This story caused a bit of an argument in a class I had
this past semester. The argument centered around
whether
or not Johnny Ralls, the ex-con, died in the gunfight
with
Al, the hotel detective. The surviving gunman only
says,
"Tailed him and took him to the kerb. Not so good.
Backfire."
I felt that Johnny died in the fight because if they "took
him
to the kerb," his car was most likely pinned in and Johnny
could
not escape. Any comments from the list?
--Ziggy Nix
PS: I finished my Masters in English this past weekend,
yowzah!
William Denton wrote:
> "I'll Be Waiting" (Saturday Evening Post, 14 October
1939) is one of
> my favourite Chandler stories. It all takes place in
half an hour or
> so, it seems, and it's just a brief - but eventful -
period of time
> snatched out of the life of a tired hotel dick.
Nobody but him knows
> all that's going on, but he never shows anything and
never feels the
> urge to unload all his troubles. Even when told his
brother just
> died, he manages a small smile at some patter from
the desk clerk,
> because it's none of the clerk's business and he's
not going to give
> away anything. Hold up that attitude against the
people on the
> daytime talk shows.
>
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