Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for August 10, 2023

Good morning™, everyone!

Who started a fire in the server room? Or did it just spontaneously combust?

NOW yell ‘FIRE’… Sprocket will escape under cover of the fire, unless she sticks around for WHATEVER resaon… like saving someone’s life in the conflagration…

after all this time, NOW comes the meat of the strip… ACTION!… DANGER!… SUSPENSE!…

much too late, but here it is…

Sprocket is looking more and more like Popeye! “Well blow me down!”

No one can accuse the strip of not being consistent!

and now Sprocket’s fingerprints are on the server room door.

I’m guessing Audie & Sabrina had a plan to destroy the server room in the event of a police raid — destroy the evidence & all that — & that’s why Sabrina had Sprocket check the restrooms, to make sure all the employees got out safely. They’re scammers, not killers. The question now is where is Madsen? If he’s not around the station & stays on the run, this storyline could last till Labor Day.

Good morning™, fleeing backdrafts !

We’re havin’ some fun now !  The calls going out of that place were just too hot for the system to handle.

I still haven’t the slightest idea what is going on. Maybe I should start over and take notes.

Hello, Burning Evidence Rooms and Privacy Parking Fences!

Well, the privacy fence explains how the staff who drive to work are somewhat able to hide their cars. The fire also provides an added (and more legitimate) excuse for running from the building.

“I’m terribly sorry officers. We’re all just phone workers and we thought we were selling actual products to people. We didn’t know that this was a scam operation…”

Whether this would succeed in getting them all off the hook is another question. Sprocket might be able to escape by getting “lost in the fleeing crowd.” This may be her only chance at escaping.

Who started the fire would be the next question. I can’t figure why Madsen would do it unless there’s something in the room that would incriminate him. I think Audie and Sabrina have more of motive to do it because they seem to run the “company.” I don’t think Madsen would start the fire since he still think he has money to collect. There’s some shenanigans going on here…

And how nice to leaves your foots finger prints as evidence going away from burning servers.

Quick! Somebody play Billy Joel’s " We didn’t start the fire".

Fire in the server room, yep burning up critical evidence.

Another plot twist! This one is exciting!

well that ain’t good, hope no one was in there. :{

Thanks to the impending arrival of the police, the building has (mostly) been evacuated, saving a number of lives!

How exciting !

Seems like things happen……….to prolong the story…?

No shoes?

Fire Sale!!!!

Arson as a cover up for other crimes. What bad choices these folks make.

Sprocket, if there was someone in there (like Madsen) he’s done for.

MOVIE QUOTE—-

“You’re breathin’, honey. Can’t ask you to do more than that”.

Barbara Hale to Larry Parks—-JOLSON SINGS AGAIN—1949

Only one two-man car for a police raid?? We’ll need everybody but The Campfire Girls to clean up this mess.

Okay,so did the fire start due to sloppy safety procedures(quite likely when you don’t want honest inspectors around)?

Or did one of Audie’s “voices” finally kick in and convince him he was Mrs. O’Leary’s cow?

This is the former 198.23.5.11—-is anybody there?

1-SAM: SMOKE! I think we might’ve stumbled onto one of those illegal Pot Parlors I’ve read about in the brought-up-to-date Hardy Boys books I read!

2-CHAINRING: MR. SERVER! WE GOTTA – OWWW!

3-…Ahhh, he’ll probably be ok. I didn’t even see him come in today. Come to think of it – I’ve never seen him come in…

I am so lost…….

Excuse me,I’ve been back online for two days and nobody’s posted a “like” or ANSWERED ON 15 DIFFERENT STRIPS.cAN ANYBODY see or hear me OUT THERE?

Sprocket will end up an"accidental hero" and wind up with a light sentence

I’m surprised that a covert operation would label doors.

Fire in the Server Room!

Accidental? Possibly. If the cooling system had a breakdown, that room could get real hot real fast and spontaneously combust. Yeah, that could happen.

More likely, though, this fire was started on purpose by someone with a motive. Certainly, the most likely motive would be to destroy evidence: everything that was on the servers, as well as the whole Boiler Room operation. The issue would seem to be that the fire is spreading more rapidly than the arsonist expected, leaving him potentially trapped by the blaze! Could this be Audie and his fate?

Regardless, “Susan” is smart enough to run for her life. As far as that is concerned, she should get out in a timely fashion with no serious sweat. Her problem is that in running out she may run into Tracy and Sam, who should be rolling up any minute now….

I told you to forget about the light, now take your advice and get out of there!