Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for July 30, 2018

Good morning™, office visitors!

So, the chase is on! Head him off at the pass, so to speak. And Mr. Bribery’s smiling face appears once again. He’s never far from our thoughts, even if he’s in prison.

That unforgettable visage of Mr. Bribery.

I would expect them in a helicopter. Use of police in the next town along with sheriff and state troopers. He is a deadly killer.

Send police on both sides of the train and watch for anyone trying to jump off. I can picture it now. Just sorry that there are no more EM hovercrafts to use.

Maybe I’m being paranoid….but I get the feeling Austin might be working for Bribery. Just something about him I don’t trust.

So Sam and Tracy aren’t gonna let Sawtooth slide this time. They’re going outta their jurisdiction to get him!

Good morning™, seductive glancers !

Do I see longing looks in P. 3 ?  They don’t know where Sawtooth lives but know he is headed for the Dakota. Hmmm… Strange….

Lizz is showing her age. Too bad!

22ph introduces the idea that Austin may be Crystal ’s father. Blune thinks the two kinda look like each other.

Not sure what I think about that relationship – other than it would make sense. As in, why else keep bringing him back?

My impression from yesterday’s installment is that Austin looks more like a cross between Mumbles and Shaggy (from Scooby-Doo)!

Also thinking: Two week delay in daily strips, a month or more for Sunday strips, perhaps that explains why yesterday’s strip referred to Magic City instead of why not Minot!

Lizz certainly gives out information very freely. Does she just tell anyone who walks in the whereabouts of the city’s top detectives?

I like how the computer instantly displays a picture of whoever’s name is mentioned.

Tracy or someone else at MCU could contact the railroad whose tracks pass by the location of the abandoned van, and inquire about what train or trains passed by in the time frame when the van was left there. With the intel they have about Magic City, once they learn that a train bound for Magic City did indeed pass through, they’ll have a very good idea of where Sawtooth probably is, if he did in fact hop a freight.

They really wouldn’t have to wait until the train reached Magic City – they could contact the crew by radio and have them stop anywhere. It might be a good idea to have police on the scene before they start slowing down, just so they don’t tip off ST and give him a chance to hop off and make a run for it.

I just re-read the last two days together…first, Lafayette gives Tracy the info to prompt him to go to Magic City, then he shows up at the MCU and asks for Tracy. Liz confirms that Tracy and Sam have gone to Minot- she would likely have known that it was Lafayette that provided the tip. He acts like he had a memory lapse, although he had told Tracy he would check in at the MCU today. Then he asks about Bribery, a major kingpin, whose prosecution would have been big news, not only in the underworld, but in the media.

I think he’s fishing. And fishy.

I’m not sure what’s harder to believe … that a major metropolitan police station would let just about anybody wander inside and walk right up to detectives … or that a man who apparently makes his living as an undercover police source would openly visit a police station.

Today’s strip can be read as having a dual purpose: to inform readers (via Lizz) what is going on with Sam and Tracy and what is the status of Bribery; and to introduce just a hint of romantic interest between Austin and Lizz to keep us wondering and to keep that fishy snitch as a viable character….