Ah, finally. Some answers. Maybe that's why the title of this final section is called "Answer" anyway. On a personal level at least I found this section of the book a lot harder to get through than before. The forty pages I read for this entry serve as the sucky part of a CSI episode where they are stumbling around trying to find some type of lead. Except this time, there is no witty or funny dialogue and there isn't the handy added advantage that comes with having a hour time slot to solve a crime; every clue they find develops the plot and moves the story along in some way. Basically, we are seeing all the dead ends that these poor detectives find. More true to life than a TV crime show, but also more boring. I guess that's the trouble nowadays, but that's for another type of blog post (and probably blog) entirely.
We still don't have a clear connection of Perry and Dick to the Clutters just yet. What we do have is an account from a man named Floyd Wells. He was in prison with Dick and he worked on the Clutters' farm. Dick became interested in the old man's money and well, I'm sure you guys get the gist.
Money seems to be the motive. Floyd told Dick a lot about the Clutters' including, how to get into the house, where money was kept, that sort of thing. But it still doesn't make sense that money was the only motive. The only thing that appears to be taken from the house was the radio. Nancy's purse was left alone, as was everything else, so why all the trouble?
We know Floyd Wells pointed the detectives in Dick's direction. They seem to be hunting the right guys, but they have no proof that can point to anyone, even the guys that committed the murder. I guess that's what the other 143 pages left in the book are for.
Another thing that has gotten to me as I'm reading is what the hell Dick and Perry are doing. They were going to go to Mexico, but they couldn't find a job that paid well enough, so they headed back to the states. That part makes sense. The part that doesn't is why they are headed back to Kansas, the epicenter of a seventeen statewide watch for these men is happening. Seems like a bad idea to me, but I guess it's true what they say, the criminal always returns to the scene of the crime. Maybe this will prove true and they will return to the farm. That would be a plot twist.
Meghan, I'm glad that you're finding it a bit easier to read. I'll admit: It took me a few times to actually get through it, but once I did commit to it, I couldn't put it down. Have you seen the movies based on the book?
ReplyDelete