"Again the Chameleon."
By Arthur Porges (1915-2006; Wikipedia HERE.)
First appearance: Shell Scott Mystery Magazine, August 1966.
Short short short story (5 pages).
Online at The Luminist Archives (HERE; go to text page 127).
"I'll let him get his big, hot paws on it, then, zowie! we lower the boom."
WHAT'S most annoying about these criminals who pull off spectacular crimes is that they enjoy it too much. Equally annoying is how some cops think they can outguess and outmaneuver them, usually leading to spectacular failures. Fortunately for the thief and unfortunately for the police detective in today's story, it's not hard to guess where this is going . . .
Principal characters:
~ Lieutenant Corey, Dick Winton, Baker, Marcel, and, of course, The Chameleon.
References:
- "the Chameleon":
"The English word chameleon is a simplified spelling of Latin chamaeleōn, a borrowing of the Greek χαμαιλέων (khamailéōn), a compound of χαμαί (khamaí) 'on the ground' and λέων (léōn) 'lion'." (Wikipedia HERE.)
- "a book Napoleon or somebody wrote":
"The Napoleonic Code (French: Code Napoléon), officially the Civil Code of the French (French: Code civil des Français; simply referred to as Code civil), is the French civil code established during the French Consulate in 1804 and still in force in France, although heavily and frequently amended since its inception. Although Napoleon himself was not directly involved in the drafting of the Code, as it was drafted by a commission of four eminent jurists, he chaired many of the commission's plenary sessions, and his support was crucial to its enactment." (Wikipedia HERE.)
- "by J. Edgar Hoover":
"John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895–May 2, 1972) was an American law enforcement administrator who served as the fifth and final director of the Bureau of Investigation (BOI) and the first director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
"President Calvin Coolidge first appointed Hoover as director of the BOI, the predecessor to the FBI, in 1924. After 11 years in the post, Hoover became instrumental in founding the FBI in June 1935, where he remained as director for an additional 37 years until his death in May 1972 – serving a total of 48 years leading both the BOI and the FBI under eight presidents." (Wikipedia HERE.)
Resource:
- Another story in which the bad guy brazenly announces his theft before he does it is Ellery Queen's "The Adventure of the Dauphin's Doll" (Number 16 in a collection reviewed HERE).
The bottom line:
Unless otherwise noted, all bibliographical data are derived from The FictionMags Index created by William G. Contento & edited by Phil Stephensen-Payne.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
