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“And?”
“He said he didn’t know. Isn’t that great? Just because he wrote the book didn’t mean he knew who killed the chauffeur. And we’ll never know who killed the cook. Just like Raymond Chandler.”
There was a long silence. “I don’t know,” she said at length. “The English mysteries may be a lot less realistic, what with people getting killed with tropical fish and all, but there’s something awfully satisfying in the way it all works out in the end. If a cook dies, by the end of the book you always know who killed her.”
“And it’s generally the butler,” I said, “whereas the real world is a lot less certain, and there are things you never do find out. I realize it’s frustrating, but you can live with it, can’t you?”
“What the hell,” she said. “I guess I’ll have to.”
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author is pleased to acknowledge the contribution of the Ragdale Foundation, of Lake Forest, Illinois, where this book was begun, and of John B. Keane's public house in Listowel, County Kerry, where it was exhaustively contemplated.
About the Author
A Mystery Writers of America Grand Master, LAWRENCE BLOCK is a four-time wi
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