The dwarf seemed to evaporate

Nervous client

The client reacts to the implied threat and the detective observes and comments.

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.

The Falcon's Malteser(2004)

Using a simile or a metaphor paints a quick picture that matches the quick actions that follow.

Both are comparisons.

A simile uses ‘like’ or ‘as’.
- The river was as dry as a bone.
- She’s as cunning as a fox.
- His tears fell like rain.
A metaphor doesn’t.
- Life is a rollercoaster.
- She vanished into thin air.
- My brain exploded when I heard the news.

It's a good way to exaggerate a description, action, or reaction to make something more dramatic or funny.

The hardboiled attitude discussed in the last lesson is back again with this last sentence. It’s a knowing comment, not saying something outright, but sounding totally in the know!

So Naples has a gun and is ready to use it. This job clearly involves danger. Not as simple as it first sounded. Surprise, surprise!

Client hiding

Can you see the same pattern in these examples?

Jane vanished. Where there was an eccentric old lady before, there was Obama again, if Obama wore floral dresses and liked to hide, shaking, behind his desk. I guessed there would have been days in the oval office where that could have been likely.

D'Angelo’s eyes popped in fright. A second ago he’d been talking tough. Now he looked like a frozen deer. And I was pretty sure that fancy tracksuit was going to need a wash.

Write your own variation.

Detective comedy 4: Some action!

The dwarf seemed to evaporate