Blue City

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Blue City (first German translation in 1961 under the title Wettlauf mit dem Gestern ) is a crime novel or thriller by Ross Macdonald from 1947, which at that time was still published under his real name Kenneth Millar. In the style of the hardboiled novel à la Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler , Millar sketched the intertwining of politics and the criminal milieu in a small town in the American Midwest shortly after the end of the Second World War .

content

In the spring of 1946, 22-year-old Johnny Weatherby, ex- sergeant in the US Army , returned to his hometown (not named) after a ten-year absence. The place is a provincial nest near Chicago and lives from rubber production. Johnny's mother, who died in 1941, had divorced his father, Mayor JD Weatherby, in 1936 . Since then, Johnny has not seen his father or written correspondence. Matured as a soldier in the war, Johnny has decided to face the past and visit his father.

As soon as he got home, Johnny learns that JD Weatherby was murdered by a hitherto unknown perpetrator in 1944. He had remarried a few months before he was murdered. Johnny's stepmother is much younger than his late father.

During a visit to Inspector Ralph Hanson, who was investigating the murder of his father, Johnny discovers that, despite his moral integrity, apparently due to structures in the city administration that also affect police work , Hanson has been hindered in his investigative work and is not processing the case further Has. It is certain only that his father specifically a carefully prepared attack from the ambush was a victim. The murder weapon, a Smith & Wesson revolver , came from the shop of a Mr. Kaufman, according to Hanson "some kind of anarchist or radical".

During a visit by Alonzo Sandford, the owner of the local rubber mills and at the same time his father's closest former business partner, the entrepreneur denies having knowledge of the murder or having directly or indirectly hindered the investigation. When visiting his stepmother Floraine Weatherby, it turns out that the woman is an attractive 35-year-old woman who cleverly tries to disguise the background to the crime using erotic stimuli. Your business partner, who also runs his late father's nightclub , is a certain Kerch.

In Kaufman's junk shop with a political message - a lithograph by Friedrich Engels hangs in the shop window as a confession of the owner - Johnny learns to his surprise that the city's corrupt network goes back to his father, who made an agreement with Sandford 30 years ago. Sandford sets the tone in the city, but does not rule it. JD Weather smeared the police and city administration with profits from its slot machine business , but on the other hand made himself popular with everyone by providing medical care and welfare as well as supporting immigrants such as Poles , Serbs , Italians and other minorities.

In return, the tax authorities turned a blind eye to Sandford's property. The city police protected Sandford's company from union activity and strikes ; unpopular unionists were expelled from the city. According to Kaufman, this system left the city behind politically and socially for 20 years. Kaufman does not understand why the new mayor Allister, who started two years ago with a reform program and has no political opponents, does not act, because the old system is unchanged. Kaufmann suspects that Sanford has Allister on hand with some kind of information.

Johnny learns that the murder revolver was stolen from Kaufman's shop by Joey Sault, a petty thief Kaufman had hoped to marry his granddaughter Carla Kaufman. Kaufman is convinced that Sault did not commit the murder. For political reasons, the old man wants nothing to do with the police, the " Cossacks ". Inspector Hanson once arrested him for speaking at a political meeting.

In the “Cathay Club” run by Kerch, Johnny learns by chance that the reform mayor Allister is apparently also being bribed by Kerch. Here he also met Kaufman's granddaughter Carla, who works as a prostitute in the club . She warns him about Kerch, who is soft as pudding, but has tough guys like Garland and Rusty Jahnke. Johnny also learns from Carla that Kerch apparently works for his own account and not for his stepmother, who is still a partner in the club. Carla trusts Mayor Allister, but for some reason his hands seem tied. Allister had previously conducted an investigation into conditions in the city as prosecutor for Cranbridge, but his report was "sawed off" by JD Weatherby. It turns out that Carla lives in the same house as Joey's sister and the two women are friends. Carla was born out of wedlock and was raised by grandfather Kaufman after the death of her mother. She likes him as a person, but thinks his political ideas are exaggerated. Carla and Johnny spontaneously sleep together.

