Tracy’s mind is telling him, one of those could be a murder weapon. Now Miss Lady, if she is the guilty party, certainly would not display the exact item. However, stranger things have been known to happen.
She looks frightening ! :-o She forgot to consider that someone coming after her special papers might just be packing heat; that sends high speed metal projectiles. Good show though, lady.
You’d better not be stealing her mail! I wonder if a letter opener could possibly be the murder weapon. She certainly doesn’t seem like the type who would be shy if threatened.
Authors may use misdirection to make a reader think person ‘A’ did the crime instead of person ‘X’. Some authors can’t pull it off well, and some hand you a really lame plot twist that doesn’t hold water for ’X’s motives or methods.
We still don’t know X.L. here is the murderer. But, if she’s not we’re getting way too much misdirection and not enough on the real killer (should be in the plot, but on a level the reader won’t suspect). If X.L. is being framed the killer did a heck of a good job… But I don’t think we’re getting misdirection.
(In the original Perry Mason TV shows there is an obvious suspect the audience is supposed to think is the killer (our ‘A’) before ‘X’ is revealed a few minutes before the end.
Assuming Ms X is indeed the killer we appear to be seeing yet another case solved by coincidence rather than detective work. Tracy asks a friend to recommend an expert in mss and ‘lo, it turns out to be the killer. I had such hopes when they were actually checking for DNA evidence and talking with a medical examiner, but it appears – metaphorically – that Sam has once again stopped at a Deli he’d never noticed before at exactly the point in time that resolves things.
Okay, on Tuesday, there are no items near X. On Wednesday through Saturday, there looks to be only one item. Today, it suddenly appears that X was using this table as a desk of sorts, with several items on it.
Also, are we sure that the last two panels weren’t accidentally switched? They make more sense to me that way.
Hey, let’s not forget, this Dick Tracy plot isn’t just about the elevated world of rare book crime, it’s also about stabbing, and since Xaviera here has a knife, she probably did the murders, case closed! I do sincerely appreciate the cinematic composition here; presumably Xaviera keeps talking over the last few panels, but from Dick’s perspective her voice fades away as he catches the glint of the blade and all he can think is knife knife knife KNIFE KNIFE STAB STAB STAB KNIFESTAB
1-DT: How come our killer hasn’t killed you and made off with easy pickens? Huh? How come?
2-XAVIEE: Das ist ein very gut qvestion, Herr Tracy… Perhaps you could think it through while I open some mail.
3-DT:Hmmm. Let’s see…
4-… Maybe it’s because she dresses in a gray suit, white shirt and tie just like me so robbers thinkI’M GUARDING THE PLACE!
5-… NO! I don’t usually wear nail polish so that can’t be it!I GOT IT! EVERY THIEF KNOWS YOUR STUFF IS FAKE AND WORTHLESS. XAVIEE: Your incredible deduction just saved a life, Herr Tracy.
Two questions: all those books, shelved three or more stories high – does anyone ever actually take them out and read them? If not, what good are they?
It ain’t a mystery if we have only one suspect, so let’s assume we haven’t seen that person yet. BTW, this isn’t a knife, it’s a letter opener, and who carries a letter opener around with them planning a homicide or theft. We’ve had a week of conversation, so can we move on or is Costello going all War and Peace on this one?
Again today I’m getting new notifications about posters who replied ‘over 2 years ago’ to comments I made over two years ago. This happening with anybody else?
I’m wondering what the symbol on the handle of the letter opener is – a stylized L, perhaps? It could be a family heirloom. (Side note: Many years ago, my parents went on a trip to Europe and brought me back something that looked like an old-style dagger, but was actually a letter opener. I still have it :)
Uh-oh. [And readers of Cul de Sac know what that portends.]
Looks like Ol’ Squinty Eyes Tracy has cracked the Ice Queen! Xaviera has, just for moment, lost her composure under Tracy’s quiet but pointed questioning and has grabbed her nearest bladed weapon, the deadly letter-opener and…and almost as quickly as her rage rose, she drops it again, realizing she has let Tracy win a key point.
As an aside, I confess a personal fondness for letter-openers and keep several at hand around the house. Generally, however, I do not wield them in rage….
Pequod 8 months ago
Stolen treasures. Drastic measures. Not for the first time
Priceless works have disappeared, result of costly crime.
Library, a gallery, museum or hidden vault
Like that time in Boston, still unknown who was at fault.
Storm on the Sea of Galilee. The Concert by Vermeer
Victims vexed. Police most perplexed. One thing is surely clear
High stakes theft leaves some bereft, others in their grave
Tracy sticks he beak in now in hopes that he may save
Next victim from a stab wound, sharp point thrust in the heart
Questions Xaviera. Clarity she may impart.
