purse. While Steve

Enchanted holds Esther, Mother ﬁnds a “snub-nosed thing with bullets,” points it at Esther. She confesses she is Esther Davis, Rick’s sister, who says Rick sent her here only to get the key to that Baltimore suitcase with the money — if possible. Mandy recalls, for the ﬁrst time, their locking the suitcase she and Rick bought in Baltimore’s Mondawmin Center. Sure enough, her handbag disgorges the two small, ﬂat keys. Steve takes possession of them. Mother phones Clawson, who alerts the cops, who come, will charge Esther with violating Prince Georges County gun laws, and let her phone her parents. They arrive. Mandy, sarcastically calling herself Junior Jezebel, reviles Esther for criticizing her brother Rick. Steve makes everyone laugh by making “Jezebel” cool it. Steve, Mandy, and Mother sign a complaint against Esther in downtown Hyattsville. Photographs snap Mother holding the gun like a moll in a crime movie. The three go to a night spot called the Cucaracha, where Mother has such fun that she reluctantly returns to her hotel to await Wilmer’s quick return from Paris. When queried, Mother says Esther was clutching her handbag suspiciously close. Kisses. Mother drives off in the Caddy. 17. Next afternoon [Tuesday] about 4:00 a Baltimore detective named O’Brien calls on Mandy and Steve. He explains much: Hyattsville authorities checked a Hot Shoppe parking lot, found a car from California that Rick must have stolen; they opened the trunk, found $115,000, Rick’s split after the heist, Mandy’s scooped money being his lost $5,000; the car is now being watched. O’Brien wants to drive Mandy around instead of locking her for cramped safety. Although Steve shows him his big blue gun and papers proving his marksmanship, he can’t persuade O’Brien to let him guard his dear Mandy. O’Brien explains the danger, says they’ve got stakeouts all around, and will nab Rick eventually. Steve gives Mandy money and suggests that she treat O’Brien to a movie. Agreeing, Mandy kisses Steve and says, “I love you.” She recalls that this was the last thing she ever said “on this earth” to him. [Thus Cain both creates and weakens suspense.] O’Brien and Mandy start to watch Fool’s Parade at the Riverdale Plaza, dislike it, go to the lobby. Mandy phones home. Mother, answering, says this: Manny should stay away for safety; Wilmer is ﬂying home “next day” [Wednesday]; soon everyone will be “happy”; she heard about the money; Wilmer, though rich, will have to indemnify only for Mandy’s $5,000; Manny should phone home again later. Manny says she and Steve are dining out and she’ll phone after 10:00 P.M., when Rick may make his move in darkness. Mandy reminds Mother she has a surprise for her. Mother says let Ben (Wilmer) spring it.

66 Promising to call, Mandy tells her, “I love you.” These were her last words to Mother, and may “God rest her pretty, sweet soul.” Mandy phones the home of John P. Davis, Rick’s and Esther’s father, to tell Esther, out on bail, no hard feelings. Rick answers, vows to kill Mandy regardless. She warns him to surrender, because someone is gunning for him. Those were the last words she said to him and wonders if he remembered them “when he died that night on our lawn.” [Cain probably wants to deﬂect possible criticism of a supermelodramatic climax by partially giving it away.] Rick hangs up. Mandy informs O’Brien, who phones Hyattsville cops, who close in; but Rick slips away. Revealed later was his putting on his mother’s dress, running a red ribbon through his long hair, and sashaying right past the cops. Mandy says part of Rick’s [sexual] “trouble” was his “sissy walk.” The cops phone O’Brien that they missed Rick. Mandy suggests Bladensburg for dinner with O’Brien, who, since Mandy was paying, didn’t “stint himself.” They drive back to Mandy’s house. An ofﬁcer whispers something. O’Brien goes around the block, parks in front with his lights out. Mandy suggests his sending for a bullhorn so Mandy can shout to Rick to surrender, if he comes there. O’Brien phones for one. Suddenly another car approaches, stops. Steve and Mother step out; Steve says “OK” to someone in another car; Steve and Mother step toward the dark house. Mandy thinks Mother resembles her, suddenly screams a warning. Too late. Gunﬁre kills Steve, in front of Mother, then Mother, then Rick. Mandy rushes out, evades arms to stop her, ﬁnds her “darling mother” and Steve, gun drawn, dead, and Rick, in his mother’s dress, also dead. 18. Mandy lavishes kisses on Mother, wails uncontrollably. O’Brien gets her to a hospital, where an intern gives her “backside” a needle. A nurse soothes ever-sobbing Mandy. Suddenly Ben Wilmer appears, says he’s Mandy’s father, will calm her. She screams negatives. He lifts her from the bed, naked, carries her to a chair, sits with her, partly covers her with a sheet, tells her to cry, says he returned this morning and Clawson’s wire awaited him. He tells Mandy how when he was 18 at a gas station he ﬁrst encountered his Sally, was instantly enraptured by sight of the pretty, perky, lovable girl, took her to his family beach house for a time, escorted her back to her home, decorously; then he was off to Yale. She had meanwhile dated Vernick but her marrying him stunned Wilmer; she really thought all along that Mandy was Vernick’s. Mandy asks Wilmer when he thought she was his. When he ﬁrst saw her last week, she resembled his deceased little sister, whose lips trembled when she read “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”; so did Mandy’s when she recited words from it. He told

67 Sally then; they decided to delay surprising Mandy with their revelation until after the Rick mess ended; Rick mistook her for Mandy, for whom Mother therefore died. He explains how Steve’s cremated ashes are to be buried and how Rick’s parents will bury him and how he wants to bury Sally on their island. What island? He explains that to use Dickinson’s Run’s perfect water for his distillery he had to dam it, and in the lake thus created arose an island; it was to be his and Sally’s “love nest”; and today some carpenters will construct a bridge to it. Wilmer tells Mandy how one day near their island Sally saved a doe and her little fawn from a wild dog; she fearlessly grabbed the dog by his ears and hurled him into the lake. At Mother’s burial, on the now-bridged island, while she and her father are sobbing together, they see a day-old fawn hiding by a tree — new life starting, and staring at Mother’s being lowered “into her grave.” Thus ends Mandy’s account. Paul Skenazy notes that “[d]espite Cain’s claim to be venturing into new literary territory [with The Enchanted Isle], the elements of his story are familiar.” After specifying obvious ones, Skenazy valuably notes that “[t]he central form of sexual suggestion, and sublimation, is the displacement of bodily desire in the form of Oedipal love in a way that recalls the incestual issues of The Butterﬂy, The Moth, the Magician’s Wife, Rainbow’s End, and Cloud Nine.” Cain was disappointed that neither Cloud Nine nor The Enchanted Isle was published in his lifetime. He ﬁnished the latter when he was 79. Roy Hoopes explains that although it didn’t attract publishers, Cain’s Hollywood agent H. N. Swanson liked it, retitled it The Mink Coat, and sent Xeroxed copies to various studios; this elated downcast Cain, until “Swannie” reported that there were no takers. (Hoopes, 512, 528; Skenazy, 131) Enders (Sinful Woman). He is a police ofﬁcer at Lone Pine. He reports the sexual adventures of “Sylvia” Shoreham, in reality Hazel Shoreham posing as her sister, to Parker Lucas, and then her death in a single-car crash. When Lucas confronts Sylvia with Enders’s report on Sylvia’s alleged assignations, she starts to explain but turns silent. Enders later helps Parker Lucas with evidence useful at Vicki Adlerkreutz’s inquest. Engel, Blanche (Mildred Pierce). She is Mildred’s married sister. Her husband is Harry Engel. They have a son named William. They live in San Diego. Blanche’s and Mildred’s widowed mother Mrs. Ridgely lives with the Engels. The four attend the funeral when Mildred’s daughter Ray dies. Blanche has grown into a “housewife” status and lacks Mildred’s squint, representative of her cunning and acumen.

Everything Engel, Harry (Mildred Pierce). He is Mildred’s sister Blanche’s big, raw-boned husband. He is a ship chandler in San Diego. When business is bad, he foolishly wonders if Mildred can help him sell off some unneeded anchors. Engel, William (Mildred Pierce). He is Blanche Engel’s son, 12, and hence Mildred’s nephew. When his parents and grandmother attend the funeral of Mildred’s daughter Ray, William and Mildred’s older daughter, his cousin, don’t get along amiably. Ernestine (Mildred Pierce). She is a waitress at the Tip-Top when Mildred ﬁrst works there. When Mildred’s daughter Ray dies, Ernestine and twelve other Tip-Top workers send gladioluses. Ethel (Double Indemnity). She and Hobey, evidently her husband, are two people whom Huff, hidden in the Nirdlinger car, overhears the Nirdlingers chat harmlessly about. Ethel (Sinful Woman). She is a blackjack dealer at Tony Rico’s Galloping Domino. She spies on the dangerous movie rehearsal conducted in Tony’s ofﬁce, accepts Dmitri Spiro’s bribe for silence, but at Vicki Adlerkreutz’s inquest spills what she saw. Eubanks, Miss (The Root of His Evil). She is the knowledgeable saleswoman from whom Carrie receives advice and buys wardrobes in New York. “Everything But the Truth” (short story, Liberty, July 17, 1937). (Characters: Wally Bowman, Miss Ruth Downey, Mr. Charlie Hand, Hope, Edwin Hope, Mrs. Hope, Mortimer, Mr. Nevers, Phyllis, Roger.) Edwin Hope, 12, moves with his parents from Annapolis, when his father, a lawyer, is hired to manage an estate in the small town of Fullerton. Edwin can’t resist boasting to Phyllis, about 12 and mighty pretty, and Roger, two of his many new friends in Fullerton. He ﬁbs that he subbed as coxswain in the shell of the navy crew — which Phyllis appreciatively gurgles to hear but which Roger, who prefers be Phyllis’s only pal, scofﬁngly doubts. When Edwin boasts about diving, they ask off what. “Schooners, sloops, canoes,” etc., from high up, never from shallow-draft seaplanes. One summer day Edwin’s mother says his Annapolis friend Wally Bowman is coming to visit. Wally meets the audience of Edwin’s lies and sides with Roger, who says Wally says Edwin never sat in a shell, never dove, was in fact chased off navy piers. Edwin retorts that Wally wouldn’t know, because Edwin’s Annapolis buddies spurned him as “a sissy.” But the loyalty of girls around Edwin weakens because Wally now leads most of them in “the sailors’ hornpipe.” Although Phyllis remains devoted, Wally’s anger at Edwin prompts her also to dance. One warm afternoon at

Ewing the drugstore while getting cool drinks, Edwin and Wally start ﬁghting, stopped by Mr. Nevers, the druggist. Phyllis and other girls enter, with Mr. Charlie Hand and Miss Ruth Downey. They will supervise as the children go swimming at Mortimer’s place. Sulking, Edwin tells Phyllis he won’t go with “poison ivy” Wally. Wally counters by declining to go with “smallpox” Edwin; besides, Wally and Roger have plans elsewhere. Edwin reckons their absence will free him with Phyllis; so he goes along. The two get into their swimming suits, hoping to stroll on the beach near “the Mortimer private wharf.” Roger is suddenly there, with his bicycle; Wally too, having used Edwin’s bicycle. A ﬁlthy, ill-masted old schooner, tied there, is unloading fertilizer — all of which Wally, having arrived by steamboat, was aware of. Thus this plot with Roger to embarrass Edwin. Must unnerved Edwin prove he can indeed dive — from this schooner? Roger and Wally challenge Edwin. Fortunately, the African American foreman of the stevedores orders the kids away. Edwin swims with Phyllis. But, their work soon done, the schooner men all head for town. Now Edwin must prove his boasts and dive from the schooner’s bowsprit, good and high. Though weak in the legs, he pulls himself up by some cables. Queasy, he sits on the timber end. He hopes to distract matters by shouting at Mr. Hand, who, however, is busy with Miss Downey. When Roger jeers, Edwin challenges him to come up also. Urged by Wally, Roger climbs out on the timber; his hand gets caught, and he freezes. Wally tries to free him; in the process both Wally and Roger drop into the water. While gawking at the two, Edwin loses his balance, hangs on by his legs, then drops head-ﬁrst into the water. He hits his shoulder on something, sees dark green water, then lighter green. Up he pops; he sees Wally and punches him bitterly. Doing little damage ﬂailing in the water, he puts his feet on Wally’s shoulders, pushes down, executes the “compound dunk ... [he] learned in Annapolis.” Mr. Hand suddenly screams. Edwin in falling hit Roger’s head and he’s unconscious and drowning. Remembering his ﬁrst-aid lessons, Edwin grabs something—Roger’s hair—and something else—anguished Wally’s collar. Holding both boys, Edwin swims on his back toward shore, soon feels swamped. Mr. Hand to the rescue. Edwin dimly remembers Mortimer’s farmers “working furiously” on him, and on Roger and Wally too. Then Mr. Hand driving the three to the hospital. Nurses, doctor, inhalators. Phone calls of frightened mothers. Life resumes orderliness when the afternoon papers include his photograph on the ﬁrst page. The report says Edwin dived to rescue two boys, hitting one to avoid his “drowning grip,”

68 then towing both to shore. The boys read it in silence. Phyllis bursts in with three bouquets. Grim Roger: “Did he dive?” Indignant Phyllis: “Of course.” Wally: “If he dived—O.K.” Phyllis beams at Edwin, her hero, who has faith enough to believe it all. Ironically, “Everything But the Truth” is such a slight story that it was never republished and copies of it currently are offered for $50, €18, £15.75. Ewing, Louise (Mildred Pierce). She and her poloplaying husband Paul are invited to the one party Monty Beragon gives to which he also invites Mildred. A violent rainstorm keeps the Ewings from getting there. Ewing, Paul (Mildred Pierce). He plays polo with Monty Bragon. Monty invites Paul and his wife Louise to a party, but a rainstorm prevents their attending.

F Fanchon (“Come-back”). He is mentioned, as is Marco, by Hapgood, who says both of them will be surprised when they learn about his plan to have Tim Kennelly rescue people being robbed in a stagecoach scene. In Serenade Fanchon and Marco own a Hollywood nightclub on Sunset. Herbert Stoessel, John Howard Sharp’s agent, advises him to try for a singing job there. But their dance act doesn’t need him Fats (The Moth). She is a girl, so named by Jack and Denny when they ﬂirt with her and her friend Lina. Fats willingly makes love with Denny at a beach near Annapolis. Ferguson (Past All Dishonor). He is a miner in Virginia City elected president of the miners’ wouldbe union after Roger Duval, former union leader, is promoted to superintendent. Ferguson, A. G. (The Embezzler). He is the founder and easy-going president of a Los Angeles bank, which has several branches. He lives in Beverly and has a garden there. He sends Dave Bennett, one of his vice presidents, to the Glendale branch to see why its teller Charles Brent is such a success getting customers to develop ﬁne deposit accounts. “The Old Man,” as Dave calls Ferguson, meets Charles’s wife Sheila at a company-sponsored dinner dance, and likes her. Ferguson is on vacation in Honolulu when he learns that Sheila and Dave, in love, try to make quiet restitution after Charles turns embezzler. But Charles robs further, kills a guard, escapes brieﬂy, and is shot dead by the police. Ferguson offers Dave a job managing his new

69 Honolulu branch. In gratitude, Dave and Sheila name their son Arthur, after Arthur G. Ferguson. Finley, Dick (The Moth). He is the young scion of the important Finley family. Jack submerges “Dickie,” as he is called, in the water when he gets fresh with little Helen Legg. Finley, Jack (The Moth). He is another son of the important Finley family. He associates with bootlegger Zeke Torrance. Jack also dunks Jack Finley in the water. Finley, Lee (The Moth). He and his illustrious family vacation at Gibson Island near the Legg family cottage. Finley, Mrs. (The Moth). She vacations with her family at Gibson Island. Her husband tells Jack that she comes from the important Dawson family. Finn (Past All Dishonor). He was Mrs. Finn’s husband until he drank himself to death in Grass Valley. Finn, Mrs. (Past All Dishonor). She is Finn’s widow, who before his death ran a riverman’s lunchroom in St. Louis. After he died in Grass Valley, she got religion, moved to Virginia City, and opened a boarding house. Roger Duval rents a room from her. The First Lady (The Institute). See The President. Fisher (The Magician’s Wife). It is for Fisher’s store in Channel City that Grace Simone works, mainly designing dresses. Floyd, Mrs. (Mildred Pierce). She is one of Mildred’s gossipy neighbors. Mildred is preoccupied in sleeping with Monty Beragon when her daughter is hospitalized for ﬂu symptoms. Mrs. Floyd uses Mildred’s temporary absence as an excuse to criticize her. Flynn (Sinful Woman). Flynny, as he is also called, is Parker Lucas’s chief deputy. His bragging that he shook hands with actress Sylvia Shoreham gets him into minor trouble. He testiﬁes at Vicki Adlerkreutz’s inquest. Forrester, Mrs. (Mildred Pierce). See Lenhardt, Mrs. Forrester, Sam (Mildred Pierce). He is the spoiled son, 20, of the former Mrs. Forrester, now married to movie-director John Lenhardt. Veda Pierce, Mildred’s daughter, blackmails Sam’s parents by pretending at age 17 to be pregnant by him. Fournet, Mignon (Mignon). She is the beautiful French-American heroine, 24, living in New Orleans. Her husband was killed ﬁghting for the Confederates during the Civil War. Her father, Adolphe

Fuller Landry, is a mixed-up man alternately for and against the Confederates. The two wish to make money in the cotton trade. Bill falls in love with Mignon, argues with her, and falls in love with jealous Marie Tremaine. Mignon pretends to like Frank Burke, an unprincipled adventurer, partly to make Bill jealous and partly because Burke and Landry are uneasy partners. The consequence of the attempt by Burke, Landry, and Mignon to sabotage Bill’s Red River dam is that all three die. Bill will never get over the image of Mignon as she is swept to a watery death, after which her body is never found. Fournet, Raoul (Mignon). He was Mignon Fournet’s husband. Raoul gambled in Marie Tremaine’s establishment, after which she cancelled his debts. He was killed ﬁghting against Union forces in Louisiana early in the Civil War. Frank (The Magician’s Wife). He is a worker at the Marlborough Arms, where Clay Lockwood lives. Frazier, Lou (The Embezzler). He is a vice president of the Los Angeles bank, which has a branch in Glendale. Charles Brent, an embezzling teller there, escapes with loads of money and securities from the vault. Dave Bennett, who works at the bank, notiﬁes Frazier and asks him to bring sufﬁcient funds to cover a possible run on the bank. Frazier fears the bank will lose its accreditation and is also outraged when he learns that Dave and Charles’s wife Sheila are in love. A. G. Ferguson, the bank president, for whom Frazier is chief assistant, molliﬁes him eventually. Fresno (“The Pay-off Girl”). This is the name of a horse that Miles Kearny bets on. He chooses Fresno because the name reminds him of California, where Miles hails from. Frieda (Mildred Pierce). She and Kurt are a couple who formerly worked for the Beragon family and whom Mildred hires to help in her restaurant business. Fuller (The Moth). Fuller & Co. furnishes powder used when Rohrer and Jack ﬁre the hole of Hannah Branch’s burning oil well. Fuller, Ben (“Dead Man”). He is a 19-year-old hobo who is chased off a train near San Fernando by a railroad detective named Larry R. Nott. Ben begs to be let go. But Nott pursues and ﬁghts him. Ben accidentally kills Nott with a loose spike, escapes to a Los Angeles soup kitchen, and establishes an air-tight alibi. His religious upbringing, however, forces him to enter a police station and confess. He regards “Lucky,” his nickname, as genuinely appropriate. Roy Hoopes suggests that “Dead Man” repeats the theme of the earlier “Pastorale,” which is about

70

Funk “a young man not able to live with the knowledge of a crime for which he would probably not be arrested.” However, Lucky’s motivation is based on his religion, whereas Burbie of “Pastorale” gets his comeuppance because he can’t resist showing off. David Madden notes that “[f ]ortuity ... functions in Cain’s work,” cites “Lucky” Fuller as one example, and says “Lucky ... becomes the victim of his own luck.” (Hoopes, 271; Madden 1970, 89) Funk (The Moth). He is the loyal driller in Hannah Branch’s string of oil wells.

G Galatea (novel, 1953). Characters: Bardie, Brice, Dr. Carroll, Mrs. Carroll, Miss Coulter, Danny Daniel, John Dayton, Lloyd Harris, Emil, Hollis, Bill Hollis, Marge Hollis, Mrs. Hollis, Homer, Jake, Sol Lippert, Lucas, Pabby Ramos, Dr. Semmes, Dan Sickles, Valenty, Hollis Valenty, Holly Valenty, Duke Webster.) I. Duke Webster, 26, the narrator, is an ex-boxer, and is from Nevada. In April he was arrested for stealing $86. A shifty Marlboro (Maryland) cop named Danny Daniel released Duke to work off the debt by servitude at Valenty’s farm. Duke is trenching trees, preparing to fell one by blocks, tackles, and pulleys, when Valenty’s wife Holly appears— back from visiting her folks at St. Mary’s. She has pretty eyes and a sweet smile, but is grossly, waddlingly, pantingly obese. The Valenty house and also the nearby cottage, where Duke bunks, are colorful and neat. [Only in ch. XII does Duke state that he “hijacked ... [a] ﬁlling station.”] Holly says Val owns six restaurants in Maryland and Washington, D.C. She has a red car. Her goodlooking, chunky brother Bill Hollis, about 30, and his wispy wife Marge drive up. Bill chats with Duke, whom he recognizes by his hands as a boxer. Bill amiably asks Duke to watch over Holly, not let her work excessively. Duke feels he’s being inspected. When the Hollises leave, Duke returns to one almost uprooted tree. About noon Holly calls him to lunch. Although he says “Mr. Val” provides him a box lunch, she insists, approaches, handles the ropes he’s using, and falls heavily into the deep trench Duke dug around the tree. She sinks in, is cut by exposed tree roots, and screams in fear and pain. II. Duke wedges beside and partly under Holly. She twists her vast hips. He pushes. She wriggles. They emerge. Her ripped gingham dress bellies in the wind and lands on his head. He rolls her over him as the tree falls dangerously near them.

Holly, thoroughly bloody, is almost naked. She wants no doctor. Duke gets two chairs from her parlor, instructs her to sit in one, rest, then “hop” to the next, and thus gets home. Asking “a favor,” she has him promise to get her to his cottage, where she can secretly clean up and not be gossiped about further as “a sideshow freak.” She says being talked about cuts her heart out. Duke says he’s been treated “human” here and will cooperate. Holly wants him to make every trace of her “unfortunate mishap” disappear. Duke enters the main house, which is trim and neat, to get items Holly says she needs. She instructs him to saw up the fallen tree, ﬁll the hole with sawdust, burn it with kerosene. He will. She says her fat condition is “glandular,” she’ll die before she’s 30— he thought she looked 50 (she is 23)— and is simply tortured when people stare and laugh at her. He says she didn’t mention his having been jailed one night, which cut his soul. After he has his boxed lunch, he peaks at her in the shower. Rolling, dappling, shaking blubber, but “pretty shanks” sadly quivering under a “mountain of meat.” III. Valenty is thin, tall, about 40, gray and sallow, and with an unpleasant “pious stoop” and the irritating habit of asking questions but interrupting attempted answers. When he drives home, he speaks brieﬂy to Holly, then orders Duke to quit splitting wood, unload his car trunk, put Thermos bottles in the kitchen, and hang bagged hams in “the cold room.” Holly leads him there. Val goes to the ﬁeld, sees where Duke uprooted the tree, ﬁlled the hole with sawdust, and burned it. Praising Duke, he says the two of them will use the ashes, mixed with lime, as fertilizer when they plant corn in May. Duke dresses for dinner. [David Madden suggests that Cain’s experience as a weighmaster for Swift & Company in Baltimore [in 1917] helped him understand work in cold storage rooms, such as Val has here. (Madden 1970, 31)] The meal (prepared expertly by Val) verges “on art”—vegetables, dessert, and, in between, parts of an enormous sirloin. Duke gets a thick 1 1 ⁄2 inches; Val, 1 ⁄2 inch; but Holly, all the rest. To her protests, Val says she’s had “mule meat” where she visited (her parents) and needs something now. Duke suspects the slice is “practically murder,” given her vast bulk. While Val handles the fast electric stove, Holly tells Duke that Val tries to be nice, that she’s “glandular,” can’t resist gobbling. While enjoying his steak, Duke furtively watches Val’s courteous treatment of her and her munching every red hunk, “dreamy,” eyes closed. Val calls the steak adequate but really praises the box lunch he gave Duke, adding that he’s selling ready-to-heat boxed meals so housewives can have time for leisure, fun, or gainful employment. Val demands an account of what

71 led Duke “astray.” Duke reluctantly says that when he was little in Nevada his parents died in a car crash; his grandmother raised him, then died; he became a tech sergeant in Germany, boxed at 6 feet, 170 pounds, received an honorable discharge; developed the “killer instinct” only when “sore enough,” which he became once with a champion whose jaw he broke sparring in Ojai, California, because the guy, backed by gunmen, had “gypped me out of some dough.” Duke got his money all right but had to leave, hitchhiked to Ventura, continued east, grew “haywire,” tried that “stick-up” last week, lacked “adrenalin to scram,” got nabbed. When Val doesn’t understand Duke’s “morals,” Holly — resembling “a pink blimp” in her clean dress—calls Val “stupid,” explains Duke is tough only when cheated, which she says her brother Bill ﬁgured instantly about Duke. As they go to dampen the stump-hole ﬁre, she whispers to Duke — just remember she cut herself running into barbed wire while visiting her father’s sawmill at St. Mary’s. Val bothers Holly by saying “Wilkes Booth” knocked on Duke’s cottage door once. Praying in his cottage bed, Duke asks God’s forgiveness for deserving jail-time, suddenly remembers Booth, hears a belled cat probably lapping Holly’s blood that ran with the shower water into a gutter. He senses evil outside. IV. For a few months Duke happily uproots trees, plows and limes and fertilizes the soil, and with help from “a colored fellow” named Homer plants a lot of “stuff.” Homer takes grown “stuff,” along with butchered hams Holly prepares and Duke smokes, to Val’s “Ladyship” restaurant. After making restitution, Duke receives $100 a month and “keep.” Val regularly drives to town. Duke and “sweet” Holly lunch together. They discuss what color coat he should buy. Holly favors blue like Duke’s eyes; Duke prefers a “quiet” brown. She mentions her childhood church in St. Mary’s, and her and Val’s city church on Branch Avenue now. She consumes ham, whole pies, ice cream, etc. Then comes the nightly “real meal.” Remembering his training-camp days, Duke says extra pies might hurt “her peculiarity.” She explodes. He insists he’s her “real friend.” She knows she’s headed for St. Mary’s cemetery, does good to others now, but would go “insane” dieting. Her tramping about and staring convinces Duke she’s partly afraid of her husband. In June, over much lamb, which Holly chews dewy eyed, Val lectures— again — about his good deeds for “Woman,” then proposes a July Fourth party, to which he’ll invite some congressmen now in recess. When Duke is in bed, he vaguely hears Holly’s “gritty” griping at Val. Next morning Duke brings smoked hams to

Galatea Holly, who sinks into a kitchen chair and says Val wants Duke to wear a white coat and serve party guests. He accepts, if “that’s it.” She guesses his family is of ﬁne “blood.” He says his Nevada greatgrandmother, “Miss Duquesne,” was a Virginia City faro dealer, amid Comstock Lode “pretty girls” who “did pretty well.” He changed his name “Du Quesny” to Duke. Holly says that with Bill’s help she’ll veto Duke’s wearing a white coat. V. Plans mature for the Fourth afternoon cocktail party. Holly criticizes Val’s every suggestion. Duke grooms the lawn to “pool-table green.” With Val in town, Holly asks Duke’s opinion of her orange dress, in which she resembles a guppy turned whale. He recommends red shoes, not white, so as to look “kind of Spanish.” About 2:00 P.M. Homer in maroon, with white-clad Bardie as dishwasher, delivers hot and cold food, liquor, glasses, etc. Homer will park cars out back to leave the front showy. Bartender Jake and chef Emil arrive. Val brings three peppy waitresses. Holly’s helpful handiwork becomes evident: Val calls Duke, says Bill needs Duke to get to Waldorf [Maryland] and help park some suddenly delivered tractors for a tobacco growers association. Bill will drive Duke down and must return to the party. So Duke needn’t dress in white and serve drinks. While driving the 20 miles, Bill tells Duke to get Waldorf ’s appearance “straight.” They enter a bar. Bill’s wife Marge is there, has a manhattan, says Bill’s parents will arrive soon, to be driven to the parade Val is having. Bill says Val dislikes him. Duke, Bill with a manhattan, and Marge play some slot machines. Duke, drinking Coke, wins and orders another round. Duke asks why he got “sprung” from jail so easily. Hesitating, Bill says Val is big in politics. Marge continues: Val, from Prince Georges County, began as a busboy in Washington, saved and opened his own restaurant “in the District [of Columbia],” hired easy-going girls from Saint Georges to work for him and vote — along with their families— as he demands, etc. He knows District cops who let his shady girls off. Val phoned Danny Daniels, a cop friend, to spring sturdy-looking Duke and “package” him to Val’s place. When Duke gripes about politicians freeloading today on Val and how they are publicity-seeking crooks, Bill counters: “Politics is power” getting more power, over girls, Holly, congressmen, all jumping when Val, chaining everyone, orders; Duke will be stuck until fall work ends. Marge says Val’s not bad. Bill says he’s horrible. Duke thinks maybe Bill owes Val money. Marge discusses the farm: Holly inherited it, calls it Hollis Hill; Val quit losing money planting tobacco there, turned to vegetables for his restaurants, built the “big house” there; Bill and Marge quit living in the back cottage and farming for Val;

Galatea Bill now works for the tobacco association. Bill adds that Val can’t keep workers because John Wilkes Booth, with liquor from “Surratsville,” knocked at that cottage door, was refused, and now haunts the place. When Bill’s parents arrive, he and Marge leave with them. VI. Rehearsing what he’s to say, Duke gets back to Val’s noisy party, ﬁnds Bill outside, drunk. Bill reveals that Holly fell, broke her ankle; he was sent for medicine, can’t remember what. “Epsom,” says Duke, and drives Bill in his car to a store. Bill says that Holly married that “worm,” that “slug,” through craving “is grub”; that Val wanted to marry a blueblood Harris; their family came over on the “Ark ’n Dove,” like the Mayﬂower, “on’y better”; Val wants prestige not love, found Holly working in Washington, where she ate at his restaurant; he made her a food addict, then withheld $7.80 steaks until she agreed to “get mar’d.” [Cain will reﬂoat the Ark and Dove in The Institute, ch. 2.] Duke gets the Epsom to Marge, tells her what to do. Bill lurches in, sees drunk little “Mr. Commissioner” (John Dayton) demanding to be chauffeured home, calls him a “dayum li’l end o’ nuff ’n,” and is restrained by Duke from hitting him. Marge tells Dayton to order a cab to get himself home. Duke leads Bill into the cottage, ﬁnds keys to guests’ cars, gives Dayton his. Val provides Duke names and addresses of guests and orders him to drive every car to every home, taking a cab back after each delivery. Duke is in the big house before starting, is sore that Holly’s ankle is less important to Val than politics. Marge takes Duke to Holly, in pain. She thanks him for getting the medicine. He delivers cars all night, happy that Holly thanked him. VII. Next afternoon, with everyone but Holly gone, she tells Duke that Dr. Semmes said she should lay off pie because of a bad taste she got; so she asks Duke to bring her ice cream, a harmless “natural food,” to keep up her strength. Duke remembers a ﬁghter who also suffered a bad taste. Loving Holly “so deep,” he says she’s been sugaring her drinking water, could get diabetes, being short should weigh 110, but carries 400 “pounds of blubber,” her overworked pancreas will kill her, and Val will have to buy a huge “custom-made casket.” She moans about doing good deeds brieﬂy and soon dying of cureless “glandular.” He says she’s too gutless to hear Dr. Semmes, simply shouldn’t eat all the time, then presents her second lunch — take-outs, ice cream, cherries. Though crying when he mentions her pallbearer, she devours everything. When she says Val will ﬁre him for his mean talk, Duke, fearing those jail-cell bars, eats crow and offers to discuss boxers’ training. She looks ﬁercely mean. He leaves, intending to pack. But Duke recalls how helpless Holly is, with her

72 pained ankle. He returns, to phone Val. When she says they should talk, Duke apologizes. She says she’s got that “gray” taste again because of sugar in her sundae, her ears ring, she senses “fear” because of her “need” for food. He calls it a “want,” and when asked explains he lacked ability to “hit” but wanted the boxing “racket [to] pay,” so he trained ﬁghters seeking titles to “make weight”—from “ﬂy” through “middle” to “heavy.” Out west, Duke consulted physicians, read books, and listened to trainers, soon could take a “175-pound bum” and train him to a 160 “champ” in 5–6 weeks. Can “do the same” with Holly. She complains she lacks boxers’ “guts.” He says his talent is providing guts to fatties. She agrees to put herself in his hands but says losing weight is only one ﬁght but she’s got another ﬁght, a secret one, which he must promise to let her handle alone. Figuring it’s about Val’s obsession with Maryland blue-bloods, Duke agrees, though doing so makes him taste “yellow.” After all, he’s scared of Val’s hold over him. VIII. You get “a fat anybody” thin by a diet of protein, fruits, salads, and no fat, starch, or sugar. Sure, non-liquid diets for drunks, jockeys, and boxers, while sweating them, work; sometimes, however, “the patient died.” When willing and when Val’s in town, Holly starts on peaches, which Duke purchases by driving her car, modiﬁed so she though ponderous can drive it. She gorges on peaches— pulp, vitamins, minerals, and all. He also serves her boiled eggs, bacon, pots of coffee —ﬁll ’er up. She agrees she isn’t hungry. He drives to town, buys Italian “stuff ” and more fruit, for salads. When she says she dislikes salads, he goads her by saying “you look it” and serves chicory, romaine, garlicked croutons under olive oil, lemon juice, coddled eggs, cheese. She munches two heaps, declines ham — is full. Then coffee and strawberries without sugar. He wolfs a sandwich, lectures her on regaining strength by more sleep, then complies with Val’s work orders. He prepares food for Homer to haul to Val. He tells Holly to munch slow-to-digest “[r]aw stuff ” ﬁrst, ﬁxes her another salad, plus a sweet-date dessert. She says she phones Dr. Semmes a lie that she read about a diet and drove to town to shop for it and feels better; she says that when Val reappears, Duke is to park Val’s car, come to dinner, and “notice nothing.” At dinner, Val is furious. Holly explains that Semmes approves her diet. His phone call to Semmes illustrates what Bill said about Val’s wielding of “power.” But evidently Semmes snarls that his patient is his responsibility and that Holly’s getting off “rich food” is beneﬁcial. Duke, fearing reimprisonment, controls his desire to slug Val, whom he is “starting to hate.” Val stares at the half-consumed rib roast.

73 IX. Two things make Val worse. He has loved to display his cooking prowess and still urges Holly to eat up; and the creeping, hot, humid Maryland summer, with sudden storms, is “hell on this earth.” Val and Holly ﬁght over going to church. Holly, now weighing just under 200, says (while Duke eavesdrops) that her clothes hang on her and also that she doesn’t want churchgoers, especially Commissioner Dayton, to exclaim over her loss of weight. Val says she no longer praises his attempts to cook and feed her like royalty. She remains stubborn. So Val gives Duke a free Sunday and even drives him to town. On the way, Val says Holly is phoning her Waldorf relatives [Bill, Marge] “entirely too much.” To his credit, Val distributes “take-outs” to about 25 church indigents every Sunday. One September evening Val broils a roast of lamb. Holly informs him she’s cooked a bit of stew but will sit with Val and Duke, just for coffee. Val, however, licks his lips oddly, shouts that her stew stinks, sets service in the kitchen for two, with soup, crackers, butter, and lamb. Holly enters. Neither man rises. Holly kicks over the table and orders the two to dine in the alcove, and to do so only after she begins enjoying her coffee. Val protests. Holly says he mentioned odors in front of Duke. Her stance and Hollis-like eye quell Val. Her suddenly revealed sexy ﬁgure triggers friendship, love, and “insanity” in Duke. [Paul Skenazy says that when “Holly loses weight, she regains her privilege, power, and pride.” (Skenazy, 116)] X. Half-insane, Duke one October morning is on the ladder measuring water in the tank when he sees Holly—almost normal in weight, walking aristocratically with arms no longer fat but now swinging like a swimmer’s “crawl stroke,” dressed looking Spanish. She asks him to drive her this weekday to church, not with busy Val but in St. Mary’s City. Unable to refuse, Duck gets her past farmers’ “cutover tobacco” to Waldorf, changes in which she notices; she mentions big-time poker there, scandals, but proud people, better now that the university ﬂourishes. She has him stop so she can relate an anecdote about a gambling man’s ability to order his skinny oxen to obey “yay” and “gee” and stop a wheel on his tossed-down silver dollar. She identiﬁes Booth’s road to where Dr. [Samuel] Mudd lived who set his leg. She ﬂinches when Duke queries her about Booth’s stopping at her cottage. By 10:30 they hit the St. Mary’s County line, where everything is green like Ireland. She identiﬁes dogwood, laurel, and holly, adding that Holly is her name because she “came around Christmas time.” Past Leonardtown, Holly lectures on how the soil was ruined by unfertilized planting, and the people became slave “breeders, traders, and lawyers.” She details the inhuman slave auctions at port Tobacco. When Duke

Galatea lets slip “Holly,” not “Mrs. Val,” for the ﬁrst time, she holds his hand. [Part of this section contains charming touches of Maryland local color. Cain will repeat the anecdote involving the oxen and the silver dollar in Cloud Nine, ch. 3.] They pass Holly’s father’s sawmill and the family house, and get to the church. She inhales English box fragrance. Near water, she mentions “the Ark and Dove,” which Bill ﬁrst discussed; says she’s “Protestant Episcopal”; slowly confesses she attended church when a child not to pray but to hide from people laughing at her grossness; says she tried to fool God but was living a lie. She enters the church proudly but soon exits, bent. She says that she couldn’t pray, because neither her uncle, Lloyd Dennis, nor some former girlfriends recognized her in her present form; laments that everything resembled a dream in which you see yourself, turned beautiful, in your cofﬁn; says she’s in “worse shape” now than before. On their drive back, Holly cries, says that she must ﬁrst cleanse her heart of evil, that since an accident left her “that place” [farm land] she has believed Booth’s spirit and “evil” are in her. Duke, haunted by the spectre of more jail-time, won’t embrace her or encourage her to conﬁde in him. So when she asks how far he’d “go for a friend” and reminds him he risked his life saving her from that tree earlier, he turns the talk to his crime and his only tentative release. Holly asks if he wants to leave Maryland. Duke replies he must know where he’s “at.” When Holly tells him to ask Val, Duke freezes up, “sick with fear.” [Duke’s awareness of his dilemma marks the end of the ﬁrst half of the 20chapter novel.] XI. That night Holly suddenly avoids fruit and instead takes some pie, which delights Val. Next day she serves Duke but snubs him. Next, while Duke is handling pumpkins for Halloween, Bill drives up, and abrasively addresses him: Holly has phoned Marge and Bill daily for three months but won’t let Bill come see her; he wonders if Duke is sleeping with her. Duke won’t answer directly. Bill says that, though disliking Val, he’d be friendlier with that “bedbug” than with a jailbird. Duke “cuff[s]” him lightly. Bill wonders if “scum” Val is boasting that Holly is pregnant with “Hollis Valenty,” Val’s “dream” of a blue-blood child. Duke says no, what’s changed Holly was his dieting her to lose weight, but the “gutless slug” has backslid. Duke, physically sick, angrily threatens Bill, who leaves, satisﬁed about no “Hollis Valenty.” Holly runs to Duke’s pumpkin patch, sees that he’s ill, feeds him buttermilk in the house. He says he disabused Bill about any “Hollis Valenty.” She brings the wrapped pie she didn’t eat, dumps it, models a sexy-slim dress for the panicky fellow, and asks

Galatea what training follows running. Dancing, says Duke, now well again, and he’ll teach her, you never-dated former “hogshead.” With the radio playing dance music, he instructs and leads Holly, childishly happy. When cheek-to-cheek, she starts a kiss. He turns “yellow,” says he gotta work. She cries. Holly, Val, and Duke have their usual dinner. This time, total silence. That night Duke has to carve 24 pumpkins with Halloween faces, interrupted halfway through by Val. He asks who has been visiting. Duke mentions Homer and other workers but not Bill. Val orders Duke to tell him if a racketeer named Sol Lippert ever appears. Lippert wants Val’s liquor contract, but Val fears he’s checking Val’s “whereabouts.” That night in darkness, Duke regrets discussing Holly with anyone, thinks of “Wilkes Booth,” and senses evil outside and both evil and cowardice in himself. XII. Next morning Val orders Duke to help a road gang reset a pole fouling a prized oak tree. He watches Val drive off, then Holly, neatly dressed, drive off. Duke phones Bill to come and learn about “my power.” Duke tells him this: Marge and he talked on the phone when Bill left; Marge rightly said Holly likes Duke; his non-response bothered her; Duke also resented Bill’s criticism of him. When he says Holly wants to laugh, yell, sing, dance, run with him, Bill cusses. Duke levels: Holly and he love each other; he can’t interfere with her “setup,” husband, possessions; Bill is right to want Duke to “scram”; he will if Bill gets Duke’s signed confession from Danny Daniel, that cop who holds it; he’s terriﬁed about jail again; without that confession Duke will depart with Holly, for “a ﬂing” with her, to spite Val for his power to reimprison him. Bill makes phone calls to Daniel, to a waitress named Miss Coulter working for Val, and to Marge. The upshot: Daniel likes Miss Coulter, who owed Val money; she cleared it by making Daniel give Val the confession Daniel made Duke sign; this gives Val power over Duke; Marge wants Duke to “stick” in love with Holly. Duke warns Bill he will “stick” unless he has that confession, otherwise, go tell Marge he’ll “proposition” Holly on bended knee. XIII. While Duke is busily repairing some tools, an “underworld” guy approaches and tells him to provide Holly “some service.” Looking at liquor brochures, she orders him to take care of Mr. Lippert’s “things.” He dumps Lippert’s hat, scarf, and coat on a table and tries to control himself in the kitchen. Holly orders him to make a ﬁre. He prepares and lights one in the ﬁreplace, asks “Mrs. Val” if there’s anything else. When she lets him watch while she touches Lippert’s head with her head, Duke orders Lippert out. He rebukes the “punk,” swings at him but misses, and Duke knocks him unconscious. She oddly praises Duke’s power, says

74 he did it for her, and they embrace and kiss— their ﬁrst. He says there was more to his aloofness than she knows or dreams, checks Lippert’s “thready” pulse, and wants to call the cops. She says wait and in her bedroom says she hoped to humiliate Duke into bloodying Lippert’s nose and then having to apologize; calls herself a “dunce,” wants him to say he loves her. He tells her about Val’s hold over him and about wanting his written confession. She says they’ll lie to Val that Duke slugged Lippert to protect her virtue from him; Val has been suspicious of someone but not of Duke. She’ll get that confession, and they’ll escape to Nevada. Duke phones Val, explains, lies, asks for instructions. When Val, an ambulance, and cops all appear, Val informs everyone that Duke protected Holly from half-conscious Lippert—that lying tax evader with a suspended liquor license. When the authorities leave with Lippert, Val rebukes Holly, who says “Solly” is cute and his bourbon prices are low. Val apologizes to Duke for ever having suspected him of ﬂirting with Holly and worries what trouble Solly can cause Duke. She tells Val she’s tired of Duke’s butting in and he or she gotta go. Val objects. She threatens him with a big knife. Duke and Val disarm her. As Val puts the knife away, she whispers to Duke to say she fears he’ll freely leave town once he has that confession. Calling Val “Sir,” Duke says he’s objectionable to Holly, but can’t leave with that confession threatening him with jail. Holly rails at Val to produce the confession Daniel gave him for clearing Daniel’s thieving “trollope” (Miss Coulter), as Bill explained to her. Either that or Val’s wife will remain “on strike” here. Val says the confession is in his bank box and he’ll get it tomorrow. She says otherwise she’ll evict Val from the house, which is hers. She drives away. After squinting thoughtfully, Val drives off, but south and not toward “Washington City” and the bank. XIV. Duke phones Bill, but only Marge answers. Duke warns her that Holly and maybe Val are heading to Waldorf. She won’t listen to anything about Holly and Lippert, but she wants information on Lippert’s condition. Marge soon calls back: Bill is upset that Daniel is involved and that Holly is with Lippert in the hospital. Duke replies that Holly is now beautifully slim, therefore “slightly haywire.” Holly phones “Darling” Duke: Val scared her about the criminal actions of Lippert, whom she visited, apologized to, and made promise he wouldn’t cause Duke to “be bothered.” Marge, also there with Bill, tells Duke, with “a snicker,” to lock up Val’s house and go to the cottage. Val drives home, tells Duke he’ll give him “that paper” when he returns later today. Thanking “sir,” Duke feels genuinely grateful to Val, nicer than expected

75 but dangerous. Holly, sneaking in, is soon alone and kissing away with Duke, who, when told she’d like him to see her naked, prefers a clean break from here ﬁrst. They pack her luggage. She mentions she thought once about hiding atop the laddered water tank. She tells him to phone her at Waldorf when he has the confession and she’ll pick him up, and they’ll be joyfully free. XV. Duke does some ﬁnal farm work, shakes Homer’s hand, says he might be leaving, sees Val drive up. He hands Duke the confession but with his signature torn off. Val says Daniel made no photostats and Val tore the signature because cops may search this house. Saying he means to kill someone, Val pulls an automatic, orders Duke to burn the confession. Duke does so. Val praises him for defending Holly from Lippert; says he drove to Cheverly hospital to boast to cops guarding Lippert about his political clout; saw Holly’s car already parked there, drove through rain to Annapolis to deaden his tortured heart; next day got the confession from the bank, brought it to leave it for Duke; found Duke’s gun in a desk; took it to kill Lippert. Did you do so? asks Duke. Val says no, he lost his nerve. Val says Duke, “a god ... turned ... rat,” formerly inspired him. Duke senses that Val hates his “power [being] mocked” thus and that Val has turned from “a bedbug into a [vengeful] guy.” Val jams the automatic into Duke’s ribs. Duke while sitting uppercuts him but not forcefully enough. Val still holds the automatic. Asked why he didn’t shoot Lippert, Val in tears reveals this: Val confronted Lippert; Lippert said he ﬁnally “placed” Val’s “hired man”; Duke was “king of the sparring partners” and surely the one who slimmed down Holly; Holly enticed Lippert to the house to be slugged by guilty Duke. Val reminded Lippert that a man named Dan Sickles caught his wife in adultery, shot her lover, and was acquitted. Duke confesses he loves Holly, whose very death Val kept “fattening her for.” Val says Holly has been in Duke’s bed, not his, ever since Duke got here. When Duke decries the idea, Val says Holly has avoided his bed. Still covering Duke, Val phones Bill, angry that he called Val a “bus boy.” Holly answers. Val tells her Duke is here, wants to say goodbye to her, and has burned the confession. Val turns water on in the kitchen and sneers this: Holly said Duke was lazy about ﬁlling the tank; Val should climb the ladder and gauge water levels himself; the cops will see why the tank is going to be empty. XVI. Holly’s car approaches. Duke feels fear but mostly shame. Entering, she probably thinks Duke looks “queer” and Val, with the .45 pocketed, looks “silly.” When the water gurgles empty, Holly re-

Galatea bukes Val and says Duke can pump water from well to tank before he departs. She notes Val’s bruise. He says Duke hit him and rushed for this gun — which he ﬂourishes. Holly says Val is a leech, won’t give Duke his confession and release him. Duke mumbles for her to ease up. Val says he’ll wound her, force the truth—which he already knows—from her, then kill her. Saying the full truth will hurt, she summarizes everything — Duke, the tree, the scratches from falling tree not “barbwire,” her love for Duke not Val thereafter; her hurt ankle, Duke’s dieting her, her enticing Lippert and why, the tank, her desire to strip before Duke. Val, broken just as he broke Duke, screams to stop, jumps at her. Holly’s elbow accidentally diverts Duke’s left, which only grazes Val’s neck. He ﬁres at her but misses, orders Duke to walk her out and climb the tank ladder alone. Duke, ﬁguring he’s to be shot, tells Val he’s going to stop part-way up until Holly drives away to get “crazy fool” Val hanged for murder. But Val makes Holly climb behind Duke. Val, then climbing below her, says he’ll shoot adulterous Duke and she’ll begin anew with Val. She kicks at his face. Val, ﬁring at a belled cat below, tells Duke she’ll fall to her death soon and timid Duke will say she fell climbing to gauge the water. Duke says maybe he won’t say that. Val gloats he’ll do so to save himself, thus remaining in Val’s clutches. Duke says bugs like rats. Holly prays. Duke swings around the ladder, down, and below her, grabs, seizes moaning Val’s trousers, and falls, unconscious (with him). XVII. Duke is taken to Cheverly Hospital and is treated for broken bones and internal injuries. Holly hid the gun but found herself locked out, got help from a trucker, and jabbered to him about men falling trying to gauge her water tank. She was arrested. Val died. For six weeks cops, having found shells discrediting Holly’s yarn, questioned Duke. Brice, a lawyer Holly hired, is present. Duke pretends amnesia, raves he’s in Arizona. He’s told to confess to seek clemency, or be arraigned and soon hanged. Brice suggests Duke continue his amnesia into the trial. Newspapers publicize his boxing past. Gaunt Holly’s hunger strike soon backﬁres. At the trial Brice will defend Holly and Duke. Prosecutor Lucas will attack both. [The trial starts, which “scene” Paul Skenazy says consumes “more than a quarter of the book.” (Skenazy, 117) Actually, it takes up less than a tenth.] Lucas presents this: Duke Webster, in court on a stretcher, and Holly Hollis Valenty, being lovers, plotted to force Valenty to jump from the tank or be shot, but both men fell; luggage was packed for their “honeymoon.” Then “a colored boy” testiﬁes he “yeared talkinny air,” “shot,” “bop” [fall], and “screech,” and ran because the place is “hant.” [Cain unnecessarily includes this sloppy black talk.]

Galatea Brice objects about the ghost part. The [unnamed] judge sustains the objection. Bullets from Duke’s gun have his ﬁngerprints because he loaded the clip. The .45 is found, all muddy. Brice privately tells Duke he’s doomed. Suggesting the entire truth, he tells grimacing Brice everything. When Duke mentions Sickles, who Val said killed his wife’s lover, Brice laughs in sudden secret optimism, and tells Duke to testify completely tomorrow, as “an absolutely reckless witness.” XVIII. Brice expertly asks Duke leading questions. Duke made restitution after the gas-station robbery; Val was given Duke’s gun; Duke felt “devotion” toward Holly; Duke slugged Lippert to defend her. Holly, partly staring, holds an envelope. After noticing this, Lucas cross-examines Duke, who jokes about recovering his memory, then says pretending amnesia was through fear of arrest. Lucas gets Duke to mention Sickles, who, Lucas says, was wounded at Gettysburg. Brice makes Daniel admit switching the gun. [The belled cat is presumably also mentioned.] Next day Holly testiﬁes: Val’s behavior toward her forced her to lie to “hush up” what he did; Lucas’s “misrepresenting Duke” is owing to Lucas’s part in Val’s “designs” on her very life. With the jury temporarily retiring, Holly tells the judge, Holly’s defense attorney Lucas, Brice, and Duke the following: Val wanted a baby (“Hollis Valenty”); her doctor said any pregnancy would kill [porky] Holly; she eavesdropped when Val phoned Lucas, not then “state’s attorney,” wondering if an in-labor mother’s life can legally be sacriﬁced to save the infant; Lucas never warned Holly of that lethal danger. Brice warns her not to claim she therefore justiﬁably killed Val. She says she owes her life to “brave boy, Duke Webster.” Lucas courteously says he’ll “stipulate” what Holly says she heard Val say but will also reveal his reply to Val that she couldn’t hear. Holly tells the reassembled jury about her childhood and her constantly being humiliated for being fat; says a natural birth would be impossible and stitches after a Caesarean couldn’t “hold in such fat.” From her envelope she produces wedding-day pictures and ones Duke showed her how to take by a string-operated camera — showing fat shots and then slim ones. Brice privately warns Duke that Lucas is decent and has secretarial notes about warning Val. Duke says that Brice should let Holly testify. She hates Lucas. Holly vows that the tank scene was “ordained from the beginning.” Lucas gets her to admit much. She was never pregnant; Val never told her Lucas warned him; her pictures showed conception “was possible” but she refused; yes, since “decent boy” Duke provided a path “to health, hope, and God,”

76 she refused Val’s desire to impregnate her slim body; she was praying on the ladder and didn’t hear an animal Val allegedly shot at. XIX. Lucas, though not on “the stand,” reveals this: Val was powerful, loyal to persons surrendering “to his will,” would have provided splendid medical care if Holly got pregnant; Val turned vicious when she thwarted him, but was warned by Lucas not to let Holly face a dangerous pregnancy; Duke fell into the trap planned for Val at the “instrument of death” (tank). Lucas names three “aspects” of this case: Duke and Holly by “mischance” couldn’t concoct one similar account; Holly is a lousy liar; and Duke lied about amnesia and ladder “acrobatics.” [The belled cat remains unmentioned.] Therefore, Holly is this card-game’s “dummy”; Duke, with ﬁngerprints on bullets, ﬁred at some mysterious animal? Brice tries rebutting. The jury is instructed and convenes. Holly talks with Duke. They say they love each other. She wanted him to see her nude, “as I was created to be.” She says when we pray we sadly “get it all.” [Explicitly stated here, this is a common theme throughout Cain’s ﬁction.] Duke, on his stretcher, sees Bill, “frantic” Marge, and Holly’s parents approaching. When Marge asks, Duke says he testiﬁed about Val shooting at a cat, not a belled cat. Holly explains that the sound would not be from a bell but the “spur [Booth’s] ... caught in a ﬂag, the night Lincoln was shot”; that [legend says] one not hearing the spur is pure in heart; that thus impure “Val was called [to die].” Brice tells Holly and Duke to have faith. They pray. The “geezer” (judge) questions the jury. No agreement. When a jurywoman vows they’ll “agree,” Marge [telepathically] infers that the woman “got it!” [i.e., knows about heard and unheard spurs]. The jury declares Holly and Duke “not guilty.” Both pray. Since his father cowboyed in the Sierras, Duke knows spurs click, don’t ring. Maybe what passed below the tank was a cat, but Duke believes it was Booth ﬁnding what he sought [guilty Val]. XX. Duke and Holly get married down in Virginia. She buys a Nevada ranch, where they rehabilitate fat boozers. The newspapers praise what Duke did for Holly, who, he avers, in reality did more for him. His life now has meaning. Holly says the nearappearing but far-distant Tonopah hills, being eternal, speak of God to her. Duke agrees. Roy Hoopes rightly downgrades Galatea. Hoopes calls it “an embarrassingly poor novel.” Hoopes adds that Cain knew it was poor and that Knopf accepted it for publication well aware it was not tip-top Cain. Paul Skenazy may be amiss when he complains that Duke’s narration of “[t]he trial scene [is] ... in an inappropriate slang featuring

77 ﬁght metaphors.” Given Duke’s boxing background, such ﬁgures of speech seem entirely natural; moreover, half of the dozen pugilistic tropes appear before the trial starts. The best image, though, occurs when Duke catches Holly rationalizing about pastry she has been gobbling: “She looked me in the eye, as a cat does when you suspicion him, and can’t imagine, even with feathers on his nose, why you’re picking on him.” (Hoopes, 186, 458; Skanazy, 117) Galbraith, Elizabeth (The Magician’s Wife). She is a police ofﬁcer who in the process of questioning a parking attendant gets him to say he saw Busty Buster drive a car out the night Alec Gorsuch was killed. The attendant’s statement is false. Gale, Dr. (Mildred Pierce). He is Mildred’s friendly family physician. He tries to save her daughter Ray, hospitalized with ﬂu symptoms and an infected lip. When the girl dies, Dr. Gale expresses heartfelt sympathy and then recommends a reasonable Glendale undertaker named Murock. Dr. Gale is described as tall and stooped. The Galloping Domino. See Sinful Woman. Galpin (Mignon). This is the name of a restaurant in Alexandria, Louisiana, which Mignon recommends and where she, her father Landry, and Bill dine at one point. Gans, R. P. (Sinful Woman). He is vice president of claims at the Southwest General Insurance Corporation of North America, headquartered in Los Angeles. He ﬂies to the city where George M. Layton is the regional agent. They both appear at Vicki Adlerkreutz’s inquest and ultimately pay $100,000 to Sylvia Shoreham, his divorced widow. At one point he is also called C. C. Gans. Garner, John (The Institute). He is a scholar who received a grant from the Institute to write a biography of Paul Revere, Lloyd says that Garner is the only grant recipient who expressed gratitude for the ﬁnancial help. It is curious that Cain would give this writer the same name as that of John Nance Garner (1868 – 1967), vice president of the United States (1933–1941), during Franklin D. Roosevelt’s ﬁrst and second terms as president. Moreover, the name Garner is close to that of Garrett, prominent in The Institute.

Genesee stunning green-eyed blonde in her mid–20s. She is responsible for getting Richard to endow Lloyd’s Institute. Hortense is indifferent to Richard’s attentions to Inga Bergson but is jealous of Teddy Rodriguez, who at ﬁrst is after Lloyd but later persuades Lloyd and Hortense to marry and live happily ever after. This, of course, after Richard is shot dead by frustrated Inga, who is accidentally killed by Lloyd and after Hortense recovers from a gunshot wound inﬂicted by Inga as she falls dying. Garrett, Richard (The Institute). He is a commercially brilliant entrepreneur, tall, neat, and 41, active in Wilmington, Delaware, and Washington, D.C. His Wilmington company is called there R.G. Institute. Richard is the sexually frigid husband of seemingly irresistible Hortense. Richard supports Hortense’s lover Lloyd Palmer’s Institute, likes Lloyd despite knowledge of his consorting with Hortense, ﬁnally is sexually aroused not by his wife or by Lloyd’s student-friend Teddy Rodriguez, but by Richard’s own maid Inga Bergson, who, however, shoots him dead. Garrett, Theodore (The Institute). He is the infant son of Hortense Garrett and Lloyd Palmer. He is named Theodore in honor of Lloyd’s sexy student Teddy Rodriguez, who tactfully persuades Theodore’s parents to get married. Gator (Past All Dishonor). He is a silver miner in Virginia City. His name derives from the fact that he claims to have been a ﬂatboat alligator man. When he and Olesen become aware that Roger Duval will ﬁre them, they nail his hand to a timber in the mine. Gaudenzi (The Embezzler). He is Glendale’s assistant district attorney. When the bank is robbed and Dave Bennett is involved, Gaudenzi grills him and orders him to appear before the Grand Jury. Gauss, Lefty (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). He is an ex-con working for crooked Solomon Caspar and friendly with Sol’s chauffeur Ben Grace. Richard Hosea (“Lefty”) Gauss, now an aging thug, gray and bandy-legged, was once an ordained preacher in Missoula, Montana. When Ben is dying, Lefty conducts a hasty ceremony in which Ben and Dorothy Lyons get married.

Garrett (The Magician’s Wife). He is a member of the yacht club to which Clay Lockwood also belongs. The two occasionally play billiards there.

Gendarme (“Death on the Beach”). He is an ofﬁcial at Playa Washington. When Maria insults him, he refuses to try quickly enough to rescue her young son Gil from drowning. Turning more humane, he arranges for Gil’s funeral.

Garrett, Hortense (The Institute). She is the widowed Mrs. Mendenhall’s daughter, Richard Garrett’s wife, Lloyd Palmer’s beloved, and in due course the mother of his infant son Theodore Garrett. Hortense, whom her mother calls Horty, is a

Genesee, Ted (Sinful Woman). He is a croupier at the Luckbuck Club in the town where Parker Lucas lives. Lucas tells Sylvia Shoreham that she and Genesee registered as Mr. and Mrs. Edward Gentile at a place called the Tumble Inn Roadhouse 30 miles

Gentile south of where Lucas lives, and also at the Garden motel east of town. In reality, however, the oversexed Shoreham woman was Sylvia’s demented sister Hazel. Gentile, Mr. and Mrs. (Sinful Woman). See Genesee, Ted, and Shoreham, Hazel. Gessler, Ike (Mildred Pierce). He and his wife Lucy are Mildred’s neighbors. Ike has a trucking business. He increases his income by bootlegging. He is a bit of a philanderer. When Lucy goes on business from Glendale to Laguna, he moves his business there also, and leaves his ﬂoozy behind. Gessler, Lucy (Mildred Pierce). She is Mildred’s helpful neighbor, about 40 when the story begins. She brings liquor to parties. During the wake of Mildred’s daughter Ray, Lucy dramatically lies to prevent Mildred from embarrassment. Mildred helps Lucy set up a restaurant in Laguna. Gil (“Death on the Beach”). He is Maria’s son Gil, about four. He is an unchastised little bully. He swims too far from the shore at Playa Washington and drowns. Diego, who has been ﬂirting with Maria, tries to rescue him but can bring back only his body. Giles, Borden (Rainbow’s End). He is mentioned as Jane Giles’s son, living with her in Flint, West Virginia. Borden does not appear in the narrative. Giles, Jane (Rainbow’s End). She lives in Flint, West Virginia, and is the matriarch of part of the Giles family. She is the mother of Borden Giles, who lives with her. She is also the aunt of “Little Myra” Giles Howell and her cousin “Big Myra” Giles. Dave Howell seeks information from Jane, who is 60, spry, and evasive. Giles, Myra (Rainbow’s End). Called “Big Myra,” she is the unacknowledged mother of Dave Howell, who lives with her cousin Myra Giles Howell. Called “Little Myra,” she pretends that she is Dave’s mother and that her husband Jody Howell, now deceased, was his father. The truth emerges that Dave’s real father, John Gilmore Rider, has been married to an invalid, whose death frees him to wed Big Myra. Two years older than Little Myra, Big Myra is tall, beautiful, willowy, and demanding; she urges Dave to marry Jill Kreeger. Paul Skenasy observes that “Dave’s real mother enters [the action] like a fairy godmother.” (Skenasky, 125) Giles, Sid (Rainbow’s End). He is Myra Giles Howell’s unscrupulous brother. He accuses Myra’s cousin Myra Giles of stealing Jill Kreeger’s loot after hijacker Shaw’s escape and death. Myra accuses Sid, with more reason.

78 “The Girl in the Storm” (short story, Liberty, January 6, 1940). (Characters: Flora Hilton, Jack Schwab.) A 19-year-old hobo awakens in a boxcar shunted to a side rail and stopped. He is cold and is suddenly aware of rising water lapping at its door. He sees no land outside, only rushing water carrying bushes and trees and even houses toward the bridge to the right. Ties ﬂoating from a pile bang at the boxcar. He seizes one. By jamming it sideways, he can climb to the car roof. He sees the station and a village, beyond and higher up, and also sees trucks backing and evacuating people from their homes. He walks from boxcars to ﬂatcars to a platform. Rescuers have left. The station name is Hidalgo, California. Through waist-high rising waters the man must ﬁnd help. A grocery store is locked. He realizes it’s Sunday. Its clock says 2:50. Near it is a half-built house. He walks onto the ﬁnished ﬂoor, smells plaster of unﬁnished walls, sees tarpaper, sawbucks, lumber, tools, a ﬁreplace with damp mortar. He sheds part of his soaked clothes, must build a ﬁre. He whittles shavings but can’t ﬁnd any matches. Outside, he sees a single car being ﬂooded and a girl emerge and fall under the swirling ﬂood. He leaps out, drags her into the house, learns there are matches in the car, ﬁnds some, keeps them dry in two robes from the back seat, and brings them in. He builds a ﬁre of tarpaper and shavings. Man and girl wrap themselves in the robes by the ﬂames. She worries about the car. He says it’ll dry out all right. She says the car radio warned of a ﬂood “[o]ver in Hildago.” He says they’re in Hidalgo, empty of people. She sees his clothes on a sawbuck. He places her outer garments to dry by the ﬁre. He ﬁlls a kitchen bucket, heats water by the ﬁre, and, ashamed of his stinking denims, rinses them. He asks her name—Flora Hilton. He tells her his—Jack Schwab, from Pennsylvania. She explains she was visiting her uncle until Monday, but decided to drive home because of the storm, missed the main road, and stalled here. He says someone will see her car later and rescue her. She says her father won’t miss her and her uncle will think she’s home already. He rinses his shorts in the kitchen, dons them wet, and returns to dry his denims. Flora tells Jack she started driving before breakfast, hasn’t eaten all day. Joking that he hasn’t had any breakfasts lately, he suggests breaking into the store. He takes a chisel and a hammer, goes out, forces the store door, tries the light switch. No electricity. Therefore, no burglar alarm. Then she joins him. He says all anyone can do is jail “us,” and he’s been there often. They grab canned food, cigarettes, more matches, and return to the house. He reﬁlls the bucket in the kitchen, then sees she has dressed

79 again. They heat some cans of food in steaming water by the ﬁre. He chisels the cans open. They relish the soup. He can’t ﬁnd the knife he whittled with; so he chisels the chicken in two. She declines a cigarette while he smokes contentedly. She dips a nearby rag in water, wipes his hands, then cleans her own. She accepts his hand, sits close to him. When, feeling happy for once “in his short battered life,” he edges closer and tries a tentative kiss, he feels something sharp in the pit of his belly. He sees that missing knife. He rebukes her for threatening him after he rescued her and fed her. Crying, she tells him he was a stranger, says he said he’d been in jail, says she didn’t know what he was “ﬁxing to do.” Feeling “forlorn,” he shoves his feet back into his sodden shoes and silently walks into the slackening rain. Roy Hoopes regards “The Girl in the Storm” as “one of his [Cain’s] ﬁnest short stories.” When reread, it displays extremely skillful use of foreshadowing. Its mordant theme is proof of the sour generalization that no good deed goes unpunished. David Madden writes inaccurately when he reports that in this story “a tramp ... takes refuge with a girl in a supermarket.” Later, Madden elevates the tramp to a “hitchhiker” and correctly says that the supermarket is “deserted.” (Hoopes, 301; Madden 1970, 71; Madden 1985, 129) Giulio (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). He is a barber whom Solomon Caspar orders to his Columbus Hotel suite when he needs a hair trim. Goebel (The Postman Always Ring Twice). He manages a kennel. Frank Chambers hires him to care for Madge Allen’s animals while he and Madge have a ﬂing in Mexico. In “Come-back” the Goebels are called to put the lion Mowgli back in his cage. Gold, Rex (Serenade). He is the president of a Hollywood movie company. Told to be impressed by John Howard Sharp’s singing, Gold puts him under contract at $50,000 per movie for three movies. John goes to New York to sing in operas there in preference to trashy movie musicals. So Gold blackballs him. Cain goes out of his way to demean mindless but popular Hollywood products and their crass, moneymaking studio executives. Gonzalez, Mrs. (Serenade). She is the slightly uppity woman who rents John Howard Sharp and his girlfriend Juana Montes her dump of a house in Guatemala City. A Japanese couple are already tenants in other rooms there. Gooch (Mignon). He is the head of a Congressional committee created to investigate suspicious acts in the handling of cotton in New Orleans, torn by the

Gorsuch Civil War. Bill brashly tells a reporter named Olsen that the Gooch committee may investigate persons under General Banks if word reaches Washington about illegal trading. Daniel Wheelwright Gooch (1820 –1891) was born in Maine, educated at Dartmouth College; served as congressman from Massachusetts (1858 – 1865), after defeating incumbent Nathaniel Prentiss Banks; served again by defeating Banks (1873 – 1775), only to be defeated by Banks thereafter. Gool (Mignon). He is mentioned in Frank Burke’s ﬁrst phony letter, in which he says his story may be veriﬁed if “Genl Sir” will simply “ask Capin Gool.” Gordon (The Magician’s Wife). He owns the Gordon Bakeries in Ocean City, Maryland. Clay Lockwood talks him into investing in an Ocean City business venture to sell food and drinks on the beach. Clay also entices Heine of the Chinquapin Brewery, Katz of Restaurant Fixtures, and Lomack of Greenﬁeld Dairies to participate in the undertaking. Nothing more is said of these four entrepreneurs. Cain’s purpose is to demonstrate that Clay has plenty of commercial savvy. Gorman, Ethel (Career in C Major). She is a cousin of Doris Borland. She happens to be around when Doris, just ﬁnishing a recital, can boast to her that Cecil Carver heard Doris and she pronounced her singing “swell.” Gorsuch (The Enchanted Isle). He was Mandy Vernick’s mother Sally Vernick’s father, according to what Steve Baker tells Mandy. Gorsuch, Alec (The Magician’s Wife). Alexander Gorsuch, known as The Great Alexis, is a competent magician performing at the Lilac Flamingo in Channel City. His wife is Sally Gorsuch, and their son is Elly Gorsuch. Alec sleeps on occasion with Busty Buster, his on-stage assistant. Sally wants his inheritance; so she kills his rich father Elwood P. Gorsuch and entices Clay Lockwood, her lover, to kill Alec by running him off a dangerous road. He does; but Buster, also in Alec’s car, escapes. Gorsuch, Elly (The Magician’s Wife). He is the son, age three, of Alec and Sally Gorsuch. He is often with his grandfather Elwood P. Gorsuch, after whom he was named. Grace Simone, Sally’s mother, adores the little kid and shields him from the scene of Sally’s murder. Gorsuch, Elwood P. (The Magician’s Wife). He is the wealthy father of Alec Gorsuch. “El,” as he is called, made his fortune as the owner of autoaccessory stores. His daughter-in-law Sally kills him at his beachhouse but successfully says his death

Gorsuch was caused by his eating mouthfuls of nuts and then choking. One of old Gorsuch’s plot functions is to take charge of Elly Gorsuch, his little grandson, thus freeing adults to caper. Gorsuch, Sally (The Magician’s Wife). She is the daughter, 21, of Grace Simone, and is Alec Gorsuch’s unfaithful wife and Elly Gorsuch’s unﬁt mother. She works at The Portico, where she ﬁrst meets Clay Lockwood. Having caught Alec having an affair with Busty Buster, Sally becomes Clay’s lover, and persuades him to kill Alec so she can inherit his wealth. While she establishes herself with guests at her home as an alibi, Clay causes Alec’s death in a road accident; but Buster escapes from Alec’s car and later falsely testiﬁes in court that Sally drove the car that forced Alec and Buster off the road. Clay is conﬂicted, being in hot love with Sally and almost simultaneously in decorous love with Grace. Clay writes a confession, kills Sally, and commits suicide. One wonders if Cain named the villainess in The Magician’s Wife “Sally” as an act of long-postponed and useless revenge. According to Roy Hoopes, Cain knew a girl intimately in Baltimore identiﬁed only as “Sallie.” Cain thought she wanted to marry him until he received a telegram from her breaking a date with him and announcing she was “getting married tomorrow.” Paul Skenazy regards Sally Gorsuch as “an extreme version of Cain’s violencecharged, dominant, animal-like females.” (Hoopes, 32, 33; Skenazy, 121) Grace, Ben (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). He is crooked Sol Caspar’s chauffeur and reluctant aide. Benjamin L. Grace is a big, athletic, former professional football player. He spies on the campaign Olaf Jansen is running against incumbent Mayor Maddux of Lake City. Ben falls in love with seemingly sweet June Lyons, a member of Jansen’s staff. They point to authorities where they believe Arch Rossi’s corpse has been sunk. When the body proves to be Dick Delany’s, endangered Sol escapes to Mexico but is returned by American authorities. Out on bail, he is about to shoot Ben; but Dorothy, June’s more alluring sister, whom Ben now prefers, kills Sol ﬁrst. The two locate some of Sol’s loot but are apprehended while trying to get away with it, and Ben is mortally shot. He marries Dorothy so that neither would have to testify against the other, then dies. Cain handles Ben Grace curiously. Ben is big and muscular but has diminutive facial features and feet, has a hernia enabling him to avoid serving in the army (in 1942), but says he’d like to have his hernia surgically repaired, escape to Canada, join its army, and do something noble for a change. How can Cain have Ben reason that by marrying Dorothy she won’t still be charged with having killed Sol? She

80 has been caught on Sol’s property, as was Ben, with Sol’s bags of money, and her gun has been recovered. Paul Skenazy says that “Ben is ... at once likable and kind, and unscrupulous.” David Madden says that Cain’s “lovers are lovers ﬁrst, criminals second, but never mobsters, except for Ben Grace, who is not glamorous.” Madden implies that Love’s Lovely Counterfeit might have been a better novel if Cain had made Ben the narrator. Instead, Madden says, Cain “most awkwardly indulges in the omniscience of the third-person narrator.” (Madden 1970, 90, 133; Skenazy, 88) Granger (The Institute). This is the name of a wealthy couple whom Hortense tells Lloyd she will invite to a dinner party during which Lloyd can discuss his idea for what becomes his Institute. Granlund, Bunny (The Magician’s Wife). She was one of Sally Gorsuch’s teachers in Baltimore. Bunny taught Sally manners and made her one of her protégées. Bunny knew Pat Grant well but married wealthy Steve Granlund. Now big and 40, Bunny throws a party in Channel City for Grant, a meatpacking man visiting from Mankato, Minnesota. Bunny takes Sally’s young son to vacation at Cape May. Granlund, Steve (The Magician’s Wife). He is Bunny Granund’s well-to-do husband. He owns The Portico, a Channel City restaurant. When Bunny gives a party for her long-time friend Pat Grant in the grand Granlund mansion, Granlund is ofﬁsh. Grant, Dr. (The Moth). He is the rector of the Baltimore church in which Jack sings soprano with considerable success. Grant, Eleanor (The Moth). She is Dr. Grant’s cousin, a ﬁne opera singer and music teacher. She married a French ofﬁcer who was killed in World War I. Called Miss Eleanor, she befriends Jack, who remembers her for years. Grant, Pat (The Magician’s Wife). He is president of Grant, a meatpacking business with headquarters in Mankato, Minnesota. Grant attended Harvard, is an expert pianist, and knew Bunny before she married Steve Granlund. Now blocky and 30, he admires Clay Longwood, his expert meat salesman in Channel City. During a visit there, he is given a party by Bunny. He promotes Clay to president of the Grant company and urges him, before going west, to visit Grant branch companies as a kind of working honeymoon, Clay having married Grace Simone. [Cain’s fourth wife Florence Macbeth Cain’s father Charles J. Macbeth was a successful meatpacker from Mankato. (Hoopes, 414)] Gregg, Sandy (Mignon). He is Bill Cresap’s close

81 friend. The two worked for Joseph Cresap, Bill’s father, in the construction business in Annapolis, Maryland. Sandy, now 28 (in 1864), is a lieutenant in the Union army, aboard the Eastport, at Helena, Arkansas, above New Orleans. He and Bill plan to establish a construction ﬁrm. Sandy helps Bill in his effort to sell cotton, legally and illegally. Sandy is described as “trim, dark,” and of medium build. At the end, Sandy marries Marie Tremaine, one of Bill’s former girlfriends, after which Marie will ﬁnance the post-war company of her “Alexandre” and Bill. Groner, Goose (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). He is one of Sol Caspar’s thugs. He is involved in the abduction of Dick Delany and in Dick’s being killed trying to escape. Ben orders Lefty Gauss to bring Groner to be his bodyguard. Groner then does not ﬁgure in further action. Gruber, Clara (The Root of His Evil). She is a Karb waitress, and a noisy would-be union organizer. She and Carrie attend union meetings. Clara is elected president and Carrie, treasurer. Clara falsely accuses Carrie of collecting union dues from the girls and embezzling them. Guizot (Career in C Major). He is a music teacher whom Leonard Borland hires for private lessons in harmonizing and unscrambling chords. Gump, Chester (“Come-back”). He is mentioned by Hapgood as someone who stays young. The reference is obscure. Gumpertz, Jake (The Magician’s Wife). He is an expert at restoring damaged art work. When Sally Gorsuch stamps on an Orozco painting Clay Longwood owns, her mother Grace Simone has Gumpertz repair it expertly. Gurney (Mildred Pierce). He is a rancher Mildred buys chickens from. He ﬂatters her until ﬁnancial disaster strikes her, then demands payment of overdue bills. Gus (The Root of His Evil). He is mentioned once as working for Bernard Hunt and his wife Ruth. Gwendolyn (The Moth). She is the spoiled daughter of a wealthy yachtsman. He can’t provide funds for Jack to start a professional football team in Atlanta, because she is commanded to be at a British royal court ceremony — or so he wires Jack’s friend Henry Harmon.

H Hager, Captain (Mignon). He commands the provost guard in Alexandria. When Bill fatally shoots

Hanks Pierre Legrand, Hager investigates, questions Pierre’s corrupt employer Frank Burke in a “murderously cold” manner, and exonerates Bill. Haines, Arthur (Past All Dishonor). He is a ﬂashy, handsome Irishman who is at Virginia City’s International Hotel when Roger Duval boasts of buying Morina Crockett’s love for $1,000. Claiming to have an operatic background, “Art” sings tenor at Biloxi’s brothel. When Biloxi is evicted from her A Street home and her lover Renny is crushed by his sliding piano, Haines, who lusts for Biloxi, takes her in. Hal (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). He is a Columbus Hotel bellboy who helps June Lyons move things from her old apartment to the hotel. Dorothy Lyons, June’s sister, tells Ben Grace all this, then adds that she bought June’s key from Hal, which enables Dorothy and Ben to rendezvous at June’s unused apartment. When Ben seeks Hal, he learns he’s unavailable. Hale (Past All Dishonor). He is the unscrupulous owner of the Dakota silver mine in Virginia City. Small, about 50, and expensively garbed, he is too stingy to buy necessary safety equipment and tools to permit deeper digging. He says his mother was killed in Hungary in 1848. His sabotaging a mine pulley results in a mining accident. By keeping silent and blackmailing Hale, Roger Duval becomes Hale’s superintendent. Halligan (The Embezzler). He and Lewis, both excops, work under Dyer, chief guard at the Los Angeles bank, which has a Glendale branch. Dave Bennett, aware that Charles Brent is planning a heist, orders Dyer to bring some men. He brings Halligan and Lewis, and they participate in the gunplay that follows. Hamell (Cloud Nine). He and his wife are Jane Sibert’s friends and take her with them from Maryland to New England for a month’s vacation. Hamell, Mrs. (Cloud Nine). See Hamell. Hand, Mr. Charlie (“Everything But the Truth”). He is Miss Ruth Downey’s friend. The two are supposed to be watching while Wally Bowman, Edwin Hope, Phyllis, Roger, and other young children go swimming. But they are busy with each other. Hand does help Edwin rescue Wally and Roger from drowning. In the newspaper account of the event Hand is said to be a law student visiting his parents for the summer. Hanks (Rainbow’s End). He was a person who tried to break up a dispute between Myra Giles, later Jody Howell’s wife, and another waitress in Fairmont, West Virginia.

Hannen Hannen, Charlie (Mildred Pierce). He is Veda Pierce’s second music teacher. Living in Pasadena, he is about 40, squat in appearance, and with huge hands but capable when he plays the piano. Carlo Treviso knew him in Italy when he was billed as Annino. When Hannen becomes ill, his wife Roberta takes him to Phoenix, Arizona, where he dies. Hannen, Roberta (Mildred Pierce). She is the devoted wife of Charlie Hannen, a Pasadena music teacher. Hans (Mildred Pierce). He is a baker whom Mildred hires when her restaurant business expands. He is notorious for his habit of feeling waitresses’ legs. Hapgood, Happy (“Come-back”). Happy is a Hollywood agent who tries to help the actor Tim Kennelly survive unpopularity by arranging for a ﬁlmable stagecoach holdup. Success comes to Kennelly by his tying up Mowgli the lion, not part of the show. Happy takes the credit. The narrator for some reason calls Hapgood “a heel.” In “Hip, Hip, the Hippo!” Hap Hapgood is the Hollywood agent of Tim Kennelly and his girlfriend Polly Dukas. Harbaugh (Mildred Pierce). He is the husband of a woman Mildred sells pies to. His praising the pies to people at the Drop Inn helps increase Mildred’s pie business. Harbaugh, Mrs. (Mildred Pierce). She buys pies from Mildred. When Mildred’s daughter Ray dies, Mrs. Harbaugh attends her wake. Harmon, Henry (The Moth). “Hank,” as he wants to be called, is a breezy Atlanta reporter who provides false encouragement for Jack when he tries unsuccessfully to start a professional football team. Harper, Buck (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). See Dubois, Mort. Hardcastle, Henry (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). He is a man who runs Solomon Caspar’s Columbus Hotel. Bob Herndon tells Ben Grace that Hardcastle identiﬁed Arch Rossi as one of the four kids that robbed the Castleton bank. Harris (Mildred Pierce). He is Mrs. Forrester’s man servant. He admits Mildred when she applies for work at the woman’s mansion. Harris, Agnes (The Root of His Evil). She is the mother of Grant Harris, Elsie Harris, Jane Harris, and Ruth Harris Hunt, and the mother-in-law of Bernard Hunt. Agnes is a trim and beautiful woman, married at 17, soon widowed, and looking about 38. When Grant marries Carrie, Agnes does all she can to lure her mama-loving son away from Carrie and back to her. Carrie plans all sorts of revenge.

82 Harris, Carrie Selden (The Root of His Evil). See Selden, Carrie. Harris, Elsie (The Root of His Evil). She is Carrie’s sister-in-law. Harris, George (The Root of His Evil). He is Grant’s uncle, and, as the head of Harris, Hunt and Harris, is Grant’s boss. According to Grant, Uncle George recently stole a Central American railroad. George manages the Harris family wealth badly. Harris, Grant (The Root of His Evil). He is vicious Agnes Harris’s spoiled, mother-loving son and the brother of Elsie, Jane, and Ruth. A Harvard graduate and a World War II veteran, he is Uncle George Harris’s unhappy employee. He longs to study the history of American Indians. He marries Carrie to try to break “the silver cord” binding him to Agnes, who bribes Carrie to divorce him. He is jealous of Carrie’s friend Holden. In the end, almost all’s well. The “root” of Grant’s “evil” in The Root of His Evil is his vicious mother. Cain could have chosen a better title. Harris, Harwood (The Root of His Evil). He was Agnes Harris’s husband, and the father of Elsie, Grant, Jane, and Ruth. Harwood died when Grant was ﬁve. Harris, Jane (The Root of His Evil). She is Grant Harris’s sister. She is obedient to their mother Agnes. Harris, U. S. Grant (The Root of His Evil). He was the father of George and Harwood Grant. According to his grandson Grant Harris, he was a “scalawag,” “stole a couple of railroads,” built an empire, and left an estate of $72,000,000. Harry (Serenade). He is a bellboy at the New York apartment building in which John Howard Sharp, his girlfriend Juana Montes, and then John’s homosexual nemesis Winston Hawes reside. Harry warns John that immigration ofﬁcials are seeking Juana to deport her. When Juana kills Winston, Harry and his fellow worker Tony help her escape. Harvey (The Institute). This is the name of a restaurant in Washington, D.C., to which Senator Ralph Hood doesn’t take Lloyd to lunch but to which Lloyd later takes a grant applicant to lunch. Hasselman (The Postman Always Ring Twice). He has a market in Glendale, where Frank Chambers and Cora Papadakis buy provisions for her husband Nick Papadakis’s tavern. Hawes, Winston (Serenade). Hawes, a homosexual scion of a Chicago meatpacking family, is a brilliant orchestra conductor. John Howard Sharp sang in his friend Winston’s Petite Orchestra in Paris but

83 left when his voice cracked. Winston secretly followed him to Mexico City. When John recovers his singing ability, succeeds in Los Angeles and then in New York, Winston reappears, helps him, but also proves unsettling to him. John’s girlfriend Juana Montes is so alarmed that John will resume homosexual relations with Winston that she kills him. Gregory Forter extensively analyzes Winston’s control over Hollywood, Juana’s hatred of Winston for taking away John’s masculinity, and John’s combined yearning for and revulsion from Winston. Paul Skenazy contends that “rich, effeminate, wealthy Hawes suggests the decadence of American prosperity when it lives divorced from ... vital wildness” symbolized by “Juana’s wanton, animalistic, precivilized body.” (Forter, 286–289; Skenazy, 62–63, 63) Hayden (The Moth). He is Major John (“Jack”) Dillon’s driver during their brief time in wartime France together. Hayden’s rank is not speciﬁed. Hayes (The Institute). He is an expensive private detective whom Hortense hires to learn what her husband Richard knows. Hayes works out of Bladensburg, Maryland. Hayes hires a female assistant to get friendly with Richard’s maid Inga Bergson — to learn something about Richard. Hayes, Annette (“The Visitor”). She is one daughter of Greg and Rita Hayes. Their other daughter is Lou. Rita escapes with both little girls when Rajah the tiger confronts Greg in his bedroom. Hayes, Greg (“The Visitor”). He is general manager of Bridleway Downs, Inc., a real-estate agency. He rented a lot to the Biedermann-Rossi Circus. He is peacefully sleeping alone when Rajah the circus tiger visits him by entering his bedroom window. By clever moves, Greg saves his wife Rita and their daughters Annette and Lou. Though bitten, he then immobilizes the tiger by wrapping his head with plastic. Greg and Rajah become amiable TV celebrities. Hayes, Lou (“The Visitor”). See Hayes, Annette. Hayes, Rita (“The Visitor”). She is Greg Hayes’s wife. Angered by noise from the Biedermann-Rossi Circus, she sleeps in a front bedroom. When Rajah the tiger visits Greg in his bedroom, Greg tells her to take their daughters Annette and Lou outside to safety. Haynes, Jack (The Enchanted Isle). He is a baldheaded lawyer working in the state’s attorney’s ofﬁce in Baltimore. Jim Clawson, another lawyer, gets Haynes to participate in a scheme to get Mandy Vernick out of a legal jam for reluctantly taking part in a Baltimore bank heist. Clawson has her dictate an exculpatory confession. Haynes then doctors it.

Hertz Mandy catches his having done so, and her ﬂirty mother Sally Vernick and obdurate Clawson make him use the more nearly truthful version of the confession. Heath, Benny (“Pastorale”). He is the town constable who believes that Hutch separated Lida’s murdered old husband’s severed head and buried body on the assumption that thus Hutch’s crime could not be proved. Heine (The Magician’s Wife). See Gordon. Helm (The Embezzler). He is a teller, 25, at the Glendale bank when Dave Bennett reports there. He attends the dance hosted by A. G. Ferguson, president of the main bank in Los Angeles. Helm is at the bank when Charles Brent stages his botched heist. Helm, Miss (The Magician’s Wife). She is Clay Longwood’s “dumpy” secretary in Channel City. She relays messages to him. She sulks when she learns that Clay is being transferred by Pat Grant to Mankato, Minnesota, but is happy again when he tells her she can come along. Henning, Sophie (The Magician’s Wife). She is a notary public with an ofﬁce in the Marlborough Arms, where Clay Longwood lives. He has her notarize all six copies of his typed confession. Henry, Doc (The Moth). He is a Dillon family physician. Jack gets him to wire his Maryland football coach that Jack Dillon needs medical attention in Baltimore. This enables Jack to visit June Lucas in Easton, Pennsylvania. Herbert, Sergeant (The Institute). He is a policeman who takes charge of the scene after Richard Garrett is shot dead, his wife Hortense is wounded, and the shooter Inga Bergson dies. Herbert treats Lloyd, a witness, with respect. Herndon, Bob (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). He is Arch Rossi’s friend from their schooldays. Rossi, now 19, joins three others in a botched bank robbery, is wounded, and phones Herndon to help him. Herndon, who works for Bill Delany of Chicago, gets Rossi to the Solomon Caspar’s Columbus Hotel, then gets Olaf Jansen to drive Herndon to June Lyons’ apartment. Ben Grace, alerted by phone from June, talks with Herndon and then has June make Jansen drive Herndon to safety in Castleton. Herndon, Miss (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). She is Bob Herndon’s sister, who warns him that he is being sought. Hertz, Mrs. (Career in C Major). She and her husband Rudolph are having breakfast when Leonard Borland bothers them about tickets for his wife Doris Borland’s recital.

Hertz Hertz, Rudolph (Career in C Major). He is a Herald Tribune music critic, related to Doris Borland’s friend Louise Bronson. Doris is ecstatic when she hears that Louise ordered Hertz to attend Doris’s recital and write a review of it. Hildegarde, Mrs. Otto (Mildred Pierce). Mr. and Mrs. Otto Hildegarde are two names Lucy Gessler makes up. Lucy covers for Mildred’s sexual liaison with Monty Beragon at Lake Arrowhead by ﬁbbing at Mildred’s daughter Ray’s wake that the Hildegardes were entertaining Mildred when Ray fell ill. Hildegarde, Otto (Mildred Pierce). See Hildegarde, Mrs. Otto. Hilton, Flora (“The Girl in the Storm”). She is a young girl, about 19, whom Jack Schwab, a hobo escaping a boxcar during a ﬂood near Hidalgo, California, sees getting out of her car and in danger of drowning. He rescues her, takes her to a half-built house in which he has just taken refuge. He helps her warm herself and dry her outer garments. They take food from a nearby closed store and share it. When he hugs her joyfully, she misunderstands and threatens to stab him with a carpenter’s knife she has found. Totally downcast, he leaves. Cain has her say that her real name was Dora Hilton, but that she changed it to Flora when “they all” nicknamed her Dumb Dora. This may be a clue explaining why she misreads Jack’s motive. The name Flora may suggest the fragility of a jeune ﬁlle. Himmelhaber, Magistrate (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). He is a Lake City ofﬁcial who rules at the bidding of corrupt ofﬁcials, including Oliver Hedge Bleeker and his lawyer-partner Yates. “Hip, Hip, the Hippo!” (short story, Redbook, March 1936). (Characters: The Bohunk, Polly Dukas, Hap Hapgood, Hornison, Tim Kennelly, Jo Metcalf, Sugar.) The unnamed narrator of this story (the sequel to the same narrator’s “Come-back”) begins by again explaining that the journalists “bawled it all up” again when they reported Kennelly’s subsequent troubles. Here is the truth: Kennelly, formerly the unemployed Singing Cowboy in Westerns, got a new start. He had saved people from disaster when Mowgli the lion threatened to disrupt a party. With actress Polly Dukas’s help, he tied Mowgli until the authorities came. So he was to star as Kowgli the Wolf Man in a movie produced by Hollywood’s J. P. Hornison, who offered Kennelly $500 a week for eight weeks. But Hornison got careless. He was worried about Sugar, his sick polo pony, and told Hap Hapgood, Kennelly’s agent, to send him contracts for Kennelly and Polly. Hap wrote them up with each receiving $1,000 per

84 week. Shooting was to commence at 9:00 A.M. tomorrow. Kennelly was to “ride a hippopotamus down the Ganges River.” But he and Polly soon discovered that every hip’ likes to settle in warm water to the bottom; moreover, a hip’ is hard to ride. Polly to the rescue. She dived after the hip,’ held onto of his ears, but came up water-logged and scared. Kennelly knew what to do. Kennelly and the Bohunk, who owned and rented the hip,’ ran him to the lake bank. Kennelly roped his front feet. They dragged him into the water. Kennelly mounted and rode him two hours; under a tree, Kennelly grabbed a limb, swung off, and said that was a rehearsal for the cameras. But Hap at the clubhouse reported that Hornison hadn’t read or signed the contracts, has cut the hip’ scene from the script, and preferred to have Kennelly ﬁlmed as being saved from crocodiles. Kennelly started to phone Hornison to complain about wasting his time and that of the $30-per-day hip.’ But Polly told Hap to get their contracts and undelivered checks and prepare for Kennelly and her to make $2,000 for 10 weeks. Kennelly would ride the hip’ up and down the river and deliver messages from the jungle, and the hip’ could then save him from crocodiles. Kids in the audience would love it. Hap’s ofﬁce was closed; so Polly went to Hollywood, planning to get the checks and contracts and see Hornison in the morning. About 9:00 P.M. Polly saw Hornison at the Brown Derby, heard him say he was ﬂying tonight at San Francisco, and told him about Kennelly’s “gag”— riding the hip.’ He decided to see it at once. They drove together to the set. En route, horny Hornison suggested an overnight stay in Santa Barbara and go see the gag tomorrow. Agreeing, Polly said she must secretly get “some things” from the clubhouse before accompanying him. Once there, they both heard Kennelly singing “Home, Home on the Range,” and some woman singing with him. Jealous, Polly wanted instantly to desert Kennelly and leave with Hornison. But he got suspicious, stayed, continued listening. Polly undressed to her undies and planned to swim out and kill both singers. Kennelly saw Polly and Hornison, asked what they were doing, and said some woman was accompanying his song from the shore. In truth, Hornison’s secretary, with the checks and contracts, had visited the clubhouse, wanted to have some intimate time with Kennelly, and persuaded him to row her into the lake. When she spied Hornison and Polly, Kennelly hid her under a robe. Before Kennelly could get ashore alone, the hip’ upset the canoe, dumped both into the water, and the canoe sank. Polly laughed, declined to answer Kennelly, whom she told to hang onto the hip’s ears

85 and “Ride him, cowboy!” Hornison told his screaming, sinking secretary he couldn’t aid her, couldn’t swim. When she said she had the contracts, both he and Polly jumped in. The hip’ thrashed perilously. Hap, abed in the clubhouse, heard the commotion, rushed down, and clipped the hip’ between the eyes with an anchor. Cops heard screaming and came. The participants expressed anger at multiple double-crossing persons, especially Polly toward Kennelly — until he explained that he tied the secretary’s handbag onto a strut and they could ﬁnd the checks and contracts in the canoe. They kissed ﬁrst. The waterlogged papers were legible enough to prove Hornison’s plan to short-change Kennelly and Polly. The result was “two grand” a week for nine weeks. The narrator says, however, he dislikes animal movies. When Hap Hapgood criticizes Hornison for his cheap tactics with the hippopotamus, he tells Kennelly that other animal trainers cost movie-makers more money, and cites “Martin Johnson or Frank Buck or Clyde Elliott.” Martin Johnson (1884–1937), already mentioned in “The Baby in the Icebox,” and Johnson’s wife Osa Johnson (1894 –1953) were famous big-game hunters. Frank Buck (1884 –1950) hunted and collected wild animals. Clyde Elliott (1885–1959), a movie director, producer, and writer, was best known for his animal movies, including Bring ’Em Back Alive (1932), Frank Buck’s ﬁrst movie. Roy Hoopes reports that the Redbook editor, Edwin Balmer, liked “Hip, Hip, the Hippo!” but wanted the original ending revised. Cain complied, complained that doing so was hideously bothersome, and vowed to shoot Balmer if he wound up rejecting the story. (Hoopes, 261) Hirsch (Sinful Woman). See Dobbs. Hobey (Double Indemnity). See Ethel. Hobey (Mildred Pierce). He was a chum of Monty Beragon’s when both attended UCLA. Years later, now president of Consolidated Foods, he tries unsuccessfully to have Leda Pierce break her contract for singing on the radio, and sing for him for more money. Veda fakes a throat injury, gets out of the contract, and sings in New York for Hobey to sponsor his Sunbake bread. Holden, Evan (The Root of His Evil). He is a laborunion organizer, born in Wales, with a slight brogue, and now tall, quick, and about 35. While organizing the waitresses of the Karb restaurant he meets and is smitten by Carrie. She plays him, callously though sometimes reluctantly, to make her passive husband Grant Harris actively jealous. Holden unsuspectingly informs Carrie of ongoing labor negotiations in Detroit and Pittsburgh. She uses his predictions to play the market successfully. After

Hood Carrie wins Grant back, it seems likely that Holden will pursue Grant’s widowed mother Agnes, who is vicious but sexy. Hollis (Galatea). He is Holly’s ineffectual father and resides with his vapid wife in St. Mary’s, near where Holly and her husband Valenty live. They attend the murder trial of Holly and Duke. Hollis, Bill (Galatea). He is Holly’s brother and Marge’s husband. He and Marge live in Waldorf, south of the farm where Holly and her husband Valenty live. Bill dislikes Valenty but through fear of him is reluctant to help Duke, who loves Holly. Hollis, Marge (Galatea). She is Bill’s wispy-looking wife. She is generally suspicious of Duke, who fears Bill’s sister Holly Valenty’s husband but loves Holly. In the end, Marge signiﬁcantly notes that when Holly didn’t hear a rattling spur but Valenty did, that was proof of Holly’s innocence and Valenty’s guilt. Hollis, Mrs. (Galatea). See Hollis. Hollister (Sinful Woman). The Hollister Dude Ranch is reportedly one of the places where Hazel Shoreham and Carlos Loma rendezvoused for sex. Hollowell (The Root of His Evil). See Hyde. Holt, Joe (Rainbow’s End). He is the manager of the gas station where Dave Howell works. Holton, Pete (The Institute). He is a laboratory technician whose knowledge of bagatex impresses his boss Richard Garrett. Holtz (The Moth). He is the “super” at the huge fruit farm near Whittier where Jack works for about a month. Homan, Miss (The Magician’s Wife). She works at the Marlborough Arms, where Clay Longwood lives. He has her admit movers when he transfers some belonging and moves to the Chinquapin-Plaza. Homer (Galatea). He is a “colored” lad working for Valenty. Homer parks cars at Valenty’s Ladyship restaurant, helps out at Valenty’s cocktail party, plows Valenty’s farm land with Duke, and delivers produce. Hood (The Institute). He is Senator Ralph Hood’s son and one of Lloyd’s students at the University of Maryland. When Lloyd intervenes to get the lad out of a marijuana scrape, the senator is grateful. Hood, Judy (The Institute). She is Senator Ralph Hood’s wife. They both attend a party celebrating the opening of Lloyd’s Institute. So does the President. Hood, Senator Ralph (The Institute). He is a senator from Nebraska. He is grateful when Lloyd gets

Hook his son, a student at the University of Maryland, out of a scrape involving marijuana. The senator informs Lloyd about the building that Lloyd ultimately uses for his Institute. Hook (Past All Dishonor). He is a one-armed silver miner in Virginia City. Hook, Oscar (“Dead Man”). He runs a ﬁlling station in Los Angeles. He can’t afford to give Ben Fuller a job there. But Ben talks a storekeeper in the Mexican district into providing him with better clothes, on credit, by lying that Hook has promised him a job. Hope (“The Birthday Party”). He is Burwell Hope’s father. He ﬁrmly tells Burwell that he must attend Marjorie Lucas’s birthday party. Hope (“Everything But the Truth”). He is a lawyer, having moved from Annapolis to Fullerton to handle an estate there and to start practicing law there as well. Hope, Burwell (“The Birthday Party”). He is a confused little boy who is too timid to attend Marjorie Lucas’s birthday party. He tries to cover shyness by bravado and ﬁbs. David Madden thoroughly understands little Burwell when he judges that “‘The Birthday Party’ is a careful and authentic delineation of the psychology of self-dramatization in childhood and of the consequences of this impulse when mingled with false values and when acted upon without full awareness of the nature of one’s behavior.” (Madden 1970, 106) Hope, Edwin (“Everything But the Truth”). Edwin, 12, moves with his parents from big Annapolis to small Fullerton. Once there, he ﬁbs about his brave activities in Annapolis. When Wally Bowman comes from Annapolis to visit and says Edwin is a ﬁbber, Edwin has to make good on his boast that he can dive from the timbers of big schooners. By accident, he does so and becomes a hero in his girlfriend Phyllis’s eyes. Hope, Mrs. (“The Birthday Party”). She is Burwell’s mother. She loudly urges him to dress nicely and attend Marjorie Lucas’s birthday party. Hope, Mrs. (“Everything But the Truth”). She is attorney Hope’s wife and Edwin Hope’s mother. They live in Fullerton. She distresses Edwin when she tells him that Wally Bowman is coming to visit them from Annapolis. Hopkins (Past All Dishonor). This is the name of a Placeville store. Horizon, Frankie (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). He is a probably crooked associate in Chicago of Bill De-

86 lany. Solomon Caspar tells his chauffeur Ben Grace about the connection. Horizon does not appear in the action. Horlacher (The Moth). He is a “young guy” that Jack notices conferring with Hannah Branch when her Signal Hill oil well is still dangerously aﬁre. Horn, Bert (Career in C Major). He is a music impresario connected with the Hippodrome. He tries, unsuccessfully at ﬁrst, to hire Leonard Borland to sing. When Leonard is ﬁnancially strapped, he agrees and sings well but only for a short time. He fails in Rigoletto, after which Horn would never have Leonard sign the contract he has already prepared. Hornblow, Alice (Career in C Major). She is one of Doris Borland’s friends. She phones Doris to say that Cecil Carver attended Doris’s recital and said she was “swell.” Cain met movie producer Arthur Hornblow (1893–1976) in 1943, the year Career in C Major was published. Horner, Ed (Jealous Woman). Edward Gordon Horner, just under 30, is an ambitious, unscrupulous General Pan-Paciﬁc of California insurance agent working in Reno. His executing a policy on Tom Delavan results in his intimate involvement with Tom’s wife Jane Delavan, the beneﬁciary. Connie Sperry, wife of Richard Sperry, who was Jane’s ﬁrst husband, comes to Reno with her maid Harriet Jenkins, to make trouble. Faith Converse, who loves Delavan, also arrives. Horner gets into a professional dispute with Keyes, claim investigator, who falls in love with Connie. She kills Richard Sperry and tries unsuccessfully to blame Jane. When Connie kills Delavan and Horner tells Jane he kept Delavan’s policy intact, Jane is brieﬂy outraged; free to marry Horner, however, she does so. Paul Skenazy says that “Horner’s narrative voice wavers between colloquial ease and polite stiffness.” (Skenazy, 102) Cain deliberately provides this gogetter with often imperfect English, as exempliﬁed by his “she don’t,” “there’s two,” etc. (Of course, “there’s two” is half way standard nowadays.) Horner is also callous. When Connie kills herself, he says “she made an A-1 clean job of it.” To anyone who has been near suicides, such a speech is atrocious. Horner, Guy (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). He is a guard at the Security Bank of Castleton. When Mort Dubois, Buck Harper, Boogie-Woogie Lipsky, and Arch Rossi are robbing the bank, one of them kills Horner. Hornison, Jack (“Come-back”). He is a successful Hollywood mogul who lets Burton Silbro use his residence for a weekend while Hornison and his

87 family are away. In “Hip, Hip, the Hippo!” J. P. (“Jack”) Hornison tries to exploit Tim Kennelly by casting him as Kowgli the Wolf Man in a movie supposedly taking place on the Ganges River. With the help of Kennelly’s agent Hap Hapgood and Kennelly’s girlfriend Polly Dukas, Hornison is forced to pay Kennelly and Polly substantially. Houston, Miss (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). She is the pretty nurse who, with Dr. Ronde, tends Ben Grace in the hospital after he is wounded. Howell, Dave (Rainbow’s End). David Howell, the narrator, lives with pushily sexy Myra Giles Howell, the while thinking she is his Mom. Shaw, the airplane hijacker, and Jill Kreeger, the airline stewardess, parachute onto a tiny island that Dave owns in the river near two houses he also owns. Trouble starts. The results include his shooting Shaw, his learning that Mom’s cousin Myra Giles is his mother, Mom’s getting drowned, and his marrying Jill. In the aftermath, Dave meets John Gilmore Rider, his father. Cain hastily adds that Dave, now David Rider, may go to Cornell, work into his father’s many commercial interests, and ultimately become president of Polaris Oil. Thus, perhaps, Cain concocts a spoof of Horatio Algier and his rags-to-riches confections. Howell, Jody (Rainbow’s End). He was Myra Howell’s husband, now deceased. Dave Howell is misled for a time into believing that Jody was his father. Howell, Myra (Rainbow’s End). Myra Giles Howell, 38, still pretty, and certainly gamey, is called “Little Myra” to distinguish her from her cousin “Big Myra” Giles. Little Myra says she is Dave Howell’s Mom. Knowing she isn’t, she tries to sleep with the uneasy lad. Soon after Shaw, the hijacker, parachutes from the plane with $100,000 and the stewardess Jill Kreeger along, Myra becomes ruinously ambitious to collar the swag and meets a watery fate. Cain has her explain the evasively equivocal answers her clansmen use as “mountain” parlance. Perhaps Cain expects the reader of Rainbow’s End to justify its mysterious plot convolutions as also “mountain.” Hudson, Albert (Serenade). He is the conductor of the Hollywood Bowl production of Carmen in which John Howard Sharp substitutes for Alessandro Sabini. Morris Lahr tells Sabini that Hudson is good and will soon be deservedly famous. Hudson, Dr. (Jealous Woman). He is the coroner at Richard Sperry’s inquest. Huff, Walter (Double Indemnity). He is an agent, 34 and unprincipled, representing the General Fidelity

Hunt of California in Los Angeles. He wishes to sell an accident policy to Herbert S. Nirdlinger. Phyllis Nirdlinger, his attractive wife, and Huff discuss a double indemnity feature in case of death in a railroad accident. The two, quickly lusting for each other, plan murder. Huff strangles Nirdlinder and in an elaborate ruse dramatizes his death by falling from a train’s observation platform. The guilty pair’s love turns to hate. Huff becomes enamored of Lola Nirdlinger, Phyllis’s stepdaughter, 19. Lola likes Huff but remains in love with Nino Sachetti. Huff ’s plot to kill Phyllis backﬁres when she ambushes and shoots him ﬁrst. Huff confesses, is allowed by his company to escape by Mexico-bound ship, only to jump to his death by shark, with Phyllis, also aboard. Cain has Huff born in Iowa, like Cora Papadakis, murderess in The Postman Always Rings Twice. John L. Irwin theorizes that Huff ’s perverse desire to edge destructively closer and closer to danger, by getting closer and closer to Phyllis’s desire to kill her husband, resembles aspects of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Imp of the Perverse”; then Irvin compares Huff ’s later need to confess his part in the murder to aspects of Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Black Cat.” Paul Skenazy theorizes that “[t]he ‘something’ that compels Huff encompasses a yearning without any simple cultural correlative. Huff ’s passion for Phyliss [sic] and desire to collect the insurance payoff seem a convenient vocabulary of sexuality and greed with which to articulate his deeper, inarticulate need to rebel. He wants more from his life than it supplies.” Hugh S. Manon offers a different analysis. He makes much of the following early statement by Neff: “If I had used that juice [an experienced insurance agent’s cleverness] trying to keep out, that might have got me somewhere.” That is, by resisting Phyllis’s immediate sexual attractiveness, Neff would have illustrated Manon’s thesis: “Recognizing the paradox of a desire based on lack — that, for the human subject, satisfaction itself cannot ultimately be satisfying—Walter Neff indeed uses everything he’s got ‘trying to keep out,’ a strategy only a fetishist could so publicly avow as a means of getting somewhere.” (Irvin, 257–259; Manon, 34; Skenazy, 37) Hull, Jack (“Two O’Clock Blonde”). He is a businessman staying in a hotel suite a short time. While there, he is attracted to Zita and asks her for a harmless date. Zita initially believes Hull is immoral to ask Maria, her maid, to his room for wine, etc. In reality, Maria and a confederate named Bill try, unsuccessfully, to shake Hull down. In the end, all’s well, and Hull marries Zita. Hunt, Bernard (The Root of His Evil). He has been Carrie’s sister-in-law Ruth Hunt’s attorney husband for ﬁve years. He despises but must tolerate Ruth’s

88

Hunt widowed, vicious mother Agnes Harris. “Bernie,” as some call him, likes and respects Carrie, calls her “baby” at times. Carrie is Ruth’s troubled brother Grant’s upset wife. Bernie persuades Carrie to accept $50,000 from Agnes to divorce Grant. He reluctantly invests Carrie’s resulting cash in seemingly chancy stock but soon rides her skirts to wealth himself. Like Grant, Bernie graduated from Harvard. Cain too often brings in Harvard. Couldn’t he have mentioned somewhere, at least once, Brown, Columbia, Dartmouth, Pennsylvania, or even Yale? He does mention Cornell once, in the last chapter of Rainbow’s End. Hunt, Ruth (The Root of His Evil). She is Agnes Harris’s daughter, and the sister of Elsie, Grant, and Jane. She is Bernard Hunt’s wife. She pretends to be hospitable to Carrie after she marries Grant, but Ruth soon turns icy. Hunter (The Butterﬂy). See Cass, Lew. Hutch (“Pastorale”). He is an ex-con and Burbie’s friend. The two conspire to murder Burbie’s girlfriend Lida’s old farmer husband for his money and her freedom. Hutch kills the farmer. Hutch is angry when the money is only $23 and demands that Burbie decapitate the corpse as a present for Lida. Burbie tosses the head in a creek, and Hutch drowns trying to retrieve it. All this is goofy gothic. Hyde (The Root of His Evil). He is a member of Reno’s Hollowell & Hyde law ﬁrm. Carrie’s sister-in-law Ruth Hunt’s husband Bernard Hunt, a New York attorney, engages Hyde to handle Carrie’s divorce from Ruth’s brother Grant Harris. Hyde, Howie (The Enchanted Isle). See Caskey, Matt.

I Ida (The Magician’s Wife). She is a waitress at The Portico. When Clay Lockwood offers Sally a $5 tip, she says she can’t accept it and gives it to Ida. Ida is grateful, because her family has ﬁnancial problems. Ida (Mildred Pierce). She is the hostess at the Tip-Top in Hollywood, where Mildred gets her ﬁrst waitressing job. When Mildred establishes her own restaurant in Glendale, she hires Ida, and later helps Ida establish her own restaurant in Beverly. Through carelessness Mildred later cannot avoid bankruptcy, during which time Ida ignores her. Ike (Past All Dishonor). See Davey. Ike (“The Pay-off Girl”). He runs Ike’s Joint, in Cottage City, Maryland, where Miles Kearny meets Ruth.