Johnny goes to Kerch and asks him to work so that he can be around and do further research. He passes a test against Kerch's bodyguard Rusty Jahnke, but then Garland appears and tells Kerch about Johnny. Johnny is beaten up as a deterrent by Rusty and the police detective Moffatt, who works off duty for Kerch in the club, and is taken out of town by Moffatt on Kerch's orders. On his return he faces ten years in prison . Moffatt takes Johnny out of town, knocks him down, and steals his cash.

Johnny seeks out Mayor Allister, who makes an honest, intelligent and liberal impression on him. Allister says he cannot prevail against the city council, which is blocking everything and is being lubricated. Johnny wants Allister to get a revolver and $ 50 to kill Kerch. Allister is horrified, but immediately gets him a Colt 45 pistol .

In a diner , Johnny happens to find a newspaper sponsored by Sandford. It can be seen from her that his hometown is clean and, thanks to the police, is not being bullied by Reds and terrorists like other cities in the USA. He happened to see Joey Sault at the diner, apparently selling drugs . He goes after him and finds that the dealer is visiting his stepmother. Johnny manages to sneak into the house because of his old local knowledge. Joey Sault and Floraine Weather get intimate. Sault asked Floraine for another chance. She tells him to kill Kerch. Sault is baffled because he assumed Johnny should be killed.

Now it turns out that Kerch appeared in town two years ago and is apparently blackmailing Floraine Weatherby. Floraine offers Sault the club and the revenue from the slot machines in exchange for Kerch's murder. However, Sault still has to take an envelope from Kerch's safe and leave it to Floraine.

Surprisingly, Kerch appears in the company of Rusty Jahnke and Garland. They kidnap Sault and Floraine, Johnny follows them in Floraine's car to the Wildwood Inn, a disused restaurant outside of town. Sault is tortured by Rusty and Garland. Kerch tries to force Floraine to castrate Sault with a knife, but she pokes it in Kerch's face. In revenge, Kerch cuts Floraine's face. Johnny tries to get help. He made a note of the phone number Allister dialed to get him the gun. The woman's voice on the line sounds familiar; however, he cannot identify them. The woman is ready to inform Allister, who is to assist.

Johnny returns to the "Wildwood Inn" and confronts Rusty Jahnke digging a grave. He can knock him down, but is surprised at Garland's house. Floraine is dying. Kerch has called Professor Salamander and forced him to treat Floraine, but Salamander is just a quack who lives off abortions and cannot help Floraine due to excessive blood loss.

Kerch tears a button from the jacket and a tuft of hair from the prisoner Johnny and drives back into town. Johnny takes his guard Garland by surprise, knocks him out and breaks both of his wrists . He goes to Sanford. Kerch had breakfast there. Johnny informs Sanford of Floraine Weather's death. He is now the heir to the Weather fortune. Sanford assures Johnny that his father was a great businessman.

Johnny finds Floraine dead in his father's house. Her corpse has been prepared for the police with his tuft of hair and jacket button. He takes both, but is surprised by Floraine's housekeeper, who thinks he is the killer. He is forced to flee across the city. In the city library , he came across a room for indexed books. He is amazed to find that this includes Ernest Hemingway's novel To Have and Not to Have .

Johnny's last hope is Carla Kaufman. She gives him shelter. They both notice Allister entering the house. He visits Francie Sontag, Joey Sault's sister. Johnny learns from Carla that Francie and Allister are in a relationship, but Allister's wife does not want to divorce. The relationship must be kept secret, otherwise Allister's political career is over. Johnny realizes that he called Francie's phone line last night and she presumably informed Allister of his call for help, but he didn't respond.

Surprisingly, Kerch turns up in Carla's apartment, who is hoping for a relationship with her. Johnny forces him to drive with him to the "Cathay Club" and open the safe . He finds papers showing that on May 14, 1931, a Floraine Wales married Roger Kerch in Portland ; both were busy on the local radio station. In a photo of the bride and groom, Johnny does not recognize Kerch; he suffers from a serious illness that has completely disfigured him. Johnny also finds a love letter from Allister to Francie Sontag dated March 23, 1944.

Moffatt appears in Kerch's office with two other police officers. Johnny surrenders. At the police station, Moffatt tries to extort a confession from him about the murder of Floraine and tortures him. Along the way, Johnny learns that Allister is investigating with Inspector Hanson. Moffatt beats Johnny with a brass knuckles and knocks out some of his teeth.

