Thursday, June 19, 2014

Why didn't the police officer tell Bob he was the real Jimmy Wells?

Jimmy Wells fully intended to meet Bob at ten o'clock and to identify himself. He was a little early, so he was taking his time about patrolling his beat and trying all the shop doors to make sure they were securely locked. Bob knows he must look suspicious to a cop because he is standing inside the entranceway to a closed shop in the dark. So he never gives Jimmy a chance to say anything or to ask anything. Bob thinks he knows what this cop would ask, so he tells him before he can do so.


“It's all right, officer,” he said, reassuringly. “I'm just waiting for a friend. It's an appointment made twenty years ago. Sounds a little funny to you, doesn't it? Well, I'll explain if you'd like to make certain it's all straight. About that long ago there used to be a restaurant where this store stands— ‘Big Joe’ Brady's restaurant.”




“Until five years ago,” said the policeman. “It was torn down then.”




The man in the doorway struck a match and lit his cigar. The light showed a pale, square-jawed face with keen eyes, and a little white scar near his right eyebrow. His scarf pin was a large diamond, oddly set.



Before Jimmy can identify himself to his old friend, Bob lights a match. Jimmy sees immediately that Bob is the man who is wanted by the Chicago police. The telegram from Chicago could not, of course, contain a photo or even a sketch, but is must have given an elaborate description of the wanted man, including the white scar near his right eyebrow and the diamond scarf pin. O. Henry states that the pin was "oddly set." The telegram, however, would have been more detailed. For instance, the diamond might have been surrounded by little rubies. It would have been a one-of-a-kind ornament and a dead giveaway of Bob's identity.


Jimmy doesn't want to arrest Bob himself, but he feels duty-bound to have him arrested. He makes sure that Bob is going to be standing there for a while.



“I'll be on my way. Hope your friend comes around all right. Going to call time on him sharp?”




“I should say not!” said the other. “I'll give him half an hour at least. If Jimmy is alive on earth he'll be here by that time. So long, officer.”



Bob will wait for a half-hour. He has just lighted a cigar and it will take him that long to smoke it. He won't want to leave the shelter of the doorway until he is finished with his cigar. It is drizzling outside the doorway. Jimmy knows he has time enough to go back to the precinct station and find someone else to make the arrest.


Jimmy does not tell Bob who he is because he intends to have him arrested once he sees by the light of Bob's match that he is the wanted man. Bob doesn't recognize Jimmy for several reasons. One is that it is dark. Another is that Bob is blinded by the light of his own match. Another is that he never suspected that Jimmy would become a cop. And yet another reason that Bob doesn't recognize Jimmy is that people change a lot in twenty years. Jimmy was twenty when they parted and now he is forty. He has changed from a youth to a middle-aged man (and he has probably put on a lot of extra weight during his years as a beat cop). Jimmy might not have recognized Bob either, after twenty years, but he knows he must be his old friend because he is waiting at the appointed place. Jimmy must be dismayed to realize that his old friend is a fugitive from justice. They couldn't remain friends, but Jimmy still doesn't want to arrest Bob personally, which is what he would be forced to do if he told Bob he was Jimmy Wells. By remaining incognito, Jimmy has time to get to the precinct station and send a substitute to make the arrest.

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