Ike, a little fellow, tolerates visits by Tony, a bookie, for whom Ruth shills. Immelman, Miss (The Institute). She is Richard Garrett’s efﬁcient secretary in his Wilmington ofﬁce suite. Inglehart, Jim (The Magician’s Wife). He works in the business ofﬁce of The Pilot. It publishes a gossipy bit, without names but clearly hinting at Alec and Sally Gorsuch, and at Clay Longwood’s affair with Sally. Clay, who has clout, makes Inglehart publish a quick retraction. The Institute (novel, 1976). (Characters: Jack Albaugh, Uncle Allen, Inga Bergson, Ned Bramwell, Brownie, Dr. Carter, Dr. Chin, Davis, Sam Dent, Leonard Downing, Eliza, the First Lady, John Garner, Hortense Garrett, Richard Garrett, Theodore Garrett, Granger, Harvey, Hayes, Sergeant Herbert, Pete Holton, Hood, Mrs. Hood, Senator Ralph Hood, Miss Immelman, Irene, Jasper, Dr. Johnson, Karen, Kaufman, Donald Klein, Miss Koehler, Lucas, Colonel Lucas, Lucy, Malcolm McDavitt, Mrs. Mendenhall, Byron Nash, Miss Nettie, Sven Nordstrom, Al Novak, Sol Novak, Wallace Nutting, Jim O’Connor, Palmer, Lloyd Palmer, Mrs. Palmer, Senator Pickens, Monsieur Pierre, the President, Teddy Rodriguez, Dr. Shadwell, Miss Snyder, Stone, Winifred.) 1. The narrator, Lloyd Palmer, 28, is a professor at the University of Maryland. Through Senator Hood of Nebraska, whose son, a student at Maryland, he helped out of a scrape involving marijuana, Lloyd got an appointment this spring day to see wealthy entrepreneur Richard Garrett, 41, at his home in Wilmington, Delaware. Lloyd seeks money to ﬁnance his brainchild, an institute promoting biography, to be located in Washington, D.C. Hortense Garrett, Garrett’s wife, an attractive blonde in her mid–20s, greets Lloyd while her husband ﬁnishes a phone call to Paris. Garrett appears, 41, tall, with a droning voice. Lloyd pitches his idea. Garrett expresses interest but snaps at Hortense when while she praising Lloyd’s plan says she won’t be a “den mother” to yet another endowment seeker. Lloyd says he was inspired by “the Department of Oral History that Allen [Allan] Nevins started at Columbia University.” Hortense mentions that she attended the University of Delaware and was a teaching assistant there. [Allan Nevins (1890 –1971) was a professor at Columbia University, a prize-winning historian and biographer, and the founder in 1948 of the ﬁrst oral history department in the United States.] Garrett requests a written proposal of Lloyd, and asks him if he’ll give Hortense a ride to the Washington area, where he left his Cadillac at a Watergate conference. He was ﬂown back in an associate’s private plane. Hortense can drive his car back.

89 Lloyd helps Hortense with her luggage. They drive away. He is self-divided: Hortense’s squabble with Richard could jinx the institute idea; however, he already feels “hot lech” for her. [Lloyd has already thrice mentioned her enticingly swelling breasts; next, as often surfaces in Cain’s ﬁction, he has Lloyd “smell her” when his air conditioner stirs the conﬁnes of his car. Yet to come will be no fewer than 21 references by horny Lloyd to backsides, breasts (once called “attachments”), bottoms, female smell, twitches, and tail.] 2. On their drive, Hortense Garrett explains that her husband assumes she’ll be delighted to run “a high-toned salon” and move to Washington; but she doesn’t want to morph into “the new Marjorie Merriweather Post,” patron of artists and the intelligentsia, “and chief cook and bottlewasher of all that’s ﬁne and beautiful.” [Thus begins Lloyd habit of dropping important names. Illinois-born Marjorie Merriweather Post (1887–1973) inherited money, expanded her father’s Postum Cereal Company, married four times into wealth, politics, high society, and philanthropic circles, and became an internationally known socialite and philanthropist.] Hortense says she’d rather remain important in moneyed Wilmington than get lost in Washington. She expatiates about silent Wilmingtonian Du Pont’s wealth in “chemistry” and Garrett’s even older money, now augmented by his ability to “sell ... things.” [Êleuthère Irénée Du Pont (1771–1834) established a plant near Wilmington to manufacture gunpowder, thus beginning what became the fabulously successful E. I. Du Pont de Nemours corporation.] Hortense demands lunch. Lloyd springs for a quick bite at Havre de Grace. He says he’s unmarried. She says she’ll introduce him to money and then boasts of their Washington apartment on Virginia Avenue, East Watergate. [The name Watergate became famous after Lloyd’s time.] Lloyd drives instead toward College Park, “to the Accomac,” and to his place, remarking he lived with his widowed mother in her apartment, in which she displayed his boyhood accomplishments. They use a back entrance to avoid her being seen by people recognizing her from the tabloids. Hortense expresses delight at his digs, especially the walls lined with bookcases, loaded with biographies, which he says he’s read, of course. He mentions historian [George] Bancroft [1800 –1891] and scout Kit Carson [1809–1868]; she replies she doesn’t know either but did read R. E. Lee [4 vols., 1934 – 1935] by [Douglas Southall] Freeman [1886–1953]. Hortense likes the “portrait photographs” of his mother and of his father, who died when Lloyd was 10 and who left money his mother “quadrupled.” Hortense delights in a photograph showing Lloyd throwing a pass in a football game. Lloyd says his

Institute mother’s ancestors migrated on “the Ark and the Dove” and settled in Prince Georges County, Maryland. Hortense says. “Wait till Richard hears about this.” Lloyd adds that his mother willed him plenty and he doesn’t need to work. [Cain mentioned the Ark and the Dove earlier, in Galatea, Ch. VIII.] Hortense checks Lloyd’s wardrobe, says one of his jackets and shirts will be ﬁne for when she presents him socially. He remarks that at 6"1' and 185 pounds he couldn’t qualify for professional football. She sees a photo of Lloyd throwing a pass, sits, stares, turns silent. Something like “a sea-nettle” moves from his crotch to his back-bone; he carries her, struggling, to his bed, starts frantically “peeling” her and himself; they kiss; ensuing activity is “volcanic.” [Thus Cain launches yet another moneyand-sex plot.] 3. Emerging from a sulky fog, Lloyd feels “reverence” for this “lift.” Hortense wonders why he raped her by “brute force.” He says because she wanted him to. She whispers that while she fought she prayed for his success. He says God invented the sex act. [This is the ﬁrst time but not the last that non-religious Lloyd mentions God.] Hortense says the invention of sex tests humans, and what they just did was wrong. They agree that passion did sure hit ’em like a truck. She says that since it was a big truck, not “a motorbike,” any repetition would “besmirch” it, surprise can’t catch them again, and maybe God will forgive them. He says “OK,” let’s kiss. They kiss. He suggests she climb up since “[g]irl on top can’t be raped.” She resists, brieﬂy. Lloyd says he loves her. She says that helps but adds that she’s married; rudely queried, she admits that she and her husband don’t make love. She explains that she met Richard Garrett at her Uncle Allen’s “big annual stinkaroo,” which she supervised and during which she remembered numerous guests’ name. Impressed, Richard ﬁgured she’d be a ﬁne hostess. They married, discovered they were dismal failures in bed; she had a miscarriage; both turned frigid; she enjoys entertaining his friends well but doesn’t like his idea of their moving to Washington. Lloyd wonders why she suddenly sat and stared after seeing his football picture. She explains: Lloyd played football for Maryland at a game against Delaware that she attended; his strong, rugged neck then and again in that photo reminded her of a time when she and a girlfriend peeked at the mating of a mare by a stallion—whose neck throbbed identically. Regarding Lloyd’s neck as “a thing of beauty,” even with its double mole, Hortense climbs up again, mouthing “I love you” three times. 4. Hortense says she’ll give a dinner party. Guests will be the “ﬁlthy rich,” an academically clever Granger couple living in Wilmington, Lloyd and some woman she’ll ﬁnd to sit with him, and Garrett.

Institute She expresses fear that Lloyd might tell Garrett of their affair, thus cause Garrett to dump her while maybe still bankrolling Lloyd. To change the subject, he persuades her to climb up again — to prove that a rat loves her. Hortense tubs. Lloyd showers. After toweling face to face, they dress and go dine heartily. While he lectures about biographical research, she takes notes so as to be able to impress her husband that she was all business during her time with Lloyd in the Washington area. Lloyd says that she is in his power, that he won’t take advantage of the fact, but that she’s not sure he won’t. Lloyd drives Hortense to the Garrett place at Watergate. She’ll phone Richard tonight, drive to Lloyd’s place at 10:00 A.M. tomorrow, and tell him what’s next. 5. After gloating smugly, Lloyd realizes that he’s taking advantage of Hortense, that they are playing with ﬁre, that he ought to avoid continuing the affair, but that it’s a poker game and he knows what he’ll do. Next morning Lloyd puts keys on a ring to his apartment and the building’s back door, for Hortense. She arrives in Richard’s green Cadillac. She says she told Richard that Lloyd told her he had a great idea to try on Richard, that she’s driving Lloyd to Wilmington at once, that Lloyd’s idea will be to name the institute after her — thus getting her interested in impressing Washington society. When Lloyd gloats “we’ve got it,” she slaps him for “weing.” At the Delaware state line, Hortense breaks a painful silence by saying it’s best if Lloyd drops the entire project, which would “lead to disaster.” Lloyd says it’s her idea. She says it’s his. He says that whatever he promises and does, she’ll remain afraid the institute will buy him off. She accuses him of ﬂattery. He accuses her of self-deception. They enter Richard’s elaborate ofﬁces in a downtown Wilmington building. His Armalco Company makes things. Lloyd sees models of vehicles, boats, radios, TVs, etc. on redwood shelves in Richard’s lavish inner chamber. Hortense says Richard regards himself as a psychic, unknowingly grasping truths, warns Lloyd he can still avoid this Rubicon. Instead, he offers her the keys to his place. She says there won’t be any nice time. He says their passion “truck” lacks a “reverse gear” and drops his key ring down her cleavage. She says his eyes aren’t lying now and she’s got an idea. 6. Richard enters, kisses Hortense, then hovers over her, causing Lloyd no little frustration. Richard says his wife says Lloyd has an idea. Lloyd starts his pitch: Mrs. Garrett is “a beautiful frog” in Wilmington, could be a bigger one in the international world of biography, “provided ... you name it [the insti-

90 tute] for her.” Richard says he “intended to” right along. She chips in to say she ﬁnds the idea appealing, coos her gratitude at Richard’s laying “this wreath” at her feet, says she’ll be in Who’s Who in her own right, as he already is. Still, she demurs, having a woman running the institution would “look funny”; Lloyd gets “argumentative,” cites biographers Fawn Brodie, Anita Leslie, and Barbara Tuchman. Excited, Richard rushes off to check “Tuchman.” Hortense thanks Lloyd for his idea, says when she’s that bigger frog she’ll “kick” him out. Lloyd calls her a bitch, says he has her “over a barrel.” Not so, she sneers. Richard returns with a Who’s Who, says his father knew Barbara Tuchman’s father Maurice Wertheim, “big shot” banker-angel of theatrical ventures whom Richard as a boy revered. Therefore women leaders are acceptable, Richard asserts. Hortense whispers that she and Richard could get intimate if Lloyd weren’t here. Richard coolly replies that he’s going to London brieﬂy. Lloyd, frustrated again, heads for the bus to Baltimore, etc. Richard’s secretary, Miss Immelman, rushes after him to give him Richard Garrett’s card and phone number. [Fawn Brodie (1915 –1981) wrote Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History (1974), etc.; Anita Leslie (1914– 1985) wrote Edwardians in Love (1972) and other exposés; Barbara Tuchman (1912–1989), daughter of investment banker and philanthropist Maurice Wertheim (1886 –1950), wrote Stillman and the American Experience in China: 1911–1945 (1972), etc.] 7. For days Lloyd is consumed by three thoughts: Hortense’s “bottom twitched” eye-catchingly; she could make it in Washington and discard him; if he told Richard about their affair, she might say he raped her. Hortense uses one of his keys, enters his apartment, says Richard’s in London. Lloyd kisses her, gripes she’s shacked with Richard again, and says she must leave. She says oh, and take the institute with her? He lets her stay. She says that she hoped to torture Lloyd by sleeping with Richard again and telling Lloyd so, but that Richard’s nonresponse was to send her orchids and take her to dinner. Lloyd and Hortense make love to the accompaniment of bites and spanks, after which they agree they thus approached God. [Once again, Cain conﬂates orgasmic and religious ecstasy.] When Lloyd gets around to preparing an omelet à la Prince Georges County, Maryland, she says she wants fried eggs. Dribbling butter triggers his thoughts of more sex, but she prefers “polite” talk ﬁrst. Hortense says they should tell each other their backgrounds. Hortense’s ancestors included shipbuilders; her father died; her mother became a nurse; Hortense has no siblings, studied at the University of Delaware, resisted lads’ too-faint passes, impressed and married Richard, was his adept hostess. Lloyd’s mother invested her husband’s leavings

91 well; Lloyd had sexual encounters with three girls; his dissertation concerns hidden themes in Shakespeare’s sonnets—homosexual threads, dark woman, and Shakespeare’s “shotgun marriage.” Hortense wants him to publish all this. [Roy Hoopes reveals that one of Cain’s “pet theories” was that “the ‘W.H.’ which the Thorpe edition [of Shakespeare] says was ‘the true begetter’ of these sonnets, was none other than Will Himself.” Hoopes says Cain believed “he had made a signiﬁcant discovery, one that would ensure the book [The Institute] wide attention.” (Hoopes, 530)] Hortense sleeps, awakens; she and Lloyd make love. 8. Lloyd concludes his academic duties. After his ﬁnal class, “the boys” shake his hand, and “the girls” kiss him. He is tempted to ask one leggy girl her name and address. [Dr. Lloyd Palmer is not a typical young professor.] While lying in darkness and whispering with Hortense, Lloyd gets a phone call from Richard, in Wilmington, back from London, asking to see him tomorrow. Lloyd, though “prepped” to discuss the institute, fears shaking hands shamefully with his Hortense’s husband. Reporting to Armalco headquarters in Wilmington, he is relieved to see Richard with a bandaged right hand, the result, he says, of having chopped some ice for drinks instead of using ice cubes. Richard says they must incorporate the institute in Dover, Delaware’s capital, and introduces Lloyd to his securities adviser Malcolm McDavitt. “Mal” says Richard can’t use company securities to ﬁnance the institute, lists some of Richard’s private holdings to transfer into an institute portfolio. Mal endorses Lloyd as satisfactory. Lloyd says the next step is to show the IRS a typed and bound outline of the institute’s “aims and purpose” to have it declared tax-exempt. Richard mentions Sam Dent as his head legal counsel; Lloyd says Dent should review the outline. They discuss the location of the institute. Lloyd favors a mansion in Prince Georges County, to avoid expensive Washington. Richard says he owns the Garrett Building in Washington, in order to have his experts near government agencies, and Lloyd can have the whole building, use part of it, rent the rest. But Lloyd says Congress recently vetoed that tax-dodging “loophole.” Richard suggests lunch at the Du Pont Hotel. Lloyd says he’ll be staying there. After lunch Lloyd says headquartering in Washington makes sense and perhaps Richard can buy a building there, give him two ﬂoors, and rent the rest. Richard tells Lloyd to ﬁnd one and handle details. Lloyd confesses he’s ignorant of commerce but says his mother was good at making money. Next day, Sam Dent, about 45 and pleasant, drives Lloyd and two of Richard’s younger staffers to Dover. Simultaneously, Ned Bramwell, Richard’s

Institute chief Delaware lawyer, drives Richard and some of his older staffers there. They assemble in capitol ofﬁces and sign incorporation papers for the Institute [now capitalized]. Lloyd returns to Wilmington with Dent, who happened to have seen Lloyd play football. He phones Richard, who tells him to get that building and be in touch. 9. Lloyd smells roast beef when he returns home. Hortense is cooking. She says Richard, surrounded by “yes men,” told her he admired Lloyd for nixing his tax-dodge idea and for having brains through a competent mother. Lloyd says Richard’s pretending to have icepicked his hand, so as not to shake hands, proves he knows about their affair. She says he does chop ice but, if he knows, so what?—he doesn’t desire sex with her and he likes Lloyd. They eat in sweet intimacy. She tells Lloyd that Richard brought Inga, their Swedish servant, back from her European vacation; that’s good news, because her housekeeping for him frees Hortense and thus gives the lovers “a clear track.” To prove they love each other, Lloyd spanks her backside, which she relishes. 10. Lloyd can’t ﬁgure how to ﬁnd a suitable building. Hortense tells him to stop moping and call on Senator Ralph Hood. He does, and the two consider having lunch at Harvey’s. First, Hood reminisces gratefully about Lloyd’s asserting in court that no one knew how the senator’s son was involved in marijuana. When Lloyd tells him about being ﬁnanced by Richard Garrett to ﬁnd a building for his Institute, Hood gets Lloyd into a taxi, shows him a building under construction for a Georgia company called Bagastex that makes ﬂooring out of sugar-cane husks, tells him to alert Garrett — without mentioning Hood’s hush-hush knowledge that Bagastex is going bankrupt — that he can buy it. Lloyd phones Richard, who after all does manage to talk directly with Hood. The upshot is this: Richard comes from Wilmington to Washington; he summons Sam Dent; they meet with the building contractor Jim O’Connor, with Bagastex’s lead attorney Leonard Downing, and with Colonel Lucas, president of Tombigvannah Corporation, which has hurt itself trying to ﬁnance Bagastex; and against Dent’s advice, Richard consummates what Richard boasts is “a threeway thing for cash, stock, and assets”— the only “deal” accommodating everyone. He gloats that he’s “the big bull elephant” causing Lucas to avoid the government to clean him out. Sobbing, Lucas thanks him. Richard orders Dent to handle the paperwork. [This reads like a parody skewering big-business, big-government collusion, complete with a life-size cut-out of a Georgia colonel.] 11. Richard and Dent whisper to Downing as he types copies of legal agreements, complete with

Institute carbons. Hortense enters. Everyone jumps up respectfully. Downing remarks that Richard asked her to come “look at a building” he’s acquiring. Everyone ﬂourishes papers. Lucas bows upon meeting Hortense, who curtseys in response, which Richard’s applause renders “phony.” The group takes three cabs to show Hortense the gracefully proportioned 10-story building — beautifully “gray and ghostly” by moonlight. When O’Connor identiﬁes the stockbrokers’ board room, Hortense says it’s already “the reception room of the Hortense Garrett Biographical Institute,” asks agreement of “Dr. Palmer.” He agrees. They go in a Tahitian restaurant. Over toasts, Richard praises Lloyd, who says he merely used a tip. Dent says maybe Lloyd used Richard, says the Bagastex building will be a loser. Richard counters: Bagastex ﬂoor was too thick, was hard to store, but when vertical will become “perfect” house siding. It seems that Pete Holton, one of Richard’s lab technicians, recently experimented with liquid Bagastex, molded it into siding resembling bricks, and built a sample house using it. He sent Richard a memo, ignored until Lloyd’s mention of Bagastex triggered his memory of it. Richard thanks Lloyd yet again. Lloyd, knowing he shouldn’t [?], downs a margarita when the others do. Richard warns Dent to examine stock that Lucas is yielding him for possible forgeries, is soon assured all will be well, pays the bill, says he’s heading for Wilmington immediately, and asks Lloyd to escort Hortense to her (Watergate) “home.” “Be only too glad,” he responds. Instead, Lloyd and Hortense repair to his place, enjoy late scrambled eggs, etc. Reclining as of yore, she coyly says his stomach is her “home” and he’s her husband. More “topside” maneuvers follow. 12. Dent has Lloyd meet with a fat “shark” of a tax attorney named Kaufman, to apprise him of details concerning scholars, technicians, and materials needed by the Institute so the IRS will grant it taxexempt status. The two produce an 85-page request. A week later Richard phones Lloyd and reports a favorable IRS ruling. Lloyd resigns his university position, and Richard summons him to Wilmington to write a press release. Richard wants it to be brief and exclude his wife’s name. Instead, Lloyd persuades Richard to let him assemble a “governing board” of academic and ﬁnancial hotshots for his institute and to throw a huge press conference with Richard’s wife as hostess. Hortense plans to hold the meeting in a conference room in a Washington hotel. She persuades Monsieur Pierre, a hotel ofﬁcial, to cater food for hordes of reporters. Lloyd demands easy chairs for Mr. Garrett, Mrs. Garrett, and himself—to face photographers comfortably.

92 Hortense tells Lloyd that her mother will attend and that he’ll meet her in due time. On the day of the conference, Lloyd ﬁnds himself so loaded with publicity materials that he asks his university Student Aid to send a helper for some heavy work all day. 13. Sent is Teddy Rodriguez, a leggy cheerleader who Lloyd remembers ﬂirted with him in his poetry class. He tells her to read his magazines while he bones up [ﬁguratively] on data for the 4:00 P.M. conference. She camps on his lap instead, ﬂoods him with kisses, and suggests “we could go to bed.” Barely hinting at his friendship with Hortense, Lloyd reluctantly gets the weepy girl to wait in the lobby downstairs while he gargles her lipstick smell away. Lloyd muscles his brochure-packed suitcases to his car, drives with Teddy — she of the “pattable” bottom — to the hotel, and so to the conference room. She, the bartender, and two leggy waitresses amiably prepare the place. 14. The Garretts arrive. Hortense is icy toward Teddy, who intuits why Lloyd repulsed her advances. Hortense sits in one easy chair. Teddy adjusts Hortense’s microphone. Hortense, getting close to Lloyd, hisses at him to eject “[t]hat girl” instantly. Teddy hears, says that “Mrs. Garrett” sniffed Professor Lloyd to seek Teddy’s smell on his shirt, says sure, she “slobbered” kisses on him but he avowed his loyalty elsewhere, that Teddy would be a better lover for him than Mrs. Garrett, and demands her wages plus taxi fare back to College Park — because she’s quitting this job. But Richard, hugging Teddy, offers to drive her to her campus later. Hortense slaps Richard and exits in a “boiling-hot walk.” While Richard “played it cool,” Lloyd ﬁgures he now knows the truth and the Institute is sunk. But Richard wants the conference to start. Lloyd tells Teddy to distribute printed items to each reporter. She apologizes. He gripes. Richard orders him not to “bang [!] at Teddy.” End of subject? No. Reporters enter. One, a woman, asks where Mrs. Garrett is. Richard says she just left because cameras give her rashes. Doubtful, the news hen turns to “Dr. Palmer,” says her “morgue” has proof of his football but not academic prowess. Richard counters that Lloyd’s knowledge of biography is astounding. Lloyd says that there are no courses in biography, “the one literary ﬁeld that Americans excel in,” sought a sponsor, persuaded Mr. Garrett “to endow the Hortense Garrett Institute of Biography.” The news hen says Mrs. Garrett did the persuading. Yes, Lloyd agrees, he’s seen a lot of her. In your apartment? Taking a chance, Lloyd avows she’s never been there. Teddy chirps up, “But I have!” Lloyd and Richard jest that Teddy is their “weakness.”

93 With cameras blazing, Teddy does a cheerleader’s handstand revealing both face and “shapely bottom.” When she criticizes the “chincy” press for not paying for her photos and Richard tells her to shut up, she turns “meek” but kisses him. The news hen asks Lloyd if he’s ever written a biography. No. So Teddy blurts that Dr. Palmer wrote a biographical dissertation on Shakespeare’s sonnets and even “idemniﬁes” the mysterious “Dark Woman” therein. [In the earlier Rainbow’s End, ch. 10, Jill Kreeger confused “identify” and “idemnify.” Is this a Cain in-joke?] To their queries about Shakespeare’s dark woman Lloyd tells the reporters they can buy his dissertation from the Lord Baltimore Press—$3.50 plus postage. When another reporter asks who the best American biographers are, Lloyd learnedly names biographers Herbert Hugh Bancroft, Dumas Malone, Francis Parkman, James Parton, William Hickling Prescott, Carl Sandburg, Margaret Leech, Sammons, Jared Sparks, Barbara Tuchman, and Mason Lock Weems, and publishers of biographies (Wheeler) Sammons, Martindell, A[lbert]. N[elson]. Marquis, and Adolph Ochs. Enough. Refreshments are served. Teddy wants to stay, is given instead a doggy bag and a bottom pat by Richard, who then escorts her out. 15. A bellboy helps Lloyd load his materials in his car. Home again, he smells Hortense’s perfume. She accuses him of fornicating with eager Teddy. No; and he proves it by his once-a-day “studhorse” strenuosity. Richard phones, says he persuaded Teddy not to think Lloyd’s lover was Hortense but then criticizes Lloyd for bringing Teddy in, because “women [i.e., Hortense] hate it when other women muscle in on their act,” especially pretty cartwheelers like Teddy. When asked by Richard, Lloyd lies that he never had “romance” with Hortense, adding before hanging up that yeah, he was sure tempted by Teddy. Hortense wallops him for revealing that; so he spanks her bottom. Next morning she expresses concern as to when she had her last period and can’t recall details about her possible use of the pill. 16. Lloyd is roused from bed “around sunup” by a fellow wanting to apply for grant-in-aid money to write a biography of John Adams, then by a woman wanting money to work on Mary Baker Eddy. Newspapers have publicized Lloyd’s name and phone number, along with his picture and Hortense’s and Teddy’s. He phones Western Union to have it tell wire senders to mail messages to him. He gets the phone company to assign him an unlisted number. Lloyd goes to the main post ofﬁce of “the District,” rents a P.O. box, and gathers a half-dozen letters addressed to the Institute. Lloyd phones Richard at Wilmington for help. Richard is delighted at Lloyd’s news and says the

Institute Associated Press “carried a straight story” concerning the Institute—which Lloyd says triggered scholars to seek handouts. Lloyd drives to Wilmington to see Richard, who says Lloyd needs “gumshoes” to investigate applicants and also a staff to help him decide who gets grant money—anything else? Lloyd asks for secretaries, a Chinese named Dr. Chin as librarian, a genealogist named Davis (retiring from the Library of Congress), and four researchers, working, respectively, on the epochs of the Revolution, the Civil War, World War I, and World War II. Richard says “our building” will be ready in about two months, after its front is lettered in ways to be a surprise for Hortense. Lloyd gets to the Garrett Building, where the Institute will occupy some ﬂoors. Hortense sends him middle-aged Miss Koehler to be his secretary. He hires two additional secretaries, and as Ph.D. “gumshoes” Dr. Carter, just retired from the University of Maryland, and Dr. Johnson, whom Carter recommends as a University of Pennsylvania retiree. The two will dig into applicants’ past to decide whether they deserve grants. Dent approves of every thing. Abed Saturday night, Hortense tells Lloyd she’s pregnant. When he mentions surgery, she muses. She says that physicians told her that, if she now had an abortion, her miscarriage early in her actions with Richard might “mean the end of me”; anyway, she wants Lloyd’s child. Lloyd asks her to divorce Richard now, marry Lloyd honestly, thus avoid “eight ball” embarrassment in eight months. She prefers to have Richard do the divorce seeking. Lloyd says Richard knows, is up to something, but they can wait him out. 17. Richard tells Lloyd one day that Davis, now a salaried member of the Institute’s executive committee, is ambitious to take Lloyd’s position as director, and that Lloyd should exploit the “oily son of a bitch” temporarily. One day Davis rings for Lloyd in his apartment lobby. Lloyd says he’s busy, to avoid Davis’s encountering Hortense, upstairs. She and Lloyd agree they’re “scared.” Hortense tells Lloyd she has hired a private detective named Hayes, from Bladensburg [Maryland], to learn about Richard’s private life. Lloyd objects: Richard could become suspicious; so ﬁre Hayes. Hortense says she told Hayes the person she “is” suspicious of. Lloyd: “Who is, Hortense?” [Shades of President Bill Clinton, not far from Watergate.] Hortense names “ﬂoozy ... Teddy,” adding that Richard has lunched and dined with Teddy, who now sports a new mink coat. Within a few weeks the Institute has given grants to six biographers. Only John Garner, working on Revolutionary hero silversmith Paul Revere’s

Institute curious source of silver, seems grateful. Others churlishly accept $100 a week as a favor. Davis tells Lloyd that biographers are self-centered. 18. The National Newspaper Club invites Lloyd to speak. He prepares an expansion of a class lecture on American biography, praises American Who’s Who entries for indicating writers’ children more than British Who’s Whos do. He praises Richard Garrett’s largesse and his “beautiful little lady.” Richard and Hortense acknowledge applause. Byron Nash, Club president, asks if there are questions. Jack Albaugh challenges Lloyd to name the Dark Woman, who appears in Shakespeare’s sonnets and whose identiﬁcation in a press conference Lloyd hinted he knew. Lloyd says she was Ann Hathaway, Shakespeare’s wife. Responding to Albaugh’s expression of disbelief, Lloyd proceeds to quote several sonnets to substantiate his theory that Shakespeare, when a teenager, loved dark (and older) Ann, had their ﬁrst child by her, wrote precocious sonnets alluding to her, and resembles later (cited) teenage poets in doing this sort of thing. Lloyd parades his erudition [for ﬁve pages], closing with a puff for Edgar A. Guest. Much applause. [Popular Edgar A. Guest (1881–1959) began selling his treacly poetry in Detroit when he was 14. After mentioning allusions to the illustrious with which Cain padded the earlier Magician’s Wife, Paul Skenazy concludes that such name-droppings “seem more a display of his [Cain’s] erudition than a necessary element of character development.” (Skenasky, 123) This comment applies equally well to Lloyd’s bloated explication of Shakespeare’s sonnets.] That evening Hortense takes Lloyd to the building, near Sixteenth and K Street. It is going to house their Institute. On its black granite front, big bronze letters spell out “The Hortense Garrett Institute of Biography.” They delight in the appearance, although Lloyd is less effusive than would please Hortense. They read complimentary newspaper coverage of Lloyd’s lecture. Before they fall asleep, Hortense reveals that after ﬁve months her private detective Hayes has just employed a Finnish woman who speaks Swedish to sidle up to Inga, Richard’s Swedish maid, to pump her for info. [Cain’s second wife, Elina Tyszecka, was Finnish.] 19. Lloyd moves into the ﬁrst three ﬂoors taken by the Institute in the building, with the help of librarian Dr. Lin [called Chin earlier], Carter, Johnson, and “of course” Davis. Lloyd admits Davis has good ideas for stocking the Institute library with standard sets so that scholars needn’t trudge to the Library of Congress often. Hortense invites about 300 to a party to celebrate the grand opening. Donald Klein, the building’s rental agent, who is eager

94 to lease the top seven ﬂoors, sits at the doorway. Hortense routs him. Lloyd arrives at 4:00 P.M., an hour before the party is to start. He feels uneasy. Everyone but him seems to know something special is about to occur. At 5:00 the President, the First Lady, and six Secret Service men pile out of a limousine. The event begins. The President asks Lloyd about a certain tackle he made during the Maryland-Virginia football game. Lloyd explains. The President nods gratefully. Afterwards, Lloyd grouses that only he didn’t know about the President’s being invited. Hortense says he might not have come. That night Hortense, ﬁve months pregnant now, says Senator Hood’s wife Judy glanced half-knowingly at her during the party. 20. Trouble for the Institute soon surfaces. One day a grantee (unnamed), ﬁnanced to write a biography of Longstreet, tells Lloyd he fears he won’t be allowed to write truthfully about Longstreet’s dispute with General Robert E. Lee during the Battle at Gettysburg. Lloyd assures him that the scholar can write as he wishes. [Margaret E. Wagner reports that General James Longstreet (1821–1904) was “[o]ften blamed for the Confederates’ loss at Gettysburg — because he disagreed with Lee’s strategy, he delayed attacking on July 2.” Moreover, Wagner continues, “[a]fter the war, Longstreet alienated many Southerners by becoming a Republican, accepting a number of Federal appointments, and criticizing Lee.” (Wagner, 416)] The scholar antagonizes the United Daughters of the Confederacy when during a lecture in Atlanta he praises Longstreet, criticizes Lee-biographer Douglas Southall Freeman, and devalues their precious Lee. Moreover, the scholar dishonestly asserts that Institute-director Lloyd Palmer endorses his views. [Douglas Southall Freeman (1886 –1953) was a distinguished historian whose many works include a biography of Robert E. Lee (1934), a biography of George Washington (1948), and Lee’s Lieutenants: A Study in Command (1942), in which he is critical of Longstreet.] Associated Press releases covering the ensuing controversy in Atlanta reach Wilmington, and Richard phones Lloyd they will “be peeled” by “blabbermouth” Georgia Senator Pickens, a pro–Confederacy, pro–Lee racist. Dent explains to Lloyd that Pickens, Senate Finance Committee chairman, will vengefully evaluate the Institute’s tax-exempt status to nail Lloyd personally. Sure enough, Pickens subpoenas Lloyd and Richard for a Monday hearing. Richard stays at the Hilton. Though aware that witnesses sense their close friendship, Hortense plans to be with Lloyd at his apartment. Before they confront Pickens’ committee, Lloyd

95 and Richard are briefed by friendly Senator Hood: Pickens is “a master cross-examiner”; he’ll seek the scalp of Lloyd, that anti–Lee, atheistic, “pro-nigger ... shark creep,” while saving the “worthy” Institute; he’ll crush, as well, that pro–Longstreet “crazy writer,” also appearing before him. When Richard offers to help, Hood tells him he’ll be gently handled, and not to interfere. However, Richard receives two manila envelopes from his Washington ofﬁce “girl.” Some contents slip loose, and Lloyd notes it is “stuff on Pickens.” (It was eventually not needed.) The meeting starts. Pickens, his “coarse” face “purple red,” asks the unnamed scholar to identify Lloyd. Pickens asks Lloyd to stand. He stands, then sits, then refuses to obey the order to stand again. Lloyd warns Pickens he can make him “goddam wish” he’d behaved better. The gallery cheers. The scholar launches a diatribe against Freeman for praising “phoney” Lee at brilliant Longstreet’s expense; lies that Lloyd by paying him $100 a week claimed the right “to dictate” to him, but that the author refused; repeats all this to other senators’ queries. Lloyd takes the stand, wondering what these questioners may know about him and Hortense. He states that he gave the author freedom to write as he wished, that the Institute didn’t object to adverse criticism of Lee if that was the author’s “conception,” that he didn’t discuss “blackening” Lee with Richard Garrett or with “Mrs. Garrett”; but yes, he has seen her “[d]aily, almost,” at various places. Pickens produces a receipt showing that Lloyd entertained Hortense at a dinner during which he bought champagne. Sensing that Pickens will suggest employee Lloyd got employer Hortense drunk to prattle about Longstreet’s scholar, Lloyd says they sent the champagne to newlyweds dining at that same restaurant. Lloyd warns Pickens that TV cameras at this hearing will reveal in living color pale Lloyd as no drinker but Pickens’ complexion as that of a “drunken sot.” Applause. Richard quietly orders Pickens to “expunge” all references to his wife. Garrett’s warm handshake with Lloyd is Lloyd’s “greatest moment ... ever ... with another man.” [Adulterer shaking beloved’s cuckolded husband’s hand could be momentous, but treasured? Was Cain writing from experience?] 21. Hood’s ofﬁce ﬁlls with joyous friends. Richard tells Lloyd he normally favors “discretion and going along,” but is happy that Lloyd socked it to Pickens. Lloyd feels he must now speak honestly with Richard. Hortense doesn’t phone congratulations but visits Lloyd, says her detective’s female assistant learned from Inga, Richard’s housekeeper, that he and she often “mix ... love with lunch” at their “downstairs hideaway.” Hortense says she must confer with Richard. Hortense orders Richard to report to Lloyd’s Col-

Institute lege Park digs immediately. Lloyd writes a formal letter of resignation from the Institute. When Richard arrives, she says she wants a divorce, is pregnant. He says knows she’s pregnant from the “madonna look” in her eyes but won’t divorce her. Lloyd hands Richard his resignation, praises their friendship and their squashing Pickens, says tough football players can play rough, demands his reasons for denying the divorce. When Lloyd adds that he and Hortense know about Inga, Richard wilts, mops his sweaty palms, says this: Inga is irresistible; he strained his back hoisting Hortense following her miscarriage; Inga used a vibrator on herself, then used it deliciously on his back; his “hang-up about sex” disappeared; but divorced, he still couldn’t marry Inga, “a servant.” Hortense mimics a “Swensky” accent—“Come in, pliz!”—as though Inga could be replacing her as Richard’s party hostess. Richard says Hortense can have her child and others, all to be provided for in his will, but no divorce “[w]hile Inga is alive.” (Richard leaves.) Lloyd and Hortense lie down quietly. Suddenly she seems to have “a terriﬁc idea,” and leaves him alone in “darkness blacker than black.” 22. For some time Lloyd gyrates, has routine meals, drives aimlessly, reads. Richard calls Lloyd, says he knew about his affair with Hortense and refuses his resignation; on learning Hortense isn’t with Lloyd, Richard says he’ll “ﬁnd her for you.” One day Teddy Rodriguez visits, beautiful in mink. She learns Hortense is gone. She’s “knocked up,” Teddy says. She says Richard expressed sexual desire for her, invited her to a downtown hotel suite he engaged, but couldn’t manage “physiological proof ” of his interest [i.e., he had “erectile dysfunction,” currently puffed] because he is a “one woman” man. After an eventless week of “no soap,” Richard’s conﬁdential talk made Teddy guess “he’s banging the Swede.” Teddy concludes that Richard is “in thrall” to Inga, Teddy to Lloyd, Lloyd to Hortense. Teddy returns, says that Richard gave her a car, is paying her college expenses, has started a trust fund for her, and that Hortense’s mother concludes she’s pregnant. Richard asks how Teddy knows “Mrs. Mendenhall.” [Readers may also wonder how Lloyd learned her name, not given when in ch. 7 she was ﬁrst alluded to.] During a later visit, Teddy says Richard engaged a Wilmington hotel suite, hoping he’d visit her and the urge would come. He mentioned Teddy to Mrs. Mendenhall so she’d assume he “was banging” Teddy, not mere-servant Inga. Mrs. Mendenhall visited Teddy there, and Teddy got her passed-out drunk on brandy-laced tea. In many chats, Mrs. Mendenhall criticizes her daughter “Horty” for making

Institute “wrong decisions,” such as choosing Delaware not Vassar for schooling and for marrying Richard. Teddy says she’ll quit trying to bed Lloyd, who brieﬂy fancies her shapely body but merely asks where Hortense is. Teddy doesn’t know. 23. Richard phones, desperate to locate Hortense, gets to Lloyd’s place to talk. Conﬁding further, he tells Lloyd that during Inga’s vibrator massage he got hooked on her female smell, soon learned she had designs on marrying him — to free him for her by killing Hortense—perhaps by thrusting her over the Wilmington apartment balcony or a similar Watergate apartment one. He ﬁred Inga, rendezvoused with her in London, and when Hortense began consorting with Lloyd brought Inga home again. The two women are often together. Lloyd terriﬁes helpless Richard by saying Hortense could just as easily seek to murder Inga. Hortense uses her key, brings in a “dumpy” 40year-old woman with a nice enough face. She is Inga Bergson. The upshot back-and-forth chatter : Hortense convinces Inga that Richard never intended to marry a servant; Hortense offers to bribe Inga $250,000 to marry Sven Nordstrom, a New Yorker whom Hortense investigated; Richard is ineffectual in persuading disillusioned Inga otherwise. Hortense asks Lloyd for a pen (to prepare a check); Inga, saying she has a pen, extracts a “Saturday night special,” addresses Richard with “sir, die— pliz,” and shoots him dead. Hortense beseechingly calls him “darling” but too late. Hortense starts cursing Inga, who aims her gun at Hortense. Lloyd chops at Inga’s neck. Falling, she ﬁres. The love of Lloyd’s life falls toward him. He comforts her, phones the police. 24. Cops and medical people swarm in. A doctor pronounces Inga and Richard Garrett dead, orders assistants to tend to Hortense, tells a sergeant named Herbert to meet him at the hospital morgue. Lloyd tells Herbert that Miss Inga Bergson shot Richard, that Lloyd karate-chopped Inga as she shot Hortense, that he’s impatient to get to “Cheverly” and Hortense. When Lloyd furnishes the Garretts’ Wilmington and Watergate addresses, Herbert recalls a party that they gave and that the President attended. Herbert phones Lloyd’s apartment night watchman, learns he saw only Richard enter. When Lloyd says Hortense had a key to his place, Herbert warns him he needn’t speak further. Declining counsel, Lloyd relays information about the Garretts’ friendship with him, Richard’s and Lloyd’s awareness of Inga’s threat to push Hortense over a balcony, and his assembling everybody here for an explanation. Lloyd notes that Herbert has recorded his statement and offers him a typewriter to transcribe everything to paper. Herbert types. Lloyd rests. Authorities enter to remove the two corpses.

96 Lloyd reads what Herbert typed; included is his comment about Richard’s intimacy with Inga but not about Lloyd’s with Hortense. Herbert leaves. Lloyd drives to the Prince Georges Hospital in Cheverly. At a window is a clerk who remembers she took a poetry class with “Dr. Palmer.” She tells him Hortense’s condition is critical but he can see her at 2:00 P.M. for 10 minutes. 25. The noon papers report, with pictures of everyone but Inga, that Lloyd met with the others to discuss the Institute—his resignation hasn’t been announced — and that the shooting resulted from Garrett’s unwillingness to “accept divorce” and wed Miss Bergson. Lloyd tells Nellie, in the lobby and curious, that he’ll discuss “last night” with her later. Among others, Lloyd waits to see Hortense, if possible. Mrs. Mendenhall is there too. They mumble brieﬂy, are led to the pale, critically ill patient, wish her well. She hardly responds. Lloyd asks Mrs. Mendenhall to have a late breakfast with him. But she says she rushed from Chester and must get organized. Lloyd is stunned when he follows her to a room with babies and, at her tapping, one is shown them. She deﬁnes it as the very image of Richard. So before the bullet was removed from Hortense, the infant “had to be taken out.” So Mrs. Mendenhall obviously doesn’t know about Hortense’s intimacy with Lloyd. So she ducks into the ladies’ room for a quick drink. 26. At the hospital next afternoon, looking sharp and trim, Mrs. Mendenhall tells Lloyd that after the Caesarean the doctors had to sew the leaking small intestine and now fear peritonitis. Hortense runs a high fever and whimpers. Mrs. Mendenhall’s car needs work; so Lloyd drives her to Hortense’s Watergate apartment and is invited up. Mrs. Mendenhall says she simply must slip into something more comfortable, shouts he can “keep company.” Lloyd departs instead. Lloyd visits Hortense “one day,” in a different room and better but wailing about how the only infant she’ll ever have is “not in me any more.” But Mrs. Mendenhall decrees that Hortense can now see her baby. Lloyd lifts her gently — like old times— into a wheelchair. She stays glum. When the baby is presented, Mrs. Mendenhall again says he’s the very image of Richard. Hortense bellows that “he’s Lloyd’s. Be your age, will you?” Mrs. Mendenhall says he’s registered in the hospital as Richard’s, and if Hortense says anything otherwise about the boy “a stink ... will last his whole life.” Hortense surrenders. Back in Hortense’s room, Dent is waiting to explain she must “read some papers and stuff.” But she and Mrs. Mendenhall order him to wait until she’s better, saying it’s been only three weeks. In

97 the corridor, Dent reveals this: Richard left no will, only clipboard notes explaining what he wanted Dent to do; Hortense is in total control; she must free certain debentures to produce “working capital”; Richard’s notes make it clear that he planned for a million each to go to Teddy Rodriguez, Lloyd, and Dent, with ﬁve million in trust for Inga until her death. It’s up to Hortense to execute. The Armalco company could be “behind the eight ball.” 27. Next day Dent tells Hortense that an Akron subsidiary of Richard’s desires to incorporate, which could spell trouble. She bleats to be let alone, gripes that she regularly dreamed Richard’s death would make her independently wealthy like Jackie Onassis, Jane Du Pont, and Frances Vanderbilt, only to awaken with Richard abed and snoring. Mrs. Mendenhall says Hortense couldn’t dream all that. I did, Hortense replies. Outside, Dent tells Lloyd that, when drunk, Mrs. Mendenhall told him Hortense dreamed of Richard’s death and wanted it to occur. Dent wants Lloyd back at the Institute, which Davis is messing up. They realize only Hortense can get Lloyd reinstated. They agree that Hortense changed dramatically after Richard said she couldn’t get divorced, that the timing of her seeing the baby was poor, that what’s “griping her” is Teddy. Hortense yells that Richard so admired Lloyd that he wanted him to be president of Armalco. This would rid her of “that Sam Dent” there. Lloyd says he’ll consider the offer. She say there’s one condition. He says as president he’d “make the conditions.” Alone with Lloyd, Dent reveals this: Teddy is the condition; as Armalco president, Lloyd could deny Teddy her million; Lloyd’s million might make her cooperate with Hortense. 28. Mrs. Mendenhall phones Lloyd that Hortense couldn’t stand another patient in the bed next to hers; so mother and daughter are “in Watergate” again. [Couldn’t a millionaire’s widow have a private hospital room?] Lloyd drives over to visit. Present are glum Hortense, her Watergate maid Karen, her Wilmington secretary Winifred (new to Lloyd), Mrs. Mendenhall, baby and nurse, and — soon — Dent. Lloyd volubly resents the uppity chilliness all around. Dent mentions the possible need for Hortense to grant someone a power of attorney. The phone rings. Terry Rodriguez, whom Hortense invited for today’s meeting, says she can come tomorrow at 2:00 P.M. Saying he’ll return then, Lloyd leaves. Home again, he gets an irate phone call from Teddy. He tells her he ﬁgures Hortense wants to pay her something because Richard left no will but some notes indicating his desires— until Inga’s resurfacing altered everything. So dress pretty and “no saucy talk.” Lloyd: “Love you.” Teddy: “Likewise.” Next day everyone at Hortense’s place awaits Teddy. She sashays in, mink coat, dangerous Span-

Institute ish-dancer’s looks, etc. Hortense says she wants, in accordance with Richard’s notes, to pay Teddy a million, but Hortense has “a condition”—that Teddy repeat her “performance” at the press conference that Hortense missed. Teddy: Go to hell. Lloyd: Remember the million and apologize. Teddy: I’ll do it. So she stands on her hands, puts her backside just over her head, as for photos. Teddy adds that she did handstands before Richard in unavailing efforts to arouse him sexually, which perhaps only “the Swede” could manage. Hortense stops Teddy from undressing to demonstrate her leg splits. Lloyd says it’s time for him to turn the tables as Teddy did and insult Hortense. He says Hortense doesn’t care for their infant son, hasn’t even named him; so he will take him, if necessary declaring Hortense “an unﬁt mother,” and will marry Teddy, whom he loves, as substitute mom. Hortense says she’ll reveal Lloyd’s misdeeds to the court and vow she knows Richard is the child’s father. Lloyd warns that the baby has a double mole on its neck precisely like Lloyd’s. [Shades of ch. 3 and also moles scattered throughout The Butterﬂy.] Hortense orders her apartment cleared. Everyone remains. Hortense sobs. Baby squalls. Nurse tries to force bottle nipple into him. Teddy cradles him, croons to him that all he wants is love, kneels before Hortense, and then hands her suddenly laughing child to Hortense, who says “Teddy” has given her back her soul. [This tableau is a genuine epiphany.] 29. Hortense confesses to Teddy that she has made a selﬁsh mother realize the importance of love and wants to name the child Theodore. An honor, blurts Teddy. Hortense invites Teddy and Lloyd to witness the baptism, though if he’s marrying Teddy— to which Teddy objects, saying that since she gave Hortense’s soul back, Hortense loves Lloyd and must “want this guy.” They all stare. Lloyd complains that Hortense hasn’t been the same since she left College Park and disappeared. She says her ﬁxit scheme failed, she had her pride, wanted him. Does she still? Lloyd wonders. She collapses. Lloyd says he’s taking her home. Teddy hands over Theodore. Hortense opts for delay: Theodore’s last name will be Garrett; she and Lloyd can wed later; he can then adopt his baby. But Teddy opts for speed, says her widower father remarried and the priest said the two simply married each other. Teddy remembers the words of their intimate ceremony. Lloyd produces his deceased mother’s ring from his wallet. Hortense says he can be Armalco president. He wants to tape-record their entire narrative, to read later. Teddy pronounces the two husband and wife, then vanishes. Hortense wants to go “home.” So they head for College Park.

98

Ireland Roy Hoopes explains the publication of both The Institute and Rainbow’s End. Alfred A. Knopf ’s people rejected The Institute (1973). It was also rejected elsewhere. Meanwhile, Cain had started Rainbow’s End. Thomas Lipscomb, a partner in a new and well-heeled publishing ﬁrm called Mason and Lipscomb (later Mason-Charter), heard that The Institute had been rejected by Knopf and that Cain was working on Rainbow’s End. Lipscomb agreed to pay Cain $7,500 for each book, but, preferring Rainbow’s End, would issue it ﬁrst, with The Institute to follow. (Hoopes, 530 –537 passim) Ireland (Jealous Woman). He is an insurance “gobetween” who makes contact with Jane Delavan about insurance policies. Irene (The Institute). She is a waitress or hostess at the Royal Arms in Washington, D.C., where Lloyd occasionally dines. Irene (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). She is a guest invited by Solomon Caspar to a gathering to listen by radio to a rally by Olaf Jansen, a mayoral candidate. Irene is “a ﬂorid blonde” who, when Sol clowns around, drinks, laughs, and says, “Ain’t he the limit.” Irene (The Moth). She is Hannah Branch’s housekeeper. Irene looks disapprovingly at Jack.

Jackson (Double Indemnity). He is a passenger on the train which Huff has boarded impersonated as Nirdlinger. Huff gets Jackson to leave the observation platform to go check for Huff ’s ticket in his briefcase at his seat, so that Huff can jump from the platform and feign Nirdlinger’s accidental death. Jackson is later located, and his sketchy information permits the tentative conclusion that Nirdlinger killed himself. Jackson, Bill (The Magician’s Wife). He is the manager of The Portico in Channel City. He and meatsalesman Clay Longwood inspect its kitchen together. Jaeckel, Miss (Mildred Pierce). She is Mildred’s honest bookkeeper in Mildred’s later business career. She is necessarily troubled when Mildred starts keeping a fake accounting book in a failing scheme to avoid ﬁnancial ruin. Jake (The Embezzler). He is one of the two policemen who follow Sheila Brent and Dave Bennett when they seek to ﬁnd Sheila’s criminal husband Charles. In the resulting action, they capture Miss Church and the loot Charles hoped to take with him when he and Miss Church would escape, and one of the cops fatally shoots Charles as he drives off. Jake (Galatea). He works for Valenty and is a bartender at Valenty’s cocktail party for politicians.

Irving, Big Hoke (Past All Dishonor). He is a renowned gunﬁghter from Texas. He and his buddies plan to shoot up and then rob Rocco’s Esperanza gambling hall in Virginia City. Roger Duval, Rocco’s “lookout,” gets wind of the plot and foils it in a shootout during which Roger kills Big Hoke.

Jake (Mildred Pierce). He is mentioned as Lucy Gessler’s bartender at her Laguna restaurant.

J

Jake (Sinful Woman). He is a bartender at Tony Rico’s Galloping Domino.

Jack (The Butterﬂy). Jess Tyler hires Jack and Mellie to help on his farm at harvest time.

Jane (The Moth). She is Jack’s “colored” nurse during his childhood in Baltimore. She confronts a mean boy who is trying to kill the luna moth that Jack sees, adores, and tries to follow.

Jackie (“The Birthday Party”). He is going to attend Marjorie Lucas’s birthday party, according to Mrs. Hope, who tells her timid son Burwell he should also go, because Jackie, Junior LeGrand, and Spencer will be there. Jackie (Jealous Woman). She works at the Scout, Ed Horner’s horse stable. She admires Jane Delavan’s horse-riding ability. Ed Horner mails her an envelope containing Tom Delavan’s insurance policy, which she is to hold for him. Jacks (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). He is a member of the law ﬁrm Wiener, Jacks, and Myers, where June Lyons works.

Jake (Past All Dishonor). He is one of Rocco’s employees at the Virginia City Esperanza gambling hall.

Jansen, Mrs. (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). She is the wife of Olaf Jansen, who is campaigning to unseat Lake City’s Mayor Maddux. She is ill and in a sanitarium. When she dies, Jansen quickly announces his engagement to June Lyons. Jansen, Olaf (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). He is a successful dairy man and campaigns to become Lake City’s mayor by unseating corrupt Mayor Maddux. Jansen is stocky, handsome, pink of complexion, and with a thick Swedish accent. June Lyons, a lawyer, organizes rallies for Jansen and gains information from Ben Grace ruinous to Maddux; and Jansen

99 wins. Ben likes June, is jealous of her attention to Jansen, who gives her a permanent job. When his wife dies, Jansen becomes engaged to June. Jansen is persuaded to replace Dietz, corrupt chief of police, with Joe Cantrell, equally corrupt. Paul Skenazy says that Love’s Lovely Counterfeit is replete with irony, one example of which is that “Jansen, the ‘pure dairy owner,’ uses the ‘dirt’ Ben supplies to clean up the town.” (Skenazy, 88) Jasper (The Institute). He works for Richard Garrett as a courier for delivery of papers between Wilmington and Washington, D.C. Jealous Woman (novel, 1950). (Characters: Alec, Biggs, Bingo, Brady, Faith Converse, Count Ten, Mr. Croupier, H. P. Davis, Jane Delavan, Tom Delavan, Dolly, Ed Horner, Dr. Hudson, Ireland, Jackie, Harriet Jenkins, Robert Keyes, Kubic, Linda, Lindstrom, Morton Lynch, Marguerite, Jason P. Norton, Mrs. Peete, Red, Vic Rose, Harold Sherman, Connie Sperry, Richard Sperry, Whirly.) Part One: “The Playboy’s Second Wife.” Chapter One. Edgar Gordon Horner, the narrator, is an insurance agent, working in Reno for General PanPaciﬁc of California (“General Pan”). Just under 30 and ambitious, he’s to see Jane Delavan, in her posh Washoe-Truckee apartment overlooking the river and facing the Sierras. Trim, attractive, reﬁned, she says she’s broke from gambling, can do nothing for two weeks. He suggests ﬁshing, shooting, riding. Riding interests her. Horner says “[w]e” have “the Scout,” a dude ranch; he’ll phone Jackie to saddle Bingo for her—Bingo, he tells himself, not his thoroughbred Count Ten. He says he’d like to please Jane, because her husband Tom Delavan pleased him and has sent him to talk insurance with her. Doubting him, she goes to the bedroom, phones Tom, tells him his idea would have unintended consequences, and emerges nattily dressed for horseback riding. Horner says any insurance policy covering her husband would pay nothing on suicide. Jane says she just phoned “Jackie,” who has a horse for her. Horner drives her to the ranch, will drive her home later, and signals Jackie to let her try “the Count” only if she seems competent. Horner rushes to Delavan’s Sierra Manor apartment. Horner reveals what Jane said. Delavan replies thus: Jane came to Reno for a quick divorce; his intended lady, an Anglican whose grandfather was a bishop, the one he now intends to marry, won’t marry a divorced man; so Delavan seeks an annulment, using the grounds that Jane divorced her ﬁrst husband as a “correspondent unknown” and unfaithful; this was a lie “cooked up by Jane, the husband, and the maid”; Delavan is serving papers on that maid today; Jane’s ﬁrst husband has “married again”; Delavan wants the temporary insurance policy on him, so as to feel

Jealous heroic. Queried, he reveals he owns a West Virginia coal mine suddenly proﬁtable through new machinery, got an unexpected dividend he will “sock” on the policy to protect Jane one year after the annulment; he’ll let it lapse because attractive Jane will soon remarry. Annulment means he would be ﬁnancially free of her because legally they weren’t married; meanwhile, she’ll be safe for one year. Horner ﬁgures Delavan is leaving Jane “dangling”; but Horner, selling any policy, stands to win a vaunted company prize for excellent sales. “General Five-Star Cup” can be his. [David Madden rightly complains that “the reader just cannot follow the intricacies of the insurance schemes and counter schemes that proliferate in Jealous Woman.” (Madden 1970, 146)] Chapter Two. Back at his ranch, Horner watches awestruck as Jane puts Count Ten through his paces— walk, canter, run, trot, walk. She upbraids him for never training the Count properly. She gets him to jump, which Horner fears. Over a high bar he jumps, is startled by a puppy, throws Jane, and falls. Jane gets the Count up; they nuzzle each other playfully. She wants to train him. Horner says the Count is “all yours.” She calls the stable “ﬁne.” At her hotel, Jane encounters her maid, a red-headed, black-eyed Cockney, waving a legal paper. Reading it, Jane turns ashen, says she’ll phone Horner, who returns to his ofﬁce, sees his secretary Linda looking askance. He says he’s off to Carson on business. Instead, Horner plays some roulette. He knowledgeably shifts tables. Jane appears, says he’s avoiding her. He explains his system of avoiding “Mr. Croupier,” who can spoil a winning run. He stakes her, teaches her how to trying winning systems. He says treat Lady Luck “so she don’t have to be a contortionist to help you out.” He makes her quit when ahead $227, which he dumps in silver into her handbag. They walk near her hotel. He could ﬂirt, but it’s strictly “no romance” for him before policies are signed. He sees her again, helps her play more roulette. Delavan is approved by the doctor and pays for his policy, which Horner sends to Los Angeles headquarters; he now feels free to phone Jane for a dinner date. She says her maid has been ordered to court but Jane is free by 7:00 P.M. Horner attends the court session, during which Jane posts $250 bail for the maid. Jane lets Horner take her to a Bonanza dinner, for a drive to Virginia City for brandy, and to his ofﬁce to check Count Ten’s pedigree papers. Calling him a “go-getter” for his previous General Pan cups, she plants “a little soft kiss” on his mouth. He tries an embrace; she reminds him she’s “still married.” Horner gets a wire from Norton: Delavan’s policy is mailed to him, to hold until Keyes arrives

Jealous

100

tomorrow. Horner escorts Jane home, goes to his apartment at the Fremont, starts worrying: Keyes, claim-department head, will dig to locate some “queer angle” in the Delavan policy. Chapter Three. Horner meets Keyes at the airport. He’s lost 50 or so pounds but still isn’t thin, is dressed as though for photographs, and is interviewed by reporters. Horner gets him an east room at the Washoe-Truckee, walks him to his ofﬁce, gives him the Delavan ﬁles. Horner breaks a dinner date with Jane, because a headquarters “[hot]shot” is here. Horner takes him to dinner and a movie. Horner and Jane have agreed to go gambling later. Horner explains to beautifully dressed Jane that “the shot” investigates claims. They drift from joint to joint — and suddenly see Keyes beside “a chucka-luck game.” Horner and Jane leave. She thinks if Horner sent Keyes to her, she could stymie Horner’s insurance deal with Delavan. Prizes for Horner’s sales are important. She says other people are involved, can’t say what. She kisses him seriously. They hug. He says he’s in love with her, wonders if she loves him. Claiming a “bruised heart,” she says Tom Delavan treats everything like a game, would be so scared if his policy got canceled he’d quit “the whole farce,” says if Horner promises to cancel the policy, she’ll give him coffee and caresses in her suite upstairs. Though not promising, he kisses her and reckons she assumes that’s a yes. He plans to win both cup and Jane. By morning Keyes has seen Delavan. So Horner tells Keyes what Jane said. Keyes ﬁgures playboy Delavan has money and with it wants to pretend to make amends for the annulment “dirty deal” by doing “something pretty nice.” Keyes says a “blowhard angle” would be gossip at Delavan’s clubs that he’s stingy, although he mayn’t care since Jane is attractive enough to be remarried soon. Keyes worries Horner, though, by saying he saw him “having hot smackeroos” with Jane and warns that stories sound good from the outside, but not from the inside. Horner fears he could well be “inside ... looking out.” Keyes must wait in town until New York clears the six-ﬁgure policy. He phones Horner at 5:00 P.M. that he wants him to meet someone. Horner laughingly ﬁgures it’s a date. Keyes says not really, but she’s from Bermuda, is married, rich, needs something from him, is here on business. He suggests Horner and “your little friend” participate a dinner for four. Horner declines, on personal grounds. Keyes warns him to go slow. Horner takes Jane to Carson, that “doll’s house” state capital, for dinner and sightseeing. She happily tells him that “[t]he present wife” of her “former husband” is here, doubtless to persuade Delavan to stop wanting the annulment. Jane explains

that her ex’s name is Richard Sperry; that he’s an outstanding petroleum expert and with his wife’s money has gained international eminence; that Mrs. Sperry is here undoubtedly to bribe Delavan to quit annulment proceedings. Horner ﬁgures he’s a cheapo, “could be had.” Jane says Connie Sperry is here from Bermuda to force Tom. Mention of Bermuda nonpluses Horner, whom Jane says something is “eating on.” Horner suspects more than coincidences. Chapter Four. Uneasy, Horner ﬁnds Keyes getting a haircut, shoe shine, and manicure in his hotel. Keyes asks to borrow Horner’s car to show Constance Sperry around the region. He admits that he told her about his present investigation without naming names, and that she concluded that the “pathetic playboy” [Tom] “is trying to make himself look big “on the cheap.” Horner startles Keyes by saying “former Mrs. Sherry” is present “Mrs. Delavan.” Keyes says he hopes Connie Sperry can’t connect his gossip to Delavan. Horner counters that she’s in Reno to block the annulment. Keyes learnedly says that it will be with a “bribe”; that, if a British court is apprised of details, it would charge contempt, collusion, perjury; further, that Connie won’t have “her marriage spoiled by a playboy’s caprice.” When Keyes drives off, Horner ﬁgures he shouldn’t have “talked so tough” and there’s something here he doesn’t understand. Keyes and Connie go driving. Horner and Jane are at the ranch. On Saturday, Horner gets Keyes tickets for a football game at the university. Thus Horner meets Connie, just under 30, older than Jane, shapely, with cat-like legs and gray, leopardlike eyes. Connie mentions Horner’s acquaintance with “little Jane Delavan,” says she knows her slightly. By dinner time, Jane is aware that Keyes is doing something with Connie. Horner says maybe the two just like each other. Jane asks if Horner is keeping his promise (to end Tom’s “farce”). Equivocating, he says he never breaks promises. After service at the Masonic Temple, Horner aims to have lunch with Jane; but Keyes is in the lobby, worried. He shows Horner a report indicating that his L.A. headquarters put, unknown to him, a private investigator on Connie. After Keyes left her apartment, an unknown man, over 30 and tall, entered it, remaining all night. Adoring her now, Keyes thought she liked him. Horner says he warned Keyes. Visiting Jane, Horner learns “Dick” Sperry is in town, bent on killing Delavan; Sperry, unscrupulous, even tried once to drown her. She says she warned Delavan, who said she should go to Horner “about insurance,” told him the application would be disapproved. She wants Horner to block it. The phone rings. Delavan tells Jane he’s dropping “an-

101 nulment action.” Horner and Jane agree that if Sperry kills Delavan, they can marry and honeymoon in Tahiti. First, Keyes, grinning, tells Horner that the man in “thoroughbred” Connie’s room was her husband Richard Sperry, and the annulment is off. Part Two: “Dishonorable Intentions.” Chapter Five. New York clears the policy; Keyes phones Delavan from Horner’s ofﬁce about it, but then tells Horner he suspects “[c]oncealment” of “something” Delavan thought Keyes would discover. Determined to win his cup, Horner tells his secretary Linda to get Norton, their company president, on the phone. Norton answers. Horner briefs him on the policy and hints he wins cups, wants another, and has offers from other companies. Norton tells him he’s sending someone to Reno to straighten everything out, then talks to Keyes, who has to defer politely to him. Horner meets affable Norton himself getting off the plane, drives him directly to Horner’s ofﬁce, because he’ll take a sleeper back tonight. Norton tells Keyes that his father, who founded the ﬁrm, said insurance is based on assumed risks. Keyes says no, old Norton said insurance takes calculated risks. Keyes shouts that he won’t recommend a risk he can’t calculate and that Delavan’s case is involved with “concealment,” by beneﬁciary and assured and agent Horner. Horner says blithely that he’s going to marry Jane Delavan and that Keyes is in love with Jane’s ﬁrst husband Richard Sperry’s wife Connie Sperry, who sure won’t marry Keyes. Norton snickers. When Keyes reminds the two that he is renowned for smelling bad cases, Horner asks Linda to call that New York company that wants him. Norton cancels the call. After they have dinner at the Club Fortune, Horner hails a cab to take Norton to his train. Norton: Keyes was romancing whom? Horner: Mrs. Sperry. Norton: I know Constance Sperry; she’s “a twentyminute egg!”; six men sought her fortune, vainly, before she married “this Englishman”; Keyes, who supposedly is never fooled, is now a “joke.” Keyes, still at the club, asks Horner whether before leaving he should say goodbye to Connie. Horner lectures him on different degrees of tolerance and warns him that perhaps her husband would pull a gun on him; maybe he should phone ﬁrst. Morose, Keyes wants to see lovable Connie in person. Suddenly she enters with a stocky man. Horner learns from the hotel captain that the man is Richard Sperry. Keyes also has the private eye’s report; so Connie’s Sperry, short, about 50, isn’t her tall young visitor last night. Horner and Keyes go to Keyes’s hotel, where he cleans up in his room. Horner takes him for a drive onto California’s Sacramento road. Keyes fumes brieﬂy, says he ﬁgured “one angle,” and is glad Hor-

Jealous

ner hasn’t delivered the policy. Horner nettles Keyes by saying maybe indeed he did deliver it to Jane while Keyes was freshening up. In truth, the paid policy is in Horner’s safe, but legally the company is “on the hook.” Keyes, “misled,” thinks Jane has it. After sulking during the drive back, Keyes suddenly theorizes that maybe it wasn’t Delavan who applied for the policy that Jane only brieﬂy pretended not to want but does want, because Delavan, in town all right, is going to get killed and mangled beyond recognition; then the company must pay, and Jane would be off with her real lover. Horner simply gripes. Keyes remains suspicious. [Can’t forensic specialists identify badly smashed corpses?] Chapter Six. On their way back to the Club Fortune, where Keyes left his briefcase, Horner and Keyes encounter an accident. A cop tells Horner that someone jumped or fell from the hotel window and onto a taxi driver; an ambulance took the driver to the hospital but the jumper died. Horner and Keyes grouse at each other. Horner garbles this: Mrs. Delavan “moved fast”; somebody “fell” or got “pushed”; Keyes loves “a no-good trollope.” Keyes leaves. Alone, Horner wonders what to do. He has mailed Delavan’s check to the bank, could legally retrieve it with “a stop slip,” but wants that cup. Therefore he calls Jackie at the ranch, tells her he’s mailing himself “a legal paper,” which she’s to hold for him. He mails himself the policy. After some policemen question Jane about something on the suicide’s body and then leave, she lets Horner come up, embraces her dependable “Ed.” She says the dead man was, “[a]fter all,” her husband; the cops found a letter to her in the suicide’s pocket; they read it in her presence; it contained “sweet” comments about the divorce. Horner is puzzled, because she doesn’t have the policy, though in force if a lawyer explains it. Horner tells himself he’s in love with her, though suspicious, will willingly make “a heel” of himself. As he ponders Keyes’s comments about someone impersonating Delavan, the guy Horner has known as Tom Delavan enters, greets Horner, hugs “Jane.” They discuss Sperry’s suicide and Jane’s harmless letter. Delavan leaves. Jane wonders if “he” really killed himself. Keyes phones, speaks alone to Horner, says the dead man is Sperry. Horner says he’s just seen Delavan. Keyes says something’s “funny” and Connie agrees. Horner says Keyes can marry the widow. Agreeing, Keyes says that other man at Connie’s door was a drunk servant of Sperry’s. Horner comforts Jane and leaves remaining puzzled. [Like many a reader at this point?] Chapter Seven. Because he’s so distracted about Sperry’s death, Horner loses a policy sale to a visitor at the ranch. Jane requests his presence when cops ask her more questions. The polite sergeant

Jealous

102

asks her about her whereabouts when the suicide took place. He evidently feels Sperry went out her window to his death. She says she attended a movie, returned, saw her night clothes set out for her by her maid, whom she now summons from her room. Horner again sees Harriet Jenkins, that red-headed maid. Beneath obvious coarseness, she is sexiness personiﬁed. Questioned, “Jenkins” in a Cockney accent says Richard Sperry, whom she hadn’t seen since Bermuda, visited mistress Jane’s apartment twice, once about nine when he gave her “a tenner” to say nothing, then about eleven; Jenkins left him alone and went to bed in her room about midnight. Jane rebukes her for not telling her about Sperry. Jenkins says he bribed her and she’ll have to apologize to him for tattling on him. Jane startles Jenkins by saying he had a fatal fall from this very window last night. Jenkins bawls. Jane’s phones keep ringing. Horner gets her away from reporters via the basement. They drive to Sacramento for dinner. They pledge their love to each other. Home by 2:00 A.M., Horner gets a phone call from Keyes, who says the papers are reporting Harriet Jenkins’ supposed ignorance. Keyes says servants gossip, and Jenkins must know plenty about Sperry’s second visit to “his former wife who’s her mistress.” Keyes and Horner plan to “spectate.” Part Three: “The Willing Widow.” Chapter Eight. An inquest is held next evening, attended by policemen, the coroner Dr. Hudson, Keyes, town-lawyer Morton Lynch, Jenkins, Sperry’s valet Biggs from Bermuda, reporters, and a jury. Testimony is given under oath. Sperry is identiﬁed. Suddenly Connie Sperry speaks. Connie says that sane Richard Sperry’s act of felo de se, Latin for killing oneself, is a felony in England, where all suicides are adjudged insane, and that his estate is to be “settled” in Bermuda. Lynch, Connie’s attorney, says Sperry’s estate includes copyrights of his valuable technical books, likely forfeitable because criminals in England probably can’t retain copyrights. Lynch adds that he’s advised her as the deceased’s wife she needn’t testify. Connie suddenly says she wants to, says she saw Sperry jump to his death. Coroner Hudson tells her to continue. She says her husband sat with her, praised her, boasted of his accomplishments, but mysteriously said suicide types have their reasons; he left; from her window she saw a man in the hotel, opposite hers, jump to his death; she fainted, revived, admitted the police. She didn’t know the window was Mrs. Delavan’s. Hudson asks why, against Lynch’s advice, she reveals all this, perhaps jeopardizing the estate. She says her “clear conscience” is paramount. The sympathetic verdict? Sperry died “in a manner unknown to this jury.”

Chapter Nine. Horner encounters Keyes. He says he’s suspicious that Connie showed no “rancor” concerning Jane, Sperry’s ex-wife from whose hotel window he dropped. Connie is “shifty,” Keyes admits, but he still loves his “thoroughbred.” Horner, in turn, wants no “scandal” to involve his Jane. Horner comforts Jane in her suite. She gets a phone call from a man named Ireland about her late husband’s insurance policies, which she tells Horner she left in Maine when she and her husband returned from Bermuda. He wanted them, but Jane wouldn’t trouble to get them, only to have him change the beneﬁciary to that “woman reeking with money already.” Horner says any suicide clause would disqualify Jane. She suspects Connie lied vindictively about Sperry’s mentioning suicide. Horner tells Jane to ﬂy to Maine, get those policies, return here, restart her six-weeks’ residence, then begin a life with him. Horne sees Keyes in the lobby. Keyes reveals this: Sperry lent someone who read his books his gold pen, forgot to retrieve it; Alec, the bartender, obtained it, asked Keyes to return it to Connie; Alec told Keyes that Connie phoned Alec to remind Sperry about his date “upstairs” with that “little lady” [Jane?]. Keyes ﬁgures Connie is covering up “scandal.” Chapter Ten. Jane fetches the two policies. The small policy pays $2,800; the suicide clause still runs on the $25,000 one. Horner tells her to ﬁle a claim anyway. Jane rides the Count often. Fall comes. [Cain skillfully suggests time changes at this point.] Horner buys a gold cigarette case as Jane’s Christmas present. One day Jane sees dead Sperry’s fox terrier Dolly with the elevator operator; Jane dognaps Dolly from Connie, will exercise her on the roof. The roof has lots of sports equipment. Jane wonders why Connie is remaining in town, and Tom Delavan too. Horner says he’s awaiting Jane’s legal action. She says her Tom changed his mind, wants a quick divorce, not an annulment. Horne reveals about Sperry’s gold pen. Jane doubts Connie sent any message through Alec, would have spoken directly to him; also Jane doubts Richard Sperry, always “short-spoken” with servants, would palaver with Jenkins. Dolly is restless. Jane ﬁnds a long cord from the rooftop badminton net, ties Dolly’s leash to a table leg for her to have some space. Dolly jumps over the parapet, bumping the wall below. Horner rescues her. Jane peers down, sees exactly where Sperry landed below, and theorizes thus: Dolly was seeking out her master’s “grave” and the “little lady” that Sperry was to go see was his precious Dolly; Connie got Sperry to the roof with Dolly, shoved him over, rushed to her room to await the cops. Horner wonders why Connie would want Sperry dead. Jane says this: Sperry maybe wanted to remain married

103 to Connie; when he threatened Delavan, Jane thought the “Sperrys were a team”; Connie was merely “kidding Keyes”; Delavan’s annulment would require Bermuda authorities to rescind Sperry’s divorce and annul her marriage; Delavan’s scaring Sperry forced Connie to kill Sperry. Horner says Keyes feared an investigation, thinks Jane spitefully staged the “suicide” for the insurance, loves Connie. Horner and Jane continue talking—about Jane’s dangerous Bermuda swim, about Jenkins’ disliking working for Connie, how Jane learned Jenkins, born in New York, returned to America later. Horner tries to dissuade Jane from ﬁring Jenkins until Jane can get her $25,000 insurance payment. Jane, disgusted with everything, releases Jenkins anyway with a ﬁnal check. Keyes phones Horner: Alec’s phone call is traced by the police; Horner should avoid Jane; Keyes is returning to Reno. Chapter Eleven. The cops grill Jane, then Connie. According to Keyes, now here, Connie, pretending sadness, told the cops enough to implicate “little lady” Jane. Horner doubts she could ever “heave him [Sperry] out the window.” Horner’s telling about the Sperrys’ dog Dolly stuns Keyes— until Horner adds that the cops don’t know about Dolly. Love-struck Keyes concludes that Jenkins probably “snugged” in a rooftop swing with some hotel kitchen “slavey,” saw Connie kill Sperry, will blackmail her, therefore ﬁbbed to the cops. [Thus Keyes, a holdover from Double Indemnity, is prescient yet again.] Horner wonders at Connie’s frank statement during the inquest. Keyes ﬁgures she hoped the investigators would blame Jane to avoid a payout, but more dirt came out; so she had to make it seem a suicide. He hopes he never has “to pin” the crime on Connie. For weeks Horner grouses that Jane probably lost $25,000 by ﬁring Jenkins. He is present when two plainclothes detectives, Lindstrom and Brady, show Jane a gold bracelet. She says it was a gift, with her name engraved, from a New York cousin Harold Sherman 10 years ago and she hasn’t seen it for years. When Lindstrom demands to check her jewel box, Horner tells them Jane has cooperated enough and they gotta leave. Making inquiries from a cop he knows, Horner learns a couple found the bracelet beside Sperry’s body on the street, turned it in; the police, by sleuthing, learned it was indeed Jane’s. Jane believes Connie tossed it where Sperry died, to implicate her. Jane and Horner plan to ask Jenkins if she knows Jane left the bracelet in Bermuda when she packed for Jane. But Jenkins has disappeared. After unsuccessfully seeking her, Horner hires a detective for $150 to try. One day Jane in anguish tells Horner that Tom

Jealous

Delavan’s quasi-ﬁancée — that Anglican bishop’s granddaughter (Faith Converse)— is in town and came to her inquiring about her Tom. The “frizzlehaired” little “simpleton” wants him, and Tom has known her from childhood but won’t see her. Jane wishes those two would marry; suddenly thinks he would know about the bracelet; phones Tom, and says he replied that he inventoried her jewels, furs, etc., for insurance purposes before their wedding, and is willing to testify he saw no bracelet. Horner, out on business, gets a call from Linda: Tom Delavan fell while riding a horse rented outside Reno, is dead, had Horner’s business card in his pocket; hence this state-police inquiry. Part Four: “Hush Money.” Chapter Twelve. Delavan’s body was found in a gully. Jane phones family members back east and also Tom’s friend Faith Converse. Jane and Horner dine in Carson, then talk on their drive back to Reno. Though free to marry him now, Jane says they will wait six months so as not to seem rushing. Agreeing, he feels “like a big shot ... under control.” He surprises her by saying she can collect $100,000 now. How? Because Horner, though ﬁbbing to Jane that he hadn’t, did indeed put through the policy on Tom. Jane turns irate, gripes that he lied to her, doing what he did to get that cup — and, she asks, did he suspect her of killing Sperry? His answering he’d love her “anyhow” doesn’t please her. At the hotel, Lindstrom awaits them, with Kubic, an assistant state’s attorney. By questioning, Lindstrom learns that Horner holds a policy on Delavan, payable to Jane, and that Horner is going to marry her. Horner tells Jane that only Keyes knew about the policy. Jane’s sobs drive Horner out. In Horner’s Fremont apartment lobby after 11:00 P.M., Connie awaits him, in fur coat over pajamas. She says Keyes, cool toward her personally, phoned from Los Angeles and is coming to Reno tomorrow. Horner says that Keyes is “hipped” that Jane killed Sperry and probably Delavan too, but that she didn’t. Connie thinks that way too, told Keyes so, and hopes he’ll “let this thing rest,” to avoid any “scandal.” When Horner says Keyes is concerned about the company’s $100,000 policy, Connie offers to pay it if “his interest [would] cease.” Horner tries to explain legal difﬁculties anent accepting indemnity via third party, renouncing claim through inaccurate application, etc. She asks him to manage it as her “go-between.” He ﬁgures $100,000 in “hush money” is little from the $20,000,000 owned by innocent Connie, surely suspected by Jane wrongly. But when Connie leans her pert ﬁgure at him revealingly, he understands she’d do anything upstairs to persuade him; and this ﬂashes upon him: Connie killed Sperry and Delavan. So he rudely declines. Connie: What can I do? Horner: “Take it!” Connie:

Jealous

104

Take what? Horner: “Scandal.” Connie clumps out. He tries to phone Jane, vainly. Chapter Thirteen. Keyes wires: Horner must meet him at the airport. With Keyes is Norton, who says Horner is suspended until “the person involved” is cleared. Keyes thinks Norton means Horner’s precious Jane. So Horner says it’s Keyes’s “La Sperry,” and proves it by saying she tried to buy off both Keyes and General Pan by paying the $100,000 claim privately. Norton phones his good friend Connie Sperry, listens a while, and then tells Keyes and Horner that she could afford it and that thus they’d avoid messy publicity. Horner tells Norton to go ahead and let her. But Norton says Keyes should chat her up ﬁrst. Keyes won’t. Horner retorts: Norton should suspend Keyes and him both; “La Sperry” killed Delavan and her husband Richard, the latter so she could marry some unknown man, probably not Keyes; she killed Delavan for some reason unknown but to be learned if he, with some detectives’ help, can locate “an English maid” who has a secret. Norton lets Horner “take over.” Walking with Norton, Horner adds this: Connie could leave town but tried to seduce him, is therefore worried about more than mere “scandal”; he has mailed Delavan’s policy to himself, location unrevealed, thank you; he wants never to hurt Jane Delavan, regardless of personal cost and company cost. Long-winded Norton replies. First, Norton would probably have handled the policy as Horner did, on account of Keyes’s “imbecile infatuation” with Connie. Second, after much verbosity about humoring Keyes, Norton says he wants “idealistic” Horner to know he has a $100,000 in his pocket right now for Jane Delavan. Horner tries to phone Jane, leaves a message, goes to the ranch to exercise the Count. Jackie says he’s had his daily workout already. Horner rides Red, another horse, and ﬁgures Jane, regardless of disliking him, must have ridden the Count. Norton phones Horner that Keyes found the maid. How? Keyes ﬁgured Jenkins would hide someplace needing to turn on gas, checked new applicants, and located her via her Cockney accent. Then Norton theorizes that Faith Converse, Delavan’s beloved, is involved. Maybe “murderess,” maybe “accomplice”? Keyes phoned Delavan’s family, learned about Faith, checked around, and ascertained that she’s hiding out, bought a .38 automatic for protection. While Norton has spoonfuls of Scotch, Horner answers the phone. Jenkins, accent and all, says Keyes is in Horner’s ofﬁce, really ill. Horner and Norton rush over. Chapter Fourteen. Jenkins, beautifully dressed and looking ﬁve years younger than before, is there with Linda, who takes Horner and Norton to see

Keyes, resting in Horner’s private inner ofﬁce and insisting he’ll be ﬁne soon. Jenkins says Keyes brought her here and she knows plenty about Tom Delavan’s death. Jenkins explains that she ﬁrst saw Keyes at Sperry’s inquest. Keyes asked her if she had details about Delavan’s death. When she said yes, Keyes went to her rented house, brought her here, had her dictate into a recording machine what she knew; he listened and turned sick. Keyes now asks her to remain, while Keyes, Horten, Norton, Linda, and Jenkins herself listen to her recording. Jenkins’ details: Mrs. Sperry mistreated her in Bermuda; nice Jane brought her here, had annulment problems; Delavan got Jenkins into court and bailed her. The jist follows. Jenkins saw that Delavan was enamored of her. She phoned to ask for a date. No, it would ruin him. So she suggested the Washoe-Truckee roof. No. She went up there anyway one night, loitering. Delavan sidled up, checked; ah, no witnesses. She tore her dress, scratched her arm, said she’d say he “worked his wicked will on me”— unless “you let off my bail.” They embraced in reality. He forgot annulment ideas. Love! Delavan told Faith Converse later, pretended Sperry terriﬁed him; didn’t want known his genuine love for Jenkins, was free of the eastern woman that he wed another to be free of, couldn’t wed Jenkins because of “our different stations in life.” Satisfactory with enraptured Jenkins. Enjoying roof-rendezvousing nightly, hidden, they saw Sperry—surprised he was in Reno— walk his dog; later saw both Sperrys; Connie dropped a bracelet; he reached for it toward a truss; Connie tilted him over, thanked God aloud and told herself aloud to await the police in her room. Delavan stiﬂed Jenkins from screaming, said they’d not be witnesses, said Jenkins should act as his wife Jane’s maid as usual. Jenkins says she unobtrusively went to Jane’s suite. Delavan sneaked out the basement to a gambling club. Jenkins later awakened Delavan by tossing pebbles at his window. They decided to blackmail Connie Sperry for $100,000, phoned her, made her admit them, told her what they had seen, watched her turn from quickly nasty to cleverly suggesting Jenkins testify that Sperry was in Connie’s suite. Connie had her plan too, with the bracelet—Jane’s—the phone call, involving Jane Delavan, who, when she told Delavan everything, spoiled the Jenkins-Delavan ruse. Still, Connie gave Jenkins spending money, “kicked in with $10,000 quick,” but suddenly got scared at the inquest upon seeing that cops and insurance investigators together would surely catch her. So at the inquest Connie vowed she saw Sperry jump. She agreed to pay the two $100,000 in cash; to avoid suspicion, she got Delavan to avoid accompanying her to the bank but instead to ride a stable horse to a certain spot—where

105 she killed him. Jenkins laments that now, already with a tarnished reputation, her true words couldn’t refute Connie’s lies. Jenkins now hides and remembers Jane Delavan joyfully. Keyes turns off the recorder, but suddenly raises a warning ﬁnger, jerks open the outer door — to Connie. She says no one can believe that “slut.” He says he does. Chapter Fifteen. Connie kneels before Norton, saying Jenkins lied and the truth will come out. Suddenly “a tiny ... woman, maybe thirty-ﬁve,” approaches the group. How she got here is a mystery. In a “sing-song voice” like a Sunday School kid, she says she followed Delavan to the stable and to the gully and she saw Connie approach with a golf bag. The woman squeaks that she then wanted to kill them both, but that when Delavan dismounted, Mrs. Sperry swung a golf club at his head, slapped the horse home, and walked to the adjacent links. Keyes takes a gun from the woman. Horner summons the police. The cops subdue the woman. She is Faith Converse. Lindstrom arrives, takes notes, hears the recording, says “we had a ... check on the wife” [Mrs. Sperry] and “[i]t wasn’t her” [Faith]. Mrs. Sperry seizes Faith’s gun and kills herself with it. After the clean-up, Horner rests until late afternoon. Jane buzzes in, and says gentlemanly Norton said Horner has a check for her, “the future Mrs. Horner.” She is relieved after these “last three years” of stress. They kiss. Horner and Jane read the newspaper accounts, go see Keyes, who is better. He and Norton will soon be leaving. Evidence has emerged that a lord or an earl from San Francisco regularly visited “La Sperry” in Reno; so she preferred suicide to coming to him with “a stain[ed] ... escutcheon.” Keyes avers that this proves “she was a thoroughbred.” Horner, Jane, Keyes, and Norton suddenly spot Jenkins, dressed sumptuously, enter the hotel dining room, escorted by grinning Lindstrom. That’s how she’s still in Reno. And Horner and his wife Jane are happy too, what with her throwing parties, his ﬁve cups, plus the Count’s ﬁrst cup. Cain originally titled this novel Nevada Air. The title is relevant since, once in a while, characters in it ﬁnd relief from oppressive activities in Reno by driving away and enjoying some “Nevada air.” David Madden notes that Jealous Woman is “Cain’s only mystery novel.” It was written at the request of Edward G. Robinson (1893–1973), who had starred in the 1944 movie version of Double Indemnity and wanted to have a continuation of his role as Keyes in it. (The movie was never made.) Jealous Woman was the title which Avon, the publishers, gave to it and which Cain disliked. This, according to Roy

Johnny

Hoopes, who adds that Avon advanced Cain $1,000 for it and that it sold well. (Hoopes, 447–448; Madden 1970, 65; Skenazy, 101) Jenkins, Harriet (Jealous Woman). She is the attractive young maid working for Richard and Connie Sperry. She has a Cockney accent. She agrees to lie for Connie in connection with Richard’s death. Jenkins and Tom Delavan, while getting loveydovey, witness Connie’s murder of Richard and try to blackmail Connie. Keyes locates Jenkins and brings her in for questioning. When all is well, Jenkins dolls up and begins associating with detective Lindstrom. Jenkins, Major (Mignon). He is a high-ranking Union ofﬁcer in occupied New Orleans. Bill sees him buy “booze” with a $100 bill Frank Burke bribed him with earlier, and uses the fact to force him to release Landry, Bill’s girlfriend Mignon’s jailed father. Jennifer, Miss (Sinful Woman). She is George M. Layton’s loyal but easily alarmed secretary. Jergins (The Moth). Jack Dillon, when he is an oil man, has his Long Beach ofﬁce in the Jergins Trust Building. Jerome, Mrs. (The Root of His Evil). She is a highsociety friend of Ruth and Bernard Hunt. Residing on Long Island, Mrs. Jerome rushes to meet Carrie when she learns of the girl’s alleged ﬁnancial wizardry. Carrie agrees to spend a weekend at her mansion but, when Carrie reconciles with Grant, the two miss the party. Jervis, Clint (Cloud Nine). He owns an automobile lot to which Jane Sibert’s sabotaged car is safely towed. Jervis, Rod (Cloud Nine). He is Clint Jervis’s son. Before Jane Sibert’s sabotaged car can be checked, Rod takes it for a drive with his girlfriend and it crashes. Neither passenger is injured. Jevons, John Frederick (Career in C Major). He is the impresario who “presents” both Cecil Carver and Leonard Borland in a song recital at the Eastman Theatre in Rochester, New York, Thursday, October 5 [1933]. Jevons does not appear in the novel. Jinghis Quinn. Novel that Cain wrote. Roy Hoopes reports that it is written in the third person and features a little girl with a pet tiger. Both Dial and Random House turned it down (1967). (Hoopes, 511). Joe (“Cigarette Girl”). He is Jack Conner’s “captain” in Conner’s Maryland honkytonk called Here’s How. When trouble starts, Joe slugs a criminal who is trying to help evil Vanny Rocco grab Lydia Stark, who works for Conner. Then Joe shoots Vanny dead. Johnny (The Magician’s Wife). He works in the

Johns

106

basement of the Marlborough Arms, where Clay Longwood lives. As part of his alibi, if it is needed, Clay stages matters so that Johnny would be able to testify that Clay’s car was there. Johns (The Magician’s Wife). Stone, Stone and Johns are evidently brokers. Clay Longwood goes there to raise money to defray costs when Bunny Buster is indicted in connection with Alec Gorsuch’s murder. Grace Simone accompanies Clay. Johns, Lefty (Rainbow’s End). He was the pilot of the airplane that Shaw hijacked. Johnson, Dr. (The Institute). See Carter, Dr. Jonas, Miss (The Moth). She is Jack’s school teacher during his early years in Baltimore. He is told to give a peach to her, but eats it instead, lies about doing so, then feels bad. Jones, Art A. (“Come-back”). He is mentioned by Hapgood as making money because “Malibu Beach is run by” him. The reference is obscure. Jones, D. P. (The Moth). He is an imaginary person whose mail Jack, when clerking for Legg at his Cartaret Hotel, imagines learning to sort efﬁciently. Jones, Norman (Bud) (The Magician’s Wife). He is a parking attendant at the Lilac Flamingo. At Busty Buster’s trial, he testiﬁes that he saw her arguing with Alec Gorsuch. Josie (Mildred Pierce). He is hired to deliver liquor to Mildred’s Glendale restaurant. “Joy Ride to Glory” (short story, in The Baby in the Icebox, 1981). (Characters: Bugs Calenso, Red Conley, Cookie, Mullins.) Red Conley, the narrator, was in a California prison, serving “a one-to-ﬁve” sentence for stealing tires. Having served one year, he would be up for parole and be “out in a month”—until this happened. He and Bugs Calenso, the latter serving long sentences and perhaps eligible for release “about 2042,” were assigned to take quarters of beef from a truck. During the rain, they hid in the truck, and its driver drove off through the gate. Bugs strangled the driver, despite Red’s plea not to. Red braked the truck to avoid an accident. Bugs took the wheel and ordered Red to cooperate, or else. Instead, Red smashed Bugs’ face repeatedly and seized the wheel. Bugs, though hurt, searched the truck’s grill, found an automatic, and ordered Red to keep driving. They got to Los Angeles. Bugs ordered Red to bump into a sedan deliberately. He did so, and its driver rushed out. Bugs ordered him to undress, killed him, took his clothes, ordered Red to drive the sedan while Bigs put on the dead man’s clothes. Red ﬁgured Bugs would kill him soon. So, followed by

two cops on motorcycles, Red slowed down “to forty,” braked and wheeled suddenly, threw Bugs to the ﬂoor, jumped out, and amid the sound of gunﬁre found himself hurtling down a storm drain. Red was swept along, nearly drowned, gasped for air, and ﬁnally found himself “in the middle of the Los Angeles River.” A guy stopped, rescued him, took him home, fed him, let him rest, and in the morning read about him in the papers, identiﬁed as Red Conley. The papers reported Conley’s and Bugs’ escape, the murder of the truck driver, Bugs’ wounding a cop before “they got him,” and Conley’s being recognized by another cop before he saw his “body washing down the storm drain.” His benefactor asked what Red might “do with this life.” The war being on, Red said he’d love to report to the draft board except that his ﬁngerprints would jail him for sure. So he’d like to join a foreign army. Actually, he’s writing this account “on a freighter heading west, “ is going by “agreement” to send it to his benefactor, and its publication would prove to those accurate reporters that “Red Conley ... is dead!” David Madden, usually knowledgeable, says this posthumously published story was “[p]robably written in late thirties.” If so, what war? Then Madden adds, “Heavy irony.” If so, where? Perhaps he feels that “Glory” is an ironic part of the title. Paul Skenazy says that the benefactor gives Red “a choice of being turned over to the authorities or enlisting in the army.” This assertion is not quite exact. When the man mentions military service for Red, his immediate response is to say he’d “have been in it [the army] long ago” if he hadn’t been in prison. Skenazy also labels the story “maudlin,” which it is not. (Madden 1985, 130; Skenazy, 95)

K Kaiser, Bunny (The Embezzler). He owns Glendale’s biggest furniture ﬁrm. He needs a bank loan to expand. Sheila Brent uses her wiles to attract him and his business to the Glendale bank where she works. When the bank windows are broken during a botched heist, Kaiser brings his glaziers to replace them. Karb (The Root of His Evil). This is the name of a restaurant chain. Carrie is a waitress at the Karb in Manhattan. Karen (The Institute). She is Hortense’s maid in her Wilmington apartment, which Hortense shares part of the time with her husband Richard. Katz (The Magician’s Wife). See Gordon. Katz (The Postman Always Ring Twice). He is a

107 clever, dishonest lawyer, about 40, who persuades Cora Papadakis to let him represent her when she is charged with killing her husband Nick Papadakis. Katz assigns his associate Wright to represent Frank Chambers, similarly charged. With three insurance agents’ connivance, Katz has Cora’s crime reduced to manslaughter, with a six-months’ suspended sentence. In the process, Katz outwits Sackett, the district attorney, and thus wins a $100 bet. When Frank is charged with killing Cora in a car accident later, Katz unsuccessfully defends him but in the process strips him of Nick’s insurance payoff and his estate as well. Cain characterizes Katz as brilliantly shifty, secretly evasive, and rolling his own cigarettes so ineptly that the paper when lighted ﬂames dangerously. Tom S. Reck notes that with Katz “truth [is] secondary if relevant at all.” David Mamet, who wrote the ﬁlmscript for the 1981 MGM movie based on The Postman Always Rings Twice, says the following in an interview: “One of my favorite characters is Katz, the crooked lawyer. He’s basically all made-up on my part, which is also why I like him.” Mamet was discussing his challenge to “ﬂesh ... out” certain hard-boiled characters by means of cinematically convincing dramatic dialogue. David Mamet (1947–), American playwright, screenwriter, and movie director, is most famous for his prize-winning play Glengarry Glen Ross (1984; adapted as a movie, 1992). (Reck, 382; Yakir, 43) Kaufman (The Institute). He is a tax expert working for Sam Dent, Richard Garrett’s trusted attorney. Kaufman aids in presenting evidence to the IRS that Lloyd’s Institute should be declared a taxexempt enterprise. Cain describes him as a “grossly overweight” “stuffed shirt,” though also “a shark on tax law.” Kearny (“The Pay-off Girl”). He is Miles Kearny’s father, in the canned-goods business in San Diego. He wishes his son would return home and be a salesman for him. Kearny, Miles (“The Pay-off Girl”). He works as a State Department cable unscrambler, in Washington, D.C. When Miles, who is 25, happens to go to Ike’s Joint for a beer, he sees Ruth, who takes bets for Tony, a bookie. Miles rescues her, marries her, and takes her with him to San Diego, where he will work for his father. Kefore, Jack (Cloud Nine). See Carter, Gordon. Kelly, Pat (Past All Dishonor). She is a prostitute in Biloxi’s D Street brothel in Virginia City. She was once a New York chorus girl. Kennedy, Pat (The Postman Always Ring Twice). He is an ex-cop who works for Katz, a defense attorney

Keyes

near Los Angeles. Pretending he is a court stenographer, Kennedy takes down Cora Papadakis’s confession for killing her husband Nick Papadakis. Katz doesn’t need it or use it. Later, Kennedy quits his association with Katz, steals the confession, and tries to blackmail Cora’s lover Frank Chambers with it. Frank disarms Kennedy, beats him up, and forces him to telephone Willie, one of Kenney’s confederates to bring their evidence for a payoff. Instead, Frank and Cora retrieve the confession and force the thugs out. Kennelly, Tim (“Come-back”). He is a singing cowboy actor in Westerns. When his horse Silver dies, Kennelly, now 27, ﬁnds his career over. His agent Hapgood tries to revive it by staging a stagecoach robbery which Kennelly can dramatically put a stop to in front of spectators crowding Malibu Beach. But a lion called Mowgli gets loose. With budding actress Polly Dukas’s help, Kennelly ropes and ties Mowgli. Success will follow their heroism, especially since Kennelly has been photogenically mauled. In “Hip, Hip, the Hippo!” Tim Kennelly is assigned by movie-producer J. P. Hornison to play Kowgli the Wolf Man in a movie in which he is to be on the Ganges River, riding a hippopotamus and endangered by crocodiles. Hornison tries to cheat Kennelly and his girlfriend, actress Polly Dukas, with a measly contract. Polly, however, foils his efforts, with the help of Kennelly and his agent Hap Hapgood. At one point, Hap calls Kennelly an Irishman. Keswick (Double Indemnity). He is the General Fidelity insurance company’s corporation lawyer. He connives with Shapiro, head of its legal department, and with its president Norton and its claim investigator Keyes, to plot for their agent Walter Huff to escape after Huff confesses to Keyes that he killed Herbert S. Nirdlinger. Keyes (Double Indemnity). He is the head of the Claim Department of the General Fidelity insurance company which also employs agent Walter Huff. Described as big, fat, and peevish, he is also “a wolf” in smelling cases of insurance fraud. Huff falls in love with Phyllis Nirdlinger, sells her husband an accident policy with a double-indemnity clause, and murders him to free and enrich Phyllis. Keyes pursues a wrong track until Huff, wounded by Phyllis, confesses, after which Keyes connives with his superiors so that Huff can escape. Cain heightens the drama by having Keyes, experienced and canny, dislike young Norton, who has inherited the company from his father and is theoretically educated but inept and timid, and also by having Keyes like Huff reluctantly. Huff says “he don’t,” whereas Keyes says “that doesn’t.” John T.

Kelin

108

Irwin explains Keyes’s function in the novel thus: “The particular way Huff chooses to show he’s smarter than the boss can only demonstrate that fact, of course, if the boss is never allowed to realize that superiority. And if one of the reasons Huff explains his plan to Phyllis in such detail is his desire to have at least one other person at this point know of his cleverness, then one of the reasons he includes those detailed discussions in his confession to Keyes is that he wants the plan’s ingenuity appreciated by a professional.” Paul Skenazy suggests that “Huff ’s civilized, business self — his superego— is represented ... by Keyes, ... a father ﬁgure to Huff.” Claire Johnston opines that in the movie version of Double Indemnity, Keyes, to whom Neff addresses his dictaphonic confession, is “symbolic father and idealized father,” whose “unshakeable access to the truth, to knowledge, resides in his phallic attribute, his ‘little man,’ which, by a process necessitated by censoring mechanisms, ‘ties knots in his stomach,’ enabling him to spot a phoney claim instantly.” Johnston adds that the “very name” Keyes epitomizes “[h]is knowledge of the laws of mathematical probability,” meaning that he quickly suspects the adulterous pair of plotting murder for an insurance payoff. However, it should be added that in the novel Keyes’s original suspicions are false. (Irwin, 75; Johnston, 90 –91, 91; Skenazy, 37) In Jealous Woman, Keyes, given the ﬁrst name Robert, gets involved in Reno, generally in opposition to agent Ed Horner, and with Connie Sperry, whom Keyes quickly begins to love even while being rightly suspicious of her. After Keyes brings Jane Delavan’s maid Harriet Jenkins into the ﬁnale, Faith Converse tries to shoot guilty Connie; Keyes disarms her, and Connie kills herself with Faith’s .38. Kelin, Donald (The Institute). He is a real-estate agent employed by Lloyd to rent ﬂoors not needed in the building where the Institute is housed. King (Rainbow’s End). This is the name of a family in Clarksburg, West Virginia. It is “not healthy” for members of the Giles family of Fairmont and Flint, West Virginia, to approach a King. Kingdom by the Sea. Novel on which Cain worked late in his life. Roy Hoopes writes confusingly about its plot. First he says it concerns “a young man who marries an older woman”; then he says that it is about a boy who returns home to his family and that “importance is attached to the youngish mother, a singer and dancer, to the son.” The work was rejected by Knopf (1970). (Hoopes, 33, 39, 511, 637) Kirby (Cloud Nine). He was Graham Kirby’s father. A Prince Georges County real-estate agent, he died when Graham was eight. Kirby, Graham (Cloud Nine). He is the narrator.

His father, a Maryland real-estate agent, died when Graham was eight. He disliked his stepfather, Harrison Stuart, who married Graham’s widowed mother; so she let her friend Jane Sibert raise him more happily. After going to Yale, Graham, now 30 and stalwart, has become a brilliant real-agent agent in Prince George’s County, employing three salesmen, a secretary, and a switchboard operator. When vivacious Sonja Lang, 16, tells Graham that his halfbrother Burwell Stuart raped her and got her pregnant, he befriends her, marries her after she has a miscarriage. Graham’s and Burl’s mother gets involved but doesn’t know what to think. Moreover, Graham’s marriage annoys Jane, who, though 15 years older than he, has long wished to marry him; so she cuts him out of her will. Burl marries Jane for her money. Sonja enlightens her as to the truth. Burl seeks to violate Sonja again, make Graham witness the assault, then kill him. Sonja, however, saves the day by stabbing Burl to death. “Gramie,” as his doting mother and then Sonja call Graham, is a puzzling character. He is professionally successful and a sexual athlete, but a wimp compared to Sonja. Picking up on Burl’s hint that Graham has homosexual tendencies, Paul Skenazy makes this quite possibly outrageous statement: “And though Kirby is clearly sexually capable, Burl’s accusation has a disconcerting unconscious truth to it that Cain seems completely unaware of.” Now, really, can a critic know more about a novelist’s character than the novelist does? (Skenazy, 129). Kirby, Sonja (Cloud Nine). See Lang, Sonja. Knight, Marion (Rainbow’s End). He is a representative of the state attorney’s ofﬁce in Marietta. He works tactfully with Edgren, Mantle, and others in their investigation of hijacker Shaw’s death, Jill Kreeger’s supposedly concealing Shaw’s ransom money, and other assorted problems. Cain describes Knight as resembling “a college professor” (i.e., obviously smooth, sophisticated, articulate, etc.). Koehler, Miss (The Institute). She is Lloyd’s secretary at the Institute. Hortense hires her for untrustworthy Lloyd because she is a gray-haired, middleaged woman with glasses. Kramer, Mrs. (Mildred Pierce). She is a competent and loyal cook whom Mildred hires as her restaurant business expands. Kratzer, Ed (The Moth). He is a mechanic in Jack’s father Patrick Dillon’s garage. Kreeger, Jill (Rainbow’s End). She is a beautiful airline stewardess. When Shaw hijacks the plane she is on, demands, and receives a $100,000 and a parachute, Jill pushes him out but he grabs her. The two

109 land in a river near where Dave Howell lives. Dave shoots Shaw in self-defense and initially comforts injured but sensuous Jill. Ensuing trouble involves Jill’s attitude toward Dave’s supposed Mom (Myra Giles Howell), Jill’s being suspected of concealing the loot, her being represented by attorney James J. Bledsoe, her meeting Dave’s real mother Myra Giles, Jill’s love-hate relationship with Dave, and her confrontation with Mom’s brother Sid Giles. Kubic (Jealous Woman). He is an assistant state’s attorney, and accompanies Lindstrom, a police ofﬁcer, when he questions Jane Delavan about her bracelet. Kugler, Mr. (Serenade). This is a person whom John Howard Sharp calls a restaurant to page, knowing he is ﬁctitious. When someone calls John back, John says he’s sorry he can’t get Mr. Kugler some opera tickets. All this conﬁrms his suspicions that the police are tailing him. Kuhn, John (The Magician’s Wife). He is a competent state’s attorney, digniﬁed and in his 40s. He tears into Busty Buster’s perjured testimony that she saw Sally Gorsuch kill her husband Alec Gorsuch by driving him off the road. Kuhn, Major General (“The Taking of Montfaucon”). He orders the narrator to deliver a message to Brigadier General Nicholson. Kurt (Mildred Pierce). See Frieda.

L La Bouche, Gerland (Sinful Woman). He is the production manager of Dmitri Spiro’s Phoenix movie company. He is often at troubled Spiro’s side. Spiro calls him “Bushy.” Lahr, Morris (Serenade). He manages a concert series and a few singers. John Howard Sharp meets him at the Hollywood Bowl, likes him, and says Lahr is typical of many similar unsung professionals who do more for music than others in the industry do who are ﬂashier. Lamson, Josephine (The Moth). Miss Lamson is Helen Legg’s teacher at Sarah Read School, in Baltimore. Helen and Jack agree she is a dope. Jack tutors Helen in arithmetic to show her up. When Helen defeats Willie Saunders in a radio show featuring math problems, she praises Miss Lamson, who feels important. Cain, who has no reason to ridicule this teacher, says she is about 60, is dowdy, wears a “rusty” coat, and giggles. Landry, Adolphe (Mignon). He is a Louisiana busi-

Lang

nessman and widowed Mignon Fournet’s father. Landry, about 50, is well educated and physically strong. He works with corrupt Frank Burke to buy and sell cotton in war-torn New Orleans and Alexandria. They attempt to use Bill, who is in New Orleans initially to establish a construction ﬁrm but who soon falls in love with Mignon. Landry vacillates between supporting and defying Union regulations, and between wanting and despising money. In the end, Landry, Burke, and Mignon try to sabotage Bill’s effort to dam the Red River to aid Union naval forces. The result is that Union Captain Seymour shoots both Burke and Landry, and that Mignon drowns. Lang, Louis (Cloud Nine). He is Sonja’s father. He and his wife live in University Park, Maryland. Their daughter is Sonja Lang. He is a teller in the Farmers’ Trust Bank and is blustery and ineffectual. When Burwell Stuart rapes Sonja, Lang is more concerned about extorting money than about justice. Lang, Mrs. (Cloud Nine). She is Louis Lang’s downto-earth wife and Sonja’s mother. Mrs. Lang works in a furniture store in the University Park Plaza. Lang, Sonja (Cloud Nine). She is a peppy, pretty girl, 16. She gets raped and impregnated by sleazy Burwell Stuart and appeals to his half-brother Graham Kirby for help. They fall in love. Her father wants to extort money from Burl. She would prefer to marry Graham and get everyone off the hook. Graham agrees. She has a miscarriage. Though therefore not needing to do so, Graham marries her. Two women complicate matters. They are Graham’s mother Edith Stuart, widowed, remarried, widowed again; and Graham’s informal foster mother Jane Sibert. Sonja sees that Graham and his mother dote on each other, and soon learns that Jane, who has long wished to marry Graham, is angered. Jane cuts Graham from her will and marries Burl. Sonja straightens her out as to Burl’s depravity but almost too late. Burl arms himself, gets the drop on Graham and Sonja, slugs and immobilizes Graham, and plans to rape Sonja, make Graham helplessly watch, then kill him. Sonja prevents all this by stabbing Burl dead with an icepick. Throughout the action, Sonja relishes abundant sex with impossibly virile Graham on their billowy pillowy Cloud Nine mattresses, denies him because of his actions and suspected actions, but ﬁnally rerelishes. Like Graham, Sonja is bewilderingly characterized. She is musically talented, sexually provocative but occasionally demure, and both willing to take advice and stubbornly independent. She also loves to smell Graham’s body odor and responds ecstatically to his bedtime staying power. A ﬁne cook, she eats like an anaconda but eschews alcohol.

Larkin

110

She combines snappy articulateness and hillbilly mispronunciations. Ultimately, she tops his occasional wimpiness. Paul Skenazy doesn’t give true love a break; instead, viz-a-viz Graham and Sonja, he tut-tuts at “the near pederasty of the adult male succumbing to the sexual wiles of a sixteen-year-old.” (Skenazy, 128) Larkin, Paul (“Brush Fire”). He is a 22-year-old tramp working as a ﬁreﬁghter in California. When fellow-worker Ike Pendleton doesn’t answer a roll call, Paul remembers last seeing him near a brush ﬁre, ﬁnds him overcome by smoke, and rescues him. Later that same day, which is Sunday, Paul has a pleasant walk with a pretty girl encountered among a crowd of visitors. They kiss, return hours later. Toward evening, after supper, Paul sees Ike about to attack the same girl, realizes she is Ike’s estranged wife, nevertheless instinctively comes to her rescue. Ike stabs Paul, who kills him with a shovel and is led off by the police. A reporter gleefully seeks a telephone to send in a unique scoop. Lavadeau (Mignon). He has a dress and costume shop in New Orleans. Mignon Fournet and Veronique Michaud, among others, work there. Layton, George M. (Sinful Woman). He is the local agent of the Southwest General Insurance Company of North America. He is red-haired, has freckles, and becomes aggressive when there are difﬁculties connected with Vicki Adlerkreutz’s insurance policies, payable to Vicki’s divorced wife Sylvia Shoreham when they come due if and when Vicki dies— which he does. Layton tries to bribe Ethel, a blackjack dealer in Tony Rico’s Galloping Domino. Layton and his superior, R. P. Gans of Los Angeles, ultimately pay up. Lee (Past All Dishonor). See Cam. Legg (The Moth). He is the father of Margaret and Helen Legg. He owns the Cartaret Hotel in Baltimore and boasts about “who-all” slept there. He hires Jack as room clerk, wants him to advance in the hotel business, and expects him to marry Margaret. Jack turns his back on the opportunity. The Leggs sell their hotel and then live comfortably. They are surprised when Jack returns from California and then from army duty in France. Legg, Helen (The Moth). She is Margaret Legg’s younger sister. Jack, when 22, likes her instinctively and gives her presents. Helen, 12 then, ﬁnds arithmetic tough; so he tutors her on Saturdays. When he escapes safe marriage to Margaret, he continues to think fondly of Helen. During the war, Helen is a Navy lieutenant nurse. She and Jack meet again, in Savannah, in 1945, and enjoy a drive to Charleston. At this time, he doesn’t recognize her but is in-

stantly attracted to her. Home again, Jack ﬁnds that the unnamed nurse is Helen. They elope. David Madden notes that Helen has been Jack’s “nymphet” until, when he returns home, he ﬁnds that she “has grown up” and therefore “his wish comes true.” (Madden 1970, 63) Legg, Margaret (The Moth). She is a little older than Jack, and is one of his Baltimore friends during their childhood. She has a younger sister, Helen. Jack and Margaret get tentatively intimate at her New Year’s Eve party at her father’s Cartaret Hotel. He is expected to marry her but doesn’t. She marries Denny Deets, sees Jack again when Denny starts working for Jack’s oil-rich friend Hannah Branch in California, and returns to Baltimore to try, with no success, to organize Helen’s marriage to Jack. Legg, Mrs. (The Moth). She is the mother of Margaret and Helen Legg. Jack ﬁnds her “cold.” When Jack and Margaret are about to get intimate in her Baltimore hotel “studio,” her mother appears. She and her husband hope that Jack will marry Margaret, but he prefers to leave town. When Jack returns years later to Baltimore, he ﬁnds Helen and will marry her. Legrand, Pierre (Mignon). He is a veteran of the French navy. Frank Burke met him in Mexico and hired him to be his “gippo.” In New Orleans, he protects and otherwise aids Burke. Pierre is tattooed and loyal, and resembles a gorilla — hairy, squat, and with bandy legs. Marie Tremaine’s luring Pierre out of Burke’s room enables Bill to search it. Burke orders Pierre to shoot Lieutenant Powell and then Bill. He kills Powell, but Bill kills him. Leighton, Jack (Career in C Major). He is an inﬂuential friend of use to Doris Borland. Lenhardt, Bugs (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). He is one of Solomon Caspar’s thuggish henchmen. Vacanteyed, young, and small, he participates in Dick Delany’s abduction and murder. Lenhardt, John (Mildred Pierce). He is a movie director. Veda Pierce meets him through her friendship with an actress named Elaine. Veda boasts to her mother that “Pa” Lenhardt was eager to give her a screen test, “Ma” Lenhardt entertained her daily, and “Sonny boy” Forrester, Mrs. Lenhardt’s son Sam by a previous marriage, phoned her constantly. Lenhardt, Mrs. (Mildred Pierce). She was Mrs. Forrester when Mildred applied at her mansion for work. Tall and falsely gracious, she offends Mildred, who refuses the offer to become her housekeeper. Mrs. Forrester was reorganizing a mansion for John Lenhardt, the movie director, before marrying him. Later, Mildred meets up with the stuffy woman again, now Mrs. John Lenhardt, when Mildred’s daughter

111

Lockwood

Veda is successfully blackmailing Sam Forrester, her spoiled son.

eventually becomes friendly with the latter. Ed Horner describes Lindstrom as having “a Swede grin.”

