Detective comedy 4: Some action!

An action sequence

Introduction

Looking out the window

In the previous lessons, it’s been a lot of talking, observing and judging. We have a hardboiled narrator, a detective agency needing work, an intriguing client that needs help, and a mysterious job that is probably more than it seems. It’s time for a little dramatic action!

Have a read.

It was then that a car in the street backfired. The dwarf seemed to evaporate. One moment he was standing beside the desk. The next he was crouching beneath it, one hand inside his jacket. And somehow I knew that his finger wasn’t wrapped round another bundle of money. For about thirty seconds nobody moved. Then Naples slid across to the window, standing to one side so that he could look out without being seen. He had to stand on tiptoe to do it, his hands perched on the sill, the side of his face pressed against the glass. When he turned around, he left a damp circle on the window. Hair oil and sweat.

The Falcon's MalteserAnthony HorowitzSource

Did you notice that, in the end, the threat was not an actual threat? Our client is jumpy, though; a car backfiring is all it takes to have a pretty strong reaction for someone who wants an envelope kept safe.

Your turn

Imagine yourself in the role of the detective. What do you think is going on?

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