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Q230: Page one criminals

Balthazar
Moderator
#1 · Posted: 23 May 2007 13:05
It's well known that a magpie - possibly the same bird as the actual thief - appears on page one of The Castafiore Emerald, unremarked on by Tintin and Haddock, but there to be spotted by sharp-eyed readers on a second reading of the book.

The first pages of two other books have something similar - a criminal who can be seen by the reader in Tintin's vicinity, but who isn't noticed by Tintin, and who isn't known to be a criminal by Tintin or the reader until later in the book. Which two books (and which two completely different criminals) am I talking about?

To be clear: I'm not talking about criminals whom the reader knows to be criminals from their first appearance, like Al Capone and his gangsters on page one of Tintin in America. And I'm not talking about people whose actions reveal them to be criminals by the end of page one, like the taxi driver in Tintin in America or the pilots in The Black Island. The cases I'm looking for are a) in Tintin's vicinity but not noticed by him, and b) not identified as criminals until later in the book. And, to reiterate, the appearances have to be on page 1 of the two books in question.

Hope that's clear. You have to give both books/criminals for the point, so don't leap in with only half the answer and deprive someone of getting the whole thing right by themselves!
alvarolino
Member
#2 · Posted: 23 May 2007 13:50
The Secret of the Unicorn - page 1 - sixth plate - Mr. Aristides Silk
Flight 714 - page 1 - eighth plate - Spalding
Balthazar
Moderator
#3 · Posted: 23 May 2007 13:54
A perfect and speedy answer, alvarolino - well done! The point and the next question-setting duties go to you.
tuhatkauno
Member
#4 · Posted: 23 May 2007 14:01
wrong alarm
Balthazar
Moderator
#5 · Posted: 23 May 2007 14:45
Tuhatkauno, I did notice the guy lurking rather suspiciously by the pillar at the top of the museum steps on p.1 of The Broken Ear, but he doesn't meet the criterion I set of the criminal being in Tintin's vicinity. (Tintin's not in that opening museum scen e at all.) Actually, one of the reasons I set that criterion was to deliberately exclude this Broken Ear person, because the drawing is so small that it seemed too ambiguous and open to debate. He might be a criminal or he might just be someone waiting for his girlfriend to turn up.

If he is meant to be a criminal, then surely he's meant to be Tortilla - waiting for the museum to close so he can break in and steal the fetish - rather than Ramon. This would make more sense in the context of the story, and anyway, this man's clothes are a different colour than any Ramon is seen wearing later in the book, even though his hat's similar. Tortilla's a criminal too, of course, so your point remains the same but, like I said, I intentionally ruled this whole scene out in my original question.

But well done for spotting him anyway. To be precise, you are the untamed wind of a hairy young girl.

Edit: Pah! I see that while I was typing the above reply, tuhatkauno, you noticed your own error and edited out your post (which said something like: "Isn't that Ramon on the museum steps on page one of The Broken Ear?) Now my reply makes no sense! Never mind, I'll leave it unedited, since the mystery man lurking on the museum steps is kind of relevant to the subject of my question.
tuhatkauno
Member
#6 · Posted: 23 May 2007 14:59
Balthazar

I noticed it was Tortilla, not Ramon, and after all it was unnecessary comment. That's why "wrong alarm". Yeah, maybe I'm the hairy wind...
Balthazar
Moderator
#7 · Posted: 23 May 2007 15:57
No worries, tuhatkauno. :-) I understood why you'd removed your post, and my postscript wasn't meant to sound cross. I just didn't want to leave anyone who was trying to follow the thread bewildered. I am the girly wind of an untamed young hare.

(Also in the interest of reader clarity, anyone wanting to find tuhatkauno's original idiom about wind and girls' hair should look at his last post in the thread entitled "A problem in The Shooting Star.)
tuhatkauno
Member
#8 · Posted: 24 May 2007 07:35
Balthazar

I am the girly wind of an untamed young hare.


Tell you what's funny. I seem to be the only one on the forum who doesn't fully understand what I have said. :)

I intended to say a neat pseudo poetic expression. The untamed wind (kesytön tuuli) sounds ok in Finnish but it must sound weird in English, he, he.

Master of metaphors :)

This topic is closed.