Leonard, Mort (Cloud Nine). He is Jane Sibert’s lawyer and is prepared to redo her will.

Lindy (The Root of His Evil). This is the name of a Manhattan restaurant. Holden tells a group of Karb waitresses that he and Carrie will meet them at Lindy’s but has no intention of doing so.

Letty (Mildred Pierce). She is a woman whom Mildred hires to help her make pies for sale. Letty is her loyal and trustworthy servant and restaurant helper over the years. Levinson (Mildred Pierce). He is an attorney and is the brother of Veda Pierce’s agent Moe Levinson. Levinson, Moe (Mildred Pierce). He is Veda Pierce’s agent, in his late 20s. Calling himself Moe and being called “Levy,” he puts Veda under contract to sing on the radio to advertise mentholated cigarettes called Pleasant, for $500 a week. When Hobey, Monty Beragon’s friend, tries to hire Veda away at $2,500 a week, Levinson slaps and threatens her. Later, Veda gets her contract with Levinson voided by pretending to have lost her voice. Cain clearly dislikes Levinson, describing him as small, pudgy, pasty, squinting, and smoking cigars. Lewis (The Embezzler). See Halligan. Lida (The Moth). She is Jack Dillon’s secretary when, as an oil man, he has an ofﬁce in the Jergins Trust Building in Long Beach. Lida (“Pastorale”). She is a town girl so tired of menial work that she marries an allegedly well-to-do old farmer. Lida’s boyfriend Burbie and his friend Hutch kill the old man. Hutch wants his money, and Burbie wants Lida to be free. When the money is only $23, Hutch is irate and orders Burbie to decapitate the corpse to wrap as a present for Lida. Hutch drowns trying to recover the head, which has been tossed in a creek by Burbie, who is arrested for murder and gets religious while awaiting execution. Lida visits him in prison. Lieberman (Cloud Nine). He is a neighbor of Graham Kirby’s. He happens to witness Burwell Stuart’s attempt to injure Graham when he is hanging onto Burl’s car. Lina (The Moth). She is a girl that Jack and Denny ﬂirt with, along with her girlfriend the boys nickname Fats. Lina encourages Jack, who tells her he is 19, to have sex with him at her brother’s shack near the beach. He is unable to do so, and she reviles him as a “pup.” Linda (Jealous Woman). She is Ed Horten’s loyal secretary and takes care of his phone calls and persons coming into his ofﬁce. Lindstrom (Jealous Woman). He is a police ofﬁcer who investigates the death of Richard Sperry. He questions Jane Delavan and Harriet Jenkins, and

Ling (Double Indemnity). He is a Chinese food salesman from whom Phyllis Nirdlinger tells Huff she buys ingredients when she makes chow mein. Huff says he knows Mr. Ling. Lippert, Sol (Galatea). He is a racketeer and a crooked liquor salesman eager to do business with restaurant-owner Valenty, whose wife Holly ﬂirts with him. Duke, who loves her, slugs him almost fatally, and, along with others, lies to discredit poor Solly’s honest testimony. Duke describes Lippert as about 30, “citiﬁed,” and with an “eyebrow mustache.” Lipsky, Boogie-Woogie (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). See Dubois, Mort. Liza (“The Birthday Party”). She is the cook for Bur well Hope’s family. Although Burwell pretends he isn’t hungry, she serves him a great deal of food, which he eats. Lizette (The Magician’s Wife). She is an English woman hired by Sally Gorsuch to care for her son Elly. Llowndes (The Enchanted Isle). He is a member of the Baltimore law ﬁrm Digges, Clawson, and Llowndes. Lockwood, Clay (The Magician’s Wife). He was born in Trenton, New Jersey, educated at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, and is now a skillful meat salesman working out of Channel City, Maryland, a branch ofﬁce of Pat Grant’s company, headquartered in Mankato, Minnesota. Clay falls in love with Sally Gorsuch, wants her to divorce her magicianhusband Alec and marry him. Instead, she gets Clay to kill Alec, although Alec’s girlfriend Busty Buster escapes from the fatal car accident. Clay soon falls in love with Grace Simone, Sally’s mother. They marry and, promoted to president of Grant’s company, tour its branch ofﬁces. Busty Buster is indicted for Alec’s murder but is pardoned. Sally plans to “get” Buster; but Clay confesses, kills Sally, and commits suicide. Clay is one of Cain’s most puzzling characters. Although — or perhaps because — he has a sound business mind, thoughts attributed to him include a stream of clichés. Three examples are “on the beam,” “behind the eight ball,” and “neat as a pin.” He is alternately conﬁdent and unsure, conceited and self-deprecating, blustering and tongue-tied. These traits come out in numerous interior monologues, printed in italics.

Lockwood

112

Paul Skenazy complains that “Cain is so uncertain of his storytelling skill that he inserts a series of paragraphs in italics in which he has Lockwood soliloquize on events to make sure one realizes his state of mind.” (Skenazy, 122) Lockwood, Grace (The Magician’s Wife). See Simone, Grace. Lola (Past All Dishonor). She is a Mexican prostitute working for Biloxi, a madam in Virginia City. She is Reiner’s special girl. Loma, Carlos (Sinful Woman). He works as stick man for Dawson at the Monte Carlo. Loma and Hazel Shoreham rendezvous for sexual encounters at Bill’s Place, Hollister’s Dude Ranch, and Hack Schultz’s mountain camp. Lomack (The Magician’s Wife). See Gordon. Lomak, Art (“Cigarette Girl”). He is a Baltimore musician who thinks some musicians working at a honkytonk called Here’s How, just outside Washington, D.C., have plagiarized a song he wrote. He sends his friend Bill Cameron, an accomplished musician, to check. London (Serenade). He is a movie producer working under Rex Gold, a powerful Hollywood studio president. Lorentz, Hugo (Career in C Major). He is an Austrian-American singing teacher, about 40. He is enamored of Doris Borland, who, despite having little ability as a singer and being self-absorbed, is able to keep Lorentz, among other men, interested in her. Lorl Patrot (Mignon). This is the name [translation, “Loyal Patriot”] Burke uses to sign two phony letters to the commanding general of Union-occupied New Orleans. In the letters, he tries to implicate Landry in dishonest trading. Bill exposes Burke’s subterfuge. Lorna (The Root of His Evil). This is the name of the sister of Pa Selden, who with his wife accepted Carrie when she was six months old. When Carrie was 15, Pa lost his farm to Lorna, who was paying the mortgage. Pa and Ma lived with Lorna, who, however, had disapproved of their adopting Carrie and she was put out. Carrie calls her Aunt Lorna. Loudet (The Root of His Evil). Loudet, Caterer, provides a lavish lunch basket when Grant takes Carrie out sailing near Port Washington. Love’s Lovely Counterfeit (novel, 1942). (Characters: Mrs. Bleeker, Oliver Hedge Bleeker, Jack Brady, James Joseph Bresnahan, Joseph P. Cantrell, Mrs. Cantrell, Franklin Caspar, Maria Caspar, S.

Cartogensis, Sol Caspar, Conley, Roscoe Darnat, Bill Delany, Dick Delany, Chief Dietz, Mort Dubois, Hovey Dunne, Lefty Gauss, Ben Grace, Giulio, Hal, Henry Hardcastle, Buck Harper, Bob Herndon, Miss Herndon, Magistrate Himmelhaber, Frankie Horizon, Guy Horner, Miss Houston, Irene, Jacks, Mrs. Jansen, Olaf Jansen, Bugs Lenhardt, Boogie-Woogie Lipsky, Dorothy Lyons, June Lyons, Mrs. Lyons, Mayor Maddux, Myers, Nerny, Sheriff Orcutt, Roberts, Dr. Ronde, Arch Rossi, Mrs. Rossi, Wiener, Yates.) Chapter 1. Ben Grace, tall and also muscular from having played professional football, and with a hernia preventing military service, reports to crooked Sol Caspar—real name, Salvatore Gasparro—in his ofﬁce in the Columbus Hotel, which Caspar owns here in Lake City. In one big room Sol orders Ben, mostly his discontented chauffeur, to skim half the loot from a robbery he has ordered to take place at nearby Castleton this nice May day. Ben must also spy on a political meeting held by Jansen, a rival for the coming mayoral election against Mayor Maddux, crooked incumbent and Sol’s associate. Ben complains that he dislikes rough stuff. Mrs. Sol Caspar appears brieﬂy, bringing their son Franklin, age 4 and having just seen the dentist. Sol gripes that Jansen is backed by rich, polo-playing Bill Delany of Chicago. Ben leaves with Lefty Gauss, an ex-con, along with Bugs Lenhardt, both Sol’s thugs. Ben and Lefty stop for beer. [Cain provides hints here and later that the locale is not Los Angeles, which he originally wanted, but a ﬁctitious Midwestern city.] Since Jansen’s rally, at the John Dewey High School, isn’t until 7:00 P.M., Ben has time for a Ginger Rogers movie at Lake City’s RKO, then freshens up in his modest Lucas Hotel room, has dinner at the Savoy Grill, gets a satchel at the Columbus, proceeds to a bookmaking joint in the Coolidge Hotel, accepts Sol’s cut, and seals and returns the satchel to the Columbus. [Ginger Rogers (1911–1995), versatile actress, starred in one 1941 movie and four more in 1942 (Katz, 1172–1173). Ben attends Jansen’s meeting at the high school. Maddux’s machine is ridiculed. Jansen mildly explains that he got into the race when Sol tried to organize the drivers of Jansen’s milk trucks. Miss June Lyons, about 25, trim and pretty, speaks forcefully and urges potential voters to register, devote time and money to the cause, and vote on May 7. The winner will assume ofﬁce July 1. Ben takes notes in a little red book. The crowd disperses. Ben follows Jansen’s car and also takes down information on two other cars, their owners, and their passengers: Jansen’s chairman Conley, Bleeker, running for city attorney, and Mrs. Bleeker. By 2:00 A.M. Ben drives to Ike’s Place, a

113 joint four miles out of town, where Sol is the loud center of a party including Lefty, Bugs, another goon named Goose Groner, and two girls. Ben checks a newspaper: Castleton robbery, $22,000 stolen by four kids, cashier killed. Groner tells Ben that Sol wants him. The two argue, until Ben sarcastically says he followed Jansen’s associates uselessly, because Delany wasn’t among them. One girl, eyeing Ben with interest, laughs—until Groner’s whispered talk scares her. Sol grufﬂy asks Ben to give him the license plate number on Jansen’s car. After copying it from his book, Ben dog-ears the page dated April 29. [This date appears to be meaningless.] Chapter 2. Next day Sol tells Ben he checked Jansen’s license plate—from Illinois—phoned Chicago, where much money is, and learned Jansen is really Frankie Horizon, tight with Delany. Ben chats with Lefty, morose because one kid from the heist was shot when escaping by a bank guard, is dying and raving, and his three pals may “conk” him into silence. Lefty, involved, fears reimprisonment. Ben yawns. When alone, he phones June Lyons. By secret prearrangement, Ben locates and gets into June’s car but doesn’t tell her who he is. He says he has something her candidate Jansen can use to defeat Mayor Maddux and Sol. She prefers money but is offered “dirt,” complete with names. The four Castleton bank robbers are being hidden by Sol in the Globe Hotel; Rossi, one of them, was shot and is dying. June, boasting of having gone to law school, says using such information in Jansen’s campaign would be “criminal libel.” Ben scoffs. She blushes. That evening Ben happens to listen to the radio: Jansen’s next rally is on; June reports that the four Castleton bank bandits, whom she names, having killed the cashier, are hiding in Lake City’s Globe Hotel, and Chief Dietz and Solly Caspar are protecting them. A cop starts to leave the rally to go phone his bosses; June says not to bother, she’s already alerted Castleton’s detective force. Ben, “exultant,” checks outside. Not followed, he goes to “a Tracy picture at the Rialto.” [Spencer Tracy (1900 –1967), durable and versatile actor, starred in one 1941 movie and two more in 1942. (Katz, 1366)] When Ben returns to his Lucas Hotel, the night clerk signals that he has a phone call. It’s June. He says he’ll call her back, hangs up, is worried: June knows who and where he is. At 1:00 A.M. Ben drives to June’s modest apartment. She greets him in lounge pajamas. He is irate that she carelessly called him at his hotel, says Sol shoots to kill, but is reassured that she found his name on an envelope he left in her car and has revealed it to no one. She wants credit for exposing Maddux and Sol on the radio, explains she’s from Ohio, went to law school there, heard about a law job in Lake City with the Wiener, Jacks, and Myers ﬁrm, learned about

Love’s

Jansen through handling some of his claims, but needs extra money—for unrevealed (family?) problems. Ben, convinced she’s practical about money but idealistic concerning reformer-politician Jansen, promises more “dirt” exposing Sol. They’ll “wallop” him together. Lake City’s newspapers name Miss June Lyons, say her charges will be checked, blast Castleton cops for nabbing three gunmen at the Globe in Lake City. It seems someone took the wounded one away ﬁrst. Ben resists hugging June, advises her to demand bodyguards for herself from the Jansen group, and hints at “more dirt” tomorrow. Chapter 3. At breakfast, Lefty tells Ben that a Delany man took Rossi from the Globe to the Columbus to embarrass Sol; that war will follow between Delany and Sol, who doesn’t suspect Ben, though Lefty does; Delany gets a share of rackets here and wouldn’t interfere with Sol. Ben says Lefty would kill him, not warn him, if he were suspected of tipping off June Lyons. Agreeing they’re both worried, they go have some beer. June phones Ben about 9:00 A.M. at his hotel, says Delany’s “boy” who took Rossi to the Columbus is now with Jansen, who has driven him to June’s place. Ben talks to the polite, scared fellow; he is Bob Herndon, grooms Bill Delany’s horses, knows Rossi from school days. Rossi phoned him he’d been in a car accident; Herndon went to the Globe, was told by three guys to get Rossi far away; at the Columbus, Herndon realized Rossi was shot and needed Sol’s protection, but heard Sol’s hotel manager Henry Hardcastle identify Rossi as a Castleton robber. Ben confers on June’s phone with Herndon, tells June, back on the phone, to have Jansen take Herndon to the Castleton police, because luckily Sol will blame Delany for everything. Next, Ben phones the Pioneer newspaper that Arch Rossi can be found at Castleton, with Sol Caspar hot after him but with Jansen protecting him. As Ben and Lefty, in Sol’s big ofﬁce, are reading Pioneer’s ace-reporter James Joseph Bresnahan’s scoop, various Lake City ofﬁcials stream in. The papers say that special-correspondent Dick Delany will go interview his brother Bill Delany, who, though younger and ﬂashy, is the family brains. Lefty tells Ben that, if Sol ﬁgures Bill Delany is behind Sol’s trouble, then sending Dick to interview is “the dumbest play,” because Dick’s report will be a cover-up; but if Sol “got it wrong,” then sending Dick would be “perfect ... for him [Bill] to talk to.” The Pioneer reports Bill’s rise from Jardine stable “hustler” to betting successfully at the tracks to his polo-playing and club activities. Lefty upsets Ben by saying that there’s more that’s hidden. Jansen’s rally at Pioneer Park is jammed with thousands. Ben drives Sol in his armored car, guarded by Goose and Bugs. Sol shouts that money pledged to

Love’s

114

Jansen will buy expensive funerals. June speaks into the loudspeaker: Arch Rossi, reported on by Bresnahan, is staying at your hotel, the Columbus, Mr. Caspar; she called the hotel and pretended that Bob Herndon, Rossi’s pal, wished to speak to Rossi. Photographers crowd Sol’s car for pictures; Ben quickly backs out. Bugs tells Ben that Rossi can’t remain in the Columbus and Sol must “get rid” of him. Soon, cocky Sol emerges from the hotel and starts smoking in the car. Cop cars come and go, without Rossi. Sol orders Ben to drive him and Bugs to Memorial Boulevard, “wink” the headlights and approach another car. Lefty rushes up, “wail[s]” that “they’ve plugged him,” and falls sobbing. Sol puts Bugs’s gun to Lefty’s mouth, and obscenely forces him to shape up—or else. Sol confers with Bugs and Lefty, returns to Ben, and orders him to drive to Reservoir Street. Another car appears. Ben hears mutters and scraping sounds. Lefty gets in, and Sol orders Ben to drive them to Ike’s Place. Sol is already there with two girls; Lefty drinks beer; Ben plays pinball. At dawn Ben phones June. Rossi has been “knocked off,” and they must ﬁnd him. Chapter 4. At 7:00 Ben drives June in his car to the Reservoir, ﬁnds workers doing land ﬁll. June tells a foreman she lost her watch here last night, but the angry fellow complains that someone stole a barrel and mixed some cement in a wheelbarrow. Ben and June ﬁnd nothing. At 8:00 P.M. Maddux gives a radio speech lambasting his opponent as hopeless with no evidence concerning any supposed Arch Rossi. Lefty tells Ben that Sol wrote part of the speech. Agreeing with self-assured Lefty that Maddux and Sol are “in” again, Ben retires but suddenly has an idea. Ben picks June up at 5:30 A.M., explains that Rossi is in cement in a barrel to be sunk in deep water. They go to Lake Koquabit, search from where a car might be driven close to water, ﬁnd no tracks, then ﬁgure the barrel was rolled off the bridge connecting an inlet to the lake. They ﬁnd tell-tale zig-zag marks. Ben drives with June to a nearby shack he knows is Sol’s. He dresses in shorts, and they paddle Sol’s canoe. He dives at the marked spot. Up shivering. No luck. She undresses to pants and brassiere, dives neatly, comes up with a barrel hoop and some wet cement. Back at a shack, they dress, then drive to “a barb-q place,” where he gets hot dogs and coffee, which they wolf down. June says Jansen’s last rally will be at Municipal Stadium tonight. Ben will alert the Pioneer only that Rossi’s body has been located. This will “build up the crowd” for June. Chapter 5. Sol, with his sad-looking wife Maria, hosts associates in his big room at the Columbus. Included are Ben, Lefty, Bugs, Goose, Inspector Can-

trell and his big blonde girlfriend Irene, Sol’s whitecoated barber Giulio, and a bellboy with accordion and tenor voice. Sol orders him to sing “the Miserere” from Il Trovatore [opera (1852) by Giuseppe Verdi (1813 –1901)]. At 8:00 P.M. they turn the radio on to Jansen’s broadcast from the Municipal Stadium. Sol jocosely looks for missing Rossi under the piano, etc.; Irene’s guffaws. After her customary introductory remarks, June says she talked with the distraught mother of wounded robber Arch Rossi, age 19; says his friend Herndon took him to the Columbus, only to have Sol Caspar seize $11,000 of the loot and have Rossi taken away and shot; says his body is in a barrel at the Koquabit Narrows. She mentions having a barrel hoop and wet cement. Sol turns mum; Cantrell listens, looks at Sol; Lefty and Goose look at Sol. Ben and Bugs look at each other, manifestly ignorant. Giulio and Irene stare ignorantly at Mrs. Caspar, who knows nothing but guesses every thing. Cantrell orders Sol out with him; Mrs. Caspar follows. Others leave. Ben is alone, jumpy. Lefty returns, admits he formerly suspected Ben but now knows Ben couldn’t know about Koquabit, startles Ben by saying Rossi wasn’t dumped there, says Sol, wife, and son are already ﬂying out of the country. Next day, Sunday, Sheriff Orcutt of adjacent Quartz County supervises a team of divers as they get to the Koquabit bridge section that June has pointed out. They prepare to bring up the barrel encasing Rossi’s body. Some hundred thousand people are there, in cars, boats, and afoot. Ben and June position themselves separately to watch. The diver hoists a barrel with Dick Delany, not Rossi, in it. [Ex-reporter Cain takes four pages to present this sensational event, with sarcastic ﬂourishes.] Jansen wins the election. That night Ben is driving June somewhere to celebrate. Their ﬁrst time together since their diving ﬁasco. June, ﬂirtatious but seemingly inexperienced, tells Ben, also maybe having “been around very little,” that she knows a nice place. He reveals the following: Ben wanted only to “[g]et back at Caspar”; Maddux tried to commit suicide but was revived to concede to Jansen; only Lefty, scared he’ll be indicted about “the Delany thing,” remains at the now morgue-like Columbus; Sol will be indicted; Rossi’s body hasn’t been found, and he’s forgotten; Lefty revealed he and others snatched Dick Delany but when they were switching cars “on Memorial” he tried to escape and was shot; Lefty tried to tell Sol somebody got plugged; thus, Ben, unsuspected, and June got right barrel but wrong corpse. June says she’s tight with Jansen, who’s offering her a job and would also hire Ben. He declines, saying he’s got “dough saved up.” June says Jansen’s hiring unsavory Ben could cause gossip, drives him to Sol’s shack, enters with him, and they kiss.

115 Ben drops June off at her place, but ﬁnds Jansen’s car parked nearby and records its license number in his notebook. Chapter 6. Ben sees June several nights, but grows suspicious and cool. Sunday night she looks wan. He asks if it’s family trouble again. She admits she’s supporting her kid sister Dorothy, 22, in college; Dorothy’s roommate stole items in other dormitories, hid them in their room, got searched and caught, and must pay $200—“or else.” Ben tells June to get a loan from Jansen. June says he’s making her Chief of Social Service and she mustn’t abuse the privilege. Ben says he has seen Jansen’s car near her place, accuses her of being “stuck” on Jansen, whose wife is in a sanitarium. June pleads innocence. Ben says he has $2,000, offers her $200, and admits Jansen made him improperly jealous. Praising Ben, June kisses him “exaltedly.” Ben gets her to admit Dorothy was the thief, says he’ll wire $200 to June by tomorrow, in return asks her to make Jansen appoint as chief of police Cantrell, a superb police ofﬁcial brieﬂy caught up with Sol Caspar. Refusing, June calls Cantrell “a dirty crook.” Yawning, Ben says he’ll seek employment in Castleton tomorrow, before the bank opens. She snarls that Ben won’t be working with Cantrell and taking over Lake City. He says, “OK. Sorry about Dorothy.” At the hotel Ben ﬁnds morose Lefty. When asked, Ben gives him $50, inquires what Sol paid him, learns it was $18 per risky week, and hires Lefty at $25. Happy Lefty guesses Ben informed against Sol. Chapter 7. Physically misshapen Joe Cantrell, not yet dismissed from ofﬁce, greets Ben. They banter— until Ben, determined to domineer him, searches him, tells him to get his feet off the desk, boasts he can make Cantrell chief of police under Jansen. Cantrell doubts Ben is “thick” with Jansen, says he didn’t kowtow to Sol, now long absent. Ben says Sol did order Cantrell around, says all Cantrell needs to do is get called in by Jansen and he’ll be appointed acting chief to clean up Lake City in 24 hours. Ben goes to the ofﬁces of Oliver Hedge Bleeker, just elected Lake City’s attorney on Jansen’s coattails. Bleeker’s junior partner there is Yates. Ben explains he was forced to work for Sol Caspar, feared death otherwise, modestly lets Yates conclude that he leaked to June Lyons, explains Caspar raked off thousands with pinball machines played by gamblers in back rooms of drug stores, says such machines of chance are illegal but his planned 5,000 “amusement machines” featuring baseball and football and such “table imitations” of outside reality will be legal—provided Yates pressures Bleeker. After Ben threatens to take his plans elsewhere, Yates agrees to discuss “ethics” and “propriety” issues with Bleeker. [Paul Skenazy says the fuss about

Love’s

“the legality of pinball machines ... seem[s] ludicrous today.” (Skenazy, 90)] Jansen takes ofﬁce and appoints three reformers to a police board, which duly names Joseph P. Cantrell acting chief. A Federal grand jury indicts absent Caspar for income-tax violation; a county grand jury indicts him for Richard Delany’s murder. Patrolmen conﬁscate all the pinball machines in the city, which charges their owners with operating gambling devices that sadly corrupt minors. Terriﬁed druggists, cafe owners, and the like convene at the Fremont Hotel in response to postcard invitations signed by Benjamin L. Grace, of “the Lake City Amusement Device Operators’ Association.” Ben addresses the 2:00 P.M. gathering in Ballroom A, reserved for him by the Fremont Hotel, in which he now occupies lush rooms. Ben, formerly that “sniveling chauffeur,” is now partly efﬁcient speaker, but also partly barker. He distributes forms, explains details, and the frightened people register for membership in his organization and agree to accept and run his machines. Yates tells the crowd that he will legally defend them in one body when they appear at 4:00 today in the Hall of Justice to plead guilty to gambling charges. They proceed to Magistrate Himmelhaber’s court, listen as the sergeant reads the ﬁrst charge, against Roscoe Darmat. He pleads guilty and, at Yates’s prompting, explains how Sol Caspar made him accept one pinball machine after another — or else harm to his family would follow. Bleeker, also there as district attorney, says he won’t prosecute this throng of men, none of whom actually owns the machines, which he orders destroyed. The sergeant says the order is “already wrote.” Journalists photograph Cantrell, in pinstripe with carnation, poised with an axe to pulverize the ﬁrst of numerous pretty pinball machines housed at the Ninth Street police station. But Ben suggests that Cantrell can legally destroy any machine by simply blue-penciling it, as customs ofﬁcials did with the label on a perfume bottle he once brought from Juarez to El Paso. Cantrell agrees; Ben even gets him to sign that Ben’s rented trucks will have dumped by morning all the machines in the Reservoir Street land ﬁll. It’s all part of the clean-city mandate. About 9:00 P.M. Ben is at a certain warehouse. Men in a truck deliver the ﬁrst of many pinball machines supposedly destroyed. Ben asks a man named Roberts, waiting in a nice gabardine suit, if it’s true he can convert pinball machines into machines playing golf, baseball, etc. Roberts, at the ready, says the sticker indicating lucky-ball winnings of 5¢, etc., must come off; labels at various machine holes can indicate balls, strikes, hits, outs, etc.; explains players can be “Gi’nts” and “Dodgers.” Playing for the Giants, Ben shouts, “McPhail, show what you got.”

Love’s

116

[Evidently neither any McPhail nor any MacPhail ever played major-league baseball. However, a Leland Stanford MacPhail (1890–1987) does ﬁgure in baseball history. This colorful MacPhail passed the entrance examination for the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, but enrolled elsewhere, optioned the Columbus baseball team, sold it to the St. Louis Cardinals as a farm team, was ﬁred by the Cardinals for improprieties, managed the Cincinnati Reds, helped ﬁnance the Brooklyn Dodgers (1938), and arranged for play-by-play radio broadcasts of New York area baseball games played by the Dodgers, the Giants, and the Yankees (from 1938). MacPhail was a colonel in the army, became part-owner of the Yankees (1946–1947), was bought out. It may be only a coincidence that Cain was born in Annapolis and that Leland Stanford University ﬁgures in his Double Indemnity. MacPhail is a rare name. It ﬁgures in “The Man Who Stood in the Way” and “Nightmare Town,” both by Dashiell Hammett (1894 –1961), whom, however, Cain disliked and didn’t read, according to David Madden and Roy Hoopes, (Madden 1970, 115; Hoopes 1982, 213; Porter, 365 –366)] One midsummer evening Ben orders ﬁxings for Manhattans in the delightful living room of his hotel digs. June enters, attractively dressed and displaying “languid hauteur.” He hands her “a grand” in an envelope, her share of what they “are doing.” She says it’s “nice.” He says a better suite is available for her. When asked, she says her “social service” job is ﬁne but they could use more milk for sick kids; he promises to send a check. She admits she sees romantically inclined Jansen regularly. Suddenly calling this $1,000 “dirty,” she says kids with allowances or with paper routes waste money gambling on Ben’s amusement machines; to check, she played one for an hour, got a hole-in-one and a certiﬁcate, and Ben’s accountant Lefty in the Coolidge Hotel paid her $1 for it. When reviled, June admits she accepts dirty money for her sister Dorothy, whom she still supports but made take a summer-camp job and repay that $200 at $5 per week. Ben calls her dishonest with him, says no dinner tonight, orders her to leave permanently. With “her bottom switching,” she demands an apology, is rebuked further, cries, confesses her interest doesn’t concern “paid up” Dorothy but tough Ben, says she’s nearly in love with Jansen but says she “can’t go.” Ben has already bumped June to his sofa with a football movement, and they furiously kiss. Chapter 8. Autumn nears. Ever “bucolic” Lefty visits Ben, who reminisces [tediously] about his 13 miserable years playing football. With permission to speak frankly, Lefty says dangerous Cantrell has ordered Ben to go see him, and here cocky Ben is, trying to become like Sol Caspar. Ben responds: Can-

trell gotta come to him; Cantrell is wrongly trying to control their operation; Ben gotta rule his “team” or lose everything. Ben orders Lefty to phone Cantrell. Cantrell, looking spiffy, visits Ben, says he’s worried about reform-minded Jansen. Jansen is unaware of their pinball racket, and June hasn’t enlightened him, for some reason; but Jansen is setting his sights on their bookies. Ben says he has let (Bill) Delany retain control of some bookies. Cantrell says his patrolmen are openly accepting bribes from redlight houses, whereas Casper took their bribes, then secretly shared with the cops, and moreover secretly gave cops kick-backs from convicts illegally paroled. Cantrell wants Ben to collect that money too. In front of Lefty, Ben out-glares Cantrell, who weakly says it’s OK if Ben wants to run things but.... Interrupting Ben says he’ll let Cantrell know. Alone with Lefty, Ben says he won’t treat greedy Cantrell decently, won’t shake down unlucky women or parolees either, and wants Lefty to get Goose Groner, not Bugs Lenhardt, to guard him. Delany invites Ben to the Lakeside Country Club to confab about bookmaking. Tall, hostile, single, and disliked by other Delanys, Delany lives lavishly at the club, enriched through gambling and “equine activities.” Delany rudely asks why Ben phoned to meet him. Ben replies: Delany, with Chicago connections, and Sol Caspar, who was “Mr. Big” in Lake City, together shared a cushy set-up; Ben and Delany can now cooperate similarly. Delany refuses, because Ben killed his brother Dick Delany. Ben denies it, says he thought Rossi was dumped at Koquabit. Cunning Delany responds: Ben was part of Casper’s team, double-crossed Casper, showed June Lyons where the body was; if Delany sees Ben again, he’ll kill him; Delany has three bodyguards right here. Ben tries to leave calmly. The police raid Ben’s six big bookmaking places and seize his equipment; Himmelhaber holds court and levies big ﬁnes. The equipment is dumped at the Reservoir and burned. In a week, Ben opens his Mercury Messenger Service, and explains to potential customers that he can ﬂy their sealed requests twice daily to S. Cartogensis & Son in Castleton to place their bets, for 2 1 ⁄2 per cent commission per sum; his messenger service is thus not a bookmaking ofﬁce. Cantrell has Ben arrested immediately and calls him “a cluck” to get pinched so obviously. Ben replies that when hock shops were illegal in Washington, D.C., a messenger system was organized to take items, legally, from Washingtonians to Virginia hock shops and return with cash. Bleeker, the D.A., with Ben’s legal-expert cohort Yates’s advice, tells too-ofﬁcious Cantrell that Ben’s messenger service transmits funds, that “no book was made in Lake City,” and that, since Castleton

117 is across the state line, the matter is only for the indifferent Feds. At their 5:00 P.M. cocktail hour, Ben points out a green plane to June, says it’s bringing $400 in loot from Castleton bets and asks how Dorothy is doing. June says she’s in her senior year at another college. June prefers not to discuss her. Ben sips, then gloats that Delany, connected with Chicago-crook Frankie Horizon, could have participated in his operation, which is legal and therefore Jansen can’t interfere. Smelling and then hanging up June’s nice mink, Ben says she’ll be pleased to know he has stopped shaking down parolees and also those “red light places.” Bridling, June says Ben is treating her like one of those girls, since he wants her to get close to Jansen because of Ben, who’d rather have her lose honor than money. Ben paces and rationalizes—until she says Jansen’s wife died today and Jansen immediately asked June to marry him. She kissed him, said she would but can’t — after how she and Ben are betraying him. June could tell Ben more, but sobs and hurls her glass at him instead. Chapter 9. Lefty watches muscular Ben dress himself meticulously for a Christmas party that June is having for her mother and sister. Lefty reminisces about his past, in reform school, doing farm work, getting religion, and becoming a preacher in Montana. The two have some foaming beer. Ben enter his hotel’s Drawing Room B, where June is surrounded by dozens of her party guests, from her ofﬁce among other ofﬁcials and politicians and their families. She introduces Ben to her mother, who, hard of hearing, thinks his name is Jansen. June says she told “Mamma” that Jansen isn’t coming. Mrs. Lyons starts to introduce Ben to Dorothy, also there; but Dorothy soon evades Ben Grace. Ben stays “camped” with Mrs. Lyons, to pump her about June. But the “dumpy” woman gets drunk, fancies this is a “high society” function, wonders if she’s behaving properly, thinks she ought to ﬁnd girls to dance with the stags at the punch bowl. Noticing Ben again, June, less frosty, squeezes his hand occasionally. Mayor Jansen suddenly enters. The ﬁve-piece Looney Lolligaggers play the city anthem at him. No longer Swedish dairy owner but archetypical “American Mayor,” Jansen approaches June, kisses Mrs. Lyons’ hand, and tells “Mamma” he anticipated “dees meeting so much.” June whisks Jansen away. Mrs. Lyons says she must apologize to Jansen for calling him “Mayor,” not “Mr. Mayor.” Ben says go call him Olaf, his ﬁrst name; paid politicians permit anything. She blurts she must congratulate June because June’s secretary just told her she’s engaged to Jansen. Ben alerts June that Mamma is about to reveal the “engagement.” June hustles her out. Ben then surveys Dorothy, different from what he imagined; instead, she has an “extremely beau-

Love’s

tiful” face, “willowy” ﬁgure, invitingly “pursed” mouth. When their eyes meet, he sees “the kleptomaniac.” After a rye “hooker,” Ben tells Dorothy, “You’re bad.” She says he belongs to June. Leaning gracefully, however, Dorothy quickly makes him responsive; he tells her to come to 1628, his hotel apartment, adding they’re “both bad.” Before dawn, June angrily beats on Ben’s door. The silent two inside — he in evening clothes, she looking lovely — appear attractive but in reality are “ferret-like,” their wanton wildness mutually enticing. Dorothy wants to distance herself from June, whom however, she wants not to suffer; but Ben wants through June to continue to control Jansen, a “cluck.” Dorothy says she’s adept at slipperiness and can lie easily to June. Ben and Dorothy “melted together” in an embrace. She leaves. June phones Ben, who lies that Dorothy hasn’t been with him. June feared otherwise but just saw Dorothy in pajamas. [What did the two lovers do while he was in his tuxedo?] Lefty phones Ben at 5:30 A.M.: Feds have seized Sol Caspar in Mexico City, are returning him here for violating income-tax laws. Via Los Angeles tonight, he’ll be in Lake City tomorrow but will immediately make bail. Chapter 10. Dorothy tells Ben they should rendezvous away from his hotel apartment, to avoid hurting already-suspicious June. Ben, however, is concerned only about charro-hatted Caspar, indicted by the police amid a photo frenzy. Meanwhile, Cantrell, city-prosecutor Bleeker, and Bleeker’s former partner Yates are brain-storming: Feds may imprison Caspar for 10 years on multiple tax-fraud counts, then release him for Cantrell to try him for murder. Cantrell says if Caspar “squatted hot” [was electrocuted at Alcatraz] ﬁrst off, it would help him and Yates, because Cantrell knows Yates shares in Ben’s pinball racket, the machines for which Caspar will soon know “cute” Ben stole. Ben is relieved to read that Caspar, bailed, is leading FBI agents to where he hid numerous bonds; this means a likely deal. Ben is about to phone Cantrell to discuss matters when Dorothy phones and persuades him to start meeting her at June’s former apartment. Dorothy has a key, and June’s lease will end January 1. While embracing Ben, Dorothy reveals that Hal, a bellboy at the Columbus, told her that June gave him her key when he moved her things to the hotel and he sold the key to Dorothy for $5. Suddenly Dorothy turns breathless: Sol emerges from a closet, gloating that he also knows bellboy Hal. Ignoring Ben’s apologies, Sol announces his intention to kill Ben and then “kind of amuse” himself with Dorothy. Athletic Ben thinks about springing at Sol, who,

Love’s

118

however, produces an automatic. He orders Dorothy to one side, orders Ben to march backwards into the bathroom where he says he’ll shoot him. But Dorothy shoots and kills Sol, and tells startled Ben she has carried a pistol since age 15. Ben ﬁnds Sol’s old car outside, looking around spots no witnesses, gets Sol’s body into the back seat, and drives it to a deserted downtown shopping area. Driving Ben’s car, Dorothy follows. He tells her to go see the movie she lied to June that she was going to and be sure to get a program for an alibi. They pledge their devotion. He gives her his car. Chapter 11. For a couple of days Ben and Dorothy notice that Caspar’s car is remaining unnoticed. Newspapers explain how Caspar took FBI agents to his Columbus suite, opened a secret wall, but disappeared behind it and escaped. An international manhunt for Sol begins. June visits Ben on December 31, notices his jangling key case, declines a drink, and he leaves supposedly to ﬁnd himself a bottle for himself but takes the elevator to 1628 instead. He asks the operator about Hal, who, he is told, is off, probably sick. Ben tells Dorothy that June must “know.” How? From Hal, or by tailing Dorothy, or through wondering about his keys. Ben thinks “they” found Caspar’s body and hope his killers will return to check it and be arrested. Ben says he and Dorothy might escape to Honduras. While she drives him in his car, he spots a headline: “Caspar Body Found.” The accompanying report, with photographs of both Ben and Dorothy, says a local racketeer and a college girl are to be arrested. They continue driving. They realize they lack money to go far. Ben remembers his red book has seemingly meaningless numbers he jotted down; now he ﬁgures they’re to “a safe combination,” probably a safe in which Caspar hid the money, and, because Ben often drove him along Memorial Boulevard, the safe is in a vacant tool shed he has noticed nearby. That night Ben and Dorothy drive to the tool shed. By ﬂashlight, he sees nothing inside; she locates a burglar alarm; he turns it off. The front door is heavy and locked. She notices a barred window, gets him to fasten one end of a cable in the car to it and hook the other end to the car’s rear axle. She backs up; down comes the window. Inside, they locate a trapdoor. A rat emerges with a human hand— Rossi’s. Climbing down, they ﬁnd a safe. She reads Ben six R and L numbers from his notebook. Click. Bags of negotiable bonds and cash. They muscle everything into the car. They will drive to Canada, change their names; he’ll have his hernia operated on and join the army, to do something laudable for a change; at war’s end, all will be well. They drive and kiss and stop to buy longed-for cigarettes at a drug store. He returns with four packs—only to see

her carelessly backing into a ﬁre plug. A cop comes, peevish on New Year’s Eve, but recognizes her. Ben advances to hip him à la football, but the cop recognizes his face and shoots him. Chapter 12. Cantrell tells Ben, hospitalized, that Dorothy, whose gun was found, almost confessed, that evidence was found in her sister June’s apartment, that the sacks of money provide a motive. Ben, glaring, says he paid Cantrell and Bleeker well, only to see them betraying him now. Cantrell says Ben should confess, plead out, thus feel better. Ben says Cantrell probably was involved in the murder of Rossi, whose body has been found. Ben’s physician Dr. Ronde orders the visitors to leave. Resting, Ben tells the cop guarding him he’ll remain mum. The cop says Ben, his intestines all stitched, is dying of peritonitis and will talk plenty once his 101 fever rises, say, to 105. Ben declines to reveal Dorothy shot Caspar. Treated with ice, Ben whispers with Lefty when he visits. At 4:35 P.M. Ben tells the cop he’ll talk, not to the police stenographer waiting outside though, but only when taken to Caspar’s lakeside shack where everything occurred — and with Dorothy, June, Yates, and Lefty along. Cantrell, returning, says the murder must have occurred in June’s apartment, But Ben says there’s evidence in the shack—cigarettes and a candle left while “we” were waiting — and Lefty is to visit Ben here ﬁrst. Cantrell acquiesces. By 8:00 P.M. the assembly at the shack includes Cantrell —ﬁguring shack and vault are connected somehow—Bleeker, Mrs. Caspar in mourning, police matrons escorting June and Dorothy, stenographers, Dr. Ronde, Yates, and Lefty trailing, and orderlies putting stretchered Ben on the sofa. Cantrell tells Ben to talk fast, because it’s cold here. A voice from the shadows asks Ben if he wishes to wed Dorothy. Yes. The voice asks Dorothy if she wishes to wed Ben. Yes. Lefty emerges, says he’s a preacher and obtained a marriage license late this afternoon, and pronounces the two “man and wife.” Ben feverishly tells Cantrell he won’t talk. Dorothy says she won’t either but registers surprise that Ben’s “face is hot.” Ronde feels Ben’s belly and barks at the orderlies. An ambulance and then a coroner come and go. A little brunette sobs jerkily, while another woman stares and becomes sadly beautiful. Roy Hoopes provides details concerning Cain and Love’s Lovely Counterfeit. He was planning to expose corrupt Los Angeles politics in it, but the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor made him unwilling to be unpatriotic in any way. He then ﬁgured to sell the work to a magazine or a Hollywood studio, could do neither, and wound up accepting Knopf ’s probably reluctant purchase of it as a book, with a meager $1,500 advance. (Hoopes, 321; Robinson, 63 –64)

119 Cain in a prefatory note states that Lake City is “an imaginary metropolis.” (Nevertheless, the inclusion in the novel of a city map would have been not only a clever touch but a helpful one as well. It might have indicated locations of the Columbus, Coolidge, Fremont, and Lucas hotels, and the dozen streets and regions also named. An interstate map, too, would have placed Lake City north of St. Louis, south of Chicago, and east or west of ﬁctitious Castleton.) The action of the novel is long after Murder, Inc., and shortly after Pearl Harbor, both of which are mentioned. Bobbie Robinson reports that Love’s Lovely Counterfeit “was the only novel Cain ever wrote with the movie version speciﬁcally in mind.” Paul Skenazy laments that the story has two “plot elements [that] never quite cohere”; they are “the traditional gangster tale” and “a story of smalltown political corruption.” David Madden calls Love’s Lovely Counterfeit “one of his worst [novels],” labels its style “sometimes ... embarrassingly bad,” and says the late introduction of Dorothy does not “salvage a sinking narrative.” David J. Rabinowitz calls Love’s Lovely Counterfeit “Cain’s icy equivalent to [Dashiell] Hammett’s The Glass Key [1931].” Incidentally, these proofs may be added: The Glass Key hero Ned Beaumont’s wavering friendship with Paul Madvig, a ﬁctitious crooked city’s crooked machine politician, parallels Cain’s Ben/Sol relationship; the Observer, Hammett’s newspaper, points ﬁngers the way Cain’s Pioneer does; both novels leave loose ends. Other equivalences, however, seem rare; and Hammett’s novel is far more chilling—and successful. (Gale 2000, 89–93; Madden 1970, 65, 128, 129; Rabinowitz, 168; Robinson, 63; Skenazy, 90) Lucan (Mignon). He is a liquor salesman in Unionoccupied New Orleans. Bill exposes his sale of “booze” to Major Jenkins. Lucas (Galatea). He is the competent prosecuting attorney, about 40, in the trial of Holly Valenty and Duke Webster for the murder of her husband. The two are found not guilty. Lucas (The Institute). He is Colonel Lucas’s brother. The colonel sells him some subsidiaries of his Tombigvannah company to keep them in the family. Lucas (The Moth). He was June Lucas’s husband, was in the coal business. June tells Jack that Lucas died during a business trip to Cuba. Lucas, Chief (The Moth). He is the Long Beach police ofﬁcer who queries poor Hosea Brown when he unsuccessfully tries to ﬁnger Jack as a murderer. Lucas, Colonel (The Institute). He is the president of the Tombigvannah company which controls Bagastex. When that part of the colonel’s holdings sags,

Lucas

he sells some company subsidiaries to his brother to keep them in the family. Cain satirizes this Georgian, about 50, as a typical “Southern colonel,” having “so much honesty shining out of his face” that he can’t be trusted. Cain even has him pronounce “accords” as “accowds” and “regard” as “regowd.” Lucas, June (The Moth). She is from Easton, Pennsylvania, widowed, 25, with two kids, and sweet, and is a buyer for a department store. She chances in New York to encounter young and healthy Jack, happy that his Maryland football team defeated Yale. In her hotel suite, she gently introduces him to sex. She tells him to keep the act “beautiful,” never “befoul it.” When he goes to Easton to see her again, she tells him she’s marrying elsewhere and explains realistically. Lucas, Marjorie (“The Birthday Party”). She is a sweet little friend of Burwell Hope. She is to have a birthday party and wants him to come. In an effort to conceal his shyness, he tries unsuccessfully to outdo her in swimming and running. She praises him at the creek, kisses him gently, and leaves. She cuts a wedge of cake for him, which, spying on her, he sees her doing. Still, he leaves without being seen. Lucas, Mr. (Cloud Nine). He is the deputy clerk who conducts the wedding ceremony of Graham Kirby and Sonja Lang in Rockville, Maryland. Lucas, Mrs. (“The Birthday Party”). She is Marjorie Lucas’s mother, plans a surprise birthday party for her, and tells Burwell Hope’s mother about it. Burwell is to attend but is too timid to do so. Lucas, Parker (Sinful Woman). He is the tall, canny county sheriff, 32, in a town where several movie people assemble. He meets lovely actress Sylvia Shoreham, remembers her superb acting in the title role of The Glory of Edith Cavell, and falls in love with her almost instantaneously. He can’t keep his lunch date with her, however, because Vicki Adlerkreutz suddenly dies by gunshot at Tony Rico’s Galloping Domino just out of town. Lucas participates in the investigation of suspects. For a time, he believes that it was Sylvia and not her demented sister Hazel Shoreham who indulged in sexual escapades with various men, as reported by police ofﬁcer Enders of nearby Lone Pine. But, not to worry, for in the end Hazel dies and neither Sylvia nor Hazel was guilty of killing Vicki; and Sylvia and Lucas, who orders her not to act in sordid movies any more, drive together to his ranch out of town. He is soon to enlist in the army, though, and she is to become an army nurse. It’s anybody’s guess why Cain chose to name ten ﬁctional characters Lucas.

Luchetti

120

Luchetti, Enzo (Serenade). He is a bass that John Howard Sharp sang with in Florence years earlier. When John sees a photograph of Luchetti in a whorehouse in Guatemala City and learns that “a ﬁne girl” there brought it from Europe, he fears that Luchetti could be in Guatemala and if so might recognize him. Such an identiﬁcation would be dangerous for John and his girlfriend Juna Montes; so John ﬁnds prostitutes elsewhere. Lucky (“Dead Man”). See Fuller, Ben. Lucy (The Institute). She is evidently a brand-new bride. During some court proceedings, Lloyd lies that when he and Hortense were dining at the Royal Arms in Washington, D.C., they sent Lucy’s table a quart of champagne “to celebrate.” Lucy is undoubtedly a ﬁction of Lloyd’s challenged imagination. Lura (“The Baby in the Icebox”). She is conceited, unfaithful Duke’s attractive wife. They run a car park, lunchroom, and gas station outside a town in California. She objects when Duke buys wild animals, fancies himself a lion tamer, and stages shows for money. Lura gently tames their tiger Rajah, but Duke enrages the growling creature by the threat of whip and gun. Lura resists a proposal by Wild Bill Smith, a traveling snake charmer, mainly because she is pregnant by admittedly disliked Duke. After Lura gives birth to their son, Ron, Duke wrongly suspects Wild Bill, and turns Rajah loose on her and Ron. She makes Rajah retreat by ﬂourishing burning wood, hides Ron in the icebox, gets meat there for Rajah to crunch, reviles Duke, hurls his “peeshooter” after him outside. He shoots her in the head, calls the police to say she tried to kill herself, but dies when the house is engulfed in ﬂames. Only then does Lura decamp with Bill and Ron — to the unnamed narrator’s regret. Luther (Serenade). He is an elderly lawyer with ofﬁces in New York’s Empire State Building. He represents the opera company John Howard Sharp sings in. Luther warns John that his contract with Hollywood’s Red Gold makes it awkward for him to continue singing in New York. Lynch, Morton (Jealous Woman). He is a highly regarded Reno attorney whom Connie Sperry hires during her husband Richard Sperry’s inquest. Lynn (Cloud Nine). She attends Graham Kirby’s 31st birthday party. She is mentioned only once. Lyons, Dorothy (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). She is June Lyons’ younger sister, 22 and beautiful. June is supporting Dorothy, a kleptomaniac, in college. When caught stealing in various dormitories, she is

forced to pay and June gets her friend Ben Grace to pony up $200 as restitution. Ben meets Dorothy, and they fall in love. Solomon Caspar, a wanted criminal from whom Ben, with Dorothy’s help, has stolen, returns and threatens to shoot Ben and then rape Dorothy; but she shoots him dead ﬁrst. Ben drives away with her, but she backs up their getaway car into a ﬁre plug. A cop recognizes them, shoots Ben, and arrests her. Before he dies, Ben marries Dorothy. Ben is foolish to think that marriage to Dorothy will enable her to avoid being indicted for theft and murder. The authorities have recovered their loot and her gun. Paul Skenazy calls Dorothy “the alter ego of June’s idealism, the one who acts out June’s self-destructive and antisocial behavior.” (Skenazy, 89) Lyons, June (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). She was born in Ohio, went to school there, including law school, works for the Wiener, Jacks, and Myers law ﬁrm in Lake City. Dark, pretty, and single, and now 25, she campaigns for Olaf Jansen, who unseats corrupt Mayor Maddux, with the help of Ben Grace, turncoat chauffeur for Maddux’s crooked associate Solomon Caspar, whom Ben and June conspire to deceive. They locate what they think is Arch Rossi’s corpse, but it is that of Dick Delany. Although June becomes engaged to Jansen when his ill wife dies, Ben gets over being jealous by falling in love with June’s sister Dorothy, a kleptomaniacal college student, whom he meets at a Christmas party June throws. June survives Ben’s and Dorothy’s, their marriage, and his death. Roy Hoopes too sparsely summarizes the plot of Love’s Lovely Counterfeit when he says it involves “a politician double-crossed by his chauffeur who is double-crossed by his ex-mistress.” But the words do implicitly explicate the title of the novel, which, Hoopes adds, Cain in a 1941 letter to a friend said was “lurid ... but it was that kind of tale.” It may be added that Cain’s general distrust of women in politics is highlighted in his article “Politician: Female” (American Mercury, November 1924). (Hoopes 1982, 315, 609) Lyons, Mrs. (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). She is the mother of June Lyons and Dorothy Lyons. She attends a party given by June, during which she meets Lake City’s mayor-elect Olaf Jansen and is so embarrassing by being “dumpy,” slightly deaf, and generally gauche that Ben Grace, June’s friend, tells June to get her out pronto. David Madden says that Cain’s intention in Love’s Lovely Counterfeit is less to show small-town political corruption and gangsterism than to tell “a good story,” which becomes “weak to the extent that exposé is one intention”; then Madden reasons that

121 Cain’s “characters are less interested in public service than in self-service or, in June’s case, in familycentered rather than community-oriented idealism.” (Madden 1970, 164)

M Mabel (Cloud Nine). She is Graham Kirby’s competent switchboard operator in his real-estate ofﬁce. Mace (The Moth). He is an oil man who, with some friends, does all he can to increase the damage of Hannah Branch’s Signal Hill oil well after it starts burning. MacReady, Mary (The Magician’s Wife). She is rich old Ellwood P. Gorsuch’s nurse. She had the night off when Sally, Gorsuch’s daughter-in-law, suffocates him but tells the police the glutton got nuts stuck in his throat. An autopsy clears Sally. Maddux, Mayor (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). He is Lake City’s crooked mayor. When he is unseated by Olaf Jansen, his rival candidate, and when his criminal associate Solomon Caspar is in trouble, Maddux attempts to commit suicide. A “night gang” at the Columbus Hotel pumps his stomach, which was full of “some kind of pills,” and he formally concedes to Jansen. Maderia, Captain (“The Taking of Montfaucon”). He is the narrator’s understanding superior ofﬁcer. The Magician’s Wife (novel, 1965). (Characters: Busty Buster, Hal Daley, Mike Dominick, Doris, Earl, Ellen, Fisher, Frank, Elizabeth Galbraith, Garrett, Gordon, Alec Gorsuch, Elly Gorsuch, Elwood P. Gorsuch, Sally Gorsuch, Bunny Granlund, Steve Granlund, Pat Grant, Jake Gumpertz, Heine, Miss Helm, Sophie Henning, Miss Homan, Ida, Jim Inglehart, Bill Jackson, Johnny, Johns, Norman (Bud) Jones, Katz, John Kuhn, Lizette, Clay Lockwood, Lomack, Mary MacReady, Nelly, Miss Niemeyer, John Pender, Mrs. Pender, Reed, Roy, Grace Simone, Svenson, Capain David Walton, Judge Warﬁeld.) Chapter 1. One nice spring noon a tall, broadshouldered businessman strides into The Portico, on Bay Street, Channel City, Maryland. It’s one of a chain of attractive restaurants. Sally Alexis (Mrs. Alexander Gorsuch), a young employee, says the chain hired her to teach waitresses charm, says she can guess his name — Mr. Lockwood. Yes, he says. They ﬂirt. He orders “corned beef, cabbage, and spud.” The Portico manager, Bill Jackson, calls Lockwood “Clay.” They converse. Bill says the corned beef, which Clay’s company recommended, is better than their crab cakes. The

Magician’s

two inspect the kitchen, warn chef Earl simply to heat the precooked, packaged corned beef. Earl spreads beef on cabbage, with boiled potato on a plate, which Sally takes to Lockwood’s table, watches him eat, and takes notes on his comments. She says a hostess told her his name. She presses her tummy into a chair opposite him. He says her navel shows through her dress, says he’s fallen for her, wants a date. Is she “Miss or Mrs.?” “Mrs.,” Sally sadly replies. She runs af ter him with his $5 tip. She can’t accept it but will hand it to the “station” girl. As Clay “grandly” walks to the parking lot, he sees Sally’s black eyes locking on his own blue eyes. Chapter 2. Clay drives to his local Grant company ofﬁce, tells his secretary Miss Helm to call a sales meeting for 3:45 P.M., dons a coat, inspects the cool rooms where meats are processed on railed hooks and cranes by workers, He compliments the girls cooking and packaging corned beef, Grant’s new specialty. [Little did Cain ever think of future implications of his writing when he innocently wrote that “[t]he girls ... twittered their thanks” to Clay.] The meeting includes chief salesman Hal Daley, chief accountant Miss Niemeyer, other salesmen, and cutters. Clay phones Steve Granlund, president of Portico, warning him to remember his corned beef success or he’ll seek out Coastal, Portico’s competitor. The blackmail works. Granlund offers to buy corned beef for a month and put Grant’s name on Portico menus. Clay’s response to his workers’ applause “betrays deep emotion”; he combines hot-tempered vanity hating frustration, and “thirst ... for ... fellow human warmth.” Clay phones Pat Grant, Grant’s president, headquartered in Mankato, Minnesota, requesting bigger beef shipments. He drives to his yacht club, dines, and goes to his lavish seventh-ﬂoor apartment at the Marlborough Arms, on Spring Street. It features many rooms, an ofﬁce, a library of history books, art work, and trophies. Clay upbraids himself for mentioning Sally’s navel, thinks she should have called herself a Mrs. sooner. He must forget her or risk going “nuts.” [This paragraph, like Clay’s later interior monologues, is in italics.] Clay sits and looks out the window at river, bay, and city. Sally phones. Chapter 3. Sally explains that she gave his tip to Ida, who’s not allowed to acknowledge it but is grateful because Ida has personal difﬁculties. Sally didn’t mind Clay’s “pass” at her. He says he’d like to ﬁnger her navel. She says her husband is a magician, away frequently. He suggests “step[ping] out.” She must deliberate, hangs up. He has “scored” with women in Trenton, New Jersey, his birth state, and in Easton, Pennsylvania, during college [Lafayette] there. He’ll have to turn “pro” now. Sally phones again. The upshot: Sally lives on

Magician’s

122

nearby Elm Street, is so well known that she will dress “ratty,” enter and leave a movie house; Clay drives by, sneaks her by freight elevator to his “humble abode.” She compares it to her “dump,” overloaded with magician’s gear. She admires paintings Clay bought in Mexico; says her artistic mother is a Fisher’s buyer, her deceased father was a Goucher College professor, she was born in Paris, was a majorette in Baltimore. She cartwheels into his arms. They kiss. He carries her to his bed. Chapter 4. Mission accomplished, they relax and converse. Sally’s father taught in Baltimore, died leaving his widow in straits; her deportment teacher, “Bunny,” married Steve Granlund; “cute” Sally’s majorette twirling attracted “the Great Alexis” the magician, who picked her to saw her in two on stage. Clay sold meat to Mike Dominick, of the Lilac Flamingo, which stars Alexis— that is, Alec Gorsuch. Clay says he knows El Gorsuch. She says he’s Alec’s father, she’s 21, and their son Elly, three, is brieﬂy with granddaddy. She sleeps alone ever since suspecting Alec of cavorting with Busty Buster, his act aide. Clay suggests Sally can get a quickie divorce; the three, including Elly, can then reside in his apartment. She says they must wait for wealthy old El to die so Alec can inherit and then settle money on mother and child. Clay mentions legal roadblocks to her collaring such money. Meanwhile, they can “sneak” more sex. Clay informs his mirror that cautious Sally, once El dies, would have a second child, divorce, and grab money. Clay could “knock ... off” Alec, but Sally would play the rich “Merry Widow” solo. Next day Clay’s cleaning woman ﬁnds Sally’s ﬁligree’s comb. Its smell intrigues Clay. Sally phones, arranges tonight’s repeat action. Clay tells himself to have fun until Elly returns. For several nights, she drives to his place and uses a spare key to the building’s rear. One night he cooks and serves her fancy items. She learnedly declines sleep-inducing champagne, selects a peppy claret, which goes with their steaks. She burbles about handsome Elly, in a nursery while she works days. She gripes about her condition and hints that their only solution is for El and then Alec to “die,” adding that the three-letter word “die” is worse than four-letter words. Clay prefers divorce, marriage to him, Elly with both; Sally wants him to develop “some other way.” He says Elly can eventually inherit. Clay warns himself not to see her “any more.” Chapter 5. Next night while Clay is playing classical music records, Doris, the apartment’s switchboard girl, phones that a woman wants to see him. Thinking it’s Sally, he opens the door—to her mother, voluptuous Grace Simone. She says she works at Fisher’s, designing smart-looking dresses; she’s wearing a Portico waitress number but in blue. She

admires his apartment and wonders at his Mexican paintings. He tells her he studied the Mexican War, sympathizes with Mexico, got into the meat industry to make money. She says she obtained his “bio sketch” from Fisher’s credit people. He says since he’s through with Sally, how about having dinner “somewhere”— soft crabs, toast, bubbly. She wants him to keep loving Sally, get her to divorce her husband. Clay guesses Grace would prefer Alec dead but won’t say so. Clay says Sally is wrong to expect riches by waiting, and hints Sally too wants Alec dead. Grace says Clay obviously still loves Sally. Chapter 6. Clay walks Grace to her apartment at Rosemary Park. She invites him in. While he admires her Frenchy decorations, she gets highballs. He repeats he’s through with Sally. Grace, to “sell” him on Sally, begins to paint his portrait in her atelier. She expresses her main concern: Elly mustn’t be caught in any Sally “mess.” Soon he is posing for her in blue clothes. She says his blue eyes are sometimes “ﬁshy.” A few weeks pass. She reveals that Sally was sued as “an unﬁt mother” but “won, by a hair.” When Clay insists he’s not interested in Sally, Grace says she’ll test him: El Gorsuch is babysitting Elly for Memorial Day; so Sally’s available. Sally phones. Clay lies that he’s been busy repairing equipment, invites her for fancy eats on Friday. Miss Helm alerts Clay that the Great Alexis and a girl are approaching his ofﬁce. The girl is Busty Buster, who promptly ﬂirts with Clay. Alec, who Clay fears would mention Sally, says the Flamingo’s Mike Dominick recommended him, and Alec wants to be shown railed cranes to implement his new fall act making Buster disappear then reappear in the ceiling. Clay shows them hooks, etc., capable of handling tons of beef and therefore can hold pretty Buster, whom he lifts to a rail. Alec seems jealous but ﬁnds where to purchase cranes, etc. Clay soliloquizes: Sally gotta be rid of Alec, a pompous, jealous, dangerous “heel”; Alec nearly slapped Buster, dared not hit big Clay. Chapter 7. Sally arrives, looks bedraggled, wetly kisses Clay. He carries her toward the dinner table. She prefers “romance” to “goddam ﬁsh eggs.” He tells her Alec and Buster visited him; he kept her conﬁdences, feels a Reno divorce is still best, says he can’t shake Alec’s hand then cuckold him. She says she still relishes the Gorsuch family millions. Foolishly ad-libbing that he loves her, he offers a champagne toast. She throws her drink in his eyes, breaks her glass, cuts his face. He slugs her, checks his bleeding cheek in the bathroom. She trashes his apartment, even stamping on his Orozco painting. He kicks her bottom into the hall, then vomits. Clay: I’m done with her; if not, have me “committed.”

123 Chapter 8. While Clay starts straightening up his wrecked residence and while Sally bangs at his door, Doris reports that disturbed tenants are complaining. He tells Doris to summon the police, shouts a warning to Sally, who escapes before the arrival of cops, whom Clay warns about some strange woman leaving by the freight elevator. Clays rests, in his pajamas. Grace Simone arrives, complains that his kick bruised Sally. Grace instantly sympathizes on seeing Clay’s damaged Oroczo, offers to hire artrestorer Jake Gumpertz, says her portrait of Clay is almost ﬁnished, with his eyes now less staring and more friendly. She smells the ham he was cooking for Sally. They dine. Sipping wine and wolﬁng ham, Grace grips Clay’s hand, beseeches him to phone Sally. He says he’s ﬁnished with Sally, fears the electric chair, ragingly explains her conduct and intentions, and proposes “going steady” with Grace. She counters that she must sacriﬁce her yearnings, because Clay and Sally are intertwined; that profoundly ﬁerce Sally and very kind Clay could destroy each other; that he must reconcile with her. Clay says he could kill Alec. Opposing that, Grace says Clay could be “ground to a pulp.” He says he’ll escape such, proposes marriage to Grace. Escorting Grace home in the fragrant night, Clay says they’ll marry and he’ll sell meat miraculously. She wishes. Chapter 9. To clear his whirling head, Clay drives to a hotel at Ocean City, Maryland, talks with Reed, its proprietor Clay sells meat to. Reed complains that Memorial Day teenagers swarmed the beach, bought beer, hot dogs, ice cream elsewhere, to the angry town’s annoyance. Clay says he, Reed, and others should “jine ’em,” incorporate, establish grills, freezers, “candy-striped” waitresses at beach booths, and have a proﬁtable Labor Day “sociable cookout.” [Reed irrelevantly likens young vacationers’ disorderly behavior (now called “spring break”) to similar consequences of a California brush ﬁre that also attracted witnesses and then concessionaires bothering the authorities. Thus Cain gains publicity for “Brush Fire,” his 1936 short story.] Clay assembles four Channel City businessmen at the Chinquapin-Plaza, with Reed attending. They agree to raise $25,000 for an Ocean City venture, place advertisements in Channel’s Pilot newspaper, thus assuring proﬁts will remain in Ocean City. Grace phones Clay to report that a Pilot gossip columnist, without naming names, says a Baltimore magician is being two-timed by his wife with a meat salesman. Clay tells Grace a certain vengeful “bitch” alerted The Pilot, phones Pilot’s business ofﬁce to offer ads of a new venture — if it publishes a retraction of the gossip. He reads the retraction in the late-afternoon edition. Clay phones Grace,

Magician’s

and they agree to dine at his Chinquapin-Plaza suite. [Cain has Clay threaten to dump The Pilot for The Baltimore Sun, which in real life was edited by Cain’s close friend H. L. Mencken. Clay later says Mencken is dead, ch. 18.] Chapter 10. Clay dramatically sells an expanded line of meats beyond Channel City into Delaware and Virginia. He regularly sees Grace. She keeps insisting he still loves Sally. Bunny Granlund phones that Pat Grant, president of the Grant meat company in Mankato, is coming to town and will attend a big party she’s throwing. Clay must come too. Pat, stocky and in his 30s, arrives in Clay’s ofﬁce. He knew Bunny 10 years ago, before she married Steve Granlund. Pat says that dangerously ﬁnancing those “beach commitments” got him bumped to “board chairman,” i.e., ﬁred; that Svenson is now president but, soon turning 70, must retire; that the company wants ham-ﬁsted Clay to succeed “Sven.” Clay and Pat go to Clay’s apartment, where Harvardeducated but self-loathing Pat plays Bach on Clay’s Steinway and admires his restored Orozco. Then on to Clay’s club. Pat sobs in his drink while Clay turns euphoric at upcoming opportunities. At Clay’s apartment again, Pat plays Bach, Gershwin, etc. A Pilot reporter phones that a Mankato rumor says Clay Longwood is to be the Grant company’s new president. Pat’s conﬁrmation brings a reporter and a photographer, to whom Pat lectures on his company’s pioneering leadership. Pilot men leave. Pat says that his board room features an oil portrait of every Grant president and Clay’s must be included. Clay says he knows a female portraitist. Departing, Pat says he’ll pay into four ﬁgures for a portrait. Clay visits sleepy Grace, tells her she can sell his portrait for at least $1,000. She says that he’s still in love with Sally and must clarify things, and that Sally is also coming to the Granlund party. Clay tells his “dumbbell” self he mustn’t attend Bunny’s party. Chapter 11. Clay and Pat arrive at the Granlunds’ beautiful old Maryland mansion. Sally escorts them ﬁrst to Bunny, big, 40, and noisy, and then to “tall, dour” Granlund, who with “icy affability” congratulates Clay on his promotion. Sally escorts cool Clay to the luncheon, says she’ll “try again” to snare him. During the fancy spread, Clay sulks— until Sally ﬁnds time to talk. The upshot: Clay is driving Pat to the airport soon; Sally wants to visit Clay, denies she tipped reporters about any magician’s wife’s meat man, wonders if he’s dating Buster; Clay boasts of the business meeting at the Chinquapin-Plaza, demands that Sally divorce Alec; Sally, fearing his moving west, agrees to abandon old Gorsuch’s “twelve million” just for him, hopes he’s “worth it”; he hints he can make much “dough ... before your

Magician’s

124

life is ended.” [This is faintly visible foreshadowing.] They agree to rendezvous at 5:00 P.M., after which she’ll retrieve Elly, with his grandfather at his Brice’s Point beachhouse since July Fourth; she’ll park him with Bunny. Clay: “O.K.” Photographers delay guest-of-honor Pat Grant’s departure. Clay helps him pack, gets him off barely in time, and returns to his apartment, redolent of Sally’s perfume. An hour later she scurries off to grab items Elly will need. After a Chinquapin-Plaza dinner, Clay phones Grace to report that her prediction proved right, that he and Sally are heading for Reno. Grace: I’m happy and jealous. Clay: I regret losing you; my portrait can be a family “bridge.” Grace: Let’s “defer” telling Sally about the portrait. Clay: “O.K.” Chapter 12. Clay reports to Brice’s Point. No Sally. He phones around, ﬁnally to Grace, who says she just learned from Bunny that Sally went to El Gorsuch’s beachhouse; his nurse had the night off; Sally stayed a while, found El choking on a nut, called the police; El died. Wondering about the police, Clay tells Grace they should reconnoiter. She drives Clay to the beachhouse; seeing police cars, they decide to await Sally’s call. Next morning Grace visits Clay, brings newspapers. They read that after the autopsy on Gorsuch, authorities will question Sally, further that there was a suspicious smell of ether in Gorsuch’s beachhouse. Sally told the cops they smeared ether on their arms to ward off mosquitoes. But Grace suspects Sally of smearing Gorsuch’s arms, then taping his mouth to suffocate him, then removing tape residue with ether. Clay says that Sally’s agreeing to skip to Reno and Gorsuch’s death are only a coincidence and that Grace’s “jitters” are “self-manufactured.” Still, Clay wonders if it helps to caress Grace, who ominously says Bunny never said Sally asked her to care for Elly. Pat interrupts them by phoning from Mankato. When asked, Clay says he’d want Hal Daley to replace him in Channel City. Agreeing, Pat tells Clay to release Daley’s appointment to the newspapers, to let Daley start immediately and handle Granlund at once, to take time off himself, and then to tour all Grant branches and give cocktail parties to workers. Clay rings off with proper answers. He can hardly dissuade Grace from fears of police suspicions and of her “lamb” Elly’s being thereafter “branded.” Clay takes Daley to lunch, springs the news on him, and watches his euphoria. Miss Helm, Clay’s secretary, sulks— until he says she can accompany him to pretty Mankato. The evening papers say only that the police are still investigating and that Gorsuch’s body has been released for a funeral tomorrow. Clay worries about Sally, who disturbs his twilight nap. They kiss, em-

brace. She says big-hearted, big-handed cops queried her and let her go, because Gorsuch’s autopsy conﬁrmed death by choking on hoggishly consumed nuts. Clay will tub and soap Sally. Chapter 13. First though, Sally phones Grace to report about police and Gorsuch’s death, adding she wants a “quiet” black dress for the funeral. Sally calls Bunny, who has Elly with her in Cape May. Clay arranges bath, soap, and towels. Sally appears, “dressed as September morn,” slips into the tub, gets herself “tenderly” soaped. While he stares, she reveals that Alec earlier asked the police to search for ether used to swab gum off a four-inch bandage used to cover victim’s mouth. The cops interviewed Gorsuch’s nurse Mary MacReady, found his ﬁngerprints on his ether bottle, unsuccessfully sought bandages Alec told them he repaired stage baskets with. Sally suddenly says that Alec was unfriendly, she can’t go with Clay, she has to do something because someone did something to her. She towels herself, sits “without a stitch,” says this: Alec listened to the cops badmouthing her; for the next 20 years Alec won’t “unthink” what he suspects she did; Clay wouldn’t be safe with her; she wants part of Alec’s inheritance; Alec might prefer killing her to paying her off; he might hurt Elly; his “magic” could make witnesses see a dummy of her while he’s actually staging her carbon-monoxide suicide in her very garage. Clay concludes she wants to kill Alec. In complex talk, she hints she has to kill Alec, now a millionaire, is aware Clay won’t regard her thereafter as the same; he responds that he’ll participate in the kill. She wants love ﬁrst. He embraces her, aware that her “cold, hard, and crafty” eyes are at odds with her naked, “childish loveliness.” To himself, Clay: I’m a fool to participate in murder; Sally killed Gorsuch and “fooled the cops”; nevertheless, I volunteered, I want her; so, “do it right.” Clay’s weakness is his linking pride in aggressive success to desire for adulation. [Cain expresses this personality quirk in a wonderful metaphor: “loving praise above everything else” can be the “the soft underbelly” of the “giddy twin sister of pride.” Chapter 13 is thus pivotal, with 12 chapters before it and 12 chapters to follow.] Chapter 14. Clay and Sally analyze the possibility of Alec’s having a car accident on a condemned blacktop road he likes to use on returning home from work. Sally admires Clay’s “hardening resolution.” Next, they practice driving without headlights, threatening to sideswipe another car, thus forcing it into a dangerous ditch. It works. But they argue, and she starts smelling of an adrenaline discharge. They separate nightly, to deter possible suspicion. They must act before Labor Day, after which Alec’s new program would alter his pattern of driving home; also Bunny will soon return Elly from Cape

125 May. Clay says he alone must drive Alec to death, establishing an alibi by chatting with Doris at the switchboard before sneaking to his car; says Sally must prove being home by having some witnesses there. Clay follows Alec’s driving Sally home to be sure of Alec’s car; he sees him take Buster toward her residence, near which Clay walked once. Clay then encounters her. They discuss the Pilot gossip column; he gets cocky about forcing the published retraction. Clay lingers. Buster tells him Alec’s “bitch” wife tipped the Pilot columnist; but since she may have caused Gorsuch’s death and Alec will inherit, he wants to take her back. Buster invites Clay to come “simmy-some-time,” à la Mae West. They kiss, which he enjoys. Clay tells himself that he’d better act fast, before inscrutable Sally reconnects with Alec. He races home, stares at his wild eyes in the mirror, saying he’d “better get it done.” Chapter 15. It’s Monday before Labor Day. Grace phones Clay, says she’s happy for Sally, who’s throwing “a hen party.” Clay likes prolonging his talk with Grace. He has lunch at The Portico. Sally, though not his waitress, tells him she’s having a party of “crows” tonight. He warns her not to call witnesses crows. Edgy, she says she told Alec she’d discuss divorce with him tonight. Clay buys cans of white paint, drives to the condemned road and splashes paint at three locations to mark his driving pattern. He tells a garageman to pick up his car from his street for a checkup. After dinner and some billiards at the club, he drives home, engages Doris with chat about the weather, leaves her his car keys for the garageman to get, and from his apartment phones Miss Helm to book an Atlantic City business visit for him, phones Pat about picnic hams— thus ﬁrming up his alibi. Clay dresses in dark clothes, sits an hour like “a wreck,” but fearlessly leaves close to midnight, drives to the Flamingo, watches Alec approach his car. Buster follows, yells at him, argues that Sally wants him and no divorce. Clay departs for the condemned road. Clay spots Alec’s car, follows guided by the paint splotches, viciously honks when parallel to Alec’s car, which pitches right. Grinding metal and a bad splash. Then a woman’s scream follows. Buster must have been along. He ﬁnds a hubcap from Alec’s car, pitches it in a slough, drives off. Clay soliloquizes that “goddamit, it’s done,” and tough about the “tramp” sadly along. Chapter 16. Clay suffers a delirious night, during which he imagines love with Sally blotted by Buster’s scream. Eating at his drugstore, he reads the noon Pilot. Miss Conlon (Buster) jumped, survived, and

Magician’s

says she may recall the license number of the car forcing Alec’s death. Clay tells himself “a girl NOT getting killed” is worse than one “getting killed.” Also, he shouldn’t have delayed to get that hubcap. Clay phones the ofﬁce, saying he’s taking today off. Sally breaks agreed-on silence to say she phoned Buster at 3:00 A.M., as planned, to learn Alec wasn’t there and to call the police. Clay warns the phone may be bugged. She demands to see him immediately to avoid the cops. Arriving, Sally rants: Clay messed up; she isn’t involved, can’t be connected to Gorsuch’s death, or to Clay or Buster; Buster, hospitalized, is telling the cops she argued with Alec about his millions, but they reconciled in his car and he was to drop her off at her home; after the accident, Clay should’ve killed Buster at the scene. He says he couldn’t kill Buster. Sally insists he can’t successfully drag her in. He says their plan failed, and they’ll fry together, says her adrenaline is making her stink again, takes his key from her handbag, and forces her away. He wonders why the cops “haven’t ... come?” Chapter 17. The evening papers quote policeman Captain David Walton that he has no comments about the mystery car, since such leads are often ﬁshy. Johnny, who works in Clay’s apartment garage, calls him that his car is here. He chats with Johnny, infers from his guileless answers that the cops haven’t checked his car. Reading Buster’s interview now, Clay ﬁnds her wondering why the owner of the mystery car, whom she knows, isn’t collared; her tone combines suspicion and vengeful malice. Doris phones that Mrs. Simone is downstairs to see him. He rushes down, tells Grace that calls from Mankato are bothering him, let’s go to her place. They walk there. Over highballs, Grace shows him his ﬁnished portrait, which he criticizes for making him too “idealistic.” She praises him. He mentions Alec’s death. She says she’s ashamed to be glad the fellow, though “nice,” is dead. Clay kisses and comforts her. She admits she’s happy, but for Elly, not Sally; she says she could imagine Sally imprisoned in Annapolis and Elly scarred by shame. Clay ﬁgures Grace feels Sally got away with killing Gorsuch but will be convicted of killing Alec. Grace reveals that, surprisingly, Sally is crushed by Alec’s death. Clay admits he just saw Sally, they argued about something he won’t reveal, and he’s “thrilled” that they’re ﬁnished with each other. Grace believes him, criticizes Sally for her “selﬁsh streak,” ﬁgures she dumped Clay because she wouldn’t share her inheritance with him. She adds that Sally informed the curious cops that Buster couldn’t have seen her car, which was at home while she entertained guests, whom the cops also interrogated. Some “lightnings of hope” hit Clay. Sally phones Grace,

Magician’s

126

who says she’s coming over and Clay therefore must leave, because that “viper” (Buster) gave the cops Sally’s car number. Joyous, Clay kisses Grace and exits. Clay sneaks a view of Sally arriving at Grace’s. He reads a late-edition newspaper, full of non-libelous hints that the murder car is Sally’s. Overjoyed, he gets home, and ﬁlls up on steak, trimmings, and champagne. Clay informs himself that his alibi is “snake-proof” and Sally can’t involve him without worsening her story. Chapter 18. Clay enjoys more days off. Sally drives to Cape May, to see Bunny and Elly. Miss Helm phones that Miss Conlon, nicely dressed, wants to see him. Buster arrives, demure in black, and blurts that Sally is trying to frame her, says Sally ordered her to get her car plates last March from the motorvehicles department and therefore she knew the numbers but shouldn’t have told the cops that. She shows Clay a term insurance policy Alec took on himself with Buster the beneﬁciary to protect her future in case he died before his rich father did, after which he’d settle with Sally and marry Buster. After Sally helped his father die, Alec said he was grateful and would save money by taking her back. That insurance policy will lapse in October; so, according to Sally, Buster caused him to fall from those Flamingo ceiling railings, only to have an electrician catch him. That failing, Buster twisted the steering wheel during that fatal drive, causing his death. Sally screamed this to Buster on the phone. Buster asks Clay to tell the cops that Alec, not she, planned that ceiling act. Agreeing, he now sees the policy is for $25,000, says she must claim it immediately to avoid being suspected, says she must consult a lawyer. [Clay jerrybuilds his plots, nailing event on event—as life does to real people.] Clay calls his club friend Nat Pender, Channel City’s unique ace criminal attorney, tells him about “Buster” Conlon. Nat has already heard about her “insurance angle” and with Clay’s $1,000 check as retainer will see her this afternoon. Nat tells Clay to send her to his ofﬁce at 2:00 P.M. He’ll alert the police to interrogate her in his presence, with reporters present; she’s to answer only questions he will permit. Buster is so thrilled when Clay gives her a check sealed for “Mr. Pender” that she says she can help her Havre de Grace folks, kisses him, offers right here to show him her strip act—no, thanks— says that, although she and Alec loved each other and he saved her life, she’ll reward Clay for his kindness. After lunch, Clay gets two phone calls. Nat phones that all’s well, Buster can ﬁle for the insurance; he owes Nat no added money. Buster phones with similar news and adds she hopes he’ll call her soon.

Clay tells himself he “clobbered” snaky Sally, and Buster is “sweet” and “harmless.” Chapter 19. Clay dines with Grace at his club. Her mentioning Labor Day’s approach reminds him of his Atlantic City assignment. He invites her to share his already-booked suite there. Yielding because Alec’s death changes cold Sally’s ﬁnancial future, Grace wants a commitment. He proposes to her, wants not to sleep with her until after their marriage. They’ll wed on Tuesday, today being Friday and Labor Day to follow. Grace expresses beautiful happiness. They walk toward her apartment; he does enter. Clay and Grace get married, don’t honeymoon in Atlantic City, though, and while in her apartment disagree about telling Sally. He says no. Next morning they shower together. He cancels his Atlantic City hotel reservation, phones the news to Pat in Mankato. Grace, introduced as Clay’s portraitist, asks him to send their wedding announcements to speciﬁed friends. Yes. Pat praises her “distinguished voice” to Clay, persuades him to take Grace on a honeymoon-business visit to Grant Company’s branches. She delays quitting at Fisher’s, must “get something to wear,” rasps at him to replace his apartment bed with twin ones, meanwhile stay living here. First, Clay wants to tell Sally everything, and to assure her he won’t spill their secret to Grace. He drives to her house. She reluctantly admits him. He says he’s “going to marry” her mother, who initially promoted his love for Sally; and she’s not invited. He assures her he said nothing to Grace about “what happened a week ago.” Sally says she’s going to kill Buster. He tells her she has money and shouldn’t “rock ... the boat.” He smells her again. Grace, upset that he visited Sally, is molliﬁed when Sally phones her, is “agreeable” though not “effusive.” Clay assures himself that Sally can’t do anything. Chapter 20. Clay’s business tour with Grace takes them to lovely Dixie as autumn approaches. She is a gracious, canny hostess, especially with champagne and canapés. In New Orleans she gets The Pilot, and they read that a parking attendant, squeezed by the police, revealed that Buster argued with Alec before he drove off that fatal night. Clay phones Pender, who says the attendant, Norman (Bud) Jones, liked Buster. But Sally, now living luxuriously at the Chinquapin-Plaza with a maid and a nurse for Elly, invited Jones to her suite, bad-mouthed Buster, even said Buster imitated Jones’s unfortunate stammer. So Jones will testify against Buster. Pender says Sally has retained him and must pay him $6,250, a quarter of her insurance payout, when he represents her in court. Clay says he’ll start paying Pender that sum by check at once,

127 having “reasons.” Pender says his wife knows and praises Clay’s bride Grace. Clay tells himself that “this guy” Pender will legally protect Buster. Calling back, Pender tells Clay to forget payment until his return to Channel City. Grace demands to know why criminal-attorney Pender is phoning Clay. Initially evasive, Clay admits he’s paying for Buster’s defense — because he thinks she’s innocent. Grace guesses Clay drove the car causing Alec’s death. He admits it. Grace asks why Clay left Sally. He disburdens himself, then says he must stand by Buster. Grace promises to stand by him, since he’s her primary concern, says she was sinful too, for initially denying his love so he’d pursue shady Sally. They kiss. Chapter 21. Clay and Grace complete his business tour, ending in Mankato, where Pat entertains them and becomes Grace’s admiring “beau.” She deposits $5,000 in Clay’s account, to encourage him. In Channel City again, he learns from Pender that he could have quashed the case against Buster except she insists she saw Sally’s car cause Alec’s death. If she takes the stand, state’s-attorney John Kuhn will contend that she destroyed Alec’s marriage to Sally, was a “ﬂoosie,” and ran a daytime “free-wheeling joint,” and that Alec’s dangerously checking overhead rails was Clay’s idea. Clay agrees to testify about that — to help Buster. Before the trial starts on Monday, Clay and Grace combine money to pay Pender another fraction. Well-wishers bother them with invitations they decline. Grace gets Clay to move with her into her Rosemary Park apartment, where they ignore the phone. Aging Judge Warﬁeld gets the court started. Sally glares at Clay. Kuhn seems gentlemanly. Buster stridently pleads not guilty. Warﬁeld smiles. By noon ﬁve jurors are chosen. By closing time ten men and two women form the jury. Clay relates details to Grace, who prepares a soothing dinner. Clay says he doesn’t fear Kuhn. Grace says Sally phoned earlier, ﬁshing vainly for information and saying Elly is splendid. Grace wants Elly to visit them. Clay demurs. Grace says she wants “some” babies with Clay soon. Clay grouses to himself that he’d never welcome a child whose father he had killed. [Odd statement, because the kid would be Clay’s, not Alec’s.] Chapter 22. Kuhn “devastatingly” demonstrates Buster’s guilt: Alec, her former lover, returned to his wife Sally; Buster wanted revenge, failed in a plot to have him fall and break his neck, therefore jerked his steering wheel and leaped to safety as he plunged to a watery death, cashed an term insurance policy just before it would lapse, lied when questioned by authorities. Sally answers Kuhn’s questions: Alec hired her for his magic acts; they married; when

Magician’s

pregnant she introduced Buster as her good-looking replacement, stopped sleeping with her husband after he confessed adultery with Buster, agreed to consider reconciling after his father’s death, was to discuss possibilities right after her party with friends; never saw him alive again, heard Buster lie that Sally’s car was involved, only thereafter found that insurance policy. During cross-examination, Pender gets her to say she told the police about the policy, gets her to admit she knew Buster was named beneﬁciary. Sally upsets then amuses the jury by screaming she couldn’t “recollect” then by whispering all this “slipped her mind.” Pender says he’s establishing her lack of honesty. She admits she’d do anything to convict Buster. Pender elaborately intones his preference would be to have the jury acquit Buster of Sally’s “preposterous accusation” but for Buster’s demand to swear she saw Sally’s car. He intends to prove Buster’s innocence by proving non-charged Sally’s “possible guilt.” He says Sally’s getting millions outweighs Buster’s gaining only thousands. He says that, although Sally claims her car was out front during her party that night, a similar car could have been rented and parked there and that Sally had “a confederate,” who might even be sitting here now. He asks Sally, glaring at Clay, whom she’s looking at. The judge ﬁnes Pender $100. He apologizes, pays, then gently asks Sally who the object of her glare was. She “disrecollect[s],” then gains a laugh all around by saying she was sick of looking at Pender. Clay is uneasy when Pender questions Mike Dominick of the Flamingo but is reassured when Pender grills an insurance agent and then a confused cop. Pender whispers to Clay that he’s believing his own case. Grace fondles Clay that evening and says that when Buster gets off the sun will shine again. But before bedtime Sally buzzes, gets in, and claims Clay is conspiring with Pender. Grace calls her “rotten, vindictive,” reminds her of her evil treatment of her father, Alec’s father, and Alec, slaps her viciously, and orders her out. Leaving, Sally warns Clay she won’t “go alone.” [Brilliant foreshadowing.] Clay tells himself Sally is “sweating blood.” Chapter 23. Next day Pender interrogates Jones, who swears he heard Buster say she would “k-k-kkill” Alec. Pender wishes someone parked near Alec’s car that night would say they weren’t arguing. Clay blurts that he was parked there, waiting to sell Mike meat, and saw Alec and Buster not arguing, then drove off. Pender is ecstatic. After an electrician testiﬁes about Buster’s egging Alec to climb dangerously toward those ceiling rails, Clay counters that. Then he testiﬁes he drove to the Flamingo to sell meat to Mike, parked to avoid stuttering and slobbering Jones, says Jones “l-l-lies,” feels someone “primed” the “jerk” to defame Buster. Clay says he

Magician’s

128

stayed brieﬂy but saw Alec get to his car, Buster approach, and the two argue about his no longer wanting to divorce Sally. He says Buster was upset but not threatening. The court adjourns. Pender praises cocky Clay. Buster acts grateful. At home, Clay reports everything to happy Grace. Kuhn cross-examines Clay, asks if he drove his car from the Flamingo home that night. Yes. Kuhn asks the judge to excuse the jury. Agreed. Kuhn says he has tangible evidence that Clay never left his residence that night and will charge him with perjury. The judge allows Kuhn to continue in this vein and readmits the jury. Kuhn produces evidence of that very alibi Clay devised to prove he stayed home — garage talk, keys left with Doris, phoning Pat Grant and Miss Helm, etc. Clay, sweating, asserts he then sneaked out and using extra ignition keys drove to see Mike about meat. Clay feels cocky again—until Kuhn accuses him of visiting his “paramour” Buster. Clay admits he drove toward her apartment, intending to warn her about the ceiling act, decided not to, but then out she came “bouncing,” and they chatted. Although Kuhn is satisﬁed, Clay yammers on — that Buster feared Alec was dumping her for Sally again. To Kuhn’s wonder if Buster wanted “revenge,” Clay turns “overbearing, self-righteous,” says she wanted to replace Alec with Clay himself and “kisses nice.” Chapter 24. Gloomy now, Clay goes to Grace’s bedroom to rest. Her noon newspaper mentions his perjury charge, not its later retraction. They agree he never lies. He says his “copper-riveted” alibi blew up, thus hurting Buster’s case. Grace says that “serves her right,” to which Clay then Grace agree they’re guilty as well, and Sally too. Praising Grace, he loosens her bra and nuzzles, kisses, and inhales her breast. [Paul Skenazy says that thus “Grace offers Lockwood the mothering compassion that seems the deepest, if most terrifying, wish of all to Cain’s male protagonists” (Skenazy, 122)] Four days later Buster is convicted, but only of manslaughter. Grace says the “hussy” started it all by getting into Alec’s car in the ﬁrst place and can thank only herself. Clay: Buster can thank only Sally and him. Grace: Buster and you had something going? Clay: Nothing. Grace: I still despise her; I’m guilty too. Clay: I am guilty, but generous, “ninehundred-percent magniﬁcent ... you” aren’t. Clay must go think by himself in the park. Instead, Clay returns to his own familiar rooms, types a complete confession, preparing carbon copies for Warﬁeld, Kuhn, Pender, Sally, and Grace, and then types a will leaving all to Grace, with a loving note included. He has everything notarized by a notary public in his apartment building. He taxis to the Chinquapin-Plaza, obtains Sally’s address among her three adjoining suites, buys “necrotic”-

smelling lilies at a ﬂorist’s, and ﬁnds 1942A by elevator. Chapter 25. Clay informs himself that he could be “on top of the world” but for “this grand caper” he must now “cut.” He pockets the envelope for Sally, mails the others down a mail chute. A neat, Swedish maid admits him to 1942A. Sally greets him casually, tells the maid to take care of Elly momentarily in an adjoining suite, says that Buster got what she deserved, that Grace phoned seeking him. Clay presents Sally a copy of his confession. Aghast, she says it means the electric chair for them both. But no; he hands Sally her funeral ﬂowers, then chokes her to death, places her on the sofa, and waits. The phone rings in Sally’s bedroom. Clay ﬁnds a strange man in robe and slippers, there, exits to answer Grace’s call, tells her to hustle over. Arriving, she reports news: Swenson of Mankato had a stroke; Clay is president immediately; Pender got “trollop” Buster free on bail; judge may suspend her sentence. Clay interrupts to confess. He killed Sally; Elly mustn’t be brought to kiss her goodnight; a guy in Sally’s bedroom is innocent “of this crime”; Clay has something to do. Understanding, Grace promises to handle everything, kisses him with warm, comprehending “devotion,” enters Sally’s bedroom. [Cain contends that the postman always rings twice in The Postman Always Rings Twice. By one academician’s count, phones ring 38 times in The Magician’s Wife.] Clay takes a staircase to the twenty-second ﬂoor, steps “on the top of the world” outside, mumbles something “heard only by God,” and jumps to the parking lot below. A little later, in room 1942A, “a woman of stone” holds a scared child beside a sobbing maid, and answers questions a detective asks about the suicide outside, the corpse on the sofa, and the robed, “cowering man.” After the authorities are satisﬁed, Grace, carrying a boy with his teddy bear and “stalking exaltedly” out, faces what life has yet to hold for her. [Cain capitalized on the unforgettable “top of the world” yell by feisty James Cagney (1899 –1986), legendary bad man in White Heat (1949).] Roy Hoopes tells about Cain’s trouble getting The Magician’s Wife published. Dial was to issue it; but its editor Jim Silberman moved elsewhere, and his replacement was inefﬁcient with his backload. Meanwhile, Cain, who had already rewritten the ending from happiness to misery for its hero, tinkered with it further. Then E. L. Doctorow (1931–), later famous as a novelist, became Dial’s next editor, read Cain’s manuscript, and sent Cain suggestions which he found admirable. Sluggish responses followed, however, but then a break: Tom Wolfe (1931–), popular writer, in a review of American Dream (1965) by Norman Mailer (1923–2007), said

129 that Cain was superior to Mailer in handling dialogue, scenes, and plot pacing. The review awakened Dial to an awareness of Cain’s immediate appeal, and the novel was quickly published. Paul Skenazy carefully speciﬁes the obvious, which is that The Magician’s Wife is almost a rewrite of The Postman Always Rings Twice”—“chance meeting” in an eatery; “adulterous triangle,” husband killed “on a deserted country road,” “courtroom scene,” ﬁerce sex, “ﬁxation on eating,” lovers hate and then die. (Hoopes, 486 –488; Skenazy, 121) Makadoulis, Chris (Mildred Pierce). He runs the Tip-Top restaurant where Mildred gets her start as a waitress. Called “Mr. Chris,” he remains loyal to Mildred as her career advances. Mantle (Rainbow’s End). He is Edgren’s deputy in the Marietta sheriff ’s ofﬁce. The two investigate circumstances surrounding Dave Howell’s self-defense killing of airplane-hijacker Shaw, his relationship with airline stewardess Jill Kreeger, their attitude toward Dave’s supposed Mom (Myra Giles Howell), and the actions of her brother Sid Giles. Mantle, originally from Marietta, was familiar with Myra’s unacceptable behavior when she was a waitress in Fairmont, West Virginia, and he was a cop there. Cain introduces these irrelevant facts to create a red herring out of Mantle when he helps Edgren. Marco (“Come-back” and Serenade). See Fanchon. Marconi (The Enchanted Isle). This is a restaurant on West Saratoga Street in Baltimore. Jim Clawson goes there for lunch with Mandy Vernick, Sally Vernick, and Steve Baker before he takes them back to his nearby ofﬁce to question Mandy. Marguerite (Jealous Woman). She is the WashoeTruckee manicurist to whom Keyes goes to make himself attractive to Connie Sperry. Maria (“Death on the Beach”). She is Gil’s mother, about 20 and vivacious. No longer married, she insufﬁciently controls Gil, who is a bullying showoff. Busy ﬂirting with a taxi driver named Diego, she lets Gil swim so far from Playa Washington that he drowns. Diego tries to save him but only brings back his body. Captain, the narrator’s friend, explains that little Maria is a soldadera, that is, a muchacha who regards soldiers as heroes, and that she transfers her pathetic worship of tough little Gil to Diego, who marries her. María (Serenade). She is a shapely, clean-looking white prostitute in La Locha section of Guatemala City. To suppress his homosexual feelings toward Barrios, a local baseball pitcher, John Howard Sharp goes to María a few times. But her having a photo-

Mendenhall

graph of Enzo Luchetti, with whom John sang in Italy a while ago, makes him feel Enzo could be nearby and recognize him. So John goes elsewhere. Things get worse when John’s girlfriend Juana Montes happens to meet María and learns he has been with her. Maria (“Two O’Clock Blonde”). She is Hungarian Zita’s Hungarian maid. While the two are in a hotel, Maria and her co-conspirator try to shake down a businessman named Jack Hull, who is staying in the same hotel. Maria reports to Hull’s room and undresses; Bill enters, demanding to know where his “wife” is, etc. Hull slugs Maria and chokes Bill. Ultimately, Zita helps explains her part; she overheard the conspirators’ phone talk, went to warn a mere boob in his room, only to see Hull, whom she liked but brieﬂy misjudged as immoral. Mario (Career in C Major). He is the conductor for the American La Scala Opera Company. Cecil Carver strongly advises Leonard Borland to watch Mario’s rhythmic signals furtively but deﬁnitely. Mason, George (The Embezzler). He was the cashier at the Glendale bank but was transferred so that Dave Bennett could replace him while studying the successful banking work of Charles Brent, the head teller there. Mattiny (Past All Dishonor). She is the black wife of black Scott. She cooks at Biloxi’s D Street brothel in Virginia City. She and Scott help Morina Crockett work voodoo magic to cure Roger Duval’s bloodpoisoned hand. McConnell, Father (The Postman Always Ring Twice). He is a Catholic priest who offers comfort to Frank Chambers, shortly before his scheduled execution for killing Cora Papadakis, his lover and then his wife. Father McConnell tries to persuade Frank to believe that in the next world he can tell Cora that the car accident in which she died was not his fault. McDavitt, Malcolm (The Institute). He is Richard Garrett’s security chief at the Armalco Company in Wilmington. At one point, “Mal” brings in stacks of investment reports. His father worked for Richard’s father. Cain satirizes McDavitt as “a rumpled, potbellied” business non-entity engaged frequently in ﬁngering his belly and contemplating his navel. Mellie (The Butterﬂy). See Jack. Mendel (The Moth). He has property adjacent to Hannah Branch’s Signal Hill oil well. He reneges on his promise to let Hannah and Jim Branch dump muddy water in his sump. Mendenhall, Mrs. (The Institute). She is Hortense

Metcalf

130

Garrett’s widowed mother, hence Richard Garrett’s mother-in-law. Hortense tells Lloyd that her mother was a Chapman. [Is this important in Maryland history?] She was brieﬂy a nurse. She is still attractive, as gamey Lloyd notes. She appears at Lloyd’s press conference and, more signiﬁcantly, in the hospital after Hortense is shot and her baby is delivered by Caesarean. At the hospital, she thinks Hortense’s baby by Lloyd is Richard’s. For little reason, Cain presents Mrs. Mendenhall as an alcoholic. Metcalf, Jo (“Hip, Hip, the Hippo!”). He is a movie technician whom Hap Hapgood describes as able to make crocodiles in a tank “come to life like ... crabs in a steam boiler,” by pouring in hot water. Michaud, Veronique (Mignon). She works as a dressmaker for Lavadeau in New Orleans. At one point, Mignon tells Bill that she will stay overnight with Veronique so as to avoid Burke’s pushiness. Mifﬂin (Mignon). See Bosway, Emil. Mignon (novel, 1962). (Characters: Antoine, Dr. Bacon, Captain Bailey, Lieutenant Ball, Emil Bosway, Eloise Brisson, Frank Burke, Cassidy, Cassidy, Cleopatra, Bill Cresap, Joseph Cresap, Captain Dan Dorsey, Dr. Dow, Dumont, Eads, Emil, Mignon Fournet, Raoul Fournet, Galpin, Gooch, Gool, Captain Hager, Captain Jenkins, Adolphe Landry, Lavadeau, Pierre Legrand, Lorl Patrot, Lucan, Mifﬂin, Veronique Michaud, Paddy Milmo, Murdock, Olsen, Lieutenant Powell, Rod Purrin, Rachal, Bob Raney, Lieutenant Colonel Rogers, Schmidt, Hilda Schmidt, Serrurier, Captain Seymour, Dick Taylor, Marie Tremaine, Wagener, John Russell Young.) Chapter 1. Cresap is the blue-eyed, yellow-haired narrator, an ex–Union soldier, 28, wounded at Chancellorsville, limping and discharged, and now in Union-controlled New Orleans, February 9, 1864. Cresap and his friend Sandy Gregg, a Union navy lieutenant, plan to start a construction business here. Cresap knows how because he worked with his father Joseph, a builder in Annapolis. Cresap and Sandy have $2,500 but soon learn they need $25,000 in start-up funds. Mrs. (Mignon) Fournet, who sold Sandy a fancy uniform made at costumer Lavadeau’s shop, and Lavadeau himself call on Cresap at his hotel suite. Lavadeau soon leaves. Mignon says her Confederate husband (Raoul) was killed at Fort St. Philip; Sandy told her he and Cresap need money for their project; Sandy said Cresap could help her; her widower, cotton-merchant father Adolphe Landry is being held somewhere by Federal soldiers; Cresap, with contacts, must get Landry released, immediately. Cresap ﬁnds Mignon (age 24) uniquely attractive; she is a medium-sized brunette, with beautiful dark eyes and a perfect

ﬁgure. He says, “You have to pay.” They kiss, embrace, understand. [As Cain often does, he has his hero sniff his heroine, whose fragrance here is “warm perfume mixed with girl.” The perfume, identiﬁed earlier, is Russian Leather. Federal forces confronted Fort St. Philip April 24, 1862; Union forces were defeated at the Chancellorsville, Virginia, May 1–5, 1863. (Wagner, 29, 261, 529 –526)] Chapter 2. Cresap drops Mignon by cab at Lavadeau’s shop, proceeds to Union headquarters, ﬁnds his Annapolis friend Captain Dan Dorsey, now the aide to the Union general running New Orleans. Dan informs “Bill” Cresap [this is the ﬁrst use of the narrator’s ﬁrst name] that Landry is working a scheme. He buys cotton cheap “in Secessia”; Federal forces conﬁscate and store it; a Federal trader with “a godpappy paper” (bill of sale) gets it legally conveyed to him, conveys it to Landry and his partner, a “naturalized Irishman” named Frank Burke; they split proﬁts, buy and ship “supplies” to “Reb commander” Taylor “upriver.” Dan conﬁdes that Federal forces will mount a Red River attack in March, that what Landry and Burke are doing is “[t]reason,” that the cotton is “[h]oodooed,” “hexed,” and that Landry controls multiple bales. When Bill ﬁbs that he’s Adolphe Landry’s legal military counsel, Dan shows him Landry’s ﬁle, which includes a “Feby 5 [1864]” letter on “cheap tablet paper” from “Lorl Patrot” saying Landy is shipping “shoes” to “Reb commander” Taylor. Dan informs Bill that, since Burke saw jailed Landry, Mignon can also. [Confederate Lieutenant General Richard Taylor (1826–1879) “helped thwart the Union Red River Campaign.” (Wagner, 424)] Dan, holding a costume, and Bill walk out amid rain-soaked Mardi Gras revelers. One resembling a witch rides a broomstick. Dan disappears. [Hopelessly confusing are discussions in Mignon of intrigues with respect to cotton—growers loyal and rebellious, titles, receipts of purchase, ofﬁcial passes for transportation of persons and cotton. For cogent discussions of cotton, and sugar as well, in and out of New Orleans during the Civil War, both before and during the occupation, see Capers, 79 –85, 146 –151, 161–171. Capers quotes one eye-witness’s statement clarifying matters best: “under threats of destruction of cotton and sugar, these products were transferred in immense quantities to New Orleans, where a low price was offered the unfortunate owner, with a choice of acceptance or conﬁscation for disloyalty.” (Capers, 169)] Chapter 3. Bill takes Mignon, dressed as Columbine, to her jailed father, Landry, about 50, sturdy and proud. The two jabber in French. Landry courteously thanks Bill in impeccable English for helping Mignon, says he didn’t want his partner “Boorke” to trouble her during Mardi Gras. Bill says Landry is jailed because an anonymous tipster said he shipped

131 shoes to rebels, and not because of any cotton deals. Angry French talk leads Bill to suspect Burke betrayed Landry. Bill says he’s Landry’s legal counsel. Mignon commends “Willie.” Landry crushes Bill’s hand in agreement. Bill says he’ll ﬁnd the source of that ominous anonymous tip. While walking along Carondelet, Bill asks Mignon if she’s sleeping with Burke, a possible betrayer. Aghast, no. But she conﬁdes as follows: Papa during this cotton mess needed a Federal “godpappy” “to act for us in court”; Burke, back from trading Texas cotton in Mexico, went into partnership with him. If Landry pleads no defense, declares all assets, and is released, his assets will be conﬁscated; they include half of his $120,000 (327 bales of cotton), of which partner Burke, who’s been squiring Mignon around, owns half but legally holds receipts for all. Burke by betraying Landry would legally take both halves. [Cain’s knowledge of Civil War minutiae emerges. Hoopes says Cain read more than “four hundred books on the Civil War and countless documents” in preparation for Mignon. (Hoopes, 476) He should have read fewer, because he would then have crammed fewer bits of trivia into an already awkward book.] Bill tells Mignon to attend the ball with Burke as planned, to tell him Gregg recommended Bill but she’s suspicious of Bill for wanting money, etc. That will cause Burke to confront Bill. She says Burke lives in the City Hotel. When the Mardi Gras stops at midnight, she’ll return to Lavadeau’s shop to discard her costume, then stay overnight with a dressmaker named Veronique Michaud — to frustrate Burke’s “pushing in.” Mignon points out “big, heavy” Burke in a Mexican costume, chatting with Lavadeau. After love-assuring kisses, Bill notes the location on Common of a locksmith named Serrurier, then registers as “William Crandall, Algiers, La.,” in the City Hotel — baggage to follow. [Algiers is adjacent to New Orleans.] Chapter Four. Bill gets a skeleton key (made by Serrurier). Burke calls on Bill at his St. Charles hotel room. Big Burke boasts in his (County Limerick) Irish brogue that he made $100,000 in gold at Bagdad, a Mexican “stinkhole” near the Rio Grande, by escaping from his treacherous associate Paddy Milmo and his “soldados.” Professing to be corrupt too, Bill boasts of cheating Chester River (Maryland) farmers by dredging the river even while Sandy Gregg was chugging a towboat resilting it. Burke is willing to pay “counsel” Bill’s fee for representing Landry in court; is delighted when Bill says Landry should plead; says let Federal authorities conﬁscate Landry’s cotton, which maybe Burke can grab, because it’s in his name; adds let Landry’s store go too, since it’s but “a few bricks in Alexandria [Louisiana].” Bill says it would be better if he persuades Landry, then declines not only Burke’s proffered $100 bill, not-

Mignon

ing it has a triangular tear, but also his promise of more money in “escrow.” Bill goes to Lavadeau’s shop, tells Mignon what he and Burke are planning, gets a list of stationery stores from her, then goes to Landry. Landry agrees to “consider” pleading. Bill interviews Major Jenkins, who says if Landry pleads to parole violation, he’ll be released but his property will be conﬁscated. Better than treason, he adds when Bill complains. Jenkins says Landry’s partner just visited him and has just got Landry off with that very sentence, as a “courtesy.” A salesman enters with booze (champagne) for Jenkins, which he pays for with Burke’s same torn hundred and receives change. Bill thanks Jenkins, follows Lucan, the liquor man, and pays him $101 for the torn bill— to impress friends with, he ﬁbs. Chapter 5. Bill successfully works both keys in his City Hotel room 301 door, raps on Burke’s room 346, and “human gorilla” Pierre (Legrand), Burke’s French-speaking servant and guard, admits him. Burke boasts of ﬁlibustering “for Walker” in Nicaragua, selling proﬁtably to “one of Vanderbilt’s men,” then living in Paris before “Mexico beckoned.” Bill reveals his knowledge of Walker’s Nicaraguan “Accessory Transit,” then explains that Landry disliked pleading and Jenkins was rude. Burke puffs a Cuban cigarillo, says he talked “churl[ish]” Jenkins into reducing Landry’s sentence, stares out the window. Bill glances at the wastebasket, which has torn writing on paper like that of the informer’s note. [Robert Walker (1824 –1860), Tennessee-born ﬁlibuster, tried to colonize Mexico; led an invasion of Lower California (1853), declared himself its president; “annexed” the Mexican state of Sonora (January 1854); evading Mexican soldiers, surrendered to U.S. forces at the border (May 1854); joined revolutionary forces in Nicaragua, captured Grenada (1854); was elected and inaugurated president of Nicaragua (1854) and was recognized as such by U.S.; ﬂed to an American naval vessel after incurring the wrath of Cornelius Vanderbilt (1797– 1877), transportation promoter and ﬁnancier, by seizing boats of ruthless Vanderbilt’s Central American coalition (1857); tried to return to Nicaragua, was arrested by British personnel in Honduras; was court-martialed by Honduran authorities and executed.] Bill ﬁnds identical tablets of paper at the ﬁrst of several stationery shops Mignon listed for him to check. A clerk named Bob Raney helps Bill. Lunching at the St. Charles bar, he hears two men griping about a greedy gal named Marie Tremaine. Bill asks a cabby to take him to her. Chapter 6. At “a house ... in the Quartier,” Bill ﬁnds Miss Tremaine, says he—as “William Crandall”— needs a female “decoy” so he can search a room, gives

Mignon

132

her $20, and is led to her “apartment.” While she dresses, he notes “saucy” French pictures and gold ﬂower vases. He kisses her, mistaking her for a “madam”— until she says this is a gambling house she runs. Over champagne she won’t let him pay for, he details his scheme; she agrees, and they call each other “Marie” and “Guillaume Crandall-Quichotte.” Bill asks the source of her ice cubes. Minnesota, “depuis Vicksburg” [1863]. He says ice is salty in tidewater Maryland, where he was a pile-driving hydraulic engineer. Marie mentions engineer Eads and Adrien de Pauget, says the latter a hundred years ago sought to drive “pieux in the river” to force “its canal ... to the Gulf ” and make New Orleans a commercial “capitale.” Bill says his father knows Eads, says he’s here himself to start a business, has a nervy partner who knows tugboats, but they lack something. She guesses “Money?” and says that’s maybe not “difﬁcile!” [James Buchanan Eads (1820 –1887), Indiana-born engineer and inventor, built a Union ﬂeet of armor-plated gunboats to help control the Mississippi River (1861), proposed to Congress a jetty system to open the Mississippi River mouth at navigational depth into the Gulf of Mexico (1876), and succeeded in building such (1879).] Bill and Marie decide she’ll send “Eloise Brisson” to Bill’s room at 7:00 P.M., using his 301 key. Leaving, he glances at Federal soldiers, vingt-et-un (blackjack) and dice games, and a guard armed with a sword cane. Bill registers (ﬁctitious) Eloise Brisson in the City Hotel’s room 303, takes its key, buys a cheap tablet like Burke’s at Wagener’s, and decides not to tell Mignon about Pierre or Marie. Chapter 7. Bill pencils notes on his tablet, tears and pockets the pieces, slings his shoulder-holstered Moore & Pond .36, and after a 6:00 saloon dinner tries his key to City Hotel 303 successfully, hears someone singing in 346, and waits in his 301. At 7:05 Marie herself appears. Mussing herself to resemble a trollope, she reveals a derringer in her “pocketbook,” smothers Bill with moist kisses, and suggests a post-caper date at “chez moi.” When giggly, “rumpled” Marie dispatches Pierre to 301 for a corkscrew to open her brandy bottle. Bill enters 346, ﬁnds and pockets Burke’s torn practice notes, puts his in their place, exits, leaves two twenties on the 303 bed. He drops his stick for its clatter to signal Marie, but while exiting sees and is seen by Marie’s gambling-house guard—her “emergency” helper — on the stairs. Is Bill to become a caught “rat”? Chapter 8. Pasting Burke’s fragments together, Bill notes a practice message, half-illiterately composed on purpose and even signed “Lorl Patrot.” Mainly, though, Bill wants to extricate Landry. In

the lobby he spots two journalists— boyish John Russell Young of Philadelphia, and Olsen, a thirtyish, squinty-faced New Englander. Bill hears Young tell Olsen he’s checking a story about camp followers—“colored girls” who cook, launder, and “what else” for soldiers near Federal “ﬁeld headquarters.” Bill tells Olsen he has a real story, about a falsely accused client. Olsen asks “Mr. Cresap” if it’s about Adolphe Landry, adding that Landry is practically quartermaster for “Dick Taylor’s Army.” Bill invites Olsen for breakfast tomorrow, writes a letter to the New Orleans commanding general suggesting evidence for dismissing harshly treated Landry. Over breakfast, Bill gives a copy of the letter to Olsen, who whistles as he reads that Bill is accusing authorities of inventing a “false” charge to require being bribed for Landry’s release. Bill, Landry’s “counsel,” invites Olsen to attend a “confab” at headquarters this afternoon. Olsen says cotton causes army corruption, and Gooch, a Washington congressman heading an investigating committee, will be interested. Olsen pockets his copy of the letter. Bill says he hasn’t delivered the original letter yet and will only after the “confab.” Olsen, unable to go to press yet, hates thus becoming Bill’s “cat’s-paw.” Bill says another person will attend. [Irish-born John Russell Young (1840 –1899) was a Civil War correspondent for the Philadelphia Press. He contributed to New York newspapers, was a diplomat to China, a foreign correspondent in London and Paris, the Librarian of Congress, and the author of Around the World with General Grant (2 vols., 1879).] Bill gives the City Hotel clerk the 303 key, checks 303 via his skeleton key, ﬁnds the bed rumpled and the twenties gone, and is admitted to 346 by nonchalant Pierre. Bill notes the emptied wastebasket, tells Burke, impressed, that he’s appealing man-toman with the commanding general regarding Landry. Bill says he’ll not show Burke the copy of the letter; if it doesn’t work, Burke can intervene, innocently. On their way to the meeting, Burke stops at Lavadeau’s, picks up Mignon, and the three proceed to headquarters, where Burke sees Olsen and says that Olsen can’t attend. Bill, shrugging, indicates he can. Chapter 9. Orderlies guard outside Major Jenkins’s ofﬁce. In the presence of surprised Dan Dorsey, befuddled Jenkins, and Bill’s group, Bill says that before appealing man-to-man to the general with his letter, he wants to read it aloud for possible corrections. He intones that, yes, some shoes Landry sent did reach [General Richard] Taylor; Landry didn’t connive for that mix-up; surely the president [Abraham Lincoln] wouldn’t have “esteemed Sir” (the Federal’s New Orleans commanding general) arrested whenever “a Confederate guerrilla

133 captured a few supplies.” On cue, Mignon demands a lawyer. Bill continues: Landry had loyal intent, purchased cotton from reconstructable growers, resold to “a partner acceptable” to local army personnel,” etc. Jenkins demands the letter, threatens to arrest Bill, dislikes “graft.” Bill says Olsen has a copy of the letter, offers his own to Jenkins, who retreats, especially when Bill says if “martial law” is threatened, “graft” can be discussed. Burke blusters that neither he nor Landry bribed anyone. Flourishing the torn “C-note,” Bill tells Burke he declined Burke’s bribe via that very note as Landry’s counsel, saw Jenkins pay Lucan for booze with it, and bought it from Lucan. Calling Bill a lying “[s]cut,” Burke offers to leave with the “[l]ass.” Bill trips him, seats him, and says questioning is in order ﬁrst. Dan calms Burke. Bill molliﬁes Jenkins thus: Lucan’s booze was a “decent” gift for “kindness” bestowed; Burke duped Jenkins to arrest “innocent” Landry; Burke wrote the “Lorl Patrot” letter; the general received a second letter from “Lorl Patrot” today. Jenkins opens it, and it is Burke’s deliberate rewrite of the one produced by Bill, who says he retrieved the practice letter last night from Burke’s wastebasket. Jenkins examines it, wilts, asks for it, to arrest “the informer.” Bill says this evidence proves nothing, demands Landry’s signed release, says he’ll hold the letter and Burke’s torn $100 as evidence of Jenkins’s involvement with “skunk” Burke. Dan privately asks Bill to be sensible. Bill deﬁnes the “dilemma”: Jenkins, admitting mistakes everywhere, dismisses Landry’s case; or Bill submits the letters, Olsen publishes the news, and Congress investigates. When Jenkins fumes, Bill calls him an s.o.b. bound for prison. Dan orders Jenkins to bring Landry in, now. A blur of action follows: Jenkins exits; Mignor thanks Bill fervently; Jenkins returns with Landry; Mignon and Landry embrace, jabber French, will await Bill on the street; Burke snarls at them, is snarled at back; Olsen says he’s Bill’s “faithful cat’spaw.” Then Dan orders Jenkins to hold Burke; Jenkins does. Alone again, Dan rebukes Bill, gets friendly, says Bill is involved in messy Red River cotton. Chapter 10. Bill meets Landry and Mignon outside. Mignon offers no intimate thanks. Landy, though grateful, is confused. Bill invites the two to dinner and will explain. First, Landry tells inquisitive Mignon he bought a gross of mismatched, rejected Army shoes, sent them north; some rebel soldiers got them at Taylor’s camp; Landry would have been hanged if Federal forces knew. Leaving, Mignon embarrasses Landry by telling him he needs a bath. Landry says “upstanding” Mignon admires Bill, who says he admires her.

