I said here that Arne Torvald had disappointed me just once, when he attacked Conrad Lauring (xiii, p. 120). However, he had also attacked Yamamura when the latter said:
"'Don't be an idiot.'" (vi, p. 52)
Later, when Torvald apologizes, he says:
"'My nerves were on edge. Then your calling me an idiot - No, no, I realize you didn't plan an insult. But you see, I don't believe one should make fun of the handicapped.'" (ix, p. 79)
I did not understand this remark because I had taken "'...idiot...'" to mean a stupid person, not a mentally handicapped person.
Later again, when Yamamura follows Torvald, he loses him because the sailor takes precautions against being followed. (ix, p. 83) The neighborhood includes a private mental institution. Yamamura has confirmed that Torvald's first wife, ill when giving birth, had died but not that the child had died.
Finally, he deduces that Torvald visits his daughter in the mental institution.
6 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Dang it! I missed those clues! I recall that mention of an institution for the mentally handicapped. That, PLUS Torvald's rather odd and excessive reaction to the word "idiot," should have stuck in my mind. Darn!
Ad astra! Sean
Kaor, Paul!
Another thought: if Torvald was merely visiting his disabled daughter every time he came to San Francisco, why was he so secretive about it? Doing so placed him under needless suspicion. No one would have objected to him regularly seeing his daughter!
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
He was sensitive about a social stigma. People who knew them had been uncharitable when the child was born.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
That would make Torvald's reticence understandable at most OTHER times. But not after getting mixed up in a murder investigation. It would have been better to "come clean" about it at once to Yamamura.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
He is a stubborn and strong-willed man.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I noticed that while rereading MURDER BOUND!
Ad astra! Sean
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