Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)
This is the Six Sentence Story bloghop.
Hosted by Denise is requires two things from participants: 1) use the current week’s prompt word and b) total sentence count, precisely six Sentences.
This is a(n) Ian Devereaux’s ‘the Case of the Missing Fig Leaf‘ week, so what follows is the latest installment. For context and enhanced reading pleasure, here is the link to the chapter that precedes this one.
This week’s prompt word:
FILTER
“Die Weiße Zone dient nur zum sofortigen Be- und Entladen von Passagieren,” I’ve always been a fan of airports, at least the large, international travel variety; if the gods and humans agreed to design and build a factory that would produce a product useful them both, it would come out looking like an airport.
I’d thought, as we drove up from the hotel in Wiesbaden, that the process of parting would be, well, slow and slightly sentimental; clearly I’d underestimated both German efficiency and my client’s focus on whatever she deemed worthwhile, which currently, was getting back to her home grounds in Cambridge and leaving the investigation into the death of her ex-husband, Elias Thunberg, in my hands.
The decision was made fairly quickly, two nights prior, when I suggested, “You know, I’m capable of continuing the investigation without you at my side,” seeing her smile, I added, for reasons lost in the candlelight that flickered in from the living room of our hotel suite, “I can probably wrap this up quicker, you know, working alone.”
“Ah,” My detective skills failed me at that precise moment as Leanne established a throwing-grip on her pillow, replied, “Clearly I’ve made a wise choice of Insulting Detectives.”
“Herr Devereaux, I am Detective Captain Anton Rilke,” approaching me from the concourse opposite where Leanne had merged into a crowd of passengers, was a man who brought to mind ‘Sergeant Schultz’, a character in a TV series from my childhood; “Doctor Thunberg spoke to my superiors and asked if they wouldn’t mind making the full resources of the department available to your investigation; it would seem I am that full resource,” his laugh made the approaching night a little brighter.
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“Ah,” My detective skills failed me at that precise moment as Leanne established a throwing-grip on her pillow, replied, “Clearly I’ve made a wise choice of Insulting Detectives.”
I am saddened by the parting of their relationship.
Surely it is only temporary, Ian is, after all a professional and must remain on the scene, Leanne, by virtue of being ‘the Client’ is free to continue on with her normal life.
you always bring it. another good one.er six.
Thanks, Paul
I totally kitchen-sinked the Casablanca riff. Unfortunately, the German national anthem does quite play as well (for the end of the scene) as ‘La Marseillaise’ did in the original
I like the description of his underestimation of “my client’s focus on whatever she deemed worthwhile”. Apparently it wasn’t what he expected it to be.
yeah, this (installment) has been one of those where I’m discovering things about the characters and the story that I was not aware of at the start of this adventure.
Tact would be the ability to tell her to go away without making her realize she’s being told to go away.
Ian is, sometimes, slow to learn*
*not a ‘slow learner’ a different between the two (sure, one might be more about stubbornness…lol)
Well, nothing can be done about his faux pas now! 50/50 chance whether he gets another shot with the former Mrs. Thunberg. She may have already moved on by the time Ian hits the states :D
(Airplane, anyone, lol)
yeah… that announcement will forever be in my head when going through an airline terminal (the voices totally sound that way)
It is so easy to blend into crowd. She was hardly gone, when the plot thickened. Well done.
Thank you, Pat. Not sure why it came out the way it did. As I mentioned to Frank Hubney, sometimes the writer is more surprised at the turn of events than the characters.
What an opening. German, such a beautiful language.
And help is on the way. I look forward to this character. But maybe he knows nutting, nutting.
lol
Interesting choice I had to make.
(As is surely clear by now), I need to be able to ‘picture’ characters in my head in order to enjoy writing them.
Sometimes I have an image, other times I go to my …whatever the name for the part ourselves that stores memories (real and otherwise) cultural references (accurate or bastardized) for a face.
I went with Schultz first, mostly because I’d been staring at photos of Sidney Greenstreet as I worked on this Six. I hesitated, as I didn’t want too silly a character.
I’m thinking that Ian will remain in Germany for a while, and as much as I’m tempted to go the, ‘Thin Man’ route with Ian and Leanne, I needed a foil for Ian. I thought of another Hogan’s Hero character, General Burkhalter, but he just isn’t all that likable. And, while I don’t require likability, the character memory I have lacks a sense of humor/self-awareness*)
I learned a little more with this Six about the unpredictability of writing on the fly. I set out for an homage to the end of Casablanca… but Leanne went and stole the show (these characters! arrgh)
Sgt Schultz as Captain Louis Renault was, based on the comments, too much of a leap… well, I’ve got him now. Fortunately, there wasn’t a sequel to Casablanca.** So we’ll see how these two get along as the story unfolds.
*phew! yeah,I know! All you wanted to do is give a nod to a throw-away line lol
** there wasn’t…was there?!
Another great six, spun by a master weaver.
Thank you, Lisa
Clearly I’ve a lot of catching up to do as the newbie around here! I love the still from Casablanca – one of my absolute favourite films :)
You’ve probably already noticed a propensity, among participants, to have Sixes become installments of serial stories. (This, I would suggest, is inevitable, given what we accomplish, when we write a good Six. Almost a rhetorical critical mass… Surely the fun of this exercise.)
Theres something about using an image that relates to the Six that I enjoy. This serial (the Case of the Missing Fig Leaf) is my attempt at old, pulp detective stories, Sam Spade and the like. You’ll notice I use some image involving Humphrey Bogart with each installment/Six
Fun with wordage.