[excerpt from James M. Cain's novel] ---------------------- When they got done, all that the whole bunch had proved was that the Greek was dead, and as I knew that anyway, I didn't pay much attention. Katz never asked any of them anything. Every time the magistrate would look at him, he would wave his hand and the guy would step aside.
After they had the Greek dead enough to suit them, Sackett really straightened out, and put some stuff in that meant something. He called a guy that said he represented the Pacific States Accident Assurance Corporation of America, and he told how the Greek had taken out a policy just five days before.
He told what it covered, how the Greek would get $25 a week for 52 weeks if he got sick, and the same if he got hurt in an accident so he couldn't work, and how he would get $5,000 if he lost one limb, and $10,000 if he lost two limbs, and how his widow would get $10,000 if he was killed in an accident, and $20,000 if the accident was on a railroad train.
When he got that far it began to sound like a sales talk, and the magistrate held up his hand.
"I've got all the insurance I need."
Everybody laughed at the magistrate's gag. Even I laughed. You'd be surprised how funny it sounded.
Sackett asked a few more questions, and then the magistrate turned to Katz. Katz thought a minute, and when he talked to the guy, he did it slow, like he wanted to make sure he had every word straight.
"You are an interested party to this proceeding?"
"In a sense I am, Mr. Katz."
"You wish to escape payment of this indemnity, on the ground that a crime has been committed, is that correct?"
"That is correct."
"You really believe that a crime has been committed, that this woman killed her husband to obtain this indemnity, and either tried to kill this man, or else deliberately placed him in jeopardy that might cause his death, all as part of a plan to obtain this indemnity?"
The guy kind of smiled, and thought a minute, like he would return the compliment and get every word straight too. ----------------------
[end, excerpt - The Postman Always Rings Twice, by James M. Cain. Copyright 1934. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.]
Notice how the word "straight" or a form of it appears three times in this passage. In the second paragraph,
"...Sackett really straightened out, and put some stuff in that meant something."
In paragraph 5 -- "...when he talked to the guy, he did it slow, like he wanted to make sure he had every word straight."
And then in the last line:
"...he would return the compliment and get every word straight too."
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Having every word straight, and then getting every word straight describes for us the adversarial process of the courtroom hearing, and the inherent power and drama of clarity and precision in the presentation of facts.
Earlier, however, when Sackett "really straightened out" the word straightened conveys moving forward in a decided and confident way -- like, OK, now we've got this narrative rolling....
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