Chapter 13 The man who killed his brother

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Ryzel
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Chapter 13 The man who killed his brother

Post by Ryzel »

This chapter consists of two conversations with Ginny doing most of the talking and Brew observing and usually not saying very much, interspersed with a car ride in which they consider the possibilities of the case.

First in the chapter Ginny and Brew arrives at the office of Martha Scurvey, who does not wish to see them. They go into her office anyway and find her smoking a pipe of hash or some similar compound. Ginny then proceeds to question her under pressure.

One of the curious things about the interrogation, which did not strike me as all that strange the first time I read the chapter (a long time ago now) is that Brew says almost nothing to anyone else the whole time. He asks one question of Martha Scurvey, and he talks to Ginny, but he never participates in the conversations she has with other people.

We do get a good insight into his method of working though, as we get to see his intuition strike home. The one question he asks of Martha Scurvey is inspired, although maybe not so very useful. Apparently this is his entire investigative technique at the moment, fortunately he has Ginny to take care of the details. (We see more of this kind of thing in later books.)

In essence the whole chapter seems like a quite straightforward summation of the plot of the book so far, something that does not come up all that often in most mystery stories. I suspect, however, that the facts we get in the chapter will not help a lot for those who likes to try to figure the mystery out on their own. I do not now remember what happens later in the book, but I do not have the impression that there is a very clever and mysterious plot at the bottom om it all. This book is all about character(s).

To make a comparison with other famous pairs of detectives in fiction (Holmes and Watson, Poirot and Hastings, Wolfe and Goodwin etc.) might be a appropriate at some point, and as I am writing this I will take the opportunity. In my personal opinion Brew comes off the better when compared with most of the 'sidekicks' in more famous detective stories, mostly because he has more 'character' than most of the others. There is also the fact that although she is quite competent at her work, Ginny Fistoulari is not an investigative prodigy like those aformentioned detectives. She stumbles, makes mistakes and doubts herself. Ideally, of course, I should compare the story to some more 'hard-boiled' detective stories, but I have slight knowledge of those. Generally all I can say is that while Ginny supplies the skill, the drive and the orderly approach to investigation, Brew supplies intuition and flashes of inspiration. I suspect that in more normal circumstances they would be quite effective at what they do. The two of them sometimes remind me of Wolfe and Goodwin, with some of the attributes reversed.

Hopefully this might inspire some comments about how Ginny and Brew investigates matters, as I see this as the basic theme of the chapter. Anybody have any comments on how they relate to other crime story figures, please chip in.
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Dragonlily
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Post by Dragonlily »

Good analysis, Ryzel. Regarding Brew as sidekick,
Ryzel wrote:In my personal opinion Brew comes off the better when compared with most of the 'sidekicks' in more famous detective stories, mostly because he has more 'character' than most of the others.
Brew's position is "sidekick," but his skills raise him above that. I see them more like a team, because each has strengths that compensate for the other's weaknesses. They do it deliberately, because they know each other so well.

And naturally, any SRD character would have "character" to raise him above corresponding roles in similar books. :)
"The universe is made of stories, not atoms." -- Roger Penrose
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Re: Chapter 13 The man who killed his brother

Post by kastenessen »

Very good Ryzel! A fine analysis of the chapter and good summation...You have a good point on sidekicks...come to think of it, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories are told from the viewpoint of Watson, aren't they? We never enter the mind of Sherlock, it's just Watsons descriptions of his "master" thinking, trying to fathom what's going on. Kind of the same situation here. Brew usually leaves the thinking to Ginny but he always reflects on her ideas, and sadly rejects his own( sorry if I'm oversimplifying).
Ryzel wrote:We do get a good insight into his method of working though, as we get to see his intuition strike home. The one question he asks of Martha Scurvey is inspired, although maybe not so very useful.
Yes it's intuition, and the question comes as a surprise to us...a typical and awesome SRD trait...

And now a quote!
"I prefer Mrs., not Ms. I'm a married woman and proud of it."
That sounded as phony as her graciousness. How she felt about her marriage was irrelevant. She was just trying to get on top of the situation.
You might then wonder what made Brew think of her husband being dead. It was truly inspired intuition... 8)


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Post by Dragonlily »

There’s another example of Brew’s intuition, to start the chapter. He is flatly convinced, paper or no paper, that Greenling couldn’t possibly be the kidnapper:
”Even if he has something to be guilty about, he’s still innocent.”
But Brew isn’t willing to tell Ginny why he is so sure – it would touch on stuff that is too personal. So she dismisses it.

Another important clue is the similar paper on Martha Scurvey’s desk. It’s important because it immediately negates what looked like it might be evidence against Greenling.

Yes, I liked that bit of intuition about Martha Scurvey that you both mentioned, too. And Brew’s comment:
Now she made sense to me.
That flash of understanding that provided the key to understanding the woman.
She was brittle inside and didn’t want anybody to know.

... It’s a hard life when you lose everything that used to tell you who you are.
Here’s a description I like. :wink:
...He had the kind of voice that makes you want to wash your hands. Oily and sticky. You’d have to be a bank president to like it.
Banks presidents would have a right to resent it, but it's a funny generalization.

A sad thing comes out of their conversation with Smithsonian. Julian Z. Kirke, the tyrant you love to hate, has absolutely no money he can’t account for. No illegal income. So he can’t be dealing drugs or pimping children. Astin Greenling, on the other hand, is drowning in debt. He needs money in the worst way.

To lead into the next chapter:
Spoiler
At the end of this chapter, Alathea has been found, in a coma from a drug overdose. That is going to take the worst pressure off Brew, and put a different kind on.
"The universe is made of stories, not atoms." -- Roger Penrose
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Post by kastenessen »

Yes, here the story took an unsuspected turn finding Alathea. It really shifts focus from finding her to finding those who did this to her. But she's alive...and another surprise is in wait in the next chapter...


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