Philip Curtiss

Name: The "Gum-Shoe"
Author: Philip Curtiss

The "Gum-Shoe" (1921)

Summary

“The "Gum-Shoe"”, published in 1921, is a work by Philip Curtiss. It explores elements such as detective, kid and chief.

Quotes from The "Gum-Shoe" (Philip Curtiss)

Philip Curtiss, The "Gum-Shoe" (1921)

“ I summoned all my attention and also summoned the waiter.
"I'll have the same," said Blake, nodding, then lighting a cigarette, he asked: "Do you happen to know the motto of the Enterprise Agency?"
I shook my head.
"Well," explained Blake, "the motto of the Enterprise people is, 'Evidence where evidence exists.' That covers about the whole of detective work right there, but the more you think of it the more it means. First off it means not to go chasing half over the world looking for things that exist right under your nose; but it means something else that you don't realize at first. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Philip Curtiss, The "Gum-Shoe" (1921)

“ And, when you come down to it, that is just about the way that it should be, for detective work, like any other business, is largely a matter of acquaintance. The best man to sell bonds is the man who knows the most investors. The best man to catch crooks is the man who knows the most crooks. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Philip Curtiss, The "Gum-Shoe" (1921)

“ I want you to forget that you are a detective or have ever been one, which you only have for fifteen minutes. If you think of it you will show it and somebody else will guess it. You won't have to wear any false whiskers or do any hiding behind doors. You're to fool yourself into believing that you are just what you pretend to be, a guest of the family from Akron or that other place. Act natural, eat natural, sleep natural, and make yourself agreeable without slopping over. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Philip Curtiss, The "Gum-Shoe" (1921)

“ He is not a detective, he is a sneak. He will lie about his friends if we pay him to do it, and a man who will lie about anything is no use to us. You have got to learn the tricks of the trade. We can teach those to any scoundrel, but if a man hasn't got a love of truth in him we can't teach it to him. I gave you plenty of chance to fake, but I have checked you up from day to day and if you had faked one fact you would have been through before now.'
"The kid looked at him with his mouth wide open, and the chief let him look just to give it a chance to sink in. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Philip Curtiss, The "Gum-Shoe" (1921)

“ Every agency in the country needs a man of your education and standing, but there's not one in five that has got him. There are plenty of so-called gentlemen who will take money from us, but a man of education who goes into this business in nine cases out of ten is merely a parasite, a failure at everything else. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Philip Curtiss, The "Gum-Shoe" (1921)

“ Smith had never heard that word before, but he nodded and then the chief began to do some quick thinking, for, although he didn't let the kid know it, he was a gift on a blank Christmas. He was exactly the kind of man the chief wanted for a case he had in hand, and exactly the kind he thought he could never get, for that office, like every other office, was filled up with Frank Caseys, only they weren't all so fat. The youngster looked to the chief too good to be true. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Philip Curtiss, The "Gum-Shoe" (1921)

“ THERE are certain professions which have an innate fascination for even the least illusioned of us, which probably explains why I always went out of my way to talk to Frank Casey, the house detective of the Hotel St. Romulus. At any rate it could not have been Casey's personal charm, for he was a fat, red-faced man with puffy lips, while a mind more strictly literal than his I have never encountered. As for the poetry of his particular office, it consisted largely of looking intently and fiercely at certain well-dressed persons who seemed to think that the lobby of the St. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Philip Curtiss, The "Gum-Shoe" (1921)

“ The job I'm going to give you is like a lot of work you'll get in this business, and you can take it or leave it.'
"Then he told him about the job, which really is of a sort that you get all the time in some agencies. The client was a nice old gentleman. ”

Philip Curtiss

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Quotes from The "Gum-Shoe" (Philip Curtiss)

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