Bats Fly at Dusk – Erle Stanley Gardner writing as A.A. Fair
This story from 1942 kicks off when a blind man hires aggressive PI Bertha Cool in a complex case. It involves a hit and run on a young secretary, her employer that met an untimely demise, the division of the inheritance of his estate among his staff and a venal nephew, nervous insurance companies, and an impersonation by a cruel roommate.
Bertha's nitty-gritty concern with her age-old question “How much moolah is in it for me” distracts her from identifying the pith of the case. Though her canny realism is the best thing about her, she clearly misses the intuition of her partner Donald Lam (serving away in the Navy) and his ability to home in on the essential. Her police force nemesis, Sgt. Sellars, puts in a worthy turn in which he is not as astute as Perry Mason’s worthy antagonist Lt. Tragg but not nearly as dumb as Sgt. Holcomb.
Gardner turns stereotypes on their head, making Lam the intuitive and sympathetic one while Bertha is the hard-charging one getting down to brass tacks. We can criticize this novel on the basis that though Bertha does all the legwork, she is bested by the absent Donald Lam who solves the case through brainpower alone. She is also snookered by Sgt. Sellars who gives her an unwanted kiss.
Gardner makes a point, however: Bertha Cool is decidedly not the gruff softie that hides her goodness under a cross shell. Bertha is in fact obnoxious, profane, and greedy. Her impulses must be anticipated by secretary Elsie Brand so she can warn Bertha to dial it down. Her partiality for going to strong-arm tactics from the get-go has to be countered by Donald Lam, who knows that compassion and tact with witnesses will get Cool and Lam closer to the solution sooner.
Most readers may miss the real detective Donald Lam. I argue
discerning readers will miss the interplay of the two “Cool without Lam” novels
too (the other is Cats Prowl at Night). Bertha and Donald are apt to egg each on in conflict with
each other, clients, and the cops.
One can’t help but wonder when Gardner slept. The Cool and Lam mysteries started in 1939 and he wrote this seventh in the series in 1942. His stories nearly never indicate when they are taking place, but in this production he mentions exact dates in 1942. Giving a feel for the wartime era in California, Gardner also points out how dim-out regulations forced people to use blue flashlights, which gave off weird light, and made drivers drive as slow as 15 mph to decrease the risks of night driving with dimmed headlights. No wonder blackouts caused so many accidents, increased crime, and lowered home front morale.
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