Eight o’clock arrives, but no detective, so I went up to order some dinner from the front. The little seedy man, the kind whose nickname is always “Whispers” or “Pittsburgh Phil” in B movies, sidled up to me and said, “You say you know Jack . . .”
I replied, “I didn’t say that.”
He sneered, “But you said you’re going to meet him.”
“Yeah, I called him on the phone.”
“Just why did you do that?”
“Why don’t you find that out later. . .” and just looked at him, deadpan.
He couldn’t hold a direct look for very long, just said, “Oh . . .” and scuttled back to his seat.
I have moved this piece, excerpt above, to my Substack, where much of my shorter work, particularly that not directly concerned with martial arts, will be published.
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Rick Matz
I am inspired to include on my business card: “Bon vivant, raconteur and international man of mystery.”
Silvere
Jaac ‘Torrance’ Mandrake is mentioned there : https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-jul-25-me-peeled25-story.html
“Magician Jaac Mandrake — also known as Jack Torrance, detective agency owner — said the skills he’s learned in magic have helped him solve cases.
“Magicians are the masters of deception and the best detectors of deception,” said Mandrake, 75. “This is extremely useful for detectives: In my opinion, every detective should study to be a magician.”
Greg
Great film noir writing, smooth flow into it. I could almost hear Lauren Bacall telling you how to whistle.
Chris Leblanc
Like I said, Ellis, there is an entire series here…..who would play Jaac in the movies? Better question – who should play YOU? ( I vote Liam Neeson… “I have a certain set of skills….”)
PMasse
Entertaining read as nicely written ! Would be interesting to know how such a character managed to get his hands on a Manriki Gusari, a formal one at that, with the silk bag and all. Guess we shall never know.
Ellis Amdur
He was a member of Nawa Yumio’s dojo, at least for a short time.