Then in the next chapter when he recounts the meeting to Dinah (before the Max Payne dream sequence), the Op explains how he had Noonan on the ropes with Whisper and Reno pitted against each other, and BOTH of them against Pete the Finn. He then utters probably my favorite line in the entire book:

"So everybody sat around and behaved and watched everybody else while I juggled death and destruction."

At this point, it becomes pretty unclear whether the Op's fighting the good fight, or just plain fighting. To me, it signified a sudden and steep moral drop-off point for him where it previously felt like more of a slow dive. It's a big turning point, for all of the characters, really. The dominos have been set up and it's all one big chain reaction of booze, blood and betrayal from that point on.

This is really maybe the most troubling thing about his conduct in Red Harvest. He never really explains his motivation beyond a fit of pique. And maybe moral disgust, but the Op doesn't like to give us too good a look at how he actually feels.

I've read a lot of other Op stories. He's a consummate professional, even a bit bloodless. What happens in Red Harvest is really shocking, based on the character Hammett established. And Hammett knows it's shocking, which is why the two other operatives show up to provide some context.

But consider how early Red Harvest occurs in the hard-boiled detective genre, before the rules are set. Nick Charles, Marlowe, and every other dick that follows is going to be up against a corrupt world that is fundamentally unalterable. You can right wrongs, but the police are still going to be half-corrupt, the rules will be different for society's great and good, and there will be an endless parade of crooks looking for an edge.

But Poisonville is effectively off the grid. Detectives don't get this kind of opportunity. Hardly ever. It cuts against the grain of the genre, which is about larger forces in society against which the individual has relatively little power. Here, the Op has practically unlimited agency for the only time in his career. And he uses it to engineer the deaths of well over a dozen people (and God knows how many foot-soldiers), even though everyone is basically begging him to stop.

What the Op chooses to do isn't "setting things right", even though that's usually part of what detective stories are about. In their small way, detectives try to right a wrong in the world. To introduce some measure of justice. The Op takes his big opportunity to change a society and… kills off four criminal gangs, a police force, and turns the town back over to the brutal tyrant whose vanity and fear caused all the original problems.

It's cool, but the Op doesn't come out of Red Harvest with a lot of excuses or extenuating circumstances. Re-reading it today, I find myself wondering, "Who is this guy?"

oh look, comments are back!

There's definitely stuff going on with Cairo in the Maltese Falcon, too. His handkerchiefs are perfumed!

Also I'm picking up one of Himes's books from the library tomorrow. Looking forward to it.