Published in 1965, In Cold Blood tells the story of the multiple murder of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas. Truman Capote is able to narrate the story of both the murderers of the family and the journey of the detectives and police to find the responsible of this case.
After fleeing to Mexico in hopes of never getting caught for the crime they committed back in
Holcomb, Perry Smith and Richard Eugene “Dick” Hickock are obliged to go back to Kansas because of the lack of work across the country. They are able to steal a car and change its license plate, but they are not able to go unnoticed by the police. Kansas Bureau Investigation detective, Harold Nye notifies Garden City Sheriff, Alvin Dewey about the fact that both the criminals are in Kansas. The police officers are not able to arrest Smith and Hickock until they reach Las Vegas. On December 30th, 1959; Perry Smith and Dick Hickock were arrested in Las Vegas for parole violation. Officers and detectives from Kansas go to Las Vegas to interrogate the suspects. After hours of questioning, Dick confesses that it was in fact, Perry who killed all four of the Clutters. On the other side, Perry confesses that it was Dick who killed the two women and he killed the other two men. They are later transferred to Holcomb, Kansas where Perry tells the story of how Dick and him found a door that was not locked and broke into the Clutter residence the morning of Sunday, November 15th, 1959. He talks about how all they were looking for was money and that, once they couldn´t find it; killed the family in order to leave no witnesses. They later find out that the jury is contemplating the idea of a death penalty for the criminals, but that nothing has been decided yet. Dick and Perry´s trial is scheduled to be on March 22nd, 1960, but until then; Perry befriends a squirrel that lives outside his cell and names it Red.
“ ´The secret is: People are dumb.´ ” (Capote, 217)
I think that Dick is smarter than what he is believed to be. Although he uses this intelligence for doing bad things, he is still able to form marvelous plans that only benefit one person: Himself. When Dick is asked about the real reason for writing false checks, his answer is simple yet deep; he believes people are not able to surpass his intelligence. Perhaps his definition of “dumb” is someone else's definition of “innocent”, but with innocence comes foolishness and this is something Dick is completely aware of. Why is Dick so obsessed with the idea of superiority? Has he ever felt inferior to someone else? Is his pursuit for power a sick idea of revenge?
“ ´We'll use no force, no threats, and we'll make you no promises.´ ” (Capote, 216-217)
I think that police interrogations in the 1960's were very different from interrogations nowadays. I also think that it was nice of the detectives to tell Dick that they were making no promises, it prevented Dick of disappointment. Personally, I think that it's better to tell the truth than to lie, even if it can cause us some trouble. I also liked the fact that detectives are completely honest with Dick and Perry and don't tell them lies in order for the criminals to confess anything. If I was Dick, I would actually feel relieved since the policemen are saving me from possible disappointment and anger. I would like for people to be straight up honest because if not, we will just continue to consider lies to be an answer to everything.
I read about 216 pages (if not more) to finally know about the criminals' arrest, and let me just say; I wasn't one bit disappointed. Capote was so descriptive while illustrating this event that I actually felt as if I was part of the story. I was actually surprised when Perry finally told the story of the murders from his point of view (I guess it just wasn't as sanguinary as I expected it to be). I'm actually a bit worried about where the book goes from here, I have actually no clue of what could happen with Perry and Dick (although I do want to hear more about Perry´s squirrel friend). I already know that Perry and Dick are going to end up dead (thanks, Google), but I would still like to know if they believe in heaven and hell, or just life after death in general.
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