Mignon

Once papa’s gone, daughter races to Bill. They proceed to his suite. Quickly, she’s calling “Willie ... a rampaging bull!” He calls the afternoon “sad, intimate, holy.” She asks about his limp-causing wound and fondles his scar. She parades nude—a new sight, he avers. She is Episcopalian, Me too, Bill says, adding he graduated from St. John’s College. She says she studied at the Grand Coteau convent, where she developed lady-like postures. She reminisces about Hilda Schmidt, her childhood friend in Alexandria whose father rented the Landry-store’s ﬁrst ﬂoor for the Schmidt business of supplying sugar-mill items. Mignon recommends Galpin’s, a nice restaurant. [Cain’s erotic lingo is indecorous—“warm fuzz,” inhaling “her spit,” the “swell of her bottom,” etc.] After the three dine splendidly, Mignon and Landry show Bill detailed pictures of their beloved Alexandria. Landry explains: Burke and he are partners; he hopes Burke will survive, because everything Landry owns is in Burke’s name; if hanged, Burke would swing “to the tune” of $60,000 lost. Dan awaits Bill in his hotel lobby, orders him to bring Landy and Mignor to his ofﬁce tomorrow — without Olsen. Chapter 11. With Dan at 11:00 A.M. are Lieutenant Colonel Rogers (of the judge advocate’s ofﬁce), Jenkins, Burke (under guard), Pierre, Landry, Mignon, and Bill. When ordered, Bill offers Rogers details about the torn $100. Rogers says any $100 could be torn. Bill says they’re whitewashing Burke’s guilt. Rogers roars objections. Mignon says she saw Burke blanche when Bill produced the $100 yesterday. Nonetheless, Rogers dismisses the bribery charge. Next, Rogers asks Bill to produce the pastedtogether “Lorl Patrol” note. Rogers compares it to the second letter, says they’re by the same hand. Bill must explain how he got the evidence from Burke’s wastebasket, senses Rogers guesses someone aided him, won’t involve Marie Tremaine. Rogers says Pierre Legrand swears he never left Burke’s room; Bill admits he has no refuting witness. Rogers says that Bill registered a non-existing Eloise Brisson and that a maid saw Pierre talking outside Burke’s room with an unknown woman. Bill still clams up. Mignon stares at him. Landry says both Bill and Burke are honest fellows; so maybe a stranger wrote that practice “Lorl Patrol” message found in Burke’s wastebasket. Rogers wonders how Landry could defend his “godpappy” Burke. Mignon says “Frank” (Burke) wouldn’t bring any street “honey” to help. Burke exudes gratitude. Bill won’t identify Eloise Brisson. Mignon screams he should. Stopping Rogers’ rebuke of Bill, Dan says this: Bill, Landry, and Mignon are all liars; if fraud is ﬁgured in, Landry’s titles might be saved, to his proﬁt; if the

Mignon

134

three continue partnering with “oily, crooked” Burke, Landry could lose, because Landry’s “godpappy” surely won’t be present in person “to claim his seizure receipt.” Mignon sneers to Dan that they’ll get Burke to Alexandria. Outside, Landry offers mealy-mouthed rationalizations for his conduct. So Bill rebukes him. So Mignon spits on Bill. Chapter 12. In his hotel suite, Bill reckons he must forget Mignon, still needs $25,000 for his planned business, though, wonders about consulting bankers. Someone knocks. Marie with her guard (Emil) enters. With his sword, he forces Bill’s hands up while Marie puts the twenties in Bill’s mouth, pounds his face bloody with her shoe, tells him to wash before she lectures him. He swabs off in the bathroom, ﬁnds his .36 there, confronts his two visitors with it, takes the derringer from Marie’s handbag, slugs her, and orders her scared guard out. Over his “sulk” soon, Bill apologizes. So Marie apologizes, says she’s a “demi-mondaine” whom he’s treating as a “grande dame.” It’s kissing and undressing time. Marie purrs as her “Guillaime” pats her. She says she knows Mignon Fournet, aided Mignon’s husband after his gambling losses, wonders why Bill helped Burke. He explains “[t]he ins and outs,” all motivated by “tin” [money], adding he had to work that night — pasting evidence, writing that letter to Olsen, etc.— otherwise he’d have been with Marie. He says Mignon, whom she calls “folle,” means nothing to him. Marie says she could aid with 25,000 “bocks.” He proposes marriage. She needs his bathroom, emerges snarling that he lied to her, says she smelled Mignon’s Russian Leather perfume there, but says her banker will still provide the $25,000. Chapter 13. Bill, his face in colorful bruises, refuses to admit Louisiana Bank banker Dumont. Bill, skulking nightly, spies on Mignon, laughingly escorted by Burke. Some days later, Marie, her own facial bruise hidden by “rice powder,” visits Bill, says her guard Emil reported that Mignon was still with Burke. After mumbling, Bill tries to kiss Marie, his ﬁnancial “salvation.” Kissing him but rejecting any “affair,” she says she knows he’s been invited to the General’s Washington’s Birthday ball, would like to attend but might not be admitted. He’d insist on her being a guest, he boasts. She says Burke will escort Mignon there. They agree the inevitable “confrontation” will be revealing. [The sociable general was Nathaniel Prentiss Banks (1816–1894), who had replaced unpopular Benjamin Franklin (“Beast”) Butler (1818–1893) on December 16, 1862, in New Orleans, and who in turn was replaced by General Stephen A. Hurlburt (1815–1882). (Capers, 117; Wagner, 404)] Bill and Marie go, he in rented regalia including

silk hat, she, with diamonds framing cleavage approaching her navel and saying she’s a “grande dame” now. Stony-faced Dan loudly announces Mr. Cresap and Miss Tremaine. Both shake the general’s hand. With Burke and Landry, Mignon enters, a mantilla partly eclipsing her “big, beautiful bulges.” The two hot beauties exchange cold words. Burke starts to offend by calling Marie the “minx” enticing his “gippo” [Pierre] and Bill “the boy”— until Bill demands and gets an apology. Marie tells Mignon that “Guillaume” is her “ﬁancé.” Bill idiotically expresses ignorance of this development, which turns Mignon to “stone” and Marie to “ﬂame.” Mignon promptly names Burke her ﬁancé, says she has business with Marie, produces gambling notes signed by Mignon’s dead husband Raoul Fournet, tears them, gives them to crestfallen Marie. The four “engagées” dance. Banker Dumont and confreres confer with Marie, after which he tells Bill he’s lucky to be partnered with brightly mercenary Marie. Leaving in a cab, Bill, vowing they’re engaged, wants to enter her rooms. She says maybe he still loves Mignon, business must come ﬁrst, perhaps marriage and “jolis babies” later. Chapter 14. Paperwork delays liquidating the mortgages Marie holds— what with “easements,” entry-rights of carriages, etc. Bill and Marie go places, even to the “damned impressive” funeral of the [second] wife of [Louisiana-born] P. G. T. Beauregard [1818–1893], Reb general in distant Virginia, where he was informed by telegram of her death. [Caroline Deslonde Beauregard died March 2, 1864.] They also attend “the inauguration of a man named Hahn as governor.” [German-born Michael Hahn (1830–1886) was governor of Louisiana (1864– 1865). (Wagner, 200)] After the enormous funeral ceremony, which Marie labels “sottise [silliness],” Bill and Marie set their wedding date — March 29, at Christ Church. A New Englander named Murdock wants to buy her “establishment,” for $80,000. Demanding $100,000, she sends him away. Night after night, Bill spies on Mignon; Burke escorts her. By mid–March, no Mignon, no Burke. Maybe they are in Alexandria, “for the cotton seizure”? Bill might have gotten her out of his mind — but Lavadeau sees him on the street and says Bill could have stopped Burke, his “ape Pierre,” and “Papa” from going north. Bill wonders how. Lavadeau says Mignon wept, said Bill could have persuaded her to remain here, started to go ask Bill’s forgiveness, but lost her nerve. Bill asks Dan for passage as a trader on a Federal boat heading for the incipient Red River campaign to make money for himself and Sandy. Dan counters by saying what Bill really wants is Mignon, gone last week for Red River; Dan knows banker Dumont,

135 who spoke of Marie’s plan to marry Bill. Bill says he’d rather make the needed $25,000 by himself. Dan repeats that Bill wants “Mrs. Fournet.” In denial, Bill says he could buy Reb cotton and have a Union quartermaster seize it, make much “tin” with Dumont. Dan says the Union wants to stop Rebs from selling cotton abroad and getting money to replenish dwindling war supplies, wants to entice nearby Rebs to rejoin the Union, wants cotton for Northern mills to spin into Union-army clothes; but the cotton is hoodooed, because dealing commercially with Rebs is “treason.” Still, he’s ordered to give Bill permission to board the boat, because Dan’s superior ofﬁcers and Dumont admire Bill’s springing Landry, and because it will silence Bill. Bill addresses their wedding invitations with Marie, takes her to see John Wilkes Booth starring in Richard III— Booth has “death in his eyes”— then, abandoning Marie just as he did Mignon, uses his boat pass on March 22, 1864. [John Wilkes Booth (1838 –1865), Lincoln’s Maryland-born assassin, played the title role of William Shakespeare’s Richard III at New Orleans’ St. Charles, opening March 14, 1864, and reappearing nightly (except March 26 and 27) through April 3. (Bryan, 99) As chapter 14 of this 28-chapter novel ends, its plot in the second half tilts from love to war.] Chapter 15. After kissing Marie like the Judas he knows he is, Bill boards the Black Hawk heading for Alexandria. The “muxed ... up” sidewheeler is crammed, with the general and his staff, other soldiers, civilian workers, equipment, and traders. Lincoln clearly wants “cotton as a matter of public policy.” Dan conﬁdes in Bill that the general’s forces are spread too thin, that the three-pronged March 17th invasion—army, navy, and 10,000 “Bummers” sent by [General William Tecumseh] Sherman — isn’t effective; and that cotton problems ﬁll him with fear. At Port Hudson, Bill learns that the Federal navy captured the cotton via the Law of Prize, didn’t conﬁscate it under terms of the Conﬁscation Act; so the navy can keep the money without any litigation; so the traders are left “holding the bag.” Dan advises Bill to give “the big hee-haw” to Mignon and Burke, who are probably sleeping together, and to Landry also; warns if Bill kills Burke he’ll be hanged. Bill sees naval vessels escorting a barge of thousands of bales of seized cotton. Bill docks in rainy Alexandria. [For details of General Banks’ Red River campaign, March 14 — May 20, 1864, see Wagner, 297.] Chapter 16. Bill rents a room, until April 1, over Friedrich Schmidt’s mill-supply store in Alexandria [occupied since March 19 (Wagner, 298)], and sees “A Landry & Cie.” on a sign next door. He ﬁnds the ugly but spacious place much as described by

Mignon

Mignon, whom he remembers fondly. He calls on her, in her father’s store. They exchange sarcastic remarks. Bill says her father “pimp[ed]” to get “rotten harp [i.e., Irish]” Burke’s cooperation. Mignon, calling Bill a clumping “cripple,” says the navy paid her father, because of Burke’s clout in getting a signed receipt. Mignon and her father are heading home soon. In his room, Bill frets, forgets John Wilkes Booth’s warning, remembers Mignon’s smell, suddenly realizes Burke has “heft” with the army but not with the cotton-grabbing navy. Bill remembers Dan said that Sandy Gregg, manning his vessel Eastport, seized the cotton in question. Sandy, utterly surprised to see Bill, hails him aboard. Bill ﬁbs that his only business is their needed $25,000 and he’s here to collar it if possible. During their talk, a fellow ofﬁcer reminds Sandy that (naval) Lieutenant Powell may have signed some receipts, was “plugged by a skulker,” and Ball is in charge of notes Powell left. Bill can see Ball at the Ice House Hotel tonight. Bill tears a $50 bill in two, gives Sandy one half, and says a possible helper for them can prove it by matching Bill’s half. [Details of seizures, conﬁscations, receipts signed or not, Booth’s feral eyes, etc., create another “muxed” section.] Chapter 17. Before dining in a hotel, Bill sees Dan spreading good news to some reporters. The two meet behind the hotel. Pointing to a red glow, Dan says some locals are burning their “hoodoo” cotton. After dinner Bill spots Ball, who asks to see his half $50, says that navy orders are to receipt “loyal” cotton but that other cotton gets clandestinely shipped by Rebs through Shreveport to Texas to Mexico. Ball tells Bill something Bill doesn’t know but Sandy does: The navy stencils “USN” on captured bales of cotton but also “CSA,” meaning both the navy’s “Cotton Stealing Association” as well as “Confederate States of America”; yet the courts say nothing, because under prize laws any “marks” satisfy “adjudiﬁcation” sufﬁciency — so, case closed. Ball says Bill shouldn’t waste any “tin” hopelessly trying to buy any cotton warehoused [and stenciled]. Burke appears, doesn’t immediately see Bill, and tells Ball he’d like transportation to Springﬁeld (Louisiana), where he can buy 5,000 bales of cotton. Ball curtly tells him to “hop a wagon.” Burke says Mignon is feeling “slimsy.” Bill concludes that she got a pass signed by Powell so Burke could see and forge Powell’s signature on receipts the navy wouldn’t provide, and that Powell was killed to silence his denials. Burke then notices Bill, who says Burke got Powell to sign a pass for Mignon to cross the river (to visit her mother’s grave), forged Powell’s signature on a navy receipt for Burke’s cotton, and killed Powell. Bill adds that he can at least

Mignon

136

burn papers he holds and thus prevent Burke’s collecting $120,000; that if he can prove Burke killed Powell he’ll expose “you, your partner, and her.” Meanwhile, Bill wants in on the deal; so he agrees to explain to Mignon and her father. They meet at Burke’s at his “house” behind Landry’s store to disprove Bill’s murder theory by revealing certain papers. Worried and without his .36, Bill gets a nearby soldier to escort him to his residence, with Burke along. Bill gets his .36. Burke pounds on Landry’s door. No answer from him or Mignon. Bill orders Burke to bring them tomorrow to his rented place. Chapter 18. Slight sounds awaken Bill from sleep. He gets his .36; in darkness, with a pillow and a big china head, he makes his bed look occupied. Someone ﬁres at it. Bill ﬁres back. Something lifeless falls. Bill rouses the corporal of the guard. Mignon calls “Willie” from the adjoining hall, says she couldn’t answer Burke’s shout earlier because “Father not home” with her. Bill says he’s just killed Burke, is apprehensive about “the papers in Burke’s house,” says they gotta “cover up” or she and her father could get themselves hanged. Bills admits the provost guard, whose lantern reveals that what Bill calls the “prowler” he shot is not Burke but his “gippo” Pierre. Happily, the soldiers ﬁnd no identiﬁcation on Pierre, hence no immediate connection with Burke. Suddenly a corporal spots Pierre’s red pompom, says that Powell’s killer wore one. Yes, the army will let the navy know. Soon, many people know, when Captain Hager of the provost guard admits them. Bill, regarded by all as heroic, feigns “a bad reaction” on viewing Pierre and tells Hager he asked for a guard escort earlier because he carried a lot of money and maybe this dead fellow ﬁgured to rob him. Soldiers and seamen clean Bill’s bedroom. Sandy praises Bill for his success, says he should procure cotton however he can, maybe from the guy with the other $50 half, says hero Bill has a monopoly now, can buy cotton cheap, and be refused by none. Mignon, having eavesdropped, later enters through Bill’s skylight, in her nightie, smelling great, and soon in his arms. After leisure time bedded down, she says she saw that the victim was Pierre, not Burke. Mignon wants never to handle cotton again. Bill tells her everything. She says she never sought a pass. Bill says Burke wanted Powell’s signature on one to forge it on receipts. She says this: Landry and she pretended to like Burke so he could buy Pulaski [Tennessee] cotton on the Sabine cheap and so he wouldn’t spitefully burn his papers; Mignon, through her deceased husband, knew Texas growers with pre-war titles; she never slept with Burke; her father was off with an Indian buying venison; if her father doesn’t scare Burke with a gun and get and burn all receipts and titles to “every

bale of cotton” she and her father thought was theirs, she’ll do it. Chapter 19. Mignon admits Bill for breakfast at her place, resembling his but better furnished. Landry enters, carrying half a deer, which Bill tells him not to cut up yet. Bill informs Landry that he killed Pierre and that the authorities will soon connect Landry to Burke and search Burke’s place, then wonders where Burke’s residence is. Pointing it out quite nearby, Landry defends himself by saying he bought shoes for needy men, hates this “half-war” in which he can neither ﬁght nor have peace, and would gladly kill every “bluebelly.” Not Willie, pleads Mignon. Landry mentions Marie Tremaine’s name, prepares to leave. But he sits. As Bill prepares to dress the deer carcass, Landry whispers here comes Burke seeking Pierre, unaware he’s dead. Landry admits Burke. He starts saying “Cresap” (Bill) is in town and shots were heard. Bill appears, braces Burke with his .36, retrieves Burke’s Navy Colt, gives it to Mignon to point at Burke, and says that when Pierre shot at him supposedly in bed Bill killed him. Burke’s pal Landry says they must talk, asks about the navy receipt for the cotton signed over by Landry to Burke, says Bill thinks Burke forged Powell’s signature on it and then had Pierre shoot Powell. Bill mentions Pierre’s pompom and demands Burke’s keys, for his residence and a possible “lockbox.” Burke pitches a ring of keys on the table, deftly kicks Bill’s walking stick under him and causes him to fall, knocks Bill’s gun loose, knocks Mignon down and seizes his Colt from her. Armed now, Burke pours vile language at Bill and Mignon on the ﬂoor. Landry tells Burke he’ll hang if he shoots them, demands his receipt before the navy collars it, kisses Mignon, moves as though handing Bill his stick — which he swings at and pole-axes Burke with. Landry says Burke must be left here for now, tells Bill to cut the deer, hide it, and leave; Bill should tell anyone checking that Burke presumably went to Shreveport. Chapter 20. Bill ineptly carves the meat. He and Mignon put it in a tub in the cistern. Returning upstairs, Mignon tells Bill that Burke is breathing. What to do? If they tardily call the authorities, Burke’s gradually swelling head blow would negate any selfdefense theory. Landry returns, having found Burke’s lockbox and his papers, brings a huge can from Schmidt’s, and says they can put Burke’s body in it and dump it into the Red River. Mignon suddenly observes that Burke isn’t dead. Stunned, Landry says he found the ofﬁcial papers, wants to burn them. Bill suggests otherwise: Burke, say, doesn’t die; Landry’s papers, if found by authorities searching Burke’s house, could hang Landry and maybe Mignon, but if found by Landry, he’s a hero; simply say Bill visited here today, told

137 Landry what Ball said; Burke barged in, questioned Landry sharply, pulled gun, Landry conked him with Bill’s stick, took Burke’s keys, found tell-tale papers, then returned to minister to that “skunk” Burke, hoping he’d be dead. But Burke rouses, feels his head, calls Bill a “scut,” Landry a “Judas,” Mignon “queen of the swampland strumpets,” and himself “a ﬁne hombre.” Bill hears a provost guard halting outside, tells Burke that the authorities have identiﬁed Pierre and are seeking his boss Burke, that Landry will hide evidence of the forgery for now, that Burke must quickly trump up some convincing lies to the authorities. Chapter 21. Hager, Dan, Sandy, Ball, and some guards knock at Bill’s door. He admits everyone, introduces Landry and Mignon around. Burke lies that while seeking Pierre he hurt himself bumping into a market awning. Hager says Pierre is dead. Responding “Aye,” Burke clears himself by saying he saw Pierre arguing with Powell in Bagdad, Mexico, hired Pierre “as [his] boy,” and got him here; but bad blood continued between Pierre and Powell—with this result. Burke says Bill blackened poor Pierre’s reputation “last month” in New Orleans by lying that Pierre left Burke’s room so Bill could search it; hence Pierre wanted to kill Bill. Burke’s lies include Bill’s forging Powell’s signature and questioning Burke’s passes. Bill, admiring Burke’s “masterly” ﬁbs, says Burke has reason to hate him — he killed “the gentle Pierre.” While Hager examines Burke’s passes, Sandy whispers to Bill: Ball will help Bill get receipted for cotton; so, damn it, “get some!” Bill says he wants to marry Mignon. Salutes and exeunts. Landry thanks Burke for “convenient prevarication.” Bill says skunk Landry associates with skunk Burke. Burke says Bill also stinks. Bill feels deranged. Chapter 22. Around noon, Mignon brings food for two to Bill’s digs. She says her father is helping Burke pack, gave him a letter of recommendation addressed to Kirby Smith, and expects him to seek “cotton on the Sabine.” Mignon says she and Bill can destroy papers naming Burke, copy new papers naming Willie Cresap; hence Bill can share $125,000. He resists her sexual advance by mentioning “Russian Leather” (i.e., she slept with Burke). She weeps. He undresses her in his bedroom, says he’ll seek money (for Sandy’s scheme) with her, says he can use the Eastport. She says that “big boat” will take days “to be drug” to Shreveport, giving them time for paperwork — deed, “bill of sale from Father” to navy-approved “godpappy” Bill, ﬁling in courthouse, articles of partnership etc. The two kiss. [Floridaborn Edmund Kirby Smith (1824–1893) was a Confederate major general, commander of the Department of East Tennessee (1862), then commander of the Trans-Mississippi Department (from Febru-

Mignon

ary 1863). After Vicksburg, Mississippi, fell (July 4, 1863) and ﬁve days later Port Hudson, Louisiana, also fell, Smith began partly ﬁnancing his department by selling cotton abroad. He and General Richard Taylor, his subordinate, oversaw defenses during the Union’s unsuccessful Red River Campaign. (Wagner, 297, 422–423)] Landry is reluctant to accept Bill; soon laments he had to cooperate with Burke, the Union is wrong to suppress occupied Louisiana; boasts he intends to grab some Union “tin” and share it with his “people,” for whom Bill praised him for buying shoes. Bill hopes Landry will reject their partnership, so that he can “be out from under.” But Landry wants him. Mignon makes them shake on it. Landry manages his paperwork. He, Bill, and Mignon record everything in court, and Bill takes the receipt to Sandy, aboard the Eastport being tugged forward, shows both halves of the $50, and surprises him by saying Landry and Bill are partners owning 327 bales of cotton. Sandy summons Ball, who though puzzled ﬁnds all in order, and reluctantly approves, saying Bill’s gain is “an awful lot of prize for the Navy to give up.” Sandy conceals his excitement from Ball. Bill, Mignon, and Landry celebrate that evening with candlelit rum drinks. Landry says that what Bill and Mignon mean to each other is more important to him than any money, then adds with relief that “vindictive” Burke departed afoot today with cash and Colt. [Cain dates this triumphant day for Bill and Landry as Easter Sunday (March 27, 1864).] Chapter 23. Three weeks pass while Bill, Sandy, and Mignon await boat permits from Hager. One day, Dan warns Bill to lie low, because traders are being arrested and returned to New Orleans. Bill laments that traders aren’t “saviors [of the Union] any more but nuisances.” [Capers notes that “traders in New Orleans ... operated in a combat area where their fellow Americans were dying in battle to save the Union,” and that, to add to the bitter irony, traders “supplied the enemy with munitions which increased the casualties.” (Capers, 162–163).] Landry tells Bill that Casanova was not simply a great lover but also the 18th century’s “greatest literary ﬁgure.” Bill veriﬁes this surprising assertion by consulting Landry’s handy Britannica. [So what?] One day while Bill and Mignon are together in Landry’s place, Landry appears. Bill prepares to say she’s an adult and they’re planning to marry. But Landry’s response is military: Taylor has defeated Union forces, with both armies now racing toward Alexandria, and Landry will tardily join Taylor’s Rebs. Bill reminds him of their cotton business and says he’ll have Landry arrested unless he gives his solemn “parole” not to do so. Landry caves and vows. Mignon visits Bill, gripes about his ungrateful

Mignon

138

treatment of generous Father. Bill, recalling bookworm Landry’s earlier praise of “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” says that its author, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, was an “opium-eater,” and that cotton is Landry’s opium, and that Bill would sell the cotton and keep all the proﬁts if Landry hadn’t promised to stay out of this war that Landry thinks is half peace but isn’t. Mignon says she’ll hate Bill’s relationship with “her” (i.e., Marie Tremaine) until this cotton mess is settled. The air turns “bitter.” Chapter 24. Taylor blockades Alexandria “to bag us all.” The crowded city, with an inﬂux of 30,000 retreating men and 5,000 horses, smells of “death, rot, and war.” Supplies shrink. Red River water is too polluted by “corpses, swill, and ﬁlth” to be potable. After another three weeks, Bill still lacks his pass. One day Landry, professing Union loyalty, says that Taylor is too weak to do anything now, that Union forces should attack Shreveport — the Richmond of the West — and that he, Bill, and Mignon can make a million dollars by doing this: Landry can go by boat to Shreveport, which is ill-defended by General Kirby Smith and in which Landry has cotton associates; Bill can accompany him as “godpappy” and become a unique trader there, since other traders were sent back to New Orleans. Landry tells Bill to report all this to his friend Dan, especially concerning Kirby Smith. [Swinging like a weather vane, Landry is pro–Reb, pro–Fed, anti–to pro–Bill, indifferent to and eager for money.] Bill meets Dan, who says that General Nathaniel Banks lost at the Sabine Crossroads (April 8, 1864) but won next day at Pleasant Hill. [Thus ended his failed Red River Campaign. (Wagner, 38) Cain lets Dan continue spouting military information, including stuff about Reb Smith, which he as a captain could hardly know so quickly.] Dan tells Bill that cotton is jinxed. Bill tells about his navy receipt, Sandy, etc. Dan agrees to let Landry leave for Shreveport, since Lincoln wants cotton. Chapter 25. Suddenly Bill wants Hager to cancel his pass to sail north, since he’s heading for Shreveport. But Hager brings hero Bill his pass anyway, says the Warner will take him to Cairo (Illinois), from which he can get to Springﬁeld (Illinois)— but without Landry or Mignon. Bill agrees, asks Mignon to marry him here and now. No; she and Landry ﬁgure Union forces will capture Shreveport, thus ending the western part of the war, and they’ll meet Bill in Springﬁeld. Sandy enters, sees Bill packed to leave, says his Eastport got stuck at the falls and was scuttled, and soldiers from Maine woods know how to fell trees but lack carpentry ability to build dams and thus help naval vessels work free. Bill says he knows how to manage piles and dams, agrees he could ﬁx everything in a week, and volunteers to do so— to Mignon’s blazingly furious annoyance. She

feels what Bill really wants is to run a “gambling dive” with “her” (i.e., Marie). Landry answers a knock on the door. Bill guesses, rushes for his nearby .36, and greets Burke—“ragged, ﬁlthy, bony.” Bill sarcastically tells Burke to make himself at home, to which Landry says this is his home, not Bill’s. Burke says he went to Shreveport not the Sabine, had to bribe to effect an escape, came here last night using his key, waited until now to show his hungry self. Mignon quickly chirps she’ll feed him. Burke avows he has “tremenjous” news. Bill believes, from an “exchange of looks,” that Landry and Mignon knew earlier about Burke’s return. Bill, waving his .36, says the three all approve of Bill’s “shoving off” so that Burke can be their “godpappy” and he, not Bill, can claim the cotton in Shreveport; thus, Landry, Mignon, and Burke — and Sandy too—can collar “that million bucks.” On command, Burke spits out his Shreveport news: Union forces disastrously sought “to bag two [enemy] armies, instead of going for one!” and are leaving “their fortress [Shreveport] unguarded.” Burke says the dam will break, there’ll be a Union march on Shreveport, and the cotton there will enrich him and the Landrys. No, counters Bill, who says he’ll build that dam, says no one’s leaving, and in the stove burns the receipts to the cotton—“this devil’s bait we all sold our souls to grab.” He orders Sandy to come with him. Landry promises that no dam Bill builds will stand. Bill says it will “till the ﬂeet gets down.” Bill packs. He sees Mignon about to spit on Sandy; so he slugs her, relinquishes his pass to authorities, and makes Sandy escort him to “the bridge” [i.e., the dam site]. Chapter 26. Sandy introduces Bill to Captain Seymour, whose dam-building methods, wrongly mixing “compression, tension, and function,” he [scientiﬁcally] ridicules. Bill lectures Seymour about dragging dropped trees to the water and only then bracketing, bracing, notching, lashing, and turnbuckling everything, dividing laborers into separate gangs, etc. Bill, signed on as a private, explains how Seymour should order, not lecture, his men of the 29th Maine and of the Corps D’Afrique. Bill bellows and curses his share anyway. The Red River is getting dammed. Bill reports that, to be truthful, Colonel Bailey commanded the construction but Bill helped make things “go right.” [Once again, Cain’s research is evident: The Corps D’Afrique comprised black slaves recruited by General Banks beginning in March 1863 and expanded to 18 regiments of 500 men each. (Capers, 111, 219)] Bill supervises progress for three days. Sandy, formerly rather nasty, apologizes and says the Rebs sank the Warner, the very vessel Bill was to take. Sandy goes on to say that Landry and Burke were seen aiding a hearse during a funeral, while Mignon, the

139 wind billowing her skirt, alertly watched. Bill says he hopes never to see Mignon again. Sandy says he’d like to “get” her bottom. Bill says he doesn’t care whose funeral it was. After two more days, the gang ﬁnishes the dam. The navy wants additional depth. Done. To celebrate, the soldiers build a ﬁre of resin-ﬁlled pine. The glare half-blinds navy pilots coming through. One sailor aboard Sandy’s Neosho spots a skiff drifting toward the dam, then disappearing. Bill guesses the “body” whose funeral Landry and Burke aided was really a cofﬁn ﬁlled with powder from Landry’s store and now heading by the skiff to make the dam “go out.” Seymour gives Bill and Sandy permission to scout the woods near the dam, and accompanies them. Chapter 27. They arm themselves, carry an unlit army bull’s-eye lantern, search past the woods toward the shore. Bill smells Landry’s familiar “perique smoking tobacco.” Seymour lights the lantern; its beam reveals Landry’s skiff, along with the faces of Landry, Burke, and “pale, beautiful” Mignon. Seymour arrests all three. Bill notices four wired and capped powder kegs in the skiff, and a drag chain to keep it pointed when loosed. Seymour orders Sandy to guard the three. Sandy wants Landry and Burke to dismantle the explosives ﬁrst. Seymour disarms Landry, moves to do the same with Burke, who, however, it “seemed” seeks his own gun and Seymour shoots him dead. Bill hears Mignon whispering — a prayer in French. [This is a touching, epiphanic moment.] Seymour orders Landry to disarm the “torpedo.” Instead, Landry kicks his skiff into the river’s current. Seymour shoots Landry dead. Bill tries to stop the ﬂoating skiff, made it “capsize and the danger was over” [i.e., sank the skiff ], bumps his “game leg” horribly against a rock and screams in pain. Someone (Seymour) pulls him ashore. Mignon, smelling of Russian Leather, is there too, says she’s bound to be jailed, asks for a kiss and his vow that he loves her. He so vows, and their kiss is “sweet, long, and holy.” Sailors take Mignon away in a cutter. Seymour asks about Mignon. His wife “but in name,” Bill replies. Seymour says she’s in trouble but less so since Bill evidently “destroyed the evidence” (skiff, powder, wiring, etc). Bill mostly blames her father. By dawn an ambulance brings Bill close to the dam. Boats safely navigate. One vessel breezes past Bill and even victoriously toots while going safely through the chute. Alas, the monitor approaches. Bill sees “a black skirt” and “her face.” The monitor skipper misjudges the chute, fatally cuts power; a “stern wave” sweeps it into the maelstrom. Mignon stares, gasps, sinks in muddy water. Seymour says the navy will ﬁnd her. Bill collapses in sobs. Chapter 28. Bill says never mind his swollen leg,

Mignon

“wing dams” saving the other Union boats, his delirium, his hospitalization south of New Orleans, Olsen seeking details from him in New Orleans, Bill’s formal discharge. He seeks information about Mignon. Soon he is helped to his old hotel suite — all bills paid. Dan is mum when he visits. A surgeon operates on Bill’s infected leg. One day, Sandy, transferred to New Orleans, says that Mignon and a seaman named Cassidy sank in the cutter and that repeated grapplings found neither body. Bill says his building plans with Sandy are ended; he wants Sandy to ask Marie, who he suspects is footing his bills, to indicate their total, which he plans to remit from Annapolis soon; he doesn’t want to see admittedly “sweet, wonderful” Marie but simply to mourn his dead. [According to Wagner, “May 8 [1864]: Rear Admiral Porter’s Mississippi Squadron, in danger of being trapped in the lowering water of the Red River, ﬁnds salvation in the construction of wing dams, which raise the water level.” (Wagner, 534) Admiral David Dixon Porter (1813 –1891) was in command of all Union vessels in the Mississippi River system above New Orleans (1863 –1864).] One day, Marie taps, is admitted, and hugs “Guillaime.” He wants to reimburse her for her generosity. He apologizes for being a “louse” toward her. She says he was understandably in love with that “ﬁne, wonderful ... half poupée, half tigre,” then announces that she is “mariée” to Sandy—who, beckoned, enters grinning. Marie adds that the ﬁrm of Cresap and Gregg is something she will start up with “twenty-ﬁve thousand bocks.” Sandy says Bill needn’t return to Annapolis. Bill summarizes. Mornings, he lists items to be purchased and stored in their warehouse in nearby Algiers. Afternoons, he writes this autobiography. Evenings, however, he imagines seeing Mignon’s wet hair and cold cheek, and hearing her say she swam to safety and awaits him. So the “hoodoo” is alive. [David Madden observes that “when Mignon’s ghost disturbs Bill’s sleep and inspires him to write his story, hokum is not far away.” (Madden 1970, 85)] Cain worked sporadically on Mignon for twelve years and despite frustrations nurtured high but misguided hopes for it. Alfred A. Knopf read two versions of it, one in 1957, another in 1960, and rejected both. Cain tinkered further with it in 1961. It was accepted by readers at Dial, provided he made minor changes, which he did—to his satisfaction. Dial published it in 1962. It sold 15,000 copies in hardcover. For $15,000 Dial sold reprint rights to Dell, with Cain receiving half. Reviews were mixed. No one in Hollywood was interested in movie rights to it. Ray Hoopes, detailing its sad history, concludes that “All in all, the failure of Mignon was perhaps the low point in Cain’s life.”

Mildred

140

Paul Skenazy relentlessly criticizes Mignon as “an embattled mixture of a story of commerce, a story of love, a story of voodoo and superstition, and a story of honor, glory, and war”; in fact, “a pastiche of elements Cain fails to integrate”— that is, a “destructive generational” plot, “historical research” aiming at “historical romance,” and even “the traps and trappings of the traditional Western.” David Madden reports that Cain said never would he try “a period novel again. It is like a sentence in the penitentiary ... [Cain’s ellipses] you refuse to leave your cell until your time is up.” (Hoopes, 463 –475 passim, 475; Madden 1970, 53; Skenazy, 119, 120) Mildred Pierce (novel, 1941). (Characters: the Rev. Dr. Aldous, Anna, Archie, Arline, Audrey, Bella, Monty Beragon, Miss Beragon, Mrs. Beragon, Biederhof, Maggie Biederhof, Mrs. Boole, Bullock, Wally Burgan, Carl, Dr. Collins, Corasi, Eckstein, Eddie, Elaine, Emma, Blanche Engel, Harry Engel, William Engel, Ernestein, Louise Ewing, Paul Ewing, Florence, Mrs. Floyd, Sam Forrester, Frieda, Fuji, Dr. Gale, Ike Gessler, Lucy Gessler, Gurney, Charlie Hannen, Roberta Hannen, Hans, Harbaugh, Mrs. Harbaugh, Harris, Mrs. Hildegarde, Otto Hildegarde, Hobey, Ida, Miss Jaeckel, Jake, Josie, Mrs. Kramer, Kurt, Laura, John Lenhardt, Mrs. Lenhardt, Letty, Levinson, Moe Levinson, Chris Makadoulis, Maybelle, Murock, Otis, Pancho, Adrian Pierce, Herbert Pierce, Mildred Pierce, Ray Pierce, Sarah Pierce, Veda Pierce, Rand, Red, Mrs. Ridgely, Rossi, Sam, Sawyer, Shirley, Sigrid, Simons, Snyder, Hank Somerville, Tommy, Carlo Treviso, Alice Brooks Turner, Bob Whitley, Mrs. Whitley, Miss Whittaker.) Chapter 1. Glendale, California, 1931. Herbert Pierce, about 35, neatly gardens around his Spanishstyle house, walks through ordinary-looking rooms to bathe in an efﬁcient American tub, then dresses nicely. His wife Mildred (28) is in the kitchen icing a $3 cake for Mrs. Whitley, says she’ll buy chops if he’s coming home, otherwise something the children will prefer. Arguing, “Bert,” unemployed, is going to see Mrs. Maggie Biederhof again. Mildred tells him, this time, quit Maggie, or pack and leave. [David Fine calls the Pierces’s “Glendale house ... a proﬁle of withered 1920s middle-class elegance, the good life shattered by the depression.” (Fine 2000, 98)] Herbert packs attractive items, hoping Mildred will beg him to remain. He was a movie stunt rider, inherited a ranch outside Glendale, failed at farming, proﬁted from the Los Angeles 1920s real-estate boom by subdividing his 300 acres and building and selling Pierce Homes, invested in AT&T. The 1929 crash destroyed his $350,000 equity. Refusing to “face ... stultiﬁcation of his sagacity,” he

won’t seek employment, toys with Mrs. Biederhof. She rents “hovels ... to Mexicans,” plays rummy with Herbert, lets him unbutton her brassiere-less front. Moire (“Ray”) Pierce comes home from school. Veda, the other daughter, isn’t here yet. Herbert takes his bags to the kitchen. Mildred says, “Just—go on.” He drives away. She realizes she lacks transportation to deliver the cake. Lucy Gessler, next-door neighbor, about 40 and married to Ike Gessler, a trucker who augments his income by bootlegging, brings Mildred some fricasseed chicken. Lucy admires Mildred’s beautiful cake. Mildred says she bakes nicely because she must, reveals Bert’s departure. Lucy calls him “a dirty bastard,” like all men. She leaves. Veda, 11, attractive, somewhat resembling Herbert, and haughty, enters, accepts a “V”-iced cupcake from Mildred, and mentions her piano lesson. Mildred, convinced of Veda’s “talent,” barely manages 50¢ for weekly lessons. Veda practices on Grandfather Pierce’s piano. She theatrically says she’s learning Chopin’s Grand Valse Brillante. Mildred says daddy has the car, so go ask grandfather to drive her to the Whitleys with Bob’s cake. Veda sniffs at paperboy Bob. Noticing beloved father’s fancy clothes missing, Veda queries Mildred. Gone, permanently. Veda, aware of family bickering, always sided with him. Ray, seven, chubby, and favoring her mother, also hears. Mildred embraces Ray while Veda, aloof, blames “distinctly middle-class” Mrs. Biederhof. Mildred’s father-in-law helps her deliver the cake, invites her, Veda, and Ray to supper. Afterwards, she reveals Bert’s departure. “Mom,” Mildred’s mother-in-law, excoriates “hussy” Mrs. Biederhof, with her “wobbling” breasts. Mildred insists the fault lies elsewhere: Depression woes, Bert’s being fed up, her being fed up, her ejecting him. Mr. Pierce molliﬁes outraged Mom. When Mom says Mildred doesn’t own her house, Mildred says the bank will if she can’t manage “interest” payments. Mr. Pierce expresses sorrow, asks if she needs something. “Not yet.” She walks home with the children, angry that her in-laws don’t “get the point.” Veda and Ray get to bed. Mildred reminisces. At 16, she was seduced by jaunty realtor Bert; when pregnant, she married him. Her widowed mother, Mrs. Ridgely, considered buying a Pierce Home and renting rooms, instead invested in AT&T at Bert’s suggestion, resides with her other daughter, married in San Diego to a ship chandler. Mildred surveys her so-so body—“seductive” bosom, thin hips, “beautiful” legs, but especially enticingly wise-looking “squint.” Ray enters, sobbing; Mildred croons her to sleep. Chapter 2. Mildred makes cakes and pies, and earns $9. Orders dry up. On Saturday, a letter from her mother comes. She blames Bert for her weaken-

141 ing AT&T stock, says her son-in-law Engel’s business is bad, and wonders if Mildred can help him sell excess anchors. Mildred laughs. She pays her overdue gas bill and buys groceries. Her father-in-law offers to take the children for the weekend and deliver them to school Monday. Though suspecting he’s planning a family rendezvous with Bert, she agrees. About 5:00, Wally Burgan, a lawyer and Bert’s real-estate partner, knocks, waves a cigarette, says he needs Bert to help rectify a title. She confesses Bert’s departure, hesitantly invites Wally in. Surveying her ﬁgure, he offers to step out with her Sunday night. She agrees. Lucy visits Mildred Sunday noon, invites her to a party tonight. Learning about Wally, she says bring him along, adds he always decently admired Mildred, now knows she’s a “hot” and “fast” grass widow. Asked, Mildred says Wally is single. Lucy reconsiders: Ike, her husband, will be inviting “all-right” but rough friends, with “squealing” girls; Mildred shouldn’t associate with such; she should take Wally seriously; though resembling “a pot-bellied rat,” he’s young, decent, and works. Lucy returns with gin, Scotch, white wine, and red wine “right off the boat,” tells Mildred not to let Wally buy her any dinner thus putting herself in debt to him, but cook him fancy stuff in the kitchen “where all women belong,” and, though all men are “goddam liars,” Wally will soon ﬁnance her and promise to “buy that divorce.” Mildred: You think I want to be kept? Lucy: Yes. Mildred writes her mother negatively; gets out vegetables, oranges, cream off the milk; makes a huckleberry pie; stuffs and bakes the chicken; sets a ﬁre in their “den,” full of Bert’s banquet photographs; dresses in her best dress, stockings, shoes. At 7:10, Wally. She leads him into the den, lights her ﬁre, says it’s so rainy let’s dine here, mixes gin and orange. Wally: “Well say!” She plies him with seconds, says she’s unused to liquor, and tells him to watch her whip up dinner better than anything outside. More gin while the vegetables boil. She serves everything in the den on a bridge table. He follows her “like a puppy.” Chilled wine. They sit on the sofa, her head on his shoulder. Directing him to the bathroom, she says she’ll put on a warm dress. He follows into her bedroom, sees her partly undressed. She speaks sharply. He apologizes, hugs her, and turns out the light. Uncertainly avoiding his mouth, she reckons that the Scotch if unopened might’ve fetched $6. Midnight. Wally lights a cigarette. Mildred kicks off the covers. Naked, she is “lovely,” he, “more or less.” When he mentions Bert, she says he’s out of her life so why think about him? He says they were “[g]oddam good friends”; she accuses him of beating honest Bert out of a retainer’s job and of following her into the bedroom. He says she didn’t ob-

Mildred

ject. Honestly aware that Lucy is too anti-male, she apologizes. He admits she’s rightly upset. Lucy next morning ﬁnds Mildred washing dinner items, describes Ike’s party, asks about Wally. Mildred admits she’s “on the town,” and Wally almost left some money, then hurls an empty bottle, laughing as it breaks. Chapter 3. Mildred must ﬁnd employment or lose the house by July. She wastes bus fare and shoe leather answering help-wanted ads, one from a “sexological advertiser” seeking a “sweetie.” A receptionist, Mrs. Boole of the Los Angeles “Corasi Bros.,” specializing in household items, likes shapely, honest Mildred, conﬁdes in her that there are no jobs. Home, Mildred has a “paid telegram.” Mrs. Boole wired that a job just became available. She tells Mildred the roof-top restaurant on their building must replace a luncheon waitress who just married and left. Mildred, revolted by the notion of living on tips, declines, embarrassing Mrs. Boole. Mildred calls at Alice Brooks Turner’s employment agency, answers a questionnaire, writes she’d prefer a receptionist’s job. Miss Turner calls receptionists attractive dummies willing to sleep with bosses. Mildred, denying such ambition, summarizes her married life, laments being bypassed now, says she cooks excellently —“What I do, I do well.” Miss Turner says she precisely ﬁts applicants to jobs so employers needn’t interview “nitwits like you”; says married women needn’t apply, because they might have to rush home to care for sick kids; says even qualiﬁed people can’t ﬁnd work; says Mildred, with her “A-1 shape,” should hook and marry a man. Mildred says she tried but has two kids. She goes home, cries, eats oatmeal, feeds the children substantially. Later, Miss Turner summons Mildred, tells her a housekeeping job is open for a woman about to marry a director once she reorganizes his mansion. When Mildred complains again, Miss Turner tells her to lose her fastidiousness and apply as housekeeper. Mildred takes the bus to the place. Mrs. Forrester rebukes her for sitting, not standing, checks Miss Turner’s letter, agrees to hire her, and says Mildred’s children will reside over her garage. Knowing rebellious Veda would go with the grandparents, Mildred declines, buses toward home, but ﬁrst, feeling dizzy, enters a Hollywood Boulevard restaurant. Munching a sandwich, Mildred hears her waitress accuse another of stealing her previous tip. The two ﬁght. The manager ﬁres both. The hostess is furious. Mildred pays her bill and volunteers to help in the kitchen. Chapter 4. Two hours pass. The manager is Greek “Mr. Chris” Makadoulis. The hostess bellows at him. The other waitresses make Chris rehire Anna, Mildred’s innocent waitress. In the bedlam, Mildred

Mildred

142

reshapes a bumped sandwich; Archie, the huge chef, nods appreciation. Ida, the hostess, hires her, tells her to grab a uniform, study the menu, and remember prices. Ida tells Mildred terms, including 25¢ an hour, keep your tips, etc. Ida prompts, hustles, and criticizes her. When customers, some irate, are gone, Ida and Mr. Chris favor ﬁring Mildred; Archie says give her a trial. Ida explains: Mildred’s hours are 10:30 to 3:00, two 5:00–9:00 nights weekly, three regular waitresses to handle dinners, closed Sundays. Home fatigued, Mildred welcomes and feeds Veda and Ray. Lucy visits, gripes that untrustworthy Ike phoned he couldn’t get off work all last night. Mildred borrows money to buy some items, says she has a job. Lucy hopes it’s in “a ﬁve-dollar house.” No; waitressing. When Lucy says she’s suited for such, Mildred sickens, vomits, tells solicitous Lucy she can’t stand being a uniformed waitress, one customer felt her upper leg. Lucy convinces her she can make $20 a week and must do what’s necessary. Mildred makes her promise not to tell Veda and Ray she’s waitressing. Lucy’s reply: Veda is too proud while willing to eat Mildred’s cakes. Mildred: Veda has something special in her. While Mildred sought work those six weeks, Wally occasionally appeared. She told him not to romance her again but he can visit as a friend. He says “okeydoke.” One night they do make love again; she experienced only forgetful relief. Once, though, when the doorbell rings, she hopes it’s Wally. It’s Bert, coming to say hello and gather some forgotten things. Veda and Ray rush in, for gushing embraces. Bert jokes that they’ve grown. Mildred says both have high marks in school, Veda’s piano playing is splendid, Ray sports a new tooth. Veda suggests they get drunk on Mother’s Scotch. Bert says he could tolerate a drink. Mildred, knowing it can’t be sold when opened, displays the “doomed” bottle, glass, ice, selzer siphon in the kitchen with Veda, whom she rebukes and who retorts in affected diction. The four used to enjoy a ritual when Bert made bathtub gin. Bert pours stiff drinks for the daughters, light ones for the parents, then deftly switches so the girls stay sober. Ray does a dervish dance, recites Daddy’s poem beginning “I went to the animals’ fair”; Bert pretends he’s a sneezing elephant; Ray hides; Bert looks puzzled; Veda spoils the game by saying Ray is behind the sofa; Mildred snarls at Veda. But when Bert gaily holds Ray aloft before the girls go off to bed, Mildred senses with “a great stiﬂing pain” that she loved Bert intensely, as she will never love another man. [This is ﬁne foreshadowing.] Bert tucks the girls into bed. Mildred nearly explodes at his effrontery. She works; he doesn’t, yet feels entitled to their car. Wally rings the door bell, pats Mildred’s bottom. She warns him Bert’s here.

Both men pretend nothing untoward has happened. Bert says time ﬂies; Wally is concerned about retaining walls for Block 14 houses; Mildred says “you boys” should get comfortable in the hot weather. She hangs up their coats, ﬁlches Bert’s car key, and says she wants to “get tight.” She drinks, gossips amusingly about Harry Engel’s anchors, laughing ripplingly. The men laugh. Wally, feeling uneasy, lets Bert usher him to the door. She reassures Bert that Wally is merely “saying hello,” doesn’t live here Bert asks Mildred how “goddam it” she’s been. “Just ﬁne.” He asks about his life insurance policy— merely $1,000, because he preferred AT&T to anything protecting his family. She gets it for him; he leaves but soon returns. because his car key’s missing. She tells him she needs the car for her work, and as long as he “lays up with another woman” he doesn’t. She drives the cowed man to Mrs. Biederhof ’s, leaves him, and takes the car for an 60 milesper-hour spin along Colorado Avenue, laughing at former worries. [Paul Skenazy says Mildred “steal[s] the car keys,” which “represent authority in the family.” More sympathetic readers know that Mildred’s using unemployed, philandering Bert’s car enables her to support herself and their children. David Fine observes that “[f ]or Mildred Pierce ... fast driving is a source of exhilaration, pleasure, and even sexual excitement.... [S]he craves highway speed, equating—and confusing—geographic mobility with liberation.” (Fine 1995, 51; Skenazy, 71)] Home again, Mildred awakens Veda and apologetically says Veda caused something nice to happen. Veda: “I’m so glad, Mother.” Chapter 5. Money problems lessen. Mildred learns how to handle multiple plates expertly, keep male customers happy but at a distance, not be uppity to other workers, and deserve dime not nickel tips. When Ida tells Mr. Chris the pies they buy from the Handy Baking Company are sticky, tasteless, crusty, Mildred has an idea. Mildred offers Ida a ride one night. Mildred says she makes good pies. Ida promises to ﬁnd what Chris pays the Handy company for pies. She and Anna conspire to make Chris feel that trying Mildred’s pies is his idea. She brings lemon pies one day, pleasing the customers. Chris will buy Mildred’s pies at 35¢ apiece. Mildred treats Ida and Anna to drinks at “a speako” Wally once took her to; she begins to “love ... the whole human race.” Word spreads. Mildred has a telephone installed at home, continues to charge individual customers 85¢ per pie, soon sells two dozen a week to the Drop Inn, hires a girl named Letty to cook for Veda and Ray and help prepare pie ingredients, lets the children see her pie business, but secretly washes her waitress uniforms so they won’t know about her job. Though tired, Mildred looks better by June,

143 speaks to Lucy with “smug” cockiness about her “marketing.” Waitressing at the Tip-Top [Cain often releases names casually] brings $8 plus $15 in tips plus $10 in pie proﬁts— weekly. Splurging occasionally, she has saved under $50 and is aware that $75 is due on her mortgage. She tells Wally she wants a loan of $50 for a month. “O.K.” Mildred sees Letty dressed in one of her waitress uniforms and learns that Veda snooped in her mother’s closet, found it, assumed it would be for on-trial Letty, and ordered Letty to dress thus and escort her—as “Miss Veda”—and Ray to the swimming pool. Ray chortles that Veda can’t swim but that Red, the life guard, likes her. Veda snidely wonders “who else” but Letty were the uniforms for. After getting Ray into bed, Mildred accuses Veda of knowing the uniforms were for her waitressing at a Hollywood restaurant. When Veda says, “Yee gods!” Mildred slaps her, says she needs work to feed, house, and clothe her. Veda gets another slap for saying she guessed everything and for calling her mother “stupid.” She interrupts Mildred’s money talk by criticizing the pies and the degrading waitress job. Mildred upends Veda and spanks her ferociously, but — as usual — loses to the unbreakable daughter. She jealously wanted Veda to love her as she does dear daddy but instead gets “a stagy, affected counterfeit” purposely torturing her. She foolishly blurts that she’s learning the restaurant business and hopes to start her own. Veda says, “we’ll be rich?” then apologizes, kisses Mother, and expresses hope for a limousine and a grand piano. Alone, Mildred regrets her careless talk, paces about, feels that maybe she has looks, talent, and experience enough to start a restaurant. She surely wants no more children. She returns to Veda, thanks her for inspiring her. Hugging, they express mutual love. Chapter 6. Mildred studies Chris’s bookkeeping and marketing practices, visits Los Angeles supply houses to price restaurant equipment, wonders about ﬁnancing, and decides to ask ex-butcher Mr. Otis, now a federal meat inspector and a ﬂirtatious, 25¢ tipper, about making a deal. One night, she tells Wally about her ambition to open a restaurant offering chicken dinners, with wafﬂes or vegetables, and take-out pies. When she mentions Otis, Wally offers her a deal on the Pierce Homes model home— unsold, in receivership, and hers for the company’s loss-showing $4,000 — which once she has title she can get on credit for about $300, from Wally. He reassures her about legal technicalities. Mildred’s head swims—until he becomes aware that Bert as an “original incorporator” would be an illegal insiderbuyer. Wally says she must divorce Bert, citing his adulterous relationship with Mrs. Biederhof. Wally will represent Mildred; so, act on this “hot” deal. With the children at their grandparents’ on Sun-

Mildred

day, Mildred calls Bert. He watches her working elbow-deep in pie dough. She explains Wally’s model-house deal, which means a divorce. He says his church would frown. She names Mrs. Biederhof to him; he counters by naming Wally to her. She hurls pie dough in his face, taunts him with idleness. Wanting Mrs. Biederhof unmentioned, he leaves. Mildred tells Lucy everything. Lucy explains: Bert, like Veda, has grand ideas; he wouldn’t confess in court his inability to support his children; Mrs. Biederhof would think if he didn’t want a divorce he must not love her; despite all, Bert profoundly “loves those kids” too. So, Lucy suggests, Mildred should appeal to his pride by sending him a special pie. She sends him a gorgeous one, by Letty. Next Sunday, the kids again visit the grandparents. Bert, molliﬁed, visits Mildred. Each apologizes. Bert says he wants what’s best for all and insists on giving Mildred the house. She says for putting dough in his face he should hit her. He brushes her chin with a doubled ﬁst. Both sob uncontrollably. Before the principals enter court, Mildred at a photographer’s request poses to show more leg. Lucy Gessler swears she saw Bert hit Mildred. Wally represents Mildred. The decree is entered. Mildred is relieved that Wally for weeks was “silent about romance,” because while sitting beside Bert she felt no “deceit.” She tells Bert that, before court proceedings, she told the reporters he gave her the house. Wally drives Mildred and Lucy to Mildred’s house. Bert enters, to sign papers. They have some drinks. Wally leaves, then Bert—brave and jaunty. Mildred expresses guilt to Lucy, who says Bert couldn’t afford the kids, the car, the house, then generalizes that all men try to make women feel bad. Chapter 7. By October, Mildred has purchased necessary equipment on “precious credit,” gained three new contracts for pies, and supervised reconﬁguring the “model home.” Her debt load staggers and yet excites her. During her ﬁnal Saturday waitressing stint, Mildred watches Ida and Anna instructing Shirley, Mildred’s replacement, and handles a dapper fellow at Anna’s table. He is tall, lanky, sunburned, and with a “decidedly Continental” moustache. Genially ordering a routine breakfast, he tells Mildred to “step on it” so he can rush to Lake Arrowhead for a swim. She says she wishes she could go. Come along. Agreed. Her kids are with the grandparents. She hurries his food, has Anna take her table, drives off to meet this fellow at a nearby pharmacy at 12:15. Mildred shops for swimming togs, dresses at home for the beach, checks progress on her model home, and speeds to the pharmacy. The fellow, driving up in his “big Cord,” praises her neat looks.

Mildred

144

They introduce themselves: Montgomery Beragon; Mrs. Pierce. “Monty” drives Mildred to his lakeside shack. She fears he’ll smell cooking stinks in her hair; so, dressing fast, she dives into the lake. Following, he begins the “immemorial chase,” complete with “squeals.” He carries her to his shack. A “dopey South Seas feeling” so weakens her that she can hardly kick her beach bag off his bed. They rouse by dark, build a ﬁre, shop for steaks at San Bernardino for her to broil, snuggle under the blanket, solemnly discuss returning to town. [Paul Skenazy seems too critical of Mildred. He says she is “able to control men by feeding them,” and implies that she seduces Monty because “she cooks him steak as a prelude to sex.” In reality, before that steak the breakfast came he ordered her to serve him and wolfed fast; then he blandished her by car, lake, and shack. (Skenazy, 70)] Mildred learns he’s 33, attended UCLA, inherited a share in family fruit farms, and idly receives quarterly checks, diminishing though because California exchange companies are hurting family proﬁts. She nettles him by decrying his loaﬁng, then experiences complex reactions: Bert, though dreamy, tries; Monty’s idleness, though a rational “way of life,” makes her feel small and “vulgar.” Still, she wriggles against “his belly ... possessively” all night. Sunday late afternoon they have a tavern dinner, then Mildred directs Monty to drive to her restaurant building to show it off. This “professional loafer,” surprised by her story, praises her. He takes her home, promising to be at her Thursday opening. Mrs. Floyd, a neighbor, tells her that everyone’s been seeking her, because Ray is in the hospital, with the ﬂu. Mildred fears that God has “her number after all.” Chapter 8. When phoned, Mrs. Biederhof explains where Ray is. Mildred comforts Ray in the hospital, then faces her parents-in-law, Bert, and Veda — already there. Mom rebukes her. Mildred angrily asserts her independence. Bert says Ray ran a fever and long-time friend Dr. Gale recommended hospitalization, partly because Ray also has an infected pimple on her lip. Veda defends Mildred. Dr. Gale says he tried to drain Ray’s infection. Home again, Mildred lies to Veda about being invited by some “rich and high-toned” friends to the lake Saturday, then bakes pies until 3:00 A.M., then takes Veda with her for another hospital “vigil.” Next day Ray’s temperature is 104º. Dr. Gale orders a blood transfusion, charging Mildred $25. Ray’s temperature drops. Dr. Gale says the transfusion wasn’t necessary. But when Ray grows worse, a Dr. Collins intervenes. He injects oxygen into Ray’s “rump,” but her pulse races, and she dies. Mildred, having stood by like “a woman of stone,” kisses her on the mouth and draws a sheet over her face.

Dr. Gale totters toward “numb” Mildred, laments with her, recommends an undertaker. Mildred phones Mrs. Biederhof, reports Ray’s passing, wonders where Bert is. She doesn’t know, will inform him when possible, expresses genuine sympathy, offers to care for Veda brieﬂy. Mildred gratefully declines. Mildred drives home, where Letty is feeding Veda, whom Mildred comforts and persuades to go to her grandparents’ and practice on their piano. Mildred and Bert embrace and in a “darkened room ... mourned their child.” Not “stirred much” when he says Ray is damned well in heaven, she is terriﬁed when lightnings seem to shoot through her “aching void.” [Cain later will have Clay Lockwood in The Magician’s Wife, chs. 17, 19, also experience falsely optimistic lightning attacks.] Undertaker Mr. Murock arrives, rattles off arrangements. Bert says Pop has offered to pay Murock and haggles over the choice of a casket. They pack burial clothes. Lucy Gessler offers Bert a drink. No. Lucy suggests how Mildred should dress for tomorrow’s home funeral. At Ray’s quick wake, Lucy ﬂourishes lilies at the numerous guests— as from, she ﬁbs, “Mr. and Mrs. Otto Hildegarde,” Mildred’s lake-cottage hosts last weekend. That silences gossipers about Mildred, to her relief. She is unmoved upon seeing Ray’s waxen corpse. Bert babbles. Guests drift out. Mom argues with the Rev. Dr. Aldous, Bert’s Methodist rector, over funeral details. Pop hushes her, and both leave. Dr. Aldous comforts Mildred, soon departs. Bert, helping, but mostly watching her make her “inexorable pies,” explains: Ray became sick at the beach; they went to Mrs. Biederhof ’s so he could get out of his beach togs; she offered to open her home to Ray immediately; instead, they went to the hospital. Mildred tells Bert to praise and thank Mrs. Biederhof. Mildred sleeps a few hours, her head on Bert’s shoulder. He stares into their ﬁreplace. Lucy delivers Mildred’s many pies. The following assemble to attend Ray’s funeral: Mildred, in clothes Lucy furnished; dark-suited Bert; Veda “in white”; Mom and Pop, Mildred’s mother, phoned by Lucy and with sister Blanche and brother-in-law Harry Engel, and their son William, 12. When William stares at Veda, she turns haughty. Letty offers coffee. This outrages the Engels, who thought Letty was a friend not a servant. Veda intones: “She’s ... very nice.” Aldous’s whining “I am the resurrection ...” makes Mildred crumple. Veda’s responses, beginning “For they shall see God,” might seem theatrical to others present; but Mildred ﬁnds them “the purest ... trebles,” even though more “lightnings ... ﬂicker within her” again. In the living room she recognizes faces of friends from long ago, now “grotesquely marked by time.”

145 At graveside, Mildred hears Dr. Aldou softly name “Moire” as God’s departed servant. Mildred realizes that the dead child never knew her real name. Mildred has Letty accompany Veda to the mov ies, is desolate alone, drives Letty home afterwards, then asks Veda if she would like to sleep tonight with her. But of course, the child responds, as though doing a favor to Mother, whom she fulsomely praises for today’s unselﬁshness. They hug. Mildred feels those “heat lightnings” again — and is guiltily glad Ray not Veda died. Chapter 9. Mildred vows to dedicate her life to Veda. Mildred recently hired Arline as an added waitress, and Pancho for the kitchen, to clean and ready the place. Letty is fully recruited. Mildred gets money from her dwindling bank account, buys chickens from a rancher and food items from a market, supervises Arline and Pancho, and, planning 85¢ dinners, prepares chicken parts— some to serve, some to save for soup and gravy. Wally, who mailed advertisements concerning Mildred’s place, arrives at 4:00 P.M. and asks her to inspect her custom-ordered showcase for “takeout” pies. While she was away last weekend, he installed lights and reﬂectors, as a surprise. He ﬁlls the showcase with pies from the kitchen. She promises a free dinner, with seconds. Mildred, costumed as in a musical comedy, gives her nicely dressed workers precise orders about serving chicken with wafﬂes or biscuits, ladling soup, cleaning her ten tables, etc., then lights her oven and wafﬂe irons, turns her outdoor neon sign on. She’s in business. A Pierce Homes family arrives, is seated and served. Bert and Veda appear. He voices approval; Veda asks for unavailable celery. Wally tells Mildred a mob is coming, sits with Bert and Veda, and jokes about ﬁre insurance for the establishment. Ida enters, praises everything, and advises Mildred to buy extra tables. Soon there are too many guests. The kitchen turns messy. Ida grabs an apron, takes over, improves everything. Ida drafts Lucy to sell pies to customers as they depart. Bert and Wally converse in Mildred’s parking lot. Veda announces that polo-playing, eligible, “keen” Monty Beragon of Pasadena is here. Wally wonders how he knew about Mildred’s restaurant; Bert says because her pies are famous. Monty, bringing orchids, tells Mildred that Veda is “delightful,” that she told him about Ray’s death, that he sympathizes. Mildred introduces Monty to Bert and Wally, who eye her oddly. Soon after 9:00, with Ida handling ﬁnal customers, Mildred counts $40 in total. Veda snuggles near dear Bert, who discusses polo with Monty. Wally listens. Lucy, staring: “H’m?” Monty: “Yes.”

Mildred

At these hints, Lucy fetches Scotch, and Bert toasts Mildred. Lucy calls him a “cluck” for losing her. Mildred promises Ida she’ll never lose her. Everyone shouts “’Ray!” Ida mentions the customers’ praise of Mildred’s chicken and old-style wafﬂes. Mildred feels an unbearable happiness. [When the word “’Ray” is voiced, does anyone present (or any reader, for that matter) think of deceased Ray before understanding “Ray” means “Hooray”?] Mildred tells Bert to get Veda home, gives Ida a lift, and is surprised to see Monty’s Cord parked outside. Monty, with Veda by the ﬁreplace, says they “had a date.” Veda says she saw Bert with “B—“ (Biederhof ) and her ﬂopping bosom. They laugh. Mildred escorts Veda off to bed; the girl is ecstatic about Monty. Mildred mumbles about meeting him at the Tip-Top and says Veda can take his orchids to school tomorrow. Monty drunkenly demands that Mildred remove her restaurant togs. After due time and alone, she is happy for beautiful Veda. Chapter 10. Months pass; the restaurant and especially the pie business prosper. Mildred hires Hans to help bake. Sex with Monty makes previously pallid Mildred feel wanton. He takes Mildred to his family mansion in Pasadena but never to meet his mother or sister. Veda calls Mildred’s bakery “the Pie Wagon.” Though sensing “the hatchet” must fall, Mildred continues with Monty. Arguing about politics, she will vote for Franklin Delano Roosevelt, hard work, and a balanced budget. He prefers Herbert Hoover. One day Monty tells her that Veda, who practices diligently on his approving mother’s piano, has talent and should take lessons from Charlie Hannen, organist at his Pasadena church. Though aware of Veda’s skill, Mildred suspects she and Monty are conspiring against her. Still, when Veda criticizes her 50¢-a-week music teacher, Mildred mentions Hannen and Veda becomes ultradelighted. Dressing to see him, Veda, though only 13, displays big breasts, which Mildred has been wistfully noticing and which Monty calls a “Dairy” needing a hammock. Mildred drives Veda to Hannen’s place. He is tall, stooped, with big hands and such a courteous manner that Mildred gabs—until Veda grows impatient. Hannen orders Veda to play. She performs some Rachmaninoff, varying its climax. When she talks uncontrollably, he orders her to say “sir.” She accompanies him as he plays the violin, does some sight-reading, modiﬁes Rachmaninoff again. Hannen sits beside Veda, plays the piano with “big paw[s],” thrilling Mildred. He pronounces Veda’s head amazing, says he’ll teach her at $5 per half hour, with musical theory free, says it’s hard to “ﬁnd out how good you have to be before you’re any good at all,” says her manual technique “stinks,” brands her conceited. Veda startles Mildred by weeping. Hannen says let her “bawl.” Veda

Mildred

146

says Hannen appreciates her; this thrills Mildred further [Cain neatly indicates Hannen’s pausing by this full-paragraph device: “—?”] Mildred breaks this news to Monty, who treats it “with offhand impersonality,” gripes about Hannen, and strips off Mildred’s stockings. Mildred invites Bert to her restaurant, tells him about Hannen’s acceptance of Veda, and is pleased when Bert proudly says he’s “goddam ... glad” his weak-ﬁngered child has brainy talent, will soon pull off “something big.” Patting and thanking him for the house, Mildred gets him to persuade his Mom to lend Veda her piano to use at home while Mildred deposits $21 weekly to purchase Veda a $1,100 grand piano by next Christmas. Mildred feels important when Monty lacks money for a drink he wants. Veda tells her that Monty’s mother and sister, during the bank panic following Roosevelt’s inauguration, lost money when their Philadelphia stocks got impounded. Veda callously relays gossip concerning the Beragon family’s collapse. Mildred continues to sleep with jaunty Monty, even after he replaces his Cord with a battered Chevrolet. Turning sorry for him, she still feels snubbed as his supposed inferior. One night she interrupts an argument between surprisingly polo-knowledgeable Veda and wan Monty, who says he has sold his polo ponies and now can’t even afford to ride them with his team in a San Diego game. Veda, urging him to go, retires. Alone with faltering Monty, Mildred (“nearly two years” a commercial success now) slips him $20 to attend. He calls it a loan. By June her restaurant falters, and she misses a piano payment. Mildred starts giving Monty speakeasy money, rationalizing that a needy, and needed, person deserves help. And yet she demeans him by making him drive Veda to Hannen for lessons. Monty, “an amateur cynic,” is becoming a catastrophe like dreamy Bert. Veda’s future grand piano becomes Mildred’s obsession. Mildred, Veda, and Monty become a “trio” no longer “quite so gay.” One night when she gives him $20, he brands himself her “paid gigolo” and her “the best piece of tail” ever. Pride makes her order him out. Refusing, he lectures that sex, as always in life, is their uniquely strong male-female bond, that she gripes only because his language isn’t “ﬂowery.” With rare eloquence, she calls his words no “compliment” but his “worst” ever, and sobs. When she accuses him of regarding her as socially inferior, he rationalizes about his family, his house, his helping Veda, his planning to work soon. When?” she says. He laughs. She pushes him away. He seizes her; soon their intimacy is “more shamefully exciting” than ever before. She doesn’t forget money given him. Yet they part “amicably,” though remembering their words.

Chapter 11. One day over coffee, Lucy tells Mildred that Prohibition will be repealed, and warns her to sell liquor in her restaurant or it will fail. She meets Mildred’s outrage at turning it into a saloon by saying she’ll handle the liquor and be her “damned good” bartender, for 10 percent of the “if, as, and when” proﬁts, “plus tips.” Mildred laughs, popping a seam of her girdle. Yes, she’s getting plump. Mildred asks around, doesn’t want advice from Bert or Monty, turns to Wally—friendly though no longer a sex item. He convinces her there’s “dough” in liquor; advises her to add “Cocktails” to her sign; urges her to use Lucy, who knows booze; and he’ll get Mildred a license. Agreeing, she’ll buy Lucy a $300 bar to wheel along tables, spend $200 for liquor, and provide chairs for Lucy’s “soiree” for customers waiting to dine. Lucy says she’ll hire Pancho’s friend Josie and a bus for him, and will need about $500 more for glasses, furniture, etc. Back home, delirious Mildred wishes she hadn’t repeatedly paid gigolo Monty, and decides she must tap Veda’s piano deposit, now at $567 [$21 payments for each of 27 months]. Lucy and her bar, opening December 6, provide considerable ﬁnancial success for her and also Mildred, who has hired more waitresses, a cook, and boy age 17 to deliver pies in a second-hand truck she bought. Celebrating with her happy crew, Mildred puts $40 in an envelope for Monty, who just sent her orchids and who enters, takes his gift and a kiss, and accompanies her to sit with Bert, Wally, Lucy, and Veda — all drinking. Angered when Monty and Veda joke about her kitchen “varlets,” Mildred boozily harangues everybody that laborers are as good as anybody. On Christmas morning and hung-over, Mildred hears Veda, rushes to place presents around the tree. Unable to buy the grand piano, she bought Veda a $75 wristwatch instead. Veda, informed by someone about the grand, sees the Pierce piano still there, dismisses the watch wordlessly, but gushes thanks to dear daddy when he arrives and gives her riding boots. Bert drives Mildred, without moody Veda, to put ﬂowers on their other daughter’s grave; they hold hands. Home again, they ﬁnd Veda still sulking. She says she hates this “lousy, stinking” house, lights one of Monty’s cigarettes, throws the match on the ﬂoor. Mildred slaps her. Veda slaps her in return. Veda: I’m laughing à la Pagliacci [1892 opera] by [Ruggiero] Leoncavallo, “eighteen ﬁfty-eight-nineteen nineteen”; what does “the poor goddam sap” (Monty) see in you? Mildred: Money, the way you do. Veda: No, he speaks nicely about your legs. Turning to jelly, then recovering, Mildred lashes back, tells Veda that Monty likes her for her money, as Veda does, buys his very shoes for him, orders him to drive her to music lessons, and there’ll be no more money for

147 Veda until she apologizes for everything she said. Instead, Veda, now 14, screams, kicks the piano, and bangs out the Can-Can from Orpheus on it. [Ruggiero Leoncavallo’s opera was I Pagliacci (1892); Orfeo ed Euridice (1762) was an opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714 –1787).] Mildred greets Monty as usual, ﬁguring “his access to the very best legs” will “close” soon. Veda turns calm. Mildred forgives her, “acquits her of wrongdoing” yet again. Later Monty phones, inviting her to a New Year’s Eve party at his mansion, to meet friends. Lucy helps Mildred dress; she plans how at party’s end she’ll offer Monty her hand in farewell, and drive off. On December 31, 1931, rains hit the area; despite warnings, Mildred takes to her car. Men on the road advise a detour if she must continue; better still, return home. Falling trees only make her laugh. [Paul Skenazy says that this “violent weather is Cain’s metaphor for Mildred’s enormous emotional confusion.” (Skenazy, 73)] Monty is astounded that she made it, says the radio predicts storms, helps her in with an umbrella, past covered furniture, and into his place — in the servants’ quarters. He plies her with drinks, says no other guests could possibly arrive, turns on weather reports. She fears she’ll forget her preplanned farewell words but asks why he ever praised her legs to Veda. He replies that they’re her life’s very “passion,” especially when she walks with the Pie Wagon; that Veda is no old-fashioned “child,” and counts the times he and Mildred fornicated. Mildred asks why he told Veda that Mildred was both mistress and servant to him, sneers that he invited Veda but never her to his mansion, thus deliberately establishing her as Veda’s inferior. He says the “strange child” prefers adult women to girls her age. Mildred’s logical argument slips from her; she resorts to screaming. He throws her into a chair, his eyes glittering, and says she truly is “a goddam varlet” afraid of higher society. She shrinks under his “passionate invective.” He says Veda has friends but Mildred doesn’t, blames her for shoving money at him and then making him Veda’s chauffeur “to rub it in,” gloats that Veda wouldn’t accept tips but “you scum ... waitress” do. She throws $10 at him. He puts it in the ﬁre. Mildred crumples, with nothing settled, and rubs his joked-about bald spot. He shouts that the evening needs “the crime of rape,” tosses her on a bed. After helping him undress her, she soon lurches from under liquor and his weight, gets to her car, takes a detour to a washout, is stalled, followed by one car. Monty’s. Though feeling he’s daddy to her weakness, she drives on toward home, straight into rising waters. Monty, following in his shorts, wants to rescue her. But she gets out alone and staggers past stranded motorists, and home.

Mildred

Letty, staying overnight, and Veda get her into bed, pour coffee and whiskey into her. Veda snorts that her remaining overnight at Monty’s wouldn’t really have been “a novelty” for her. But when Mildred says Veda will have her grand piano tomorrow, Veda covers her with “sticky kisses” eyes to throat. Mildred sleeps well. Chapter 12. Having shed Monty, Mildred pays off her property notes, hires help for her baker Hans, ﬁnances a proﬁtable deal for Ida to open a branch in Beverly, and does the same at Laguna Beach for otherwise-jealous Lucy, whose philandering husband Ike could desert his “frazzle-haired blonde” and improve his trucking business by also moving to Laguna. Lucy begins serving ﬁsh, hires Archie from Chris’s Tip-Top as her steak man, shows a proﬁt with her bar there, and improves the place with a garden. Mildred, gaining weight and looking “matronly,” hires drivers for her ﬂourishing businesses. She admires Roosevelt less because of his income tax, due in 1936. But she buys herself a Buick and Veda a little Packard. On Wally’s advice, Mildred incorporates, with Ida and Lucy as directors, and protects herself with liability insurance. Veda, 16, quits school to devote herself to music. Each afternoon, Mildred goes home, rests, and listens to her “darling” at the piano. Veda superciliously comments on Chopin to her. Mildred likes a composition about rainbows. Mrs. Hannen phones Veda that Hannen hemorrhaged and was hospitalized. Mildred and her crew prepare hampers of special foods for him. Veda says she’ll miss that “damned he-bear.” Soon comes a telegram from Mrs. Hannen that he has died in Phoenix, Arizona. Mildred sends ﬂowers to his New York funeral. Veda, hesitating to speak to Mildred, reveals that she wants to consult Hannen’s local friend, a Hollywood Bowl conductor named Carlo Treviso, for advice on more musical instructions. Mildred and Veda go to Treviso’s Los Angeles studio, are admitted by a fat Italian woman, and hear mixtures of piano playing, singing, and “mufﬂed talk.” Veda ridicules a baritone’s inability to hit G in the Pagliacci Prologue, tells Mildred that the “wop” is taking his time. Admitting them, Treviso reminisces about Hannen, whom he knew in Italy after Mussolini’s dangerous advent. Veda thinks Treviso’s off-color comment about “Annino” is hilarious. When ordered, Veda plays “the Brahms Rhapsody,” waits for what Mildred hopes will be praise; but Treviso closes the piano like a funeral director. Veda rushes out, and Tommy drives mother and daughter home. Veda criticizes Treviso’s rudeness and Hannen’s poor taste in friends, hurls herself into her room. Terriﬁed, Mildred enters, says, “My goodness,” to which Veda shouts don’t say that again, and reviles

Mildred

148

her own so-so piano playing. Mildred suggests Veda could compose music. Veda calls her a “silly-looking cluck” to think that, then demeans herself as knowledgeable about music — so what?— as just “a goddam punk” like Mildred, who falters until Veda adds that Hannen told her she “stank” but that she liked him. Mildred tries to commend Veda’s hard work, but Veda says work doesn’t count, only talent does, which she lacks. Veda throws a shoe at her. Exit Mildred, who hopes to do something about all this. Chapter 13. Veda mopes, won’t let Mildred give her a party. Letty says Veda gotta be “the queen, or she don’t play,” tells Mildred to leave Veda alone. But since Mildred can’t quit domineering others, she fancies a movie career for Veda. Appearing at the Laguna restaurant, Veda downs a cocktail and a steak, mingles around, demands nice clothes to replace “these rags.” She quickly runs up a $1,300 wardrobe bill. At 17, she’s beautiful, with Bert’s upper face and Mildred’s body. Kissing “darling Mother,” she has a mink like one Mildred fancied for herself once. Veda drives alone, keeps late hours, drinks, and associates in Beverly with an attractive but cheap actress named Elaine. Ida warns Mildred that Elaine and Veda drink at Eddie’s place across from Ida’s, pick up men, and sport around in Veda’s car. When Mildred broaches the subject, Veda says Mildred wanted her to have friends and, anyway, “bum” Elaine knows directors and Veda may also go into pictures. Though trying to understand Veda, Mildred remains “miserable.” One busy day, Mildred is in her Glendale restaurant when Veda says moviedirector Lenhardt’s wife is there. Formerly the stuffy Mrs. Forrester, in whose mansion Mildred sought and rejected housekeeping work, Mrs. John Lenhardt tardily remembers Mildred, who doesn’t want Veda to know she sought servant’s work there and therefore denies recognizing her. To Mildred’s rising defensive anger, Mrs. Lenhardt reveals this: John Lenhardt knows that “lovely child” Elaine; invited her and also Veda, eager for an acting career, to their home; Veda met her son Sam Forrester; “love at ﬁrst sight,” Veda, now 17, wants to get married; however, Sammy, 20, moves in a different world; Mrs. Lenhardt will use all “necess’ry” legal means to stop Veda’s blackmailing efforts into marriage. Mildred calls nearby Arline from her work and asks her to remember what Mrs. Lenhardt is saying, that Veda could soon get arrested if more ofﬁcers are at her door listening to Veda’s threats. That night after Veda “zipped up the drive,” Mildred mentions Mrs. Lenhardt’s visit. Casually smoking, Veda replies: Hannen’s death depressed her; the Lenhardts entertained her, and Lenhardt got her a screen test; “Sonny boy” fell for her, threatened suicide; Veda was “indiscreet” in Elaine’s “nice little

apartment”; then the Lenhardts’ “attitude” changed, and I’m “a sap.” Mildred: Pregnant? Veda: Afraid so; didn’t want to worry “Darling Mother” by saying so; Sam philanders with Central Casting girls aplenty. Mildred feels “jealousy gnawing” her all night. Next morning she ﬁnds Bert at Mrs. Biederhof ’s, drives him around, and tells him. After he blusters he’ll shoot Sam and she mentions an abortion, he says Sam gotta marry Veda, acknowledge their baby, then “do his run-out.” Mildred says she’ll hire a lawyer. Bert says they must. When she tells this to Veda, in her “green kimono,” she says she’s already phoned Wally Burgan — to spare Mildred. Wally arrives at 3:00 P.M. Wally, having checked, says Sam will inherit into six ﬁgures when 21 and his family wants to head off Veda’s marrying and later demanding “community property.” Mildred wants the boy to be decent and marry Veda, says Ida has a witness to Mrs. Lenhardt’s threats. Veda authorizes Wally to explain, thus: Veda swore out a morals charge against Sam; those ofﬁcers at the Lenhardt home tried to serve it; Sam “skipped”; Veda is Wally’s conﬁdential client. When Mildred expresses annoyance, Veda rebukes her, saying she sought only to save Mother embarrassment and Wally knows best. He suggests avoiding legal action for now and to wait for the Lenhardts’ “lead to us.” Veda turns cool. Mildred talks alone to Bert; he says he dislikes slow-motion Wally, who’s running up legal bills, and prefers hiring a private detective to locate Sam. Mildred and Bert hire Simon, a Hollywood-based investigator, who for a $250 retainer—paid by Mildred — soon locates Sam, and for a $150 “services” fee — paid by Mildred — tells them Sam drove one of Lenhardt’s cars to Winslow, Arizona. Mildred phones Wally to have Sam arrested. He favors delay. She hangs up and tells Veda, who pushes her into a sofa, says marriage doesn’t “suit me”; Sammy sneaked into Glendale twice; after some fun, she told him to return where “Mamma put him,” and he’s paying Veda plenty. Mildred gets it: Veda isn’t pregnant but is blackmailing Sam. To this, Veda says Mildred trapped Bert into marriage hoping for money. Mildred retorts she provided Veda with every luxury. Veda calls her a “poor, half-witted mope,” says she wants Mildred’s wealth only to escape dreary Glendale. Mildred forces the cursing girl to pack and get out. Alone, Mildred ﬁghts cold fury until she realizes that she is jealous, and that Veda has turned faithless. Chapter 14. For six months Mildred, regularly swigging rye now, resists the temptation to apologize to Veda. According to Bert, Veda is living in a “swank” Franklin Avenue apartment in Hollywood on an unknown pay-off from the Lenhardts. Bert feels that Wally will squeeze Veda for continuing legal fees. Mildred imagines Veda growing destitute. One

149 day Bert tells Mildred news he had been privy to: Veda is singing on Hank Somerville’s evening radio problem, and the two should go to the NBC studio in Hollywood tonight to see and hear her. He angers Mildred by admitting that Veda sent him two tickets, one for Mrs. Biederhof, but that Mrs. Biederhof encouraged Bert to take Mildred. Mildred laments Bert’s easy optimism, says Veda descended from Beethoven’s classics to Somerville’s jazz, and won’t accept the invitation. She gets Bert, instead, to drive with her to her Laguna restaurant, have a steak, and Lucy would put the radio on. Steaks appeal to Bert. Right before 8:30 P.M., Lucy places her restaurant radio on the veranda, and a dozen customers listen. While Bert keeps boasting, Veda follows a corny introduction with the Polonaise from Mignon, sends chills up Mildred’s spine and thrills the listeners. Mildred feels that what she has dreamed for her daughter’s future will come to be, and she herself must help. [Mignon (1866) is an opera by Ambrose Thomas (1811–1896).] Wanting Veda to initiate reconciliation, Mildred spies on her, drives to her apartment house, hears her “miracle voice” wafting through windows. Veda gets dropped by Somerville but lands on Carlo Treviso’s afternoon program, which features his “star pupils.” Mildred visits Treviso, fancies she can blandish him, pay for Veda’s singing lessons, and thus get her back home. Catching on, Treviso retorts that Veda, a rare coloratura soprano, is worse than a poisonous snake that loves its parents, because such a singer “love nobody but own goddam self ” so “leave dees girl alone.” Tapping Mildred’s knee, he says such singers use and discard rich men, collects European decorations, remain ruthless. He says when Veda came and sang for him six months ago, he recognized her “big bosom,” “’igh nose,” “antrim sinus,” wondered at her spectacular sightreading ability, charged her little, saw she was born with music in her soul, and compares her to Caruso, Malibran, Melba, Tetrazzini. To delirious Mildred’s saying Veda is a “wonderul girl,” Treviso retorts the “girl” is “lousy ... bitch” but “wonderful singer.” Mildred wants to pay for Veda’s lessons; he says that Veda has already predicted Mildred would want to but won’t let her, that Veda lives to hurt her mother and gotta make it “wit’ all a rich pipple” in Pasadena, that he won’t reveal that Mildred visited him. [Music-lover Cain has Treviso name Enrico Caruso (1873 –1921), Italian tenor; María Felicia Malibran (1808 –1836), French mezzo-soprano; Nellie Melba (1861–1931), Australian soprano; Luisa Tetrazzini (1974–1940), Italian coloratura soprano. Caruso is mentioned again in The Moth, ch. 22.] Mildred ﬁgures she can make “even a coloratura” crawl to her — through Monty.

Mildred

Chapter 15. For three years now, Monty has tried in these poor times to sell his run-down mansion. She totals her money, buys a casual dress, and wires him she’d like his help choosing a Pasadena residence without any agent’s help. Though puzzled, he agrees to assist. They meet. Mildred is dressed like a successful, seductive Southern California business woman; Monty is in old slacks, more bald, with a “hangdog look.” She drives him about. His quoting prices indicates he did check with agents and hopes for “a split.” Mildred calls his place “beautiful.” He says it could be had for $33,000, including repairs. Having investigated, she knows it would go for $28,500 plus tax lien. Once inside, she sits in a chair from the old Arrowhead shack. He offers Scotch. She tweaks his little ﬁnger. He draws back. She advances, says she’d buy the place. He quotes down to $29,580 — because he never repaid loans from her. Looking “wolﬁsh,” he toys with her zipper, uncertainly, at ﬁrst. Soon he carries her to that Arrowhead bed of old, praising her waving legs, calling them still “immoral.” Crying, Mildred says she couldn’t live here without him. He proposes living with her anywhere but awful Glendale. They dress. She wants to drive to her house, doll up, and celebrate their engagement at a Laguna dinner. He alternates kissing her and looking sombre. At her home while Mildred dresses, Monty phones his mother in Philadelphia with news about his house and his upcoming marriage. Mildred, trembling, also speaks to the lady, who charmingly says she’s heard the best about Mildred, predicts happiness for both, and lauds Veda’s beautiful voice. Mildred explains that Veda isn’t living here, has her own apartment to practice loudly in. Mildred transforms the hideous mansion to a pleasant house. She feels an identity to it. Monty, not mentioning money again, commends her ideas and ably transforms them into reality. She says she likes maple, kalmosine, etc. Done. He cautions her about appearing “so damned rich.” He displays his ancestral portraits and also mementos of her evolution in the restaurant business, for example, a Pie Wagon photo. He lectures her on displaying meaningful items to create a unique home. She installs Letty and Tommy in their own rooms, and hires Kurt and Frieda, former Beragon servants. Mildred and Monty get married in a Phoenix courthouse. [Paul Skenazy asserts that Mildred “marries Monty in a desperate effort to regain possession of her child.” (Skenazy, 74)] Bert, living with his parents, pronounces Monty a “thoroughbred.” Mrs. Biederhof has moved to Texas with her husband, successful there in oil. Veda doesn’t communicate with Mildred about Monty, who “pointedly” asks no questions. Mildred is morose — until Monty and others give her

Mildred

150

a surprise wedding party at her gorgeous house, complete with Veda’s singing the “Bridal Chorus” from Lohengrin [opera (1850) by Richard Wagner (1813– 1883)]. Veda kisses Mildred, who quickly becomes hostess and honored guest among their friends. Veda, staying overnight, reveals to Mildred and Monty that Treviso, having forgotten his truthfully cruel criticism of her piano-playing, chanced to hear her sing, handed her his card, got her into his studio, and perfected her rare coloratura soprano voice. When Veda says he even professionally examined her “Dairy,” she and Mildred and Monty, remembering Maggie Biederhof ’s breasts, laugh uproariously. Mildred sneaks to Veda’s bed, returns her kiss— right on the mouth — and asks Monty to leave her to her laughter-bubbling self this precious night. He sleeps elsewhere —“with more good humor” than would seem likely. Chapter 16. The war starts in Europe, about which Mildred remains indifferent. She hears and resents adverse comments about Veda’s singing in a local performance in La Traviata [opera (1853, 1854) by Giuseppe Verdi (1813 –1901]. Treviso directed it. Monty has taken to sleeping alone in their “tackroom.” He comments about buying some furniture for his wing of the mansion; she comments about their being “middle-aged,” to which he thankfully agrees. Levinson, Veda’s agent, gets her a one-year exclusive contract to sing for $500 per week on a radio show sponsored by a cigarette company. Veda and Mildred are delighted—until a college chum of Monty’s, Hobey by name and now a food-company president, visits Monty, hears Veda sing, offers her a two-year contract at $2,500 weekly to sing on his bread-sponsored show. Veda rages when not released by Levinson—until during a cocktail hour on Mildred’s lawn he offers Veda a contract for appearances at the Hollywood Bowl—“singer’s heaven”— if she apologizes. When Veda tells Levy she’s sorry, he slaps her viciously and warns her never to triﬂe with “Moe” Levinson. Monty and Hobey seem helpless. Veda, her blue eyes turning shark-like, murmurs “OK.” Mildred helps Veda, now 20, choose appropriate attire for her ﬁrst Bowl appearance. Veda and “Levy” discuss press releases. Mildred orders tickets for twelve friends to attend the concert, soon buys more, to accommodate her mother and the Engels, Bert and his parents, and more friends. She plans a supper afterwards. Lucy “pointedly” declines. Mildred arrives early. Bert enters, holds her hand. Monty, having driven Veda, shakes Bert’s hand. The orchestra ﬁlls its shell. Mildred surveys the thousands—“to hear her child sing.” Treviso conducts “The Star-Spangled Banner” and The Firebird. Veda enters, sings arias from Rigoletto [Verdi

(1851)] and The Barber of Seville [opera (1782) by Giovanni Paisiello (1740–1816)]. Bert says the rousing applause required an encore—until Monty says encores are proper only after the ﬁnale. Intermission. Then comes The New World Symphony [(1893), by Anton Dvorak (1841–1909)]. Aircraft overhead distress Mildred, who then hears something new to her, from Lucia di Lammermore [opera (1835) by Gaetano Donizetti (1797–1848)]. She looks at Veda through Pop’s opera glasses but prefers to see Veda as she theatrically seems, not close up and angry at Treviso as she really is. After thunderous applause, Veda sings her popular radio “numbers,” including Schubert’s “Ave Maria,” then that song about rainbows, Mildred’s favorite. This moment is “the climax of Mildred’s life.” Another climax is approaching when Mildred experiences loads of ﬁnancial problems, caused by restoring the Beragon mansion, limited help from the Federal Homes Administration, a $25,000 bank loan, some bond liquidating, two secret “bonus” checks she wrote as from her own corporation, a car that Monty, ignorant of all this, seemed to need. Christmas 1939 proves expensive. The bank insists on amortizing her loan. Kurt’s and Frieda’s kitchen pay is burdensome. Endless guests are costly, and the Pie Wagon and the Beverly and Laguna restaurants become a drag. Mildred juggles funds from reserve to current cash without her bookkeeper Miss Jaeckel’s immediate awareness—until that “stern” woman was preparing income-tax statements in March 1940. Mildred bribes a worried accountant $100 to prepare fake books which she then tells suspicious Miss Jaeckel she mailed directly to the IRS. Lucy’s Laguna place loses money when a fancier place opens nearby; Lucy, suspecting her Ike of horsing around again, slacks off. Mildred alternates ﬁnancial fears by day and distracting pleasure at night seeing lovely Veda. Mildred’s doctored account books don’t match bank records. Some merchants demand payments. Mildred stalls them. She delays conferring with Wally and some of her creditors he now represents; she must attend another Bowl concert starring Veda. Mildred dines at the Laguna place with Wally and several unpaid merchants. The “banquet” over, the truth emerges. Her four incorporated restaurants would all show proﬁts but for her “merciless milking” of them to “keep up” her Pasadena “establishment.” She insults Wally for asking her to explain her “home ﬁnances.” He counters that except for friendships she’d be in receivership already and asks what Veda pays in rent. Nothing. After Wally says he proﬁtably invested some money he got for Veda, who also drags down $500 weekly from her radio show, Mildred guesses from glances all around that the group ﬁgures Veda ought to

151 reﬁnance Mildred. Ignoring reality, she sees creditors as hyenas and her chick their prey. She rebukes Wally for persuading her to incorporate. He says that her personal property is safe, but her business will be declared bankrupt, further, that Ida, failing to confer with too-busy Mildred, has agreed to run things alone. Aghast, she half-hears Wally advise her to avoid concerts, cut overhead, demand money from Veda, and take one week to behave. Mildred avoids a polo-players’ party at her mansion, drives to Bert in Glendale. So as not to disturb Pop and Mom, Bert takes her wheel grandly and they drive and talk. Sobbing near a Santa Monica cocktail bar, Mildred tells Bert about money and Veda, but not about Mildred’s aloofness from Monty. Both get drunk. He calls her book-juggling “damn foolish,” says Veda gotta pay, says he’d be better off if Veda had ﬁnanced his recent real-estate deals, says Mildred ﬁnanced Veda’s early career. Praising his part too, she feels uniquely close to Bert again. He says he’ll talk to Veda tomorrow, then says no, Mildred must do so tonight — because disgusting Wally, supposedly in cahoots with Veda, may attach her funds, since at 20 she’s a minor. Mildred agrees to confront Veda tonight, then meet tomorrow at Hollywood’s Brown Derby with Bert and his lawyer. At 3:00 A.M. Mildred makes her way quietly to Veda’s room, taps. No answer. She enters. Nobody there. Veda’s performance dress hangs in her closet. She rouses an angry Monty in his room — with Veda. In “an emasculated, androgynous yell,” Monty blames both his dishonorable self and Mildred’s conduct toward Veda, says her “bait” (Monty) and her “quarry” (Veda) are in love; kept once by a woman with pies, he’s kept now by a woman with a voice. Veda, parading nude, reviles her gloryseeking “nit-wit,” money-grubbing mother for this embarrassment, yawns, orders pajama-clad Monty to dress and they’ll leave, predicts everything will “seem funny” tomorrow. Monty emerges, hands Veda her kimono. Mildred leaps at Veda’s throat and squeezes it horribly. Monty, then Letty and Frieda, from their rooms, stare — as Veda escapes, hits a piano key, tries to sing, can’t, falls in convulsions. Monty screams at Mildred. Chapter 17. Mildred rents her Beragon mansion, loses her corporation, resides in Nevada to start divorce proceedings there, recovers from breakdowns. Veda’s employers sue to annul her contract because she manifestly can sing only in masculine croaks; Mildred’s actions are blamed and bruited widely. Veda visits Mildred in Reno, is photographed “elaborately” forgiving her. Mildred feels she must provide all comforts for her damaged child, sends Bert $50. He visits frequently, says he’ll

Mildred

help Veda. When divorced, Mildred remarries him and moves into her Glendale house, mortgages it, and with limited funds plans Christmas gifts: Bert, a suit; Veda, a phonograph and record albums. Christmas comes. Bert offers to help make pies to go with Letty’s eggnog. Veda whispers encouragingly. But then a taxi arrives. Veda, speaking normally and with voice restored, says she’s off to New York, with Monty. She’ll sing again for $2,500 weekly for Hobey’s food-company radio show. [David J. Rabinowitz opines that “Mildred Pierce ends as clumsily as it does because of Cain’s ﬁxation on the voice [Veda’s] he had created.” Rabinowitz agrees that, as Cain himself said, he could not “bear to think it was permanently gone.” (Hoopes, 309; Rabinowitz, 176; Skenazy, 78)] Mildred, aware that Veda and Hobey deceived Levinson, tells the icy girl never to return. Alone with Bert, she repeats his consigning Veda to hell and agrees to “get stinko” with him. Roy Hoopes summarizes the evolution of Mildred Pierce. Cain labored through four drafts, had Mildred destroy Veda’s glottis, then softened the ending. Ill with an ulcer and needing money, he was delighted when his agent James Geller informed him that Alfred A. Knopf would advance $5,000 to secure a contract. Knopf had to persuade a man with a wife whose maiden name was Mildred Pierce to sign a waiver. Published in September 1941, Mildred Pierce was critically helped because of previous praise of Cain by Edmund Wilson (1895–1972) in his New Republic essay “The Boys in the Back Room” (November 11, 1940). In it, Wilson lumps Cain with such other “poets of the tabloid murder” as Horace McCoy, John O’Hara, William Saroyan, and John Steinbeck. Reviews of Mildred Pierce were mixed at ﬁrst but soon were generally favorable. Sales were fair, never rose to best-seller ﬁgures, and totaled about 14,000 copies in hardcover. Paul Skenazy introduces his discussion of Mildred Pierce by saying that it departs from but culminates Cain’s 1930s novels, expands its time line to “stretch ... across the Depression,” and brutally depicts “the under side of domestic affection.” He concludes by saying that the novel “is grossly ﬂawed and yet in many ways [is] Cain’s fullest and most signiﬁcant book, the one in which he attempted the broadest as well as the deepest analysis of his time and culture.” Joyce Carol Oates is all negative. She regards Mildred Pierce as “over-long and shapeless,” and feels that it “must surely owe its ﬂaws to the third-person omniscient narration, which takes us too far from the victim and allows us more freedom than we want.” The novel is now regarded as a classic of its epoch. (Hoopes, 305–315 passim; Oates, 112; Skenazy, 66, 79) Criticism of the movie Mildred Pierce (Warner

Milmo

152

Bros., 1945) varies. Leonard Maltin calls it a “[s]olid adaptation.” Ephraim Katz simply reports that durable Joan Crawford (1904–1977), cast in the title role, was “a superstar ... playing the suffering heroine ... a winning a 1945 Academy Award for her performance.” J. M. Welsh’s contrast of the movie and the novel seems ill-informed. He believes that “casting Joan Crawford as Mildred Pierce brings the character to the forefront at the expense of her daughter Veda (played by Ann Blyth [1928–]), who is far more interesting in the novel.” Welsh insists that Cain’s Mildred is a vicious housewife whose venal use of men is unconsciously pretentious, whereas in the movie “her shabbiness is erased and she appears to be an innocent victim of a selﬁsh daughter and a playboy husband.” Donna M. Campbell says that the movie “establishes a classic ﬁlm noir ambience ... of ... suspense, murder, and a ‘woman who uses men for her own ends,’” but that in doing so it “roundly belies the origins of the ﬁlm in Cain’s novel, which contains no ﬂashback, no mystery—and no murder.” With co-editor John C. Tibbetts later, Welsh provides the following: “The ﬁlm ... was completely revamped by a score of writers ... who redesigned the story ... and turned it into a family melodrama that ennobled the heroine’s crass struggle to make money and buy the love of her monstrous daughter Veda.” Welsh reports that the movie “opened with a murder and then attempted to imitate the ﬂashback structure of Citizen Kane.” Welsh opines that this “reworking of Cain’s novel is not exactly a bad ﬁlm, but it’s not an excellent adaptation either.” He explains that the movie begins with Monte (Cain’s Monty) shot in the stomach; he collapses, and dies saying, “Mildred.” Mildred is then stopped by a cop from jumping off a bridge, and confesses she killed Monte. Flashbacks recount her sad story, followed by the truth emerging: Veda, whom Mildred tried to protect, shot Monte for rejecting her and is arrested; Mildred is reunited with Bert. (Campbell, 1; Katz, 306; Maltin, 90; Tibbetts and Welsh, xvii, 274–275; Welsh, 66) Of interest is the fact that Mae Caro, a would-be Los Angeles novelist, sent Cain an undated letter (fall 1948) contending that he had plagiarized parts of the movie version of Mildred Pierce from her manuscript Nothing to Live For that she had sent him to his New York ofﬁce (1937), and that she would sue unless they could settle her claim amiably. In his careful response (September 30, 1948), Cain said that plagiarism is hard to prove, that he had no New York ofﬁce after 1931, that he never read anything sent him by amateurs, that he had discussed what became Mildred Pierce with a movie producer in 1932, and that he sent him a copy of the novel in 1941 with thanks for his help. Unde-

terred, Caro initiated a suit against both Cain and Warner Bros. (January 1949). Cain hired a New York attorney. Cain then read Caro’s would-be novel, found it to be a typical heroine’s complaint about a bad husband and their daughter. Caro’s attorney stated that her plot yarn paralleled Cain’s novel, because both concerned an ungrateful child; this proved laughable to Cain’s attorney. But the threat dragged on. Finally, the studio silenced Caro with $750 instead of paying the $100,000 her side initially wanted (February 1951). Cain had to pay his legal costs, and in addition lost time and energy. (Hoopes, 443 –447, 627) The enduring qualities of Cain’s novel are evidenced by the fact that HBO recently launched its own Mildred Pierce, a 5 1 ⁄2-hour miniseries staring Kate Winslet (March–April 2011). The HBO version is closer to Cain’s plot than the 1945 movie starring Joan Crawford. Milmo, Paddy (Mignon). He was Burke’s dishonest partner in Mexico. This, according to what Burke tells Bill — which may be another of Burke’s lies. Milstead (“The Visitor”). See Milstead, Mrs. Milstead, Mrs. (“The Visitor”). She and her husband, whose small son is Shelley Milstead, share a party telephone line with Greg and Rita Hayes. Greg is usually glad, because he can boast of business successes and be aware that gossipy Mrs. Milstead will listen in and spread the news. Milstead, Shelley (“The Visitor”). He is the Milsteads’ young son. Greg Hayes is usually happy that he and his wife Rita share a party telephone line with the Milsteads, except for “one slight ﬂaw”: Shelley habitually leaves the receiver off and howls. Minden, Liza (The Butterﬂy). She is a gossipy neighbor of Jess Tyler. He avoids her when he can. Minot, Mrs. (The Enchanted Isle). She is a nosy neighbor of Sally Vernick and Steve Baker. When Mandy Vernick, Sally’s wayward daughter, returns home, Mrs. Minot unsuccessfully seeks some gossip from her. Later, Mrs. Minot proves helpful, when Steve sends her to buy groceries. Mitchell, Buck (The Moth). He is an inexperienced hobo, 25 and handsome. Jack rides the rails with Buck. He tells Jack a little bit about his youth in San-dusky, Ohio. He gripes so much that Jack brieﬂy dubs him “Mr. Grievous.” When 18, Buck got a construction job, he became engaged, but “then came 1929”; he left home three years ago, and began riding the rails. He and Jack meet Hosea Brown, another bum; and through many states the three ride on freight trains, beg, mooch, and steal. During their attempted robbery of a Las Vegas ﬁlling station, Buck is killed. In Los Angeles, Hosea,

153 thwarted in his attempt to reconnect with nowrespectable Jack, tells the police about Buck’s death and Jack’s part in it. Modell, Stan (Cloud Nine). He is the attorney for Edith Stuart and her son Graham Kirby. Modesta (Cloud Nine). She is Graham Kirby’s cleaning lady. After he marries Sonja Lang, Sonja wants to do the housecleaning herself, but Graham prefers to have Modesta stay on. Money and the Woman. See The Embezzler. Montes, Juana (Serenade). She is an attractive Mexican-Indian prostitute John Howard Sharp meets in Mexico City, where she is boastful young bullﬁghter Triesca’s restaurant guest. When a lottery ticket John gives her wins her a Ford, the two drive toward Acapulco, where she plans to open a brothel. On the way, they hide from a storm and make violent love in a church. John begins to recognize her as devoutly Catholic from the waist up and savagely sexual below. John’s churchly experience enables him to recover his formerly cracked baritone voice. Juana’s commercial plans in Acapulco are quashed when John slugs her overly demanding ﬁnancier, an important político. Captain Conners helps the two to escape on his boat to Los Angeles. John sings in Hollywood and then in New York. Juana kills homosexual Winston Hawes there, to end John’s hankering for him. Conners gets Juana to Havana, with John along despite her preferring adíos for his own safety. The two proceed to Guatemala, where, calling themselves Giuseppe Di Nola and Lola Deminguez Di Nola, they live uneasily, dispute over sex, and she escapes to Mexico City. John follows her and locates her at a café with Triesca again. An ensuing argument causes her to run into the street, where her frustrated político pursues her and shoots her to death. Paul Skenazy suggests that Cain devised the name “Juana” from “the iguana of Mexico.” Richard Bradbury ﬁnds Juana a typical “image of the femme fatale, a ﬁgure common to the works of the hardboiled school.” (Bradbury, 93; (Skenazy, 57) Montes, Señor (Serenade). He and his wife are Juana’s poverty-stricken parents. John Howard Sharp refuses to take the two to Acapulco, where he and Juana plan to open their whorehouse. After Juana is shot to death much later, her parents attend her funeral. Montes, Señora (Serenade). See Montes, Señor. Moore, Ed (The Moth). He manages one of Hannah Branch’s ﬁlling stations. When he leaves a transit nearby and Jack sees it, he thinks that having customers use it to look at astronomical objects might induce them to stay and buy gas. Denny Deets capitalizes on the idea for Hannah.