Blade does flash. Libris brash. Tracy on his guard
Questioning the killer? Detective work is hard.
firestrike1 8 months ago
ye-e-e-es?…
firestrike1 8 months ago
… my books and my freedom?…
IvanB.Cohen 8 months ago
The way she has that letter opener pointed, anyone who tries to rip her will be discouraged in a minute.
IvanB.Cohen 8 months ago
The way she has that letter opener pointed, anyone who tries to rip her will be discouraged in a minute.
flashdrive1988 8 months ago
Yikes!
Ida No 8 months ago
Marylin Manson? You decided to get back into theater? Good for you.
BreathlessMahoney77 8 months ago
Ms. Libris certainly knows how to make a point.
IvanB.Cohen 8 months ago
Tracy’s mind is telling him, one of those could be a murder weapon. Now Miss Lady, if she is the guilty party, certainly would not display the exact item. However, stranger things have been known to happen.
avenger09 8 months ago
I know, I know,, tomorrow she’ll say:
“CHILDREN!!”
Jeez, how far are you gonna stretch this rubberband??
Also, this is not suspenseful at all.
It’s just more time filler.
Gweedo -it's legal here- Murray 8 months ago
markwillman4 answered back about 1 hour ago
@Gweedo it’s legal here Murray
;). Um… yeah.
;-p
Uncle Kenny 8 months ago
Well, that takes her off my suspect list. The real thief/murderer is too intelligent to display the murder weapon to the chief investigator.
Gweedo -it's legal here- Murray 8 months ago
Good morning™, blade blandishers !
She looks frightening ! :-o She forgot to consider that someone coming after her special papers might just be packing heat; that sends high speed metal projectiles. Good show though, lady.
Dean 8 months ago
Do bulletproof vests stop knives?
GoComicsGo! 8 months ago
DT: Hmm… possibly suspicious.
Black76Manta 8 months ago
Oh, Oh, the lady remained silent at the end of the sentence, a bad sign!
Neil Wick 8 months ago
Good morning™, all!
You’d better not be stealing her mail! I wonder if a letter opener could possibly be the murder weapon. She certainly doesn’t seem like the type who would be shy if threatened.
iggyman 8 months ago
Great comic today!
LawrenceS 8 months ago
Authors may use misdirection to make a reader think person ‘A’ did the crime instead of person ‘X’. Some authors can’t pull it off well, and some hand you a really lame plot twist that doesn’t hold water for ’X’s motives or methods.
We still don’t know X.L. here is the murderer. But, if she’s not we’re getting way too much misdirection and not enough on the real killer (should be in the plot, but on a level the reader won’t suspect). If X.L. is being framed the killer did a heck of a good job… But I don’t think we’re getting misdirection.
(In the original Perry Mason TV shows there is an obvious suspect the audience is supposed to think is the killer (our ‘A’) before ‘X’ is revealed a few minutes before the end.
Binky Premium Member 8 months ago
Guess she’ll finish the sentence Monday, however Tracy’s on to her I think. Shifty body language ☜ (↼_↼)
crobinson019 8 months ago
“But when she threatened your life with a switchblade knife….”
kantuck-nadie 8 months ago
Now that was VERYYYY in-ter-est-ing. (smokes a cig, and adjusts her WWII helmet)
Chaze Premium Member 8 months ago
………virginity?
kantuck-nadie 8 months ago
I have to add too; the art is incredible here, and the sequence too. Very theatrical.
Sporteric11 8 months ago
Is it as sharp as her wit ?
Sporteric11 8 months ago
Is she going to pull a “Lorena Bobbitt” ?
Sporteric11 8 months ago
Guest Writer Eric Costello : don’t blame me for this !
Delicate Girl 8 months ago
Frame 6 is outstanding.
Wichita1.0 8 months ago
“EGGOS! So, LAY OFF, Flatfoot!”
orbenjawell Premium Member 8 months ago
“….latest offer(s) from Publisher’s Clearinghouse before I’ve even had the chance to open it”……..she finished……
General Trelane (Ret.) Premium Member 8 months ago
The shrew just tipped her hand .
Gent 8 months ago
Eh no surprise here. Me has already knews Goldilocks is the murdering crook earlier itself.
Ignatz Premium Member 8 months ago
Thieves usually come when you aren’t home, and that letter opener won’t help at all.
LawrenceS 8 months ago
Assuming Ms X is indeed the killer we appear to be seeing yet another case solved by coincidence rather than detective work. Tracy asks a friend to recommend an expert in mss and ‘lo, it turns out to be the killer. I had such hopes when they were actually checking for DNA evidence and talking with a medical examiner, but it appears – metaphorically – that Sam has once again stopped at a Deli he’d never noticed before at exactly the point in time that resolves things.