Hanson arrives at the police station. He found Garland's body at the Wildwood Inn and thinks Johnny is the murderer. Sanford appears and makes Johnny a deposit . Johnny reproaches him: he had, the police are actually supposed to represent the interests of the public in a Swiss Guard of Elite transformed. Sanford describes his worldview to him. If he had to pay union wages and taxes, his works would not be viable and the place would be a ghost town .

Johnny counters: Floraine was a bigamist who could be blackmailed by Kerch because he happened to find out about her wedding to JD Weather. It is unclear why Allister allowed Kerch to give him orders. Sanford denies this. Allister appears. It is still unclear who killed Garland. Allister suspects Kerch as the perpetrator who wanted to eliminate witnesses. Rusty Jahnke has since been arrested by Hanson. Johnny tells Allister that he found his letter to Francie Sontag in Kerch's safe. Allister is shocked.

Rusty is questioned. He denies all charges, but gives himself away when Hanson mentions the murder of JD Weatherby. At the time of the crime, on April 3, 1944, Rusty was seen waiting near the scene of the crime as a driver of a car. Rusty wants Hanson to question Garland, who was there. When Rusty learns that Garland is dead, he refuses to believe it at first, but then accuses the dead of the murder of Weather. He admits that he and Garland were hired by Kerch in Chicago to shadow Weatherby. He just drove the car and heard two shots when Garland walked into the empty office block from which Weatherby was murdered.

Hanson admits to Johnny that he has closed the investigation into the Weatherby murder out of political considerations. He had received orders to leave Kerch and his friends alone. When Johnny asks about the client, they are interrupted. Professor Salamander is questioned and testifies against Kerch. When asked about his academic title, Salamander explains that he is a professor of occult science. Johnny and Hanson go to Kerch. Johnny believes Kerch blackmailed Floraine. Hanson explains that the real assignment to leave Kerch alone did not come from the chief of police, but probably from Allister. Johnny suspects Allister is being blackmailed by Kerch.

In the "Cathay Club" Johnny and Hanson find Kerch shot. Next to him lies Carla, who is injured with a gunshot wound; she must have surprised Kerch's murderer. Johnny drives Carla's car to her house, the "Harvey Apartments". He hears voices from Francie's apartment and overhears Francie and Allister. Johnny learns that Allister received his call for help through Francie and Allister actually did nothing. Francie's brother Joey Sault died as a result of the lack of help. Johnny surprises the couple. He has the letters from Kerch's safe with him, including an Allister confession to a judge friend: He killed JD Weather out of political ambition.

When confronted with his confession, Allister claims it was drafted under duress. Johnny pressures him. Allister admits that JD Weather got hold of some of his love letters, from whom it is unclear. In any case, the letters weren't with Weather, but with Kerch. Allister admits to being caught by Garland, gun in hand, on the run from the scene. Garland brought Allister to Kerch, who could blackmail him with Weather's murder. Kerch was in a key position in which he could control the city administration and the police. Allister's pseudo-confession for Judge Simeon provided additional security for Kerch.

The events of the past 24 hours gave Allister the opportunity to eliminate all those involved and those who knew about his blackmail. He strangled the unconscious Garland at the Wildwood Inn. Only Kerch was still in his way. Then Carla appeared surprisingly, who survived his murder attempt and will now testify. As the last confidante, Allister wanted to kill his lover Francie Sontag. While Johnny calls Inspector Hanson, Francie allegedly shoots Allister in self-defense .

Johnny wants to stay in town with Carla to clean out the pigsty. He realizes that for this he needs men who are ready ... to fight for more than just fillet in their stomachs, women in their beds and the swelling champagne bubbles of power in their egos ... .

Quotes

Johnny: What kind of police are they in this town?

Bargoers: That kind .

Adaptations

See also

literature

  • Ross Macdonald: Race with yesterday , Bern a. a. (Scherz, Die Schwarze Kriminalromane No. 157) 1961.
  • Ross Macdonald: Blue City , Zurich (Diogenes Verlag AG) 1985. ISBN 3-257-21317-4

Web links