At first, long ago, I thought the same as you but, considering that the Lt. had little to go on and that some cops/detectives are big on 'hunches' it seems just enough to get him started and work him until hes satisfied he was innocent and the sneeze coincidental (or the opposite).
As far as going home though I think it was the smartest thing for a guy like him to do.
If a neighbor swears he saw him out on the street etc, simply stick to the story "I was home all day in bed - I'm sick and had to go into work that night. I don't know why so and so (witness) says they saw me out on the street but they are wrong' (word against word).
When the Lt arrived he was found in his pjs and a bathrobe looking like he had indeed spent the day sick in bed. If I had a problem with playing that sneeze hunch it would have been just that which took me off his trail - he really did look like they caught him home and sick and bed.
The problem would have been, had they got a search warrant within the hour, the money sitting there in that tiny apartment would have surely been found.
Hmmm... unless there was an area in his apartment house he could sneak to without being seen to stash the money or a neighbor he could trust with his life (and cash), his goose was cooked - and yes, just because of that ill timed sneeze. Without that money in that amount, they had little to go on. Then again, plenty of older people have been known to stash large amounts of money in their homes so, thinking about this again, considering they were unmarked smaller bills, I don't know that Walter had a damn thing even if they had found it - unless of course they could produce several bills with strong finger prints matching one of those who packed/handled the money... that prints from someone who had handled the money were found, had I been on the jury, the prints would be enough to convince me of his guilt.
reply
share
9 years ago
[deleted]
TorontoJediMaster
9 years ago
It's explained a bit more in the novel.
Green/Longman going back to his place was actually planned. As Blue/Ryder points out to him, as a fired motorman he'd be checked out by the police. Green is worried so he thinks he should hide out at Blue's apartment. Blue, however, points out to him that would actually make him look suspicious -if he suddenly didn't show up at his place. Blue points out that Green will simply be another name on a list to the police. Blue tells him that when the police come, not have anything too rehearsed -just something general like he'd gone for a walk, or something. In the book he only gets caught because he panics. Rather than following Blue's directions, he tries to escape out his window fire escape. The detective at the door hears the window going up, guesses what is going on, runs downstairs and apprehends him at the bottom.
So, Green going back home may seem stupid, but it was actually a fairly sound plan -to just appear like everything was normal. If he had disappeared, then he would've automatically gone to the top of the list of suspects; especially after other ex-motormen were crossed off the list for various reasons.
reply
share
movies789
8 years ago
SPOILERS... I agree; going home was the smart move. Being there, dressed for his sick-bed when the detectives came knocking, was the best alibi he could have had. Had he been holed-up somewhere else, he'd have topped the list of suspects. His only dumb move was giddily tossing the cash around. If he was intent on taking the money home (instead of, say, stashing it in a mini-storage unit), he should have secured it in a previously-prepared hiding place within a wall.
reply
share