Black's Justice 101

In Marlowe Black's mind justice within the confines of a corrupted judicial system became as transparent and fleeting as the promise of a first kiss. Not a kiss of affection mind you, but a kiss of invitation that can easily twist into a warning of devouring consumption of the innocent.

However, to compare Marlowe Black to a historical figure like Robin Hood would be an error. He did not question a man's background or personal history when he needed to make a decision to help him. For if the justice meted out by the system did not meet his requirements than that weighed heaviest in his resolution to involve himself on behalf of another.

He did not believe that all who walked into his small Flatiron Building office would be truthful, therefore he needed to trust his own instincts, or his "gut feeling" as he thought of it. That trust carried him through some of the worst fighting in Europe during WWII where he watched friends die brutally.

Yet even when he felt in his gut that he should help, he was wrong occasionally.

As a consequence of his three years of experience with the New York City police force, Black found himself willing to accept the cases the cops could not solve, or cases they did not investigate due to evidence they had that they felt conclusive enough to convict the suspect in hand. He took on the latter when he believed they'd overlooked something not quite obvious, or perhaps too simple to stand up in court under the scrutiny of a well paid criminal attorney.

Marlowe Black could be quite convincing during one of his interrogations, which some times took place in a deep freeze meat locker in a butcher shop off Third Avenue under the El.

Occasionally, he accepted cases for which no crime had been committed but a person had been wronged. Often those proved most difficult.