Hammett on Interrogation and Marksmanship
"We got not another word out of her; and that is the only way
in the world to beat the grilling game. The average suspect
tries to talk himself out of being arrested; and it doesn't
matter how shrewd a man he is, or how good a liar, if he'll
talk to you, and you play your cards right, you can hook him
-- can make him help you convict him." Page 115, paragraph
2.
"A gun came out of his coat.
Firing from my pocket, I shot it out of his hand.
'Now behave!' I ordered.
He sat rubbing his benumbed hand and staring at with
wide eyes at the smoldering hole in my coat.
Looks like a great stunt, this shooting a gun out of a
man's hand, but it's a thing that happens now and then. A man
who is a fair shot (and that is exactly what I (Continental
Op) am -- no more, no less) naturally and automatically
shoots pretty close to the spot upon which his eyes are
focused. When a man goes for his gun in front of you, you
shoot at him -- not at any particular part of him. There
isn't time for that -- you shoot at him. However, you are
more than likely to be looking at his gun, and in that case
it isn't altogether surprising if your bullet should hit his
gun -- as mine had done. But it looks impressive." Page 117,
paragraphs 9-13.
-- Dashiell Hammett, "Zigzags of Treachery" (Nightmare Town:
Stories, edited by Kirby McCauley, Martin H. Greenberg, and
Ed Gorman)
-- Anthony Dauer http://www.adau.net/judas_ezine/toc.htm
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