A Jade in Aries (1970) – Random House

A Mitch Tobin Mystery

This was the fourth novel I wrote about Mitch Tobin, using the pen name Tucker Coe. I didn’t yet know it, but it was also next to the last novel in that series. I have lived long enough to get over my astonishment at how much society and culture can change in a lifetime. The subculture in A Jade In Aries has been criminalized for nearly a hundred years, and there was no reason to expect it to change anytime soon. Coincidentally, at the same time I was writing A Jade In Aries, the Stonewall uprising took place in Greenwich Village in June of 1969, changing everything. For the better. ~DEW

“Manzoni,” I said, “you’re the worst judge of human nature I ever met in my life. I’m not going to mention anything about this mess to anybody. I’m going home, and I’m going to stay there. But Ronald Cornell and Cary Lane are going to crucify you; those two are going to nail you to the cross, and I couldn’t be happier about it.”

“You bastard, what right have you got to–”

“No right at all. I’ve seen cops like you before, Manzoni, I worked with some in the old days and I could never get used to them. Self-righteousness instead of brains. You’re a threat to everybody in the world who isn’t named Manzoni, and it’s a rare treat to see one of you birds become at last a threat to himself. Goodbye.”