Don Bagert Premium Member 8 months ago
Okay, on Tuesday, there are no items near X. On Wednesday through Saturday, there looks to be only one item. Today, it suddenly appears that X was using this table as a desk of sorts, with several items on it.
Also, are we sure that the last two panels weren’t accidentally switched? They make more sense to me that way.
Don Bagert Premium Member 8 months ago
I bet those “MCU”-labeled notepads are handy for making notes when watching “Loki” on Thursday nights :)
Lafsalot Premium Member 8 months ago
Letter opener??!! It would be very foolish to take your letter opener!!!
Aladar30 Premium Member 8 months ago
If this in not a red flag I’ve no idea what it is. Let’s see how Dick Tracy will be able to arrest her.
David Rickard Premium Member 8 months ago
From today’s Comics Curmudgeon:
Hey, let’s not forget, this Dick Tracy plot isn’t just about the elevated world of rare book crime, it’s also about stabbing, and since Xaviera here has a knife, she probably did the murders, case closed! I do sincerely appreciate the cinematic composition here; presumably Xaviera keeps talking over the last few panels, but from Dick’s perspective her voice fades away as he catches the glint of the blade and all he can think is knife knife knife KNIFE KNIFE STAB STAB STAB KNIFESTAB
Judeeye Premium Member 8 months ago
Her off-putting personality and letter opener are probably not the deterrent she thinks.
Major Matt Mason Premium Member 8 months ago
Nah. Not suspicious a’tall. >;)
Another Take 8 months ago
1-DT: How come our killer hasn’t killed you and made off with easy pickens? Huh? How come?
2-XAVIEE: Das ist ein very gut qvestion, Herr Tracy… Perhaps you could think it through while I open some mail.
3-DT: Hmmm. Let’s see…
4-… Maybe it’s because she dresses in a gray suit, white shirt and tie just like me so robbers think I’M GUARDING THE PLACE!
5-… NO! I don’t usually wear nail polish so that can’t be it! I GOT IT! EVERY THIEF KNOWS YOUR STUFF IS FAKE AND WORTHLESS. XAVIEE: Your incredible deduction just saved a life, Herr Tracy.
DT: Really? Whose…?” XAVIEE: Vat a dummkopf
Wichita1.0 8 months ago
In The (Completely Unnecessary) I Wonder Why Department: What’d a story drawn ala Don Martin play like? (FLORP! GURKLE!)
sjsczurek 8 months ago
Two questions: all those books, shelved three or more stories high – does anyone ever actually take them out and read them? If not, what good are they?
overtop 8 months ago
It ain’t a mystery if we have only one suspect, so let’s assume we haven’t seen that person yet. BTW, this isn’t a knife, it’s a letter opener, and who carries a letter opener around with them planning a homicide or theft. We’ve had a week of conversation, so can we move on or is Costello going all War and Peace on this one?
oakie817 8 months ago
uhoh
ScottHolman 8 months ago
A knife expert huh? Wasn’t the murder victim killed with a knife? Foolish to flash that around in front of DT.
Batster 8 months ago
Blasts From the Past Dept:
Again today I’m getting new notifications about posters who replied ‘over 2 years ago’ to comments I made over two years ago. This happening with anybody else?
stealth694 8 months ago
The Insurance Agency would be demanding Security.
Don Bagert Premium Member 8 months ago
I’m wondering what the symbol on the handle of the letter opener is – a stylized L, perhaps? It could be a family heirloom. (Side note: Many years ago, my parents went on a trip to Europe and brought me back something that looked like an old-style dagger, but was actually a letter opener. I still have it :)
Newenglandah 8 months ago
Could this cold as ice woman be the sister of Stiletta Jones (aka Mrs. Flattop)?
Sisyphos 8 months ago
Uh-oh. [And readers of Cul de Sac know what that portends.]
Looks like Ol’ Squinty Eyes Tracy has cracked the Ice Queen! Xaviera has, just for moment, lost her composure under Tracy’s quiet but pointed questioning and has grabbed her nearest bladed weapon, the deadly letter-opener and…and almost as quickly as her rage rose, she drops it again, realizing she has let Tracy win a key point.
As an aside, I confess a personal fondness for letter-openers and keep several at hand around the house. Generally, however, I do not wield them in rage….
jim_pem 8 months ago
A penetrating question.
A penetrating stare.
A penetrating implement.
…aannnddd!
Welp, no penetration today.
[Unnamed Reader - 14b4ce] 8 months ago
George Ozone’s body was hustled out of sight before Tracy arrived