Moth

Moran, Pat (Cloud Nine). He is a Maryland land developer who tries to induce Edith Stuart to participate in a million-dollar plan of his, because of her helpful political clout. She declines. Morgan (The Butterﬂy). He was Belle Tyler’s father. He was a coal miner. Jess says that bad blood in his and Belle’s supposed daughters, Kady and Jane, is owing to Morgan blood. This statement is ironic, because Moke Blue sired Belle’s daughter Kady and probably her older daughter Jane as well. Morgan, Dale (Cloud Nine). She was a school teacher whom Burwell Stuart raped when he was her pupil. When he did so again, she didn’t mind. They became lovers, and she followed him when he was in the army in Japan. She took out a life insurance policy with double indemnity in case of death by car. An expert in sabotage told “Burl” how to jimmy the steering wheel of a car to cause a crash. The result was that Dale and her mother were killed, and Burl, though suspected, was richer by $50,000. Morgan, Mrs. (Cloud Nine). She was Dale Morgan’s mother and died with her in an automobile accident, during which the mother was driving. Morgan, Mrs. (Rainbow’s End). She is airline president Russell Morgan’s wife. When phoning Jack Mullen, one of Morgan’s dispatchers, stewardess Jill Kreeger asks Jack to give her “best” to “Mrs. M.,” whom she calls “a doll.” Hints such as these combine to enable the reader to conclude that Jill is pretty special in the eyes of airline personnel. Morgan, Russell (Rainbow’s End). He is the president of the Trans-US&C airline. Shaw hijacks a plane, receives a ransom of $100,000, and parachutes out with stewardess Jill Kreeger clinging to him. After he dies and Jill seemingly helps ﬁnd his loot, “Russ” legally assigns the money to Jill. Mortimer (“Everything But the Truth”). He owns a farm with a wharf. It is off a timber of a fertilizer schooner tied there that young Edwin Hope accidentally proves that he is a high diver. Morton, Salt (The Moth). He is a University of Maryland student. At a beer party, he takes offense at fellow-student Cannon’s scofﬁng tone. The Moth (novel, 1948). (Characters: Adrian, Anderson, Arabella, Captain Barnham, Red Baughman, Beal, Bland, Hannah Branch, Jim Branch, Mrs. Brems, Bessie Bright, Louis Bright, Louis Bright Jr., Hosea Brown, Butler, Dr. Buchhalter, Butler, Curley Byrd, Cannon, Casey, Dasso, Deets, Eunice Deets, Glendenning Deets, Mrs. Deets, Francis Dillon, Jack Dillon, Louise Thorne Dillon, Nancy Dillon, Patrick

Moth

154

Dillon, Sheila Dillon, Joe Doaks, Douvain, Mrs. Douvain, Drusella, Dora Dumb, John Q. Dumb, Emory, Mrs. Emory, Fats, Dick Finley, Jack Finley, Lee Finley, Mrs. Finley, Fuller, Funk, Dr. Grant, Eleanor Grant, Gwendolyn, Henry Harmon, Hayden, Doc Henry, Holtz, Horlacher, Iren, Jane, Jergins, Miss Jonas, D. P. Jones, Ed Kratzer, Josephine Lamson, Legg, Helen Legg, Margaret Legg, Mrs. Legg, Lida, Lina, Lucas, Chief Lucas, June Lucas, Mace, Mendel, Buck Mitchell, Ed Moore, Salt Morton, Muggsy, Mulligan, Olson, Parrot, Perrin, Mrs. Pickens, Mrs. Pyle, Harold Randolph, Rohrer, Sandy, Willie Saunders, Gus Schoenfeld, Lee Shorty, Sam Shreve, Slemp, Slicker, Spicer, Stelliger, Dr. Struthers, Tolan, Zeke Torrance, White, Chief Wolfson.) 1. John (“Jack”) Dillon, the narrator, sees a beautiful luna moth, green and luminous, near his house in Baltimore. A bigger boy tries to kill it, and Jack’s “colored nurse” Jane makes him stop. Horrifying, memorable episode. Jack’s tall, piano-playing Aunt Sheila gives him a pear for his teacher. He eats it, then lies about it. Aunt Nancy sings with a weak voice. Episcopalian Grandfather’s son Patrick studied law in Trinity College, Dublin. Grandfather’s wife remained in Dublin when he, bringing his daughters Sheila and Nancy along, came to America (1881). He ran a Baltimore powerhouse. Jack’s father is Patrick, coming over later, and his sisters liked music, and heard Mme. Luisa Tetrazzini and John McCormack in New York. [Luisa Tetrazzini (1871–1940) was an Italian soprano; John McCormack (1884–1945), an Irish tenor.] Father, who studied law in Dublin, buys a car (1908). Soon Jack is born (1910). Father quits law, repairs cars, runs a proﬁtable car-selling agency, but regrets abandoning more intellectual work. Father, when 28, met Louise Thorne, born in Baltimore and 16, at a dance, and married her a week later. They divorced (1913) because of a rich “Philly” man, and Father, though somewhat deranged, kept Jack. Jack is a “cute” singer, hired by Dr. Grant, of the church. Jack misses his mother, sniffs her perfume left in the attic, and one day in church recognizes, by the fragrance, that she has been allowed to see him. He sings Schubert’s Ave Maria directly toward her. 2. Jack meets Glendenning (“Denny”) Deets, from Frederick but often with his Eunice Deets, his aunt, in Baltimore. The boys ﬁght over Denny’s bicycle but soon become fast friends. They steal peaches. Jack and Denny help Jack’s father in his garage. One day a man from Washington drives in with a new, overheated Ford. The men are off for lunch. Jack noticed the man drove with the brake on, ﬁxes it, and Denny persuades him to charge the grateful guy two dollars. Denny recommends initiative. Next summer Jack and Denny audition to sing

in the church choir for money. John likes the looks of Dr. Grant’s war-widowed cousin “Miss” Eleanor Grant, accomplished singer, music teacher, and choir director. He also likes “cutie pies” (girls). Adults dislike Denny’s “gashouse bark,” but Miss Eleanor hugs and hires Jack. Aunt Nancy gets replaced as organist by Anderson. On the way home, the women gossip about Eleanor. Denny, sore at being criticized, hits Jack, who waits and then slaps Denny, who cries. They get friendly again and share Jack’s 80¢ pay per Sunday. 3. Eleanor encourages Jack to study his parts, which he starts to rehearse with Sheila but quits through conceitedly thinking he knows it all. On Sunday John looks angelic with Dr. Grant’s hymn book before him on the lectern. But “Parting Hymn” becomes a “mess,” which Anderson rescues by organ booms. Eleanor invites Jack to lunch. She asks what went wrong at church and sits him beside her at the piano. Now 10, he likes her soft arm around him. She explains: “Parting Hymn” in Grant’s book is in a different key from that of the cheaper books the others and Sheila have; obviously, he never bothered rehearsing at home. He lies that he did use the cheap book at home. Confronted again, he repeats the lie; so she sadly sends him home. Jack returns to Eleanor and admits his lie. She discovers he’s able to read music at sight. She’ll give him lessons but conceals this almost magical musical skill. She phones his aunts for permission to keep him through supper. They do some harmless kissing. They love tricking everyone. 4. Most boys sound “reedy” when singing. Eleanor trains Jack’s tight and loose breathing, getting pitches, exerting abdominal muscles vs. diaphragm, escapement and clutch, etc. He becomes a “bud” not yet “a ﬂower.” When he sings Mozart’s “Alleluja” in church, women get teary-eyed. He learns operatic arias and is booked places. Father encourages him, especially after he learns “The Minstrel Boy” [an Irish patriotic song by Thomas Moore (1779 – 1852)]. Eleanor has Margaret Legg, of a well-to-do Baltimore family and a little older than Jack, accompany him at a New York vaudeville place. He also takes her, reluctantly, to her school’s “german” [a dance], after which she unaccountably cries. He likes her baby sister Helen. Trouble develops with Anderson. A cop comes to arrest Jack. Father bluffs him into leaving, then asks Jack what happened. He says Anderson laughed at him, Jack cried then beat him up, won’t say what about. Father sends him to his room. He must see Eleanor and sneaks out the window. He tells Eleanor that he saw his mother in church, failed to locate her afterwards, and Anderson mockingly whistled “Una Furtiva Lagrima”; so Jack socked

155 him. Eleanor praises him, admits she’s partly a substitute mother for him, says she’ll make a record of his singing for his mother. He tries to record a song, but his voice breaks. She explains he’s getting a man’s voice now, kisses him on the mouth, soon leaves for a St. Louis summer opera show. 5. His voice becomes “a beer-barrel bass,” not genuinely good. Eleanor returns but coolly says she’s opening a New York studio with another woman. Tall now, he plays basketball in high school. Father persuades him to put $4,500 of his “music money” in savings. With the rest he dolls up like Antonio Scotti, whose signed photo Eleanor gave him. Denny tries to modify his taste in clothes, but nothing comes of it. [Antonio Scotti (1866 –1936) was an Italian operatic baritone.] Jack, 14, buys a blue, belted coat with a check that gets stopped by Father’s court order. At home, Father tries to explain, fails, and an argument ends in Jack’s physically humiliating him. Jack makes do ﬁnancially by shoplifting and garage work. Christmas comes. Jack and Denny provide a tree and trimmings. Jack gives Father a scarf. Father gives Jack a key — to a snappy gray “Chevvie.” Father carefully explains he prevented Jack from wasting money — perhaps on Eleanor, now gone — and persuades him to invest in stocks and bonds and draw only $20 a month for cash. 6. Jack is popular, because of his car. Margaret Legg, taller and slimmer, starts “playing him”; he endures her parties and piano performances. He does his home work, then drives into Washington and elsewhere. Denny hits town in the summer. The two, now 15, drive to Annapolis on Labor Day, see two girls needing to get ice “to the bay,” and volunteer — if the girls are friendly. Jack tells one he’s 19. Jack drives with Lina and the ice up front, with Denny and Fats in the rumble. They put ice in Lina’s brother’s beach-side “hotdog” shack. Lina rummages food and soft drinks. Lina ﬁnds swimming togs. The boys have theirs in the car. They swim. Linda, with a nice ﬁgure, and Jack swim to a ﬂoat. While Denny and Fats do “whoopdedo,” Lina shows Jack better swimming strokes. At the shack, they horse around until Denny chases nude Fats into the bedroom. Lina cracks open the door; Jack turns sick watching her wetmouthed gasps. Linda criticizes Jack to Denny for turning shy. Then when Jack and Lina use the bedroom, he can’t perform and vomits and she reviles him as a “sick pup.” Feeling unmanly, Jack starts reading in Father’s well-stacked library.

Moth

7. Jack, having “mechanical gift,” becomes a Baltimore Polytechnic student. Denny wants to enroll in engineering, only in order to play football and be illegally slipped “moola.” Denny makes the team but wilts after his ﬁrst disappointment. Jack trains him to let Jack, a scrub at ﬁrst, block late for speedy Denny to score. When they play “Chesapeake,” the two are sent in and win coming from behind. Ungrateful Denny ﬁnds girls. Jack’s picture is also in the papers, though, and he writes “Miss Eleanor” and cuts and sends a clipping. Jack and Denny succeed at “Poly” and in football their three years. They enter the University of Maryland (1927), defeat Yale in October their sophomore year. Returning home to Maryland, they stop in New York. In his hotel lobby, Jack, 6' and 170 lbs., encounters June Lucas, a department-store buyer from Easton, Pennsylvania, 25, widowed, and perky. She gets him to her room. They have cocktails. Understandingly, gently, she lectures him on ﬁrst sex. Sonn she “spread[s] the color of the moth.” 8. He wangles a week off at school before Thanksgiving, visits June in Easton, but she counters his marriage proposal by saying she’s marrying elsewhere—for money, because the man loves her children and because Jack could never ﬁt into her life. He goes home around Thanksgiving, and Father tells him that “Black Tuesday” wiped out most of Jack’s savings, also Father’s new garage inadequately ﬁnanced with Denny’s father. To Jack, that’s just another worry. Back in college, Denny, with his father broke, persuades Jack to join him, break college rules, replace disgruntled and unpaid pro football players, and play with pseudonyms and disguised faces on Sundays in New York’s Polo Grounds—for $50 per game. Though seeming funny now, it was shameful then to be just “a guy with muscles to rent.” 9. Margaret invites him to a New Year’s Eve party at daddy’s Baltimore hotel. Distressed through reading of June Lucas’s high-society wedding, he plans to have fun at the party, dances with slimmeddown Margaret, is treated nicely by her parents, kisses her warmly, bids goodnight, and by prearrangement gets by freight elevator to her in-hotel “studio.” He makes his way to her eighth-ﬂoor suite, notes the Steinway piano, embraces her, says he’s loved her from afar, but is interrupted unzipping her dress— by her mother, bringing skimmed milk, to help her “slender ... down.” Noting it’s 3:30 A.M., he exits with them. Jack associates with Margaret tepidly, and during his moneyless times rich Legg hires him as a Cartaret Hotel room clerk. Jack impresses Legg, and the two talk. Jack’s

Moth

156

cracked kneecap prevents a football career. He and Legg winkingly agree Margaret won’t become a concert pianist. He lets Legg believe he’ll marry Margaret and be ushered into the hotel business. Denny gets bootleg beer, probably through his father. Several students, including Cannon and Salt Morton, join Denny and Jack. Salt got his name because when beer is around he pours. Discussion about jobs after graduation (June 1932) convinces Jack he should hypocritically play along with Legg. 10. Jack always adored Margaret’s little sister Helen. So when she has trouble studying arithmetic, he volunteers to tutor her. Legg insists on paying $5 for two-hour Saturday sessions at Jack’s house. Helen is recalcitrant until Jack shows her an abacas and tells her he can teach her with it and thus show up Miss Lamson, her “dope” teacher. This was back in 1930, when Jack, 20, was a sophomore and Helen was 10. She learns by the abacas to be, with eyes closed, lightning fast with problems. Willie Saunders is a whiz kid on a Friday evening radio program; he is able to solve math problems in his head. The station agrees to let Helen challenge him. Jack drives Helen (in his Buick) to the station and returns for dinner with the Leggs. He turns on the radio. Helen is introduced. The announcer offers a problem of percentages and coal tonnage. Helen shouts the answer. Willie leaves, blubbering, while Helen praises her teacher Miss Josephine Lamson. Jack and the Leggs bring Margaret home. On Saturday, Helen visits Jack’s home, and Father, Nancy, and Sheila praise her. Alone with Jack, she hugs and thanks him, and says she’ll really be only “a smart brat.” Jack, after graduating, is happy when Helen, with the Leggs vacationing at Gibson Island near Annapolis, needs tutoring in algebra there. Meanwhile, Margaret shops “for the wedding.” Legg tells Jack that young Dick Finley, in a cottage near the Leggs’ place, pals around, while armed, with bootlegger Zeke Torrance and also ﬂirts with Helen, who appears in swimming attire and, though 12, is ravishing. Dickie, gun in hip holster, swaggers up, lectures the Leggs it’s time Helen started dating. Jack knocks him down, warns the “little louse” to disappear, tosses his gun into the Chesapeake Bay. Dickie and a friend he brings attack Jack, who, when all are in the water, half-drowns the two until “Pappy” Finley intercedes. Legg, effusive in thanks, says he’ll send Helen, the “source of the trouble,” to Baltimore for now. While working at the Cartaret (1932), Jack drifts, tutors Helen, and hangs on with Margaret, now looking womanly. Resting from a swim in Lake Roland one evening, they see a luna moth, “full of moonlight.”

Trying to teach Helen in Margaret’s studio goes badly. Sobbing, she makes Jack leave. Mrs. Legg yells: Helen’s missing. First, Jack searches her room, ﬁnds a picture of him, placed face down. Leggs alerts the police. Margaret returns by bus from Gibson Island and hints to Jack that Helen is at the movies. Aware that Helen loves Jack, who supposedly loves Margaret, Jack phones Mrs. Finley, who says Dick is out driving. Jack drives to the county line, ﬁnds Zeke Torrance’s dive, asks him politely to release Helen, a minor child, or face legal trouble. He soon slugs Zeke, gets slugged by another man; Helen screams, rushes out. Jack drives her to a view of the Naval Academy, then lets her out at her home. 11. Jack drives around. When the Leggs phone, he won’t tell Nancy what happened. Nancy says Mrs. Brems said Helen said she went to Washington to see some movies. For a few days, Margaret sends him unanswered letters about how they’re compatible because both are “artistic.” Father and Jack have a long talk over drinks. Father explains that the market crash ruined many men and their sons, and that Legg offered Father attractive work in the Cartaret Hotel garage but has cooled since Jack’s marriage to Margaret is off. Jack insults Father for losing Jack’s singing savings, calls him “a fool,” apologizes, indicates he knows he’s throw ing away a cushy future, and won’t reveal what he’ll do next. Weeks pass. One night, returning from a rainy drive, Jack sees Father’s house lit up, spies, listens at a window. The Leggs, minus Helen, are there. Much crying. Margaret screams that Dickie Finley followed Jack when he escaped from Zeke’s place with Helen. The upshot is that Jack may get arrested for molesting Helen. Jack manages a secret rendezvous with Helen in the hotel basement. He tells her that though innocent he could be arrested and is leaving. She says she worships him, complains she can’t do algebra like her mother or “beat” Margaret’s piano, may be dumb, but wants to be with him. Home again. Father calls him a “perverted scut,” says he persuaded Legg not to call the police, won’t listen when Jack, his head pounding, tries to tell the truth. Jack silently reviles Father, saying he looks like a corpse “sitting up in his cofﬁn.” Jack packs clothes only, tells Sheila he’ll write, accepts packed food from Nancy. They won’t kiss him. He drives away. 12. Behold Jack in Atlanta, Georgia, telling some reporters how great it would be to start a professional football team, to compete in good southern

157 weather against Chattanooga, Memphis, etc. A reporter named Henry (“Hank”) Harmon buttonholes him, explains there are three kinds of “dough” here—“soft-drink,” “show,” and “sporting.” He has connections with money, is happy to learn Jack, with a damage knee, won’t play but will be the manager. Jack announces developments in assembling his team, called the Remuda, and newspapers ballyhoo it. He provides liquor for the reporters, and is soon almost broke. He gets pestered by people who want to sell him things. One man, a yachtsman off Nassau with “dough,” wires Hank encouragement but nothing else. Jack gets desperate, ﬁbs he’s going reconnoitering out of town, gets a cheaper hotel, looks for garage then hotel work, unavailingly. There’s a presidential election in late 1932, but poverty prevents Jack from caring. [Franklin D. Roosevelt won.] That yachtsman wires Hank about a delay, suggests next year for the Remuda. Jack sells his 1928 Buick for $170, moves into a $3.50 a week hotel, is broke by Christmas. He hocks his suits, fails to pay rent, and one evening ﬁnds his room door locked. He mooches nickels and dimes from glaring strangers, sees Hank, and ducks away. After embarrassing efforts at begging, he decides for no reason, and broke, to try for New Orleans. He fails at hitchhiking, winds up on some railroad tracks, and just misses being hit by an engine. 13. For months Jack rides freight cars, gradually becomes an expert, joins legions of hoboes, and with them curses heartless trains and “bulls” starting “at the tender” and forcing men off. Thrown off and “hitting the dirt,” he feels like “a human coffee ground, washing down the sink.” Instead of marching with others toward Chattanooga, he decides to try Dalton [Georgia]. Jack bumps into a “bo” whose foot has been shot and who wants to lie in the rain and die. Though hesitant, Jack ﬁnds a huge, empty tool chest, and he and another man place the injured, cursing guy in it. Jack and his helper make room to sit in the box. Jack says they’ll get medical help for “Mr. Grievous,” as he calls the wounded one. They introduce themselves: Hosea, the helper; Buck, the hurt man; and Jack. Jack and “Hosey” make a brazier out of a bucket from another tool chest, ﬁnd wood to split, and with newspapers make a ﬁre to ward off numbing chill. Jack ﬁnds a baby pig seeking warmth, stabs and guts it, and, with a ballast fork from another tool chest over the ﬁre, have broiled shoat. Hosey asks Buck to apologize and say please. But Jack feeds the kid, and they shake hands.

Moth

In another tool chest, Jack ﬁnds a bottle partly full of moonshine; the three drink it and feel like men again. [Buck’s wound is not mentioned again.] 14. Jack, Hosey, and Buck become “three musketeers.” Any two talk about the third. In New Orleans Buck curses bulls and gets jailed ﬁve days there and again near Alexandria’s hobo “jungle.” Buck reminisces to Jack about ﬁshing in Lake Erie with three uncles, compares Hosey, a bum since 1917, to a jungle rat seeking water. After wintering down south, they hitchhike toward Kansas City, spring 1934. They see an idle crew by a road being relocated. Buck knows about road work, sees a blacksmith is absent (ﬁred for drunkenness)—which inspires Jack, who studied blacksmithing in college, to volunteer as substitute. First, Casey the “super” lets the three eat. Then Jack, remembering a college metallurgy professor’s advice, begins forging and tempering bits for rock crushing, with Hosey’s help. [This section seems synthetic; for example, what does “the straw was all over the bit” mean?] Casey beseeches Jack, though washed, fed, and resting, to make a dozen long bits. Buck and Hosey, who tires at the forge bellows, help, and the job is done by 3:00 A.M. The sound of a blacksmith’s pounding wakes Jack that afternoon. Apologetically, Casey says his home ofﬁce sent a long-idle company blacksmith; therefore, Jack (and his two friends) are let go. Toward “K.C.,” with some money but too ﬁlthy to get on buses, the three see a railroad dining car. They swear at the fancy, over-stuffed passengers. 15. In Kansas City, Jack and Buck get separate hotel rooms. Buck asks Jack to go to the red-light district with him, to show him how. Jack lectures and refuses Buck. Hosey enters, wants to bathe in their hotel. Jack refuses curtly. Buck asks Hosey to accompany him to a brothel. Hosey gets apoplectic, lectures him on venereal disease and how he could be arrested for rape if a woman’s husband happened by and she ﬁbbed. Buck visits Jack next day, tells him that a cop directed him to the red-light district but he couldn’t enter. He picked up a cute girl. They had drinks. She took him to her place, but though he gave her ﬁve dollars he simply couldn’t desire to perform. When their money runs out, they head west then south. They can’t get CCC work because the government requires home records of applicants. Hosey rants about hard times so violently that Jack and Buck suspect he’s an ex-con or a pro-communist. While Buck and Hosey check some railroad cars, Jack waits, sees a beautiful girl in a passenger compartment undress, wiggle before her mirror, and do something he won’t describe. Jack tells Buck what he saw. Buck lectures him

Moth

158

about their unattractive ﬁlthiness, therefore their impotence, and therefore their fear of being near women. In Phoenix they wash dishes and hole up. Hosey is resigned to the hobo life indeﬁnitely. Jack, more manly, tells Buck he’s going to steal. Buck will join him. 16. When they talk Hosey into joining, he plans heists so well that it would seem he stole before. They determine that a small store near some motels would be their best target. At 10:00 P.M.: Buck in front, signaling all clear; Jack jimmying back entrance with railroad spike, ﬁlling gunny sack with essential items needed, timing himself as though playing football; Hosey waiting far back. About to leave, Jack spies a cash box, solves its “three-key combination,” grabs its folding money but no coins, and escapes. He and Buck head for the river. They ﬁnd Hosey under a bridge, with ﬁre lit and equipped with cans and kindling for cooking. They have a feast —chicken, soup, coffee, etc.— ending with river-cooled cans of beer. Jack receives thanks. Daylight. They see a passenger train. A slob on the observation platform spits at them. They agree they would treat losers charitably if this situation were reversed. While they rest, Jack wonders why he didn’t tell Hosey and Buck about the money he stole. Jack hides the money. All three boil their clothes, bathe in the river, and through fear when they hear barking dogs split up and plan to meet up in Yuma, at “Shorty Lee’s jungle,” known to Hosey. Jack, with about $90, boards a bus. While resting, he realizes he “ratted on” his present-day “buddies” Hosey and Buck, and didn’t take coins because they would have clinked when near them. Jack ﬁnds Shorty Lee’s fancy jungle. First, he gets a hotel room and orders a martini —“Prohibition got repealed [1933]”—and steak at a café. Two girls notice him. But he falls asleep at the table before starting to eat. He buys clothes at a clearance sale for himself, and complete outﬁts for Hosey and Buck, then a sackful of food. He meets the two at Shorty’s. They revere him. He lies to them that when workers at a store rushed out to follow ﬁreﬁghters answering an alarm, he safely robbed the place. Hosey reckons they’re hot; so they go to California. 17. They get to Mojave. Jack is shot at after he robs a grocery store; so they head for a different state and ride the rails to Las Vegas. Looking halfrespectable at “a cut-rate” joint, he plays roulette with his system of ﬁrst twelve plus support, wins, and quits ahead $30, tells Hosey and Buck, and the three go to Boulder Dam. No jobs. Jack hears that two gas-station guys deposit money nightly at their

nearby “ﬂagship” station to hide it from divorceseeking wives. Jack informs Buck about this heist. They reluctantly include Hosey, ﬁguring he’s worn out though useful. He faints near the ﬂagship, rests, and cases the place. Jack makes preparations, including how to get a gun that Hosey’s motel neighbor ﬂourishes. He invites the guy to his room for drinks and talk, while Buck steals the gun. Jack tells Buck to prepare an alibi by buying a movie ticket, making himself visible there, and sneaking out before the newsreel after 9:00 P.M. Jack and Buck wait at a residential part of town, scare a girl, and drive her car off as she screams. Her handbag has a watch and $5. They calm themselves by driving before precisely meeting Hosey. Buck opines that there are so few female bums and females hitchhikers because they stay safely home. They drive to Hosey’s position near the station. Buck insists on taking the risk this time. They stop, pay for gas, wait for change. Buck orders the manager to hold up his hands. But Hosey whistles a warning. A shot is heard. Buck falls. Jack drives off without Hosey to some railroad tracks, and boards a freight. 18. At a Los Angeles mission Jack washes dishes, parks cars for money, checks into a rundown hotel in his own name, and for an alibi forges his occupancy beginning July 10, the date of their robbery. Because he fears reuniting with Hosey, he takes a bus to Whittier (California). He sees several Mexicans waiting to be hired to pick lemons. He convinces their hatchet-faced American boss that he’s tried everything. The boss says only “wetbacks” can stand picking in 110º heat, in which Americans “topple over ... and quit.” He lets Jack try. [Thus Cain in 1948 cogently previews an contemporary American immigration conundrum.] A truck takes Jack and the Mexicans out to miles of orange, lemon, and grapefruit groves. The super, Holtz, at the ranch house, explains where he’ll wash, cook, and sleep, and recommends 30¢ an hour rather than 10¢ a box until he learns. Jack starts. In succession come aches in back, arms, legs. One picker faints, falls, and gets trucked off. Beans for lunch. When a car starts, coughs, and dies, he repairs its fouled fuel pump. After cooking and bathing, he rests, almost hysterical. Holtz says the car men praised him; so he’s hired as “tower man,” bossing a “gang” of three sprayers, at 60¢ an hour. Jack has money enough to board with Mrs. Emory, the irrigation boss’s wife, with a cottage near the fruit ranch. After a month, he thinks with sudden poignancy about Father, Nancy and Sheila, Eleanor,

159 and Margaret and Helen. [Thus ends the six-chapter section of hoboing. David Madden challenges Cain readers at this point with these remarks: “[L]ife on the road is hell. Still, male readers, besieged by material and personal worries, probably read the long hobo section (the best is the novel) with fascination and envy” (Madden 1970, 71). The best? Yes. With fascination? Probably. With envy? Hardly.] 19. On Friday before Labor Day, Jack gets paid, buys needed items, and waiting at a bus stop sees a man struggling with tomatoes, and helps him into his car. He offers Jack a lift to the “Tia Juana” highway. The man, Jim Branch, 42, says he’s in the oil business, is married, and must ﬁnd choir singers to replace those vacationing over Labor Day. Jack gets his ﬁrst sight of the Paciﬁc Ocean before Branch stops at home to make a phone call. Jack hears him rehearsing Dudley Buck’s “Te Deum.” He starts singing “a basso solo” at the proper time, beginning “The glorious company ...” Branch is impressed. Jack says Branch seems to regard him as “John Charles Chaliapin.” [Dudley Buck (1839–1909) was an American organist and composer. The name John Charles Chaliapin is morphed from John Charles Thomas (1891–1960), American singer, and Feodor Chaliapin (1873 –1938), Russian operatic bass.] Branch hires Jack to sing on Sunday. They have cocktails. Neighborhood friends enter. Everybody sings. Jack sings along with a Pinza record. [Ezio Pinza (1892– 1957), a Metropolitan Opera bass, became more famous in Broadway’s South Paciﬁc, one year after The Moth was published.] A guest (Dasso from Maryland) recognizes Jack when he illegally played pro football. Everyone fusses over him. Branch’s attractive wife, Hannah, about 25 (married three years now), drives up, meets Jack. Over bar-side drinks they talk. She is intrigued when he says he sprayed fruit on a ranch outside Whittier. Encouraged, he kisses her lightly. She wants more. He says it’s dishonorable to betray kind Jim Branch. She still acts sexy. The guests are business neighbors. Dasso (a Branch well “super”), Butler (driller), White (banker), and others. They talk shop, then dine at White’s. At midnight, Jack has a bedroom (with pajamas, shirt, underwear) at the Branches. Between morning and evening singing at Branch’s Long Beach church, Jack ﬁshes with White. After swimming and sunbathing, Jack helps Hannah make sandwiches. She comes on strong, says she rushed into marriage because Branch handled her oil wells, feels socially ostracized, doesn’t care about gossip, and asks why he resists her. “Hot pants, cold heart,” he replies. After “two years on the road,” these last 24 hours, full of back-slapping compliments, get to him. Asleep late, he hears the men drive off on a planned

Moth

Labor Day business trip. He ﬁgures this recent socializing has made him manly again. Planning to escape consequences, he shaves and is in the shower when — she approaches, naked and looking like an angel in a painting. He embraces her. 20. Back with Holtz and barely missed, Jack, feeling both “lousy” and virile, is assigned to repair a costly ditch-digging machine if necessary. On Thursday, Branch ﬁnds Jack, but Jack says he’s too busy to sing again. Branch leaves, shy and disappointed. Hannah drives up; failing to resist, he lets her drive him to her “beach shack” beyond Long Beach to Seal Beach. An hour later they drive back. These Thursday meetings continue until January. Her eyes are beautiful but marred by a selﬁsh, aggressive “light.” Feeling awful at times, he escapes her demands and thumbs from shack to ranch. They both feel their common “yen” is destructive. One Sunday at the beach, Hannah tells Jack she married a “jerk” for business, and he’s managing her holdings badly, and she’d like Jack—both “beauty and brains” and having talked about engineering experience — to take over. Over his negatives, she drives him to an oil drilling in process, explains things with help from workers, using such words as bits, pipe, fourble board, blocks, cathead, rotary table, spring hook, pinions. Jack grows fascinated. Hannah drives him to Signal Hill, explains about her mother’s death, then how her father and his brother worked together, that all three are buried here where an oil well is, and how Branch, her “contractor,” seemed suitable to marry. The banks, the Depression, and government allocations are deﬂating proﬁts from her six wells. When asked, he says he won’t sell non-allocated oil on the black market. They spy as Branch and others start the new Signal Hill well. One time at her shack, they make love, worry about things, and start some coffee. Suddenly Branch and Dasso drive up (to inspect the new well). The lovers hide in a closet. Branch and Dasso enter, talk about business, drink, then notice the hot kettle. Jack emerges from the closet. Branch, shriveled in a beach chair, reminds Hannah that “if ever there came anything,” she promised she’d reveal it. He can forgive anything but her not being “frank.” She turns “meek ... and lowly.” They talk. Jack: Hannah, her father dead, saw Branch as father ﬁgure not husband. Hannah: Branch was considerate, generous father ﬁgure; after college she was “wild dame,” not content being “saintly”; Jack at least didn’t hypocritically continue singing in church. Branch: I chide no one. Branch gets drunk, staggers, and Dasso (reappearing) drives him home. Jack gets Hannah into the shack bed, sleeps in a chair until sun-up. 21. Hannah drives Jack to the ranch. On Sunday a week later she drives up and says the new well is

Moth

160

pumping mud not into an uncooperative neighbor’s sump but into the street; the cops are there, Jack must do something, because Branch is drinking at the Hilton [hotel]. Jack spots two tanks, empty because no oil has pumped yet, arranges a pipe to pump muddy water into one tank, phones Stelliger from the company shack. For a fee, Stilliger brings his ditching machine, digs criss-cross trenches as satisfactory sumps, and with his shovel ﬁlls trucks with dirt which Jack partly dumps elsewhere and partly uses to fashion a hilly sump. Hannah gives Stelliger a hefty check and takes Jack to dinner. Soon, Jack borrows Hannah’s car, phones Holtz he’s quitting, sleeps in an Anaheim Boulevard hotel. On Monday, trouble at the well. Jack gets Stelliger to help him grade for more mud discharge; suddenly the pump at the well coughs, stops, the well blows out, and the driller stops everything. [In this section, Cain includes a mini-essay on products of reﬁneries.] Jack meets Rohrer, the man operating the reﬁnery (for Luxor) alone. He cautions Jack to watch the viscosity of mud poured into the endangered Signal Hill well. Jack returns and chews out Dasso, just back from “lolligagging” with Branch at the Hilton bar. Dasso belatedly pours Aquajel down the well. Jack warns Hannah about Dasso. She says they must keep him or the bank will close the well. Besides, she wants to see Jack “lick” Dasso, the “rat.” Jack learns about twist-offs and wobble-offs, and cementing well holes, as the drilling proceeds. He and Hannah continue to suspect do-nothing Dasso. More trouble. Jack slugs Dasso, who, however, is innocent this time. Still, Rohrer praises Jack and says the other employees are happy at the incident. Drilling proceeds smoothly. At 5,500 feet they smell gas, a good sign. One night, Jack goes to the Golden Glow bar, sees Dasso, and apologizes for hitting him. His staring out a window facing Hannah’s well raises Jack’s suspicion. He dashes to the well. Too late. It explodes, and some falling equipment knocks him out. 22. Jack awakens in the hospital, groggy and treated for loss of blood and concussion. Hannah is there, wondering what happened that has ruined her. Jack blames Dasso, explains, and rushes out to the well, still burning. Jack gets by taxi to the well area, sees that the company shack is aﬁre, with papers and their money inside. He leads some roughnecks and rescues many items, including the safe. Hannah, having driven behind the taxi, tells Jack the safe is ﬁreproof, notices he’s badly burned, and returns him to the hospital. While he spends two weeks there, experts from various departments interview him. In the newspapers are his pictures, with AP reports on his singing

and football activities back east, and editorials blaming him for the ﬁre. Hannah wants him to expose Dasso, but he says Dasso would sue for slander, defamation, and injuries. The well still burns. They can’t prove Dasso sabotaged “the blowout preventer.” Hannah warns Jack, better but still hospitalized, that White demands information from him because Hannah’s ﬁnancing is jeopardized. She lends him the keys to her ﬁre-blistered car so he can drive to her shut-down, non-producing wells, see what’s what, then meet White. First, Jack goes to the Golden Glow for lunch. Rohrer is there. He explains the ongoing work of putting out intermittent ﬁres and also constant ones, and tells Jack that now’s the time for Hannah to ﬁnd money for him to use to buy Rohrer’s reﬁnery. Jack is indifferent. Rohrer pays for his lunch, ducks out the back way, just as knowledgeable White, sober Branch, timid Dasso, and other Branch neighbors enter. 23. Jack eavesdrops, unseen. Perrin, who sang with Jake and has wells adjacent to Mendel’s, is with White and the others. They revile Jack, but White explains that lax oil laws mean Jack can’t be prosecuted. More men enter. Perrin sees and challenges Jack, who sits silently as White smiles. White says the whole community has failed to douse the ﬁres with water and “fog”; so Jack must “shoot that hole!” A man named Mace challenges White, who stands to lose money if no wells nearby produce; so White must have the bank ﬁnance shooting it. Jack gives permission for shooting. [Jack acts as though he is practically half-owner of the well.] Hannah visits Jack, back in the hospital. Summarizing developments, he happens to mention Rohrer’s idea about buying the reﬁnery cheap. Hannah says that they won’t shoot the well and that White, who likes ﬂirtatious Hannah, must include them in any new deal; otherwise bankruptcy would follow any shooting. Hannah hints that she may make Jack really love her someday. A day or so later, a judge grants Hannah a temporary injunction. The next day 11 oil men, including Mace, tell the judge they’re willing to ﬁnance a deal Hannah has in mind. Jack, ashamed and hating the enormous newspaper coverage, testiﬁes that his permission to shoot the hole was only “tentative.” The judge denies Hannah’s plan and viciously accuses Jack of an unparalleled “exhibition of contumacity” and wishes he could ﬁne him. Jack argues with Stemp, an angry ofﬁcial, and then with Hannah. Next day, Mace & Co. try to ﬁre the hole and fail. Hannah and Jack, together again, rejoice. Hannah drives, avoids a gang at the hospital waiting to attack Jack, gets him to her home, and admits Rohrer. They have drinks. Rohrer wishes to sell his reﬁnery to her, thus “marry” his property and her

161 oil wells, for $10,000, to circumvent White’s legal foreclosure efforts and also Mace’s partly illegal actions. Hannah signs Rohrer’s “assignment,” and hopes to raise $10,000. Rohrer giggles in his drink, explains that cocky Mace failed to ﬁre the hole through inexperience, says Mace tried unsuccessfully to destroy Hannah’s well casing, and wants to ﬁre it himself, to please Hannah and Jack, although his job is to place the explosive precisely and then duck clear of “the cone of burst.” Three days pass. Rohrer rigs cables so the charge swings, and Jack, in asbestos protective gear, will signal when to blast exactly on the hole. With crowds cheering him now, Jack signals swings and heights of the potential blast, then orders Rohrer, some distance away, to ﬁre. Whoosh. Jack hits the ground. He awakens in the hospital, with a headache and with Hannah saying that he heroically extinguished the ﬁre and that Rohrer has reported success with her well and “her reﬁnery.” 24. A year passes. Hannah’s business ﬂourishes, as does that of neighboring oilers. They establish Seven-Star ﬁlling stations. Jack hates her incessant parties, in her lush “place in Beverly” 20 miles north, with show people and showy gangsters. Some wish Lubitsch would “try musicals.” Jack has ﬁne clothes, a Packard, his own “swank” place, and hates everything except the money. One night he grabs Hannah’s arm furiously, thus stops her from swatting a beautiful luna moth. Bruised, she asks why “the Londos grip?” [Ernest Lubitsch (1892–1947), a Germanborn U.S. ﬁlm director, specialized in witty comedies. Christopher Theophelos Londos (1895–1975), Greek-born championship wrestler, also known as Jim, Jimmy, Chris, and “the Golden Greek,” came to the United States when 13, held odd jobs, turned to professional wrestling. At 5' 8", 200 lbs., he won most of 2,500 matches (1930 –1946) and became world champion. He said that although he wasn’t “cruel,” he had “some atavistic instinct” making him “love to hear opponent’s bones crack.” He developed a mysterious grip on an opponent’s foot causing unendurable pain and temporary paralysis. (New York Times obituary, August 24, 1975)] While driving one morning, Jack hears Hosey, that long-forgotten hobo, yell his name. Jack escapes to his ofﬁce. Lida, his secretary at his Jergins Trust Building ofﬁce, tells him a bum is asking Rohrer about Dixon, the name Jack used when hoboing. Jack tells Rohrer to avoid him. Hosey gets to the reﬁnery. Jack tells watchman Mulligan he doesn’t know any Dixon or this guy Hosey, gives him $10 for “a bath and a ﬂop.” But Hosey throws stones at him, reminds him they promised to help each other, and leaves threatening revenge.

Moth

As Jack parties with Hannah, he worries about avoiding a murder charge. At his Jergins ofﬁce, a police cop comes to serve a Las Vegas warrant for Dixon’s felony. Jack refuses the complaint, denies being Dixon or ever being in Las Vegas, and phones Mulligan to join him at police headquarters. Jack, tan, 30 pounds heavier, and with “a little Hollywood mustache,” bluffs his total innocence, even as the authorities say it’s best to let the bum “chirp.” Hosey Brown, as he identiﬁes himself, answers Chief Lucas’s questions, and says he, Buck Mitchell, and this-here Dillon robbed a Las Vegas gas station where Buck was killed and Dillon drove off without Hosey — maybe two, three, four years ago. The authorities seat some cops near Jack, then several convicts enter and try to identify Jack. He thinks fast, plays innocent, smiles, and casually pets a cop’s station cat. In come two from Las Vegas— the motel clerk and the ﬁlling station attendant, both robbed by Jack. The clerk points to a cop, identifying him as Jack; the attendant points to no one. A Las Vegas detective recommends that “this gentleman” Mr. Dillon be released. A cop tells him he found the cat abandoned two days old and a cell is now his home. [Cain lets the reader connect homeless, jailed Hosey to the rescued cat.] Outside, Jack ducks and watches the clerk and the attendant beat up Hosey in a nearby park. Mulligan gets Jack home by cab. Feeling like a big-shouldered success, he vows to marry Hannah when Jim Branch, ﬁnally agreeing, divorces her, and the California “interlocutory year” ends. 25. After seven years of silence, Denny Deets suddenly writes Jack some off hand Baltimore news: Patrick Dillon is “failing”; Sheila and Nancy mourn Jack’s mother’s death; the Leggs sold their hotel and are comfortable; Byrd is university president; Denny is a husband and father, inheriting nothing from his father. At Ed Moore’s Seven-Star station, Jack ﬁnds a discarded transit. Ed says customers stop to see the moon and stars through it and then buy gas. Jack ﬂoats the idea of tentatively hiring Denny to equip other stations for such added business. Jack leases an apartment for Denny, near his Castile place, greets Denny, graying and heavier but still charming, and introduces him to Ed. Denny queries Ed about business details, meets and pleases Rohrer, Hannah, and also some Hollywood starlets, whom he avoids because he’s happily married. Denny spends a week inquiring into stations, telescopes, and customers’ responses about astronomy, then suggests a small radio astrological show. Hannah, a Leo, likes that.

Moth

162

Denny returns one Sunday morning after using a company car for days and locates Jack, idly swimming in Hannah’s pool. Hannah provides a poolside breakfast. Denny explains to both of them that they can proﬁtably build small, shiny, slit-domed starand-moon observatories, using equipment he has priced, and thus attract innumerable gas-buying customers. Jack accepts Denny’s grand plans to induce customers to study the stars, gravity, and even Sir Isaac Newton and his apple. Denny places an ad in Southern California’s AAA publications, showing Hannah at night, glistening, sexy, yet ﬁrmly scientiﬁc, standing beside a telescope, with Seven Stars morphed into the Big Dipper. Denny’s L.A. Advertising Club luncheon speech inspires Hannah and Jack to pay him well or lose him. Almost a year later, Hannah surprises Jack by reporting that Denny’s wife is here. Jack says he didn’t know and doesn’t know her. Hannah wonders what Jack is hiding about his past. He says he had a dispute with his father in Baltimore, is hiding nothing, but wanted Denny not to discuss Jack’s past. Hannah says the two Deets are coming for dinner. 26. With Hannah’s maid Irene’s help in Hannah’s Beverly mansion, Jack loosens the cork and shakes the champagne to pop as Mrs. Denny Deets enters. She is the former Margaret Legg. Champagne all around. Margaret, older than Jack, now looks 10 years younger. Hannah looks at Jack oddly. Hannah ﬁgures Margaret smells like money and therefore seems to like Margaret. Jack would like to tell Denny he’d never have sent for him if he’d known Margaret was his wife. Denny says the Baltimore papers reported their marriage. Jack says he’s been away eight years. Margaret tells inquisitive Hannah that she and Jack merely “grew up together, that’s all.” She mentions her ill father, mother, “little sister” (Helen), says the Leggs may move to Santa Monica. Margaret says Jack used to sing, plays “The Trumpeteer” on Hannah’s piano, Jack sings, and Hannah pleads not to make her cry. That night Jack tells Hannah that he and Margaret danced, were on vacations together, and no, she’s not “still torching” for him. Hannah regards Denny’s silence about his marriage “queer” but not causing “any strain.” They conclude the two Deetses are in love and “sweet.” Driving that night to Oceanside, Jack ﬁgures perhaps Denny thought being invited to California was “a feeler, a lead, a trick,” believing Jack still wants Helen. So Denny, then Margaret, came, because they simply “had to know.” Though aching to see Helen again, Jack decides “to kill the moth.” Next night he tells Hannah this: Denny’s gotta go; Jack was engaged to marry Margaret; Denny should have revealed his marriage; it’s “messy” to

have them around. He goes home. At 3:00 A.M. Hannah bangs on his door, tells him she just conferred with both Deetses, needs coffee, demands to know about Helen Legg. When Jack says he was more interested in a job with Legg than a marriage into the Legg family, Hannah wonders if he’s always interested in the job but not the girl. He says Helen was “hokey-pokey.” But since he hesitated, Hannah says he’s lying, she loves his being a “damned blond tower of sin” she’d embrace, but never as “second ﬁddle.” He asks her to sit on his lap. No. She says she’d love to get rid of both Deetses, so Helen wouldn’t come to California; she’d love to accept Jack’s repeated marriage proposal; but he’s a “romantic sap,” which she won’t be; his never mentioning Helen concealed a secret reason. He asks who’ll run Seven Star? Denny, she replies, then bids him farewell, weeping. He sits with coffee, then sits some more. 27. Fast forward to November 8, 1945, when “Maj[or]. John Dillon,” in Charleston, receives a telegram from Sheila and Nancy that his father Patrick is gravely ill. Fast backward to 1942, when Jack gets his draft notice, and is sent to Fort Meade, south of Baltimore, where Sun reporters interview him. He goes from boot camp to lieutenant, captain, major. Fast forward to June 14, 1944, in France. Trucks bringing his battalion’s K rations stall; he and his driver Hayden go back; Jack, in darkness, discovers a G.I. has removed a distributor screw to prevent their advance into possible danger. He shames the G.I. into producing it, and all follow his jeep. (Jack ordered a court martial for the miscreant later.) A courier mistakenly points Jack’s unit astray. They blunder into some Germans. Jack hurls two grenades, shoots and kills “three krauts,” but is shot badly in the leg, loses two of his G.I.s., and after treatment in hospitals in France and England is shipped to a Charleston hospital. While recovering, he buys a car and visits lovely Savannah. Late summer 1945. Jack sees “colored ﬁeld hands” from the Carolinas grind car valves and repair starters. He couldn’t help having been a heel in degraded Depression days, but life is different now. He hears about innovative automobiles, airplanes, trains, and boats—his “kind of world,” inspiring his “mechanical soul.” When he hears about frozen foods, he decides to go into manufacturing and shipping frozen dinners, with “colored help,” since they’re clever with mechanics and short on unionizing desires. Driving his “little Ford” around farming regions, he plans ads appealing to “Mrs. America,” that typical “nitwit,” by stressing the difference between “slick, sexy” Dora Dumb, wastrel, creditstupid wife of wise but domineered John Q. Dumb, and “gray-haired” Bessie Bright, “reﬁned” wife of Louis Bright, “never ... in hock” because Brights pay cash. Jack’s ads will invite Brights to buy Dillon

163 Variety Budget Dinners, processed by Dillon, Inc.; but no Dumb can do so. Next, he teases a tolerant New Orleans banker into conﬁdentially giving him a millionaire’s name. He visits Douvain, a Creole to whom Jack courteously presents his case. Douvain, impressed, phones his wife; Jack gets invited to dinner, at 7:30. Looking spiffy, he goes to the Douvains’ St. Charles Avenue mansion; enjoys cocktails, lobster, and wine; sings “Bonjour, Suzon” to some girl’s accompaniment, and by 10:00 is conﬁdent. Walking to his car, he sees “the moth” in a magnolia tree. That night in his hotel room, Jack remembers being criticized for his romanticism. Unwilling to let “her” (Helen) haunt him again, he determines to settle matters. Douvain can’t ﬁnance until the new year. Jack has sufﬁcient California savings and army pay; so, on to Tallahassee, and next day to Savannah. 28. Jack is having coffee when two Navy nurses enter. After they chat, one of them, about 40 (Drusilla), leaves; Jack continues to eye the graceful, younger blonde lieutenant. He thinks of trying “to forget the moth” as she approaches him. After apricot brandies, he suggests a drive. Soon he suggests dinner 20 or 30 miles away, at Charleston, where he lives. She moves closer. While they dine in Charleston, she mentions the Civil War; he mentions Sumter; she mentions Poe; he says Poe soldiered at Moultrie and “The Gold Bug” [Poe’s famous story] takes place on Sullivan’s Island. They drive near there, lie on warm sand dunes. Hoping the moth will ﬂy across the moon, he draws her into his arms. This moment is “the most beautiful” ever, he feels. He asks her name. Looking horriﬁed, she runs down the road. He has trouble getting his car off the sand, follows a bus, but loses her. He seeks her for two days, unavailingly, during which time he receives and answers Sheila’s [Nov. 8] telegram. On the ninth, Patrick Dillon (his father) sends Jack a wire asking him to “visit” unless doing so would be “utterly tiresome.” 29. Jack drives home, embraces gray Sheila and Nancy, then greets Patrick, dangerously pink and white, in a wheelchair. Silence. Jack mentions his wound, answers some questions, and says they called their outﬁt “Cross of Lorraine Division” [Cain’s in France]. Patrick says he has angina pectoris, will die, and has ruined his life. At this point, Jack thinks about his mother. Patrick says when Jack entered the army he had to answer “inquiries”; the authorities queried him about a certain “mistaken identiﬁcation.” Patrick boasts of being jailed once after a brawl in Dublin, then says that John Bacon’s statue of George III in the Bank of Ireland there, with its meticulously carved “frilled shirt,” exem-

Moth

pliﬁes a “consecration ... to an ideal,” which “sustains” Patrick now, though he dreamed and lost. [John Bacon (1740–1799) was an English sculptor.] When asked about a certain “big” success,” Jack pleads an inability with words. Patrick says “great literature is peopled by ... heels.” Both smile. Jack scoffs at bravery. Patrick calls General Daniel Morgan’s victory over the British at Cowpens a typical military action, because it involved little “heroism and glory.” [Daniel Morgan (1736 –1802) won at Cowpens, North Carolina (January 17, 1781).] Patrick laments that the barrier between himself and Jack is barely “melted”; still, Jack could help by writing up his own life. He declines. He is sad that Patrick never mentioned Helen, thinks about that girl in Charleston, and suddenly has time to write because Douvain, still wanting to ﬁnance Jack, wires he’s tied up for at least three months. One morning Jack starts typing. He’s been writing all winter. Patrick divides his pages into chapters and indicates subsections, tells him certain events were not his fault (the two G.I.s killed) or only “partly” his fault (Buck’s death), is glad Hosey failed to implicate him, regards the frozen food idea as typical of hateful American “standardization,” likes the idea of Dumb and Bright ads, says Jack’s scheme is “penance” for supposedly seducing wily women, theorizes Jack wants both to liberate and to spank women. Anyway, his plan to free women from kitchen work will succeed in this country now his. One day, Patrick says he’s found Helen. Jack feels the Charleston woman “has intervened.” Patrick says Helen is a “little divinity” presiding over all this writing. Then one day he says that she’s in the house now, that he told her Jack is still in the army. Jack fumes. Patrick says he’s dying and maybe he brought the Charleston woman here too. 30. Jack greets the Charleston woman, says she made the ﬁrst advance. Sobbing, she says she is Helen Legg. After a few words, they embrace, and he’s home again at last. The Leggs are “meek.” Margaret, back in Baltimore, starts planning a “big show” wedding. Jack suggests driving off, getting married simply, his starting his “pretty big job,” and letting his Father, doubtless pleased, go where he’s going all by himself. She rough-houses like the kid he ﬁrst loved. Then off they go. Roy Hoopes reports Cain’s difﬁculties in writing The Moth. He was shaken by seeing hoboes riding the rails outside Burbank, California (early 1930), was preoccupied by other matters, got around to writing a draft from April to December (1947). Alfred A. Knopf liked it but said it needed to be modiﬁed. Cain’s Hollywood agent H. N. Swanson reported that a studio rejected it as “ﬁlthy.” It took additional

Mouton

164

time for Cain to tone down Jack’s relationship with pre-teen Helen before Knopf released it (1948). Cain authorized a 189-page abridgement (1950) of the 383-page original edition of The Moth, The original is surely too long. David Madden agrees, saying that it “ﬂits too much; details weigh it down”; he does praise it, however, as “an effort to let the Great Depression happen to one man. “ Paul Skenazy calls it “an uneasy mixture of pulp, proletarian, and romance motifs,” points out how it is “autobiographical in a broad sense,” ﬁnally condemns it as “frustrating to the Cain addict” and reading “like second-rate James T. Farrell imposed on a plot out of Kinsey.” [James T. Farrell (1904 –1979), a novelist whose Studs Lonigan trilogy of novels (1932–1935) concerns the coming of age of a tough Irish-American lad in Chicago, criticized Cain for not writing like Farrell. Alfred C. Kinsey (1894 – 1956) was responsible for two popular and wildly controversial books, one on sexual behavior of males (1948), the other on sexual behavior of females (1953.] (Hoopes, 424, 426, 428; Madden 1970, 51, 131; Skenazy, 109, 110, 111) Mouton (Past All Dishonor). He owns a shack near the Sacramento River. Roger Duval rents it brieﬂy. Movies Based on Cain’s Fiction. At least 19 movies have been adapted from seven of Cain’s novels and four of his short stories. In chronological order, from ﬁrst ﬁlm appearance, they are as follows: “Baby in the Icebox” (1933) became She Made Her Bed (Paramount Productions, 1934); Career in C Major (1938) became Wife, Husband and Friend (Twentieth Century–Fox, 1939), Everybody Does It (Twentieth Century–Fox, 1949); The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934) became Le Dernier Tournant (Gladiator Films, 1939), Ossessione (Industrie Cinematograﬁche Italiane, 1943), The Postman Always Rings Twice (MGM, 1946), The Postman Always Rings Twice (Paramount, 1981), Szenvedely (HNG, 1998); The Modern Cinderella (1937, later published as The Root of His Evil [1951]) became When Tomorrow Comes (Universal Pictures, 1939; Universal, 1956; When Tomorrow Comes, CinemaScope, 1968); The Embezzler (1940) became Money and the Woman (First National, 1940); Double Indemnity (1943) became Double Indemnity (Paramount, 1944), Double Indemnity (Universal, 1973); Mildred Pierce 1941) became Mildred Pierce (Warner Bros., 1945; HBO, 2011); Serenade (1937) became Serenade (Warner Bros., 1956), Interlude (Universal-International, 1957), Interlude (Columbia, Domino, 1967); Love’s Lovely Counterfeit (1942) became Slightly Scarlet (RKO, Filmcrest, 1956); The Butterﬂy (1947) became Butterﬂy (Analysis, 1981); and The Enchanted Isle (2985) became Girl in the Cadillac (Columbia Tristar Home Video, 1995). (Goble, 66; Hoopes,

650 –652; Pelizzon and West, 235n19; Skenazy, 195 –196) David Seed writes about Cain and Hollywood as follows. “James M. Cain, credited ... as one of the formative writers of noir ﬁction, ... engages with Hollywood methods as well as themes in his early ﬁction. Cain worked in Hollywood from 1932 to 1948 and he learnt ... crucial lessons in narrative composition..., especially how to evoke and maintain interest in character from the very ﬁrst scene. ...Cain’s career in Hollywood was patchy and on the whole unsuccessful.” Seed then quotes from Cain’s memoirs about his awareness that Hollywood moguls “regarded the script as an inescapable, but loathsome evil, and approached it accordingly.” Still, Seed continues, Cain reminisced sensibly about “his education in movie techniques, especially in handling the scene,” saying that (Seed quotes) “‘all movie shots have to be brief and inter-cut with close-ups and angle shots, else you go insane from the monotony.’” Leonard Leff and Jerold L. Simmons show how Hollywood censors began during the years of World War II to see that real-life lusting and killing should be reﬂected in realistic ﬁlms. They cite Cain’s Double Indemnity, Mildred Pierce, and The Postman Always Rings Twice as pioneers in this change. Linda Costanzo Cahir says that Cain’s ﬁction “is characterized by a social realism that depicts a dark world, ﬁlled with world-hardened characters whose only dependable quality is that they will everact in violence and vice, hoodwinking whatever poor soul is fool enough to care about them.” She commends the movie Double Indemnity (1944, not ABC television version [1973]) and the movie The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946, not remake [1981]); but she labels Mildred Pierce as “an example of a ﬁlm whose representation of character and themes is so self-governing as to be fully contradictory to its source novel.” Greg Garrett reports the following details: Mildred Pierce the novel has the standard ﬁlm noir elements of “cynicism, sexuality, and greed”; nonetheless, Warner Bros.’ writers and studio executives morphed it into a ﬁlm “both more and less than the novel Cain wrote,” into something “Cain found virtually unrecognizable”; Jerry Wald (1911–1962), producer-writer, demanded that the ﬁlm open with a murder, followed by ﬂashbacks, and that Veda, because immoral, degenerate into a singer in a tawdry dive; Joan Crawford (1904– 1977) “lobbied” for the lead role, successfully, because her “combination of spunk and glamour” appealed to the executives; this caused Veda’s talent to be diminished, the mother-daughter conﬂict to be watered down, and gutless Veda’s killing Monty to seem incredible. Bernard F. Dick, also concerned with ﬁlm noir villainesses, says that “[i]n classic noir, the femme fatale is a siren ... who draws the

165 male into a murder plot.” Dick naturally draws Cain into his discussion. He notes, for example, that Phyllis in the movie Double Indemnity wears white, not the black of traditional villainesses; but, Dick quickly adds, this “emancipation ... has more to do with ambiguity than equality.” (Cahir, 126; Dick, 156, 158; Garrett, 287, 289, 290, 291; Leff and Simmons, 130 –135 passim; Maltin, 203, 381, 430, 687, 920, 1102, 1229, 1276, 1537, 1551; Movies of the 40s, 130, 133, 172, 280; Seed, 119, 127n66, 127n67) Movies Cain Wrote Scripts For. Cain was in Hollywood for 17 years (1931–1948), during which time he worked, arduously or brieﬂy and often with other writers, on scenarios for the following movies: Ten Commandments and Hot Saturdays (Paramount, 1931–1932); The Story of Samuel Insull (Columbia, 1933); Duchess from Delmonico (MGM, 1934); Dr. Socrates (Paramount, 1935); Algiers (Universal, 1937); Stand Up and Fight (MGM, 1938); The Victoria Docks at 8 (Universal, 1939); Money and the Woman (Warner Bros., 1940); Lucky Baldwin (Universal, 1940); Shanghai Gesture (Arnold Productions, 1941); U.S. Army Signal Corps ﬁlm (Twentieth Century– Fox, 1942–1943); Gypsy Wildcat (Universal, 1943); The Moon, Their Mistress (United Artists, 1943); The Bridge of San Luis Rey (United Artists, 1943); Frankie from Frisco (MGM, 1944); Common Sin (MGM, 1945); The Great Gatsby (Paramount, 1945); The Glass Heart (RKO, 1946); Build Your Gallows High (RKO, 1946); and Forbidden Game (Lou Brock Production, 1947). (Hoopes, 652–653) Mowgli (“Come-back”). Mowgli, also called Mowgli the Untamed, is a lion accidentally let loose by Hapgood during the ﬁlming of a stagecoach scene. With actress Polly Dukas’s courageous assistance, Western actor Tim Kennelly ropes Mowgli, ties him up, is mauled in the process, but gets invaluable publicity. Muggsy (The Moth). He is Eleanor Grant’s Airedale. Mullen, Jack (Rainbow’s End). He is a dispatcher working for the Trans-US&C airline. Jill Kreeger phones him to report that she is safe after Shaw hijacked the plane. Mulligan (The Moth). He is the watchman at the reﬁnery near Hannah Branch’s Signal Hill oil wells. He is present when Hosea Brown insists that Jack is the hobo that he and Buck Mitchell rode the rails with. Jack denies “Hosey” then and in police headquarters, where Mulligan acts as dishonest Jack’s witness. Mullins (“Joy Ride to Glory”). This is the name of the garage from which Red Conley stole some tires. The crime put him in a California jail for a while. Murdock (Mignon). He is a New England business-

Newt

man, in war-torn New Orleans seeking commercial opportunities. He offers Marie Tremaine $80,000 for her gambling enterprise. She holds out for $100,000, dismisses him, and tells Bill the fellow will return. But he never does. Murock (Mildred Pierce). He is a Glendale undertaker whom Dr. Gale recommends to Mildred after her daughter Ray dies. Murock is a cool professional. Cain describes Murock as “small and “roly-poly.” Meeting Mildred, he is “purring condolences” before he gets down to practical matters. Musick, Helen (Cloud Nine). She is Graham Kirby’s loyal and helpful secretary. She is named as Miss and also Mrs. Myers (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). See Jacks.

N Nash, Byron (The Institute). He is the president of the National Newspaper Club in Washington, D.C., and invites Lloyd to lecture at one of its meetings. Nellie (Rainbow’s End). She is Sid Giles’s housekeeper in Flint, West Virginia. An example of Cain’s late-career jerry-built writing concerns Nellie. Dave Howell sees her from a distance, says she’s Sid’s housekeeper, and names her (ch. 15); when Dave’s Mother phones Sid (ch. 20), Cain has Dave note that unmarried Sid has “a ﬂeshy-looking” housekeeper (unnamed) “who had a couple of children.” Nelly (The Magician’s Wife). She is the secretary of Steve Granlund, the Portico company president. Nerny (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). He is the elderly night clerk at the Lucas Hotel, where Ben Grace lives brieﬂy. Nettie (Double Indemnity). She is Walter Huff ’s efﬁcient secretary. Nettie (The Institute). She is a clerk in the lobby of the College Park apartment where Lloyd lives. She is helpful to him with messages and the like. Nevada Air. See Jealous Woman. Nevers, Mr. (“Everything But the Truth”). He is a druggist in Fullerton. When Edwin Hope and Wally Bowman get into a ﬁght in his drugstore, he clips each boy and makes them stop. Newt (Past All Dishonor). He is a silver miner in Virginia City, notable for playing his cornet in church. He blows his cornet as accompaniment to Padillo’s singing and guitar playing.

Nicholson

166

Nicholson, Brigadier General (“The Taking of Montfaucon”). He is a brave ofﬁcer whom the narrator and Shepler are ordered to ﬁnd. After much confusion, the men under “Nick” capture the town of Montfaucon. Niemeyer, Miss (The Magician’s Wife). She is Clay Lockwood’s chief accountant, described as tall and having “an intellectual face.” Nils (Career in C Major). He and his wife Christine are servants working for Doris and Leonard Borland in New York. Nirdlinger, Herbert S. (Double Indemnity). He is a Leland Stanford University graduate who works in various oil ﬁelds as the Los Angeles representative of the Western Pipe and Supply Company. He and his ﬁrst wife, now deceased, had a daughter named Lola Nirdlinger. The present wife of Nirdlinger, now 44, is young Phyllis Nirdlinger. She lures Huff, an insurance agent, to sell her a policy on Nirdlinger’s life with a double-indemnity clause in case of accidental death in a train accident. The two arrange for it to appear that he died falling off a train out of Los Angeles to Palo Alto, on his way to his class reunion. It is later revealed that Phyllis, a pathological killer, caused the death of the ﬁrst Mrs. Nirdlinger. Nirdlinger, Lola (Double Indemnity). She is the daughter of Herbert S. Nirdlinger and his ﬁrst wife, now deceased, and is the stepdaughter of Phyllis Nirdlinger, her father’s present wife. Lola, 19, is in love with Nino Sachetti, 26, a graduate student at the University of Southern California. She is happy when insurance-agent Walter Huff gets Nino a loan on his car but is distressed when Nino uses some of the money to date Phyllis. Lola likes and goes out with Huff, who falls in love with her. His plan to murder Phyllis backﬁres when Phyllis shoots him almost fatally ﬁrst. Lola always believes that Nino shot at Huff, who agrees not to press charges. Paul Skenazy regards Lola as “an image of Huff ’s forgotten conscience. She is the virginal, innocent ideal woman whose view of him alters his own sense of himself. He is only as guilty as she sees him as being; he is as good as he can persuade her to believe he is.” (Skenazy, 40) Nirdlinger, Phyllis (Double Indemnity). She is the deranged wife of Herbert S. Nirdlinger. She gets Walter Huff, an insurance agent, to sell her a secret policy on her husband, featuring double indemnity in case he is killed in a train accident. The two begin a sexual relationship. Huff stages what looks like Nirdlinger’s fatal fall from a train. Huff, growing suspicious of Phyllis, plans to kill her by arranging a car accident, but she ambushes and shoots him

grievously. Her past is gradually revealed. Formerly Miss Phyllis Belden, she was an experienced nurse and ﬁxated on the delights of death. She arranged for the deaths of Nirdlnger’s ﬁrst wife and the children of Dr. Sachetti, the late father of Nino Sachetti, who likes Lola Nirdlinger, Phyllis’s stepdaughter. Huff also likes Lola. Huff ’s insurance company arranges for him —and Phyllis—to escape justice and company embarrassment by boat to Mexico. Once abroad, however, the two decide to jump into the sharkinfested waters near Mazatlan. David Fine regards Phyllis as “perhaps the most brutal and cold-blooded female in the period’s ﬁction,” i.e., the 1930s. Alan Spiegal downgrades Cain’s depiction of Phyllis, which he regards as “both contradictory and excessively literary.” He prefers the Phyllis in the 1944 movie starring Barbara Stanwyck (1907–1990), in which Phyllis is “an altogether softer, subtler, more fully balanced and normative presence than Cain’s anti-heroine.” David Madden relates Phyllis and Huff to fairy tales, saying that in many such stories “the granting of ... wishes is intermingled with horrors.... In Cain, the horror is implicit in the wish itself.” Madden continues: “To force such forbidden or unrealistic wishes as his lovers do is often to will death in disguise. Huff ’s dream of sex is the bitch Phyllis, but having her means having the witch, the nightmare of death, within.” (Fine 2000, 100; Madden 1970, 67; Spiegal, 94, 95) Nixon, Cap (Past All Dishonor). He is the railroad engineer who hires Roger Duval to stoke the boiler. Roger works energetically in order to learn how to run the locomotive. Nordstrom, Sven (The Institute). He is evidently a person in New York willing to marry Inga Bergson if Hortense bribes her with $125,000 now and another $125,000 upon completion of the ceremony. Inga, however, prefers to shoot her betrayer Richard Garrett, Hortense’s curiously erotic husband. Norris, Mrs. (The Root of His Evil). She is a neighbor of Ruth Hunt and lends her a maid when Ruth is having a cocktail party honoring Carrie. The maid turns out to be Lula Schultz, Carrie’s former roommate at the Hotel Hutton when both were waitresses. Norton (Double Indemnity). He is the president of the General Fidelity of California, an insurance company. He inherited the company from his father, for whom Keyes and Walter Huff worked. The two experienced men dislike Norton, who, though or because educated at Groton and Harvard, pays more attention to theory than to gut responses to problems. Norton agrees with Keyes, however, and also with his lawyers Keswick and Shapiro, to save the company embarrassment by conspiring to let

167 Huff and his fellow murderess Phyllis Nirdlinger leave the country to avoid being arrested for murdering Herbert S. Nirdlinger, a company client. In Jealous Woman, Norton, now called Jason P. Norton (nicknamed Jace and J.P.), comes from the Los Angeles headquarters of General Pan-Paciﬁc of California company, of which he is president, to Reno to assist Ed Horner in connection with a life insurance Ed prepared for Tom Delavan. Norton brings Keyes, his able claims man, along. He mediates when Horner and Keyes dispute. Norton laughs at Keyes’s infatuation with murderess Connie Sperry. Nott, Elsie Snowden (“Dead Man”). She is the widow of Larry R. Nott, the railroad detective whom Ben Fuller accidentally kills. Nott, L. R., Jr. (“Dead Man”). He is the son, ﬁve, of the late Larry R. Nott and his wife Elsie. Nott, Larry R. (“Dead Man”). He is a cocky and determined railroad detective who prides himself on his ability to force hoboes off trains. He catches Ben Fuller hiding in a coal gondola. Ben ﬂees, but Nott catches and kicks him. Ben seizes a loose spike and smashes him in the head. Ben later reads in a newspaper that Nott was decapitated by a passing train, and has left a widow and a son, and that a Methodist funeral will follow “tomorrow.” Novak, Al (The Institute). He has been in partnership with Richard Garrett in an Akron subsidiary called Novak Bros., controlled by Richard. When Richard is murdered, Al’s brother Sol wants to incorporate. Novak, Sol (The Institute). He and his brother Al have an Akron company called Novak Bros. It is controlled by Richard Garrett. When Richard is killed, Sol notiﬁes Richard’s attorney Sam Dent of his desire to incorporate. Dent is concerned, because at present Sol has two shares in the partnership to one share for Al. Dent asks Richard’s widow to decide what to do; in response, she screams. Nutting, Wallace (The Institute). He is a Delaware artist whose paintings adorn Richard Garrett’s ofﬁce in Wilmington. Wallace Nutting (1861–1941), a minister, artist, and photographer, was most notable for his literally millions of photographs he hired dozens of colorists to tint.

O O’Brien (The Enchanted Isle). He is a Baltimore detective. When Mandy Vernick is in danger of being harmed by Rick Davis, O’Brien drives her out of

Palmer

her neighborhood for her own safety. However, in the evening he could nor prevent Rick from approaching in disguise. In gunﬁre that follows, Rick kills Mandy’s mother Sally Vernick and her friend Steve Baker, and the cops kills Rick. O’Connor, Jim (The Institute). He is a Washington, D.C., contractor in charge of refurbishing the Washington, D.C., building Richard gets from Colonel Lucas when Lucas’s Tombigvannah’s company collapses. Olesen (Past All Dishonor). He is a strong Swedish silver miner in Virginia City. When he and Gator realize Roger Duval will ﬁre them next, they angrily pin his hand to a mine timber. Olsen (Mignon). He is a journalist, reporting to New England newspapers in Union-occupied New Orleans (1864). Bill gives him inside news about army corruption there but arranges matters so that Olsen cannot use it. Olsen genially calls himself Bill’s “cat’s-paw.” Olson (The Moth). He owns a forest in Baltimore. Jack and Denny are permitted to saw a tree and get mistletoe from it for Christmas. Orcutt, Sheriff (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). He is the Quartz County sheriff who supervises his men as they bring up the body of Dick Delany in a cementweighted barrel from the Koquabit Lake. Otis (Mildred Pierce). He is a retired butcher n ow working as a federal meat inspector. Mildred seeks his advice occasionally. He attends Mildred’s daughter Ray’s wake.

P Padillo (Past All Dishonor). He is a Mexican singer and guitarist in Sacramento. He tells Roger Duval that Morina Crockett has left him and is in Virginia City. Roger goes there, and “Paddy,” as Padillo is nicknamed, follows and becomes a silver miner. Paddy tries to organize a strike of the abused miners, and Roger helps but then gets promoted to superintendent. The two remain friends. Padillo is involved in a mine accident. Pagano, Cesare (Career in C Major). He is the American La Scala Opera Company impresario. Cecil Carver tells Leonard Borland that Pagano is the only impresario in the history of opera that made money at it. Giuseppi Rossi is his busy assistant. Pal (The Enchanted Isle). See Caskey, Matt. Palmer (The Institute). He was Lloyd’s father, a Prince Georges County politician and real-estate

Palmer

168

agent. He was proud of his wife’s Maryland heritage. He died when Lloyd was 10, leaving money which his widow quadrupled by canny investments. Palmer, Lloyd (The Institute). He is the narrator of the story, 28, big and strong. He played football for the University of Maryland, got a Ph.D. there in English literature, with a dissertation on Shakespeare’s sonnets, and teaches there. Lloyd, who is single, successfully appeals to Richard Garrett, millionaire with ofﬁces in Wilmington, Delaware, and in Washington, D.C., to ﬁnance his Institute for Biography in Washington. The while, he sleeps with Richard’s wife Hortense Garrett. When the Institute starts, problems surface, including Hortense’s giving birth to Lloyd’s son, her jealousy of Lloyd’s student Teddy Rodriguez (female), and of seemingly frigid Richard’s suddenly being sexually aroused by his Swedish maid Inga Bergson. When Richard and Inga die, Teddy helps Lloyd and Hortense realize their off-and-on love is on again. Lloyd is a curious mixture. He has good genes from commendable parents, played varsity football well, is excellently educated, develops a profession when because he has private wealth he needn’t bother with, lectures ornately about Shakespeare’s sonnets, risks putting his Institute in jeopardy by being an indiscreet lover of considerable staying power, fears liquor, often speaks self-destructively, vacillates when faced with fatherhood, almost loses the love of his life (Teddy? No, Hortense)— and, though stressed, even corrects Teddy’s grammar in front of others. Cain helps Lloyd along by a deus ex machina — Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang and Richard’s dead. Palmer, Mrs. (The Institute). She was Lloyd’s widowed mother. She descended from Maryland settlers arriving on the Ark and Dove. She was brieﬂy a nurse and when her husband died became a successful investor of her inheritance. A bit of sentimental nonsense is Lloyd’s keeping his mother’s wedding ring in his wallet and being able to whip it out handily when Teddy Rodriguez marries Lloyd and recently widowed Hortense Garrett in a mock ceremony. Pancho (Mildred Pierce). He is a Filipino lad whom Mildred hires when she starts her Glendale restaurant. Papadakis, Cora (The Postman Always Ring Twice). She is the young, over-sexed, and unhappy wife of Nick Papadakis, whom she regards as a “greasy” inferior. As Cora Smith, she won an Iowa beauty contest in Des Moines, went to Hollywood, failed there, became a waitress for two years, and married to escape further slinging hash. [David Madden, then H. R. F. Keating following him, both incorrectly

label Des Moines, which is a city of 200,000, “a small town in Iowa.” (Keating, 51; Madden 1970, 108).] Cora works with Nick in his Twin Oaks Tavern outside Los Angeles. When hitchhiker Frank Chambers stops there and works for them, he and Cora fall in love. They kill Nick, get away with it after their trials, then argue, make up, argue more, and get married. Already pregnant by Frank, she goes swimming with him, and tells him to kill her if he wishes to escape. He is not so inclined. Cora gets sick in the water. While driving her too fast to the hospital, Frank swerves, crashes, and she dies smashing through the windshield. Past evidence and a seeming motive combine to cause Frank to be convicted of murder and to await execution. David Madden, implicitly praising Cora for dreaming big and encouraging Frank to do the same, says that “the criminal affair of these lovers, these deliberate outsiders,” results from their dreaming “the two central dreams of the American experience—unrestrained mobility and respectable sedentariness—and two views of the American landscapes—the open road and the mortgaged house,” and that these tangled dreams pathetically “collide.” Patrick J. McGrath believes that when Lana Turner (1920–1995) scorched the screen as Cora in the 1946 movie version of The Postman Always Rings Twice, she put on “quite possibly ... [her] ﬁnest performance.” When Lana Turner, born in Idaho, was nine, her father, an Idaho mine foreman, was murdered; her mother took her to California, where, according to legend, she was on Sunset Boulevard playing hooky from school when she was “discovered” by a Hollywood reporter who recommended her to a Hollywood director. Certain elements in Lana’s life chance to parallel bits and pieces in Cain’s ﬁction. (Katz, 1376; Madden 1970, 109; McGrath, 80) Papadakis, Nick (The Postman Always Ring Twice). He is young Cora Papadakis’s demanding husband and the owner of Twin Oaks Tavern 20 miles outside Los Angeles. He hires Frank Chambers as mechanic for his adjacent auto camp. Cora sees Frank as preferable to “greasy” Nick. The two fall in love, conspire to kill Nick, fail in their ﬁrst attempt, but succeed when Cora drives Nick’s car with Nick and Frank along — both drunk — and Frank smashes Nick’s head with a wrench. They stage the event to look like an accident over a hill. Cora is tried but gets a suspended manslaughter sentence. Fate catches up with the guilty pair later. Cain makes Nick memorable to readers, but especially to Frank, because Nick has a splendid voice and is singing like Enrico Caruso (1873–1921), with echoes returning from the hills, when Frank crushes his skull. Afterwards, Frank dreams of Nick and hears arias echoing in his own head. Otto Penzler

169 opines that “one is hard-pressed ... to root for anyone in The Postman Always Rings Twice except possibly for Nick Papadakis.... He is relatively innocent, but you would not want him as your best friend.” (Penzler, 262) Papers, Cain’s. According to J. Albert Robbins, most of Cain’s papers are located at the University of Maryland. Others are in the Library of Congress, Louisiana State University, and Columbia University. A few items are at the University of California at Los Angeles, the University of California at Berkeley, Yale University, the University of Kentucky, Boston University, Harvard University, the University of Michigan, the University of Minnesota, Cornell University, Bryn Mawr College, Haverford College, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Texas. Bobbie Robinson reports that additional Cain material may be found in the ﬁles of Alfred A. Knopf, at the New York Public Library, and in Princeton University, and that Cain’s executrix Alice Piper has (as of 2000) his unpublished memoirs. (Robbins, 52–53; Robinson, 69) Parker, Jeff (The Postman Always Rings Twice). He raises rabbits on the road Cora Papadakis and Frank Chambers take during their plan to kill Cora’s husband Nick Papadakis. The guilty pair stop for gas, see and talk with nearby Parker, and ﬁgure that he can later be a witness when Cora stages an argument with Frank and Nick, both drunk as part of the scheme. Parma (Career in C Major). He is an accomplished opera tenor. In asides during their La Bohème performance, he whispers advice to Leonard Borland. Parrot (The Moth) He is a bank ofﬁcial who tells Jack that Father got a court order enabling him to control Jack’s money from singing. Past All Dishonor (novel, 1946). (Characters: Biloxi, George Brewer, Raymond Brewer, Will Brewer, Cam, Red Caskie, Chinchin, City Marshal, Morina Crockett, Davey, Deidesheimer, Roger Duval, Ed, Ferguson, Finn, Mrs. Finn, Gator, Arthur Haines, Hale, Hook, Hopkins, Ike, Big Hoke Irving, Jake, Pat Kelley, Lee, Lola, Mattiny, Mouton, Newt, Cap Nixon, Olesen, Padillo, Dr. Rausch, Jack Reiner, Renny, Roberts, Rocco, Ronnie, Scholl, Scott, Trapp, Lew Williams.) 1. The narrator (Roger Duval) is a “secesh spy,” for the Confederacy during the Civil War. [General Robert E.] Lee retreated from Maryland a year ago [1862], and Roger learned from a politician-friend about California sending troops to help crush the South. Roger goes to Sacramento and is expected to send back information by clippings and codes. Occasionally, he leaves his shack by the Sacramento

Past

River, does some placer mining along the American River to deﬂect suspicion and for some money. One spring day he goes swimming, sees a passenger boat docking, ﬁgures he’ll board it and dive off the freight deck; but the paddle wheel he climbs up turns; he drops and gets clipped by a blade. Someone throws a rope and hauls him aboard. His rescuer? A beautiful, dark-haired young woman. She rebukes him. He boasts of still craving a dive but grows dizzy. She puts him into a bed. He awakens in darkness, hears a squabble outside. His rescuer is accused of stealing a woman passenger’s pocketbook with money and souvenirs. Roger squeezes himself out a side window to temporary safety, cutting a leg on a screw where the bedpost knob is missing. The captain brings a maid to search the accused, who slaps her but lets the handsome captain search her feelingly. She is let go until the captain can off-load her at the county seat upriver to be charged. Roger drops ashore, gets his boat, ties it to the passenger vessel, goes aboard and gets his rescuer and her small trunk into his boat. They laugh, embrace, kiss. 2. They talk. He is Roger Duval, 21, 6 feet three, from Maryland. She is Morina Crockett, 23, from New Orleans, family deceased. He says she can hide in his shack for now. She wants ﬁrst to borrow his boat for something, kisses him, and rows off expertly. He tidies his shack bed, skins a rabbit he bought, prepares to cook. Morina returns, saying she just did “something crazy.” When Roger sees the bedpost knob by his boat, it ﬂashes on him that she did steal that woman’s money, threw it tied to the ﬂoating knob, thus retrieving it. She says she’s hungry. He’s about to order her to return the loot — until he’s distracted by watching her comb her long, “warm and heavy” hair. While they eat rabbit and beans she cooked, she says she’s been to Caracas doing “this and that.” She gulps wine by shouldering his gallon jug. They smoke her black cigarrillos, grow lazy, lie by the ﬁreplace. Next morning Roger suggests a picnic. They take his boat, catch “cat and perch” by the dozen, eat in a willow-lined grove. He boasts that “we” will establish California as a separate country. Morina says he’ll be president and gets annoyed when he can’t say what she’d be. They skinny dip. She ﬁgures on some night life in Sacramento. He says she’ll be wanted for stealing that pocketbook and maybe should go ask at Wells, Fargo if anyone found it. Instead, by a message there she lures the deputy who searched her to watch at the pier, uselessly. Thus they’re free to have fun tonight in town. Roger prepares clippings to mail and unpacks fancy clothes. In the bedroom Morina hangs up dresses, dons a dazzling one. They go to town by cab. Her

Past

170

beauty stuns crowds. After some steak, they play roulette. She repeatedly wins by playing the ﬁrst twelve, winning, partly playing ﬁrst four, not doubling, etc. When he also wins, he buys her a goldand-ruby bracelet, worth a kiss. Next, they only watch gamblers. Oddly, several people whisper to her. When he blocks one silky-mustached fellow from her, he senses the man has a gun, knocks him out, and keeps the gun (a .36). Back home, she thanks him for his action; but when he proposes to give her a wedding ring to ward men off, she cries, says he doesn’t know what she is and disappears in the night, leaving a message that says love and farewell. Roger mails some routine stuff, thinks it’s good that the “thief ” is gone, but misses her, searches for her in town, ﬁnds nothing. 3. Roger observes different gangs in town—army ofﬁcers, gamblers, man-hunting girls, Mexicans singing for copper coins. One, named Padillo and called Paddy, sings about “los enanos,” that is, “dwarﬁdos.” Roger’s saying he’s no singer causes his friends to laugh. “Rodrigo,” as they call him, accompanies them as they raid ﬁshermen’s “live boxes,” for a big crab that bloodies his arm getting it, and a huge salmon. He eats with them at their shack, then realizes he’s a thief among thieves. At his own shack, Roger shows Paddy his placer gold, tells him about Morina, and Paddy says she’s wanted in town and has gone to Nevada. Explaining, Paddy draws a map of California, with towns and rivers, says gold is played out here; Morina probably came by “estimbo” from San Francisco to Sacramento, is now a roulette worker in Virginia City, didn’t want to tell Roger “she is no nice girl.” Rodrigo should ﬁnd her there, write Paddy, and he’ll join them. Roger knows he’s a deserter if he does that. [Roger Duval is descending to dishonorable levels.] Roger takes a railroad to Folsom, then a stage coach, sees various travelers heading for the Washoe area for silver around Mount Davidson, stops at Carson, and next day lodges at the International in Virginia (City). At the bar Roger overhears a man (George Brewer) tell a Union recruiting sergeant that when he tried to join the Union army he got word from Washington to keep mining silver out of the Comstock Lode instead and send it to the San Francisco mint, because the resulting millions do the Union more good than many a soldier. Roger packs to go to Carson with that information, but sees Morina on the Virginia–Gold Hill omnibus, chases after her, and sees her enter a red-light house (#17) on D Street. 4. At the International’s bar, Roger hears that a brothel madam named Biloxi has an attractive niece from San Francisco and Sacramento, brought mirrors for over the beds, etc. Union sympathizers are

glum at news about Chancellorsville [May 2–4, 1863]. Roger, drunk now, goes to D Street, sees “the Parade”— thousands of miners waiting to get in. A stranger calling himself Jack Reiner offers to sneak him inside 17 via a mine shaft at the rear of hilly D Street. Getting there, Reiner says he fought under [Union General John Alexander] McClernand [1812– 1900]; Roger says his brother was with [Confederate Simon Bolivar] Buckner [1823 –1914] and, yes, he could be a “secesh.” Reiner says Biloxi is a secesh too. Biloxi greets Roger with a kiss, yells for Morina to come down, that Brewer has a bet with her. Other men can stay only if they plunk down betting money. Morina, dressed with a red hair ribbon, black wrapper, and red shoes, enters with a laughing customer; asks for music; sees Roger, who ﬁbs he didn’t follow her but is here on business. He tells Biloxi he wants to marry Morina. Sentimental Biloxi tells Morina to agree. Morina says he’s only a boy and could never forget what she is. He asks her price. For you, $1,000. He promises to get it — and her. Morina prepares to win her bet with Brewer by doing something never seen done before. Beautifully, horridly naked now, she stands on one leg while holding an empty beer bottle. Roger rushes out, vomits, feeling shamed, defeated, frightened, and needing another drink. At his hotel bar, Roger sees a lieutenant who was evicted from Biloxi’s brothel for criticizing “them goddam sesech” songs. He tells Roger that Morina won money from Brewer, who then “had” her, and starts explaining her trick with the bottle. Roger hushes him, never learned more about the stunt except that to do it she stood on one foot. [David Madden says that “[t]hough the episode as described is extremely suggestive, Cain rejects certain extreme interpretations.... Whatever he intended, it was certainly meant to seem as repulsive a sexual act to the reader as it is to the narrator.” (Madden 1970, 81)] 5. Roger, his money dwindling, moves to a cheaper place, hears Paddy singing, watches him harangue a group of Mexicans; then they talk. Paddy excuses Morina’s kind of work in Mexico but says it’s not good “[i]n thees country.” When Roger says he’s awaiting work in Sacramento, Paddy, a silver miner now, says that the Mexican crowd he spoke to are abused miners working dangerously for low pay so the boss can enrich only himself, that he is unionizing the workers but needs an American to help. Roger says he is “all against unions.” But that night, Roger thinks—start union, run it, stop it, thus block “river of silver” aiding the Union army. Next morning, he has Paddy introduce him to employers at the Dakota mine, where Paddy works. Roger meets the big, tough foreman Trapp, the dandy, rat-like owner Hale, and the raw-bone

171 superintendent from Wales, Lew Williams. Williams interviews him. Roger politely explains that he’s from Annapolis, has a B.A. from St. John’s there, and rented his boat to navy ofﬁcers. Williams seems impressed. Soon, down go Roger and Paddy, in overalls, to work. Virginia City, on a mountain side, has named streets running up and down, and nearly level ones numbered. There is dust from stamping mills. Dangerous chemicals amalgamate the silver. Houses and stores are jerry-built. Peace ofﬁcers try to control street trafﬁc. Among the miners are many “Chinamen.” The cemetery is overﬂowing with burials. When Roger descends to the 1,000-foot level, he ﬁnds hellish conditions. Trapp treats the miners as though he’s still handling slaves back in Memphis, orders neophyte Roger to pour water on men if and when they faint. Paddy explains that Hale is too cheap to install fans. What with boiling springs beneath them and tunnels running over with water, Roger wonders how any man would work here for $4 a day. At night Paddy plays his guitar; Roger can’t get men to stop by and get lectured. So Paddy makes a fellow named Newt, who has a cornet, join in. Men stop by; Roger reminds them about bad labor conditions and rich bosses. Occasionally, during work break below, Roger accompanies Paddy into dead entries, where the miners listen to music and a lecture. Roger soon organizes some captains and some committees, and they plan for a Sunday night meeting. Williams, having quietly attended one of Roger’s speeches, calls him for a confab. Flattered, then questioned about possible problems, Roger speciﬁcally says that Trapp is cruel and dirty and yet removing him wouldn’t end the miners’ complaints. During lunch break on Saturday before the planned meeting, Roger looks at special men. They include “colored strikers” Lee and Cam, strong Swede Olesen, one-armed Hook, “alligator man” Gator, and 16-year-old Ronnie, who speaks up brieﬂy. But after a little talking, something happens. Trapp, eavesdropping from behind a barrel, emerges, starts knocking heads with a tamping tool, orders the “rats” to resume work, tells “ringleader” Roger Duval he’s ﬁred without pay, and lunges at him. Roger knocks him out, pummels his face, bangs his head. Turning sick, he notices he’s alone with Trapp. While the men meekly work again, “the super” (Williams) appears, sees Trapp, summons the miners. When asked who’s responsible, Roger says he is, because Trapp cussed and treated him “like a dog.” Williams tells Roger to assume charge — he’s now the foreman. The men cart Trapp off and prepare to work again. Ronnie asks “Roger” something. Roger demands

Past

to be called “Mr. Duval,” says he has “a company job” now, and implies that unionizing is dead. Ronnie curses him, is ﬁred. Hated by the men now, Roger hates himself too; but his only aim is getting that $1,000. 6. The men elect Ferguson as union president. The company starts treating the miners better — because the territory is soon to gain statehood. Roger narrowly escapes injury or death—loose car, close explosion, etc. One Saturday night while dining at the International and ﬂush with $120 for twoweeks’ pay, he sees “her” (Morina) looking “like what she was,” with fancy dress, diamonds, and Brewer. Then Biloxi and her pianist Renny arrive, with splendidly garbed Haines. Roger ﬁnishes eating, gets out with ﬂushed face, goes to joint after joint playing roulette, and by using Morina’s “system” wins $45, then $300 more, then $450 more in gold. He has $1,085. He returns to the International, sits at the bar, and listens as Haines boasts of his operatic background and sings several songs accompanied by Renny. Applause precedes Roger’s clicking his heels before Morina and demanding that promised date for his $1,000. Biloxi offers “ozzer girl” for him. No. Morina meets him at the bar, begs him not to follow her while she’s gambling at various places. She doesn’t want his money, says she’ll meet him “down to the house [17],” asks him to leave Virginia City after that. He agrees. She refuses to discuss “hombre ... Brewer.” As he is crossing C Street, a gang surrounds him and beats him up, and a kick disgorges the gold coins from his pocket. The gang pursues his money, and a cop helps him up. He glances at Morina, in a “pony trap” with Biloxi. No money. No date with her. 7. Roger tries to exchange the .36 he got from that Sacramento fellow for a .44 — until the salesman talks him into keeping the more efﬁcient .36 and sells him a shoulder holster for it. The salesman lectures him on drawing, aiming, ﬁring, and recoil. [Paul Skenazy points out that Cain crams this novel with “circumstantial details” and cites, as one example, this “corrective [3-page] essay ... on how to shoot, carry, and draw a gun.” (Skenazy, 93).] With the man’s “lesson” in mind. Roger practices until he can even wheel and shoot accurately. Soon he’ll be able to bring home rabbits to Mrs. Finn, who runs the boarding house where he lives. Paddy, remaining friendly with Roger, tells him the mine owners are “too chip to buy estoff ” required to dig deeper, that bonanzas will end and a “bad borrasca [storm] will follow.” Sure enough, the good silver vein plays out. Men are laid off. Roger persuades Williams to let him discuss something with Hale. When Roger volunteers to do something experimental for only $50, greedy Hale

Past

172

agrees, hoping for a proﬁt. Roger boasts that he has rigged sailboats and can rig ropes and pulleys for a special mining attempt. Roger and three others dig in an abandoned shaft. They undercut, drill, shoot, timber, undercut farther, etc. Roger tells Williams he doesn’t mind the heat and will wear his coat, beneath which Williams has already noticed a gun. When 600 feet down, Paddy ﬁnds soft, black rock with the blue silver cast. “Bonanza!” a Mexican miner bellows. Roger and Paddy present a sample to Williams, who enters the tub with Paddy to be hoisted up. Roger waits with two Mexicans. Suddenly, Roger sees the cable hoisting the tub fraying; the tub descends; the cable soon resembles spaghetti wrapping around Paddy and Williams; the pulley wheel drops from above, smashing two Mexicans; Roger, after pulling Williams to safety, and two miners survive. Before evening, Roger talks with Hale and says they must get their story straight for tomorrow’s grand jury. Hale blusters. The upshot: Roger, who quickly checked, learned the Stock Exchange reported that Hale bought Dakota stock before the bonanza news spread; earlier, Hale, hearing bonanza shouted, chopped at the cable but succeeded only in dislodging it from the pulley, which, with tackle and all, fell down; he dropped the axe, which hit Williams down below; Roger demands to be made Dakota “super.” Hale, blackmailed, agrees. Paddy’s singing echoes in Roger’s mind. He despises himself for what he’s doing to get what he “should be ashamed even to want.” 8. The grand jury blisters Roger with criticism but lacks evidence to indict. He runs the mine, ﬁring and hiring to weaken opposition. When Olesen and Gator are aware he’ll ﬁre them next, they surprise him, drive a pointed candlestick through his right hand and into a timber, and escape when help comes. Rescuers take Roger to Taylor Street’s Dr. Rausch, who bandages him and lets him take a cab home. He returns to work the next day but soon becomes too dizzy to continue. Mrs. Finn and her Chinese cook and Dr. Rausch tell Roger they must amputate his arm or he’ll die of blood poisoning. He prefers to die. Hale tries to “shove the whiskey bottle” down him and miners [evidently Paddy and Williams] try to tie him down. Suddenly Morina appears, says she’ll be “curing him up.” Sanctimonious Mrs. Finn starts criticizing sinful Morina, who says she’ll take responsibility and clears the room by ﬁnding and ﬂourishing Roger’s gun. She says she can make “a conjure salve” by siding with the devil and employing a snake. He ﬁgures that their good actions together have resulted only in frustration; so perhaps “this side of her that was sin, or evil, or whatever” is worth a try. He does

wonder, though, what “Louisiana swamp drip ... in her blood” has brought “the devil in it” as well. Though letting her treat him, he will still resist the devil. A gigantic black man named Scott beats a drum. His black wife, Mattiny, the D Street cook, puts a pot over a heater controlled by Biloxi. Awake again and shivering, Roger hears a rattlesnake’s rattle, and sees Morina put a living, hissing snake into boiling water. Alone with Roger, Morina pours the boiling salve on his poisoned hand, wraps it, and weeps as she embraces her intensely pained patient. After she changes the bandage a ﬁnal time, he squeezes his hand, and some stinking poison squirts out. [David Madden may be faulted for saying that “Morina cures Roger of bullet wounds,” since he was spiked in the hand, not shot. (Madden 1970, 85)] Morina pulls more stringy infection out, then rests as Roger sleeps nine hours. His hand feels better. He notices she’s wearing a gingham dress. She kisses his forehead. He kisses more fervently. Although she says they cannot love, they achieve consummation. She weeps. 9. Hale sees that Roger keeps mum and offers him “the super” job again. But he prefers spending afternoons on Morina’s porch with her and “other girls” he cares little about. He sees a photo in Morina’s room, that of her dead husband—a Venezuelan general, she explains. One evening he practices shooting his .36 and whirling. The recoil hurts, but he eliminates the pain with a special pad of thin leather. Soon he is so adept again that he seeks a job as “lookout” at the C Street Esperanza gambling hall run by a man named Rocco, and proves his $15-perweek ability by shooting three rats scurrying from a privy out back. He dresses for the part — black suit, black boots, red shirt, etc.—calls on Morina. They kiss, but, not wanting more, she evicts him. Behold Roger, after a few nights’ work, on his high-up chair in a front corner of the Esperanza, surveying bar, wheels of fortune, faro and dice games, roulette tables, possibly loaded dice, etc. Tonight he spots a guy drinking too much and wearing two .44s for cross draw. The man pulls awkwardly and shoots, either for people to hide so he could scoop money and leave, or at lookout Roger ﬁrst. While the hombre was shooting, Roger shoots his right shoulder and left collar bone. Ofﬁcers save the wounded man from being lynched, and Roger is treated to drinks, cigars, and two Enterprise reporters’ interview, and becomes Virginia City’s “greatest gun ﬁghter.” Roger regards himself as a deserter from “the boys in gray,” a “goddam paid gunman,” and the lover of “a whore” not worth anything. 10. Roger often sneaks looks at Morina with rich

173 Brewer. When Roger goes to 17, a new woman says Biloxi has moved to a new house on A Street. Biloxi admits him there, shows him the place; Renny has his own room with the piano moved from 17. Renny plays; Haines sings; Mattiny provides drinks. Praising Brewer, Biloxi reveals this: Brewer plans to marry Morina in a few weeks; he’s “like brozzer” to Biloxi; this 20-room A Street house is for Biloxi’s comfort, with no girls working here; Morina will soon return from shopping in San Francisco. Morina returns, has a cigarrillo, spots Roger, and sits. She explains she’s marrying Brewer because he’s a millionaire, and she wants Roger to wish her well. Roger professes his continued love, says he could have rescued her and supported her adequately, and calls her a “high-priced whore” and won’t wish her well “at it.” She warns him. He scoffs. To her saying Brewer loves her, he counters that rich gifts buy her just as male customers do, knowing no one really “has” her thus. Though crying and pounding the sofa, she says Brewer’s expensive gifts are compliments and demonstrate her popularity. Roger realizes this is “life” for her and she’s queen of a “rotten little kingdom.” One night behind the Esperanza, Roger is getting some fresh air when he overhears a conspiracy. Tough Texas gunman Big Hoke Irving is ordering three other men to enter the Esperanza separately. At Hoke’s 9:00 P.M. signal by handkerchief, one is to shoot Roger, and thereafter they’ll shoot to scare the crowd and then scoop “everything in sight” into a gunny sack. Hurrying to warn Rocco, Roger is startled as Brewer enters with his brother Raymond, and with Raymond’s helper Red Caskie. Time, 8:40 now. George Brewer noisily orders champagne. Rocco orders the gambling tables closed. Caskie needles “Rog” to join George for a drink. Roger declines courteously, saying he’ll join up after 9:00 when it’s quieter. At 8:53 George orders free drinks for everyone. Jake and Davey open bottles fast and set out about 20 glasses. Roger moves his high chair over to the bar for George, who then sits upright in it like a duke. A skinny, red-shirted gunman enters. Roger moves so he stands between Roger and George, at 8:59. Two gunnies enter. Roger warns Rocco. At 9:00 a big guy (Hoke) enters, looks around carefully, draws a handkerchief. “Red Shirt” draws. Roger is quicker, shoots twice directly at his head; the ﬁrst shot kills him; the second hits George (in the back of his head) as the ﬁrst victim falls away from him. Roger ducks, is ﬁred at by the three remaining gunmen, hits one, and as two run out shoots one in the back, the other when on his horse. The City Marshal assembles a six-man coroner’s

Past

jury immediately; lays out ﬁve corpses, two identiﬁed as George Brewer and gunman Hoke Irving from Nebraska; questions Rocco and other witnesses, and then Roger. He plays innocent, repeating what “Mr. Rocco” and other witnesses testiﬁed, says his recollection of the swift events are a blur. He is acquitted, having dutifully acted as Esperanza’s guard. Everyone regards him as a hero. Wanting only to be alone, he refuses free drinks. Suddenly, as George Brewer’s miners are carrying his body out, his brother Raymond accuses hot-shot gunman Roger of deliberately killing George because of a woman. The marshal asks what woman. When Raymond sees that Roger has reloaded and holstered his gun, he declines to name her, and follows his brother’s body out. Roger knows he must kill or be killed by Raymond. 11. Roger, seen as a killer, must stay for drinks. He downs “a dozen slugs,” gets home, has uneasy thoughts until dawn. Mrs. Finn awakens him, says Arthur Haines wants to see him. Their talk reveals this: Biloxi has “lost out on A Street,” because she has no deed to the house Brewer built for her there; Haines, when Roger asks, says he’s never slept with Biloxi; Renny and Biloxi, a “one man’s woman,” have been loyal lovers since “52” in San Francisco; they hate Roger now; Renny is dangerous, with a rapier in his walking stick. Roger hints that Haines would like it “[i]f Renny got it.” Haines half reveals lust for Biloxi, covers it by acting “hurt, and smug,” says as a friend he’s warning Roger. Roger drinks heavily, cleans up, goes to the International, eats amid silently critical watchers, walks to the sidewalk, sees Raymond, Red Caskie, and two others, halfchallenging a gunﬁght, which Roger, turning back, refuses— and gets shouted at as “yellow.” A riﬂe bullet splinters Mrs. Finn’s doorway. She asks more rent from him, since he’s dangerous now. He lies down, avoids delirious thoughts about Raymond and Renny, suddenly goes to the street, without hat, coat, gun. He orders beer where miners hang out. He cares only to explain to Morina what he did, but she’s off to San Francisco for a week. Will he be killed tonight? The Union recruiting sergeant is there, seeking volunteers, as usual. He tells Roger that he beds down recruits in the guarded Gold Hill ofﬁce, and transports them in bunches to San Francisco. Roger volunteers, dons Union dungarees— he must do this to see Morina a last time, though she brings only “misery.” Next day, when Raymond and others see him, he truly feels “yellow.” Morina visits Roger in his “men-only army” (a week later). He tells her yes, he killed George Brewer and will kill the next man she sells herself to. Pleased it was “[f]or me,” she kisses him hungrily and simply must be with him “this night.” He agrees to desert

Past

174

the Union army. She explains that authorities evicted Biloxi and that her piano broke the boardwalk; sliding away, it crushed Renny badly; Haines has taken Biloxi in. Roger and Morina retrieve their belongings, he from Mrs. Finn’s (including his gun), she from her Pioneer hotel room. They strew piñon branches in a mine’s drift mouth, make immaculate love, agreeing that, washed clean in Brewer’s blood, she is essentially virginal, and so is he. 12. Morina brings stuff back from shopping in town. He can cook with items in an abandoned tool box. One day he sees a goat, wonders how it got here, follows it to a crack in a rock, crawls in, ﬁnds a huge room still partly timbered, and proceeding past rubble locates a unique strike of rich “blueblack” silver ore, could be $300 to $3,000 per ton. He blocks the goat’s entrance. Morina wants to pay $100 for a 30-day option on the strike, reveal the bonanza and mine it with a bank loan, says he can buy himself out of the army. He says he’d likely get shot but says they could buy rights to the mine for maybe $10,000 and mine it after the war. Morina says Red Caskie takes silver bullion monthly, by different routes, to the San Francisco mint, and returns to Virginia City with $30,000 payments in gold, with (deceased) George Brewer’s banker brother Will handling paperwork. Roger rationalizes that robbing Caskie would additionally prevent paying Union soldiers to “shoot my people.” Meanwhile, Morina smothers him with kisses. Roger and Morina get to Sacramento and to his empty shack near the river, manage to spot Caskie. Roger decides the best time to nail him is when he boards the Pioneer train from San Francisco bound for Folsom, to which they proceed. Roger rents a hotel room there, high and viewing the American River, for his “wife,” who will have a perfect view of the station. When Morina sees Caskie, she is to wire his departure to Roger, who by then will be in Placerville. Roger gets a hotel room there, buys two horses, stables one, rides the other, and locates a bend in the road from which he’ll be able to see Caskie’s coach. Morina wires him, as “Bob Davis,” delaying until tomorrow. Roger feels glad to be postponing violence. He checks his tough mustangs, sees sufﬁcient forage for them by the river. He orders 80 pounds of oats for their horses. Not much, but they must pack the heavy gold too. Morina sends Roger a wire, signed “Josie,” that she’s departing. Roger pays his bill, and rides one horse and by halter leads the packed one into woods rear the riverside road, and ties both. But ﬁrst he sees too much trafﬁc on the road, then Morina atop an Overland coach and wearing a red hat, their preplanned “danger signal.”

Roger returns to Placerville. Morina arrives, explains that when Caskie saw her board the coach, he hired two riﬂemen to guard him, and the coach proceeded with all of them here to Placerville. After lunch, Roger admits to Morina he was so scared he might have made “a mess” of the robbery. That night she says the money box went in the Pioneer baggage car, not any passenger car. This gives Roger, who has studied Western geography, an idea. Steal the gold from the train just beyond Folsom, follow the Colorado River with their horses, go toward Sonora and the Stanislaus River and the Owens River area, cross the Mojave Desert to Callville and a steamer to Port Isabel and a Confederacy station. After the war, they’ll return and purchase their silver mine. 13. Roger buys boy’s dungarees, etc., for Morina, and they have a practice ride from Placerville to Folsom. It rains. That makes them realize they’ll need oil cloths, skillet, canteens, camp food. They practice camping out and catching ﬁsh. Morina pays to stable their horses. Roger gets a job as ﬁreman on a Sacramento Valley Railroad freight train, works hard ﬁring the engine for two weeks, learning thus how to run a locomotive. Morina tells Roger that while shopping she learned from a girl she knew in New Orleans that Caskie “lay[s] over” with a blonde who wants to try life in Nevada. Roger ﬁgures this news helps them. Roger decides that their horses when packed would carry about 225 pounds each, counting the gold. He buys another horse with his railroad pay and makes Morina practice saddling and unsaddling him. He decides he must derail the coaches after splitting them from the engine and baggage car; so he buys two feet of “quarry steel,” forges it to the shape he wants, and has Morina practice throwing it. Morina spies on Caskie, sailing for San Francisco. They have two days to wait. He persuades her after the robbery to join the Confederate Army with him and, later, they’ll return to “our mine.” With their signals straight, Roger sneaks aboard the train, between the engine and baggage car, the latter loaded with Wells, Fargo shipments, U.S. mail, and baggage, and some men. Roger is nervous and hopes no one sees him, since they’re moving through open land now. Roger enters the engine, surprises and throws the ﬁreman off, pulls his gun on the engineer, and makes him jump off. Something goes wrong. The signal cord, which is frayed, snaps the gong once and then breaks. Morina, waiting by the station and in a dress hiding her dungarees, ﬂirts with the baggage man, and asks him to retrieve her valise before she’ll get friendly with him. The ﬁreman that Roger tossed off

175 regains consciousness and shouts to the passengers about an attempted train robbery. Morina tosses the iron and derails a car. But, instead of wrongly remaining outside for safety, she enters the baggage car to lock the baggage man out. But the mail clerk alerts Caskie. He sees Morina and gloats that he’s going to let her and Brewer’s killer try to run for it and shoot them both, justiﬁably. Caskie holds Morina by her elbows behind her to shield the mail clerk, who is busy trying to brake his baggage car. Caskie starts shooting at Roger; so does the Wells, Fargo man. Roger closes the throttle. The engine car stops. He hides under the wheels, kills the Wells, Fargo man. Red releases Morena to go for his gun. Roger kills him. The unarmed mail clerk raises his hands in fear. Roger kills him. Roger runs to their tethered horses, returns, gets some powder Morina sewed into a bag he has pocketed, mud-caps it to blow open three baggage boxes piled together, lights a fuse, and jumps out. She brings the horses close, peels off her dress, but then screams. A second (unarmed) mail clerk sneaked to the locomotive and steamed it forward, with the baggage car still attached. She gets between the engine and baggage car, pulls the pin to separate them, but then dangles over the rails by one hand, with the baggage car about to roll over her. Roger leaps on the baggage car, screws the brake tight. The car stops. She is safe. His capped powder explodes. With a posse coming up from Sacramento, and another down from Folsom once they see the locomotive, Roger and Morina catch their horses. The explosion blew open the boxes but also the baggage car bottom, and scattered gold and jewelry in the sunlight ﬂashing everywhere. Morina scoops at it like a “harpy drinking blood.” He forces her to saddle up. 14. Roger and Morina hide in the hills but hear “the Folsom posse” below. By moonlight they double back, cross the river, and hide in woods until dawn. She says he didn’t have to kill the unarmed clerk but did so for her so they could have one more night together. They make love in the morning. Within a week they skirt Folsom, pass Sonora. Roger ﬁgures they’re at Stanislaus River. It snows. In a shack now, he is writing this story while she sorts her jewels and puts rings on all her ﬁngers and toes, and sticks broaches into their blankets. One morning she hear dogs. He goes out, sees men only hunting a deer; so he ﬁgures they might still make it, and relaxes. When a twig cracks behind him, though, he instinctively wheels and ﬁres. The shot hits his wife, his love, his very life; she sinks into the snow, bejeweled and slightly smiling. Here Roger Duval is, right now — traitor, killer, thief — writing about everything and ﬁguring that the conjuring devil gives people what they want and

Pastorale

thereby entices them to hell. Roger could try for Mexico but won’t. They’re coming. Two notable features of Past All Dishonor are trivial mentions of various Civil War battles and appropriate animal imagery. Readers may forget why and just when Roger is in the Far West, until they are reminded by sprinklings of such names as Chancellorsville, Chickamauga, Donelson, Gettysburg, and Shiloh. And Roger and most of the people he meets are ﬁguratively compared to canaries, chickens, colts, dogs, grizzly bears, hawks, hyenas, mules, pigs, rats, shrimp, and snakes; Morina’s early nicknames for Roger are “shrimp” and “live bait.” Roy Hoopes, Cain’s biographer, read his unpublished memoirs and reports that “Cain thought Past All Dishonor was perhaps his most effective statement of the predominant theme in his writings: the wish that comes true and the horrors it brings to the wishers.” Hoopes adds that Past All Dishonor sold best among all his hard-cover novels. David Madden notes that in it Cain “evokes the Civil War era in the same economical way his modern novels evoke contemporary times.” Paul Skenazy comments on the tragic climax of the novel: “Thus once again Cain’s myth of sin, and of feminine sorcery, ends in the woman’s accidental, but sacriﬁcial, death.” (Hoopes, 369–370, 477, 627; Madden 1970, 52; Skenazy, 92) “Pastorale” (short story, American Mercury, March 1928). (Characters: Burbie, Benny Heath, Hutch, Lida.) 1. The Southern rube narrator tells what “we” learned. It seems that Burbie is going to hang—too “damn smart” for his own good. When about 16 he left town, joined a traveling show, liked to sing, dress like a Rube, recite funny narratives. Returning home after 10 years, he was too old to play on the high-school baseball team. He’d go into pool halls, talk and listen, and wink as though he had superior knowledge he could share but wouldn’t. By the time Burbie returned, Lida, who worked at a dry-goods store, had been married a year. Tired of dating fellows, she married an old man with a farm two miles out of town. Lida and Burbie met and rendezvoused behind the farm house when her husband had gone to bed. Asked about Lida, Burbie would wink. In March, they decided the kill her husband. She would be out of town; Hutch, out of prison “down to Atlanta” after his two-year sentence for mail-sack robbery, would help Burbie. He told Hutch the old man had a pot of money “hid ... in the back room.” They put corn liquor in their pockets, drove a horse and wagon behind the farm house, were admitted by the hospitable old man, and Hutch crowned him with a wrench. 2. Hutch was irate at ﬁnding only $23 in the pot.

