Crimes and Movies : Short Stories

Stephanie Dojaquez
Writing Assignment #2
AMS 494
Professor Hattenhauer
March 20th, 2013

Story #1: “Murders in the Rue Morgue”, Edgar Allan Poe
In this story, the initial situation of the plot is starts when the narrator who remains unknown and Dupin learn about Madame and Mademoiselle‘s death by reading the newspaper. The conflict then starts when the police arrest a bank clerk whom they suspect of committing the Rue Morgue killings. And that is when Dupin takes it personal and decides that he wants to help to solve the case; the narrator has no clue of what might had happened to these two women or why they were killed, but decides to go along with the investigation. The story reaches its climax when Dupin tells the narrator that a sailor from a Maltese ship will be visiting him at his apartment to reveal some crucial evidence that links the killer of these women. Even though Dupin has already solved the case, he still needs the proof for it. When the sailor arrives to the apartment, he explains that he saw the murders and that it had been his ape that did it, but he had been reluctant to say anything for fear of getting blamed for them. Dupin talks to the police chief and gets the bank clerk released. The sailor sells his ape, and Dupin feels satisfied for resolving the case.

Story #2: “Silver Blaze”, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
In the story Silver Blaze, the way that I interpreted the theme was that we as human beings are never able to fully know a person. We might trust them 100% but that does not mean that they will not betray us. Often, people care only about themselves and their interests, and they may play the part acting loyal to us, but when we most trust them, they will prove us wrong. In the story Colonel Ross completely trusted his servant John Straker because he had served him for a few years and had remained loyal to him. He never thought John would do such a horrible thing as trying to hurt his horse (Silver Blaze) when he was at the peak of its career. Also, he never thought John would do such a thing just for money. John Straker’s death was the outcome of his own malicious actions. Colonel Ross did not want to believe it, but he had to. We as human beings do not believe one can harms because we put our trust in them. Until we have to experience something similar to Colonel Ross’ story. We believe it, until we see it.
Story #3: “The Haunted Policeman”, Dorothy L. Sayers
In the story The Haunted Policeman, the setting plays a great role on the policeman’s character development. He thought he had seen something, which was only a theatrical illusion, but since it was late at night and it was dark, it seemed as he had only imagined what he had seen. Also, the place where it all occurred; the houses were all the same and were numbered evenly, which made it impossible to believe his story o what he had seen because he had seen it at the house number thirteen, which in fact did not exist. The policeman almost lost his job due to the setting because being dark at late night made difficult for him to get to the bottom of the dilemma. Everyone in the neighborhood was sleeping; most of them did not hear anything, plus they would get annoyed when being knocked on the door and asked about the incident. Also, since it was late at night and there was no such a house numbered thirteen, the sergeant assumed that the policeman was intoxicated or was losing his mind. The description of the house he had seen also had a lot to do with the story because all the house looked the sane from the inside, but his description did not fit the appearance of these houses at all.
Story #4: “Trouble Is My Business”, Raymond Chandler,
In the story Trouble Is My Business, the main character whom is Philip Marlowe, a private investigator that is hired by Anna Halsey to a little job for her. Philip is a smart man that likes to get in trouble a lot. He is well educated, but is full of contradictions himself. He thinks that every woman wants him. He loves his job as an investigator and is willing to do all it takes to satisfy his clients, even if it means getting in trouble such as getting beat or pointed at with a gun. He is a flat character that does not change much throughout the entire story. He is a very reliable person because he makes sure that the information he gives people is the correct one. He is a tough guy that is not scared of others.

Story #5: “The Parker Shotgun”, Sue Grafton,
The Parker Shotgun has a very interesting plot. It all begins when Mrs. Osterling hires Detective Kinsey Millhone to investigate the murder of her husband, an ex-drug dealer who was shot in the head. Then action starts rising when Detective Millhone starts investigating about the Parker shotgun that was missing and that was probably the same shotgun that Rudd was killed with. She investigates where the shotgun came from and why Rudd had it until she gets to the bottom of the real story. The story reaches its climax when Detective Millhone finds out that the shotgun is work a lot of money; a lot of money for which someone would kill. Knowing that the parker shotgun was on Rudd’s possession at the time of the killing helped her link the murder to the killer, who was the original owner of the gun. Then the action starts failing when she actually finds out that it was Mr. Barnett who killed Rodd because he wanted his so valuable shotgun back. The resolution to the case was Detective Millhone confronting Mr. Barnett and telling him that she already knew the truth. She decided not to tell the whole story to the police investigators because according to her, justice is sometimes served in other ways.

Story #6: “Skin Deep”, Sara Paretsky, In the story Skin Deep, everything starts when Detective V.I. Warshawski is called up by her friend Sal Barthele and his family to represent his sister Evangeline because she had been arrested for the murder of a man that had come in to the salon for a facial. The action starts rising when Detective V.I. finds out that Evangeline not only knew the man who was murder at the salon, but they also had a relationship for the past two years. Evangeline had been identified by three people saying that she had been seen with Mr. Darnell (the guy that was killed) entering the hotel a few times. The story reaches its climax when Detective V.I. finds out who the killer is; Signor Giuseppe, better known by his real name John Crenshawn. He was Mr. Darnel ex-partner when he had a furniture store. Detective V.I found out that it was him who killed Mr. Darnell because he had a fake name, did not speak Italian, and because he was the only one that had the intentions of getting rid of him. The action starts falling when Detective V.I, clears out the case. Then the resolution is when she explains to the Barthele family what had really happened and why Evangeline had been a suspect of the murder.

Story #7: “Sadie When She Died, Ed McBain,
In the story Sadie when she died, the theme is that truth will out. No matter how much one tries to hide the truth by telling lies or hiding evidence, the truth always wins sooner or later. Just like in the story when they finally find out about who was the murderer of Sadie. Gerald Fletcher was the killer, and he got caught at the end because the truth will always out. Even though he always said he was glad that someone had killed his wife because she was no good, he had all the intentions of getting away with her murder. He also tried playing the part that as soon as got home and got no answer from his wife, he went to their bedroom and found her dead, and immediately called the police. He wanted to be the good man there, the one who reported the murder of his wife.