Just a bit too fast

About the book

The narrator, a local police officer, has been assigned to accompany visiting Detective Halloran in pursuit of a notorious bank robber. Their information seems promising, but an apparently ordinary car outside a branch bank brings them into an encounter for which confidence is no preparation. Thought-and-a-half Morgan uses disguise, timing, and the officers' own assumptions to seize control of the room. What follows is a rapid contest over who can anticipate the next move before appearances change again. Hal Moore tells the adventure in a slangy first-person voice that notices professional vanity as readily as immediate danger. The story's humor depends on the distance between the heroic account a policeman might prefer and the awkward, hurried experience of trying to keep up.

• Cunning and disguise
• Professional pride
• Speed and uncertainty

Why read it

The narrator's irreverent voice makes the detectives' embarrassment part of the pleasure of the chase.

English story from Argosy All-Story Weekly, March 16, 1929