Pay-off

176

Burbie repeatedly said “hope my die” if he was lying. Hutch pocketed the money, along with his wrench. Some Methodists were about to visit the old man and honked out front. This caused the killers to load their victim’s body into the wagon and drive into the woods. Hutch ordered Burbie to dig a grave with their pick, in ground so cold that Hutch barely covered the farmer’s head. On their way back, Hutch kicked Burbie in the wagon so viciously that he confessed affection for Lida. Furious, Hutch turned the horse back to the corpse and made Burbie cut its head off as a present for Lida, after which Hutch vowed he’d kill Burbie. The two drank more corn and galloped the horse. 3. The horse soon “wouldn’t run no more,” only walked. Needing to ditch that head, Burbie waited when Hutch wasn’t watching and tossed it into a creek. The head cracked the thin creek ice “pretty loud in different directions.” Incensed, Hutch seized the pick to kill Burbie, who leaped out, ran home, and hid. News spread next morning. The conclusion: Hutch saw the head, tied horse and wagon to bridge rail, fell into the ice trying to retrieve the head, drowned, had money, wrench, and corn in his pockets. Burbie joined the investigation. More news comes out. The old man’s headless body was found, the pot in his house found, the Methodist would-be visitors testiﬁed, Lida returned and “cried like hell”; the ex-con Hutch “done it.” For three weeks, nobody could understand what Hutch needed the head for. One evening in the pool hall during talk concerning the head, constable Benny Heath theorized that Hutch ﬁgured they couldn’t prove murder without “ﬁnd[ing] the head to the body.” With his usual wink, Burbie couldn’t resist settling the “long bum argument” that followed Heath’s assertion. Silence followed. Burbie, mentioned as excellent at “giving a spiel at a entertainment, “ told about his ruined childhood and youth, bad woman and saloons, about “hope my die” returning to town to reform, how Lida ruined him again, how he resembled “The Face on the Floor.” Only he “kind of lain” down until Heath arrested him. Burbie turned religious while waiting to be “hung.” Crowds visit and sing hymns with him. He has his narrative “down pat.” Lida, also visiting, says only “she done it same as Hutch and Burbie.” Burbie held his secret “so long he just had to spill it,” is the narrator’s conclusion. Cain interviewed William Gilbert Patten (1866– 1945) before writing “The Man Merriwell,” a Saturday Evening Post article about him (published June 11, 1927) Patten (pen name Burt L. Standish) wrote countless mass-circulation stories, including those in the famous Frank Merriwell weekly series (1896 –1912) featuring athletic young Frank, a di-

dactic model of fair-play, self-disciplined moral behavior. During their meeting, Patten told Cain a yarn about two westerners who killed an old man, cut off his head, and were troubled when it bounced around in their wagon. Roy Hoopes also reports that “[t]o Patten’s horror, Cain thought the story hilarious and asked if he could use.” With Patten’s permission, he did so, “Pastorale” being the result. Hoopes adds that H. L. Mencken, American Mercury editor, liked and published it. A pastorale is an early opera having the plot of a pastoral, i.e., a literary work featuring shepherds or having a plot contrasting innocent rural life and corrupt city life. Obviously, Cain’s use of pastorale as his title is sardonic. David Madden asseverates that “Pastorale” is “Cain’s best short story.” Burbie’s lugubrious reference to the barroom ﬂoor is to “The Face upon the Floor” (1887), the famous temperance poem by Hugh Antoine D’Arcy (1843 –1925). In it, a painter loses his lady love, becomes an alcoholic, and draws her face on a saloon ﬂoor. D’Archy’s title was morphed into “The Face on the Barroom Floor.” (Hoopes, 139, 179; Madden 1970, 185; Madden 1985, 128) “Pay-off Girl” (short story, Esquire, August 1952). (Characters: Fresno, Ike, Kearny, Miles Kerny, Ruth, Tony.) The narrator Miles Kearny, big and 25, lives in Washington, D.C., works for the State Department unscrambling cables. His father in San Diego wonders why he isn’t a “canned-goods salesman” in daddy’s business. While quafﬁng a beer in Ike’s Joint, in Cottage City, Maryland, Miles falls in love at ﬁrst sight with a blonde pay-off girl there —ﬁne ﬁgure, pretty face, Mexican-style dress. She tells Ike to put a bulb in a socket over her booth. Ike is indifferent. Miles watches her handle bets that bunches of men place. Introducing himself, he places a bet, pressing his inked signet ring on his signed envelope. He praises her dress, adding he’s from southern California. She warns him: Betting on horses is illegal; it’s easy to get in but hard to get out. Calling herself Ruth, she gives him her phone number for betting. Next night he’s at Ike’s. She takes his long-shot bet on a horse named Frenso. Some nights later, Miles tells her that Fresno won. Ruth agrees she owes him $82 but lacks cash. He says he’s interested only in her. She says she can’t get out of the rackets; certain guys have guns. He says she can marry him, escape to California, which has no past, only a present and a future. Ruth answers she’ll pay him tomorrow. Next night she pays him — eight $10s and two $1s. He whispers they’ll marry tonight. “Where?’ she asks, her eyes squirting tears. He says in Elkton; he’ll wait outside in his car for her last pay-offs. He waits, grows suspicious, enters, sees a mean-looking guy (Tony) with Ruth.

177 He tells Miles to leave. Miles shoves him. Ike identiﬁes Miles as “[s]ome jerk.” Ruth denies knowing Miles. Miles announces he’s marrying Ruth, slugs Tony. Tony produces a gun, takes Miles’s winnings, sees the pin holes he put in Alexander Hamilton’s eyes [in the $10 bill], says Ruth two-timed him by paying Miles, forces Miles to Ruth’s unlighted booth, announces he’ll kill Miles ﬁrst, then Ruth. Miles puts his signet ring into the empty bulb socket. The fuse blows. Darkness. Miles ﬁnds and disarms Tony. Ike lights a candle. Ruth asks if Miles means marriage. “You bet.” Married in Elkton, he writes this narrative on the train while Ruth is gazing at Western scenery. He has sent his father the news. Roy Hoopes reports that Esquire paid Cain $400 for “Pay-off Girl,” then demeans it as “not one of his better efforts.” (Hoopes, 452) Pease (Sinful Woman). He is the county prosecuting attorney. He cooperates with Parker Lucas, the county sheriff, during the investigation of the death by gunshot of Vicki Adlerkreutz at Tony Rico’s Galloping Domino joint. Peete, Mrs. (Jealous Woman). She is a serial killer whom Keyes mentions when he and Horner are discussing Tom Delavan’s not being “dead yet.” Keyes remembers that before her execution Mrs. Peete said we all know the day we were born but not the day we will die. Pender, John (The Magician’s Wife). Pender, nicknamed Nat, is Channel City’s one ace attorney. Clay Lockwood engages him to defend Busty Buster. He gets her off with manslaughter, soon has the innocent, ﬂirty girl out on bail, may be able to persuade the judge to suspend the sentence, and is likely to consort with her later. Nat goes easy with fees, paid by Clay and his new wife Grace, the former Mrs. Simone. Cain contrasts the “icy affability” of Steve Granlund, another character in The Magician’s Wife, with Nat’s “easy affability.” Pender, Mrs. (The Magician’s Wife). She is attorney John Pender’s wife. She says she knows Grace Simone (now Mrs. Lockwood) and praises her. Pendleton, Ike (“Brush Fire”). He is a ﬁreﬁghter in the same shift with several other men, including Paul Larkin. When Ike falls overcome by smoke and misses a roll call, Paul rescues him. Later the same day, which is Sunday, Paul strolls with a pretty girl, seen among a crowd of visitors, to show her a burned-out area. They tarry and kiss. In the early evening, Ike recognizes the girl as his wife, curses and threatens her. Paul interferes, gets stabbed by Ike, fatally smashes Ike over the head with a shovel, and is arrested.

Pierce

Pendleton, Mrs. (“Brush Fire”). She is Ike Pendleton’s abandoned wife. She visits a group of ﬁreﬁghters one Sunday, and happens to meet Paul Larkin among them. Earlier that day he rescued Ike when smoke had overcome him. She and Paul, ignorant that she is Ike’s wife, walk to a burned-out area a mile away, and sit, and kiss. Toward evening, Ike learns that his wife and a ﬁreﬁghter disappeared a while. He threatens to kill her with a knife. Paul shoves Ike away; she hits Paul in the face and tells him not to interfere. Then she sees Ike stab Paul in the arm and get killed when Paul clobbers him with a shovel. Perrin (The Moth). He is a neighbor of Jim and Hannah Branch. Jack sings with him at Branch’s Long Beach church. Perrin has oil property adjacent to Hannah’s oil wells and joins forces with other men seeking to damage her holdings. Persoff, Mrs. (Cloud Nine). She is one of Graham Kirby’s neighbors. She hears Sonja, Graham’s wife, screaming when Burwell Stuart sets her on ﬁre. Mrs. Persoff phones to inquire what’s wrong. Burl orders Sonja to make excuses and get Mrs. Persoff off the phone, which she does. Pete, Joe (Double Indemnity). He is a night watchman in the ofﬁce building in which Huff works. Huff converses with Pete in order to establish alibis to cover his criminal plans. Phyllis (“Everything But the Truth”). She is a pretty girl, about 10, whom Edwin Hope, 10, immediately likes when he moves to Fullerton. He ﬁbs about his abilities. Roger, who also likes Phyllis, doubts his stories. When Edwin dives by accident from a schooner timber, she regards him as her hero. Pickens, Mrs. (The Moth). She runs a nameless Atlanta hotel where impoverished Jack lives November– December 1932 after his plan to assemble a professional football team ﬁzzles. Pickens, Senator (The Institute). He is a Washington, D.C., politician. As chairman of a subcommittee on Internal Revenue, he tries to embarrass Lloyd Palmer, director of the Institute of Biography, but gets blasted into silence. Cain creates a windbaggy cartoon out of Pickens—impressively gray-haired, beetle-browed, with a dark crimson complexion, and “coarse ... [in a] John C. Calhoun way.” Picquot (Serenade). He is a splendid viola player under the tutelage of Winston Hawes. John Howard Sharp recalls singing in Paris with Hawes’s orchestra and taking a bow with Picquot. John remembers that the event was “like something you read about.” Pierce, Adrian (Mildred Pierce). He is Sarah Pierce’s

Pierce

178

husband. The two are Bert Pierce’s parents, and Veda’s and Ray’s grandparents. Pop, as he is called, is kinder to Mildred, his oppressed daughter-in-law, than Sarah is. He has income as a pensioned railroad worker. He takes their grandchildren off Mildred’s hands at convenient times. Pierce, Bert (Mildred Pierce). Herbert Pierce, in his mid–30s when the story begins, is Mildred’s husband and the father of their daughters Veda and Ray. He is a failure as both husband and father, although the girls like him more than they do their mother. He was in real estate with Wally Burgan. Bert enjoys playing around with loose-breasted Maggie Biederhof. When Mildred falls for Monty Beragon, she divorces Bert. She realizes, however, that Bert was and will remain the unique love of her life. In the end, it is so. Pierce, Mildred (Mildred Pierce). She is Bert’s wife and Veda’s and Ray’s mother, and is 28 and shapely as the story begins. When Bert proves incompetent, Mildred becomes a waitress and also expands her pie-selling business. She is sad when Ray dies and blames herself for being glad Ray was the one to die and not Veda, whom she caters to perennially, despite Veda’s being totally evil. Mildred starts a restaurant in Glendale, expands to restaurants in Beverly and Laguna. She sleeps with Wally Burgan and then Monty Beragon, divorces Bert and marries Monty, and then watches carelessly as her ﬁnancial empire crumbles. She discovers that Veda is sleeping with Monty, chokes her to prevent her singing professionally again, but the girl recovers. Mildred and Bert reconcile. David Madden notes that “Mildred Pierce ... presents a detailed picture of the depression’s middle class and one of its convincing female archetypes: Mildred.” Madden adds that “[i]f some of Cain’s women appear to be mere personiﬁcations of female sexuality, he proves in Mildred his ability to scrutinize women in more detail.” Paul Skenazy praises Mildred because her “manipulation of men involves taking advantage of the powers she has—control in the kitchen and the bedroom — to obtain help in the areas in which men function: ﬁnance and law.” [Mildred Pierce deals with conditions in the American 1930s, when women weren’t what they perhaps more happily are today.] But can many readers agree with Skenazy, when he contends that “Mildred is a kind of Frankenstein” and adds that she seems to want to have exclusive possession of Veda’s talents”? Or when he adds that “Veda is a ‘better’ Mildred—more in control, more ambitious, more snobbish, more sophisticated, a personiﬁcation of Mildred’s dreams”? David Wyatt may offer a more acceptable assessment: “In Mildred Pierce, Cain ... slows things down. His heroine is

not ‘fast’; she is deliberate. Gifted at self-survey, Mildred responds to loss by being tactical[;] ... she takes a systematic view and refrains from reducing her story to a matter of individual self-fashioning.... Refusing reductive ‘interpretations of life,’ she remains warily positioned between the awareness of being determined [by fate, that is] and the hope of being free.” (Madden 1970, 51, 72; Skenazy, 69, 73; Wyatt, 45) Pierce, Ray (Mildred Pierce). She is the younger daughter of Mildred and Bert Pierce. “Ray” remained a childish mispronunciation of her name Moire. Mildred loves Ray but loves their older daughter Veda more. Bert attracts both daughters’ love more than Mildred does. When Ray dies, Mildred feels guilty for being glad that Ray, not Veda, died. Pierce, Sarah (Mildred Pierce). Called “Mom,” she is Adrian Pierce’s wife, the mother of Bert Pierce, the mother-in-law of Mildred, and the grandmother of Veda and Ray. Mrs. Pierce is emotionally attached to her failure of a son and chronically critical of Mildred, the better spouse. It is stated that Sarah has come from Connecticut. Pierce, Veda (Mildred Pierce). She is the older daughter of Bert and Mildred Pierce. She is beautiful, vain, and utterly self-centered. Mildred irrationally dotes on Veda, who alternately wheedled dear Mother and ruthlessly betrays her. Veda is a competent pianist, gets musical training from Charlie Hannen, and then more honest treatment from Carlo Treviso, who correctly informs Mildred that Veda is one coloratura soprano in a million and as a professional will use and abuse everyone as she climbs a path to international success and acclaim. When Mildred catches Veda sleeping with Monty Beragon, Mildred’s husband after her divorce from Bert, Mildred leaps at her and chokes her—but the girl recovers. David Madden notes that “Cain is a masterful creator of bitches,” zeroes in on Veda, and calls her such “a thoroughgoing bitch ... [that] even reviewers expressed intense hatred of her.” J. M. Welsh dislikes the movie Mildred Pierce (Warner Bros., 1945), because he feels that Cain’s Veda is “far more interesting” than her mother and yet that the movie reduces her “to a cheap dance hall singer in Wally’s night club and a murderess.” Welsh evidently regrets that in the movie Veda shoots Monty instead of going to New York with him. (Madden 1970, 74; Welsh, 66 –67) Pierre (The Root of His Evil). He is presumably a friend of Carrie’s. When Carrie is brieﬂy in police custody, she says she wouldn’t call Pierre even if she were about to be executed in the electric chair. The name Pierre appears only once in the novel.

179 Pierre, Monsieur (The Institute). He works for a big hotel in Washington, D.C. He is in charge of furnishing a hotel conference room to Hortense’s speciﬁcations when she organizes a press conference for Lloyd. They dispute over canapés, but she wins. The Pink Buttercup. Aborted novel by Cain. Roy Hoopes says it was to be about “the Texas-Mexico cotton trade during the Civil War” and was to features a man and a woman “on the Desierto Muerto between Texas and Metamoros.” (Hoopes, 484) The Postman Always Rings Twice (novel, 1934). (Characters: Madge Allen, Frank Chambers, Goebel, Hasselman, Katz, Pat Kennedy, Father McConnell, Cora Papadakis, Nick Papadakis, Jeff Parker, Sackett, Mrs. Smith, White, Willie, Wright.) Chapter 1. After fooling around for three weeks in “Tia Juana,” the sturdy narrator, Frank Chambers, age 24, hitchhikes until is thrown off a hay truck one noon, onto the road again, and happens upon the Twin Oaks Tavern, near Los Angeles and owned and run by a Greek named Nick Papadakis. Nick sells gas and has an auto park in the rear of his property. [H. R. F. Keating notes that “[t]he run-down café that is the chief locale of the book seems engraved on the mind after even a single reading.”] Frank lies that a friend with a Cadillac will soon be by to pick him up. Nick, who has “a swell voice,” likes Frank, and offers him work as car mechanic and handyman. [Bobbie Robinson notes that “[i]n Cain’s world the road symbolizes the wilderness where the rules of society do not operate and where characters are free to set their own social and ethical codes.” David Fine (1995) notes that “[f ]or Cain the road, with its deceptive promise of mobility and freedom, provides the chief metaphor for the betrayed promise of the West.” Fine continues: “The high-speed adventure recounted in Postman begins and ends on the California highway, and the rapid-ﬁre telling of the tale is consistent with its dominating image.” David Fine (2000) has The Grapes of Wrath [1939] by John Stenbeck (1902– 1968) in mind when he says that “[f ]ive years before the Joads rolled into the Central Valley, Cain offered in his ﬁrst novel the California highway as the road that goes nowhere, metaphor for the deceptive California promise.” Tom S. Reck notes that with the ﬁrst three pages of this novel “you have it all,” that is, the three main characters and “the impetuses, namely sexuality and money.” Richard Bradbury admires the tautness of this ﬁrst chapter, which, he says, in about 700 words gives the reader “all of the essential information out of which the complete novel will be made.” Bradbury cites The Postman Always Rings Twice as the ﬁrst of several Cain novels to support the following generalization: “nothing he wrote was completely outside the

Postman

category of trash”; further, all of his ﬁction displays “ultimate cheapness”; and yet “intelligent and fully literate people read him.” (Bradbury, 88, 97; Fine 1995, 45; Fine 2000, 95; Keating, 52; Reck, 379; Robinson, 58)] Chapter 2. A customer parks and asks Frank to remove a sticker pasted on “his wind wing.” Nick’s wife, Cora Papdakis, helps. When she was Cora Smith, young and sexy, she won a beauty contest three years ago in Des Moines, Iowa, went to Hollywood but got nowhere, slung hash for two years, and is now the unhappy waitress at her husband Nick’s joint. She and Frank have eyes for each other. He would like to mash her puffy lips. He responds to her smell. [Jane Ellen Wayne describes the scene in the ﬁrst movie version (1946) of The Postman Always Rings Twice in which Frank (played by John Garﬁeld [1913–1952]) ﬁrst meets Cora (played by Lana Turner [1920 –1995]): “Cora..., wearing white shorts, high heels, and turban, is standing in the doorway. When a tube of lipstick rolls across the ﬂoor, drifter Frank Chambers ... gazes up at her shapely legs, bare waist, full bosom, and exquisite face. He is surprised to ﬁnd out she’s married to Nick [Cecil Callaway [1891–1971]), the old man who’d hired him to work at their roadside café.” (Wayne, 60 –61)] Frank persuades Nick to get a neon sign to advertise his tavern better. While he is off in Los Angeles, 20 miles away, buying one, Frank and Cora start heavy, lip-biting kissing. [Paul Skenazy reckons that “[t]he kiss and blood imply intercourse and deﬂowering [hardly]; they also suggest how Frank feeds off Cora’s body, and spirit.” David Mamet, who wrote the ﬁlmscript for MGM’s 1981 movie based on this novel, says that he found Cain’s dialogue here and elsewhere unusable, and explains: “The Postman is written ... beautifully as a hard-boiled novel ... [b]ut I didn’t preserve the dialogue. It doesn’t work. His [Cain’s] dialogue is brilliant but not actable.” (Skenazy, 26; Yakir, 43) Chapter 3. Frank hangs the new sign and wires it up. While Nick visits a rival up the road who is undercutting his gasoline prices, Frank drives Nick’s old Ford with Cora to a Glendale market for supplies. They also “did plenty” in the car. Cora wants to get drunk with Frank, married “greasy” Nick” only to escape the hash house, says Nick calls her his “little white bird.” Cora wants to be Frank’s “hell cat.” He wants to hit the road with her. She admires Frank as “[b]ig and tall and hard,” hints about getting rid of Nick. Frank and Cora pledge their love. [James M. Welsh reports that in the 1981 movie adaptation of the novel, “the sexual savagery between Frank [played by Jack Nicholson (1937–)] and Cora [Jessica Lange (1949 –)] is brutally depicted, notably the notorious near-rape on a kitchen table top covered with ﬂour.” (Tibbetts and Welsh, 332)].

Postman

180

Chapter 4. Cora swings a sock Frank ﬁlled with ball bearings at the back of Nick’s head while he is taking a bath. But her cat steps from the ladder near the neon sign onto a fuse box, causing an electricline short and killing the cat. She can’t safely hold Nick under the water until he drowns. She phones the authorities. Cora and Frank treat Nick. She convinces Nick that he slipped and fell. An ambulance takes him to the hospital. A cop reluctantly accepts Frank’s explanation about events. [David Madden, reporting that Cain regarded “narrative and action” as more important than “philosophy” in a novel, believes that “[a]ll ﬁctive elements should effect one clean, simple thrust as do the ﬁrst twenty-three pages of The Postman, Cain’s nearest realization of the ‘pure’ novel.” Madden cutely feels that “[t]he electrocution of the cat anticipates Frank’s execution” (Madden 1970, 148, 159). Chapter 5. In bed together, Cora and Frank agree never to try anything like that again. She seems helpless and needs him. He also needs her but gets cocky. Nick is hospitalized a week for a fractured skull. When Cora hates the thought of sleeping with Nick again, Frank suggests they should become road “gypsies.” They pack, try to hitchhike; but she wilts, tells Frank goodbye, turns back. Chapter 6. Frank gets to San Bernardino, wins $250 playing pool a couple of weeks, considers starting a hot-dog stand in Mexicali, but stops instead at Glendale hoping to see Cora marketing for Nick. Instead, Frank loses his cash to a skillful pool player. Frank returns to Cora and unsuspicious Nick, who is so happy to see him again that he proposes a threesome vacation to Santa Barbara. Nick produces an album he assembled, with items about his Greek Army experience, naturalization, marriage to Cora, tavern license, x-rays of his skull, and hospital bills. Cora won’t kiss Frank. So his “homecoming” was a “ﬂop.” Frank hears Cora arguing upstairs with Nick, then sees her in the kitchen with a knife. She says the knife was for her, because Nick’s scrapbook is to include his future family. He wants a baby. Though hating that idea, she begs no-good Frank to get lost; she won’t leave with him “to sleep in box cars.” They repeat vows of love; Frank ﬁgures “it’s in the cards,” tells her to stall Nick “this one night.” Chapter 7. The two have plotted “a regular road accident.” Cora is driving. Frank and Nick are drunk and singing loudly. A cop stops to warn them. They pull over for gas. Another witness is there, eating. Cora turns off near Malibu Beach, drives up a hill to overheat the engine, stalls. A driver passes them. While Nick is singing away like Caruso and his voice is echoing back, Frank crushes his head with a wrench. [Enrico Caruso (1873–1921) was the

peerless Italian operatic tenor.) Joyce Carol Oates explains the obvious: “Frank kills the Greek, Cora’s husband, but not because the man disgusts him; the killing is pragmatic; they need money, they can’t run away and be bums.” (Oates, 115)] Chapter 8. Frank washes the bloody wrench with wine. He gets the car to a hill, shoves it over for a 500-foot drop. He and Cora scramble down to the tilted car. At her demand, he rips her blouse. He punches her for an impressive black eye, and then “had to have her” if he “hung for it.” [David Madden regards this sequence as “the high point of violent sexual impact in this novel, and perhaps in all of Cain.” (Madden 1970, 77)] Chapter 9. They reassert their love; then nothing else would matter. Cora climbs to the road for help for injured Nick. Frank jumps into the car; his weight tumbles it farther down. [Paul Skenazy notes that “just as they achieve their euphoria, the punishment half of the Cain parable begins.” (Skenazy, 22)] Frank, injured, is in an ambulance with Nick. It stops to deliver Nick to a mortuary. When Frank next awakens, his broken arm is set, his back, taped. He is taken to a Hollywood “undertaker shop,” where banged-up Cora is, along with a police matron, a coroner and secretary, and policemen. Weeping, she identiﬁes Nick. Witnesses testify. Frank lies that he was driving, was sober, fabricates further so as to recant later and be believed. Cora says she was driving and explains more. The jury demands that both be held. Next morning, Sackett, the breezy district attorney, interviews hospitalized Frank, who designs “silly” responses to make “judge” Sackett feel, but not be, superior. Sackett accuses Frank of conspiring with Cora to kill Nick. Why? asks Frank, getting “groggy.” Because, Sackett says, Nick bought his tavern for $14,000 cash and recently took out a $10,000 accident insurance policy. Sackett can’t get Frank to sign a confession but, after wearying talk, persuades him to sign a complaint against Cora for plotting to murder both Nick and Frank. Chapter 10. A cop tells Frank that only a fellow named Katz can handle Sackett and brings Katz in—to help Frank before he’s arraigned. Frank tells Katz much, including his regret he signed the complaint against Cora, then hires Katz. At the arraignment, Katz represents Cora while his man White represents Frank. The magistrate tells Cora her rights. Katz calls witnesses, to get “the Greek dead enough to suit them.” Sackett deposes the insurance agent about $10,000 for Nick if “killed in an accident.” Katz questions the agent and suddenly pleads Cora guilty. She is stunned. Photographers get busy. Frank and Cora are placed in a room. She says

181 she, not he, has “been ﬂim-ﬂammed.” He says Katz fooled him also. She says Frank made her guilty all by herself. Katz calmly enters. She laments that he and Frank ganged up on her, says she’ll confess, does so in disapproving Katz’s absence to a stenographer, tells everything but pleads ignorance of any insurance policy. Chapter 11. The stenographer accompanies Frank to the hospital, where Frank has been dreaming about cracking Nick’s skull. Next morning, he reads newspaper accounts of “bottle killer” Cora, whose sentence should be delivered today; her confession is not included in the papers. Frank is taken to Katz, who gloats: Cora is free. Using imagery about playing poker and bridge against Sackett, he says he dined last night with Sackett, who foolishly revealed evidence about Frank on Nick’s teetering car and Cora’s taking her handbag up the hill — all proving not “a goddam thing.” Katz bet Sackett $100 he’d lose. Sackett got this evidence from the insurance company’s competent investigators. Frank agrees he “turned yellow,” signed against Cora, ﬁgured Sackett could convict him otherwise. Katz reveals he obtained Cora’s permission earlier to open Nick’s bank safe box. He found that Nick had added the accident part of the policy after fracturing his skull while bathing, also that Nick already had two public liability bonds—for $10,000 each. If Sackett convicted Cora not Frank, those companies would have to pay Frank $10,000 each. When the agent testiﬁed as to Cora’s guilt, Katz had Cora dictate her confession — but to Katz’s phony, named Kennedy. Cora, ignorant of this ruse, simply felt better. Then, at midnight, Katz conferred with the second and third insurance agents, explaining legalisms that Frank, a guest in a car driven by a drunk, could be reimbursed by their companies. They agreed to bribe the ﬁrst agent $5,000 apiece, for that agent’s testimony today that no crime was committed and he’d pay Cora her $10,000. The other two agents thus saved half of their liabilities. That testimony, Katz crows, proved the ﬁrst agent was his “son of a bitch,” not Sackett’s. Katz in court recanted his desire to plead Cora guilty. No jury would convict her now. Cora’s sentence, for manslaughter, was six months—suspended. Kennedy brings Cora to Frank. He must sign a waiver of any damages from Cora’s driving, does so. Katz demands a check from Cora for half the $10,000 insurance check he presently holds for her. She and Frank are thus rewarded for killing Nick, he explains. She starts to ﬁll in a blank brought by Katz. However, he gives her the $10,000 check and proudly ﬂourishes Sackett’s check for $100, which he’ll frame. Chapter 12. Cora and Frank deposit the check and attend Nick’s funeral, along with numerous Greek friends— sullen until the suddenly released

Postman

news of her not-guilty verdict. They taxi to Nick’s “place.” Frank prepares to leave. She says not to. Confused, they talk. He’s happy about “the ten grand.” Though uneasy about their method, she agrees when Frank suggests their long-deferred “drunk.” They drink. He tears at her clothes. They rush to bed. Frank thinks “[s]he looked like the great grandmother of every whore in the world,” and concludes that “[t]he devil got his money’s worth that night.” Chapter 13. For six months Frank and Cora argue, make up, argue. He fears she’ll really confess. She fears he’ll leave the state before her suspended sentence ends. Insurance payments roll in, enabling them to improve the tavern and thus augment their income. Now that “beer came back,” she wants to get a license and create “a beer garden”; he wants to sell out, leave with her, and rid himself of Nick’s ghost and his echoing song. She says he’s an unambitious bum trying to make her a bum also. So he drinks and stays. Cora’s mother wires her she’s sick. Frank drives Cora to the train, sees her off, then spies a young woman with a stalled car. Dead battery, he determines for her, and drives her to her home. He tells her his name. She says after her divorce she resumed her maiden name, Madge Allen. Frank feels relieved talking with a woman who doesn’t recognize his name and therefore he needn’t discuss that Greek killing. Madge raises lions, tigers, and pumas to sell to private zoos and moviemakers. She agrees to have Frank pay his friend Goebel $100 to board her animals for a week, while she and Frank have a ﬂing in Calienta and Ensenada. Chapter 14. After her mother dies, Cora returns. Frank tells her he went to Frisco brieﬂy. She says she’s glad he did and they’ll have better times soon. [Cain includes a revealing touch about Frank here. Cora asks if he visited his family in Frisco. His answer: “What for?” Families, and their lack, are important to Cain, and his characters.] When Cora and Frank get home, Kennedy awaits them, and alone with Frank reveals that he quit working for Katz and took Cora’s dictated confession with him. Kennedy pulls a gun, and wants $25,000 for it. That total is for insurance payoff, recent tavern proﬁts, and Nick’s total property. Feigning surrender, Frank whittles the sum to $14,000, agrees he’ll go to the bank tomorrow. Kennedy will return to exchange confession for cash. Frank suddenly turns the neon sign on, blazing it in Kennedy’s face, slugs the half-blinded man; Cora, listening nearby, seizes his gun. Frank beats Kennedy into a blubbering mess, rehearses him; he phones a confederate named Willie and convinces him to come in the morning to complete the deal. Frank stays awake with bleeding Kennedy in one of Nick’s

Postman

182

auto-park cabins, while Cora remains out front so all will look peaceful. In the morning, Cora reports to Frank that three men are outside, takes the gun, returns to the men, marches them to Frank and Kennedy. Searching Kennedy’s cohorts, she ﬁnds the confession, with photostats, proving they planned continued blackmailing. Frank burns the evidence, forces the thugs to their cars and away, and returns to Cora. Laughing hysterically, she says she can’t be tried again; could cause Frank, ever the liar, to hang by confessing; shows him a baby puma his ex-girlfriend Madge gave her last night while visiting the tavern. Chapter 15. Cora, crying, puts the puma in a box. Frank has a Coke. They challenge each other with threats all day, then lie “side by side” that night. While he was having “those dreams” again, she got dressed, packed, and is phoning. Waking, he thought she was phoning Sackett, orders her upstairs. But she was phoning for a cab. She fears he was plotting her murder. He admits he thought of it. She admits she thought of telling Sackett everything. He says they’re “chained to each other,” and his love is hurt by his hate. She says she’s pregnant, can thus give a life for Nick’s, was going to leave Frank. They agree their devils are gone. She says he can take her out swimming too far tomorrow, let her drown if he wishes. No; he prefers to get married. She says tomorrow night there’ll be kisses, “from life, not death.” He agrees. [Paul Skenazy touches on Cora’s “thinking of her baby as canceling the killing of Nick ... [because] [o]ne act can undo another; the future does not merely alter but eradicates the past” (Skenazy, 39 –40)]. Chapter 16. Frank and Cora get married in City Hall, then go to the beach. She swims out ahead of him, pushes her breasts up prominently, and speaks of “a new life for us both.” He dives so deeply that his ears ring and his devil is “pressed out and washed off.” She starts coughing, fears a miscarriage. He gets her ashore and into their car. He drives furiously through crowded trafﬁc. A Santa Monica hospital is near. Trying to pass a truck on the right to avoid the approaching trafﬁc, he crashes into a culvert wall. Cora plunges through the windshield and dies. Crying, he kisses her. Chapter 17. Katz takes Frank’s $10,000 and his tavern deed, does his professional best; but Sackett convicts Frank, that “mad dog” who killed Nick and then Cora for their money. Madge Allen even testiﬁed. Sackett even used a farewell note Cora wrote before calling the taxi that night and carelessly left unseen. [Paul Skenazy explicates the title of the novel: Frank, guilty of killing Nick but not caught, is condemned for killing Cora, and is thus “caught by this second ‘ring’ of the postman of fate, or divine justice, or chance, or whatever God one imag-

ines presiding over such circumstances.” (Skenazy, 23)] With Frank “in the death house” is Father McConnell. He will try to print this story Frank has been writing, if his death sentence isn’t commuted. Meanwhile, Frank desperately hopes that Cora knows he didn’t mean to cause her death. Maybe she thinks he wanted her dead. He hopes for “another life after this one,” so as to explain. Cora wanted something; Frank wanted only her. A fellow inmate, to be executed for killing his brother, says not he but his “subconscious” did it. Frank disbelieves this “hooey,” designed to “fool the judge.” Once “over the big river,” Frank will tell Cora. Believing, not ﬁguring, prevents “blooey.” The executioners come. Father McConnell has remained positive and recommends prayers. Frank wants prayers from his readers that he and Cora are “together,” wherever that may be. [As for Frank’s calling his fellow-prisoner’s thoughts “hooey,” Allison Graham says this: Frank “confronts ... and ... rejects ... psychoanalysis as a method of discovering causes of human behavior.” Ergo, Cain himself “leaves no doubt that Frank’s crimes are not triggered by the repression of ghostly projections and desires, but by the rejection of them.” (Graham, 48)] Roy Hoopes says that Vincent Lawrence told Cain that when Lawrence was awaiting word about acceptance of rejection of his ﬁrst play, he listened for the postman to ring twice. “The son of a bitch always rang twice, so you’d know it was the postman,” he said. The image intrigued Cain, and he had his memorable title. Cain surely makes death ring twice in Frank’s life. H. R. F. Keating, however, contends that the title alludes to “the power of fate, of chickens coming home to roost.” Lawrence also provided what Ray Hoopes calls “the catalyst Cain needed” to create the novel. He told Cain about the Snyder-Gray murder case. Cain replied at once that it morphed into a story he was considering, about two jerks who ﬁnd that horrible murder can be tangled into a love yarn. Real-life Ruth Brown Snyder was married to Long Islander Albert Snyder, an editor of the magazine Motor Boating. Bored and loveless at home, Ruth, 32 in 1925, met Henry Judd Gray, 34, an alcoholic corset salesman. They planned to murder Snyder, but she distrusted Gray. They clubbed sleeping Snyder with a window-sash weight and strangled him with picture wire (March 19, 1927), then tried to plant evidence suggesting a robbery. “Momsie” (Ruth) sent “Bud” Gray to Syracuse by train, to establish his alibi, but with an arsenic-laced bottle of wine. Fearing to ask anyone on the train for a corkscrew, which might blow his alibi, he didn’t drink from the bottle. Double-indemnity insurance policies (totaling $90,000) were involved. Their plot instantly unraveled. In the trial that followed, each

183 blamed the other. Both were executed by electric chair (January 12, 1928). Publisher Alfred A. Knopf, to whom Cain sent his manuscript, which was tentatively called “Bar-B-Que,” disliked not only the title but also the shortness of the work, the insurance angle, and the sentimental ending. Walter Lippman, H. L. Mencken, and even Knopf ’s wife Blanche Knopf liked it; so Knopf acceded and sent Cain a contract and a $500 advance. (Hoopes, 235 –238; Keating, 51; Bobbie Robinson, 59; Skenazy, 22; Troy Taylor, “Dead Men Do Tell Tales,” (c) 2004) For older readers, The Postman Always Rings Twice is partly a period piece. It takes place during one of the Great Depression years. In addition, the repeal of Prohibition (1933) and comic Jimmy Durante (1893–1980) are mentioned. It is doubtful that Frank Chambers, if he ever heard of Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford (1932), a play starring Durante, would have appreciated anything about it, beginning with the title. W. M. Frohock, a ﬁne critic, indefensibly asserts the following: “The Postman is Cain’s book almost in the same sense that Don Quixote is Cervantes’ book: nothing he wrote later could break down the association — he could neither live it down nor live up to it.” A few pages later Frohock even undertakes to explain “the phoniness of The Postman.” It seems likely that Tom S. Reck’s 1974 statement is true even today. He says that although The Postman Always Rings Twice is no longer banned, many readers of it “adopt an attitude of either silly defensiveness or postured superiority.” Robert Dingley contends that in The Postman Always Rings Twice “the pervasiveness of the fast food industry ... [is] not just as a recurrant motif, but ... [is] a determinant of action.” He offers evidence as proof: Frank says the Twin Oaks Tavern is like a million other “roadside sandwich” joints and Cora makes a great enchilada; Cora disliked her L.A. hash-house work; Frank’s fruitless ambition was to open a hot-dog stand in San Bernardino; Cora wants to develop “a beer garden”; Madge Allen’s zoo features “a ﬂourishing restaurant as an attachment.” Dingley then demonstrates that Cain in later works makes dramatic and thematic use of America’s fast-food industry. Dingley even asserts that “Cain’s ﬁrst major literary success, as an editorial writer for The World, occurred when he wrote an article on ‘the deterioration of huckleberry pie,’ a distinctively American delicacy whose ‘lyric quality,’ Cain felt, was being endangered by mass production.” Implicitly agreeing that The Postman Always Rings Twice is a period piece, Stephen Knight notes that it “is in the antique form, frequently found in the early nineteenth-century journals, of a convicted man’s reminiscences.” Knight adds that “it also has potent modernity,” but he adverts only to its “sexual frankness” and the fact that

Postman

Frank and Cora are naturalistically “obsessed by sex and money.” Many critics have observed the considerable inﬂuence of The Postman Always Rings Twice on L’Étranger (1942; The Outsider, 1946) by Albert Camus (1913 –1960). (Bradbury, 88; Dingley, 63, 65; Frohock, 21, 33; Keating, 51–52; Knight, 126; Madden 1970, 171–174, 182–183n13; Madden 1985, 79 –92; Reck, 375; Skenazy, ix, 170) MGM bought ﬁlm rights for The Postman Always Rings Twice for $25,000 (1934), but had to wait a long time before producing and releasing it (1946). Sheri Chinen Biesen explains why. The ﬁlm tardily but inevitably made its way past Hollywood censor Joseph Breen (1888 or 1890–1965), who worked for the sniffy Production Code Administration, which had been established by the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America to keep U.S.A. ﬁlms sanitary. However, during World War II, American movies were permitted to depict franker scenes of violence, to stir macho patriotism. In addition, the movie version of Cain’s Double Indemnity, released in Los Angeles in August 1944 and opening in New York a month later, gained instant critical praise and great box-ofﬁce revenue. Hollywood accordingly found itself ready to release non-war-related movies featuring illicit love affairs and consequent criminal action. Moreover, movie adaptations of Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep and two more Cain novels—Mildred Pierce and Serenade—were in the celluloid pipeline. Soon emerging was MGM’s steamy masterpiece starring Lana Turner as Cora and John Garﬁeld as Frank. Patrick J. McGrath remarks that “[t]he chemistry between the two stars helped charge the ﬁlm with sexual tension.” Pauline Kael, with predictable sarcasm, opines that MGM’s ﬁlm illustrates the “[h]ack movie-making of the forties,” which necessarily must have “a hard, glossy patina and, of course, a juicy center.” The result is “shoddy melodrama, which features “animals-in-love,” with Turner’s “impeccable white dress” hardly concealing “her sweaty, murderous impulse.” Kael concludes that, whereas “tragic fate is Greek,” Frank’s getting away with killing Nick but being wrongly charged with killing Cora is a “cheap, ironic little twist” which [understand this, readers] “is American.” Kael would also hold her nose if she ever read Roy Hoopes’ report that Pocketbooks in 1950 awarded Cain a “Silver Kangaroo” when their reprint of The Postman Always Rings Twice “passed the million-copy sales mark” (Hoopes, 448). As mentioned, David Mamet wrote the ﬁlmscript for the Nicholson-Lange re-adaptation of The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981). Tony Williams, praising it highly, begins by saying that “[a]s a dramatist inﬂuenced by the Midwestern school of naturalists..., Mamet ... crafted his ﬁrst Hollywood

Postman

184

screenplay along several strategic artistic paths. He ... developed several ideas he would employ both in his later plays and the ﬁlms he would direct himself.” Williams explains that while Mamet used Cain’s basic plot, he avoided voice-over narration and had his characters reveal themselves by actions and not by protracted dialogue. Williams also comments that although Frank and Cora kill Nick “to use his body as an economic commodity ... [they] ironically end up as cheated as those victimized by Mamet’s hard-selling business techniques in Glengarry Glen Ross.” During an interview, Mamet recalled the following: “This book [Cain’s novel]— I love Cain, and this is one of his best — has a great plot: just when other books would have ended, this one begins. It’s what happens after the murder that’s the interesting part. I accepted almost everything in the book. Once I started working..., the challenge was to dramatize the narrative sequences— how to take something that’s basically narrative, which is an interior monologue whereby the character is telling you his feelings, and translate it into drama, where all you see is what the character does.” Robert G. Porﬁrio, however, was disappointed in the 1981 movie. He says he hoped it would display “a modernity ... fully consistent with its literary source.” He adds that even though it was “well-crafted,” it “fails to meet this sort of expectation.” He complains that its “ﬂuid visual style ... is ... a bit too calculated,” its “interiors are ... unrealistically dark,” “Cain’s bloody details are eliminated,” and, ﬁnally, when Frank cries over Cora’s smashed body, the effect is “sentimentality ... at odds with the mood of Cain’s novel.” Nor did Leonard Maltin approve, calling the 1981 movie an “[e]xceedingly unpleasant adaptation, with “sex scenes ... more violent than erotic.” When the Garland/Turner Postman hit French movie screens, called Le Facteur sonne toujours deux fois, it was a sensation. François Guérif calls Cain “prince de la série noir.” Although Gérard Camy complains of “trés puritaine Amérique de l’aprésguerre,” he praises Garﬁeld because “il se glisse parfaitement dans sons [Frank’s] personnage avec efﬁcacité et sobriété,” even while Lana Turner “est symboliquement habillée en blanc ou en noir suivant les événements” and occasionally with “[s]hort moulant et turban exotique.” So popular in France has the Garﬁeld/Turner movie been that L’Avantscène Cinèma 531 (Avril 2004): 20 –99, published the entire ﬁlmscript in French, in 659 numbered scenes, and with 40 photographs. Marcus Millicent provides details about The Postman Always Rings Twice when Italian ﬁlmmakers turned their attention to it, beginning with Luchino Visconti (1906 –1976). Millicent writes that in 1937 “Luchino Visconti, the standard bearer of the Cinema group [seeking to create naturalistic Italian

movies], was to embody its ideals in his ﬁrst ﬁlm.” But since that movie was to be based on a novel depicting Sicilian “banditry and self-degradation,” Fascist censors, superactive at the time, refused permission. Regardless, Visconti received permission to ﬁlm his Ossessione, based on Cain’s novel, even though the result was surely going to be an “equally subversive threat” to “the regime’s idea of artistic propriety.” Millicent declines to add, but might have, that “the regime” perhaps considered Cain to be an exemplar of America’s capitalistic, democratic decadence. J. P. Telotte, in contrasting the movie and the novel, says that Visconti’s aim is to commingle “obsession and reﬂection, ... determinism and free agency.” Luciana Bohne, who translated an essay by Giuseppe De Santis, says in her introduction that Visconti’s “ﬁlm paves the way for the liberating scream that will shatter the screen in Rossellini’s Rome, Open City only a few years later.” (Roberto Rossellini [1906 –1977] was a distinguished movie director who unfortunately began his career directing Fascist-censored and -commissioned ﬁlms. After the Allied invasion of his homeland [1943], Rossellini gained international fame by creating neorealistic ﬁlms, beginning with Roma Cittá aperta [1945].) De Santis, and also James M. Welsh, discuss in detail Visconti’s adaptation of The Postman Always Rings Twice. In Ossessione, originally to be called Palude (Swamp), Visconti transmutes Cain’s hero in a California landscape into charming Gino, a vagrant mechanic, who abandons Trieste to try his luck in northern Italy’s Delta Ferrarese, where he ﬁnds love with Giovanna, sad wife of vulgar Bragana. Visconti’s purpose is to dramatize “the moral sliminess of the story’s protagonists, their gloomy, stagnant tragedy, matured in the shadow of sinister interests and morbid sensuality.” Gino’s association with one Spagnolo, a homosexual, provides side action. Giovanna and Gino kill Bragana in a car “accident”; she is pregnant, is killed in a genuine car crash; Gino is arrested. Of importance is the fact that Italian censors and MGM’s annoyance that Visconti lacked screen rights caused American audiences to wait until 1970 to see Ossessione. A recent ﬁlm critic, Christopher Wagstaff, takes a more conservative position regarding Ossessione, when he states that “[i]t is generally agreed there was a ‘preneorealist’ period into the early 1940s, as Fascist hegemony collapsed, containing Visconti’s Ossessione [and ﬁve other named Italian movies of the time].... Everything points to continuity within a tradition, rather than a violent break with the past, as was the view held at the height of neorealism’s struggle for survival.” (Biesen, 41–48; Camy, 10, 11; De Santis, 24, 25; Guérif, 13; Hoopes, 162; Katz, 1102, 1183; Kael , 332, 333; Maltin, 1102; Millicent, 19; Pelizzon and West, 232–233; Porﬁrio, 102, 103,

185 104; Telotte, 63; Tibbetts and Welsh, 331; Wagstaff, 24; Williams, 35, 38; Yakir, 41) Powell, Lieutenant (Mignon). He is a Union naval ofﬁcer whom Sandy Gregg knows and who has information inimical to Burke. So Burke has Pierre Legrand kill Powell. Though guilty of collusion, Burke is not indicted, on the grounds of insufﬁcient evidence. The President (The Institute). The President of the United States attends the ceremony opening Lloyd’s Institute of Biography. He and Lloyd discuss football brieﬂy. Cain does not indicate exactly when events in The Institute occur. However, since it was published in 1976 and the president discusses football knowledgeably, one may hope that he was Gerald Ford, president from 1974 to 1977. If so, then it was First Lady Betty Ford who tells Lloyd that her husband is “a fan of yours, Dr. Palmer.” Pudinsky (Serenade). He is a talented “kid” pianist whom Winston Hawes, a rich homosexual orchestra conductor, has commandeered to play at parties he gives. Pudinsky bothers John Howard Sharp by playing jazz rather than Brahms. Pudinsky, evidently also a homosexual, is aghast when Winston is murdered. Purrin, Rod (Mignon). He is a sailor aboard the Nebraska. In Burke’s second phony “Lorl Patrol” letter is the statement that Purrin helped Landry ship shoes as Christmas gifts. Pyle, Mrs. (The Moth). She is the music teacher Nancy Dillon wants Jack to study with. But Jack’s father Patrick calls Mrs. Pyle incompetent and vetoes the idea.

R Rachal (Mignon). He is named as having an Alexandria warehouse loaded with cotton. Rainbow’s End (novel, 1975). (Characters: James J. Bledsoe, Dr. Cline, DiVola, Douglas, Miss Duncan, Rich Duncan, Sergeant Edgren, Borden Giles, Jane Giles, Myra Giles, Sid Giles, Hanks, Dave Howell, Jody Howell, Myra Giles Howell, Holt, Lefty Johns, King, Knight, Jill Kreeger, Mantle, Morgan, Mrs. Morgan, Jack Mullen, Nellie, John Gilmore Rider, Mrs. Rider, Santos, Shaw, Dr. Snyder, Bob York.) 1. Dave Howell, hero-narrator, is 22. His “Mom,” in her 30s (about 38), trim and beautiful, is Jody Howell’s widow. Jody, from Texas, met her in Ohio. She moved there after arguing and losing her job “slinging hash” in Fairmont, West Virginia. Jody

Rainbow’s

built a small frame house beside the Muskingum River near Marietta (Ohio). He left a $10,000 life insurance policy to Dave, which bothered Mom. They bought a bigger house, near their ﬁrst one. Mom talks of gold at the end of the rainbow and how they can get it by driving to Cumberland, Maryland, buying lottery tickets, and winning. Mom also hints she’d love to sleep with Dave. This evening she puts his hand on her “warm” breast. Dave is aware that “mountain” youngsters hereabouts, say a Sonny, 16, and a Sissy, 14, often sleep with their respective parents. Mom’s kimono is unbuttoned, “everything hanging open.” He tells her to wrap up. She says there could “be a reason” for their loving. Puzzled, he tells her to “git.” [Cain never develops Mom’s rainbow image; in fact, rainbows are mentioned only one more time in the novel.] If Dave were “mountain” like Mom, he’d be tempted. His girlfriend, great at love-making with him, recently married a guy — he had a Cadillac. Mom returns, whispers that someone is on their humpy little island in the river, invisible from their houses. He remembers a TV report today that a man high-jacked a plane when it circled between Chicago and Pittsburgh. He demanded and got $100,000 and a parachute. Mom hears a man yelling and a girl screaming in the dark. Dave dresses to go check. 2. Armed with ﬂashlights and his father’s Enﬁeld, Dave and Mom spot the guy. He demands a boat and a car. The girl says she’s the stewardess and he’ll kill her otherwise. (She shoved him out; he grabbed her; down they went together.) Dave says they’ll drown without his boat, tells Mom to keep them talking while he fetches oars. It’s 5:05 A.M.(March). In his tiny “johnboat,” he approaches the snarling guy and the scared girl. To keep them talking, Mom urges him to shoot the girl. (Dave explains this means don’t shoot, because Mom, being “mountain,” talks “left-handed.”) Dave aims his riﬂe, orders the guy to drop his gun. Instead, he ﬁres his “cheap .32”; Dave shoots him through the head. Dave carries the girl to the boat. Mom, reviled by the girl, asks where the money is. She tells Mom to dive into the water and seek the hijacker’s parachute and money bag. Dave wants to phone the sheriff. Only when she says, Mom replies. [Sonja Lang in Cloud Nine, ch. 2, is also said to talk “left-handed.”] Dave carries the shivering girl inside. Brush on the island has badly cut her feet and legs. He introduces himself as Dave Howell. She is Jill Kreeger. She kisses him. He undresses her, notices her chattering teeth and other body parts, rubs her dry, puts her in his downstairs cot, runs upstairs for clothes for her. First, another kiss. Lips icy. 3. Dave ﬁlls the tub with warm water, carries Jill up, and lowers her in. She says he’s God, saving her not from hot hell but “cold wet” danger. He peers

Rainbow’s

186

at her breasts, which she lifts toward him. Cuddling one, he says God isn’t supposed to be sexy. She warns Dave that his Mom will return, wonders what she’s doing, theorizes Mom wants the $100,000 and wanted both the guy and Jill dead and rolled into the river. Dave says she’d never want that. Jill insists he’d then necessarily cooperate with his mother; fearful, Jill makes him phone the sheriff. Dave gets a response from an ofﬁcer when he mentions killing Shaw, the plane hijacker. The ofﬁcer will send an ambulance for Jill, a “dead wagon” for Shaw, and cops as soon as possible. Jill, in a blanket, dials long distance to Jack Mullen, her airline’s chief dispatcher. She asks the surprised fellow to thank Mr. (Russell) Morgan, airline president who sent the money and whose worried wife, Jill reminds Jack, is “a doll.” [Jack and Jill.] Mom enters. Jill says Dave called the cops, therefore Mom shouldn’t kill her now. Mom says she found the parachute but no money. Jill says she probably found the money and hid it. Mom threatens her with the riﬂe, which Dave says must be surrendered to the police as evidence of Shaw’s death. Dave prepares coffee and corn fritters, and serves everything “fancy” to Jill in the living room. He watches the child-like girl eat and has breakfast himself; Mom stays in the kitchen. Cops arrive. 4. Sergeant Edgren says the sheriff is in Europe, and brings in his middle-aged deputy Mantle and Dr. Cline and undertaker Santos. They get Jill, speaking coolly, into the ambulance and away. Dave explains events. Mantle wonders what took him 45 minutes to phone. Dave says that he cared ﬁrst for Jill, who landed in the water with Shaw, and that his mother vainly sought the zippered bag of money— described on TV — in the water, for a possible reward. He points to where Shaw lies dead. Edgren and Mantle row to the island. Mantle photographs corpse and trampled brush. When asked, Dave shows where he stood when he shot Shaw. Edgren notes a twig, evidently shot off by Shaw when he aimed at Dave. Edgren says Shaw’s gun contains one ﬁred shell. Santos has Edgren phone ﬁreman DiVola, whose company has a boat big enough to get the corpse from island to shore. Meanwhile, Dave sees Mom phoning Sid, her brother in Flint (West Virginia), and hopes her account to the cops isn’t “left-handed,” hence not squaring with the truth. Mom enters, dressed beautifully and showing pretty legs. She reminds Mantle they knew each other and he was from Marietta; says she’s “Little Myra” Giles Howell, not cousin “Big Myra Giles.” Mantle recalls that Myra argued with another girl, forcing “Mr. Hanks” to phone a complaint; curtly tells her Edgren has some questions. Myra (Mom) narrates events accurately. She says she checked, observed the man was dead, rowed

around, saw the parachute in the water but not the money. She is babbling about the poor girl, when a horn sounds and silences her. 5. Three ﬁremen enter, check Shaw’s corpse. Mom offers to get a towel to wrap his head. The men put Shaw in their longer boat, have Dave tow it by his johnboat, approach Dave’s house. Edgren tells Santos what to do before the autopsy. Mom asks if they looked for the money, probably know where it is, probably near the parachute; she wants her “cut.” Edgren tells her to inform the airline. Mantle rows Mom to the parachute. Dave gets some cordage. Edgren ties it to the parachute; they drag it from the island to Dave’s property. Mom paws its red and white silk sections. No money. She wails that it’ll be swept downriver, over the falls, and lost. Mantle stares at Mom. Edgren spreads the chute to dry. It’s 9:00 A.M. Dave invites the men in for food. They’re too busy. Edgren advises Dave and Mom to consider consulting a lawyer, says he’ll bring Jill out and ask more questions, about 5:00 P.M., but adds they needn’t speak. Dave and Mom get worried. Edgren says a coroner’s jury could charge Dave. Mom gripes. Edgren glances at Mantle, whose eyes remain downcast. Dave hands his riﬂe to Edgren. 6. Mom says the sun will rise soon. Usually does, is Dave’s answer; this puzzles her. A TV woman and her crew arrive from Parkersburg, West Virginia, across the Ohio (River) from Marietta. The woman says they’ve already interviewed Jill, in her short hospital nightie, says Jill praised Dave. Cameramen record an interview with Dave, then Mom. She says she told Shaw the consequences “if he dast to kill that girl”; says she and her son are “mountain” and therefore don’t boast, but Dave “done” what was needed. Everyone leaves. Dave praises Mom, who plants a sticky kiss on the palm of one of his hands. A Chevy brings three reporters—from Marietta, Chicago, and a news service. They interview and photograph mother and son. Mom expands on her story. The reporters leave. Some people from upriver bring food, wanting to help, they say; but they really hope to learn more than their radios are reporting. Mom expatiates further. Dave gets a phone call from (James J.) Bledsoe, a lawyer he knows through pumping gas for him at the station where Dave works. The reporters leave. Bledsoe says he was just in the sheriff ’s ofﬁce on a case when he overheard a clerk on the phone, evidently with “the prosecutor,” repeatedly saying that Mantle knew “her” and her word couldn’t be trusted. Bledsoe wants to be present when Edgren questions “her,” to be of possible help to Dave. Dave realizes the untrustworthy “her” is Mom, not Jill. He forces Mom to reveal that Mantle investigated her, because

187 when in Fairmont she accused another waitress of stealing her tips, a man interfered, Mom bit him, the manager summoned the cops, but the consequence was merely Mom’s departure to Marietta. About 4:00 P.M. a Chevy arrives. In it are a driver, Jill in borrowed clothes, a nurse [unnamed], and an airline man named (Bob) York — who followed her call (to Jack) by ﬂying here and renting this car for her. York praises Jill for pushing Shaw out of the plane with her, thus saving 28 lives—and the plane. Bledsoe arrives, tells York and Jill he represents Dave, tells Jill she should accept him as attorney, says she’s in trouble. When Bledsoe says Mantle is making trouble for her, she says she doesn’t know any Mantle; Dave says Jill’s not the woman Mantle knows. 7. Bledsoe suggests getting their story straight. Ever-aggressive Mom calls Mantle a suspicious “rat.” Dave explains he tended to Jill before calling the police; Mom explains she was occupied seeking the money for a reward. Jill says Edgren and Mantle ﬁgure Mom found and hid the money. Dave hits Mom to prevent her attacking Jill. Bledsoe says the cops could ﬁgure Dave, Jill, and Mom conspired to kill Shaw and grab the money. York calls Jill “Honey” and persuades her to relax. Two additional cars arrive. They disgorge Edgren and Mantle, and “Mr. Knight,” from the ofﬁce of the state’s attorney. Edgren recites Jill’s rights. Jill speaks: Shaw idiotically waved gun on plane; Jill walked ahead of him; copilot Lefty Johns opened passenger door; plane dipped into air pocket; Johns jeered at Shaw to jump; Jill pushed him out but he grabbed her; she pulled ripcord; suddenly in freezing water, she swam to (island) shore, hurting feet; two ﬂashlights approached. Edgren and Mantle ask about the money. Jill says Shaw never mentioned it. Edgren, Mantle, and Knight confab — wondering why Shaw didn’t seek the money. Jill says Dave’s mother and Shaw “hollered” at each other. When Edgren asks if the two yelled “[a]bout the money,” Bledsoe objects and Jill says she was too scared to listen but heard a “voice” say drop the gun, heard Shaw ﬁre, heard a riﬂe scatter Shaw’s “brains running out,” regarded someone rescuing her as her prayer-answered “God.” Jill winds down: Mom said she’d seek the money; Jill had a warm bath; the cops were summoned. When Edgren asks how Shaw got a gun through the airport metal detector, Jill says Shaw said he paid $10 to do so. 8. Bledsoe says he believes the lawmen, huddling now, ﬁgure maybe Dave killed Shaw, the three scrambled to ﬁnd the money, then called the cops. Bledsoe asks if they have any reason not to want the cops to search Dave’s two properties. No. Bledsoe tells Marion (Knight) his clients “waive a warrant,” so

Rainbow’s

go search. They do, thoroughly and considerately, even examining the chilly “other house,” a half mile distant and Texas-built by Dave’s father, as Dave tells knowledgeable Edgren. When Edgren says they found nothing, Mantle glums “so far, anyway.” York pays Mom to use the phone, talks to Russ Morgan, “Trans-US&C” president, and says Morgan says Jill may keep the money if found and get a reward if it’s not found; therefore Jill can’t be charged for stealing what’s “already hers.” Knight tells York she’s not charged but could be later. Bledsoe tries to mollify everyone. Knight announces the autopsy tomorrow (Monday), the inquest Tuesday; asks Dave, Mom, and Jill to be available as witnesses. York offers to drive Jill back to the hospital. Dave says no, he will. The outsiders leave. Dave tells Mom he’ll return, carries Jill to his car. Jill says she didn’t tell the cops that Mom shouted to Shaw to kill Jill—because she loves Dave despite his mother. Dave says he loves Jill. [Yet again, “love” blooms fast for two more of Cain’s troubled couplers.] Dave drives Jill to the hospital. They stand on the terrace and view the Muskingum. Jill reminds Dave that York said the money is hers. Dave says it’s undoubtedly water-soaked in the Muskingum. She says that while it was Morgan’s she didn’t care but now it’s hers; that Dave’s Mom surely found it strapped to dead Shaw; that she hid it, perhaps on the island, which Dave says is his property but which the cops didn’t search. Jill says she’ll get her money, prefers it to his love even, weeps glittering tears, heads for the hospital. 9. Home again, Dave gets no immediate response from Mom, whom he therefore shakes. She whirls, slaps him. He slaps her in response. Whirling, she tears her dress open. After a slugging contest, she bewails his liking that Jezebel (Jill), who “sleeps up” [i.e., around]. Dave says Mom slept up too. Proof? He recently checked hospital records and learned Myra Giles gave birth to him, married cold Jody, etc. Mom momentously confesses: Big Myra Giles, her cousin, gave birth to Dave, whom Little Myra (Mom) adopted; Mom married Jody, got paid for Dave’s board by his unknown father, who was a married bus-line surveyor who met Big Myra when she was typing for a Logan County coat company. Dave’s mind whirls; “Mom” says she wants his physical love. No. But he kisses the weeping woman. Big mistake. She slobbers kisses over him. Hungry [for food], he cooks some items to augment the neighbors’ offerings. She hopes for a new understanding. He wonders who his father is—“some big wheel,” he reckons. After showing “more [of her body] than the law allowed,” she retires (frustrated). Dave is glad “Aunt Myra,” beautiful and always liking him, is his real mother, but he wonders about

Rainbow’s

188

his father. He falls into an uneasy asleep, interrupted when Mom lies naked beside him and awakens him. He tells her to leave. She says their mutually wanted love would now be OK but for that hateful girl he’s taking up with. He says he isn’t doing so. All the better, Mom counters, with her “young ... and soft and stacked” body wrestling close. He locks her out, hears her phone and then drive off (in his car). Abed again alone, Dave wonders who he is. [Thus this longest chapter of the 24-chapter novel ushers in its second third.] 10. Dave must discuss things with Jill. He calls her at the Marietta Memorial, invites her to get here for breakfast, says Mom is gone, phones his gas station, ﬁbs that deputies may be coming with more questions. Joe, manager there, praises Dave as a hero and please take what time he needs. Jill arrives in the car Bob York rented for her. She says Bob gave her $1,000 in spending money, for a motel, etc. She brings Columbus, Akron, Pittsburgh, and Chicago newspapers— all ﬁlled with their stories. They embrace, have breakfast, and he says Mom isn’t his mother. Jill counters that she sure didn’t act like his mother. He reminisces about Mother, whose lover Mom swears she doesn’t know. Jill ﬁgures Dave’s unknown father “must have it,” to pay regularly for Dave’s keep for love of Dave’s Mother. Jill suddenly says that Shaw may have pulled her locket off when they left the plane; it’s missing; maybe it’s on the island. Dave and Jill plan to row the johnboat to the island and search. But the boat, drifting into the river, is caught on a snag midstream. Dave phones Edgren, asks him to ask the DiVola ﬁremen use their cruiser to retrieve it. OK. Three ﬁremen rescue the boat, ogle Jill, and search the island with Dave and Jill, into whose hand one ﬁreman soon drops her locket. Oh, if that boat hadn’t hung on that snag. In his house, Dave tells Jill about his lovable Mother, the fun they had when she as “Aunt Myra” visited their smaller house, which Jill says she’d like to see. But Dave must stay put here. More upriver neighbors come around noon, with food. Jill sheds some tears, then eats. Douglas, one of the neighbors, says he came to see the hero. And heroine Jill too, she chirps— to applause. Dave and Jill discuss Mom. Jill offers to help her should Dave wish to prosecute her (for fraud). [Jill mispronounces “identiﬁed” as “idemniﬁed.” (So what?) In The Institute, ch. 14, Cain has another young woman say “idemniﬁes” instead of “identiﬁes.” Cain’s motivation remains unclear.] 11. People drop in and out. Edgren phones to report the autopsy is delayed again, and Dave should tell Mom. Yes, if he can, he silently thinks. Reporters from the Marietta Times call, get data from

Dave. Jill, having been shopping, phones Dave from her motel in town (Marietta). He suggests she inform Edgren. Dave prepares some lamb. In pops Jill—in winter coat, green mini, hose, comfortable shoes. She hoists her skirt to display nice legs. [She mispronounces “frumpy” as “frumpty.”] A car’s approach interrupts their embrace. Enter Uncle Sid Giles, Mom’s brother from Flint on the Monongahela. He is tall, skinny, raw-boned, with ﬂannel shirt, striped pants, black hat. He asks where his sister is. Dave asks if she called Sid. Replying in that “left-handed mountain way,” he says he won’t say she didn’t. He’s mad that she phoned at 3:00 A.M. and hasn’t arrived at Flint yet. Jill interrupts to tell “Mr. Giles” that Mom is sore because Jill will marry “David.” Sid hints that Jill immorally stayed overnight with Dave. No, in the hospital, says Jill. Dave says Mom was here though, labeled Jill a “Jezebel,” fought with Dave, and drove off in his car. Sid wonders where she is. Dave doesn’t know and orders Sid out. Praising Dave, Jill says Sid’s hat made him resemble a TV villain. She praises Dave’s “mountain”-like killing (of Shaw) but says he can’t make her valley-like nature “mountain.” He says “mountain” saved her life. Asked about Sid, Dave says he’s caretaker of a played-out Ajax coal mine in Flint at $500 a month; but mostly he crawls into dangerously collapsing mine areas, sets up stills, and produces moonshine — using underground springs for water, shafts to dump used mash, and traps for ventilation. Asked for more about Sid, Dave says he once visited a week, after which Mom drove him back in his car. Dave mentions some strip mining near Flint, with the land smoothed over and planted in clover and trees. Jill says she’d like to see the place. 12. Mother drives up, gorgeously dressed. Jill says she’s beautiful. Mother calls Jill world famous now. Dave embraces and kisses Mother. When she asks where his mother is, he hesitantly says “right here.” They weep together. Mother asks when and why Mom revealed the family facts to him. Last night, he answers, declines to say why, says she took his car, is gone. Jill blurts that “Mrs. Howell” (Mom) didn’t like Jill. Mother observes Jill carefully, says she “can well understand,” wonders if Mom broke her pledge of silence because she wanted a “new relationship” with Dave. He won’t say. Mother says she knew “it [Mom’s wanting intercourse with him] was in the wind,” should have interfered before rescue dropped “out of the sky.” Mother and Jill like each other. Mother says the papers report that the police want everyone available for the inquest and wonders if they’re aware Mom is missing. Jill tells “Miss Howell” (Mother) that “Miss Howell” (Mom) is gone, surely has Jill’s $100,000,

189 must be located. Jill plans to alert the cops. Big Myra asks Dave to call him “Mother” not “Mom,” which he called his false mother. He asks who his father is. She says this: Dave’s father will identify himself to Dave when the man free — maybe not “long” from now — to do so, that is, when someone dies so she and Dave’s father can marry. She won’t say more. She kisses Jill fondly, drives off blowing a kiss to Dave, another to Jill. Jill says Mother turned icy when Jill said the cops must ﬁnd Mom. Dave tries to explain that Mother and Mom are sisters and “mountain ... kin,” says Jill won’t get any “mountain” people to help her collar the money. Saying she must think, she storms out. [Paul Skenasky notes that “[t]he incest tension and jealousy hold the ﬁrst half of the novel together, the mystery of the ransom money and Dave’s new parentage frame the rest of the story” (Skenasky, 125)]. 13. Dave ﬁnds Jill by the river, listening to its gurgling “ﬂood time.” Never having done so before, she wants to go ﬁshing. They locate a can of shrimp for bait and shove his boat off. She sees a big carp, swings her line toward its splash, but catches her hook in a white sycamore. Dave edges the boat toward it. While trying to free the line, she notices a hollow in the tree and locates a bag hanging there by a strap. Dave reaches a knife to her. She cuts the bag loose. In the house again, they discover the $100,000 in a hundred labeled packs of $20s. They dry them. Obviously, Mom found and hid the money. Jill proves it’s legally hers by showing Dave the letter Russell Morgan wrote conveying it to her in gratitude for saving the plane and its 28 passengers. They are aware that “Mom” secreted it and also wanted Jill dead. However, Dave, being “mountain,” gotta stick to kin. Mom “stashed” it for their cushy future. Jill asks what Mom can do alone. He says if Mom informs Edgren and Mantle, they will seize the money “as evidence,” and it may well get stolen, certainly wouldn’t be returned to her by the county. Jill puts the money in its original “red bag,” keeps it near her, tells Dave that both he and Mom were evasive to the authorities, who could prosecute them both —for lying and concealing evidence and for his not reporting Mom’s disappearance. Jill lies down on the sofa. He wants her upstairs with him. She kicks him in his “gut.” Each says goodnight. 14. Jill phones York the news at 8:00 A.M. He tells her to hire a lawyer. Jill and Dave phone Bledsoe to come quickly. They show him the money. He counts it carefully, which Dave and Jill didn’t do. One $2,000 pack is missing. Jill explains just how they found the money last night. Bledsoe says Jill’s legal claim is “shaky,” despite Morgan’s written “deed.” Bledsoe wonders who hid the money in the tree.

Rainbow’s

Jill says Dave’s “foster mother,” who hates her, did so and then vanished. Jill adds that she herself stayed overnight with Dave, for safety “not romance.” Bledsoe reminds Jill that she said Mom begged Shaw to shoot Jill but Jill didn’t reveal that threat to Edgren and Mantle, who, Bledsoe feels, would regard their suddenly ﬁnding the money too “conveniently on purpose.” He suggests this scenario: Dave and Jill should put the money back in the tree; tell Edgren they saw a prowler, “tonight,” in a boat near it; Edgren will then have to investigate, will ﬁnd the money and release it to Jill; she could then reward Edgren with $5,000 — all the less to pay in taxes. Mom can scream unavailingly. Otherwise, she could get implicated, demand immunity, and ﬁnger Dave as Shaw’s deliberate killer. 15. Bledsoe tells Dave, alone, that he doesn’t think Jill will put the money back in the tree; but the money could be seized, otherwise, and she could be jailed; Mrs. Howell (Mom) controls things; Edgren and Mantle suspect Dave, anyway, of killing Shaw for gain. Beldsoe leaves. Jill tells Dave she’s confused but wants that money. Dave says he’s got to warn Mom, can probably ﬁnd her in Flint near Sid, will tell her to “skip” to Mexico or Cuba. Jill doesn’t want Mom to keep even $2,000. Dave cautions Jill to think carefully, not drive away with the $98,000, but consult York immediately. Jill kisses Dave, but not passionately. He gets his truck from the wagon shed. Dave proceeds past Clarksburg, follows Deer Creek to Flint, locates the abandoned mine which Sid guards and makes moonshine in. [Cain follows with a two-page essay on depleted coal mines.] Dave sees Sid’s house, his housekeeper Nellie, but not his car. He calls on Aunt Jane, the Giles family matriarch, 60 and still trim. Dave hasn’t seen Jane for years. She lives with her son Borden Giles; he isn’t home. Over coffee Jane and Dave fence verbally by “mountain” indirections. The upshot: Sid is vainly seeking Mom, location unknown; via Pittsburgh TV, Jane knows Mom is suspected of taking the $100,000; Dave wants her to leave the country. Dave guesses wily Jane suspects he knows more than he’s saying. Mother drives up, kisses him, asks him if Mom is here. No. She asks Jane the same. Her “mountain” reply: “Not as I recollect.” Mother says she came here to warn Mom that Jill is “on her tail.” Dave knows Mother is unaware that the money has been found. She and Dave both say they want Mom “to skip.” Jane seems unfriendly to Mother. After the two exchange family gossip, Dave and Mother go to their cars and drive away, seemingly apart. 16. They stop at a park “lookout” to confab. Mother asks if Dave told Jane about knowing “Aunt Myra” is his Mother. No. Mother says Jane knows

Rainbow’s

190

but his now knowing could complicate things. Dave says Jill found the money, minus $2,000, tells about the tree, etc. Mother concludes Mom initially stole “that poke” [and hid it]. Dave relates Bledsoe’s suggestion about hiding the loot and letting Edgren ﬁnd it. Mother says suppose the cops work Dave over, learn everything, then ﬁnd and keep the money themselves; therefore, Jill ought to keep the money. Mother has a new angle, which she’ll discuss with Dave and Jill at dinner tonight; she’s at the new place called Two Rivers. [This dinner never takes place.] Dave drives his truck home, ﬁnds Jill, in one of his shirts, a pair of his pants, and his jacket. She kisses him, says she put the money back. How? is his wonder. First he says he sought Mom unsuccessfully at Sid’s place in Flint but also partly conﬁded in Mother there. Jill relays her actions: York, when she phoned his motel, drove her here in another rental; he learned of “hick” Bledsoe’s idea, vetoed it, made her phone Morgan; Morgan agreed Jill couldn’t trust Edgren and said so to York; York, angry, left; then Edgren appeared; Jill told him Dave was seeking Mom and would call him soon. Dave phones and leaves word for Edgren, who isn’t there. Dave and Jill pause, “mingling breath” but not “unbuttoning.” Jill explains she took a towel, a pair of galoshes, and the money, walked to the inlet near the sycamore, undressed, waded in galoshes to the tree in the icy water, and put the money back where it had been. She toweled dry, dressed again, and returned to the house—proud of herself. Dave cooks some food that Jill had laid out. They can then plot what to tell Edgren. 17. Done by 8:00 P.M., Jill and Dave formulate their alibi: They will say they were taking a nighttime walk near the river, heard a (prowler’s) boat, saw him across the river; Dave yelled, Jill screamed, and the prowler rowed away; Dave, without his riﬂe, needed protection, what with all this TV coverage, and decided to phone Edgren in fear. All set now, Dave phones Edgren; the night clerk says he’s out, the river is public property, anyone can row there. Dave, feigning taxpayer’s wild outrage, persuades the clerk to dispatch an ofﬁcer, who he says may need to stay overnight. Dave and Jill make up Mom’s bed. Mantle arrives, unhappy to see Dave but pleased that Jill is there. Mantle hands Dave a spare riﬂe from headquarters and says goodnight to Jill as she departs. 18. Next morning Mantle, having slept in Mom’s room, is on the phone, then behaves differently toward Dave, says “matters ... have come up,” tells him to get himself and Jill and Bledsoe “on hand” at 11:00 A.M. Mantle leaves. Dave phones Jill at the Occidental. They are puzzled.

Bledsoe reluctantly drives to Dave’s place. Jill and York, molliﬁed, arrive. They search Mom’s room but ﬁnd nothing that could bother Mantle. Then Edgren and Mantle arrive, in separate cars. Then Knight in another car. Edgren asks Dave about the intruder’s boat. Dave says it was dark, and he saw a rowboat, with an unknown number of persons in it. Jill gets sarcastic. Edgren pauses, “measuring her up.” Asked about his “stepmother” (Mom), Dave says he went to Flint to tell her to make herself available for questioning, but she wasn’t there. When Bledsoe defends “[t]his boy” (Dave), Edgren says he’s withholding “stuff.” Mantle reveals that in Mom’s room he found some tape used to package money; it was lettered reading $2,000 in a hundred $20s. He phoned the issuing bank in Chicago and learned it was part of taped packs of money sent to TransUS&Co, for the hijacker. Edgren asks Dave to explain the tape. Dave professes ignorance. Bledsoe urges courtesy. Jill says this: Dave is “mountain,” stands silently by kin; his Mom stole Jill’s money, could have dropped the tape by accident; Edgren should go check the tree the prowler was near. Edgren doubts there ever was any boater, says Jill wants him to ﬁnd the money and hand it to her. Two ﬁremen (Ed and Rufe) on DiVolta’s “outboard” sound their horn from the river. Mantle checks, says the pair want to talk to Howell (Dave). Everyone proceeds to the river’s edge. A ﬁreman, who is towing Dave’s johnboat, says it drifted and was snagged near the falls. Dave says he tied it to a sapling and “it must have been stole.” Knight asks the ﬁremen if they can take some passengers to a certain hollow tree. Ed asks Rufe, who answers “why not?” So Knight, Edgren, Mantle, and Dave climb aboard. The ﬁremen get them around the island, past the inlet, to the white sycamore. Edgren searches its hollow but ﬁnds only the red strap “she [Mom] had cut off that night.” Edgren says they’re “getting warm,” and he and Mantle agree the strap is from hijacker Shaw’s money-loaded bag. Dave turns cold, wonders on the way back what to say to Bledsoe about his “backﬁred” scheme and how to tell Jill his boat did get used by someone taking “her money.” Jill is aghast. So is Dave, when Edgren exonerates her and says the evidence — bank tape in his wastebasket, his “boat ... salvaged downstream,” etc.— mean he liked Jill but sure liked her money more. 19. Dave ﬁgures that he can’t implicate Bledsoe and that maybe Edgren thinks Dave isn’t guilty. Dave feels “paralyzed.” Not Jill. She spouts everything: Bledsoe’s scheme, her wading in icy water to plant the loot, Mom’s supposed guilt, guilty Dave’s supposed innocence. Knight interrupts with this: Bledsoe’s scheme wasn’t unethical, if his aim was to smoke out the guilty; there’s no proof Dave took

191 the money; Edgren must seek Mrs. Howell (Mom), who “it appears ... hid that money in the ﬁrst place.” Edgren: OK. Suddenly Mother, beautifully dressed and showing her legs, appears. Edgren warns her away from this criminal investigation. Dave says she can “[g]oddam” well stay on his private property. Mother eloquently speaks: Jill, once screaming, is now silent; Dave didn’t take the money; “Mrs. Howell”— Dave’s stepmother, her cousin — did; she has to be dead, didn’t appear in Flint so probably never drove there; kin can speak ill of deceased kin. Knight wants Mother’s help. Rufe vomits as he suddenly sees Mom’s bloated corpse ﬂoat by. Rufe says she must have taken Dave’s boat “that last time” when Rufe and Ed were there but capsized it fatally and down it ﬂoated. The pair get the corpse ashore. Dave won’t look and thus identify it. Mother bravely does, revealing Mom was Mother’s son’s stepmother, etc.; says Mom obviously took the boat, sought the hidden money, drowned; authorities must ﬁnd her car —“my son’s, actually”— and should visit Dave’s smaller house nearby. Mantle leaves, presumably to phone from his car for the undertaker and the coroner. Mother, Dave, Jill, Edgren, Knight, and Bledsoe walk to the other house; ﬁnd Mom’s car parked nearby, with ignition key and handbag in it, but not “the money.” Mother asks the ofﬁcials to leave as promptly as possible, since she must make some phone calls, forces Edgren to say Dave’s phone isn’t bugged, then asks Dave to drive her to his bigger house. Angry Dave tells Jill she can walk after them. While the two drive, Mother says Jill is a “sweet girl.” Dave says she is “a rotten little bitch.” Mother says Jill’s losing both money and love obviously provoked her. 20. Dave drives Mother to his house. She ﬁxes lunch. The authorities respectfully wish her well and leave. Santos and his men remove Mom’s body; he asks Dave for burial details and provides Dave with autopsy details. Jill and York walk to their cars and depart. Mother says she thinks “a Giles from Flint” took the money, having “turned on” Mom three years ago; Mother needs revenge; Sid, Mom’s brother, “knows everything.” Mother phones Sid’s house in Flint and leaves a message with his housekeeper asking him to call. Mother and Dave sit peacefully. Staring ahead, Mother says this: Dave’s father is an important man; he married shortly before meeting Mother; his wife had a stroke, languishes in Arizona with a nurse; he cannot “cast her off ”; Mother can’t help hoping that, after these 22 years, the wife will die; Mother and this man live in Indianapolis, in next-door houses; when they entertain, she’s introduced as his friend; she hopes to wed him when his wife dies. Sid phones. Mother tells him something hap-

Rainbow’s

pened to “Little Myra” (Mom) and the phone is bugged, beseeches him to come here. Dave realizes Mother didn’t say Mom was dead and maybe the person Mother “was after” is Sid. 21. Mother writes something and puts it in her handbag. Sid drives up, parks carefully so as to block Mother’s and Dave’s cars. Sid and Mother greet each other fondly. Sid says he last saw his “sister” (Mom) a few nights ago after he read about Dave and “that girl” and drove from Flint, after which he ﬁgured his sister would “head ... for home,” that is Flint. Mother says Mom is dead, drowned. Sid expresses a surprise seemingly feigned, Dave feels. Mother explains the body was snagged under water until today. Sid wipes dry eyes. Mother says only Mom and her deceased husband Jody knew the truth about Dave, therefore Mother and Sid “got work to do.” Sid uses Dave’s phone, tells the person who answers to “tell them all,” since the news will “come out anyhow,” and says he’ll be home late. Mother tells Sid that “she” (Mom) stole the poke, because neither David nor “the girl” (Jill) did. When Dave interrupts, Mother orders him to shut up and slaps him when he responds curtly. Sid nonchalantly says maybe “that poke got dunked.” Mother says this: Mom brought it here, as the bank tape proves; therefore it didn’t “get dunked”; Jill, while ﬁshing, found it, put it “back”; the ﬁreman brought Dave’s boat. Sid wonders so what. Mother says Morgan deeded the money to Jill, who thus becomes “one of us” upon her marrying Dave. Dave maintains silence. Sid says ﬁne but he can do nothing. Saying yes he can, Mother hands him the paper she wrote on, says she suspects the man whose name is on it; Sid is to tail him, watch how he begins to spend the $98,000 —“horses, girls, booze”— and then report. Sid declines, says Jill means nothing to him. Mother says time is important, admits she’s asking a lot of him, and rewards him with about a thousand in $10s for his time and costs, says it was part of what was “slipped” her. When Sid starts to put the cash in his wallet, Mother knocks the wallet away. Dave dumps Sid on the couch and hands it to her. She pulls a hundred $20s from it, accuses Sid of taking it from Jill when she “banged” out of this house, then of ﬁlching Dave’s boat last night and getting the bag hidden in the tree. By the time she is asking Sid where the bag is now, he is pointing a blue .45 at her. [Sid’s wallet must be monstrous, if it can house a hundred twenty-dollar bills.] 22. Sid, holding his .45 in one hand, gathers his wallet and the scattered cash with the other, drops Mother’s proffered thousand in her lap, and calls her “a lying, thieving bitch” and “a ﬁlthy whore.” He makes Mother and Dave lock hands kneeling, asks her where the poke is. She says he’s crazy. He says

Rainbow’s

192

she told him last night about the boat and the tree. She says “OK” but unlike him can’t betray “the girl” who’ll be kin. He wonders why she (Mother) is unlike him. She reminds him he recruited two cousins to distill moonshine with him in the dead mine, let them die there, lied that “they’d gone West” and then kept the considerable liquor earnings. A car drives past without stopping. Mother adds that when a strip shovel collapsed Sid’s part of the mine, Sid didn’t call authorities for help because doing so would have exposed his illegal still. Mother and Sid squabble. Dave hears a sound coming from behind him. (It is Jill.) Sid notes Dave’s fear and swivels the .45 toward him. Mother startles Sid by saying he hid the two cousins’ car, got “her” (Mom) to help him hide it in the river, had her hide his earnings in that excellent hollow tree and therefore would know her location of the poke — because Little Myra (Mom) told her. Sid counters that they’ll ﬁnd the poke by searching Mother’s car. Then Sid reviles kin-abusing Mother; she had the bastard (Dave), said Little Myra had him, made her raise him by irresistible money; so yes, “you’re a whore.” Mother counters “you’re a thief.” Daylight at 6:30 P.M. Sid, still armed, checks Dave’s car. Nothing in it. Sid checks Mother’s car. Nothing. He orders Dave to search Sid’s car, cluttered with junk, and then its trunk. Nothing. He orders Mother and Dave into the house by themselves. Mother seeks Dave’s riﬂe in the kitchen, screams when she can’t ﬁnd it, goes to the front door, only to be shot at from outside. Then Sid starts to drive away. Jill appears, levels the riﬂe carefully, shoots Sid’s left rear tire ﬂat. Sid continues to drive anyway, into the lane near the road, but the car bucks and overturns down into the gully. Jill dashes forward, sees the zipper bag tied to the gas tank’s intake pipe. Dave produces his knife for her to cut it loose but then hesitates. She breaks a few ﬁngernails untying it, cuddles it to her chest like “a newborn child,” then collapses in Mother’s arms. Mother tells Dave she will calm Jill down and call the authorities, warns Dave that Sid, armed, is in his car. Mother voices pride in Jill’s also behaving “mountain”— like “us.” Dave says leave him out. Jill decries his not giving her his knife. [Paul Skenasky inaccurately says that “Dave’s real mother ... solves the mystery of where the money is.” (Skenazy, 125) Actually, Jill’s marksmanship is the proximate cause of the revelation.] 23. Dave, with his riﬂe again, waits outside, yells for Sid. No answer. Edgren, Mantle, a tow truck, and an ambulance arrive. Sid’s car is up-righted. Sid is dead inside. The ambulance and the truck leave. Edgren and Mantle enter the house. Edgren asks Jill to explain. She says she wanted to ask “this lady” (Mother) about events, but drove past the

house when he spied (Sid) Giles’ car, parked unseen, sneaked into the kitchen and into the hall, listened, watched the three go to their cars, feared he (Sid) would kill her, took the riﬂe from the kitchen, and shot his tire. Edgren and Mantle straighten legalisms. Dave snaps at Jill. Mother says they’ll wed. Jill weeps as the cops bow and leave. 24. Dave says, “not to string it out,” he’ll be brief. In a triple inquest before a six-person jury, Dave, Jill, and Mother are acquitted: Shaw and Sid died by justiﬁable homicide; Mom, by accidental drowning. Mother returns to Indianapolis for three months; wires from Arizona report Dave’s father’s wife’s death; so Dave’s parents will marry; they drive in his Rolls to Marietta and throw a “bridal supper” in a “swank” hotel. Dave meets John Gilmore Rider, his father, and learns details of his relationship with Mother and of his vast commercial successes. Rider wants Dave to become David Rider, go to Cornell, learn the business “ropes at Polaris,” the oil company of which Rider is president, and in time take over. First, Dave agrees “to tape up” this narrative so Rider would be apprised of everything. Then however, before her marriage, behold Mother, She is sitting with Dave and Jill, and expressing a longing for a double ceremony. Dave says not me. Likewise, says Jill. Mother laments that Dave is about to be stubborn like his father and lose years of happiness, orders Dave to kiss Jill, orders Jill to whack him into submission the way Mother should have whacked her dilly-dallying lover 20 years earlier. Whack him with “that poke!” Instead, Jill, sick of it all, tries to burn the fatal money. Dave stops her, saying it’s hers, take it, and leave. She knocks him unconscious with the poke. He recovers, feeling her “swellings in front” as she hovers close, demands to be bopped in return. He uncovers her bottom but instead of bopping her hugs her. Guess the rest, Dave orders his readers. Roy Hoopes explains that Thomas Lipscomb, a partner of the well-to-do Mason-Charter publishing house, paid Cain $7,500 for The Institute and another $7,500 for Rainbow’s End, preferred the latter, and though it was written later, issued it ahead of the former. Lipscomb outraged Cain by rewriting the conclusion of Rainbow’s End to have “the hero lose the girl and the money.” Cain had his way, rewrote the ending, but later felt that the conclusion lacked sufﬁcient work. Paul Skenazy downgrades Rainbow’s End, because it is “an overcomplicated tale that returns to the issues of mountain ‘blood,’ inbreeding, and uncontrollable desire Cain ﬁrst explored in The Butterﬂy.” (Hoopes, 531–533; Skenazy, 124) Cain was inspired to write Rainbow’s End after hearing about the notorious “D. B.” Cooper. Dan

193 Cooper hijacked a Boeing 727 passenger aircraft when it was ﬂying from Portland, Oregon, toward Seattle, Washington (November 24, 1971). He revealed a bomb, threatened to destroy the plane unless parachutes and $200,000 in twenties were to be delivered to him. His demands were met. The plane took off headed toward Reno, Nevada, as he ordered. He lowered the rear steps, jumped into the dark and rainy night, and was never heard of again. $5,880 of the money, its serial numbers having been recorded, was found along the Columbia River outside Vancouver, Washington (February 10, 1980). Legends abound (Porteus and Blevins). On August 3, 2011, Maria Cooper, of Seattle, said her deceased uncle Lynn Doyle Cooper was “D.B. Cooper.” Rajah (“The Baby in the Icebox”). He is the tiger Duke bought to use in his animal show. Rajah responds lovingly to Duke’s wife Lura’s tender talk and caresses, but harbors hate for Duke, armed with whip and gun. Duke wrongly suspects Lura of inﬁdelity and tries to entice Rajah to kill Lura and their baby; Rajah bites him dead. Rajah (“The Visitor”). He is a tiger with the Biedermann-Rossi Circus. Rajah gets loose one evening and visits Greg Hayes via his open bedroom window. Rajah scares Greg, rampages in the bedroom, jeopardizes the well-being of Greg’s wife Rita and their little daughters, and bites Greg’s thigh. Gregg rendered harmless by ingeniously wrapping plastic over his head. The next thing Rajah knows is that he is recaptured and becomes a TV celebrity with his new friend Greg. Wouldn’t one think that Cain could give his second tiger a different name? See Rajah of “The Baby in the Icebox.” Ramos, Pabby (Galatea). He was a boxer whose jaw Duke broke. Duke, normally mild until aroused, regrets this action often. Rand (Mildred Pierce). He is a customer at the TipTop who is impressed by Mildred’s excellent pies. Randolph, Harold (The Moth). He runs Baltimore’s Peabody Conservatory and is inﬂuential in getting girls like Margaret Legg to play the piano in concerts. His death leads indirectly to the popularity of vaudeville and the end of careers like what Margaret hoped for. Raney, Bob (Mignon). He works in Wagener’s stationery shop in New Orleans. Bill buys a tablet of paper there which resembles the paper Burke used when he wrote phony letters signed “Lorl Patrot.” Rausch, Dr. (Past All Dishonor). He is a physician living on Taylor Street in Virginia City. When Roger Duval’s hand is wounded, Dr. Rausch sug-

Rico

gests amputating the arm to prevent death by blood poisoning. But Morina Crockett, Scott, and Mattiny cure the hand by a voodoo concoction. Red (“The Birthday Party”). He is a friend of Burwell Hope and drives a neighborhood ice-cream truck. Burwell owes him a dime. When Burwell ﬁnds it necessary to hide his shyness in front of Marjorie Lucas, he ﬁbs that he works for Red and drives his truck. Red (Jealous Woman). This is the name of a horse at Ed Horten’s ranch. Red (Mildred Pierce). He is a life guard who, to be mean, Ray Pierce says likes Ray’s older sister Veda. Reed (The Magician’s Wife). He is an Ocean City hotel proprietor whom Clay Lockwood encourages to go into business with him and other investors, and form a group to sell food and drinks on the beach. This to compete with sleazy businesses catering to juvenile rowdies. Reilly, F. X. (Cloud Nine). He is or was the head of the F. X. Reilly Estate ﬁrm. Graham Kirby is retained to sell ten of Reilly’s West Hyattsville “rental jobs” for $20,000 each, and does so in one proﬁtable month. Reiner, Jack (Past All Dishonor). He lives in Virginia City and shows Roger Duval how to enter the Dakota silver mine abutting the back door of house 17 in Gold Hill. Reiner, who is all, dark, and French-Creole, singles out Lola as his special girl. Renny (Past All Dishonor). He is a tall, skinny, dark French-Creole pianist originally from San Francisco. Renny is Biloxi’s faithful lover and piano player at her brothels, on Virginia City’s D Street, later on A Street. He was 19 in 1852 and is now about 30. Arthur Haines, lusting for Biloxi himself, warns Roger Duval that Renny has a rapier in his walking cane. When authorities evict Biloxi from her A Street house and move Renny’s piano out, it slips and badly crushes him. This clear Haines’s path to Biloxi. Richter (The Enchanted Isle). He is an insurance agent of the Patapsco Mutual in Baltimore. After Mandy Vernick reveals her reluctant part in a Baltimore bank heist, Richter, who has insured the bank, and Clark, its vice president, are happy to conspire with attorney Jim Clawson in an effort to retrieve part of the missing loot. Rico, Maxine (Sinful Woman). She is Tony Rico’s daughter, in her early 20s. She has acted in local plays and longs to be in movies. When Vicki Adlerkreutz is shot in Tony’s Galloping Domino, Tony initially refuses the plea of Dmitri Spiro, president

Rico

194

of the Phoenix movie company, to rearrange Vicki’s death. But Tony does so when Spiro agrees to make Maxine a ﬁlm star. Rico, Tony (Sinful Woman). He owns a gambling hall in town and also the Galloping Domino outside town. He is a stocky, rock-faced descendant of charcoal burners in the Sierras. Tony knows Parker Lucas, Sylvia Shoreham, and others. When Vicki Adlerkreutz dies by gunshot in the Domino, Tony loses whatever moral ﬁber he has; he agrees with movie-maker Dmitri Spiro to alter evidence concerning Vicky’s demise, in exchange for Spiro’s promise to make Tony’s daughter Maxine a veritable Garbo in ﬁlms. Rider, John Gilmore (Rainbow’s End). He is Myra Giles’s lover, Dave Howell’s unacknowledged father, and the long-suffering husband of a woman whose stroke leaves her an invalid in Arizona for 22 years. Only when she dies, which she does, can the lovers marry. Then John names Dave his son and aid him. Rider must rank as the character most ineptly introduced in all of Cain’s ﬁction. Only in the last chapter are his biographical vitals recorded. Rider, Mrs. (Rainbow’s End). She is John Gilmore Rider’s wife. She suffered a stroke and is invalided in Arizona for 22 years— only to die in the last chapter so that the widower can instantly marry his true love. Ridgely, Mrs. (Mildred Pierce). She is the widowed mother of Blanche Engel and Mildred Pierce. She lives in San Diego with Blanche, her husband Harry Engel, and their young son William. They all attend the funeral of Ray, Mildred’s younger daughter. Ritter, Guy (“Brush Fire”). See Anderson, Bub. Rivers, Mr. (The Butterﬂy). He is the preacher who handles Belle Tyler’s funeral. When he drives her daughters Jane and Kady to the ceremony, he is reluctant to let Belle’s husband Jess Tyler into his car. Roberts (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). He is the efﬁcient little expert who accepts the supposedly destroyed pinball machines from Ben Grace, relabels their holes to convert them into baseball machines, and plays a game with Ben.

Roberts, Manny (“Come-back”). He is a friend of Burton Silbro’s. When Silbro appeals to Tim Kennelly to sing in a short feature about Malibu that he is ﬁlming, he tells Kennelly that Manny can vouch for him. Rocco (Past All Dishonor). He owns the Esperanza gambling hall in Virginia City. He hires Roger Duval as his armed “lookout.” Roger warns Rocco before Big Hoke Irving and his cohorts enter to make trouble. The miscreants all wind up dead. Rocco, Mrs. (“Cigarette Girl”). She accompanies her husband Tony Rocco from Reno, Nevada, to Maryland. Mrs. Rocco’s function in this puzzling story is not explained satisfactorily. Rocco, Tony (“Cigarette Girl”). He is a bookie in Reno, Nevada. He is prosecuted for income-tax evasion, sells out, and with his wife brings his former employee Lydia Stark to Maryland. Then the Roccos are said to go to Italy. Lydia calls Rocco “the squarest bookie ever,” and “a Senator, and civic.” Rocco, Vanny (“Cigarette Girl”). He is from Reno, Nevada, and has come to Maryland to kill Lydia Stark, who works for Jack Conner in the Here’s How honkytonk. Conner, his assistant Joe, and Bill Cameron thwart him; and Joe kills him. The relationship between Tony and Vanny Rocco remains unclear in this poorly written story. Perhaps Vanny is good Tony’s evil brother. Is it possible that the two are one and the same person? Rodriguez, Teddy (The Institute). She was a student in Lloyd’s poetry class at the University of Maryland, and is a cheerleader able to perform eyepopping cartwheels and also splits while walking on her hands. She pursues Lloyd, intrigues his ﬁnancial angel Richard Garrett, and annoys both Richard’s wife Hortense and his mistress Inga Bergson. Ultimately, though, Teddy soothes Hortense’s crying baby boy, in the process humanizes Hortense, and then actually presides over Hortense’s mock marriage to Lloyd.

Roberts (Past All Dishonor). Scholl & Roberts is the Virginia City gun store that Roger Duval visits.

Roger (“Everything But the Truth”). He is a young boy in Fullerton. When Edwin Hope moves there and attracts Phyllis, Roger grows jealous. He sees his chance when Wally Bowman visits the Hopes and tells Roger that Edwin is a ﬁbber. But by accident, Edwin proves one of his ﬁbs resembles the truth.

Roberts (The Root of His Evil). He is the general manager of Karb’s, Inc. Carrie pretends “Mr. Roberts” is on the phone seeking Grant Harris. Carrie does this to trap Grant if he is spying on Karb waitresses. He isn’t.

Rogers, Lieutenant Colonel (Mignon). He is an ofﬁcer in the judge advocate’s ofﬁce in Unionoccupied New Orleans (1864). Bill presents evidence against Burke, but Colonel Rogers ﬁnds it insufﬁcient and does not indict him.

195 Rohrer (The Moth). He is an oil man with a small reﬁnery near Hannah Branch’s oil wells. He advises Jack Dillon and joins forces with Hannah and Jack to outmaneuver Mace & Co., and Mace’s friends. Rohrer, Hannah, and Jack team up to own wells and supply Rohrer. Rollinson, Henry W. (The Embezzler). He and his wife are Sheila Brent’s parents. Dr. Rollinson taught at Princeton University before joining the history department at UCLA 15 years ago, when Sheila was 10. “Hank,” as Sheila says friends call him, and his wife live in Westwood. When Sheila realizes that her husband, Charles Brent, is embezzling from the Glendale bank where he is the head teller, she asks her father to help her ﬁnancially to cover the losses discreetly. But Dave Bennett, working in the bank and in love with Sheila, provides the cash instead. Meanwhile, Rollinson has mortgaged his house and retained sufﬁcient money, in case. When Charles heists loads from the vault and is pursued, Rollinson and his wife take care of Sheila’s two little daughters. Charles foolishly grabs the kids, hoping to abscond with his mistress Miss Church, but is shot dead by the cops. Rollinson, Mrs. (The Embezzler). She is Henry W. Rollison’s wife and Sheila’s mother. Romeo (“The Baby in the Icebox”). This is a mountain lion so named by the narrator when Duke, a would-be lion tamer, buys a female lion that howls in her cage for companionship. Lura, Duke’s understanding wife, let the male into the animal cage. Lura is amused by the name Romeo. Lura, smiling, asks the narrator, “You wouldn’t keep two loving hearts apart, would you?” Cain thus brilliantly foreshadows the climax of the story. The killing of Duke by Rajah, another of his lions, enables two loving hearts— Lura and Wild Bill Smith — to join. Ron (“The Baby in the Icebox”). This is the name Lura gives the baby she and her faithless husband Duke have. Duke wrongly suspects Lura of inﬁdelity with Wild Bill Smith and therefore tries to get Rajah, Duke’s tiger, to devour mother and child. But Lura hid Ron in the icebox. Ronde, Dr. (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). He is the physician who treats mortally wounded Ben Grace and keeps him alive long enough for him to marry Dorothy Lyons. Ronnie (Past All Dishonor). He is a stalwart silver miner in Virginia City. Ronnie, 16, rightly criticizes Roger Duval, who then meanly ﬁres him. The Root of His Evil (novel, 1951). (Characters: Adrian, Beauvais, Charles Bolton, Charlie, Miss Eu-

Root

banks, Clara Gruber, Gus, Agnes Harris, Elsie Harris, George Harris, Grant Harris, Harwood Harris, Jane Harris, U. S. Grant Harris, Evan Holden, Hollowell, Bernard Hunt, Ruth Hunt, Hyde, Mrs. Jerome, Karb, Lindy, Lorna, Loudet, Mrs. Norris, Pierre, Roberts, Lula Schultz, Carrie Selden, Ma Selden, Pa Selden, Shirley Silverstein, Solon, Muriel Van Hoogland.) Part I. “The Girl in the Beanery.” One. Carrie Selden, narrator, is typing this autobiography on the deck of a sloop in the Caribbean off the Bay Islands. Her story begins when she met Grant. First, background. Born in Nyack, New York, an orphan adopted by somewhat impoverished Pa and Ma Selden, Carrie left them about 10 years ago when 15, became an attractive, money-conscious, ambitious waitress at both a Karb restaurant and the Solon bar in Manhattan, got a high school diploma via night classes, roomed frugally at the Hutton with fellow-waitress Lula Schultz, but dressed well to show her trim little ﬁgure. Carrie, now 22, at the Karb, hears waitresses mention organizing a union. A supposed company spy enters. Carrie boldly serves him. She spills water on his jacket, wipes it so as to read his name — Grant Harris— on it, and pretends he has a phone call from Mr. Roberts, Karb’s, Inc. general manager. Caught, she tells Grant her name and accuses him of spying. He admires her combination of “ﬂowerlike” delicacy and “cold” intelligence, reveals he’s studying “social reform,” wants to observe unionizing tactics. She says he can enter tonight’s Reliance Hall meeting at Third near 80th as a reporter. He says he was an army “second louie,” is idle at 27, leaves a 50¢ tip. (He mentions Okinawa later [in ch. ﬁve].) Two. Carrie learns little about Grant. They get intimate, but he conceals bits about himself and she remains contentedly ignorant. Carrie goes to a typically “inefﬁcient and slipshod” labor meeting, attended by 473 girls. But before they arrive from Brooklyn, two factors develop, resulting in Clara Gruber being named president and Carrie secretary-treasurer. In come handsome Evan Holden, C.I.O. organizer, with several reporters, and Grant. Holden, with a brogue, cracks jokes, then says that in the Capital-Labor “partnership” labor must “demand ... rights” and “stick.” Clara Gruber gabbles about labor’s “social value.” Carrie interrupts to say if they plan to “stick” let’s put up money. Clara is named president, and Carrie, secretary-treasurer. Carrie demands $1 per girl for enrollment, provides receipts, says she’ll deposit the total in the Central Trust Bank, Seventh Avenue and 50th, and send the receipt to Clara. Carrie records payments in an account book that Lulu buys at a drug store. Holden watches Clara, calls her “smart” and “pretty.” They talk.

Root

196

Grant sidles up, asks Carrie for a snack outside, but Holden says he and Carrie have work to do. Grant turns passive, which infuriates her. Holden gives money to Clara, puts her and a few other girls into a cab for supper at Lindy’s, says he and Carrie will follow. They taxi instead to the Hotel Wakeﬁeld. Holden gets mail at the desk, says he must await a message from Washington, takes Carrie to his suite, orders sandwiches, etc.. Carrie admires his casual assuredness, as he lectures her on labor in general and canny John L. Lewis, fellow Welshman, in particular. After their little meal, she fusses with money and names on slips of paper—until he kisses her and she kisses him in return. [John L. Lewis (1880 –1969) was a feisty, Iowa-born labor leader, president of the United Mine Workers Union (1920– 1960), founder of the Congress of Industrial Organization and its president (1935 –1940). He was disliked for ordering disruptive strike actions during World War II.] Carrie soon ﬁnds her dress “disarranged,” asks Holden for a comb; when he looks for one. she leaves and takes a taxi to the bank. When she’s depositing the money in signed envelopes, Grant, waiting there, appears. It’s 2:00 A.M. Three. After a few questions about unionizing, Grant says he wasn’t at Lindy’s. Carrie says she wasn’t either. She hints about being with a gentleman in a hotel but isn’t staying there. Relieved, Grant walks with her to the East River. Grant jumps over a barrier near Sutton Place. Carrie does a cartwheel over it. He says, admiringly, he’d like his half dollar tip back, not wishing to start their friendship with money. At her Hutton doorway, she says she wants something, presents her face, gets awkwardly kissed. She slips his 50¢ piece to him. Lula is waiting up for Carrie, accuses her of immorality with Holden, says she’s dumping the union, and moves out. Carrie concludes that Lula combined motherliness and jealousy, and notes that Lula caused “my trouble” later. Grant appears at Karb’s for lunches. Holden orders waitresses to plan strategy with him in his hotel suite. Carrie argues that the girls should demand pay from customers, not through a cashier, and requiring 25¢ tips as a minimum. Holden and some girls side with Clara’s wish that management increase their wage to 75¢ per hour. Holden, when alone, tells Carrie he’ll get somewhere with her later, then philosophizes: Let the girls make romantic demands; he favors a realistic strike now that it’s August, to strengthen “union spirit.” She calls that foolish. He says some foolishness would become her. On Saturday, Grant tells Carrie they can use a friend’s shack and boat near Port Washington to-

morrow, and will return her in time for the evening union meeting. He arrives in a “green coupe.” About 11:00 A.M., they get to the “shack”—a “luxurious” residence. “Swim, sail, or eat?” he asks. “[A]ll three?” she asks. In a bedroom she dresses in beach wear she just bought. He looks surprisingly muscular and ﬁt, “like some statue poured out of copper,” in his shorts. He ﬂourishes a lunch basket and paddle; they go by skiff to a moored sailboat. He instructs her about sail movements, and they pull out of the cove. Her ﬁrst sailing. Fearless, she claps her hands for joy. Four. With the boat drifting in smooth green water, Grant says it’s time for lunch. In the basket are sandwiches, eggs, and thermoses of iced tea —courtesy of a caterer named Loudet. After lunch, Carrie removes her robe, dives in, and surfaces some distance from the boat. Grant rebukes her, says if he had to rescue her they could be some distance from the boat and two miles from shore. She says the water was “nice.” He throws out a lifeline and swims with her. Suddenly he rushes to the boat, hauls her in, and says a squall will hit them. A man in another vessel says that he’ll ride it out and that Grant could wreck trying to get ashore. Nonetheless, they sail back, are caught by a swell, manage to tie to the buoy near the skiff, jump into it, and get ashore as ﬁerce rain hits them. In the mansion on a sofa drying out, they embrace, and Carrie, “terribly happy,” hopes the storm never ceases. Grant stows the sailing gear, sulks, lectures that he’s a weak junior executive, wants to organize many such execs, but people above will perpetually make slaves of those below. Carrie rebukes him, says she’s a girl new to New York but will be somebody some day and so should he be, you “healthy galoot.” She misses the union meeting. She prepares biscuits and canned stuff. They eat. She asks what’s really wrong, leads him nearly crying to the dark veranda, continues, “Tell me.” Yet, unwilling to reveal her background, she doesn’t genuinely encourage him, merely saying he’s “good” but should keep ﬁghting. He says he’s “blocked” from doing better. She again resists prying. He says he can get even by marrying her. She says she’d marry for love but not to help someone’s “little revolution.” He says he could reveal more. She would prefer catching a train to town. He sits her down. They argue. He says he loves her, but it’s not in a way she likes. She asks his wage; $100 a week; that’s enough counting her $85 a week; so “yes.” She sleeps. He makes breakfast. They beat Monday morning’s trafﬁc to City Hall and get married. Part II. “Knife Under the Tongue.” Five. They drive to the Hutton, assemble Carrie’s things, then on to Grant’s East 54th Street apartment — pretty expensive, full of Mexican paintings, Aztec weapons.

197 While he paces, she says she’ll get back to work. He gives her a key. Crying in a taxi, Carrie sees Karb’s being picketed. Toward “home,” she sees newspaper headlines: “Harris Jilts Deb, Weds Waitress.” Two articles are of interest: Grant Harris, heir to railroad millions, was in September to marry Muriel Van Hoogland, who was just returned from California; and Karb management’s refusal of workers’ demands precipitated the strike. After wasting time seeing a movie, Carrie ﬁnds newspaper reports about weeping Muriel, “Modern Cinderella” Carrie Selden, her orphanage asylum and Nyack high school (with her photo), her waitressing, Clara Gruber’s accusation that “Cindy” embezzled union funds, and an arrest warrant on her. Carrie phones the Solon she’s quitting, walks to Grant’s apartment, where he’s on the phone about somebody’s illness. He paces. Carrie says “the slaves” are picketing and she has quit. He says his mother is sick, reason being, yes, he married a waitress. He explains: U. S. Grant Harris, his grandfather, was a railroad executive, leaving $72 million to two sons; Grant’s father Harwood Harris is long deceased; Grant’s uncle George Harris, foolish Central American railroader, now heads Harris, Hunt and Harris, the ﬁrm Grant works for. He agreed to wed Muriel Van Hoogland to please his mother; sure, Muriel probably went to California for trousseau purchases. Carrie accuses Grant of omitting the word “love” in his marriage proposal, which obviously was for revenge on “the system.” He complains he’s denied freedom by uncle and mother, who is wondrous and whom he gotta go see now. Carrie blocks him. Shaking her, he confesses his passion is to study American Indians—“on the hoof,” not by books only—since Indians are “the one surviving link with this country’s past.” Carrie examines his cased artifacts and anthropological library. He says that Uncle George arranged his link to Van Hoogland wealth and is Grant’s “trustee”; that trying to unionize junior execs like himself was an abortive attempt to avoid being stiﬂed; Carrie is now his weapon. Initially scared, Carrie paces and thinks. He says he’d need a costly research “expedition,” helpers, and equipment. Carrie sits in his lap, calls him Grant for the ﬁrst time, says “Indians are swell,” vows cooperation. He says his book, taking 10 years to write, will be from the point of view of San Salvador Island Indians, who watched when Columbus ﬁrst dropped anchor — as moonlight ﬂooded the whole American continent. Six. Grant must send ﬂowers to his mother. Carrie says his mother should gift his bride. He leaves. She feels forlorn. A cop serves a warrant on “Car-

Root

rie Selden Harris,” explains her rights; learning she wants to phone no one, he takes her in. While a fat sergeant is talking about a magistrate’s meeting, in come Holden and “uncomfortable” Clara. They report to a kind of court. Carrie says the money she allegedly embezzled is properly in the bank. Clara disappears. Holden takes Carrie by taxi to a Reliance Hall, where she is wildly nominated for president. She says she’ll remain treasurer and just got married. That’s what they were applauding. She hates being “a successful Cinderella” and determines to discuss everything with Grant. At a place nearby, Holden and Carrie talk. She says she knew nothing about Grant’s family wealth. Holden says she’s lying, he wanted her himself, she can get an annulment and marry him. She counters, “I married the man I wanted.” Holden says she’s lower class, won’t ﬁt in; he’s European and knows; she has that American “illusion of equality.” After having some bacon and eggs, she says, “I married the man I want.” Finding Grant “home” reading, Carrie says she got arrested, explains, doesn’t mention Holden. Grant says they still need “that [wedding] dinner.” Taunting him about his mother and saying she already had bacon and eggs, she cooks him some. A phone call reports his mother is in the Polyclinic; he gotta go. She says she’ll either go to the Wakeﬁeld and live with a man who wants her or stay for her wedding night with Grant. He stares, sobs, ﬂings himself onto “the bed.” She extinguishes the light. Next day, a siege of reporters, photographers, and phone calls, and newspapers reporting Grant’s marriage was his decision but a disgraceful one. He visits mama, who says if he loves Carrie he must do and did do the one right thing. Grant is in turmoil because “sweetest” mama can “torture him” cleverly. Mrs. Hunt plus two other women phone to see Mr. Harris. Carrie says Grant’s ill and let ’em see Mrs. Harris ﬁrst, tells Grant his high-society sister lacks manners, pushes him into the bedroom. In walk Grant’s sisters: Elsie Harris, Jane Harris, and (Bernard) Hunt’s wife Ruth. Courteous but chilly chit-chat follows, which Carrie tries to control, by saying that she insisted on meeting the three women herself ﬁrst and that Grant is ﬁne. Ruth retorts she thought Carrie would be working. Carrie says yes but “we’re on strike.” As Carrie mentions Grant’s strange Indian research, in he comes, looking big and healthy. Carrie offers tea. The sisters say don’t bother. Grant produces a bottle of Scotch, which Carrie breaks, says proper manners require tea, serves a tray of canapes, tea, rye, and brandy. During laughter and insults, the ﬁve get drunk and speak their minds. The upshot? Pretense of amiability and Ruth Hunt’s promise of a cocktail party. Unused to alcohol, Carrie gets sick, passes out,

Root

198

recovers. Alone with Carrie, Grant says she was sweetly stinko and vowed she would attend Ruth’s party Friday dressed in Karb garb. Seven. The afternoon papers report the upcoming party and add that the Harrises accept Carrie “on probation.” Carrie and Ruth accuse each other of informing the reporters. Grant goes to the ofﬁce. To avoid reporters’ phone calls, Carrie goes to the Newsreel Theatre. The screen offers movies of “the Modern Cinderella” who “married ... a million,” the Karb girls’ strike, Carrie’s loyal leadership at Reliance Hall, jealous waitresses, and Holden’s spiriting Carrie away. She exits the theatre “panicky.” Grant returns about 6:30, accuses her of intimacy with Holden—which she denies, but adds she dined with him to make Grant jealous. He shakes her, kisses her passionately; they go dine. For the dreaded party Carrie gets advice from a saleslady named Miss Eubanks— green outﬁt with bronze shoes, tailored blue suit and brown shoes. She pays by check, not beholden to Grant. Friday, beautiful fall day. Carrie lovely in chartreuse green. Almost happy to go. About 4:00 Grant suggests that they walk. Looking great, they are admitted to a mansion between Park and Madison on 61st. Grant’s sisters are courteous. (Bernie) Hunt, tall, handsome, about 35, arrives directly from his ofﬁce, shakes Carrie’s hand, eyes her “sharply,” is “not unfriendly.” Ruth Hunt graciously greets guests. Is this party in Carrie’s honor? Knowing she lacks “culture,” she wonders what she can converse about besides her work. She gets an idea. She starts discussing the strike, which interests everybody. She carefully sips a cocktail. Her being a competent waitress made her careful with names; she impresses Ruth by keeping 50 or 60 guests’ names straight. [Really?] She lets others talk, is interested, asks questions. Ruth murmurs, “You’re doing ﬁne.” Suddenly a beautiful woman, perhaps 38, blonde with a perfect, petite ﬁgure, enters, uninvited. Silence. Ruth warns Carrie, now scared, that this will be unimaginably awful. It’s “Mother.” (Carrie learns that the woman was married at 17, gave birth to Grant quickly, was widowed when Grant was ﬁve.) Eight. Mother (Agnes Harris) talks, back turned, to a naval ofﬁcer until Ruth interrupts to present “Granny’s ... young Mrs. Harris.” Agnes stares with green-glass eyes, hugs Carrie, and gushes apologies for being recently “so ill.” Deliberately hypocritical, Carrie gushes about wanting to see her in the hospital, but “we” look bad there, “don’t we?” Agnes hesitates ﬁve minutes, then orders an old-fashioned with Scotch. Carrie, still maddened, says she’s an expert from Solon’s bar and will prepare her drink. Agnes says experts can teach her much. Carrie mixes it, is applauded at the bar, presents it to off-looking Agnes, who spills it on her dress, which Carrie

dabs with hankie to Agnes’s chorus of apologies. Bernie Hunt lifts kneeling Carrie away, saying dry cleaners clean wet dresses. Ruth rescues Carrie, accused of drunkenness by Agnes, and tells Carrie she borrowed a maid from next-door Mrs. Norris to gather and wash used cocktail glasses. Bernie tells Ruth that many journalists are outside and that the best thing is to let photographers takes pictures of her “angelic mother,” Grant, and Carrie together. Agnes gushingly agrees, and Grant is posing between the two and Carrie is hoping the public gossip will therefore subside — when there’s an “awful crash.” Mrs. Norris’s maid turns out to be Carrie’s exroommate Lula Schultz. She just dropped her tray of gathered glasses, shouts a surprised hello at Carrie, and the photographers snap the bedlam. Carrie bravely shakes Lula’s hand. Agnes loudly praises Carrie’s graciousness toward “an old friend from the slums.” The house empties. Agnes, her son, and her daughters huddle. Bernie takes Carrie and some highballs to the “library,” says she should have pretended not to know Lula, whose loyalty, however, Carrie praises, adding Grant’s hardly “a complete fool.” Bernie explains “the silver cord.” What’s that? The silver cord binds mother and son; Grant’s “radicalism” represents “phony” efforts to break the cord; nothing but his interest in Indians is sincere; Agnes will club Grant with Lula “morning to night”; Grant’s marriage is masochism and Agnes’s opposing Grant’s Indian research is sadism. Carrie complains he’s using mysterious words. Bernie explains that Agnes will drive Grant, a snob in love with mama, insanely jealous by dating “some man” and withdrawing her love from Grant, whose birth ended “her youth.” Carrie wonders what to do. Bernie says she has a 1-to-99 chance in this horserace, so scratch your “entry”; he likes her; she played her cards excellently “this afternoon”; still, she’s “sunk.” Shortly after 8:00 Carrie thanks Ruth, who turns icy. Carrie walks with Grant for dinner off Madison. He yammers about new Air Force aircraft. About 10:00 Carrie buys a tabloid on Fifth Avenue, featuring pictures of Lula, etc., with numbers indicating numerous celebrity guests. Grant, panting, kicks the paper into the street. Carrie, painfully helpless, realizes his family has made him a moneyloving snob, whom, though, she loves and will ﬁght for. Part Three. “The Snake.” Nine. Carrie and Grant are close only for “occasional interludes.” He is usually at the ofﬁce, or probably with his family. One day Lula visits Carrie, tells her she got ﬁred by “Lady Norris” after the incident at the Hunts, and is sleeping on a park bench. Reluctantly, Carrie gives her milk and coffee.

