Question D

[Jonetta]

Harry seems to take issue with his partner, Jerry Edgar, in this story...his tardiness, rush to judgment, etc. Why do you think it bugged him more now than it had previously?

[Charlene]

My guess would be that Harry was really trying to get justice for a kid who had a tough life before he was murdered. Jerry seems to have come from a much more stable background than Harry did, so his urgency level was lower than Harry's.

[Robin]

Good point, Charlene. Harry's background would play into wanting to solve the crime and get justice for Arthur.

[Lauren]

This irritation isn't really new. Harry has always been annoyed by Edgar's lack of zeal in investigating crime. Edgar doesn't share Harry's mission oriented outlook.

I agree that Harry is more irritated in this one because of the nature of the victim and his, perhaps, identification with the boy.

[Jonetta]

This was the first time, in my recollection, since book #1, where he complained about it a lot. In that book, Edgar had a side real estate job that interfered with his day job. In this story, he seemed to question Edgar's judgment and reasoning skills. Maybe I missed it beyond #1 but it felt more acute here. I think it contributed to Harry's dismal outlook about his job.

[Lauren]

Jonetta wrote: "In this story, he seemed to question Edgar's judgment and reasoning skills. "

Yes, I caught that too. He seemed to think that Edgar was jumping to conclusions and didn't want him to take the lead in questioning people because he was alienating them.