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Chapter 21
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Devil in a Blue Dress, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Race and Identity
Power and Corruption
Violence, Justice, and Morality
The American Dream
Summary
Analysis
Easy neglects to tell Mouse about the $30,000 allegedly in Daphne’s possession, instructing him only to worry about following Frank. Leaving Easy’s, they’re confronted by detectives Miller and Mason, who want to question Easy further. Mouse lies about his identity, saying his name is Navrochet and giving them a fake address. The detectives take Easy back inside and ask if he knows Richard McGee or Matthew Teran, revealing that Teran had called them the night of Easy’s arrest, asking about who may have killed his driver, Howard Green. They also say that Teran had been particularly interested in learning about Easy, even visiting the station while Easy was detained to see him in person. The detectives then inform Easy that Teran has been found dead: he was shot through the heart.
Keeping the $30,000 a secret from Mouse suggests that Easy is beginning to view himself as an independent actor in a world where trust is fragile and self-interest reigns supreme. His caution with the unpredictable, cunning Mouse is justified by Mouse’s brazen adoption of the alias of his murdered stepbrother, Navrochet, in front of the police. Meanwhile, Teran’s death complicates things further for Easy, as Mason and Miller’s focus on Easy as the prime suspect underscores the racial prejudice that threatens to undermine any legitimate defense he offers. Easy’s freedom now hinges on untangling the murders, a reminder of how intertwined he has become with this case.
Themes
Although Miller and Mason suspect Easy knows more about the murders of Coretta, Richard McGee, and Howard Green than he’s letting on, they can’t prove his involvement. They inform him that a fingerprint was found on the knife used to kill Richard and force him to go to the station to be fingerprinted. While awaiting the results, they grill Easy about the recent murders. Easy worries that although he never touched the knife, the detectives might falsify the results to implicate him. But when the results confirm Easy’s innocence, the detectives begrudgingly let him go. Mouse picks him up outside and says he’s found Dupree, but Easy insists on making one stop before they follow up on the lead.
Easy’s fear that the police might frame him for murder highlights his vulnerability as a Black man in 1940s Los Angeles, where systemic racism and corruption in law enforcement leave little room for true justice. The power imbalance between Easy and the detectives is so overwhelming that even the moment the fingerprint results exonerate Easy is bittersweet—it’s a temporary reprieve, but not yet a victory.
Themes