199 After Carrie feeds Lula further, she makes a bed for her in a spare room containing Grant’s Indian stuff. By the time he gets home, Lula has washed her dirty clothes and left the bathroom sloppy. He proposes giving Lula $50 and ejecting her. Carrie insists that Lula is a friend from their common lower class and that Grant pretends Carrie is an exception, confesses she’s lower class herself but with “gump,” brains, and ambition; insists Lula is their guest, and Grant must accept both or neither; Carrie tolerated his friends; he must do the same; she and Grant are both snobs, in a way. Grant says he accepts Carrie but can’t tolerate Lula. Lula stays “on and on,” pretends to seek work, returns hungry. Grant leaves early, returns late. Newspaper accounts reveal Carrie’s life’s history. Bernie’s lawyer says it’s legal if it’s not malicious. Lula tells Carrie that Grant is a vicious husband. One noon in come Grant and his mother. Carrie serves them drinks. Agnes mentions Lula. Carrie says Lula represents her own past, which she can’t surrender to Grant. Agnes tells “Waldo” [misprint for Grant?] she respects Carrie’s “pride” and smoothly offers the solution: hire Lula, whom they bring in. Lula, scared and evasive, says she has possible work in Brooklyn and will return here to reply to Agnes, and dashes away. After lunch out, Carrie persuades mother and son to see a matinee, goes home and phones Bernie. He says it’s undoubtedly Agnes’s scheme to hire Lula as her house servant to embarrass Carrie into avoiding mother and son there. Carrie, though bravely unwilling to “back down,” likes Agnes’s offer. [Thus, at the end of ch. 9, with 9 chapters to go, Carrie is conﬂicted — in love with her husband, suspicious of his mother, and loyal to a friend from the past.] Ten. Carrie invites “Mr. Holden” over. He inspects Grant’s Indian items and tells Carrie that “Prescott’s [History of the] Conquest of Mexico [3 vols., 1843]” contains proof of the bloodthirsty actions of the “quick ... ruling class.” [William Hickling Prescott (1796–1859) was a distinguished American historian.] Carrie tells Holden about Lula. He laughs. Then he makes a closed-door phone call, tells Carrie he got Karb’s management to hire Lula as a strikebreaking waitress. No problem; good to confer with the enemy. When Lula returns, Holden tells her she’ll be his union’s “noble” spy at Karb’s. Accepting $10 from Carrie, Lula exits. Grant and Agnes enter. Carrie mainly feels relief at Lula’s departure. Bowing, Holden remembers Grant, who necessarily introduces Agnes. Holden explains “a deliverance”: Lula has a job. Sitting staring, Agnes resembles “a block of ice.” Grant laughingly opines that he thought Lula’s Brooklyn offer “was a phony.” Holden counters: Trotsky-like, I discharged my

Root

“historical function” and assigned her elsewhere. Grant calls him a liar, suspects Carrie appealed to him, but anyway gratefully offers him a drink. Carrie, dazed, prepares coffee for Holden, rye for Grant, an old-fashioned for Agnes. While Carrie, Holden, and Grant drink happily, high-pitched Agnes grouses about not being consulted since she had offered Lula employment ﬁrst. Grant, through misunderstanding mama’s motive — to embarrass Carrie — shouts at her. Holden embraces Agnes, pats her cheek, calls Grant and Lula “misguided youngsters, says “we don’t care, do we?” to Agnes, and offers dinner for two—with white wine matching her hair. Agnes whispers her acceptance. Carrie is grateful when they leave — but jealous. Also jealous, Grant has “the eyes of a killer.” She sees that “spectre” haunting her marriage. He rants about killing both mother and suitor, eats a bit, and rushes out. Carrie phones Bernie to warn him. Bernie phones Carrie back: Holden escorted Agnes home, where Grant found her and criticized her. Home again, Grant weeps in bed. Carrie feels both “contempt and pity” for him. For some days, Holden goes around with Agnes, tabloid reports of which— unionizer squiring socialite—render Grant gibberingly idiotic. When he hires some private detectives to track mama, she warns Holden by phone that Grant gets “jealous of his mother” and might kill him. Laughing, Holden says he’ll dump Agnes if Carrie will ﬂy with him tonight to the west coast, where he’s been summoned, and get a quickie divorce. When she declines, he hints he’ll proudly stick with responsive, youngish Agnes. Often alone because Grant stays out, Carrie halfwelcomes Lula with news of the strike, reads some of Grant’s Indian books, but gets really absorbed in his ﬁnance books and the “fascinating” New York Times ﬁnancial pages. One night late, Lula’s saying “louse” Grant isn’t coming home gets her ejected by Carrie, who, sure enough, sits alone until dawn. The morning’s paper reports what Lula obviously had been spilling. Carrie goes by cab to Lula’s digs, ﬁnd her in a negligee dictating to one reporter while another is typing other copy. Carrie knocks Lula unconscious, shreds the typed copy, beats the other reporter with a chair, destroys his notebook, and leaves in silence all around. Eleven. She takes a cab to Holden’s hotel, is admitted, and he sincerely kisses her. Liking being loved, she kisses back. She gives him a check for all of the union dues she banked, along with a neat account book listing everything. To her saying she’s resigning as treasurer he remarks, “Tut,” adding that the strike is settled and she should simply remain here with him. Kissing him again, she calls him “swell,” says she married Grant for love not

Root

200

money, must “get through this” her way, and wants to agitate Grant by talk. Walking rather on air home and thinking about Lula and the union, Carrie feels cut loose from the world she has just left. Feeling hopeful, Carrie enters her bedroom — and ﬁnds a strange maid and Agnes packing Grant’s things. Carrie to Agnes: You have “taken Grant ... from me?” Agnes: Grant still loves Muriel. Carrie: You’ve insulted me, destroyed our marriage; take Grant’s things, give me his key you used to sneak in here. Elevator men help Agnes and her maid with Grant’s packed trunks. Carrie feels rage, then profound regret at not slapping Agnes. If she had, she would have avoided this all-consuming “obsession to get back at her.” Next day Carrie shops at Bloomingdale’s for an airplane suitcase, packs it but in the process omits clothes associated with her marriage, phones and has dinner with Holden, and ﬁgures she’ll be lonely when in two weeks he’ll be organizing West Coast workers. Mainly, though, she thinks about Grant and smother-loving Agnes. Carrie vacillates. She ﬁnds space in an ofﬁce building to establish a quick-lunch place, checks restaurant suppliers, then when Holden phones dines with him, then returns to her apartment, thinks of Grant, and feels lonely. One afternoon Bernie Hunt calls on Carrie, revealing this: “Granny” [Grant] is a “fatheaded sap” and Carrie is still “sunk”; Agnes is “a louse”; because of Uncle George’s careless post-war investments, Harris family “millions began to melt.” Bernie, calling himself “Judas,” is authorized to give Carrie $25,000 now—maybe nothing later—to get a Reno divorce. Carrie says she “can’t.” Twelve. Carrie thinks she should grab the $25,000 and start a ﬁne business. However, hesitating to phone Bernie, she enjoys lunch, martini, Music Hall show, and returns to see a wire from Bernie. She phones Holden for a pleasant evening. Next day Bernie returns. Carrie says she’s contemplating suicide, manages real tears which he wipes, moans about being bought for $25,000. He asks must they “up it?” He leaves, winking. Next day, she refuses his $30,000 bid. Carrie tells Bernie she might sue Agnes for a million, “charging alienation of affections,” and might even accept tabloid offers for her “horror” story. Finally, warning her of lawyers’ fees, Bernie gets her to take a “best bargain”—$50,000. Carrie meets Bernie in a lawyer’s ofﬁce in the RKO Building. She accepts Agnes’s neatly written check for $25,000, will have all expenses paid in Reno, with the additional $25,000 held by Reno lawyers until the divorce is granted. Bernie drives

her to the airport. She weeps real tears, knowing Agnes has won. Saying Grant left her no message and is “recuperating” from distress, Bernie kisses her lightly and says he’d like to see her later. During her ﬂight, Carrie sees the Mississippi River, has coffee in the Kansas City airport, reboards, sees the snowy Rocky Mountains, and, sadly, the morning star — behind her. In Reno, Carrie locates the Riverside, where Bernie engaged a suite for her for six weeks. She reports to Mr. Hyde, of Hollowell & Hyde, the lawyers handling her case. Hyde suggests charging “cruelty” and tells Carrie not to leave Nevada overnight. Carrie wires Holden explaining her actions, catches much-needed rest and food, and is surprised that he appears. He says he’s busy with a waterfront strike, must move about from Seattle to Los Angeles and below, he’ll see her whenever possible, and they’ll marry when she’s “free.” Though not objecting, she feels that everything seems “remote.” Bored after trying night spots with other divorcebound ladies, Carrie decides to buy a car. A used blue coupe for $900 hardly dents her $25,000. After a day of driving lessons, she is ready next morning to head for Goldﬁeld, which Pa Selden once remembered was booming when he was there in 1908. She gets a room in the nearly empty hotel and offers drinks to some old-timers, who are courteous and full of tall tales. Next morning a couple of them show her a recently opened mine, an assayer’s ofﬁce, and a “button” of “pure gold” there in his crucible. Part Four. “A Mink Coat.” Thirteen. Carrie starts driving back next morning but stops past Tonopah to help a man whose car is stuck in some roadside sand. She drives the fellow, about 50 and in highquality but “rough” clothes, to a garage in nearby Hawthorne. They discover that they both have rooms in Reno’s Riverside; they will meet again. He interrupts Carrie’s breakfast next morning at the Riverside, introduces himself as Charles Bolton, says he’s been living here for a lung disorder, knew attractive but somehow “unhealthy” Agnes, now recognizes Carrie from her photographs in tabloid accounts, and asks whether Agnes busted up Carrie’s marriage. Yes. Bolton persuades her to visit Tahoe, for which she quickly buys some heavy (November) clothes. He drives her to Lake Tahoe. The scenery she likens to Christmas cards. They lunch hungrily at Truckee. He talks her into dinner past Donner Summit in Sacramento; she has langouste and steak. During their return drive, Bolton encourages Carrie to discuss her situation, then opines that though vengeful toward Agnes she still not only loves Grant but also as an ex-waitress feels inferior to sonrobbing Agnes. He suggests that she should invade “High Society” by buying and showing a “hunter”

201 horse in horse shows. He says Thorstein Veblen, among others, writes about all this. Carrie says she’d dislike being in Agnes’s society, wants to shame her instead. [The most famous work by Wisconsinborn economist Thorstein Bunde Veblen (1857– 1929) is The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899), in which he castigates high-society pretentious snobbery and says that the victorious rich feel they mustn’t merely be millionaires but must evidence their wealth by showy possessions, “conspicuous consumption,” and “conspicuous waste.”] Carrie and Bolton travel “all around” and continue their discussions. He says he’s her “Pygmalion, whatever he meant by that.” In her free mornings, she plants herself in a nearby brokerage house, builds on recollections of Grant’s ﬁnancial books, reads the Wall Street Journal, and soon is as consumed about becoming rich as about vengeance. [Carrie may not know about Pygmalion, but she spells his name correctly. In Greek mythology, Pygmalion, the king of Cyprus, sculpted a statue of Galatea, brought to life by the goddess Aphrodite in answer to his prayer.] Fourteen. Holden visits Carrie again, a month after the last time. He says when her divorce is ﬁnal they’ll get married and he has a surprise for her. To avoid discussing marriage, she asks about the surprise. He won’t provide details. The night before her court appearance, he reappears, gloating he’ll spring labor history’s “biggest thing” and punch the “button” of “[b]ig industries.” Carrie doesn’t trust herself to discuss Holden’s plans with him; so she talks about her sightseeing, then says she must rest before tomorrow’s activities. She phones Bernie at his New York residence, tells him she’s airmailing him a $10,000 check to deposit in his brokerage house, says she’s “brainstorm[ing].” Though warning her that “the Street ... shear[s] lambs like you,” he agrees. In court next day, Carrie, despite having an identity crisis, truthfully describes Grant’s temper and threats, is granted a decree in minutes, signs papers at Hyde’s ofﬁce, and accepts the other $25,000, sells her $900 car for $750, and deposits both checks. She reluctantly tells herself she gotta go with Holden to California to succeed with her investment plans but won’t marry him —“not now” anyway. Fifteen. At her hotel lobby, Holden attempts a hug. Carrie, feeling “false and phony,” says he must wait a while, because she’s “mixed up inside,” and offers ﬁrst to be his “full-ﬂedged union” secretary. He lovingly praises her “bright little head,” agrees, says she can have her separate suite and pay her own bills. Queried, he says conﬁdentially that their mass-production industrial targets are steel, rubber, and cars, and they’re heading for Detroit ﬁrst, will

Root

hit “Geerlock” at once. Wanting to pack, she gets love-dazed Holden out, phones Bernie, and tells him to sell her “short on Geerlock common” at 110, venturing $10,000. He says she’ll lose all but agrees. Bolton says goodbye. Carrie self-confesses she’s double-crossing her supposed ﬁancé to make money. Bolton calls her “a mercenary little rat” but adds this: Carrie feels she must “lick Agnes” ﬁrst, so as then to win her true-love Grant back; so go ahead, double-cross Holden, and forget him. She says she’ll “try.” Bolton esteems her “cold-blooded little soul” and warm heart. [Bolton and Holden are confusing names.] Carrie and her “Mr. Holden” arrive by train in Detroit, Christmas Day. He takes a walk-up suite, which scores of union men can enter unseen. She takes a “high up” room, too small for visitors, with bath. For $40 a week, she is his ultra-busy secretary, phoning, running errands, recording transactions. Geerlock stock rises. She sends Bernie $5,000 more. Would-be unionizers are beaten up at the nearby factory. Holden calls for the National Labor Relations Board to intervene. Geerlock stock drops. January 2: Washington union ofﬁcials, springy and tough like scary but thrilling Holden, arrive. Excluded until she brings them all sandwiches, Carrie is then scanned amiably. All turns tense. Geerlock stock drops. The evening radio announces a Geerlock strike vote means a strike is likely by morning. Holden directs the strike audaciously—helicopters unnecessarily drop food to picketers, unionized GI musicians provide concerts, etc. Newspaper accounts favor the strikers. Beauvais, Geerlock’s fat president, appeals unavailingly to the governor to dispatch troops with “tear bombs.” Holden laughs when he is called a Communist. Sixteen. Beauvais tells the governor that Geerlock can’t deliver its new model if the strike continues two weeks more. This delights Holden. Carrie phone Bernie to “cover today.” Holden rents Geerlock’s “display model,” is reported saying Geerlock should settle now. Bernie wires Carrie he covered at 103. She made about $8,000. Carrie kicks herself when Geerlock dives to 100 but recoups by making $3,000 when Holden began agitating Detroit’s Trent factory. Ditto when she hears Holden’s strategy against four or ﬁve steel companies. One day Holden tells her Beauvais will settle. She phones Bernie to put her money in Geerlock instantly. A “joint statement” from Beauvais and Holden causes great celebration. Carrie pleads a headache to avoid Holden, phones Bernie, who from his home wires details of her proﬁts and of her having 3,100 Geerlock common at under 102 and rising. She feels restless.

Root

202

After dawn, ecstatic Bernie phones. She asks him to sell today when the bounce slackens. He confesses he rode her “skirts”—“[s]ome skirts,” he adds—and also “cleaned up.” Figuring a proﬁt of over $40,000, she phones Holden it’s time to celebrate. Carrie and triumphant union-man Holden hit Chicago, then Indiana factories, then Pittsburgh’s independent Penn-Duquesne, in which she invests $1,000. She banks $10,000 but fears an inevitable fall. She can repay Agnes and have money for a prolonged free and broadening life. She lies to Holden that she must settle personally with the Harrises and will phone him every midnight. He remains affectionate and eager [and stupid?]. Carrie ﬂies to Newark, engages a suite in a New York hotel, has Fifth Avenue’s knowledgeable Miss Eubanks recommend a severe black outﬁt with accessories, a blue evening dress, and a crème evening dress. Next door, with Miss Eubanks trailing her, she spend $25 for perfume, then $2,500 for a dark, three-quarter mink. The two have dinner in Carrie’s suite. She primps in various outﬁts before her mirror. Mink-clad Carrie goes to Harris, Hunt and Harris’s enormous Broad Street [off Wall Street] ofﬁces, is led by absent Bernie’s male secretary past startled secretaries toward “sallow and seedy” Grant— with green eyeshade and writing. She lets him whiff her perfume, says “hello!” to him and “zipped” into Mr. [Bernard] Hunt’s ofﬁce. She ﬁghts tears. Grant raps and enters. Each asks how the other is. Grant praises Carrie’s Wall Street and pro-labor fame, and confesses personal timidity in “market speculation.” She says she’s merely a “traveling secretary” but feels he wants to hear about Holden. Asked about her name, she says when traveling she’s Selden, in ﬁnancial matters she’s Harris. When he starts to say “mother”— she calls Agnes “that simpleton” and him a “worm” still wrapped “around her ﬁnger,” says she’ll use “Harris” because she doesn’t know her parents’ name and thus Harris is her ﬁrst legal name. Her being an orphan surprises Grant. Bitterly, she lets slip she’s likely to get a new [married] name. Eyes aﬁre, he seizes her. Twisting loose, she says Agnes bought the divorce, by his choice; so she’s “free.” He aimlessly meanders around Bernie’s ofﬁce before leaving. Seventeen. Bernie enters. Feeling wilted, Carrie tells him to get $50,000 cash for her, order Agnes to come to her suite 11:00 tomorrow morning to be paid, says she’ll shed the Harris name soon. Fat, gray Mrs. Jerome, whom Carrie met at the Hunt cocktail party, enters, gushes about Carrie’s ﬁnancial acumen, and invites her to weekend at her Long Island place. Bernie asks her to accept and says he’ll “ride you” to his “shop” [i.e., drive Carrie to his ofﬁce].

At his bustling brokerage ofﬁce with Mrs. Jerome still along, Carrie sees the familiar “electrical board” ﬂash changing stock quotations, and phone banks to and from the Exchange and to and from customers. She also sees that Bernie’s been shorting Penn-Duquesne stock for “Mrs. Harwood [Agnes] Harris.” Called not “very nice,” he rationalizes he had to aid his mother-in-law, who’s now “in deep.” Carrie plans to phone Holden to avoid a PennDuquesne strike so Agnes will be wiped out, accepts Mrs. Jerome’s invitation, and hopes for noisy revenge on “Society” there. Carrie ﬁgures on enticing Holden to come to her in New York. But she learns from the Pittsburgh phone operator that “Evan Holden” checked out of his hotel without leaving any address. Next morning, Carrie sends for breakfast in her room. She hides it in her bedroom when at 10:00 Bernie brings 50 $1,000 bills and can’t persuade her to keep it. Hatefully “hangdog” Grant enters, wonders what’s between his mama and “this man Holden” and also between Holden and Carrie, who equivocates. Grant’s muttering that Holden is in danger troubles Carrie, later. At 11:00 in comes Agnes— with Holden. Agnes sweetly embraces stunned Carrie, whom Holden pats. He’s surprised to see Grant. Carrie introduces Holden to Bernard Hunt. Plans aren’t maturing the way “panicky” Carrie wants. She demands to discuss business but ﬁrst asks why Agnes destroyed her son’s marriage to her. Carrie and Agnes begin to resemble “ﬁghting hens.” Agnes asks Carrie’s “paramour” Holden to explain himself. He tells Agnes to act her age, says he’s not Carrie’s lover, sadly. Grant calls him a liar. Holden says that he tried with Carrie; that mostly only husband and wife can ruin a marriage; Carrie didn’t, but Grant did. Agnes accuses Holden of helping Carrie with stocks. He denies it and doubts Carrie understands stocks. Agnes blames deal-handling Bernie. Grant tells mama to dry up, let Carrie conclude the discussion. Suddenly wise, Holden glares at Bernie, then at Carrie. Asked, she confesses to most of what she did and why. Saying that “men ... bled” to unionize, Holden mourns that the ﬂower he moments ago had in his heart is gone. Agnes quits screaming. Holden stares. Bernie wipes Carrie’s tears. At the elevator, Holden embraces Carrie fondly, admits he took a sleeper to New York to surprise her, but says Agnes called him ﬁrst. Leaving, he says Penn-Duquesne settled and its stock will rise. Carrie, by saying nothing, can wipe out Agnes, whom she hears reminding Grant and Bernie about that “waitress” Carrie. Carrie dramatically orders “Agnes,” no longer “Mrs. Harris” to her, to serve Carrie her breakfast. Grant wants to escort Mother out.

203 Carrie again demands breakfast service and says waitress Agnes’s gratuity will be that $50,000 buying the divorce. She refuses. Carrie says she alone knows whether Penn-Duquesne will rise or fall. Agnes grovelingly professes instant friendship and serves “Mrs. Harris” her breakfast. [In Cloud Nine, ch. 18, Cain will reuse this method of a daughterin-law’s revenge on a mother-in-law by demanding that she be addressed by her married name.] Eighteen. The elder Mrs. Harris, looks years older, cracks and serves eggs, orange juice, etc. Grant stares. Bernie blushes. Carrie drinks revenge. Grant hustles Agnes out. Carrie tells Bernie to cover all their Penn-Duquesne holdings pronto. He vanishes. Grant re-enters, triumphantly yells he’s “free,” kisses Carrie fervently, confesses his recent unsuccessful attempts to do exactly what she did— cause her will to bend his dreadful mother’s. Grant laughs as of yore, apologizes, says he’s been in hell. Itching but unable to embrace him, Carrie says it’s ﬁne for Grant to apologize but she can’t forget so easily. He says he has “ground to win back,” has quit working under Bernie, and he’s leaving to get money somehow, work on Indians, and make goodguy Holden like him. When Grant adds “you’ll be hearing from me,” she thinks about quarreling then making up; instead, she offers him his mother’s $50,000 “tip”— because he should get money any old way, as Carrie did. They “live in sin” the rest of the week and miss Mrs. Jerome’s party. Grant somehow proves Carrie’s “inﬁdelity” divorce is invalid. They become Holden’s friends. Carrie is now writing away on the sloop. Their excavation equipment awaits them at “Puerto Cortez,” and soon they’ll strike for its interior. Carrie regards the moon as making each Caribbean wave a “silver slipper” dropping into this Modern Cinderella’s lap. The Root of His Evil evolved slowly, as Roy Hoopes explains. Cain told David Madden that he started dictating what he was then calling The Modern Cinderella to his secretary while he was grimly awaiting the slow death of his father (Baltimore, 1938). Collier’s rejected the work, as did other magazines; but his agent James Geller sold the plot to Universal for $17,500. It was released as When Tomorrow Comes (1938). When Cain saw the movie, he felt that one scene was plagiarized from his novel Serenade. That scene has the unmarried lovers making love in a church and doing so because they ﬁgure it’s proper enough because the hurricane raging outside will kill them before they can get around to tying the knot. Cain’s lawyers and Universal’s lawyers got nowhere; Cain soon quit, realizing his legal fees would be too high to continue a likely losing ﬁght. He later came to disbelieve his own case. Publication of the novel, ampliﬁed and called The Root

Rossi

of His Evil, was delayed until 1951. Universal produced a revision of When Tomorrow Comes as Serenade (1956), which Leonard Maltin labels a “[s]tandard soapy story” with “spotty musical interludes.” It was also remade as Interlude (1957), which Maltin calls an “[a]n adequate tearjerker.” CinemaScope remade it as Interlude (1968). Paul Skenazy explains that The Modern Cinderella began as a “story of class inequities” but morphed “into a study of two men ... who vie for Carrie’s affection while she battles to release Grant from ... his domineering mother”; and in the process, “Cain takes his readers into Oedipal territory.” (Hoopes, 293 –302 passim, 327; Madden 1970, 47, 49; Maltin, 687, 1229, 1537; Skenazy, 103) Rose, Vic (Jealous Woman). He is named as the cochief underwriter for the General Pan-Paciﬁc of California insurance company. Rossi (Mildred Pierce). Rossi, “of the Bodega,” sells liquor to Mildred. When her restaurants begin to fail through her carelessness, he is one of several creditors demanding to be paid. Rossi, Arch (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). He is a criminal, 19, who robs a bank in Castleton with his young pals Mort Dubois, Buck Harper, and BoogieWoogie. In the process of grabbing $22,000, which they have to split with their crooked boss Sol Caspar, they kill Guy Horner, the bank cashier, and Rossi is badly wounded. The other three get him to the Globe Hotel in nearby Lake City and then to Caspar’s Columbus Hotel. But he is spirited away, killed, put into a cement-loaded barrel, and dumped in the Kobaquit Lake, from which Sheriff Orcutt supervises his being brought to the surface again. Rossi, Giuseppe (Career in C Major). He is a versatile assistant to opera impresario Cesare Pagano. He encourages Leonard Borland, for a while. Rossi, Mrs. (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). She is Arch Rossi’s distraught mother. June Lyons talks to her when no one can ﬁnd her son. She tells June that her boy got in with the wrong crowd. Rossi, Vanny (The Enchanted Isle). He is a criminal, wrongly thought to be involved with his criminal brother Vito Rossi to the Baltimore bank robbery in which Mandy Vernick plays a reluctant part. Vanny was thought to have driven the getaway car, which Mandy drove. It is established that Vanny was holed up in a hotel at the time, then overdosed on heroin. Rossi, Vito (The Enchanted Isle). He and his brother Vanny Rossi are criminals. Vito is misidentiﬁed by a teller as having carried the loot in a basket during the Baltimore bank heist in which Mandy Vernick and Rick Davis were really involved. Rick did the heavy lifting.

204

Roy

Roy (The Magician’s Wife). He is the Chancit Garage manager. Clay Lockwood develops his alibi by having Roy pick up his car. Ruth (“The Pay-off Girl”). From Ohio, she lives in Cottage City, Maryland, and handles horse-racing bets at Ike’s Joint, shilling for Tony, a bookie. Miles Kearny, who works in Washington, D.C., sees her one evening, is spellbound, and rescues her from Tony. Miles drives her to Elkton, where they get married. They take a train to San Diego— presumably to live happily ever after. Ruth is half-aptly named. Ruth of the Bible was a Moabite who joined other people, namely Israelites, through marriage. Ryan, Sergeant (“The Taking of Montfaucon”). He handles horses in the narrator’s military outﬁt. Ryon (Cloud Nine). Years ago he was the owner of a store in which Louis Lang’s grandmother candled dozens of eggs before selling them. Lang’s grandfather wrongly imagined that his wife and Ryon were misbehaving in Ryon’s store; so he called him out and killed him.

S Sabini, Alessandro (Serenade). He is an opera baritone. John Howard Sharp attends a Carmen performance at the Hollywood Bow, sees and hears Sabini as Escamillo, and recalls singing with “the wop” years ago in Palermo. Sabini suddenly disappears to avoid a process server hired by his unhappy wife. John is able to replace him on stage that very night. Sachetti, Nino (Double Indemnity). Beniamino Sachetti is the son of the late Dr. Sachetti. Nino suspects that Phyllis Nirdlinger had something to do with the deaths of his young siblings. As Miss Phyllis Belden and a nurse, she associated with his father. When Mrs. Nirdlinger’s husband dies in a mysterious train accident, Nino, now 26 and a graduate student at the University of Southern California, begins to date her — only to fall in love with her stepdaughter Lola Nirdlinger. His squiring Phyllis around is ﬁnanced because Nino has persuaded Phyllis’s insurance-agent friend Walter Huff to get him a $250 loan on his car. Huff, secretly driving Nino’s car in a plan to kill Phyllis, is followed by Lola; Nino follows Lola; both young people ﬁnd Huff shot, by Phyllis. Nino, falsely charged with attempted murder, won’t get prosecuted; instead, he marries Lola, who thinks he shot at Huff out of jealousy. Sackett (The Postman Always Rings Twice). He is a

California district attorney who conducts the trial of Cora Papadakis and Frank Chambers for murdering Cora’s husband Nick Papadakis. Sackett bets Cora’s unprincipled defense attorney Katz $100 that Katz will lose. Katz gets Nick’s insurance agent to testify falsely and wins the bet. Sackett has his revenge, however, because after Frank accidentally causes the death of Cora, pregnant by and then married to him, Sackett convicts Frank of murder and he is to be hanged. Sadler, Buddy (“Come-back”). He is a friend of Burton Silbro’s. Silbro asks Tim Kennelly to sing in a short ﬁlm about Malibu he is producing. Silbro explains that he scheduled Sadler for the part, but Sadler broke his leg. Sam (The Embezzler). He is Dave Bennett’s Filipino “house boy.” He serves breakfast for Dave, Dyer, Halligan, and Lewis before they go to the bank to try to prevent Charles Brent from robbing it. Sam also delivers a message from Dave to Charles’s wife Sheila Brent, after the botched heist and while she is staying with her parents in Westwood. Sandoval, Dr. (Cloud Nine). He is a physician practicing in Ocean City. When Sonja has a miscarriage in a hotel there, her husband Graham Kirby calls for a doctor, and the hotel management summons Sandoval. Graham notices he is young and has “a Spanish look.” He ministers to Sonja, accepts a check for $25, and leaves. Sandy (The Moth). He is the Legg family chauffeur. Santos (Rainbow’s End). He is an undertaker in Marietta. Edgren, acting for the absent sheriff, summons Santos to care for Shaw’s corpse and then that of Myra Giles Howell. Saunders, Willie (The Moth). He is a Baltimore school kid on a Baltimore radio program doing mathematics problems in his head. Tutored by Jack, Helen Legg defeats him. Sawyer (Mildred Pierce). This is the name of a family of four who are the ﬁrst guests when Mildred opens her Glendale restaurant. They live in Pierce Homes, which were developed by Bert Pierce, Mildred’s husband. Schachtman, Mel (Cloud Nine). See Carter, Gordon. Schmidt, Friedrich (Mignon). He has a store in Alexandria, rented from Landry. Schmidt supplies items needed by men running sugar mills. Bill rents part of Schmidt’s place when he is in Alexandria. Schmidt, Hilda (Mignon). She was Friedrich Schmidt’s daughter and was a close friend of Mignon’s during their childhood in Alexandria. Mignon tells Bill that Hilda died “of the fever.”

205 New Orleans was plagued by yellow fever in 1853, 1854, and 1855. Mignon would have been 13 in 1853, and Hilda would have been about the same age. Schoenfeld, Gus (The Moth). He is the Baltimore Polytechnic right half back for whom Denny Deets is substituted. Scholl (Past All Dishonor). See Roberts. Schultz, Amy (The Enchanted Isle). She was a promiscuous teenage friend of Mandy Vernick’s. Steve Baker, who lives with Mandy’s mother Sally Vernick and seeks to protect Mandy, wrongly suspects her of associating with Amy. Schultz, George (Serenade). He is a clever musician, able to orchestrate money-making changes in the movie in which John Howard Sharp is being ﬁlmed singing. Schultz attends Elsa Chadwick’s party, during which John sings and his girlfriend Juana Montes is insulted. Schultz, Gustav (Career in C Major). He is the Hippodrome conductor who improvises skillfully when Leonard Borland disgraces himself while singing the lead in Rigoletto. Schultz, Hack (Sinful Woman). His camp in the mountain is the location of one of the places where Hazel Shoreham and Carlos Loma have sexual times together. Schultz, Lula (The Root of His Evil). She is a fellow waitress with Carrie at Karb’s in Manhattan. The two share rooms in the Hutton Hotel. Lula acts as a spy for labor-organizer Holden. Lula later works as a maid for Mrs. Norris, a neighbor of Carrie’s sister-in-law Ruth Hunt. Mrs. Norris lends Lula to Ruth to work during Ruth’s cocktail party. Lula drops a tray when she sees Carrie there. Lula gossips to reporters about Carrie, who takes her in, feeds, and lodges her, when the disloyal and ungrateful girl says she’s homeless. Schwab, Jack (“The Girl in the Storm”). He is a luckless hobo, 19 and from Pennsylvania. He is caught in a shunted boxcar outside Hildago, California, during a ﬂood which has caused the residents to ﬂee. He makes his way to a half-built house. He sees a girl, later identifying herself as Dora Hilton, about to be drowned as she is trying to get out of her car, stalled in the raging river. He rescues her. He breaks into a locked chain store, and they ransack it for food and matches. They dry their clothes by a ﬁre he builds in the ﬁreplace. When, uniquely happy, Jack innocently embraces her, she pulls a knife she found among some carpenter’s tools. Abashed and discouraged yet again, he rebukes her, gets into his soggy shoes, and departs. Schwartz, Ike (Double Indemnity). He is an agent

Semmes

working for the General Fidelity of California, an insurance company for which Huff also works. Huff phones Ike in order to establish an alibi after killing Nirdlinger. Scott (Past All Dishonor). He is an enormous black man and is Mattiny’s husband. Scott beats a drum as his part in a voodoo ceremony during which Morina Crockett and Mattiny cure Roger Duval of blood poisoning. Selden, Carrie (The Root of His Evil). She is the heroine-narrator of the novel. Born and orphaned in Nyack, New York, she was taken in when six months old by a farming couple named Selden. Carrie began working at 15, became a waitress, sent money to impoverished Ma and Pa Selden, and when 21 waitressed at Karb’s in Manhattan and at the Solon bar. She roomed with Lula Schultz. When Karb waitresses vote to strike, Carrie is a leader. She meets labor-organizer Evan Holden and rich-boy Grant Harris, who gets her to marry him to spite his smother-loving widowed youngish mother Agnes Harris, who treats Carrie viciously. Carrie divorces Grant, entices Holden, gains stock tips from him, uses them for revenge on Agnes. Not to worry: Carrie is writing this autobiographical account from the deck of a sloop which she and Grant, reunited with her as his divorce-annuled wife, are enjoying in the Caribbean. They are about to explore the interior of nearby Puerto Cortez, since Grant is bent on research into American Indians. Paul Skenazy complains that The Root of His Evil is “uneven,” because Carrie is made to move from worker to wife and hostess to capitalist “too quickly.” It may be added that readers may ﬁnd it amusing that Carrie meets Grant. When The Root of His Evil was published in 1951, Cary Grant (1904–1986) was internationally acclaimed as a hot Hollywood actor. (Skenazy, 106) Selden, Ma (The Root of His Evil). She and her farmer husband informally adopted Carrie when she was six months old. They lived in Nyack, New York. Selden, Pa (The Root of His Evil). See Lorna, and Selden, Ma. Semmes, Dr. (Galatea). He is the physician summoned to treat Holly’s injured ankle. Holly tells Duke that Semmes is a descendant of someone who “commanded some Confederate ship, I forget which one it was.” Raphael Semmes (1809 –1877), a Confederate naval ofﬁcer, commanded the Sumter and then the Alabama, was famous for capturing numerous Union merchant vessels. The Union Kearsarge sank his Alabama. in the English Channel. (See Raphael

Serenade

206

Semmes, The Cruise of the Alabama and Sumter (1864), and Wagner, 563, 579 –580.) Serenade (novel, 1937). (Characters: Babe, Barrios, Beal, Paul Bunyan, Butch, Elsa Chadwick, Charlie, Captain Conners, Fanchon, Rex Gold, Mrs. Gonzalez, Harry, Albert Hudson, Mr. Kugler, Morris Lahr, London, Enzo Luchetti, Luther, Marco, María, Juana Montes, Señor Montes, Señora Montes, Picquot, Pudinsky, Alessandro Sabini, George Schultz, John Howard Sharp, Sholto, Solorzano, Herman Stoessel, John Charles Thomas, Tony, Triesca, Ziskin.) Chapter 1. The narrator (John Howard Sharp) is in a joint called the Tupinamba when a graceful, Indian-looking girl enters. Getting a Coca-Cola and Scotch, she goes to the table of Triesca, a local young bullﬁghter, and his guests. The narrator challenges Triesca to gamble for the girl. Whoever buys a higher-numbered lottery ticket wins. Losing, the narrator gives his billete to her. She and the narrator, stirred by her smell, leave together, proceed to the Guauhtemolzin neighborhood, talk about his arrival some months ago, and about the pretty ﬂowers, birds, and señoritas. His hopes seem dashed when she gets him into a house, as three young girls leave. She’s “a three-peso whore.” He says he lacks money. She takes some from her stocking, to pay a ﬁve-man mariachi outside. Their music grates on him. He takes the guitar from one musician and plays selections from Carmen. A crowd gathers. When he starts to sing, she stares through him, looking puzzled. She asks him to leave. Departing, he reminisces. Three months ago he tried out for a part in Rigoletto at Mexico City’s Palacio de Bellas Artes, ﬂopped in a wretched troupe, now can’t even “serenade a lady ... easily serenaded.” He ﬁnds his “one-peso hotel,” rests, wonders what the girl saw in him. [David Madden observes that Cain’s having Sharp lose his ﬁne voice “indirectly expresses the central role of music in Cain’s own life”— since Cain was brieﬂy ambitious in 1913 to be an opera singer. (Madden 1970, 100)] Chapter 2. That was June. He cadges food, plays the guitar in a group until agents of the post–Diaz Socialist government get him ﬁred for lacking “papers,” and falls into worse poverty. One day a typed letter, dated “14 de agosto,” comes to him —“Sr. John Howard Sharp”—from “Juana Montes,” that same girl, asking for a date. He meets her, says yes, he can drive a car. The lottery billete he gave her won her a new red Ford and “ﬁve honnerd pesos.” Illiterate, she paid a typist to produce her letter to “Querido Jonny.” She probably got his name and address from the waitress. Juana talks him into becoming manager, musician, Inglés speaker, for her proposed “nice house” with music, food, drinks, and “nice

girls—for American[s]” visiting Acapulco, where she knows an important politician. Demanding good pay and a ﬁne mariachi, he agrees— to avoid being hired “as pimp in a coast-town whorehouse.” Juana, looking half like a white-dressed school girl and half the “madame” of her proposed “joint,” nervously excites him; she says he can have “maybe big hat with silver,” money, some of her señoritas. Chapter 3. John packs and drives the Ford, an open roadster, to Juana’s place. She loads her belongings, including the bullﬁghter’s gift of cape, espada, and slain bull’s ear. They buy gas, drive to a church where she blesses herself, and by 1:00 P.M. they are on the road and she’s napping. [Cain describes a spot marked by wooden crosses where “counter-revolutionaries” led by Serrano were executed in 1927. Is this Ramón Suñer Serrano (1901– 2003!), pro–Nazi lawyer-politician from Spain?] More gas at hot Chilpancingo. She unbuttons her dress, airs her legs, makes him turn off to pick up Mamma and Papa, to proceed with them to Acapulco. They drive past a church. Clouds darken the landscape. They get to her parents’ stick-and-mud “hut.” They load the Ford with food and “estoff.” The viveres include beans, rice, corn, coffee, and eggs; they also take pots, pans, and sleeping mats. But John won’t let them tie the family burro to the car. When he backs the car out, they think he’s stealing off alone. Instead, he lets Juana get in and does leave, promising to return for Mamma and Papa later. They try to get to Tierra Colorado before the storm. It starts to rain; John notices the roadster’s side curtains have been stolen. She wraps in shawls, declines his proffered coat with a soft-voiced Indian gracias. They continue on the rain-greased road. A falling rock damages some of their possessions. Near a church they are halted by water pouring from an arroyo. She ﬁnds the church door locked. They can’t return to Mamma. He nudges the car into the church door, despite her screaming “Casa de Dios,” and shoves the car into the church. She kneels and prays, because of “sacrilegio.” He shuts off the car engine and headlights, sheds his clothes, dries with an altar cloth, dons a cassock. By the sacristy lamp he lights candles. He ﬁnds it strange that, despite having forgotten his Catholic upbringing in Chicago 20 years earlier, he kneels when he crosses the altar. He gets food and other things, including her stuff, from the car, and tells her to undress in the vestry and get into something drier. She refuses. By about 8:30 he’s hungry, sets a ﬁre with their charcoal, ﬁlls a pot with water from the well outside, makes tortillas from corn meal, places a dozen boiled eggs on them, clears coffee with egg shells. He

207 gets her to put on a partly dried dress. Seeing the tortillas, she laughs. They light their cigarettes. He tries to assuage her fear of sacrilegio by saying worshippers bring goats into churches; she counters about getting absolución from the padre. About 11:00 lightning and thunder get worse; but only the trueno frightens her. Figuring he can’t explain how lightning is the dangerous “works,” he asks her to sing La Sandunga. Thunder scares her. He too feels awkward. They embrace. He opens a window for air, asks her to prepare mats for sleeping, and washes their food leavings. It distresses him when she unrolls two mats. Why is he the only man she won’t sleep with? He sits, won’t smoke again. Suddenly she screams— a greenish light suffuses Christ’s face on the cruciﬁx. He invades the choir, plays Agnes Dei and then “a Gloria” on the pedal organ. Rain continues. She asks him to sing. He tries Mozart, Bach, and “the Dona Nobis.” Whispering her slightly hissing “Yes,” she agrees he’s “like the priest.” He blows out all but one candle, ﬁnds her kneeling naked at the altar, before which she has placed eggs, coffee, and corn — as “an Aztec treats a god.” He kneels, then “turned her over.” Chapter 4. John and Juana are soon panting, exhausted. She goes to the car, returns with a machete, chops at him, but he disarms her. They lie down. She wriggles closer, for more action. When he awakens, he’s hungry. They prepare eggs and tortillas. It rains for two days. They do “whatever appealed” to them. [David Madden generalizes about many busy Cain couplers: “Food, like God, is intricately related to sex or love, illicit or not.” Madden expatiates on this episode as one proof: “After a dionysian sex orgy comes a dionysian food orgy in Serenade.” Paul Skenazy responds differently: “Sharp’s relationship with Juana ... becomes his alternative church and religion.... Juana’s breast converts the desecrated institution ... into the idealized, healing mother, who forgives the violation by recognizing its necessity as the source of male potency.” (Madden 1970, 87; Skenazy, 60)] The weather clears; they check outside. The arroyo remains torrential. They ﬁnd lizards and iguanas on rocks up the hill. They capture an enormous iguana, spiny and clawing them bloody. John dumps it into boiling water; it purges and dies. John cleans it, distracts Juana by ordering her to ﬁnd paprika so he can go riﬂe closets behind the altar for sacramental wine. With some wine he ﬂavors their cooked iguana—tasting like chicken, frog legs, muskrat—but sticky when their mouths meet. He smears her nipples with iguana soup. [All this ﬁctive intimacy caused the attorney general of Mas-

Serenade

sachusetts to sue Cain on the grounds that Serenade was obscene (January 1949). The case was quickly dismissed. (Hoopes, 443 –444)] Juana thanks John for being “fonny cook.” [Roy Hoopes and Lynne Barrett edited The James M. Cain Cookbook: Guide to Home Singing, Physical Fitness, and Animals (Especially Cats) (Pittsburgh: Carnegie Mellon University Press, 1988). On page 27, they quote from Serenade, ch. 4, and offer readers Cain’s recipe for “Iguana John Howard Sharp,” with directions involving boiling water, iguana bones, peeled hard-boiled eggs, A-1 sherry, salt, and pepper; they include his recommendation that the wine be sacramental wine and that the soup be supped in church from “the nipples of a Mexican whore”; and they report that this “dish” was so “hot” in 1937 that Massachusetts authorities sought, “unsuccessfully, to ban Serenade, not only in Boston, but everywhere in the state.”] John and Juana dance by moonlight in the muddy yard. Commanded “please, sing,” he bellows notes and is delighted by their throaty echoes. He remembers that his ﬁne baritone cracked in Europe, which got him sold off to Mexico, unsuccessfully. Now his voice is suddenly ﬁne again. He remembers hearing about a blind man who could suddenly see again. He tells her he was once a singer; she says she knows and maybe made a mistake with him. The moon descends. Chapter 5. He tidies the church. She rests. They drive to Acapulco by 5:30 P.M. Their hotel is slovenly. She says her político friend already has their “house,” which she goes to see, while he has his suit pressed. He ﬁnds a sea captain, a daring Irishman named Conners, and after considerable debating about Mozart (whom John prefers) and Beethoven (whom Conners is an “enthusiast” for) borrows a mariacha’s guitar and sings some Mozart to Conners’ delight. Conners tells John to come dockside at midnight and escape from Acapulco— and Juana. [Peter J. Rabinowitz theorizes that, to be allowed aboard Conners’ ship, “Sharp needs to prove himself ... in a traditional and highly coded macho confrontation, parallel to one between Robin Hood and Little John ... [b]ut ... it is a verbal rather than a physical sparring.... Rather, the struggle climaxes in a dispute over the relative merits of Mozart and Beethoven — and Sharp wins the argument ... by tossing off a serenade from Don Giovanni (‘Dehi vieni alla ﬁnestra’), accompanying himself on a guitar that he borrows from a mariachi.” David Madden ﬁnds “the seven pages of ﬁne talk about music, ... coming in the midst of an otherwise melodramatic narrative, ... very absorbing.” (Madden 1970, 100; Rabinowitz, 167)] John returns to the hotel, sees a limousine, then Juana, escorted by her político and his soldiers. They

Serenade

208

search everybody. She jabbers to the politician about the American. All’s well—until that politician demands that she accompany him for the night. John vows the cocky fellow won’t “take part of his graft in trade,” and after arguing knocks him unconscious and seizes his pistol. John grabs terriﬁed Juana; they escape by their Ford, out of town but in mortal danger. They hide in a side street as cops screech past. She fears he’ll abandon her. He lies that he never thought of doing so. She says her político may kill her now. [Not now.] Suddenly sure he won’t abandon her, he tells the truth. He wants her, says he’s a superb singer again, wants to get her with him to the Estados Unidos del Norte. She replies that any escape can be only by bus via Laredo. Asked, she says she likes him. He answers that he likes her but can’t bring himself to say “love.” She calls him “Hoaney,” not meaning the “honey” she calls her “crib” customers, but meaning her “Johnny.” They drive toward town again, fear being blocked — until Conners approaches, says John’s slugging “the general” means if caught he’ll be shot trying to escape. Conners meets Miss Montes, “pretty little thing,” and gets the two aboard his Port of Cobh. Sandwiches and beer come next. [David Madden observes that this novel “is broken up into three somewhat distinct adventures.” The ﬁrst, which he calls “the Mexican,” ends here; chapters 6 –8 comprise “the Californian,” after which “the New York” and its consequences follow. (Madden 1970, 130, 131)] Chapter 6. For their week’s voyage to San Pedro, Conners treats both to “the royal suite.” John relishes watching coppery, statuesque Juana take showers— perhaps her ﬁrst? The two men talk agreeably and disputatiously about music, composers, and singers they’ve heard. When a ﬁsh [shark?] “swash[es]” by and silently plunges, Conners says real beauty includes terror that “lurks below the surface,” just like Mexico—and don’t forget it. Dropping John off at San Pedro, Conners tells him to go to a certain Japanese restaurant at 9:00 P.M. and order a beer. John does so. Conners arrives at 10:00, has beer with John, explains to men he knows there that some girls in a launch sought a guy named Charlie aboard his ship; they wouldn’t leave when ordered off; at the pier, a guard hinted that the girls better sneak ashore unseen or he’d have to arrest them. Curiously, three girls boarded but four girls returned to land. A launch arrives, and “she [Juana] hopped ashore,” and joined John and Conners, who tells him to omit all thanks.

Conners has a cab handy; the three proceed to a Los Angeles–bound ferry. On the way, Conners expresses his enjoyment of their friendship, adds that since they’re in love they just may possibly ﬁnd happiness, and pledges his help if ever needed. Juana thanks “Señor Capitán” and says “say word” if “you need me.” John says likewise. On the ferry, the cab driver has a smoke. Conners presents Juana with a big valise he packed with her things, even including her sword and cape, then lectures John. They must appear like vacationers, register as married in a hotel catering to Mexicans; he warns Juana to avoid wearing a shawl, but get an ordinary dress and hat; also John must ﬁnd a job, because “an idle man is a riddle.” At the bus stop Juana kisses Conners, to whom John promises to “mind” his advice permanently. Chapter 7. John and Juana obtain a hotel room, next morning ﬁnd suitable clothes for her and a Hollywood agent for him. Agent (Herman) Stoessel suggests a night club, but John can’t ﬁnd a tux his size to rent. So he buys a $5 guitar. John works a few days singing and playing his guitar for a radio station. He performs at Grifﬁth Park for an Iowa Society picnic. No tips. He brashly crashes a Rotary Club lunch at the Biltmore, brashly sings, is soon ordered to sing “Pollyochy.” Tips come to $6.75. He takes Juana to the Hollywood Bowl to see Carmen. Pretty Juana wears her new hat, awry. John estimates the crowd pouring in by 8:00 at about 20,000. The program indicates a varied cast, including “a wop named Sabini,” with whom John recalls singing in Palermo ﬁve years ago. John admires the Bowl. Fine lights, perfect acoustics. During the ﬁrst act he notices that when a chorister signals Sabini, cast as Escamillo, Sabini walks off stage. The others cover up his absence by improvising. John senses opportunity, grabs Juana’s cape, tells her where to wait for him later, ﬁnds the manager; Sabini, relieved to see a replacement, praises John and disappears. Now Sabini’s wife’s process server can’t ﬁnd him. John explains his professional past, sings a sample, puts on Sabini’s costume, and sings splendidly for the remainder of Carmen. John is in a dressing room given him when the manager, Morris Lahr, tells the process server that John is not Alessandro Sabini, gratefully pays John $50, commends his performance, and introduces Albert Hudson, tonight’s conductor. Stoessel enters bringing “Mr. Ziskin,” self-important movie producer, and says John “sings as good as Eddy” and would do for a current movie project. Persuaded, Ziskin, thinking John speaks no English, tells Stoessel to hire him at $500 weekly. John

209 butts in, coolly demands— and is signed up for — $1,000. [Nelson Eddy (1901–1967), singer and actor, enjoyed phenomenal popularity when he and Jeannette MacDonald (1901–1965) sang in movies together, beginning with Naughty Marietta (1935) and Rose Marie (1936). Cain is perhaps criticizing Hollywood by suggesting in 1937 that Eddy, a competent opera baritone, has been demeaningly cast in saccharine ﬁlmic operettas, and such could be John’s fate. Roy Hoopes writes that Cain was hired in 1934 to write a scenario for a movie to star Jeannette MacDonald and Clark Gable, tried unhappily, quit, and returned his $3,333 advance. (Hoopes, 249 – 250); Katz, 407, 866)] Someone removes Sabini’s trunk. Lahr and John toast each other with wine and “Happy days.” Juana starts their “ﬁrst row over a little thing” when John ﬁnds her impatiently waiting —until he hails a limo and off they drive. Over “a real feed” at the Derby, John explains about getting $1,000 a week—600 pesos. She claps when he sings “the Toreador song at her,” and says “Hoaney” is “fonny” and she “like.” Chapter 8. John dislikes Hollywood—for not treating Juana nicely but mainly for buying whatever it wants— singers, actors, writers, and music which stupid producers cannot evaluate. Even so, he does ﬁne. Despite Ziskin’s forgetting who he is, John fulﬁlls his contract by appearing in Woolies, a wretched B-grade Western about blizzard-rescued sheep. A September preview audience in Glendale loves Woolies so extravagantly that the studio plans costly retakes to elevate it to “feature” status. Meanwhile, from their Sunset apartment Juana goes to nightschool reading classes while John converts “Git Along, Little Dogies,” one of his songs in the movie, “into ﬁve-part harmony,” with melody plus a 4and 8-beat “quartet obbligato.” [Rabinowitz calls John’s 5-part reworking of “Git Along Little Dogies” an “overdubbed version.” (Rabinowitz, 180)] Beal, the producer, dislikes John’s volunteering to record all the parts, and even making echoes from “Home on the Range” bounce off some snowy cliffs—until a skilled “sound man” praises the idea, boasts he can create it, and predicts the “epic” ambitious Beal slavers for. A downtown preview succeeds; the newspapers signal that John Howard Sharp is “somebody to watch.” Rex Gold, company president, wants to hire John at $1,250 a week to sing in a lumberjack movie to be called Paul Bunyan; John demands $50,000 — and is ﬁnally signed at that sum for each of three pictures. Working hard, he rarely sees Juana. By now, he has a car; in addition, he buys her various dresses, a fur coat, and hats for school, beach, evening, etc. Elsa Chadwick, his Bunyan leading lady, invites the two to a party. Juana buys a white-and-red Mexican-style silk

Serenade

dress, dons a cotton shawl, and they attend. Elsa gag-clinches with John, greets Juana, but parks her alone with a drink and cigarettes while enticing John to join the Hollywood guests in fashionably dirty talk. When asked to sing “Di Provenza il Mar” from La Traviata [opera (1853) by Giuseppe Verdi (1813 –1901], he tardily realizes that Juana has been so snubbed that he balks, takes her by the hand, and tells offended Elza, who calls Juana “a cheap Mexican tart,” that they won’t be attending any more of her parties. Juana wonders if she did something wrong. John says no, she was “the sweetest one there,” which she says she “no understand.” No matter. He’ll protect her. John takes Juana to a Mexican restaurant in Los Angeles’s Little Mexico. She’s instantly welcomed. He sings for the guests; “big movie shot” that he is, he’s quietly impressive. Juana is treated so nicely that he experiences a uniquely “friendly feeling toward Mexico.” Home after 2:00, he embraces her until she falls asleep. Hating Hollywood, he hopes to “clear out” as soon as possible. John gets word from a New York agent that the Met is interested in him; the agent wants to make a deal for him. Juana is so excited by this longed-for opportunity for him that she, with age-old Mexican wisdom, brightly encourages him to break his contract, which she can’t fathom, and “sing at these Met.” John sees a lawyer, who tells him that if he breaks his contract, no studio in Hollywood will ever touch him again; that, if his voice cracks at the Met, he could still appear in movies because Gold could dub in his voice; that he should discuss Met possibilities with Gold, who might see his appearance there as a “build-up” for later movies. John reports to Gold, who, calling him “Jack,” says that opera is washed up and so will the theatre be soon, because of the popularity of movies. When he gripes to John that he paid extravagantly to use tunes from Tosca for spots in their Bunyan, John says that’s because Puccini came into popularity after copyright laws enabled his publishing house to charge adequately. Gold says he will soon require John to forget the “ear-ache” of the operatic “tra-lala-la-la-la!” and sing “down-to-earth,” unbeatable “cowboys” and jazz. John’s lawyer tells him that if he bucks Gold his name will be “M-U-D” in Hollywood. John curtly asks what he owes the lawyer. Home again, John ﬁnds additional “hot” messages from New York. He and Juana, highly agreeable, pack to catch “two seats on the four-thirty plane.” Chapter 9. In New York, John debuts “in Lucia,” does better in Don Giovanni when, on saying Garcia was allowed to accompany himself on a guitar,

Serenade

210

is permitted to do so himself. Rave notices compare him to Scotti. John reckons he’s better than Scotti, “the greatest actor I ever saw” but with a “just merely painful voice.” His use of the guitar, which always “has moonlight in it,” goes unmentioned. [The opera Lucia di Lammermoor was by Gaetano Donizetti (1797–1848). Manuel Patricio Rodriguez Garcia (1805 –1906[!]) was a baritone and teacher from Catalonia. Antonio Scotti (1866 –1936), magniﬁcent Naples-born baritone, debuted at the New York Met in Don Giovanni (1899) [opera (1797) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 –1791)], continued successfully for decades, and took his farewell at the Met (1933). Cain here alerts his 1937 readers, a year after Scotti’s death, that John is dangerously cocky to demean Scotti, who often starred to rave audiences with his friend Enrico Caruso (1873 – 1921), the incomparable tenor. Cain mentions Scotti again, in Mildred Pierce (ch. 16).] More opera roles follow for John. February comes; no word from Gold. John sees Ziskin but avoids him. Radio people develop “[t]he Hudson [River]-to-[Cape] Horn hook-up,” sell it to the company exporting Panamier cars, and hire Grace Moore and John to hawk it. The Bunyan movie puts him “to the top.” In a goofy segment, a Macy parade balloon is shaped like a cow, gets cut loose, and eventually lands amid singing lumbermen in Saskatchewan; Bunyan says the cow is his Babe, the Big Blue Ox. Audiences relish it, maybe because the story is “so cock-eyed” that they have to laugh. [Grace Moore (1898 –1947), popular opera singer and actress in musical comedies on stage and screen, was called “The Tennessee Nightingale.” She died in an airplane crash the morning after performing to an admiring audience in Copenhagen. It is said that Elvis Presley named “Graceland” after her.] John advises the Panamier car company to install brazen ﬁve-tone horns on cars sold in Mexico, writes and sings songs for both the Mexican and the Canadian trade; plans ads promoting his “My Pal Babe” musical creation, and starts making $4,000 per week—thus both getting revenge for that opera ﬂop in Mexico and perhaps pleasing Captain Conners, should he ever hear his radio program. In March, Gold sends John a registered letter: Hollywood demands his appearance on March 10th. His Lucia performance that night suffers. John consults a Radio City lawyer and ignores a wire from Gold to report — or else. While rehearsing a new soprano, John is summoned by an old lawyer named Mr. Luther, who represents the opera company. When Luther learns that John is under contract with Gold’s studio and also that he had to join the Screen Actors’ Guild, afﬁliated with the Federation of Musicians, he expresses rank “horror.”

Another message. The radio people demand his presence. The Panamier group, alerted now, upbraids John mercilessly, accusing him of deception. Asking them to wait until tonight, he confers with his lawyer, brisk little Sholto. Sholto tells John he simply must make that picture under his binding Gold contract, further, that doing so will ultimately make him a opera star in demand worldwide. Returning to their happy furnished apartment near Gramercy Park, John tells Juana, who prefers New York to Hollywood, that they gotta go back. The phone rings. If he had not answered it, their lives “would have been different.” [This is blatant foreshadowing. Upon rereading Serenade, experienced Cain fans will detect a dozen better examples.] Chapter 10. The newspapers call Winston Hawes the best conductor since Muck. [Karl Muck (1859 – 1940), a German conductor, brilliantly interpreted works by Richard Wagner.] Yes, but John doesn’t like crowd-pleasing, wealthy Winston; John feels that “there’s something about rich people that’s different from the rest of us.” [Cain may be capitalizing on “The Rich Boy” (1926), by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940), who in this story explains why “the very rich ... are different from you and me.”] Like crass art collectors, rich Winston seeks to own music, making it “a whore.” Then a story broke comparing Winston wrongly to Stanford White. [Cain creates unresolved suspense here. Stanford White (1853 – 1906), New York architect, got himself murdered by Harry Kendell Thaw. Though married, White had debauched 16-year-old showgirl Evelyn Nesbit (1884 –1967), who later married Pittsburgh railroad-mogul Thaw. When Thaw learned of Evelyn’s previous liaison with White, he shot him dead — to defend her alleged premarital honor. Thaw was acquitted on the grounds of temporary insanity.] John is aware that, although music, unlike a picture, can’t be owned, you can put a ﬁnancial clamp on a composer, an audience, an orchestra, a singer. John never got close to Winston’s wealthy “packing family” in Chicago but encountered Winston in Paris when he criticized John’s songs but then enticed him to sing with his recently established, 40man Petite Orchestra, raided from elsewhere, overpaid, and superb. Under Winston’s “live stick” conducting, John Howard Sharp became a perfect “baritone coloratura,” singing long-lost Italian songs. Winston began to coach John, which John liked—because Winston, unlike clapping fans, understood John’s ability. John was addicted to Winston — until his voice cracked. Refusing to accept Winston’s offered money and simply not sing, John left for Mexico. In New York, John learns Winston was opening his Petite Orchestra there, attends, is impressed,

211 then gets a note from him commending his Don Giovanni work. Back to that fatal phone call: Winston verbosely persuades “Jack,” with the encouragement of Juana, nursing a “snoddy nose,” to come see him. John reports to Winston’s swank hotel suite off Central Park. When John describes the legal hold Gold has on him, Winston presents ﬁne port wine, buttered biscuits, and Rossini records for John to enjoy, while “Papa” Winston will go attack Rex Gold like “the British Fleet.” Returning fast, Winston says his family “sometimes ... [has] a kind of low, swinish usefulness”; since its bank “controls” Gold’s company, all’s well—John can sing for the radio here, sing in operas here, sing for Winston’s adept band, and this summer go honor his Hollywood commitment. Because certain phone calls have rectiﬁed everything. Pressed by John, Winston admits he sought but missed John in Mexico, hired Gold to hire John and so displease him that he’d decamp to New York, etc. John rushes grinning to Juana, relays the news, and drags her, snifﬂes and all, to a night spot to ﬁnd music and liquor to calm his secret jitters. John broadcasts for more than a week, once with a message to Conners, who radiograms congratulations plus greetings to the girl. John’s success with the opera and on the radio makes him a celebrity. Once, when Juana has “a hangover from the cold,” Winston visits him backstage, and enjoys watching John sign autographs for delirious fans. John says he’d prefer seeing Winston only at his hotel. Winston’s too-fast OK turns John strangely nervous. When John must sing in Winston’s concert, Juana, who reads well enough now to have seen the announcement, accompanies him. He tells her to meet him afterwards at a certain Russian restaurant beside the concert hall. John learns backstage that he’s to sing Walter Damrosch’s “Mandalay.” Winston wants his wellrehearsed 24-man chorus to march up before John’s entrance. John makes him veto the grandiose idea. [Walter Damrosch (1860 –1950) was a Germanborn American conductor and composer. Rudyard Kipling (1865 –1936) published “On the Road to Mandalay” (1892), a poem in which a British soldier says he knows his “Burma girl” wants him to return. Damrosch composed “Mandalay” (1898) for voice and chorus. Aptly, with respect to singer John and his Juana, is the soldier’s lament that his girl is “a-wastin’ Christian kisses on a ’eathen idol’s foot.”] John spots “her” chewing some gum in the audience. All’s seemingly well. John’s rendition of “Mandalay,” with Winston’s chorus ﬁnally “dying away behind me,” was stupen-

Serenade

dously successful. Winston calls for an unprecedented repeat. While mechanically concluding the encore — by mouth, not head this time—John suddenly feels he is again that priest in Acapulco, hanging over his choir, “croaking” to make the face of Jesus stop gazing at him. In their cab returning home, Juana hisses at John that he’s in love with “these man,” Winston. Back in their rooms, she recites every detail of their past together, recalls their making unique toro love, and repeats he’s in love with Winston. John, having rudely denied it, suddenly ﬁnds it impossible to reply. Then Winston phones. She answers for John, says yes, “Mr. Sharp” will go, snarls for John to “go to your sweetie” who’s having a party, and pushes him toward the door. Instead, reminded of their actions in Mexico, he ﬂops on one of their beds, tries to dismiss thoughts of “what was done down there all the time,” but sees again “the ﬁn of that shark.” He lies for hours trying to doubt her ability to recognize the meaning of his voice during Winston’s concert. However, feeling under water and with something below him rising, and not hearing her depart, he sleeps, suffering “the same horrible dream” again. She returns. He confesses it’s true. She says if he “no lie” she “no ﬁght.” He explains that every man has a “ﬁve per cent” longing for another man, that a meeting of “the one person” can “bring it out,” but that Winston is “the son-of-a-bitch ... curse” of his life. She asks for money to get herself back to Mexico. Refusing, he vows “now it’s over.” She asks if Hoaney loves her. Yes. She offers a nipple and says, “Eat,” make “big toro!” [Paul Skenazy says that when John Sharp accepts Juana’s challenging invitation here, he “enacts a fantasy reversion in infancy and maternal dependence. When Sharp eats at (and of ) Juana’s breast, his action combines his lapsed potency as an opera singer, his psychological regression in the form of a crude symbolic cannibalism, and his sexual reawakening.” (Skenazy, 59 –60)] Chapter 11. For two days John and Juana remain in their rooms, order food in but don’t drink, and he tries to explain himself candidly. He thinks now how difﬁcult it must be for burdened Catholics to confess. Church bells remind him of his Sunday night concert for some spring try-outs. They go. His voice is “velvet.” They return home. He sings some Wagner, which he dislikes but it’s earthy, nocturnal. She listens, eyes closed. For a week, Winston phones but Juana says John is out. Then one day they bump into Winston near their elevator. He is directing denim-clad movers where to place his expensive furniture in a vast apartment he has just rented in their “very building.” Juana calls the coincidence “very fonny.” He invites them in. No, says John. But “I like,” counters Juana.

Serenade

212

Entering, John recalls much of Winston’s expensive furniture from their Paris days. Winston says he’s sick of living in hotels, rented this place, and golly, here were John and his friend. Winston explains his trip to Mexico to seek John. Juana says she saw John ﬁrst. Her eyes and Winston’s glint. He opens a crate, displays a footballsized pink stone carved like a cricket. While Juana murmurs, he boasts it’s Aztec 500 years old, compares it to works by Manship and Brancusi, puts it on his ﬁreplace mantle, and invites them to his upcoming housewarming. John hedges. Juana says perhaps. [Paul Manship (1885–1966) was an American sculptor. Constantin Brancusi (1876 –1957), Romanian-born French artist, pioneered in abstract sculpture.] Alone with Juana, John says he wants to avoid Winston. She accuses him of running away, says they should stay. That evening Winston visits the two, brings a “kid” pianist named Pudinsky, soon leaves again. John uneasily complains that Winston is trying to make him jealous, which he insists he isn’t to Juana, who kisses him goodnight. John sleeps badly. Winston visits them so often that John while on stage is gestured at by his prompter for missing cues. Time comes for Winston’s housewarming. John balks. But Juana says he “no good to run away,” should prove his indifference, then Winston “maybe he estop.” After messing up his role in Faust that evening, they dress and go. Juana looks marvelous— green dress, bullﬁghter’s cape, red and yellow silk shawl. Guests mostly comprise “the worst drag ... you ever saw.” Pudinsky is playing sickening jazz, not Brahms. John belts out the “prologue” to Pagliacci. Copper-colored Juana is the party hit though, getting Winston to pretend he’s a Mexican boy pretending he’s a jackass pretending it’s a bull, while she ﬂourishes her cape and uses somebody’s cane “for espada.” The door bell buzzes. Harry, a bellboy, pretends to be handing John a telegram, but instead warns him a federal agent is prowling for him. Harry says that newcomer “Mr. Hawes” had Tony, another apartment worker, phone the immigration service to have “Miss Montes” collared as being illegally here from Mexico. Harry tells John to get Juana to the elevator and Tony can hide her with his family, John’s fans. John returns, “laid it out ... fast” to Juana, gives her all his pocketed money, says Winston will get her deported unless she packs and waits with Tony’s family until John can hide with her somewhere. Saying Winston wants John’s love, Juana exits but returns with her real sword and her stinking bull’s ear. The guests are delighted. One “fag” pretends he’s a matador and pokes John with a broomstick. Juana waves her

cape, stabs Winston “like lightning,” and tells him to go to hell. John, trying but failing to tell himself he was “hooked ... with a savage,” realizes instantly that her act was “the most magniﬁcent thing” he had ever seen. [Richard Bradbury analyzes the murder scene “beyond the obvious apposition of fear and horror with exhilaration and admiration.” He suggests that the female killer, in the “dominant position,” penetrates the male victim, resulting in a ﬂow of his blood, normally “the mark of female sexual activity.” Bradbury also feels that “[t]he image of the bullﬁght is ... both an image of primitive violence and also of humiliation and attack — presumably, of the consequences of being acknowledged as homosexual in the machismo-imbued society from which Maira [Juana] originates.” Gregory Forter regards the action climaxing in Winston’s getting stabbed as “the ‘essence’ of the novel.” Forter’s prolix explication has to do with “the fragrant scene,” “animalization” and “libidinal contagion” as possible outcomes of “the homosexual bond,” the poking at John and Winston as “an erotic and imitative fratricidal rite,” and the entire scene as “eroto-mimesis,” in fact, a “homicidal passion play that they don’t even know they’re performing,” because they are spellbound by “this primal smell.” Snifﬁng for additional clues, Forter asks “where ... are we to locate this utterly primal ‘phase’?” He then locates it in Sigmund Freud’s discussion of “anal eroticism.” More simply, Joyce Carol Oates says that the “scene in which Juana kills Winston ... seems perfect,” set as it is exotically in a “party of perverts”; but she adds that John “should have killed the homosexual in himself ” by killing Winston himself. (Bradbury, 93; Forter, 291, 294; Oates, 126)] Chapter 12. As the female guests curse like men and rush out, and as some “fags” scream like women and rush out, Juana spits into dead Winston’s blood, tells John that Winston “no get” now and “remember Juana,” kisses John, and disappears. Pudinsky sobs. John vomits, gurgles, looks green in the mirror. The apartment soon swarms with cops, a photographer, a few returning guests, and a detective who escorts John to Harry and the elevator. In the lobby more cops are talking with Tony. Policemen hold John at headquarters John until dawn. About 6:00 a tough detective grills John, who guesses Tony was scared and “spilled” about Juana’s illegal status. John says yes, he was in Mexico but met Juana in Los Angeles, doesn’t know her legal status; she paid her way to come with him to New York (hence he’s no pimp); he has important connections, isn’t “a pixie” like that drag-party musician (Pudinsky); a bellboy warned John that Winston Hawes had phoned immigration people; so John

213 warned her to leave; she returned and justiﬁably nailed meddlesome Hawes, who controlled the ﬁlm company John also works for and who feared adverse publicity because of Juana’s shaky status. The detective leaves. John ﬁgures he gave Juana a plausible motive without revealing her belief concerning his and Winston’s homosexuality; John plans to marry Juana before she would ever be tried. A cop brings John some clothes from his apartment. He cleans up in headquarters, and changes from his party tuxedo. About 9:00 he phones Sholto, his lawyer, who appears and accepts John’s check for $10,000, which he cashes. He gets him released on bond as a material witness. By 10:00 Sholto hastens John through court on $2,500 bail, accepts a $1,000 retainer, hands John the remainder in hundreds, and says Juana is still missing. The papers label her “Sword-Killer” but lack photos of her. Sholto rushes John to his Radio City ofﬁce. John starts to repeat what he told the detective. Sholto halts him, says he won’t co-conspire to deceive authorities, is willing to represent him in court ethically, says the cops will probably bug John’s apartment and also tail him so that if and when Juana tries to meet him they can nab her. John chats evasively with reporters outside his apartment building, hangs up on a newshound phoning to offer $5,000 for an exclusive, and when Harry and Tony are at his door gives them $100, and in the hall listens as they whisper this: Juana, after killing Winston, returned to her and John’s apartment, dressed, packed, and reported to Tony, who put her in a cab; Tony ﬁgures some “fag” informed the cops of the killing. After lunch at a Twentythird Street restaurant, John returns to his apartment, phones the restaurant and asks if (ﬁctitious) “Kugler” is there. No. Ask him to call? Yes. “Kugler” then phones. John says sorry he can’t get him opera tickets after all. John thus knows the police are tailing him. The jist of more news items is that Juana took a cab to Battery Park, disappeared, that John won’t be appearing in operas for a while, that Pudinsky says Winston tipped immigration authorities in order to protect John. John has dinner out, isn’t recognized because newspapers print Hollywood pictures of him and since that time he gained weight and wears glasses. He still wonders if he’s being followed. John returns to his apartment, can’t think or sleep properly, fears that Juana if caught will “burn ... in the chair.” Next morning Harry phones John that a man is phoning him and can be identiﬁed by the word “Acapulco.” Realizing it’s Conners, John answers.

Serenade

Knowing his phone is tapped, they arrange for John to phone Conners at a number revealed by decoding ﬁgures modiﬁed from “6 ⁄8,” the Don Giovanni serenade “time signature.” From a drugstore John phones Conners, who says that Juana found him docked by Seventeenth Street and that they’re sailing at midnight. John checks trains for Rye, withdraws $10,000 from the bank to add to the $6,000 left from Sholto, quilts most of the money into two pairs of drawers, gets into them and dresses carefully, takes a cab to Grand Central and boards the Rye train, sees he is indeed being followed by ﬁve men as they all proceed to 125th Street, but deboards fast and escapes by cab to Eighth and Twenty-Fifth. Soon to the Port of Cobh and Conners’ embrace. John also hugs and kisses Juana. She wants him to leave, since he’s free now. But he vows to accompany her. Conners says she’s safe only without him, but John insists. Their voyage starts. [Paul Skenazy thinks he knows why John must follow Juana: “he seems to replace his addiction to Hawes with an equally debased need for Juana.” (Skenazy, 6l)] Chapter 13. Conners gets the two to Havana, where John buys suits and fake passports for himself and wife — they become Giuseppe Di Nola and Lola Dominguez Di Nola—buys airplane tickets at Pan-American, says he’ll get required vaccination certiﬁcates, escorts Juana, dressed like a New Yorker, off the boat, ﬁnds a hotel off the Prado, and scribbles a note to unavailable Conners. John hates saying goodbye thus but fears the New York authorities could have traced Conners through his ﬁrst phone call to John. Through hotel personnel John locates a doctor, who vaccinates John and Juana and signs their certiﬁcates. John dresses nicely, appears tanned, trims his nicely growing black moustache sadly sprinkled with gray now, and thinks he resembles Mussolini. They ﬂy from Havana via Vera Cruz to Guatemala. On the way, Juana, brieﬂy sick from her vaccination, is puzzled by leaving one ocean only to see another. Once in Guatemala City’s Palace Hotel, John decides against continuing “down the line” to Chile. The hotel is full of international tourists. John fears he’ll be recognized. So he “sent her down” to a hotel clerk to learn about renting a house. They ﬁnd “the gloomiest dump I ever laid eyes on,” for 150 quetzals a month, equaling $150. The owner, Mrs. Gonzalez, says she’s from a coffee family and needn’t rent, but prefers living out of town by the lake. Also tenants in the house are a harmless Japanese couple. John practices speaking Spanish with Juana, to avert suspicions. They settle into a routine. Guatemala City is dull.

Serenade

214

It’s June. Rains and mosquitoes follow. They never mention Winston’s death or John’s singing. One evening he absent-mindedly begins to sing. She registers horror. If he sings, she’ll be identiﬁed, because the movie featuring him as “Pablo Buñan” is the rage here. John misses singing — if it’s in you, it’s gotta come out — the way a man misses sex. He dreams about awaiting cues for stage entrances. One night a neighbor’s radio picks up London, and he hears some classical music, by chance including the Don Giovanni serenade he sang to Conners. He voices praise of the singer. Juana says it was a record of John’s own singing. Naked and between sobs, she says she tried to say adiós after she killed Winston for Hoaney’s freedom, tried again at Conners’ boat, and now insists. Walking slumped and sad, she looks like an Indian hag. She speaks resolutely. Being “little dumb muchacha,” she can ﬁnd work here alone, can “go to priest, confess my pecado,” never be turned in (as John fears); if with John back in New York, she’ll be found, surrendered to Mexican soldados, and executed because of the político; John, needing to sing, can safely do so again in New York. She professes her continued love for him but sleeps alone now. He cannot “break her down.” Yet, though ignored now, John cannot leave Juana. Occasionally, he’d like to belt out a song. Also, he’s afraid she’ll go to a priest. [Is he fearful that, if she does, they’ll then have no more toro love, or that the padre will turn him in?] Bored, John starts attending some lousy baseball games. A league involving Guatemala, Managua, San Salvador, etc. features mostly inept players but enthusiastic crowds. A pitcher named Barrios, however, has American-style looseness and speed. Suddenly John feels urges toward smooth Barrios like those toward Winston. So he decides “to have a woman.” He taxis to a higher-class brothel region called La Locha, orders cerveza, picks a clean-looking Indian about 21 and calling herself María, dances with her; but when they’re upstairs, he sees the photograph of a bass named Enzo Luchetti he sang with in Florence. María says a girl here from Europe left the picture. Realizing possible exposure if Luchetti is here now, John ﬁnishes fast with María, gets home and in bed, but dreams of a conductor trying to make him sing while he says he mustn’t. He tries other prostitutes in cheap hotels, then María regularly. Returning home one night, he ﬁnds Juana, by now “turned to ice,” in her red dress, painted like a hussy, and leaving. When he stops her and yells at her critically, she says she knows about his visits to La Locha. He lies and feels like killing her when she says she has also frequented La Locha— until she reveals that on idle afternoons, she met a

muchacha there and learned about that high-tipper speaking Spanish with an Italian accent. He hopes for a reconciliation, but she says adíos and gets away. Chapter 14. Seeing Juana leave by taxi, John hails a taxi but loses her, goes to La Locha, bribes cab drivers to watch for an Indian in a red dress, waits inside until forced to leave at 4:00 A.M., and learns by “pidgin Spanish” with “the Japs” that she had packed and waited for him until after midnight, then left. A taxi driver says a friend heard what John wanted, takes him to one of the hotels John visited with a prostitute, and he tries but fails to learn more than that she has returned “to her old life.” Lamenting that he ever gave her 5,000 quetzals “just in case,” he phones Pan-American in English, ﬁbs that he took photos of a nameless girl, failed to give them to her, knows only that she has a nice fur coat, and is quickly told that a porter handled such a coat for a Mexican woman named Mrs. Di Nola, who ﬂew yesterday to Mexico City. He gets to Mexico City, registers in a hotel as Di Nola, charters a car and driver, looks for Juana everywhere without success. On Sunday, he tries the Chapultepec Park and then the Palacio de Bella Artes, and—sure enough—sees her there, with that bullﬁghter Triesca. They both recognize him and start riotous joking at his expense. To a mariachi’s accompaniment, Triesca even sings Cielito Lindo in a “simpering falsetto” in John’s face. When Juana joins in laughter at John, he loses his cool and sings the song straight back at Triesca, beautifully, “like gold.” The enraptured party-goers identify him as El Panamier Trovador. A cop instantly starts phoning someone. Crowds ask him to continue singing. Juana, terriﬁed now, dashes out. John follows, but hears shots, and ﬁnds her old político from Acapulco standing over her body and quiveringly delighted at his “gringo” rival’s delirious anguish. John asks himself: If that politician did “that to her,” what had he done? [Bobbie Robinson, noting the grisly irony, says that “[t]hus [John] Sharp destroys Juana with the voice she had restored.” (Robinson, 620)] Two days later John attends Juana’s funeral mass at the little Acapulco church where the two found refuge during the storm. Her parents are there, as are relatives he never knew. The priest gently requests “Señor Sharp ... [to sing] Agnus Dei perhaps?” No, never, is his reply. The priest breathes an “Ah,” traces a blessing for him; John, aware that he has confessed and been absolved, departs. As her white casket is lowered, an iguana darts out of her grave and onto the rocks. [David Madden may strain explaining two iguanas in Serenade. He says the iguana John caught and ate back in Chapter 4 is “symbolic of the dark primitive in man.” He then feels that the iguana’s escape from being buried with Juana

215 suggests that “the primitive part of man’s nature, to which the woman always seems closer than the man, continues to live.” (Madden 1970, 150) One must remember that when Sharp sampled that earlier iguana, so did Juana.] Roy Hoopes reports that sales of Serenade were brisk until sales tapered off at 25,000 because at that point the Catholic Church condemned it. Joyce Carol Oates, a skillful creative writer, is out of her element, twice, when she criticizes the lack of “verisimilitude” in Serenade and concludes that possibly “Cain did not understand what he was doing” when he wrote it. Cain visited Mexico for verisimitudinous background. Bobbie Robinson says that Serenade is Cain’s “most problematic novel for modern readers,” because “[t]he racial sterotyping of the Mexicans and the homophobia pervading the book mirror Cain’s own and the nation’s mentality in the 1930s.” Paul Skenazy regards Serenade as “in many ways Cain’s ﬁnest sustained piece of writing, though also perhaps the work most difﬁcult for a contemporary audience to accept.” Skenazy was probably thinking of Cain’s treatment of homosexuality. In fact, Roy Hoopes quotes from an unpublished letter Cain wrote to his agent Ivan Von Auw (November 12, 1965) that his friend Vincent Lawrence tried “to head me off from a book about a ‘goddamn fairy.’” (Hoopes, 284, 288, 602; Oates, 115, 116; Robinson, 62; Skenazy, 53 –54) Serrurier (Mignon). He is a New Orleans locksmith. Bill buys a skeleton key from him which he uses to open several rooms in the City Hotel, including his own room and Burke’s. 7–11. See Sinful Woman. Seymour, Captain (Mignon). He is a Union army ofﬁcer in the Red River region when Bill arrives to dam it so that naval vessels can maneuver more easily. Bill works effectively with Seymour. Landry, Burke, and Mignon try to sabotage damming efforts. Seymour shoots both Landry and Burke and rescues Bill, who nearly drowns when he bravely sinks their powder-loaded skiff. See also Bailey, Captain. Seymour is presumably not related to Horatio Seymour (1810 –1886), Democrat governor of New York during three of the Civil War years (1863 – 1865). (Wagner, 199) Shadwell, Dr. (The Institute). He is the chairman of the English Department at the University of Maryland and as such is Lloyd’s boss until Lloyd’s retires from teaching there. Shapiro (Double Indemnity). See Keswick. Sharp, John Howard (Serenade). Sharp, narratorhero, was an American opera baritone in Europe

Shepler

until his voice cracked. Failing in Mexico City, he sinks into poverty. He gives Juana Montes a lottery ticket, which wins her a Ford and cash. Leaving bullﬁghter Triesca, she asks John to help her open an Acapulco brothel. They make love in a church; he ﬁnds his voice again. In Acapulco, John slugs her político backer and would-be lover. John and Juana escape and are taken by Captain Conners to Los Angeles. John replaces a baritone in Carmen at the Hollywood Bowl, then sings in Paul Bunyan, an inferior Hollywood musical movie. Though under contract with Rex Gold, the studio president, John takes Juana with him to New York, succeeds in operas, but is blackballed for not honoring his Hollywood contract. John’s submerged homosexual tendencies rise when he sings for Winston Hawes, a rich homosexual orchestra conductor whom he knew in Paris and who has surfaced in New York. Juana, to rid John of such temptations, kills Winston. Conners gets Juana, and John, to Havana. They ﬂy to Guatemala. John, star as Pablo Buñan in the movie here, now can’t sing without jeopardizing Juana but can’t live without singing. Battling homosexual quiverings, John visits prostitutes. Discovering his dilemma, Juana ﬂies to Mexico City. He pursues her, ﬁnds her back with Triesca. An argument starts. She rushes out, only to be shot dead by her político. At her funeral mass, John vows never to sing again. John answers to several names. Gold and Winston call him “Jack.” When he sings in Hollywood in radio programs he calls himself John Howard Sharp but plays the guitar as “Signor Giuseppe Bondo.” He tells Albert Hudson, Carmen conductor at the Hollywood Bowl, that he sang as John Howard Sharp in France and Germany but as Giovanni Sciaparelli in Italy. To a taxi driver in New York, John calls himself Henderson. In Guatemala, John registers in a hotel as Giuseppe Di Nola. Roy Hoopes reports that Cain wrote in his unpublished memoirs that the “special quality” of the voice of a certain singer he knew in Hollywood might “have this simple explanation”— i.e., that he was gay. Later, this same man told Cain he was “scared” horribly when he read Serenade. (Hoopes, 604n288) Shaw (Rainbow’s End). He hijacks a Trans-US&C airplane, receives $100,000 and parachutes. He hesitates when about to parachute out. Stewardess Jill Kreeger pushes him; he grabs her to resist, and both ﬂy out. They land near Dave Howell’s residence. Shaw brandishes a gun at Dave, who kills him. Shepler (“The Taking of Montfaucon”). He is a fellow soldier with the narrator. “Shep” is less able than the narrator and therefore (given military stupidity) gets a medal, whereas the narrator doesn’t.

Sherman

216

Sherman, Harold (Jealous Woman). This is the name of a cousin who Jane Delavan says gave her a gold bracelet. She explains this when Lindstrom, a police ofﬁcer, questions her because the bracelet was found near Richard Sperry’s body.

numerous mix-ups and Lucas’s resolving everything, they plan to marry. First, though, the two drive out of town so that she can see her new home, his ranch. Soon, though, Lucas is going into the army and Sylvia is going to be an army nurse.

Shirley (Mildred Pierce). She is a waitress who replaces Mildred when she leaves the Tip-Top restaurant.

Shorty (“Dead Man”). He ladles soup in a Los Angeles soup kitchen. Ben Fuller engages Shorty in conversation to establish an alibi. Last night Ben accidentally killed a railroad detective named Larry R. Nott along the tracks out of the city. Ben convinces Shorty that he was in Los Angeles the day before. Shorty says he is more than six feet tall; hence his ironic nickname. Ben says his nickname “Lucky” is a true one. Ben is genuinely fortunate, from the point of view of religious salvation, when he later confesses to killing Nott.

Sholto (Serenade). He is the canny New York lawyer who advises John Howard Sharp about the danger to his career if he continues singing in New York and ignores his Hollywood contract. John’s girlfriend Juana Montes kills Winston Hawes, John’s homosexual friend, after which Sholto provides legal assistance and advice which John ignores. Shoreham, Hazel (Sinful Woman). She is actress Sylvia Shoreham’s almost look-a-like younger sister, in her early 20s. She is unfortunately demented. Sylvia’s husband Vicki Adlerkreutz has taken advantage of Hazel, plans to marry her after he and Sylvia are divorced, and promises Hazel to take her to Europe to be cured. All this prompts Sylvia to want him dead. When Vicki dies by gunshot at Tony Rico’s Galloping Domino gambling joint, Sylvia thinks Hazel shot him and tries to take the blame. According to the police report sent by Enders of Lone Pine to Parker Lucas, Sylvia (in reality over-sexed Hazel posing as Sylvia) had assignations, sometimes with Ted Genesee, sometimes with Carlos Loma, at Bill’s Place, the Tumble Inn Roadhouse, the Luckbuck Club in town, the Garden motel, the Westhaven in town, the Monte Carlo, Hollister’s ranch, and Hack Schultz’s mountain camp. When with Genesee, she signed in as “Mrs. Edward Gentile.” At Bill’s Place she registered as “Mrs. John L. Smith” but obligingly signed “Sylvia Shoreham” for autograph hunters. Shoreham, Sylvia (Sinful Woman). She is a stunningly beautiful ﬁlm star, 25. She is the older sister of Hazel Shoreham, who is unfortunately demented. As the wife of Vicki Adlerkreutz, Sylvia is ofﬁcially Baroness Adlerkreutz, until she gets a quickie divorce in town. She likes Parker Lucas, who is instantly and permanently smitten by her. He was enraptured by her performance in The Glory of Edith Cavell. But he dislikes her being cast in vulgar movies by Dmiti Spiro, president of the Phoenix movie company. Vicki dies of gunshot in Sylvia’s friend Tony Rico’s Galloping Domino. Sylvia mistakenly thinks Hazel killed Vicki and therefore tries to take the blame. When Lucas reads reports from a police ofﬁcer named Enders of near Lone Pine that she had numerous sexual meetings with various lovers for the previous month, she starts to speak but then stops. (The over-sexed woman was Hazel.) After

Shorty Lee (The Moth). He “owns” a well-appointed hobo jungle near Yuma. Jack, Hosey, and Buck reunite there at one point before moving on. Shreve, Sam (The Moth). He is Father’s broker and helps him invest a major portion of Jack’s pay for singing in stocks and bonds. After the Great Crash, Streve commits suicide. Sibert, Jane (Cloud Nine). She is Edith Stuart’s close friend, widowed and owning 67 valuable acres near the Maryland Agriculture College. Graham Kirby so disliked his mother Edith’s second husband that she let Jane raise him. Although at that time Jane was 43 and he was 15, she began to dream of having intercourse with him. (Rumor wrongly had that she did so.) Graham is now 30; Jane, now 58, is still hankering. When she learns that he has married Sonja Lang, she marries his half-brother Burwell Stuart, enjoys his amours, and initiates plans to cut Graham out of her will in Burl’s favor. But Sonja informs “Miss Jane” that Burl plans to kill her and take her estate; so she escapes him. It seems incredible that Jane would let herself desire Graham for lo these 15 frosty years. However, Paul Skenazy may go too far when he frowns on “the almost-incest of the older mother ﬁgure lusting for a man in his adolescence.” (Skenazky, 128) Sickles, Dan (Galatea). He is reputedly a person who caught his wife in adultery, shot the other man, and was acquitted. Siegal (Career in C Major). He is a voice teacher and coach. Bert Horn recommends Siegal to Leonard Borland as necessary to get him into shape to sing at the Hippodrome. They meet daily, and Siegal charges Leonard $25 an hour. Sigrid (Mildred Pierce). She is a Swedish waitress whom Mildred hires when her restaurant business expands. She proves to be loyal as well as excellent,

217 and becomes a hostess for Mildred. Hans, Mildred’s baker, has felt the legs of waitresses Arline, Emma, and Audry; so, “just to be impartial,” he feels Sigrid’s too. Cain frequently points out that non–Americans are often better workers than Americans. Silbro, Burton (“Come-back”). He is an independent movie producer. Mogul Jack Hornison lets Silbro spent a weekend in his palatial residence while Jack is away. Silbro spend it trying to ﬁlm a short about Malibu and asks actor-singer Tim Kennelly to participate. Much of what Silbro says to Kennelly is untrue. Kennelly declines to participate but changes his mind when he sees would-be actress Polly Dukas with Silbro. The outcome includes Kennelly’s rescuing people from a runaway lion named Mowgli and then Kennelly’s own professional “come-back.” Silver (“Come-back”). He was cowboy actor-singer Tim Kennelly’s horse. When Silver died, Kennelly’s career tanked. Silver Heels (“Come-back”). He is cowboy-singeractor Tim Kennelly’s horse. Kennelly’s career nosed-dived when his popular horse Silver died; so Hapgood, Kennelly’s agent, buys Silver Heels as a replacement. Simone, Grace (The Magician’s Wife). She is the widow of a Goucher College professor and is Sally Gorsuch’s mother. Grace has artistic talents, works for Fisher’s in Channel City, and adores her little grandson Elly Gorsuch. When Sally, estranged from her adulterous husband Alec Gorsuch, gets intimate with Clay Lockwood, Grace eggs Clay on. Grace paints Clay’s portrait, which they will sell to Clay’s company headquarters. Clay kills Alec but conceals the fact from Grace, whom he marries. Grace is a loving, generous wife. Even after Clay tells her he killed Alec, she promises loyalty. When he kills Sally and then himself, Grace accepts both tragedies and is left to explain to the police and comfort her dear Elly. Grace Simone Lockwood is one of Cain’s most enigmatic characters. Simons (Mildred Pierce). He is the private detective whom Mildred and her husband Bert Pierce hire to locate Sam Forrester to make him marry their “pregnant” daughter Veda. Mildred pays, but Veda, faking pregnancy, blackmails Sam’s mother and stepfather John Lenhardt. Sinful Woman (novel, 1947). (Characters: Vicki Adlerkreutz, Baron Vladimir Alexis Gustavus Alderkreutz, Bill, Cy Britten, the Coroner, Daly, Dawson, Dobbs, Enders, Ethel, Flynn, R. P. Gans, Ted Genesee, Hirsch, Hollister, Jake, Miss Jennifer, Ger-

Sinful

land La Bouche, George M. Layton, Carlos Loma, Parker Lucas, Pease, Maxine Rico, Tony Rico, Hank Schultz, Hazel Shoreham, Sylvia Shoreham, Spiro, Dmitri Spiro, Benny Zitt.) Chapter One. A beautiful blonde, with a hauntingly sad face and a voluptuous ﬁgure, leaves her hotel, hears her name called by a tall, gracefully lank man. He looks like a cowboy. She praises his appearance. He hints at his varied background. She says he probably wants to be in movies and she’ll get him into a Western. He names her —“Miss Shoreham — says he’s county sheriff, wants her to sign some papers, strides away. Asking the hotel clerk the sheriff ’s address, she goes there, sees he’s hiding her pictures on his desk, asks his name—“Parker Lucas”—signs some photos as Sylvia Shoreham, and smoothly knots his dangling necktie for him. He ridicules one of her movies, praises The Glory of Edith Cavell which he’s seen 20 times, but names and brands recent ones “junk,” and says ﬁne pictures can do good. [Paul Skenazy believes that “[t]he point of the novel is to let Lucas prove to himself (and to Shorham) that she is just like this early ﬁlm role.” (Skenazy, 100)] Sylvia complains that her contract is with greedy producers who say “Sylvia Shoreham in a tight sarong sells tickets.” She adds that the contract has just ended and so will her “messy” marriage be this very day. His phone rings. He talks brieﬂy, then tells Sylvia that a major wants to get him into the army as a colonel wrangling mules but he wants to be a pilot and yet is at 32 “too old.” She makes a hotel lunch date at 1:00 P.M. with him so he can meet her younger, prettier sister (Hazel). [Though unnamed, the town is surely Reno, Nevada. Edith Cavell (1865 –1915), British nurse serving in Belgium during World War I, helped about 200 Allied soldiers escape to neutral Holland, was tricked by members of the German army into confessing, and was executed by ﬁring squad.] Chapter Two. Sylvia goes to Tony’s gambling hall, gets a phone call from her hotel that her husband has arrived and she’s to phone him. Tony recognizes the phone number is at the Galloping Domino, his gambling joint two miles from town, suggests Hazel can meet Lucas for lunch. Tony drives Sylvia drive to the Domino; they spy on her husband playing blackjack, and learn he’s been living in a shack and gambling there for a week. Tony summons him. He — Vic, Vicki — kisses Sylvia’s hand, drools in an accent about he “coon wet” to see her, for tomorrow ends their marriage. She asks “[y]ou lying Lithuanian heel” what he wants. He demands her ring. She gives it, but asks why. “I get marrit again ... today.” Tony brings champagne and backs out. She tells Vicki she bought controlling shares of Phoenix Pictures; so he as former Phoenix producer, and Phoenix head Dimmy Spiro, and she

Sinful

218

“are out,” and “Metro or Warners” will buy Phoenix. She gripes she’s been underpaid and he’s been overpaid during their seven-year contract, asks who’s his bride-to-be. He says “your seester Hezzel.” Chapter Three. Aghast, Sylvia slugs Vicki in the mouth. The upshot of her complaint: Vicki fed liquor to Hazel, somewhat demented and sufﬁcient owner of Phoenix stock to bind Sylvia to the contract; he has her at his shack; Dimmy is the brains behind their scheme. Three men enter. She snarls at them. Dimmy, resembling “an obese penguin” (and almost 40) looks hurt, says that she’ll star as a B-Girl going to jail to save her lover in their Queen of the Big House script, and adds that they have a further surprise. Sylvia escapes to Tony outside, identiﬁes the other men: (Gerland) La Bouche, Dimmy’s tall production manager, and little Benny the Nib, writer and check forger. Tony, already knowing Hazel’s “mental condition.,” tells Sylvia that his bartender Jake heard that the trio stayed with Hazel and Vicki in his shack and he demanded her wedding ring, which she calls “a Baltic baron’s ring.” When Vicki (now identiﬁed as Baron Adlerkreutz) drives off alone, Sylvia borrows Tony’s car, follows him to settle matters, loses the speedster, and stops at her lawyer Daly’s ofﬁce, conﬁdes in him, asks him to stop her divorce. Too late, “decree was entered an hour ago,” he says; further, Hazel can marry Vicki anywhere. At their hotel, Sylvia learns that Hazel left, leaving no message. Tony phones Sylvia, says Vicki accidentally dropped her ring. Sylvia says he’ll not marry without it and she’ll drive back for it. Behold this: fat little man [Spiro] is winning at roulette, while having his shoes shined; tall man [La Bouche] and little guy [Benny] watch “admiringly”; girl [Sylvia] in ofﬁce [Tony’s] holding ring, noticing tarnish on it, opens desk for blotter, sees guns; outside, car driven by girl [Hazel] through open gate lets man out [Vicki], parks; he runs “into the casino.” [Cain occasionally presents dramatic scenes without naming participants.] Sylvia hands Vicki his ring, says she’ll do the movie if he won’t “go through with this ghastly thing.” He says, “OK,” talks about proﬁts. Then she spits in his face; this insult reaches “the quick of his nature.” His mouth quivers; the casino door opens. Chapter Four. In walks Hazel, an ersatz replica of wistful Sylvia in face, ﬁgure, and walk. Hazel hopes that Sylvia has forgiven her; Sylvia tells Hazel that Vicki isn’t going to marry her. Hazel laments that Vicki promised to have her “trouble” cured by doctors in Vienna “when the war’s over.” Hazel, starting to smoke against orders, asks what Sylvia said to Vicki, who replies, “Say you nuts. Is all.” Vicki looks wooden as Hazel mimics Sylvia in movie scenes, with tears, acting all this: Vicki’s stock should go to Vicki; Sylvia is better off staying with Phoenix; sure,

Hazel, being “human,” has lovers; Sylvia pays for her food, bed, “shining raiment,” furs, cars; but Hazel has sacriﬁced an acting career by not standing in Sylvia’s sunlight. This whole performance, à la Sylvia, ends, after which Hazel ﬁnds a gun from Tony’s desk, points it at Sylvia, but, whimpering, surrenders it to Vicki, who puts it back. Sylvia curses and threatens him. Chapter Five. Dmitri Spiro, not his real name, came from a peasant background in Lithuania, became a clown in Paris and then a show owner, arrived in Hollywood, and was happy to be greeted amiably there by Vicki, the son of the baron whom Spiro had served in Lithuania. Spiro, with Phoenix, met Sylvia, signed her for bosomy B movies with repetitious plots, and somehow she married Vicki. Behold fatty but magnetic Spiro still at roulette in Tony’s in-town joint. Confusion follows: Vicki enters, hints Hazel is with him; croupier mentions sounds probably trucks backﬁring; Vicki’s car leaves, probably with Hazel; Sylvia enters, says her “personal appearance contract” signed “in red ink” is behind Tony’s ofﬁce desk; she leaves; intuitively La Bouche and Benny exit; alarmed, Spiro pays shoeshine boy, enters Tony’s ofﬁce, sees Sylvia far outside, moans, sits; Tony enters, identiﬁes himself as proprietor, ﬁnds Vicki shot dead, starts to call police, refuses Spiro’s pleas to remove body, stage something elsewhere. Sylvia enters. Spiro boasts of money he has as Phoenix’s president, says he has a personal million invested in Sugar Hill Sugar and a scandal would also ruin Sylvia, undoubtedly the killer. Tony reconsiders, says he’ll cover up the killing if Dimmy makes Tony’s talented, would-be actress daughter Maxine a star. Spiro: “I make her Garbo.” Sylvia tells Spiro it was accidental. Chapter Six. Lucas awaits his lunch date with Sylvia at her hotel, has her paged when she doesn’t appear. Cy Britten, city police inspector, tells Lucas that being county sheriff he should go to the Galloping Domino where a shooting occurred, and Britten will take Sylvia to lunch. Instead, Lucas deputizes Britten, and the two drive in Britten’s car to the Domino. Already there are crowds of ofﬁcial onlookers. Lucas learns Sylvia Shoreham’s husband Baron Victor Adlerkreutz is dead. In the room, with ash trays on ﬂoor and electric fan on water cooler, Vicki lies dead, blood on linoleum, gun at side, handkerchief tied to trigger, another handkerchief tied to ﬁrst handkerchief and victim’s leg. Flynn, Lucas’s deputy, says there was an argument about a movie scene. Tony takes Lucas and other ofﬁcials to the bar, introduces him to movie-men La Bouche, Benny, and Spiro, their distraught “boss.” To Lucas, Spiro explains they were staging a prison ﬁght for a movie in which Sylvia is to shoot another girl;

219 they needed a real gun, which Tony provided for his friend Sylvia and tied handkerchiefs as parts of dresses; they got torn in the struggle for the gun, which went “boom.” To incredulous Lucas, Tony feels just awful for taking the clip from the automatic but apparently leaving a bullet in the chamber. La Bouche says lack of evidence of any struggle means that parts are ﬁlmed elsewhere and cut in, further, that ash trays marked the prison-cell dimensions while the fan marked the camera level. Lucas questions his companions. The Coroner says an inquest is likely tonight. The undertaker will hold the body for an autopsy. Lucas tells Tony he can reopen his Domino. The place clears. Tony gets his charwomen to help him restore his ofﬁce as it was. Lucas asks where Miss Shoreham is; Tony brings her from the ladies’ room. Lucas leads her to a chair. She’s sorry about the lunch, saw only a whirl of police. She rests her head on his coat. Asked, he admits he loves her. She says she was by the river; they tried to tell her something; she doesn’t intend to act the part they demanded. He kneels beside her, wipes her eyes, walks toward the windows, and asks who killed Vicki. She says she did, to prevent her adored but “not responsible” sister Hazel from doing so; Vicki was ruining Hazel; Vicki told Hazel to drive to town and he’d follow; she may not know yet what happened; Spiro staged it to look like an accident to save expensive Sugar Hill Sugar; she’ll lie and dramatically deny this whole confession so that her sister will know nothing. Lucas reminds Sylvia that in the Edith Cavell movie the court didn’t believe Edith’s lies and has her shot to destroy her spy network. He will take her to her hotel, not charged, at least until he interviews Hazel. Sylvia declares her love for him. Back with Britten they sneak into her hotel room by the service elevator and discover Hazel missing. When Britten says the gamblers said nothing about her, Lucas says she is “daft” and sits and silently obeys orders, and must be found. Britten suspects Vicki killed himself, what with powder burns and all, but why the odd cover-up? Lucas replies it was to save money-making Miss Shoreham and they gotta ﬁnd Hazel. Chapter Seven. George M. Layton, local agent of Southwest General Insurance Corporation of North America, gets a phone call from vice president of claims R. P. Gans in Los Angeles that they have three policies on Victor Adlerkreutz totaling $100,000, his widow being beneﬁciary, therefore maybe his killer. Gans is ﬂying pronto to Layton, who must stall everything. Layton’s secretary Miss Jennifer gets some newspapers, with photos of Vicki, Spiro, and especially Sylvia Shoreham, who Jennifer says wouldn’t kill for a “measly” $100,000, is divorced, and Lay-

Sinful

ton would run into trouble investigating her. Nonetheless, seeking a special autopsy, he tries Britten’s ofﬁce and Lucas’s ofﬁce, and ﬁnally that of county prosecutor Pease, who says he’d need a court order and an order from Miss Shoreham for such. Pease accuses him of seeking to “beat a hundred-thousanddollar rap.” Wilting, Layton phones headquarters, is ordered to make a hotel reservation for Gans and meet him at the airport. That done, he sees an attractive, moll-like girl enter the lobby and be told Miss Shoreham is seeing nobody until word comes regarding her sister. Layton tells the girl he transacts business with Miss Shoreham. Over coffee with the girl, Layton says don’t believe what the papers say about Miss Shoreham. She mentions dirty Domino business. He praises her dark beauty. Calling herself Ethel, she tells “George” she deals blackjack at the Domino and “seen it all,” wants Shoreham not to worry, is glad Vicki’s dead because he propositioned Ethel, and ﬁgures her silence is worth something. Ethel reveals that she peered through Tony’s ofﬁce door, won’t say exactly whom she saw, and wants money from Layton to “skip” not “spill.” He suggests blackmailing Spiro not Shoreham, tells her not to tell Spiro’s friend Tony, gives her a dollar for a movie, tells her to avoid the Domino, wait at the hotel to be paged at 7:00 P.M. Layton goes to the Domino, plays 10¢ roulette to stall, gets a phone call from Miss Jennifer and is allowed to take it in Tony’s ofﬁce. Gans demands “energetic aggressive action.” Layton hears a click, knows his call is tapped, especially when Spiro enters. Layton, turning grandiose, phones Lucas’s ofﬁce, says on learning he’s unavailable that the “long-legged jerk” is needed when “Southwest General” and especially “murder” are involved. Layton watches Spiro go confer with Tony. Spiro returns to Layton and asks him why he mentioned murder. Layton boasts of handling such cases ahead of the police. Tony enters. Layton grandly says Shoreham the widow mistakenly made the death look accidental and his company won’t pay the “accidentand-health bond,” then demands to understand Spiro’s involvement. Spiro boasts of being the president of Phoenix, Shoreham’s boss, and Baron (Vicki) Adlerkreutz’s “best friend.” Layton says if Vicki’s death were suicide they’d pay in three years but not on accident. Dmitri suggests their making a deal. Layton pretends outrage. Tony suggests that $100,000 means nothing to Shoreham, so Layton should destroy the policies. To stall because he should ﬁrst consult Gans, Layton says pretty Ethel saw something and will be at the hotel at 7:00 P.M. La Bouche and Benny enter, with fan letters and other letters, one of which has a special delivery stamp. La Bouche says Vicki sent it to “her” (Shoreham) because she wasn’t answering calls. Dmitri

Sinful

220

brightly says the wire probably said he would commit suicide. Layton, thoroughly confused, dramatically departs. Layton meets Gans at the airport, tells him what he accomplished, and Gans congratulates his aggressiveness and says they’re “not hangmen!” Chapter Eight. Tony criticizes Spiro for trying to change their “accident” pretense and says Spiro should have slugged Layton. Spiro says Layton is an insurance hot-shot. Tony says the town mustn’t hear Spiro sought “a deal.” La Bouche says perhaps Layton is “a cop’s stool pigeon.” They decide to substitute in the letter Vicki sent to Shoreham Benny’s forgery of a letter from Vicki telling her he intends suicide. They rush to the shack, get some of Vicki’s stationery, and while Spiro and La Bouche muse, Benny steams open the envelope, checks Vicki’s vocabulary and handwriting, and with Tony’s help forges a suicide letter with Dimitri’s green-ink pen. Part reads “Silvya Puss, I can no live wit out you.” Chapter Nine. Sheriff Lucas spends the afternoon at his ranch a few miles from town. Phoning Flynn, he learns that there are crowds of people but no evidence, tells Flynn to route ofﬁcial calls to the Domino, go there, and await him. After supper Lucas joins him in Tony’s Domino ofﬁce. Flynn discovered that the only ﬁngerprints on the gun were Spiro’s on the barrel; masses of papers (including letters Flynn brought from the hotel) revealed nothing. Lucas says they’ll have the inquest once they ﬁnd Hazel, tells Flynn to have supper, pours through the papers himself. Entering, Spiro points to the forged letter. He says Vicki borrowed his pen to write it. Lucas will hold it for possible evidence, will give it to Sylvia later. Spiro leaves. From nearby Lone Pine, Ofﬁcer Enders phones Lucas that Hazel has been found dead, having evidently driven off the road on purpose. Lucas asks that the body be ambulanced to his town. Enders reports that Flynn boasted to him that the beautiful actress Sylvia Shoreham shook hands with him. Enders adds that in sleuthing for Hazel they unearthed numerous assignations of “Sylvia” with lovers in hotels near Lone Pine. Lucas requests Enders’ appearance tonight, 9:30, at the Domino. When Flynn returns, Lucas demands all the reports on Sylvia from Flynn, who, blushing, says he’s stuck on Shoreham movies. Sylvia is resting but alert in her hotel room. Lucas phones. She meets him in the lobby. They sit. She puts her head on his shoulder. Lucas says she deserves to die, her life being a “dirty, rotten lie”; reveals police reports of sex meetings of “Sylvia”; asks how she could gripe about ﬁlthy movie parts as though she were pure, brave Edith Cavell. Sylvia says she acted a part. She starts to explain further

but swallows, turns silent, and stares. (Hazel not Sylvia was the over-sexed “Sylvia” meeting lovers various places.) After calling Sylvia a “trollop,” he says not she but Hazel killed Vicki but could be acquitted on the grounds that he promised marriage, took sexual advantage of her, then reneged. Sylvia repeats she killed Vicki. He asks her to write and sign a confession. She does, writing that she shot her husband at the Domino; that her sister Hazel Shoreham, not present, may claim she did to save Sylvia. Lucas puts it in an envelope, marks it as her confession, and in “terrible emotion” says this: Hazel is dead; he loves Sylvia profoundly; murderess Hazel is “beyond human justice”; hypocritical Sylvia must stop making movies; the Edith Cavell movie mustn’t be shown again; he planned to ask wealthy Sylvia to fund a local hospital for soldiers during the war, then convert it to civilian use; he couldn’t accept her money now; her confession will remain with him until he dies or she does. He produces the forged Vicki letter to her. She cries hysterically, can’t face anything more today. Lucas burns the letter and leaves. [Readers must accept all this action as occurring on May 13, the date Sylvia included in her confession. This action is occurring in what state? Lucas says it’s a poor state “and we got no hospital.”] Chapter Ten. At 9:00 P.M., Flynn reserves the Domino for the inquest. Attending are policemen (including Enders), locals, reporters and photographers, Britten, Pease, the Coroner, and Tony. Spiro, La Bouche, Gans, and self-important Layton enter. Layton asks Spiro if that letter was a suicide note. Cocky Spiro says “Sharf [Sheriff]” took it. Layton asks about Ethel. Spiro says he offered “pretty” Ethel a movie part. Layton retorts: Spiro’s “three grand” bribe to Ethel for silence is paltry; Benny is with Ethel’s girlfriend; Ethel is in Layton’s car now; Layton needs that suicide note, because tonight’s verdict will determine company liability. Pease and Britten confab about Layton’s and Spiro’s being together, about Layton’s talk with Domino’s blackjack dealer (Ethel), and about her being absent. Britten surprises Pease by reporting Hazel’s death. The bustling Coroner instructs the eight-person jury, and Sylvia, her lawyer Daly, Flynn, Spiro, La Bouche, Lucas. La Bouche and Spiro describe Vicki’s accidental death. Lucas asks Spiro if Vicki killed himself. Talk follows concerning “one more shell” in the gun. Did Vicki insert it? Did he plan suicide? Spiro looks at Sylvia (hoping she’ll produce the forged letter), but she stares “stonily.” The Coroner says he’ll await Lucas’s evidence. This horriﬁes Spiro. Outside brieﬂy, Spiro tells Layton they “wrote the letter” and gave it to “Sharf.” Layton leaves—to

221 “parade” his witness? Spiro weeps in a storeroom, suddenly remembers screen writers’ imaginations, lights a cigarette, drops it—into a box of green celluloid dice. Chapter Eleven. A ﬁre result, near an “intake [electric] cable” which melts and causes a Domino “blackout.” Tony provides candles. Quietly resuming, the Coroner is questioning a blackjack dealer, when—Fire in the Domino! Flynn and Lucas shout exit directions. Tony orders his “girls” to grab the cash from their registers. Fireﬁghters and volunteers attack the spreading ﬂames. Outside, Spiro tells Lucas “conﬁdential” that last night Vicki wrote Sylvia a letter with Spiro’s green-ink pen, mailed it, wept in Spiro’s arms. Lucas says seeing the letter upset Sylvia; so he burned it. Brieﬂy squealing like a pig, Spiro quickly offers Lucas a bribe. Lucas retorts like “crook to cop?” The upshot: Lucas demands a $50,000 check to be written to “Parker Lucas, Treasurer.” Done. Lucas then says this: Lucas burned Vicki’s letter; Spiro can testify that Vicki wrote the letter with his pen; if anything goes wrong, Lucas will return the check; Spiro, admitting to Lucas he set the ﬁre, will reimburse Tony for all repairs and Tony won’t ﬁle a claim. Chapter Twelve. In the Domino’s wreckage, the Coroner asks if there’s any further testimony. Rising, Lucas says he revealed to Spiro what he would say — that Vicki’s death was “cunningly concealed suicide.” Spiro testiﬁes about his careless but innocent part in it. When the Coroner instructs the jury to ignore Lucas’s and Dmitri’s revelations as non-evidential “conjecture,” they quickly rule Vicki’s death “accidental and unintentional.” As Lucas strides toward Layton, Dmitri does his “ﬁrst stupid thing ... in a long and terrible day.” He sees an envelope in Lucas’s pocket, shouts that Lucas didn’t burn Vicki’s letter at all, seizes it. Turns horriﬁed. The Coroner grabs it, also reads “Shoreham Confession” on the outside, reads the letter, and declares Lucas, Sylvia, Tony, Spiro, and La Bouche are all under arrest. The suspects are searched. The Coroner reads Sylvia’s confession aloud. Reporters scramble. Daly tells the Coroner that he is now representing Tony, Spiro, and La Bouche as well as Sylvia. Flynn is ordered to charge the “prisoners” with murder, suppression of evidence, obstruction of justice, and perjury. Sylvia, since she never testiﬁed, is disjoined from perjury. Lucas gets fancy in his response: Sylvia’s statement isn’t evidence; he forced her, would nail Hazel for murder otherwise; thus, the confession is false. Flynn waves Lucas’s check, found in the search. Lucas explains it’s irrelevant, since the $50,000 isn’t a bribe, because it’s uncashed and unused and is for “the Parker Lucas Benevolent Association.” Laughter and Sylvia’s surprised look fol-

Sinful

low. Lucas continues: Hazel is dead, therefore no murder charge; Lucas wanted to nail “these picture people” for triﬂing with both him and his state; Sylvia is guilty only of trying to shield Hazel; but Spiro “crossed” Lucas by setting the ﬁre; still, Tony won’t prosecute — because he and Spiro have become pals “lately”; when Spiro asked Lucas to mention suicide, Lucas “smell[ed] insurance” and planned to get $50,000 for a state hospital. He names square and decent divorces, gambling, etc. as his poor state’s mean of income. [It must be Nevada.] Finally, Lucas blames “idiot” Spiro for sabotaging the accident verdict by exposing Sylvia’s confession. Layton says he’ll shoot down everything concluded by saying Ethel, now entering, will name Victor Adlerkreutz’s killer. Flynn swears her in, asks her to explain. She testiﬁes: Vicki gambled this morning; La Bouche and two other men entered; bartender Jake said Sylvia Shoreham was with Tony; those three men entered Tony’s ofﬁce; Ethel sought famous Sylvia’s autograph, but Tony ordered her to stay working; Vicki drove his car off; Tony drove off, Sylvia with him; Spiro’s shoes were getting shined; Sylvia drove back, entered Tony’s ofﬁce by side door; “some girl” drove Vicki’s car back, with Vicki; Vicki entered Tony’s ofﬁce, mentioned ring to Tony and Spiro; Ethel peeped into ofﬁce, saw Sylvia snag dress in desk drawer, ﬁnd gun in other drawer. Lucas now makes Flynn describe Sylvia’s dress when she visited Lucas this morning. Flynn mentions blue sweater and gray slacks. Ethel then describes Sylvia’s attire when in Tony’s ofﬁce. Green, with brass buttons. Lucas calls Enders (from Lone Pine), who describes attire of Hazel Shoreham, car accident victim: spring coat, green dress, brass buttons. Flynn now ﬂourishes the torn green silk taken from Tony’s desk drawer as evidence. Crying, Sylvia admits that her “insane” sister Hazel must have shot Vicki though Sylvia “didn’t actually see it”; Sylvia made Hazel drive off. Continuing, Ethel says she saw Sylvia put the gun in her mouth; saw Vicki struggle to prevent suicide; the gun discharged, killing Vicki. Sylvia turns joyful, kisses Ethel; Layton demonstrates “consternation”; Spiro says “Sylwia Shoreham is windicated.” [The snagged piece of the green dress is proof that Hazel, not Sylvia, was, as Paul Skenazy puts it, “the promiscuous woman” that Lucas thought Sylvia had been (Skenazy, 100)]. Shortly before dawn a tall man phones and enters the hotel suite of a woman in mourning. She says her husband’s friend “Dimmy” Spiro can arrange Vicki’s funeral. The tall man begins to say goodbye. She summons “Parker,” says he should halfkill her for those police reports about her. He says others have contributed toward the hospital, says

Silverstein

222

Gans is sending her $100,000. She’ll give it plus $50,000 to the hospital. She wants to bury Hazel back in California, might stay here, though, and get married. The two embrace. He’s going into the army. She’ll be an army nurse. First, they drive together to see her new ranch home. [They should have ridden out of town on horseback at sunset.] The evolution of Sinful Woman was curious, as Roy Hoopes explains. Cain tried to write a play called 7-11, about the murder of a movie director in a restaurant. It was staged in Cohasset, Cape Cod (1938). Cain tinkered with it for a New York opening, but it was never produced. Hoopes says that Cain essentially rewrote its plot as a novel called The Galloping Domino, soon retitled Sinful Woman. Hoopes adds that Cain wrote Dial’s editor-in-chief Jim Silberman to say that when he reread Sinful Woman, the ending, which he had forgotten, was a surprisingly emotional one, and made sense out of all of the previous actions in the plot. Finally, Hoopes reports that Sinful Woman outsold Jealous Woman and The Root of His Evil, Cain’s other paperback novels, “two to one” over the years. Paul Skenazy is correct, nevertheless, in dismissing Sinful Woman as “awkwardly constructed,” its “mystery ... never very mysterious” and with “no sexual tension ... between Sylvia and Lucas.” (Hoopes, 284 –287 passim, 293, 321, 338, 442, 475; Skenazy, 100) Silverstein, Shirley (The Root of His Evil). She is a Karb waitress and is elected president of the waitress’s union at the Reliance Hall meeting. Slemp (The Moth). He heads the Long Beach department of oil and gas. After Jack testiﬁes concerning the ﬁre in Hannah Branch’s Signal Hill oil well, Slemp upbraids him and says he wishes he could sue him. Slicker (The Moth). This is the cat that Jack has during his childhood in Baltimore. Smith, Mrs. (The Postman Always Rings Twice). She is Cora Papadakis’s mother, presumably living in Des Moines, Iowa. She telegraphs Cora, living near Los Angeles, that she is sick. Cora goes to her, stays with her, attends her funeral, and then returns to her lover Frank Chambers. Smith, Mrs. John L. (Sinful Woman). See Shoreham, Hazel. Smith, Wild Bill (“The Baby in the Icebox”). He is a big, handsome traveling man. Billing himself as the Texas Tornado, he drives a gaudy truck around purveying fake snake oil and Indian herbal medicines. Lura, the unhappy wife of unfaithful Duke, gradually likes Wild Bill but won’t escape with him because she is pregnant by Duke. When Duke, falsely accusatory, is killed attempting to have his tiger

Rajah eat both Lura and their baby, she is free to accept and share Bill’s wanderlusty proposition. Snelling (The Embezzler). He is a teller at the Glendale bank. He and his wife attend the dinner dance hosted by A. G. Ferguson, the president of the headquarters bank in Los Angeles. Snelling is present when Charles Brent tries to rob the bank vault. Snelling, Mrs. (The Embezzler). See Snelling. Snyder, Dr. (Rainbow’s End). He is the Marietta coroner. Edgren, acting on behalf of the absent sheriff, has occasion to request Dr. Snyder’s services after Shaw and then Myra Giles Howell meet untimely deaths. Snyder, Miss (The Institute). She works in Richard Garrett’s Washington, D.C. ofﬁce. He demeaningly calls her his “girl.” Solon (The Root of His Evil). This is the name of the Manhattan cocktail bar where Carrie works even while she is also waitressing at Karb’s. Solorzano (Serenade). He is the “main ace” among Mexico City’s bullﬁghters. John Howard Sharp notices that young Triesca is listed as appearing with him. Somerville, Hank (Mildred Pierce). He runs a radio program, for which Veda sings. Spencer (“The Birthday Party”). See Jackie. Sperry, Connie (Jealous Woman). Constance Sperry, under 30, small, stocky, but not plump, is rich and has been much courted. She married British Richard Sperry of Bermuda. Connie comes to Reno to make trouble for Richard’s ﬁrst wife Jane Delavan, now married to Tom Delavan, who seeks to shed her via an annulment. Keyes, claims agent for the General Pan-Paciﬁc of California, comes to Reno to look into Delavan’s short-term life insurance policy Delavan has taken out, through agent Ed Horner, with Jane as beneﬁciary. Keyes falls in love with Connie. She kills Richard and tries to put the blame on Jane. Next, Connie kills Delavan, which act is witnessed by Faith Converse, Tom’s beloved. When exposed, Connie kills herself with a gun amateurishly ﬂourished by revenge-seeking Faith. [Constance Sperry is one of Cain’s most emotionally entangled females.] Sperry, Richard (Jealous Woman). He is an expert publishing British geologist. He was formerly the husband of Jane Sperry, who is now married to Tom Delavan. Dick Sperry met a rich woman named Constance and married her. They left Bermuda, accompanied by their fox terrier Dolly. Sperry follows Connie to Reno, bent on killing Delavan. Instead, Connie kills Sperry and tries ineffectually to blame Jane.

