Mike Resnick by Origins

Author:Origins
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2012-01-08T12:40:16+00:00

He drew the strip — three weeks’ worth — that night, and invited Nimrod over the next afternoon.

The police staked out the furrier the same evening. For two nights nothing happened, but the third night Nimrod showed up, sneaking in through the back entrance, just as Chet had drawn it, and Richards was waiting for him.

The next morning there was a knock at Chet’s door. The cartoonist got up from his drawing board, walked over, and opened it.

“Good morning, Mr. Gould,” said Richards, stepping into the apartment. “I just dropped by to tell you that we apprehended your friend Nimrod in the act of robbing the furrier. When we found the comic strip in his coat pocket he confessed to all three crimes.”

“Wonderful!”

“Actually, I should have known not to waste my time the first two nights,” added Richards with a rueful smile.

“Oh?”

The policeman nodded. “To lend verisimilitude, you dated your strips.”

“All cartoonists do,” answered Chet. “That way all the papers run the same strip on the same day.”

“Well, the day the actual breakin began in your strip was a Thursday…”

“…and last night was Thursday night!”

“Right,” said Richards. “Poor Melonhead never had an original thought in his life. He not only needed you to show him how to rob a store, but he even had to be told what day to do it.”

“Fascinating!” mused Chet.

“Commonplace,” said Richards with a shrug. “You should see some of the really strange criminals I’ve had to bring in.”

“I’d love to.”

“You’d love to what?” asked Richards, confused.

“I’d love to talk to you from time to time about your work.”

“You’d probably find it deadly dull.”

“Not at all. In fact, I’ve decided to go back to working on my crime strip again.” He grimaced. “I never did like funny animals.”

“Well,” said Richards, after giving the matter some thought, “if you really think it might help you…”

“I’m sure it would,” said Chet. “Also, I’ve been thinking about what you said in your office the other day, about the strip needing a hero. What’s your first name?”

“Tracy,” said Richards. “But if you’re going to pattern a cop after me, don’t use my real name. The guys down at the station would tease me from now until Doomsday.”

“Whatever you say.”

“Also, don’t use your friend Melonhead until after his trial. A good lawyer could claim you were prejudicing the jury.”

“What a pity,” replied Chet. “It was such a good name.”

“Why not call him Pruneface?” suggested Richards. “It comes to the same thing, and this way some shyster won’t put him back on the streets because of your new strip.”

“All right,” agreed Chet. “Though I hasten to point out that I haven’t even written my new strip, let alone sold it.”

“I have confidence in you, Mr. Gould,” said Richards. “If you can draw a comic strip convincingly enough to trap Melonhead, you can draw one that editors will want to buy.”

“I hope you’re right,” said Chet.

“I know I am.” Richards looked at his watch. “I’ve got to be going. Melonhead was just a small fry.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.