Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for April 30, 2021

Good morning™, office workers!

He seems to be a bit of a celebrity worshipper to be so impressed at meeting Dick Tracy, but I suppose that the life of a bookkeeper is not generally considered to be very exciting.

I seem to remember that a few days ago, someone already figured out that he was a bookkeeper or accountant. How do you do that?

Sam seems unimpressed by the Tracy Worship.

Kuddos to team Tracy for such an original idea!

Although I suddenly have the urge to watch The Untouchables again.

Wonder why?

What a weird looking handshake. Took me a couple of moments to figure out that’s what was happening.

Good morning™, lockstep companions !

We’re joined at the hip until this thing is over, so no slurping when eating soup or we drop you off in the cheatin’, killin’ part of town.

Doesn’t “several” mean more than two?

“One for old, one for new, one for red and one for blue.”

The Meyer Lansky of the Apparatus…

While we are all waiting around, can I get you to do my taxes?

The IRS may be interested in the ( ones for real ) and that is not good for sure .

“…and one for the little girl that lives down the lane.”

Wait the Apparatus pays taxes? What kind of two-bit outfit is this? Did Dillinger pay taxes? Did Bonnie and Clyde pay taxes? The Mafia? What do you list as source of business income?

(Okay, I know there are fronts, money-laundering operations, and legitimate businesses owned by the mob with doctored books. It is simply the way this is worded that’s odd.)

Shouldn’t they have more security than Dick and Sam? Where is Elliot Ness? :p

Why does Sam Jaffe come to mind when I see Charlie? !

Aha…the book keeper! He has the facts on all the figures!

I’m getting a Lethal Weapon vibe here. “Whatever you want, Leo Getz.”

1-CHARLIE SNITCHIE: Well, well, well! Dick Tracy! Remember me from college? We were in Tappa Kegga Brew together. You were a senior and I was a new pledge. Remember the old frat handshake? We had some times didn’t we? Remember that panty raid? We all threw them on the lawn of the sorority but you took yours back to the house? Then we’d find you wearing them! WHAT A NUT! Good ol’ Dick…

2-SAM: Wait. You knew Dick in college?

CHARLIE: Depends on how you mean that. I can confirm I knew Dick Tracy. He loved being Pledge Master! He was famous for making the guys strip COMPLETELY before delivering the old paddle whacks! No other house could make that claim! ALSO…

3-…Dick developed the famous Flying V Test Taking Formation where the smartest guy was at the point of the V and he would pass the answers back to the rest. Regrettably, my questionable morals were developed at TKB and here I am now. And to think I could’ve taken that “straight” job with Richard Nixon’s 1972 Campaign. Oh the choices we make in life, am I right?

….and the others in the group of several were, like, for fake?……….

Meyer Lansky was not a bookkeeper. Sam Jaffe??? Who’s doing the art nowadays?

Charlie 21 looks like he has one heck of a grip via a handshake.

Next question Sam could ask him, where are the books now? Charlie 21: No problem….I have a photographic memory. Imagine Sam’s and Tracy’s hair standing up on the back of their necks if the guy said he has psychic powers.

Somewhere Vitamin Flintheart’s play must tie into this but I don’t know where. It would be for me to picture Charlie 21 as an understudy. Abner Kadaver might appreciate theater. The Apparatus might be more of the casino’s and nightclub type. Cultural events would not appeal to them.

I just wonder if at some point we’ll learn Charlie’s motivation for turning state’s evidence.

“One shining purpose, and two sets of books,” LBJs good buddy Billy Sol Estes.

No real new ground broken here today, but some points clarified or elaborated. The tall white-haired escort to Charlie 21 is identified as an “officer” and so is probably a plainclothes cop of some agency (rather than a G-man or district attorney as speculated yesterday). And Charlie himself is 1) a fan of Dick Tracy (!) and 2) as expected, bookkeeper for The Apparatus, keeping multiple versions for different audiences….

With all this basic setup, it’s time for a change of focus or for some action. Allons-y!