223 Spicer (The Moth). He is a Baltimore haberdasher. Jack buys a ridiculous suit from a salesman at his store, to look like an opera singer. Spiro (Sinful Woman). This is the name of a hyena that Vicki Adlerkreutz had in a zoo at his ranch. This, according to Vicki’s acquaintance Tony Rico. Spiro, Dmitri (Sinful Woman). He is president of the Phoenix movie company. Dmitri Spiro is not his real name. He is just under 40, fat and bald, and yet magnetic. His background is Hungarian. In his youth in Lithuania he was a peasant worker for Baron Vladimir Alexis Gustavus and became friendly with the baron’s son Vicki Adlerkreutz. Spiro worked in circuses, became a clown, rose in show business in Vienna and then Paris, moved to Hollywood, and has done well. By chance he encountered Vicki and made him his producer. Spiro’s splendid actress is Sylvia Shoreham, whom he forces to act in cheap but proﬁtable movies. Spiro’s henchmen are Gerland La Bouche and Benny Zitt. Parker Lucas, county sheriff where the moviemakers currently are, meets Sylvia just in time to become involved in the gunshot death of Syvia’s recently divorced husband Vicki, at Tony Rico’s Galloping Domino, a gambling joint just out of town. Spiro promises to make Tony’s daughter Maxine a ﬁlm star in exchange for Tony’s help rearranging Vicki’s death as happening other than the way it did. Spiro also orders Benny, an accomplished forger, to write a suicide note as from Vicki to Sylvia. Spiro also bribes Tony’s blackjack dealer Ethel, who witnessed the death, to keep silent — but she doesn’t. Spiro bribes Lucas for his cooperation. But all ends well. Cain verbosely sketches this typical European showman making good in Hollywood. Perhaps Cain had a real-life model or two in mind. Stark, Lydia (“Cigarette Girl”). She worked for gambler Tony Rocco in Reno, Nevada. When Tony was closed down and sold out, she traveled to Maryland and works brieﬂy for Jack Conner, who runs a honkytonk called Here’s How. Conner tries to protect her from Vanny Rocco, who arrives intent on killing her. But it is Bill Cameron, a musician who happens to visit the honkytonk and is smitten by Lydia, who ﬁrst ﬁghts with Vanny; and it is Joe, Conner’s assistant, who kills Vanny. Until the climax, Lydia thought Cameron was in league with nefarious Vanny. Stelliger (The Moth). He runs a costly ditch-digging machine for Holtz at the fruit ranch near Whittier. Holtz wants Jack to stand by, ready to repair the machine if necessary. David Madden relates practical workers such as Stilliger to similar persons in real life whom Cain observed when he worked “for two years [1911–1913]

Stuart

on the [Maryland] state roads as inspector of constructions.” (Madden 1970, 28) Stoessel, Herman (Serenade). He is a Hollywood agent to whom John Howard Sharp appeals for advice. When John succeeds as a replacement in Carmen, Stoessel brings a movie producer named Ziskin to meet John. Stone (The Institute). He is a District of Columbia postal ofﬁcial who advises Lloyd to rent a post box to accommodate the ﬂood of mail he will receive after he establishes his Institute of Biography. Stone (The Magician’s Wife). See Johns. Struthers, Dr. (The Moth). He was the rector, now deceased, at the Baltimore church where Dr. Grant takes over. Stuart, Burwell (Cloud Nine). He is the depraved son of Edith Stuart and the late Harrison Stuart. By her earlier marriage to a man named Kirby, she had a son named Graham Kirby. The two half-brothers but are almost totally unlike. (Both, however, are overwhelmingly interested in sex.) Burl, as Burwell is called, raped and then intrigued his schoolteacher Dale Morgan. She followed him to Japan when he was there in the army. He learned how to sabotage her car, thus killing Dale and her mother, who was driving. Though under suspicion, he collected $50,000 in insurance. He also raped and in the process impregnated Sonja Lang. When Graham, now 30, marries Sonja and she has a miscarriage, Burl says she’s still pregnant, will have the baby, then she and Graham — whom he calls “a fag”— will claim it’s Graham’s. Jane Sibert, 58 and Edith’s close friend, hankers after Graham. When she learns he has married Sonja, she marries Burl, and plans to change her beneﬁciary from Graham to Burl. Sonja intervenes to set Jane straight. In climactic action, Burl gets the drop on Graham, knocks him out, ties him up, and starts to rape Sonja with Graham as intended witness before killing him. Sonja kills Burl instead. His mother so hates him that she orders his body cremated and the ashes strewn. Stuart, Edith (Cloud Nine). She is Graham Kirby’s mother by her late husband Kirby. She is also Burwell (“Burl”) Stuart’s mother by her second husband, Harrison Stuart. Graham disliked Harrison; so Edith let her friend Jane Sibert raise him. Harrison died when Burl was 15. Now Graham is 30. He marries Sonja. Edith and Sonja quickly like each other. But Jane, now 58, has secretly lusted for Graham all these years, is outraged by his marrying Sonja; so she marries Burl, but soon learns of his malevolence. In the end, Edith, Graham, Jane, and Sonja all plan to develop Jane’s 67 acres into proﬁtable subdivisions.

224

Stuart

Graham is too deferential to his mother, whom Sonja, turning curiously agreeable, calls “Mrs. Stu.” Stuart, Harrison (Cloud Nine). He was widowed Edith Kirby’s second husband and the father of Burwell Stuart. Graham Kirby, Edith’s son by her ﬁrst marriage, disliked Harrison. He owned the Harrison Stuart Building, had adulterous assignations in his ofﬁce there, and when Burwell was 15 died and left Edith well off ﬁnancially. Sue, Aunt (Cloud Nine). She is or was Mrs. Lang’s sister and hence Sonja Lang’s aunt. She lived in New Orleans. The Langs drove to New Orleans to visit her. Sugar (“Hip, Hip, the Hippo!”). She is J. P. Hornison’s polo pony. The mare’s being sick causes him to neglect business with Tim Kennelly and Polly Dukas. Svenson (The Magician’s Wife). “Sven” is president of the Grant meat company in Mankato, Minnesota. He is to retire when he turns 70. He has a stroke, after which Pat Grant becomes a member of the board of directors and immediately names Clay Lockwood president.

T “The Taking of Montfaucon” (short story, American Mercury, June 1929). (Characters: Armbruster, Major General Kuhn, Captain Madeira, Brigadier General Nicholson, Sergeant Ryan, Shepler.) I. The narrator is an American soldier in the AEF’s 79th Division in France. The division has two brigades, 157th, 158th. On September 26, 1918, the division is ordered to take a town called Montfaucon. He and Armbruster drive a horse-drawn water wagon. Both men and the horse lose sleep “account of the barrage” and a Frog’s habit of ﬁring his 16-inch gun. A Jerry ﬂier shoots down four American balloons. The narrator doesn’t join others in ﬁring at the German plane, because his gun is muddy. They ﬁnd the division’s command post in a trench. Sergeant Ryan takes their horse. The narrator can’t sleep because Captain Madeira at 6:00 P.M. orders him and Shepler to locate 157th’s command post, a thousand yards west — thus becoming couriers. They ﬁnd General Nicholson, 157th’s commander, with entrenched infantry beginning to move. Shep favors returning. The narrator wonders why report their position when it’s moving. They advance “toward the front.” Single ﬁle, Nick ﬁrst, then the rest, past shell holes, dead horses, dead soldiers. Runners point the way. They stumble as in an endless dream, stop at a road, with corrugated iron. Nick

says this is his new command post. The narrator and Shep start returning. The narrator suggests taking the road. He studied some maps earlier, knows roads. An engineer says the road may lead “to Avocourt,” which they ﬁnd. They turn east toward Esnes, and ﬁnd their Division. II. Captain Madeira grouses that General Nicholson broke “liaison” and someone must ﬁnd him. Madeira gets the narrator to General Kuhn, criticized for not capturing Montfaucon yet. He orders the narrator to take Nicholson a message he writes. The narrator is so exhausted that everything spins. Nicholson must attack Montfaucon instantly. The narrator is provided a horse, must ﬁnd Nicholson and return to Kuhn, who’s moving to Malancourt. III. The narrator rides to Avocourt. can’t ﬁgure which of two forks to take. Tank holes aren’t any help, because some get repaired. He decides on one way, feels it’s wrong, takes a crossroad, feels somewhat conﬁdent. IV. He asks some soldiers where 157th is. Haven’t heard of it. Another bunch won’t answer, because doughboys “going to ﬁght” are silent. He asks the next group what their outﬁt is. “YMCA” is the reply. He pretends he’s an ofﬁcer, yells his question at a captain and a lieutenant. They politely say they don’t know where Nicholson is and add that their division is 37th. The narrator feels “sunk,” gallops any old way, ﬁnds himself at the front, is warned about a sniper, stops in a huge shell hole, because the horse is worn out. While he weeps, 157th’s 313th “was taking Montfaucon”— because Kuhn didn’t wait, did advance, replaced a slow general with a brave colonel. That’s how “Kuhn “got the order” and — if “Nick [was] in command”— surely took the town. V. About 11:00 A.M. the narrator returns to Malancourt. Kuhn asks him if he delivered the order. “No, sir,” is the answer; “I got lost.” Kuhn’s stare at the narrator is interrupted. Nick arrives. Kuhn asks where he’s been. Taking Montfaucon. It was the inexperienced runners that broke liaison. When Nick asks why Kuhn didn’t use his two runners, Kuhn curses Nick and Nick curses Kuhn. Madeira tells the narrator he did his best, it was “a hell of a night,” and not to worry. So Shep, not the narrator, got a medal. Roy Hoopes reports that in “The Taking of Montfaucon” “Cain describes his experience in France the night of September 26, 1918, at the beginning of the Meuse-Agonne offensive.” Hoopes describes the story: “It is a ﬁrst-person factual account of what happened, except that ... Cain tells the story in the dialect of a country yokel, thereby making it identiﬁable to the average man in the trench.” (Really?) Then Hoopes adds that the story was reprinted in the December 1942 Infantry Journal, where an ed-

225 itor commented that it “has never been excelled as an accurate description of conditions in the war, and few stories of any aspect of war will stand beside it.” (Hoopes, 184, 587) Taylor, Dick (Mignon). He is mentioned as the Confederate general who successfully opposes the Union Red River campaign. Richard Taylor (1826–1879), the son of President Zachary Taylor, was a Confederate general in command of the District of West Louisiana (1862–1864); because of a dispute with General Edmund Kirby Smith, Taylor was transferred. (Wagner, 423 –424) Thomas, John Charles (Serenade). He is a popular singer. When Thomas was too “tied up” with other work, and Rex Gold, a Hollywood company president, could not sign him as lead in Paul Bunyan, Gold hires John Howard Sharp. John Charles Thomas (1891?–1960), Pennsylvaniaborn baritone, was a popular star in operas, operettas, concerts, and movies. Cain, by weaving reallife people into the plot of his 1937 Serenade, is aiming at a little harmless pseudo-verisimilitude. Cain repeats the trick in Mildred Pierce (ch. 16). Tolan (The Moth). He is the Cartaret Hotel detective. Jack alerts him when Helen Legg is brieﬂy missing. Tommy (Mildred Pierce). He is Carl’s older brother. Mildred hires him to drive her truck and her car. Tony (“The Pay-off Girl”). He is a bookie in Cottage City, Maryland. Ruth handles bets for him at Ike’s Joint. He catches her paying off Miles Kearny on a bet and says he will kill Miles and then her. Miles disarms him and, having proposed marriage to Ruth, escapes with her. Tony (Serenade). He is a fellow-worker with Harry in the New York apartment building where John Howard Sharp, his girlfriend Juana Montes from Mexico, and Winston Hawes live. When Winston, a homosexual jealous of his friend John’s love for Juana, reports her to immigration authorities as an illegal immigrant, Harry and Tony warn John. The upshot is that Juana murders Winston, after which both young men help her escape. Torrance, Zeke (The Moth). He is a Gibson Island bootlegger. Young Dick Finley associates with him. Translations of Cain’s Novels. During the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, which may be called the heyday of Cain’s career as a novelist, 74 translations of 12 of his novels were published in 11 languages (Danish, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Portuguese, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish, and Turkish) in 14 countries (Argentina, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Nor-

Turner

way, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Turkey, and Yugoslavia). The Postman Always Rings Twice and Serenade were the most frequently translated, with 15 and 13 respectively. Double Indemnity and Mildred Pierce were less favored abroad, although they were next in numbers of translations— eight and seven respectively. Barely making it were Galatea, which was translated once into Italian, and Jealous Woman, which appeared in Spanish in one Mexican edition. The Root of His Evil was ignored. Meanwhile, 12 of Cain’s novels had also been published in England (by 1960). (Hageman and Philips, 59 –61; Madden 1970, 175) Trapp (Past All Dishonor). He is a big, cruel foreman of the Dakota silver mine in Virginia City. Originally from Ohio, he was a Memphis slaver until 1858. He tries to break up a strike meeting, until Roger Duval knocks him out and is promoted to foreman himself. Tremaine, Marie (Mignon). She owns and runs a New Orleans gambling establishment. Beautiful, resourceful, and wealthy, she helps Bill in his disputes with Burke, grows jealous of Bill’s friendship with Mignon, but soon accepts Bill’s proposal of marriage. He jilts her in favor, temporarily, of Mignon. In the end, Marie marries Sandy Gregg, Bill’s friend, and will ﬁnance both men in their longplanned construction business in New Orleans. Cain has Marie speak a charming Frenchiﬁed English. Treviso, Carlo (Mildred Pierce). He is a tall, thin Italian, a former singer, and now an accomplished conductor. When Mildred ﬁrst meets him, he is about 50, with sad eyes and a bony face. He recognizes that Veda can become a superb coloratura soprano because of her rare voice and physical structure. He trains her. At the same time, he warns Mildred, Veda’s mother, that a young woman with such talent will inevitably use and discard everyone who helps her gain renown. He says Veda is worse than a poisonous snake. Triesca (Serenade). He is a minor “kid” bullﬁghter Juana Montes happily associates with. Triesca, surrounded by admiring friends at a Mexico City restaurant, gets angry when John Howard Sharp, failed baritone, attracts her away from him by challenging him to a silly game with lottery tickets. Much later, when John has found Juana again with Triesca, he mocks John by singing at him in falsetto. John, superb singer once more, retorts by repeating his song, singing “like gold.” The resulting argument results in Juana’s murder. Turner, Alice Brooks (Mildred Pierce). She runs an employment agency in downtown Los Angeles. She

Two

226

takes a liking to Mildred and warns her with intelligent but negative advice. “Two O’Clock Blonde” (short story, Manhunt, August 1953). (Characters: Bill, Jack Hull, Maria, Zita.) The narrator phoned to ask the girl to come to his hotel suite. He liked her “looks, accent, manners.” The other guests see that “she was class.” The buzzer sounds. He glances at his ﬂowers and champagne, opens the door. There she is, pale, dark hair, neat ﬁgure. She looks surprised to be seeing me. He says they can “talk, and—.” She asks if the airplane is still taking off at 2:00. That made no sense; he had mentioned that fact when he phoned her, along with comments about his ﬁnalized contract, etc.; he thought all was clear—plane fully booked, he’s “grounded till tomorrow,” he’s to “see the town” tonight with her. He asks her name. Zita, a Hungarian name, just Zita will do. He says he’s Jack Hull. He’s irate. The two had chatted in dining room, lobby, while he was busy for a week with business. Out of the elevator pops that cute blonde maid—uniform, short skirt, cap—Hull had indifferently noticed a couple times. She smiles at Hull—until, seeing Zita, says “Mademoiselle!” in Zita’s identical accent and drops a curtsey. Zita blurts Hungarian at her, tells Hull that Maria here is his date. Zita says she heard Hull phone for a date; he must have thought Maria was Zita; Zita heard him give his suite number and mentioned wine; so, decided to visit him. Hull starts to say his date is to be with Zita, who says she was sad when he said goodbye a bit ago and wondered if the wine he mentioned on the phone was to be on “the plane ... at two.” Hull realizes he misunderstood who was on the phone. Zita interrupts his apology by saying Maria is “pretty” and swishes away “haughtily.” He admits Maria, explains “this mix-up,” gives her $10, hopes it will smooth any hurt feelings. She smiles, takes the money, and starts to leave. He asks her to sit down. She does, displaying nice legs. He asks why Mademoiselle Zita is here. Didn’t she say? asks Maria. Hull says no, that Zita heard his suite number but didn’t know it was his until she appeared at his door. Maria turns from maid to “ferret,” wants more money to explain. He presents another $10. Maria says she’s bafﬂed, checks outside the door, closes it again, smiles knowingly. The buzzer sounds. She whispers she’d “compromise ... Mr. Hull,” darts into his bedroom. Thinking Zita has returned, he starts for the door—which slams into him. A big guy approaches, asks where his wife is. Maria emerges, asks “Bill” what’s wrong. She is totally naked, but for nylons and cap. Bill feigns being outraged. Suckered Hull offers money to avoid this obvious “badger game.” Bill demands “Dough.” Hull counts eighty dollars, says that, with Maria’s twenty, a hundred is enough for “tinhorn

chiselers.” Maria asks him to go get her clothes. While he’s in his bedroom, he hears her grumble “Mademoiselle Zita” at Bill. Determined on revenge, he pitches Maria’s uniform out the window, returns to the two, explains he’s now in charge. Maria is so noisy about the $20 in her uniform pocket that Bill slaps her. Hull demands that they get Zita here—or the cops. She phones Zita, in Hungarian, wants some spare clothes. She demands her missing $20 of Hull, who slugs her instead. Bill reaches to catch her. Hull grabs Bill and chokes him unconscious, retrieves his $80, kicks limp Maria twice in her bottom, demands some answers about Zita. Maria comforts her Bill, reveals that Zita visited Hull to warn him, adds that she phoned Bill so he’d know the room to come to and evidently Zita heard about the plan to shake him down. Then why didn’t Zita warn him? he asks. Maria says he should ask Zita—who buzzes, enters, has clothes for Maria. Hull asks why Zita didn’t warn him. Zita slaps him, and says she wouldn’t, once she realized he planned a date with Maria, her “maid.” Hull ﬁgures she was visiting his suite to warn some “boob,” until “she saw the boob was me.” Her adverse reaction to his dating a maid seems to indicate she really likes him. Bill, breathing suckingly, and Maria, dressed again, depart. Zita apologizes to Hull for the slap. Hull apologizes to Zita for rude words. She nods. He nods. Her accent no longer bothers him. When they get married some “afternoons later,” he asks her to spell her last name for the marriage license. Tyler, Belle (The Butterﬂy). She is Jess Tyler’s alcoholic, dissolute wife, and the mother of Jane Tyler and Kady Tyler. Moke Blue is Kady’s father. Belle deserted Jess and took Jane and Kady with her to Blount, where she ran a boarding house until she got sick. When loose Kady is nubile, Moke slept with her, and they produced Danny. Belle, now 39, mortally ill and still alcoholic, returns to Jess in the cabin, tries to kill Moke to silence him, but only stabs the dog of Birdie Blue, one of Moke’s relatives. Before dying, Belle holds Jess’s hand, criticizes him for his moral righteousness, tells him she made a mess of her life, and says she wants to die. Tyler, Danny (The Butterﬂy). He is the baby son of Kady Tyler, by Moke Blue, Kady’s mother Belle’s lover. Kady brings Danny, under a year old, into the life of her alleged father Jess Tyler, who reluctantly but soon permanently loves Danny. Danny has the tell-tale Blue family butterﬂy birthmark for males, as do Moke and his half-brother Ed Blue. Kady and Wash Blount, her current lover, intend to marry and keep Danny. Tyler, Hiram (The Butterﬂy). This is the ﬁctitious

227 name Kady Tyler comes up with to use on her marriage certiﬁcate when she and Jess Tyler get married. Tyler, Jane (The Butterﬂy). She is Belle Tyler’s older daughter. Belle took both Jane and her younger daughter Kady with her when she deserted her husband Jess Tyler. Jess says Jane favored the “stony” Morgans, Belle’s side of the family. Later, Jane returns to Jess’s home, likes Danny, who is Kady’s baby boy sired by Moke Blue, adulterous Belle’s lover and Kady’s father. Tyler, Jess (The Butterﬂy). He is an ex-coal miner and now a farmer, 42, near Blount, Carbon City, and Tulip, West Virginia. He married Belle Morgan, when he was 18 and she was 14. Belle deserted him with their supposed daughters Jane and Kady. Jane is probably his; Kady is certainly not. Years later Kady returns to Jess, tries to seduce him but because of his religious beliefs he tries to resist, though sexually aroused. Jess’s opponents are several Blue boys. They are Birdie, Ed, Luke, Moke, and maybe Mort. Kady, unwed, says the father of her baby Danny is Wash Blount. Jess soon loves Danny as his grandson, although Danny’s father is Moke Blue, who is also Kady’s father. Jane arrives to help care for Danny. Belle dies, and the Blue boys prevent Jess from attending her funeral. Jess stops Wash Blount from marrying Kady and marries her himself. Part of the truth comes out in court, and Jess, initially charged with incest, is free. Moke borrows Ed’s riﬂe and tries to ambush Jess, who kills him and buries him in an abandoned coal mine, along with Ed’s riﬂe. Kady intends to marry Wash Blount and pretend he is Danny’s father. Jane leaves with them. Toward the end, Jess, his weapons stolen, is holed up in his cabin, with Ed outside. It is natural that as the narrator of his story, Jess, a simple though conﬂicted miner, farmer, and hunter, should not be ﬂowery in his writing. Of some twelve similes and metaphors in his account, it also seems natural that in eight of them he compares disliked humans to cats, dogs, frogs, pigeons, rats, and wolves. In addition, the overarching symbol in his narrative is a butterﬂy. Paul Skenazy helpfully notes what may not necessarily be obvious, which is that “Cain provides enough suggestion of Jess’s self-deception to make it clear that readers are required to question the narrator as they absorb the story through him.” (Skenazy, 96) Tyler, Kady (The Butterﬂy). She is the over-sexed, duplicitous daughter of Belle Tyler and her lover Moke Blue, although it is said that Kady is Belle’s husband Jess’s daughter. Jane Tyler is Kady’s older sister. Kady returns to Jess’s home, tries to seduce him, brings her baby Danny in, and says Danny’s father, really Moke, is Wash Blount. Belle dies. Kady

Valenty

and Wash plan to marry, but Jess apprises him of the truth. Jess and Kady wed. They are brought to court on a charge of incest. The truth frees them. After Jess gets away with murdering Moke, Kady and Wash plan to marry and will leave the region with Jane. Critical opinions concerning Kady vary. Paul Skenazy calls her “schizophrenic,” swinging between “mother and whore”; Philip Dubuison Castille calls her “by far the most self-possessed character in the novel.” (Castille, 156; Skenazy, 98)

V Valenty (Galatea). He is the crooked husband, about 40, of blue-blood Holly. He has a strange power over congressmen in Washington, and over Maryland politicians and policemen as well, because of his forceful will and knowledge of their corruption. He owns several restaurants in the Washington area, the main own being the Ladyship. He pressures a crooked cop named Danny Daniel to release Duke Webster, guilty of robbing a gas station, to him. He then forces Duke to labor on the farm which Holly owns and where the Valentys live. Valenty keeps his wife grossly obese, thus unattractive to other men, and yet wants her to have a blue-blood baby to make him esteemed. Duke soon adores Holly, persuades her to let him diet her to normal proportions, and the two fall in love. “Val” catches them trying to kill him by forcing him to climb the ladder to the water tank on the farm. He and Duke both fall. He dies. Duke and Holly are acquitted of killing him. For months, Duke courteously addresses Valenty as “Mr. Val” and “sir.” Valenty, Hollis (Galatea). This is the planned name of the blue-blooded child that Valenty wants his wife Holly to produce to satisfy his pride. The name is mentioned so often that it seems attached to someone real. Valenty, Holly (Galatea). She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Hollis of St. Mary’s (Maryland). Now 23, Holly is the hugely obese but pretty-faced, sweetly smiling blue-blood wife of Valenty. She owns the Maryland farm where the two live and on which ex-prisoner Duke Webster works. Duke admires Holly, whom he courteously addresses as “Mrs. Val” for a while. Duke, a former boxer and trainer of boxers, gets her to diet and slim down from perhaps 280 (and 5"2') to gorgeousness. The two fall in love, plot to escape together. In confused action, Duke, then Holly, and then Valenty climb the ladder leading to the top of the farm’s water tank. Holly gets Duke to believe somehow that the ghost of John

Van

228

Wilkes Booth, haunting her farm, caused impure Valenty to fall to his death. Duke also falls but survives. She and Duke are tried for murdering Valenty but are acquitted. They get married in Virginia; she buys a ranch in Nevada, where Duke came from. The two help rehabilitate persons who eat and drink too much. Roy Hoopes reports that in the original draft of Galatea, which Alfred A. Knopf agreed to publish, “Duke impulsively kills his creation,” that is, Holly. But Cain revised the ending, allegedly to please American readers. Hoopes includes an explanation of the title: “Cain called the novel Galatea, after the statue in Greek mythology sculpted by Pygmalion, the king of Cyprus, and brought to life by the goddess Aphrodite.” (Hoopes, 458) Van Hoogland, Muriel (The Root of His Evil). She is Grant Harris’s ﬁancée, foisted upon him by his family because she is from a wealthy New York family. When Grant marries Carrie, Muriel is upset. Bernard Hunt, who is dumb Grant’s bright brotherin-law, tells Carrie that Muriel is “a dull cluck of a girl that [Grant’s] Mama wouldn’t have to be jealous of that Grant hates.” Vernick (The Enchanted Isle). He is or was Edward Vernick’s father. Edward was suspected of being the father of the girl growing up as Mandy Vernick; so the father sought to make Edward take responsibility. He married Mandy’s mother Sally Vernick but lived with her only ﬁve days. Vernick (The Enchanted Isle). He is the small son of Edward Vernick and his wife. Mandy Vernick sees the boy when she visits the Vernicks. Vernick, Edward (The Enchanted Isle). He associated with Sally Vernick after she had been impregnated at age 14 by Benjamin Wilmer, then 18. She gave birth to Mandy, claimed the child was Vernick’s, and his father made him assume responsibility. Edward married Sally but lived with her only ﬁve days. After a divorce, he married another woman, has a small son with her, and they live in Baltimore. Trouble comes when Mandy leaves home, gets into trouble with Rick Davis, buys a mink from money from their part in a botched bank heist, and parades in front of Ed with the mink. He still denies being her father. Nothing comes of Sally’s threat to sue him for not paying child support for years. Vernick, Mandy (The Enchanted Isle. Amanda Vernick is the narrator, age 16 and mighty pretty. Her mother Sally Vernick, not yet 30, resembles her strikingly. They live in Hyattsville. Mandy is wrongly led to believe that her father is Edward Vernick. She gets tired of fancying that Mother’s supposed presentday husband Steve Baker is sexually attracted to

her, becomes aware that Sally has assignations with a wealthy man named Benjamin Willmer, leaves home only to be picked up by unreliable young Rick Davis, and is involved with him in a Baltimore bank robbery botched by Matt Caskey and Howie Hyde, both killed in the fracas. Rick has part of the loot. He and Mandy escape to Savannah, where he tricks her and departs with the cash. Mandy returns home to Hyattsville, is reconciled with Mother and Steve, is shown by attorney Jim Clawson and some of his friends how to confess her pressured part in the heist, tries to get Rick to surrender and hope for clemency — unavailingly. The upshot is that Rick kills both Sally and Steve, is killed by the police, and only then does Wilmer tells her that he is her father. Mandy has long hoped to escape with her real father to an enchanted island. For a while Steve seems like an ideal surrogate father to her. When Wilmer buries Sally on an island near his distillery, he and Mandy plan to convert the isle to their enchanted one. She changes her name to Amanda Wilmer. Through all this, she preserves her virginity, early on because Steve handles only her bare bottom and later on because of Rick’s frigidity despite her parading nude before him. Cain has fun with Mandy’s slightly mangled English. She says “omit” for “admit.” Better, she says “at lease” when she means “at least” at least a dozen times. Vernick, Mrs. (The Enchanted Isle). She is Edward Vernick’s second wife. “The Visitor” (short story, Esquire, September 1961). (Characters: Biedermann, Annette Hayes, Greg Hayes, Lou Hayes, Rita Hayes, Milstead, Mrs. Milstead, Shelley Milstead, Rajah, Rossi.) While asleep one night, Greg Hayes smells “a pungent, exotic reek,” then sees “two beautiful, lambent orbs,” then hears “music ... some distance off.” Next, he sees the striped face of a tiger. Aware that he removed the storm windows after Easter but delayed installing the screens, he ﬁgures the tiger entered his open bedroom window, having escaped from the Biedermann-Rossi Circus. Its music is still playing. As manager of Bridleway Downs, Inc., Greg had rented a lot for $1,000 to the circus. Its noise bothers not only the neighbors but also Greg’s irate wife Rita, who has started sleeping in the room with their children (Lou and Annette), toward the house front, “for the duration.” The tiger stops between the two beds. Greg pats its head, scratches its jowl, plans to exit the bedroom by the inward-opening door, and have circus personnel come for him. Greg gets outside, closes the door, and hears the tiger bump into it from inside and then paw the doorknob. Greg plans to phone the police, but the Hayeses share a

229 party line with the Milsteads, and the hall phone is busy. He hears Rita scream. She has just entered the bedroom to investigate the noise. Greg ﬁnds her in terror, with the tiger lying belly down ready to spring. Greg tosses Rita out, slams the door, and faces the tiger, which ﬂies at the door, partly splinters it, and then blocks Greg. He yells to Rita to quit screaming, says the party line is busy; so get the children out and alert the cops. The tiger prefers to seek screaming Rita; so he paws the doorknob. Greg plans to escape through the window. But he hears Rita on the yard outside say, “Lou! Annette! Hurry!” The tiger also hears, lurches toward the window, paws its glass, then turns and bites Greg in the upper thigh. Greg falls on his bed, gory. The tiger faces him. He hurls his sheet and blanket at the tiger. He rips everything. Greg tries to escape by the door, but the tiger has broken off its knob. Greg tries to ﬁnd some scissors to ﬁght with but ﬁnds in his dresser drawer only plastic bags saved from packages of his cleaned suits. He covers the tiger’s black, wet nose with plastic. The tiger inhales, leaps, falls. Greg wraps more plastic around and into the tiger’s jaws. He writhes, jerks, falls unconscious. Greg wraps the sheet partly around him and ties the other end to the radiator pipe. The cops and Biedermann are outside. Greg tells Biedermann the tiger is tied up but is choked and dying, so hurry in. While some trainers truss the tiger’s feet and prepare to carry him out hanging on a pole, Greg opens his jaws and pulls out shred after shred of plastic from his gullet. He breathes again, with a moan. Greg pats his striped ﬂank. Rita embraces bloody Greg. Their two girls sees him and scream. After Greg gets out of the hospital, TV producers swarm him. He and Rajah — that’s the tiger — become celebrities, especially when Rajah, through the bars of his cage, rubs noses with Greg, now his friend. Roy Hoopes notes that Esquire paid Cain, who was popular but ﬁnancially strapped at the time, a generous $700 for this inept animal story. (Hoopes, 475)

W Wagener (Mignon). This is the name of a stationery shop where Bill buys paper identical of what Burke used when writing his phony letters. Walton, Captain David (The Magician’s Wife). He is a Channel City police ofﬁcer who comments on the car accident in which Alec Gorsuch was killed. Warﬁeld, Judge (The Magician’s Wife). He is the

Whitley

presiding judge when Busty Buster is tried for killing Alec Gorsuch. Buster dishonestly testiﬁes that Sally Gorsuch was implicated in the car accident. Warﬁeld comes from a distinguished family, is in the 60s, and is handsome and gentle, and has a “human expression.” He ﬁnds it difﬁcult to control prosecuting attorney John Kuhn and defense attorney John Pender. After Buster is wrongly convicted of manslaughter, Warﬁeld is likely, Pender believes, to suspend her sentence. Webster, Duke (Galatea). Duquesne Webster is from Nevada and narrates the story. After his parents died in a car crash, he got into trouble as a boxer, has made his way east, sticks up a ﬁlling station in the Washington, D.C., area, and is ordered to make restitution by working on a Maryland farm that Holly Valenty owns. Her weird husband makes Duke raise and tend crops, the products of which he uses at restaurants he owes. Despite Holly’s being grossly overweight, Duke admires her pretty eyes and sweet smile. He tells her about his expertise as a trainer of boxers eager to make their weight, and persuades her to let him slim her down from about 280 pounds to perhaps 120. They fall in love, hope to escape Valenty’s clutches, lure him to follow them up the ladder beside the farm water tank. After complicated maneuvers by Duke, Val, armed with Duke’s .45, falls to his death. Duke, badly injured, survives. He and Holly are accused of killing Val, are defended in court by a puzzled attorney named Brice, and are acquitted. They marry and at last report are rehabilitating overweight alcoholics at a ranch in Nevada that Holly bought. David Madden in a profoundly challenging statement suggests that “fear of cowardice is his [Duke’s] main character trait.” (Madden 1970, 70) Whirly (Jealous Woman). He is a comical horse that Ed Horner compares to his thoroughbred Count Ten, because each has a “comical forelock.” White (The Moth). He is a Long Beach banker, tall and about 50, and is a friend of oil-man Jim Branch. At a party Branch gives, Jack meets White and later goes ﬁshing with him. White (The Postman Always Rings Twice). He is an attorney working with Katz, who has White represent Frank Chambers while Katz represents Cora Papadakis. Frank and Cora are arrested and charged with murdering Cora’s husband Nick Papadakis. White doesn’t have any work to do, because by clever maneuvers Katz gets Cora off with a suspended sentence while Frank goes free. Whitley, Bob (Mildred Pierce). He is the young son of Mrs. Whitley, who has ordered Mildred to bake and decorate a pie for Bob’s birthday party. Veda,

Whitley

230

Mildred’s haughty daughter, learns the pie is for Bob; so she says he is only a paper boy.

can to try to extinguish the ﬁre burning in Hannah Branch’s Signal Hill oil well.

Whitley, Mrs. (Mildred Pierce). She is one of Mildred’s customers. Mildred prepares a beautiful pie for her son Bob Whitley’s birthday.

Woods (Career in C Major). He sings bass in Rigoletto at the Hippodrome. When Leonard Borland, singing as Rigoletto, walks off stage in fright, Woods improvises the part so valiantly that the audience gives him “a rising vote, in silence,” and then applauds. He represents “what it takes” in show business.

Whittaker, Miss (Mildred Pierce). She is Veda’s ﬁrst piano teacher. The conceited girl ridicules Miss Whittaker’s ability in order to get Mildred to take her to Charlie Hannen for more expensive lessons. Wiener (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). See Jacks. Williams, Lew (Past All Dishonor). He is the superintendent of the Dakota, a silver mine in Virginia City. He is from Cardiff, Wales, and speaks with a brogue. When Roger Duval stirs up the abused miners, Williams consistently tries to negotiate reasonably. He gets involved in the mining accident resulting in Roger’s blackmailing Hale, the owner.

Wright (The Postman Always Rings Twice). He and his brother witness Cora Papadakis’a signaling for help after she and her lover Frank Chambers have murdered her husband Nick Papadakis and are staging the act to appear to be a car accident.

Y

Willie (The Postman Always Rings Twice). He is a criminal in cahoots with Pat Kennedy, whose attempt to blackmail Frank Chambers and Cora Papadakis backﬁres. Frank outwits Kennedy, and forces him to phone Willie and make him bring Cora’s confession that she murdered her husband. Cora disarms Willie and a thug with him, and Frank burns the evidence and sends the inept gang away.

Yates (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit). He is a younger partner in Oliver Hedge Bleeker’s law ﬁrm in Lake City. After Olaf Jansen is elected mayor and Bleeker becomes city attorney, Ben Grace easily persuades Yates to associate with him in various criminal activities. For example, when Ben gets various merchants to begin running illegal amusement machines and bunches of them get arrested, Yates helps quash the charges.

Wilmer, Benjamin (The Enchanted Isle). Ben Wilmer was 18 when he brieﬂy made love to perky Sally Gorsuch, 14, but then went on to Yale. She brieﬂy married Edward Vernick and gave birth to Mandy, who she contended was Ed’s. Ben became wealthy developing a distillery near especially ﬁne water in Frederick County. Years passed. Mandy discovers that Sally Baker, allegedly married to Steve Baker, is consorting with Wilmer. Mandy falls afoul of the law for having unwillingly taken part in a Baltimore bank heist with Rick Davis. Wilmer enters the picture, gets legal help for Mandy, suddenly recognizes that she is his daughter, and with Sally plans to surprise Mandy once her legal problems are effaced. But before they can do so, Rick reappears and shoots Steve and Sally dead before being killed by the police. Wilmer comforts Mandy, in hysterical shock in the hospital, and soon shows her an island near his distillery, where they bury Sally and plan, in fulﬁllment of his long-unknown daughter’s dream, to create an enchanted isle together.

York, Bob (Rainbow’s End). He works for the TransUS&C airline. When stewardess Jill Kreeger reports that she has survived hijacker Shaw’s parachute jump with her, the airline president Russell Morgan orders York to ﬂy to Marietta and help Jill in every way possible. Young, John Russell (Mignon). He is a well-known journalist from Philadelphia. He is in New Orleans covering its occupation by Union forces. Bill sees both Young and a New England reporter name Olsen. John Russell Young (1840 –1899) enjoyed a versatile and distinguished career, which had its beginnings during the Civil War.

Z

Winifred (The Institute). She is one of Richard Garrett’s secretaries in his Wilmington ofﬁce.

Ziskin (Serenade). He is a Hollywood movie producer, small and about 50, and works under company president Rex Gold. After John Howard Sharp’s brilliant performance in Carmen at the Hollywood Bowl, John’s would-be agent Herman Stoessel brings “Mr. Ziskin” to meet John.

Wolfson (The Moth). He is the chief of the Long Beach ﬁre department. He and his men do what they

Zita (“Two O’Clock Blonde”). She is a cultured Hungarian staying in a hotel with her Hungarian

Wilmer, Sally (The Enchanted Isle). See Baker, Sally.

231 maid Maria. Jack Hull, a man also at the hotel while conducting some business, likes Zita and would like her to help him see the town while he’s there. Zita overhears Maria and Bill planning to extort money from someone, goes to warn that man in his room but sees the occupant is Hull. She is offended and leaves. But after much confusion, all’s well; and Zita and Hull get married.

Zitt

Zitt, Benny (Sinful Woman). He is one of the writers employed by Dmitri Spiro, president of the Phoenix movie company. Benny the Nib, as he is called, is also an excellent forger. Spiro orders Benny to forge a suicide note as from Vicki Adlerkreutz to Sylvia Shoreham, his ex-wife and Spiro’s actress.

This page intentionally left blank

Bibliography Doherty, Thomas. Hollywood’s Censor: Joseph I. Breen & the Production Code Administration. New York: Columbia University Press, 2007. Eaton, Mark. “What Price Hollywood? Modern American Writers and the Movies,” pp. 466–495 in A Companion to the Modern American Novel 1950 –1950, ed. John T. Matthews. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. Fine, David. “Beginning in the Thirties: The Los Angeles Fiction of James M. Cain and Horace McCoy,” pp. 43 –66 in Los Angeles in Fiction: A Collection of Essays: From James M. Cain to Walter Mosley, ed. David Fine. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1995. _____. Imagining Los Angeles: A City in Fiction. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2000. Forter, Gregory. “Double Cain.” Novel 29 (Spring 1996): 277–298. Frohock, W. M. The Novel of Violence in America, 2d ed. Dallas: Southern Methodist University Press, 1957. Gale, Robert L. Characters and Plots in the Fiction of Raymond Chandler. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2011. _____. A Dashiell Hammett Companion. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2000. Garrett, Greg. “The Many Faces of Mildred Pierce: A Case Study of Adaptation and the Studio System.” Literary/Film Quarterly 23.4 (1995): 287–292. Glover, David. “The Thriller,” pp. 135 –153 in The Cambridge Companion to Crime Fiction, ed. Martin Priestman. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Goble, Alan, ed. The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film. London: Bowker Saur, 1999. Graham, Allison. “The Phantom Self: James M. Cain’s Haunted American in the Early Neorealism of Visconti and Antonioni.” Film Criticism 9 (Fall 1984): 47–62. Guérif, François. “James Cain et le Cinèma.” L’Avant-scène Cinèma 531 (Avril 1994): 9 –14. Hagemann, E. R., and Philip C. Durham. “James M.

Biesen, Sheri Chinen. “Raising Cain with the Censors, Again: The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946).” Literature/Film Quarterly 28 (1): 41– 48. Bradbury, Richard. “Sexuality, Guilt and Detection: Tension between History and Suspense,” pp. 88 –99 in American Crime Fiction: Studies in the Genre, ed. Brian Docherty. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1988. Byran, George S. The Great American Myth. New York: Carrick & Evans, 1940. Cahir, Linda Costanzo. Literature into Film: Theory and Practical Approaches. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2006. Campbell, Donna M. “Taking Tips and Losing Class: Challenging in the Service of Economy in James M. Cain’s Mildred Pierce,” pp. 1–15 in The Novel and the American Left: Critical Essays on Depression-Era Fiction, ed. Janet Galligani Casey. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2004. Camy, Gérard. “Regards sur les cinq adaptations cinèmatographics du Facteur sonne toujours deux Fois.” L’Avant-scène Cinèma 531 (Avril 1994): 10 –11. Capers, Gerald A. Occupied City: New Orleans Under the Federals 1862 –1865. Louisville: University of Kentucky Press, 1965. Castille, Philip Dubuison. “Too Odd for California: Incest and West Virginia in James M. Cain’s The Butterﬂy.” Appalachian Journal 23 (Winter 1996): 148 –162. Chandler, Raymond. Selected Letters of Raymond Chandler, ed. Frank MacShane. New York: Columbia University Press, 1981. De Santis, Giuseppe. “Visconti’s Interpretation of Cain’s Setting in Ossessione.” Film Criticism 10 (Spring 1985): 23 –32. Dick, Bernard F. “Columbia’s Dark Ladies and the Femmes Fatales of Film Noir.” Literary/Film Quarterly 23.3 (1995): 155 –162. Dingley, Robert. “Eating America: The Consuming Passion of James M. Cain.” Journal of Popular Culture 33 (Winter 1999): 63 –77.

233

BIBLIOGRAPHY

234

Cain, 1922–1958: A Selected Checklist.” Bulletin of Bibliography 23 (September-December 1960): 57–61. Hoopes, Roy. Cain. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1982. Irvin, John L. “Beating the Boss: Cain’s Double Indemnity.” American Literary History 14 (Summer 2002): 255 –283. Irwin, John T. Unless the Threat of Death Is Behind Them: Hard-Boiled Detective Fiction and Film Noir. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006. Johnston, Claire. “Double Indemnity,” pp. 89 –98 in Women in the Film Noir, ed. E. Ann Kaplan, rev. ed. London: BFI, 1998. Kael, Pauline. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. New York: Little, Brown, 1968. Katz, Ephraim. The Film Encyclopedia, 4th ed. New York: HarperResource, 2001. Knight, Stephen. Crime Fiction since 1800: Detection, Death, Diversity, 2d ed. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire [England]: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010. Leff, Leonard, and Jerold L. Simmons. The Dame in the Kimono: Hollywood, Censorship, and the Production Code, 2d ed. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2001. Madden, David. Cain’s Craft. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1985. _____. James M. Cain. New York: Twayne, 1970. Maltin, Leonard, ed. Leonard Maltin’s Movie Guide: 2005 Edition. New York: Plume, 2004. Manon, Hugh S. “Some Like It Cold: Fetishism in Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity.” Cinema Journal 44 (Summer 2005): 18 –43. McGrath, Patrick J. John Garﬁeld: The Illustrated Career in Films and on Stage. Jefferson, NC, and London: McFarland, 1993. Millicent, Marcus. Italian Film in the Light of Neorealism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1986. Movies of the 40s, ed. Jürgen Müller. Koln: Taschen, [2005]. Oates, Joyce Carol. “Man Under Sentence of Death: The Novels of James M. Cain,” pp. 110 –128 in Tough Guy Writers of the Thirties, ed. David Madden. Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern University of Illinois Press, 1968. Pelizzon, V. Penelope, and Nancy M. West. “Multiple Indemnity: Film Noir, James M. Cain, and Adaptations of a Tabloid Case.” Narrative 13 (October 2005): 211–237. Penzler, Otto. “Collecting Mystery Fiction: James M. Cain.” Armchair Detective 21 (Summer 1988): 262–266. Porﬁrio, Robert G. “Whatever Happened to the Film Noir? The Postman Always Rings Twice

(1946 –1981).” Literature/Film Quarterly 13.2 (1985): 102–111. Porter, David L., ed. Biographical Dictionary of American Sports: Baseball. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1987. Porteus, Skipp, and Robert M. Blevins. Into the Blast: The True Story of D. B. Cooper. Seattle: Adventure Books of Seattle, 2010. Prigozy, Ruth. “Double Indemnity: Billy Wilder’s Crime and Punishment.” Literature/Film Quarterly 12.3 (l984): 160 –170. Rabinowitz, Peter J. “‘Three Out of Five Something Happens’: James M. Cain and the Ethics of Music,” pp. 167–186 in Rhetoric and Pluralism: Legacies of Wayne Booth, ed. Frederick J. Antczak. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1995. Reck, Tom S. “J. M. Cain’s Los Angeles Novels.” Colorado Quarterly 22 (Winter 1974): 375 –387. Robbins, J. Albert. American Literary Manuscripts: A Checklist of Holdings in Academic, Historical, and Public Libraries, Museums, and Authors’ Homes in the United States, 2d ed. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1977. Robinson, Bobbie. “James M. Cain,” pp. 48 –69 in American Hard-Boiled Crime Writers, eds. George Parker Anderson and Julie B. Anderson, in Dictionary of Literary Biography, vol. 226. Detroit: Gale Group, 2000. Rodgers, Marion Elizabeth. Mencken: The American Iconoclast. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. Athens: Oho University Press, 1969. Seed, David. Cinematic Fictions. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2009. 60 Years of Journalism by James M. Cain, ed. Roy Hoopes. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1985. Skenazy, Paul. James M. Cain. New York: Continuum, 1989. Spiegal, Alan. “Seeing Triple: Cain, Chandler and Wilder on Double Indemnity.” Mosaic 16 (Spring 1983): 83 –101. Telotte, J. P. Visconti’s Ossessione and the Open World of Neorealism.” New Orleans Review 10 (Summer-Fall 1983): 61–68. Tibbetts, John C., and James M. Welsh. The Encyclopedia of Novels into Film. New York: Facts on File, 1998. Tobias, Richard C. The Art of James Thurber. Athens: Ohio University Press, 1969. Wagner, Margaret E., Gary W. Gallagher, and Paul Finkelman, eds. Civil War Desk Reference. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2002. Wagstaff, Christopher. Italian Neorealist Cinema: An Aesthetic Approach. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2007. Wayne, Jane Ellen. Lana: The Life and Loves of Lana Turner. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1995.

235 Welsh, J. M. “Mildred Pierce Reshaped.” Literature/ Film Quarterly 11 (1983): 66 –68. Williams, Tony. “Mamet’s Postman.” Creative Screenwriting 5 (November-December, 1998): 35 –39. Wyatt, David. “LA Fiction Through Mid-Century,”

BIBLIOGRAPHY

pp. 35 –47 in The Cambridge History of the Literature of Los Angeles. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Yakir, Dan. “The Postman’s Words,” pp. 39 –45 in David Mamet in Conversation, ed. Leslie Kane. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2001.

This page intentionally left blank

Index Page references in bold italic are to main entries. The name of each fictional character is followed by the title of the only work or the first work in which the character appears. Titles unless otherwise indicated are by Cain. Adler (The Embezzler) 9 Adrian (The Moth) 9 Al (Cloud Nine) 9 Albaugh, Jack (The Institute) 9 Albert, Edward 24 Alderkreutz, Baron Vicki 9 Alderkreutz, Baron Vladimir Alexis Gustavus (Sinful Woman) 9 Aldrous, Rev. Dr. (Mildred Pierce) 9 Alec (Jealous Woman) 9 Allen, Madge (The Postman Always Rings Twice) 9 Allen, Uncle (The Institute) 9 Anderson (The Moth) 9 Anderson, Bub (“Brush Fire”) 9 Anna (Mildred Pierce) 9 Annabelle, Aunt (Cloud Nine) 9 – 10 Antoine (Mignon) 10 Arabella (The Moth) 10 Archie (Mildred Pierce) 10 Arlen, Richard 11 Arline (Mildred Pierce) 10 Armbruster (“The Taking of Montfaucon”) 10 Armstrong, Robert 11 Audrey (Mildred Pierce) 10 Babe (Serenade) 10 “The Baby in the Icebox” 10 –11, 24, 85, 164 Bacon, Dr. (Mignon) 11 Bacon, John 163 Bailey, Captain (Mignon) 11 Baker, Sally (The Enchanted Isle) 11 Baker, Steve (The Enchanted Isle) 11–12 Ball, Lieutenant (Mignon) 12 Balmer, Edwin 85 Bancroft, George 89 Bancroft, Hugh Henry 93 Banks, General (Mignon) 12 Banks, Nathaniel Prentiss 12, 79, 134, 135, 138 The Barber of Seville (Paisiello) 150 Bardie (Galatea) 12 Barnett, Vincent (“Come-back”) 12 Barnham, Dr. (The Moth) 12 Barrios (Serenade) 12

Baugh, Albert C. 9 Baughman, Red (The Moth) 12 Beal (The Moth) 12 Beal (Serenade) 12 Beale, Lonnie (“Brush Fire”) 12 Beauregard, Caroline Deslonde 134 Beauregard, P.G.T. 134 Beauvais (The Root of His Evil) 12 Bella (Mildred Pierce) 12 Belle (Double Indemnity) 12 Bennett, Arthur (The Embezzler) 12 Bennett, Dave (The Embezzler) 12 Bennett, Logan (Career in C Major) 12 Bennett, Sheila (The Embezzler) 12 Beragon, Miss (Mildred Pierce) 12 Beragon, Monty (Mildred Pierce) 12 Beragon, Mrs. (Mildred Pierce) 12 –13 Bergson, Inga (The Institute) 13 Bernstein, K. (“Brush Fire”) 13 Biederhof (Mildred Pierce) 13 Biederhoff, Maggie (Mildred Pierce) 13 Biederman (“The Visitor”) 13 Biggs (Jealous Woman) 13 Bill (Sinful Woman) 13 Bill (“Two O’Clock Blonde”) 13 Biloxi (Past All Dishonor) 13 Biloxi, Han (“Coal Black”) 13 Bin Ben Bon (Cloud Nine) 13 Bingo (Jealous Woman) 13 “The Birthday Party” 13 –14, 24 Bizet, Georges 208, 215, 230 “The Black Cat” (Poe) 87 Blair, Gwenny (Career in C Major) 14 Bland (The Moth) 14 Bledsoe, James J. (Rainbow’s End) 14 Bleeker, Mrs. (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 14 Bleeker, Oliver Hedge (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 14 Blount (The Butterfly) 14 Blount, Mrs. (The Butterfly) 14 Blount, Wash (The Butterfly) 14 Blue, Birdie (The Butterfly) 14 Blue, Ed (The Butterfly) 14

237

Blue, Luke (The Butterfly) 14 Blue, Moke (The Butterfly) 14 –15 Blue, Mort (The Butterfly) 15 Blythe, Ann 152 La Bohème (Puccini) 27 Bohlen, Charles 15 The Bohunk (“Hip, Hip, the Hippo!”) 15 Bolton, Charlie (The Root of His Evil) 15 Bond, Lester (The Enchanted Isle) 15 Boole, Mrs. (Mildred Pierce) 15 Booth, John Wilkes 71, 73, 76, 135 Borland, Doris (Career in C Major) 15 Borland, Evelyn (Career in C Major) 15 Borland, Leonard (Career in C Major) 15 Borland, Randolph (Career in C Major) 15 Bosway, Emil (Mignon) 15 Bowman, Wally (“Everything But the Truth”) 15 Brady (Jealous Woman) 15 Brady, Jack (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 15 Bramwell, Ned (The Institute) 15 Branch, Hannah (The Moth) 15 Branch, Jim (The Moth) 15 Brancusi, Constantin 212 Brems, Mrs. (The Moth) 15 Brent, Anna (The Embezzler) 16 Brent, Charles (The Embezzler) 16 Brent, Charlotte (The Embezzler) 16 Brent, Sheila (The Embezzler) 16 Bresnahan, James Joseph (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 16 Brewer, George (Past All Dishonor) 16 Brewer, Raymond (Past All Dishonor) 16 Brewer, Will (Past All Dishonor) 16 Brice (Galatea) 16 Bright, Bessie (The Moth) 16 Bright, Louis (The Moth) 16 Bright, Louis, Jr. (The Moth) 16 Brisson, Lois (Mignon) 16

INDEX Britten, Cy (Sinful Woman) 16 Brodie, Fawn 90 Bronson, Louise (Career in C Major) 16 Brown, Hosea (The Moth) 16 –17 Brownie (The Institute) 17 “Brush Fire” 17–18, 24, 123 Buchhalter, Dr. (The Moth) 18 Buck, Dudley 159 Buck, Frank 85 Bud (The Enchanted Isle) 18 Bullock (Mildred Pierce) 18 Bunyan, Paul (Serenade) 18 Burbie (“Pastorale”) 18 Burgan, Wally (Mildred Pierce) 18 Burke, Frank (Mignon) 18 Buster, Busty (The Magician’s Wife) 18 Butch (Serenade) 18 Butler (The Moth) 18 Butler, Benjamin Franklin 134 The Butterfly 18 –24, 24, 67, 97, 164, 192 The Butterfly (movie) 23 –24, 164 Byrd, Charley (The Moth) 24 Cagney, James 128 Cain, James M.: income from writings 11, 14, 30, 46, 52, 60, 98, 105, 118, 139, 151, 177, 183, 192, 203, 209, 229; movies 164 –165; papers 169; translations 225 Calenso, Bugs (“Joy Ride to Glory”) 24 Cam (Past All Dishonor) 24 Cameron, Bill (“Cigarette Girl”) 24 Camus, Albert 183 Cannon (The Moth) 24 Cantrell, Joe (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 24 Cantrell, Mrs. (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 24 Captain (“Death on the Beach”) 24 Career in C Major 24, 24 –30, 164 Carissimi, Giacomo 26 Carl (Mildred Pierce) 30 Carmen (Bizet) 208, 215, 230 Caro, Mae 152 Carpentier, Georges 29 Carroll, Dr. (Galatea) 30 Carroll, Mrs. (Galatea) 30 Carson, Kit 89 Carter, Dr. (The Institute) 30 Carter, Gordon (Cloud Nine) 30 Cartogensis, S. (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 30 Caruso, Enrico 149, 168, 210 Carver, Cecil (Career in C Major) 30 Casey (The Moth) 30 Caskey, Matt (The Enchanted Isle) 30 Caskie, Red (Past All Dishonor) 30 Casper, Franklin (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 30 Casper, Maria (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 31 Casper, Sol (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 31 Cass, Lew (The Butterfly) 31 Cassidy (Mignon) 31

238 Cavalleria Rusticana (Mascagni) 28 Cavell, Edith 217, 219 Cecilia, Saint 30 Cervantes, Miguel de 183 Chadwick, Elsa (Serenade) 31 Chaliapin, Feodor 159 Chambers, Frank (The Postman Always Rings Twice) 31 Chandler, Raymond 53, 183 Charlie (The Root of His Evil) 31 Charlie (Serenade) 31 “Che gelida manina” (Puccini) 27 Chief (The Enchanted Isle) 31 Childs, Esther (The Enchanted Isle) 31 Chin, Dr. (The Institute) 31 Chinchin (Past All Dishonor) 32 Christine (Career in C Major) 32 Christolf, Jack (Double Indemnity) 32 Church, Miss (The Embezzler) 32 “Cigarette Girl” 24, 32 The Cinderella Story 32, 203 Citizen Kane (movie) 152 The City Marshal (Past All Dishonor) 32 –33 Civilian Conservation Corps 17–18 Clark (The Enchanted Isle) 33 Clawson, Jim (The Enchanted Isle) 33 Cleopatra (Mignon) 33 Cline, Dr. (Rainbow’sEnd) 33 Cloud Nine 24, 33 –40, 67, 203 “Coal Black” 24, 40 –41 The Cocktail Waitress 41 Cohn, Harry 42 Coleridge, Samuel Taylor 64, 66 Collins, Dr. (Mildred Pierce) 41 Colypte (The Enchanted Isle) 41 “Come-back” 24, 41–42, 84 Conley (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 42 Conley, Red (“Joy Ride to Glory”) 42 Conner, Jack (“Vigarette Girl”) 42 Conners, Captain (Serenade) 42 Convers, Faith (Jealous Woman) 42 Cooper, “D.B.” 192–193 Corasi (Mildred Pierce) 42 Coroner (Sinful Woman) 42 Coulter, Miss (Galatea) 42 Count Ten (Jealous Woman) 42 – 43 Craig (Career in C Major) 43 Crawford, Joan 152, 164 Cresap, Bill (Mignon) 43 Cresap, Joseph 43 Crime and Punishment (Dostoyevsky) 53 Crittenton, Florence (Cloud Nine) 43 Crockett, Morina (Past All Dishonor) 43 Croupier, Mr. (Jealous Woman) 43 Daley, Hal (The Magician’s Wife) 43 Daly (Sinful Woman) 43 Damrosch, Walter 211 Daniel, Danny (Galatea) 43 Dante 22

D’Arcy, Hugh Antoine 176 Darnat, Roscoe (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 43 Dasso (The Moth) 43 Davey (Past All Dishonor) 44 Davis (The Institute) 44 Davis, Esther (The Enchanted Isle) 44 Davis, H.P. (Jealous Woman) 44 Davis, John P. (The Enchanted Isle) 44 Davis, Mrs. (The Enchanted Isle) 44 Davis, Rick (The Enchanted Isle) 44 Dawson (Sinful Woman) 44 Dayton, John (Galatea) 44 “Dead Man” 24, 44 –45 “Death on the Beach” 24, 45 –46 Deets (The Moth) 46 Deets, Eunice (The Moth) 46 Deets, Glendenning (The Moth) 46 Deets, Mrs. (The Moth) 46 Deever (“Brush Fire”) 46 DeGrand, Jr. (“The Birthday Party”) 46 Deidesheimer (Past All Dishonor) 46 Delaney, Bill (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 46 Delaney, Dick (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 46 Delavan, Jane (Jealous Woman) 46 – 47 Delavan, Tom (Jealous Woman) 47 Dempsey, Jack 29 Dennis, Lloyd (Galatea 47 Dent, Sam (The Institute) 47 Le Dernier Tournant (movie) 164 “Di provenza il mar” (Verdi) 26, 209 Diego (“Death on the Beach”) 47 Dietz, Chief (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 47 Digges (The Enchanted Isle) 47 Dillon, Francis (The Moth) 47 Dillon, Jack (The Moth) 47 Dillon, Louise Thorne (The Moth) 47 Dillon, Nancy (The Moth) 47 Dillon, Patrick (The Moth) 47 Dillon, Sheila (The Moth) 47 DiVola (Rainbow’s End) 47 Doaks, Joe (The Moth) 47 Dobbs (Sinful Woman) 47 Doctorow, E.L. 128 Dolan, Jim (The Enchanted Isle) 47–48 Dolly (Jealous Woman) 48 Dominick, Nick (The Magician’s Wife) 48 Don Giovanni (Mozart) 29 –30, 207, 209 –210, 210, 211, 214 Don Quixote de la Mancha (Cervantes) 183 Donizetti, Gaetano 150, 209, 210 Doris (The Magician’s Wife) 48 Dostoyevsky, Fyodor 53 Double Indemnity 24, 30, 34, 40, 48 –53, 60, 116, 164 Double Indemnity (movie) 34, 52–53, 105, 164, 165, 183 Double Indemnity (TV movie) 164

239 Douglas (Rainbow’s End) 53 Douvain (The Moth) 53 Douvain, Mrs. (The Moth) 53 “La dove prende” (Mozart) 28 Dow, Dr. (Mignon) 53 Downey, Miss Ruth (“Everything But the Truth”) 53 Downing, Leonard (The Institute) 53 Drusilla (The Moth) 54 Dubois, Mort (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 54 Dukas, Polly (“Come-back”) 54 Duke (“The Baby in the Icebox”) 54 Dumb, Dora (The Moth) 54 Dumb, John Q. (The Moth) 54 Dumont (Mignon) 54 Duncan, Mrs. (Rainbow’s End) 54 Duncan, Rich (Rainbow’s End) 54 Dunne, Hovey (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 54 Du Pont, Êleuthère Irénée 89 Durante, Jimmy 183 Duval, Roger (Past All Dishonor) 54 Dvorák, Anton 150 Dyer (The Embezzler) 54 ^

Eads, James Buchanan (Mignon) 43, 54 –55, 132 Earl (The Magician’s Wife) 55 Eckhart (“Coal Black”) 55 Eckstein (Mildred Pierce) 55 Ed (Past All Dishonor) 55 Eddie (Mildred Pierce) 55 Eddy, Nelson 209 Edgren, Sergeant (Rainbow’s End) 55 Eilers, Sally 11 Elaine (Mildred Pierce) 55 Eliza (The Institute) 55 Ellen (The Magician’s Wife) 55 Elliot, Clyde 85 Elsie (Cloud Nine) 55 The Embezzler 24, 30, 55 –60, 164 Emil (Galatea) 60 Emil (Mignon) 60 Emma (Mildred Pierce) 60 Emory (The Moth) 60 Emory, Mrs. (The Moth) 60 The Enchanted Isle 24, 40, 60 –67, 164 Enders (Sinful Woman) 67 Engel, Blanche (Mildred Pierce) 67 Engel, Harry (Mildred Pierce) 67 Engel, William (Mildred Pierce) 67 Ernestine (Mildred Pierce) 67 Ethel (Double Indemnity) 67 Ethel (Sinful Woman) 67 L’Étranger (The Outsider) (Camus) 183 Eubanks, Miss (The Root of His Evil) 67 Everybody Does It (movie) 30, 164 “Everything But the Truth” 24, 67–68 Ewing, Louise (Mildred Pierce) 68 Ewing, Paul (Mildred Pierce) 68

“The Face on the Barroom Floor” (D’Arcy) 176 “The Face upon the Floor” (D’Arcy) 176 Le Facteur sonne toujours deux fois (movie) 184 Fanchon (“Come-back”) 68 Farrell, James T. 164 Fats (The Moth) 68 Faust (Gounod) 212 Ferber, Edna 32 Ferguson (Past All Dishonor) 68 Ferguson, A.G. (Embezzler) 68 –69 Fields, W.C. 42 Finley, Dick (The Moth) 69 Finley, Jack (The Moth) 69 Finley, Lee (The Moth) 69 Finley, Mrs. (The Moth) 69 Finn (Past All Dishonor) 69 Finn, Mrs. (Past All Dishonor) 69 The First Lady (The Institute) 69 Fisher (The Magician’s Wife) 69 Fitzgerald, F. Scott 31, 210 Floyd, Mrs. (Mildred Pierce) 69 Flynn (Sinful Woman) 69 Ford, Betty 185 Ford, Gerald 185 Forrester, Mrs. (Mildred Pierce) 69 Forrester, Sam (Mildred Pierce) 69 Fournet, Mignon (Mignon) 69 Fournet, Raoul (Mignon) 69 Frank (The Magician’s Wife) 69 Frazier, Lou (The Embezzler) 69 Freeman, Douglas Southall 89, 94 Fresno (“The Pay-off Girl”) 69 Freud, Sigmund 212 Frieda (Mildred Pierce) 69 Fuller (The Moth) 69 Fuller, Ben (“Dead Man”) 69 –70 Gable, Clark 208 Galatea 24, 70 –77, 89, 225 Galbraith, Elizabeth (The Magician’s Wife) 77 Gale, Dr. (Mildred Pierce) 7 The Galloping Domino 77, 222 Galpin (Mignon) 77 Gans, R.P. (Sinful Woman) 77 Garcia, Manuel Patricio Rodriguez 210 Garfield, John 31, 179, 183, 184 Garner, John (The Institute) 77 Garner, John Nance 77 Garrett (The Magician’s Wife) 77 Garrett, Hortense (The Institute) 77 Garrett, Richard (The Institute) 77 Garrett, Theodore (The Institute) 77 Gator (Past All Dishonor) 77 Gaudenzi (The Embezzler) 77 Gauss, Lefty (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 77 Geller, James 52, 151, 203 Gendarme (“Death on the Beach”) 77 Genessee, Ted (Sinful Woman) 77–78 Gentile, Mr. and Mrs. (Sinful Woman) 78 Gessler, Ike (Mildred Pierce) 78 Gessler, Lucy (Mildred Pierce) 78

INDEX Gil (“Death on the Beach”) 78 Giles, Borden (Rainbow’s End) 78 Giles, Jane (Rainbow’s End) 78 Giles, Myra (Rainbow’s End) 78 Giles, Sid (Rainbow’s End) 78 Girl in the Cadillac (movie) 164 “The Girl in the Storm” 24, 78 –79 Giulio (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 79 The Glass Key (Hammett) 119 Gluck, Christoph Willibald 147 Goebel (The Postman Always Rings Twice) 79 Gold, Rex (Serenade) 79 “The Gold Bug” (Poe) 163 Gonzalez, Mrs. (Serenade) 79 Gooch (Mignon) 79 Gooch, Daniel Wheelwright (Mignon) 79 Gool (Mignon) 79 Gorman, Ethel (Career in C Major) 79 Gorsuch (The Magician’s Wife) 79 –80 Gorsuch, Alec (The Magician’s Wife) 79 Gorsuch, Elly (The Magician’s Wife) 79 Gorsuch, Elwood P. (The Magician’s Wife) 79 –80 Gorsuch, Sally (The Magician’s Wife) 80 Gounod, Charles François 212 Grace, Ben (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 80 Granger (The Institute) 80 Granlund, Bunny (The Magician’s Wife) 80 Granlund, Steve (The Magician’s Wife) 80 Grant, Dr. (The Moth) 80 Grant, Eleanor (The Moth) 80 Grant, Pat (The Magician’s Wife) 80 The Grapes of Wrath (Steinbeck) 179 Gray, Judd 49, 182–183 The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald) 31 Gregg, Sandy (Mignon) 80 –81 Groner, Goose (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 81 Gruber, Clara (The Root of His Evil) 81 Guest, Edgar A. 94 Guizot (Career in C Major) 81 Gump, Chester (“Come-back”) 81 Gumpertz, Jake (The Magician’s Wife) 81 Gurney (Mildred Pierce) 81 Gus (The Root of His Evil) 81 Gwendolyn (The Moth) 81 Hager, Captain (Mignon) 81 Hahn, Michael 134 Haines, Arthur (Past All Dishonor) 81 Hal (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 81 Hale (Past All Dishonor) 81 Halligan (The Embezzler) 81 Hammell (Cloud Nine) 81 Hammell, Mrs. (Cloud Nine) 81

INDEX Hammerstein, Oscar, II 32 Hammett, Dashiell 116, 119 Hand, Mr. Charlie (“Everything But the Truth”) 81 Hanks (Rainbow’s End) 81 Hannen, Charlie (Mildred Pierce) 82 Hannen, Roberta (Mildred Pierce) 82 Hans (Mildred Pierce) 82 Hapgood, Happy (“Come-back”) 82 Harbaugh (Mildred Pierce) 82 Harbaugh, Mrs. (Mildred Pierce) 82 Hardcastle, Henry (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 82 Harmon, Henry (The Moth) 82 Harper, Buck (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 82 Harris (Mildred Pierce) 82 Harris, Agnes (The Root of His Evil) 82 Harris, Carrie Selden (The Root of His Evil) 82 Harris, Elsie (The Root of His Evil) 82 Harris, George (The Root of His Evil) 82 Harris, Grant (The Root of His Evil) 82 Harris, Harwood (The Root of His Evil) 82 Harris, Jane (The Root of His Evil) 82 Harris, U.S. Grant (The Root of His Evil) 82 Harry (Serenade) 82 Harvey (The Institute) 82 Hasselman (The Postman Alway Rings Twice) 82 Hawes, Winston (Serenade) 82 –83 Hayden (The Moth) 83 Hayes (The Institute) 83 Hayes, Annette (“The Visitor”) 83 Hayes, Greg (“The Visitor”) 83 Hayes, Lou (“The Visitor”) 83 Hayes, Rita (“The Visitor”) 83 Haynes, Jack (The Enchanted Isle) 83 Heath, Benny (“Pastorale”) 83 Heine (The Magician’s Wife) 83 Helm (The Embezzler) 83 Helm, Miss (The Magician’s Wife) 83 Henning, Sophie (The Magician’s Wife) 83 Henry, Doc (The Moth) 83 Herbert, Sergeant (The Institute) 83 Herndon, Bob (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 83 Herndon, Miss (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 83 Hertz, Mrs. (Career in C Major) 83 Hertz, Rudolph (Career in C Major) 84 Hildegarde, Otto (Mildred Pierce) 84 Hildegarde, Mrs. Otto (Mildred Pierce) 84 Hilton, Flora (“The Girl in the Storm”) 84

240 Himmelhaber, Magistrate (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 84 “Hip, Hip, the Hippo!” 24, 84 –85 Hirsch (Sinful Woman) 85 Hobey (Double Indemnity) 85 Holden, Evan (The Root of His Evil) 85 Hollis (Galatea) 85 Hollis, Bill (Galatea) 85 Hollis, Marge (Galatea) 85 Hollis, Mrs. (Galatea) 85 Hollister (Sinful Woman) 85 Hollowell (The Root of His Evil) 85 Holt, Joe (Rainbow’s End) 85 Holton, Pete (The Institute) 85 Holtz (The Moth) 85 Homan, Miss (The Magician’s Wife) 85 Homer (Galatea) 85 Hood (The Institute) 85 Hood, Judy (The Institute) 85 Hood, Senator Ralph (The Institute) 85 –86 Hook (Past All Dishonor) 86 Hook, Oscar (“Dead Man”) 86 Hoover, Herbert 145 Hope (“The Birthday Party”) 86 Hope (“Everything But the Truth”) 86 Hope, Burwell (“The Birthday Party”) 86 Hope, Edwin (“Everything But the Truth”) 86 Hope, Mrs. (“The Birthday Party”) 86 Hope, Mrs. (“Everything But the Truth”) 86 Hopkins (Past All Dishonor) 86 Horizon, Frankie (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 86 Horlacher (The Moth) 86 Horn, Bert (Career in C Major) 86 Hornblow, Alice (Career in C Major) 86 Hornblow, Arthur 86 Horner, Ed (Jealous Woman) 86 Horner, Guy (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 86 Hornison (“Come-back”) 86 –87 Houston, Miss (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 87 Howell, Dave (Rainbow’s End) 87 Howell, Jody (Rainbow’s End) 87 Howell, Myra (Rainbow’s End) 87 Hudson, Albert (Serenade) 87 Hudson, Dr. (Jealous Woman) 87 Huff, Walter (Double Indemnity) 87 Hull, Jack (“Two O’Clock Blonde”) 87 Hunt, Bernard (The Root of His Evil) 87–88 Hunt, Ruth (The Root of His Evil) 88 Hunter (The Butterfly) 88 Hurlburt, Stephen A. 134 Husband, Wife and Friend (movie) 30 Hutch (“Pastorale”) 88

Hyde (The Root of His Evil) 88 Hyde, Howe (The Enchanted Isle) 88 Ida (The Magician’s Wife) 88 Ida (Mildred Pierce) 88 Ike (Past All Dishonor) 88 Ike (“The Pay-off Girl”) 88 Immelman, Miss (The Institute) 88 “The Imp of the Perverse” (Poe) 87 Inferno (Dante) 22 The Institute 24, 88 –98, 188, 192 Interlude (movie) 164 Ireland (Jealous Woman) 98 Irene (The Institute) 98 Irene (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 98 Irene (The Moth) 98 Irving, Big Hoke (Past All Dishonor) 98 Jack (The Butterfly) 98 Jackie (“The Birthday Party”) 98 Jackie (Jealous Woman) 98 Jacks (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 98 Jackson (Double Indemnity) 98 Jackson, Bill (The Magician’s Wife) 98 Jackson, Stonewall 12 Jaeckel, Miss (Mildred Pierce) 98 Jake (The Embezzler) 98 Jake (Galatea) 98 Jake (Mildred Pierce) 98 Jake (Past All Dishonor) 98 Jake (Sinful Woman) 98 The James M. Cain Cookbook ... 207 Jane (The Moth) 98 Jansen, Mrs. (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 98 Jansen, Olaf (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 98 –99 Jasper (The Institute) 99 Jealous Woman 24, 99–105, 108, 222, 225 Jenkins, Harriet (Jealous Woman) 105 Jenkins, Major (Mignon) 105 Jennifer, Miss (Sinful Woman) 105 Jergins (The Moth) 105 Jerome, Mrs. (The Root of His Evil) 105 Jervis, Clint (Cloud Nine) 105 Jervis, Rod (Cloud Nine) 105 Jevons, John Frederick (Career in C Major) 105 Jinghis Quinn 105 Joe (“Cigarette Girl”) 105 Johnny (The Magician’s Wife) 105 – 106 Johns (The Magician’s Wife) 106 Johns, Lefty (Rainbow’s End) 106 Johnson, Dr. (The Institute) 106 Johnson, Martin 54, 85 Johnson, Osa 54, 85 Jonas, Miss (The Moth) 106 Jones, Art A. (“Come-back”) 106 Jones, D.P. (The Moth) 106 Jones, Norman (Bud) The Magician’s Wife) 106 Josie (Mildred Pierce) 106 “Joy Ride to Glory” 24

241 The Jungle Book (Kipling) 42 The Jungle Book (movie) 42 The Jungle Book: Mowgli’s Story (movie) 42 Kaiser, Bunny (The Embezzler) 106 Karb (The Root of His Evil) 106 Karen (The Institute) 106 Katz (The Magician’s Wife) 106 Katz (The Postman Always Rings Twice) 106 –107 Kaufman (The Institute) 107 Keach, Stacy 23 Kearny (“The Pay-off Girl”) 107 Kearny, Miles (“The Pay-off Girl”) 107 Kefore, Jack (Cloud Nine) 107 Kelin, Donald (The Institute) 108 Kelly, Pat (Past All Dishonor) 107 Kennedy, Pat (The Postman Always Rings Twice) 107 Kennelly, Tim (“Come-back”) 107 Kern, Jerome 32 Keswick (Double Indemnity) 107 Keyes, Robert (Double Indemnity) 107–108 King (Rainbow’s End) 108 Kingdom by the Sea 108 Kinsey, Alfred C. 164 Kipling, Rudyard 42, 211 Kirby (Cloud Nine) 108 Kirby, Graham (Cloud Nine) 108 Kirby, Sonja (Cloud Nine) 108 Knight, Marion (Rainbow’s End) 108 Knopf, Alfred A. 23, 30, 118, 139, 151, 163 –164, 169, 183, 228 Knopf, Blanche 53 Koehler, Miss (The Institute) 108 Kramer, Mrs. (Mildrted Pierce) 108 Kreeger, Jill (Rainbow’s End) 108 –109 Kubic (Jealous Woman) 109 Kugler, Mr. (Serenade) 109 Kuhn, John (The Magician’s Wife) 109 Kuhn, Major General (“The Taking of Montfaucon”) 109 Kurt (Mildred) 109 La Bouche, Gerland (Sinful Woman) 109 Laemmle, Carl 42 Lahr, Morris (Serenade) 109 Lamson, Josephine (The Moth) 109 Landry, Adolphe (Mignon) 109 Lang, Louis (Cloud Nine) 109 Lang, Mrs. (Cloud Nine) 109 Lang, Sonja (Cloud Nine) 109 –110 Lange, Jessica 179, 183 Larkin, Paul (“Brush Fire”) 110 Lavadeau (Mignon) 110 Lawrence, Vincent 182, 215 Layton, George M. (Sinful Woman) 110 Lee (Past All Dishonor) 110 Lee, Robert E. 89, 94 Leech, Margaret 93 Legg (The Moth) 110

Legg, Helen (The Moth) 110 Legg, Margaret (The Moth) 110 Legg, Mrs. (The Moth) 110 Legrand, Pierre (Mignon) 110 Leighton, Jack (Career in C Major) 110 Lenhardt, Bugs (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 110 Lenhardt, John (Mildred Pierce) 110 Lenhardt, Mrs. (Mildred Pierce) 110 –111 Leonard, Mort (Cloud Nine) 111 Leoncavallo, Ruggiero 28, 147, 212 Leslie, Anita 90 Letty (Mildred Pierce) 111 Levinson (Mildred Pierce) 111 Levinson, Moe (Mildred Pierce) 111 Lewis (The Embezzler) 111 Lewis, John L. 196 Lida (The Moth) 111 Lida (“Pastorale”) 111 Lieberman (Cloud Nine) 111 Lina (The Moth) 111 Lincoln, Abraham 132–133 Linda (Jealous Woman) 111 Lindstrom (Jealous Woman) 111 Lindy (The Root of His Evil) 111 Ling (Double Indemnity) 111 Lippert, Sol (Galatea) 111 Lippman, Walter 183 Lipscomb, Thomas 98, 192 Lipsky, Boogie-Woogie (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 111 Liza (“The Birthday Party”) 111 Lizette (The Magician’s Wife) 111 Llowndes (The Enchanted Isle) 111 Lockhart, June 24 Lockwood, Grace (The Magician’s Wife) 112 Lohengrin (Wagner) 150 Lola (Past All Dishonor) 112 Loma, Carlos (Sinful Woman) 112 Lomack (The Magician’s Wife) 112 Lomack, Art (“Cigarette Girl”) 112 London (Serenade) 112 Londos, Christopher Theophelos 161 Longstreet, James 94 Lorentz, Hugo (Career in C Major) 112 Lorl Patrot (Mignon) 112 Lorna (The Root of His Evil) 112 Loudet (The Root of His Evil) 112 Love’s Lovely Counterfeit 24, 112 –119, 164 Lubitsch, Ernest 161 Lucan (Mignon) 119 Lucas (Galatea) 119 Lucas (The Institute) 119 Lucas (The Moth) 119 Lucas, Chief (The Moth) 119 Lucas, Colonel (The Institute) 119 Lucas, June (The Moth) 119 Lucas, Marjorie (“The Birthday Party”) 119 Lucas, Mr. (Cloud Nine) 119 Lucas, Mrs. (“The Birthday Party”) 119 Lucas, Parker (Sinful Woman) 119 Luchetti, Enzo (Serenade) 120

INDEX Lucia di Lammermore (Donizetti) 150, 209, 210 Lucky (“Dead Man”) 120 Lucy (The Institute) 120 Lura (“The Baby in the Icebox”) 120 Luther (Serenade) 120 Lynch, Morton (Jealous Woman) 120 Lynn (Cloud Nine) 120 Lyons, Dorothy (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 120 Lyons, June (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 120 Lyons, Mrs. (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 120 –121 Mabel (Cloud Nine) 121 MacDonald, Jeannette 209 Mace (The Moth) 121 MacPhail, Leland Stanford 116 Maddux, Major (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 121 Maderia, Captain (“The Taking of Montfaucon”) 121 The Magician’s Wife 24, 94, 121–129 Mailer, Norman, 128 –129 Makadoulis, Chris (Mildred Pierce) 129 Malibran, María Felicia 149 Malone, Dumas 93 Mamet, David 179, 183 –184 “The Man Merriwell” (Patten) 176 “Mandalay” (Damrosch) 211 Manship, Paul 212 Mantle (Rainbow’s End) 129 Marco (“Come-back”) 129 Marconi (The Enchanted Isle) 129 Marguerite (Jealous Woman) 129 Maria (“Death on the Beach”) 129 Maria (Serenade) 129 Maria (“Two O’Clock Blonde”) 129 Mario (Career in C Major) 129 The Marriage of Figaro (Mozart) 26 Mascagni, Pietro 28 Mason, George (The Embezzler) 129 Matcalf, Jo (“Hip, Hip, the Hippo!”) 130 Mattiny (Past All Dishonor) 129 McConnell, Father (The Postman Always Rings Twice) 129 McCormick, John 154 McCoy, Horace 151 McDavitt, Malcolm (The Institute) 129 McMahon, Ed 24 Melba, Nellie 149 Mellie (The Butterfly) 129 Mencken, H.L. 11, 65, 123, 176, 183 Mendell (The Moth) 129 Mendenhall, Mrs. (The Institute) 129 –130 Michaud, Veronique (Mignon) 130 Mifflin (Mignon) 130 Mignon 24, 130 –140 Mignon (Thomas) 28, 149 Mildred Pierce 24, 140 –152, 164, 225 Mildred Pierce (movie) 151–152, 164, 178, 183 Mildred Pierce (TV movie) 152 Miller, Alice Duer 29

INDEX

242

Milmo, Paddy (Mignon) 152 Milstead (“The Visitor”) 152 Milstead, Mrs. (“The Visitor”) 152 Milstead, Shelley (“The Visitor”) 152 Minden, Liza (The Butterfly) 152 The Mink Coat 67 Minot, Mrs. (The Enchanted Isle) 152 “The Minstrel Boy” 154 Mitchell, Buck (The Moth) 152 –153 Modell, Stan (Cloud Nine) 153 The Modern Cinderella 164, 203 The Modern Cinderella (movie) 164 Modesta (Cloud Nine) 153 “Money and the Woman” 24, 153 Money and the Woman (movie) 164 Montes, Juana (Serenade) 153 Montes, Señor (Serenade) 153 Montes, Señora (Serenade) 153 Moore, Grace 210 Moore, Thomas 154 Moran, Pat (Cloud Nine) 153 More, Ed (The Moth) 153 Morgan (The Butterfly) 153 Morgan, Dale (Cloud Nine) 153 Morgan, Daniel 163 Morgan, Mrs. (Cloud Nine) 153 Morgan, Mrs. (Rainbow’s End) 153 Morgan, Russell (Rainbow’s End) 153 Mortimer (“Everything But the Truth”) 153 Morton, Salt (The Moth) 153 Moruck (Mildred Pierce) 165 The Moth 24, 67, 149, 153 –164 Mouton (Past All Dishonor) 164 Mowgli (“Come-back”) 165 Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus 26, 28, 29 –30, 154, 207, 211, 214 Muck, Karl 210 Mudd, Dr. Samuel 73 Muggsy (The Moth) 165 Mullen, Jack (Rainbow’s End) 165 Mulligan (The Moth) 165 Mullins (“Joy Ride to Glory”) 165 Murdock (Mignon) 165 Musick, Helen (Cloud Nine) 165 Myers (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 165 Nash, Byron (The Institute) 165 Nellie (The Magician’s Wife) 165 Nellie (Rainbow’s End) 165 Nerny (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 165 Nesbit, Evelyn 210 Nettie (Double Indemnity) 165 Nettie (The Institute) 165 Nevada Air 105, 165 Nevers, Mr. (“Everything But the Truth”) 165 The New World Symphony (Dvorák) 150 Newt (Past All Dishonor) 165 Nicholson, Brigadier General (“The Taking of Montfaucon”) 166 Nicholson, Jack 179, 183 Niemeyer, Miss (The Magician’s Wife) 166 Nils (Career in C Major) 166

Nirdlinger, Herbert S. (Double Indemnity) 166 Nirdlinger, Lola (Double Indemnity) 166 Nirdlinger, Phyllis (Double Indemnity) 166 Nixon, Cap (Past All Dishonor) 166 Nordstrom, Sven (The Institute) 166 Norris, Mrs. (The Root of His Evil) 166 Norton (Double Indemnity) 166 – 167 Nott, Elsie Snowden (“Dead Man”) 167 Nott, Larry (“Dead Man”) 167 Nott, L.R., Jr. (“Dead Man”) 167 Novak, Sol (The Institute) 167 Nutting, Wallace (The Institute) 167 “O tu Palermo” (Verdi) 32 O’Brien (The Enchanted Isle) 167 O’Connor, Jim (The Institute) 167 O’Hara, John 151 Olesen (Past All Dishonor) 167 Olsen (Mignon) 167 Olson (The Moth) 167 “On the Road to Mandalay” (Kipling) 211 Open City (movie) 184 Orcutt, Sheriff (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 167 Orfeo ed Euridice (Gluck) 147 Ossessione (movie) 164, 184 Otis (Mildred Pierce) 167 Padillo (Past All Dishonor) 167 Pagano, Cesare (Career in C Major) 167 I Pagliacci (Leoncavallo) 28, 29, 147, 212 Paisiello, Giovanni 150 Pal (The Enchanted Isle) 167 Palmer (The Institute) 167–168 Palmer, Lloyd (The Institute) 168 Palmer, Mrs. (The Institute) 168 Pancho (Mildred Pierce) 168 Papadakis, Cora (The Postman Always Rings Twice) 168 Papadakis, Nick (The Postman Always Rings Twice) 168 –169 Parker (The Postman Always Rings Twice) 169 Parkman, Francis 93 Parma (Career in C Major) 169 Parrot (The Moth) 169 Parton, James 93 Past All Dishonor 24, 169 –175 “Pastorale” 24, 69 –70, 175 –176 Patten, Willian Gilbert (penname Burt L. Standish) 176 Pauger, Adrien de 55 “The Pay-off Girl” 24, 176 –177 Pease (Sinful Woman) 177 Peete, Mrs. (Jealous Woman) 177 Pender, John (The Magician’s Wife) 177 Pendleton, Ike (“Brush Fire”) 177 Pendleton, Mrs. (“Brush Fire”) 177 Perrin (The Moth) 177 Persoff, Mrs. (Cloud Nine) 177

Pete, Joe (Double Indemnity) 177 Phyllis (“Everything But the Truth”) 177 Pickens, Mrs. (The Moth) 177 Pickens, Senator (The Institute) 177 Picquot (Serenade) 177 Pierce, Adrian (Mildred Pierce) 177– 178 Pierce, Bert (Mildred Pierce) 178 Pierce, Mildred (Mildred Pierce) 178 Pierce, Ray (Mildred Pierce) 178 Pierce, Sarah (Mildred Pierce) 178 Pierce, Veda (Mildred Pierce) 178 Pierre (The Root of His Evil) 178 Pierre, Monsieur (The Institute) 178 The Pink Buttercup 178 Pinza, Ezio 159 Poe, Edgar Allan 23, 87, 163 “Politician: Female” 120 Porter, David Dixon 139 Post, Marjorie Merriweather 89 The Postman Always Rings Twice 24, 60, 87, 128, 164, 179 –185, 225 The Postman Always Rings Twice (movie) 31, 52, 107, 164, 179, 183– 184, 184 Prescott, William Hickling 93, 199 Presley, Elvis 210 “Prologue” (Leoncavallo) 28, 212 Puccini, Giacomo 27, 209 Rachal (Mignon) 185 Rainbow’s End 19, 24, 67, 98, 185 – 193 Rajah (“The Baby in the Icebox”) 193 Rajah (“The Visitor”) 193 Ramos, Pabby (Galatea) 193 Rand (Mildred Pierce) 193 Randolph, Harold (The Moth) 193 Raney, Bob (Mignon) 193 Rausch, Dr. (Past All Dishonor) 193 Red (“The Birthday Party”) 193 Red (Jealous Woman) 193 Red (Mildred Pierce) 193 Reed (The Magician’s Wife) 193 Reilly, F.X. (Cloud Nine) 193 Reiner, Jack (Past All Dishonor) 193 Renny, Jack (Past All Dishonor) 193 “Rich Boy” (Fitzgerald) 210 Richter (The Enchanted Isle) 193 Rico, Maxine (Sinful Woman) 193 – 194 Rico, Tony (Sinful Woman) 194 Rider, John Gilmore (Rainbow’s End) 194 Rider, Mrs. (Rainbow’s End) 194 Ridgely, Mrs. (Mildred Pierce) 194 Rigoletto (Verdi) 27, 29, 150, 206, 230 “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” (Coleridge) 64, 66 Ritter, Guy (“Brush Fire”) 194 Rivers, Mr. (The Butterfly) 194 Roberts (“Come-back”) 194 Roberts (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 194 Roberts (Past All Dishonor) 194 Roberts (The Root of His Evil) 194

^

243 Robinson, Edward G. 105 Rocco (Past All Dishonor) 194 Rocco, Mrs. (“Cigarette Girl”) 194 Rocco, Tony (“Cigarette Girl”) 194 Rocco, Vanny (“Cigarette Girl”) 194 Rodriguez, Teddy (The Institute) 194 Roger (“Everything But the Truth”) 194 Rogers, Lieutenant Colonel (Mignon) 194 Rohrer (The Moth) 195 Rollinson, Henry W. (The Embezzler) 195 Rollinson, Mrs. (The Embezzler) 195 Romeo (“The Baby in the Icebox”) 195 Romeo and Juliet (musical composition) 32 Ron (“The Baby in the Icebox”) 195 Ronde, Dr. (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 195 Ronnie (Past All Dishonor) 195 –203 Roosevelt, Franklin D. 145, 157 The Root of His Evil 24, 38, 164, 195 –203, 222, 225 Rose, Vic (Jealous Woman) 203 Rossellini, Roberto 184 Rossi (Mildred Pierce) 203 Rossi, Arch (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 203 Rossi, Giuseppe (Career in C Major) 203 Rossi, Mrs. (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 203 Rossi, Vanny (The Enchanted Isle) 203 Rossi, Vito (The Enchanted Isle) 203 Rossini, Gioacchino 26, 211 Roy (The Magician’s Wife) 204 Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book (movie) 42 Ruth (“The Pay-off Girl”) 204 Ryan, Sergeant (“The Taking of Montfaucon”) 204 Ryon (Cloud Nine) 204 Sabini, Alessandro (Serenade) 204 Sachetti, Nino (Double Indemnity) 204 Sackett (The Postman Always Rings Twice) 204 Sadler, Buddy (“Come-back”) 204 Sam (The Embezzler) 204 Sammons, Wheeler 93 Sandburg, Carl 93 Sandoval, Dr. (Cloud Nine) 204 Sandy (Rainbow’s End) 204 Santos (Rainbow’s End) 204 Saroyan, William 151 Saunders, Willie (The Moth) 204 Sawyer (Mildred Pierce) 204 Schachtman, Mel (Cloud Nine) 204 Schmidt, Friedrich (Mignon) 204 Schmidt, Hilda (Mignon) 204 –205 Schoenfeld, Gus (The Moth) 205 Scholl (Past All Dishonor) 205 Schultz, Amy (The Enchanted Isle) 205 Schultz, George (Serenade) 205

Schultz, Gustav (Career in C Major) 205 Schultz, Hack (Sinful Woman) 205 Schultz, Lula (The Root of His Evil) 205 Schwab, Jack (“The Girl in the Storm”) 205 Schwartz, Ike (Double Indemnity) 205 Scott (Past All Dishonor) 205 Scotti, Antonio 155, 210 Selden, Carrie (The Root of His Evil) 205 Selden, Ma (The Root of His Evil) 205 Selden, Pa (The Root of His Evil) 205 Semmes, Dr. (Galatea) 205 Semmes, Raphael 205 –206 Serenade 24, 30, 164, 203, 206 –215 Serenade (movie) 164, 183 Serrano, Ramón Suñer 206 Serrurier (Mignon) 215 7–11 215, 222 Seymour, Captain (Mignon) 215 Seymour, Horatio 215 Shadwell, Dr. (Institute) 215 Shakespeare, William 91, 94, 135 Shapiro (Double Indemnity) 215 Sharp, John Howard (Serenade) 215 Shaw (Rainbow’s End) 215 She Made Her Bed (movie) 11, 164 Shepler (“The Taking of Montfaucon”) 215 Sherman, Harold (Jealous Woman) 216 Sherman, William Tecumseh 135 Shirley (Mildred Pierce) 216 Sholto (Serenade) 216 Shoreham, Hazel (Sinful Woman) 216 Shoreham, Sylvia (Sinful Woman) 216 Shorty (“Dead Man”) 216 Shorty Lee (The Moth) 216 Showboat (Ferber) 32 Showboat (Kern and Hammerstein) 32 Shreve (The Moth) 216 Sibert, Jane (Cloud Nine) 216 Sicilian Vespers (Verdi) 32 Sickles, Dan (Galatea) 216 Sigrid (Mildred Pierce) 216 –217 Silberman, Jim 128, 222 Silbro (“Come-back”) 217 Silver (“Come-back”) 217 Silverstein, Shirley (The Root of His Evil) 222 Simone, Grace (The Magician’s Wife) 217 Simons (Mildred Pierce) 217 Sinful Woman 24, 217–222 Slemp (The Moth) 222 Slicker (The Moth) 222 Slightly Scarlet (movie) 164 Smith, Edmund Kirby 137, 138, 225 Smith, Mrs. (The Postman Always Rings Twice) 222 Smith, Mrs. John L. (Sinful Woman) 222

INDEX Smith, Wild Bill (“The Baby in the Icebox”) 222 Snelling (The Embezzler) 222 Snelling, Mrs. (The Embezzler) 222 Snyder, Albert 49, 182–183 Snyder, Dr. (Rainbow’s End) 222 Snyder, Miss (The Institute) 222 Snyder, Ruth 49, 182–183 Snyder-Gray Murder Case 49, 182– 183 Solon (The Root of His Evil) 222 Solorzano (Serenade) 222 Somerville, Hank (Mildred Pierce) 222 Sparks, Jared 93 Spencer (“The Birthday Party”) 222 Sperry, Connie (Jealous Woman) 222 Sperry, Richard (Jealous Woman) 222 Spicer (The Moth) 223 Spiro, Dmitri (Sinful Woman) 223 Standish, Burt L. See Patten, William Gilbert Stark, Lydia (“Cigarette Girl”) 223 Steinbeck, John 151, 179 Stelliger (The Moth) 223 Stoessel, Herman (Serenade) 223 Stone (The Institute) 223 Stone (The Magician’s Wife) 223 Struthers, Dr. (The Moth) 223 Stuart, Burwell (Cloud Nine) 223 Stuart, Edith (Cloud Nine) 223 – 224 Stuart, Harrison (Cloud Nine) 223 Sue, Aunt (Cloud Nine) 224 Sugar (“Hip, Hip, and Hippo!”) 224 Swanson, H.N. 67, 163 –164 Szenvedely (movie) 164 “The Taking of Montfaucon” 24, 224 –225 Tarzan the Ape Man (movie) 42 Taylor, Dick (Mignon) 225 Taylor, Richard 130, 137, 225 “The Tell-Tale Heart” (Poe) 23, 87 Tetrazzini, Luisa 149, 154 Thalberg, Irving 42 Thaw, Harry Kendell 210 Thomas, Ambroise 28, 149 Thomas, John Charles 159, 225 Three of a Kind 30 Tolan (The Moth) 225 Tommy (Mildred Pierce) 225 Tony (“The Pay-off Girl”) 225 Tony (Serenade) 225 Torrance, Zeke (The Moth) 225 Tosca (Puccini) 209 Tracy, Spencer 113 Trapp (Past All Dishonor) 225 La Traviata (Verdi) 26, 150 Tremaine, Marie (Mignon) 225 Treviso, Carlo (Mildred Pierce) 225 Triesca (Serenade) 225 Il Trovatore (Verdi) 114 Tuchman, Barbara 90, 93 Turner, Alice Brooks (Mildred Pierce) 225 –226

INDEX Turner, Lana 179, 183, 184 “Two Can Sing” 24, 30 “Two O’Clock Blonde” 24, 226 Tyler, Belle (The Butterfly) 226 Tyler, Danny (The Butterfly) 226 Tyler, Hiram (The Butterfly) 226 – 227 Tyler, Jane (The Butterfly) 227 Tyler, Jess (The Butterfly) 227 Tyler, Kady (The Butterfly) 226– 227 Tyszecka, Elina 94 Valenty (Galatea) 227 Valenty, Hollis (Galatea) 227 Valenty, Holly (Galatea) 227–228 Vanderbilt, Cornelius 131 Van Hoogland, Muriel (The Root of His Evil) 228 Veblen, Thorstein Bunde 201 Verdi, Giuseppe 26, 27, 32, 114, 150, 206, 209, 230 Vernick (The Enchanted Isle) 228 Vernick, Edward (The Enchanted Isle) 228 Vernick, Mandy (The Enchanted Isle) 228 Vernick, Mrs. (The Enchanted Isle) 228 Visconti, Luchino 184 “The Visitor” 24, 54, 228 –229

244 “Vittoria mio core” (Carissimi) 26 Von Auw, Ivan 215 Wagener (Mignon) 229 Wagner, Richard 150, 210, 211 Wald, Jerry 164 Walker, Robert 131 Walton, Captain David (The Magician’s Wife) 229 Warfield, Judge (The Magician’s Wife) 229 Webster, Duke (Galatea) 229 Weems, Mason Lock 93 Weissmuller, Johnny 42 Welles, Orson 24 Wertheim, Walter 90 West, Mae 123 When Tomorrow Comes (movie) 164, 203 Whirly (Jealous Woman) 229 White (The Postman Always Rings Twice) 229 White, Stanford 210 The White Cliffs (Miller) 29 Whitley, Bob (Mildred Pierce) 229 –230 Whitley, Mrs. (Mildred Pierce) 230 Whittaker, Miss (Mildred Pierce) 230 Wiener (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 230

Wife, Husband and Friend (movie) 164 Wilder, Billy 53 Williams, Lew (Past All Dishonor) 230 Willie (The Postman Always Rings Twice) 230 Wilmer, Benjamin (The Enchanted Isle) 230 Wilmer, Sally (The Enchanted Isle) 230 Winifred (The Institute) 230 Winslet, Kate 152 Wolfe, Tom 128 –129 Wolfson (The Moth) 230 Woods (Career in C Major) 230 Wright (The Postman Always Rings Twice) 230 Yates (Love’s Lovely Counterfeit) 230 York, Bob (Rainbow’s End) 230 Young, John Russell (Mignon) 132, 230 Zadora, Pia 23 Ziskin (Serenade) 230 Zita (“Two O’Clock Blonde”) 230 –231 Zitt, Benny (Sinful Woman) 231