Death by death: "The Dilemma of the Dead Lady"

The Dilemma of the Dead Lady written by Cornell Woolrich, was one of the more interesting pulps that we have read although I do not actually think the story follows the stereotype of a pulp. Straight from the beginning Babe Sherman made it clear that he was not in it for the girl. All he wanted from her was her money and her pearls. After carelessly murdering his lady friend, whom I believe remained nameless, the story evolves into a suspenseful drama as Sherman attempts to rid himself of the body.

The part of the story that I found most intriguing was the fact that it had been mentioned that Sherman had already put himself through so many things in his life that he no longer had a conscience. However, I would say that it was his conscience that was his downfall. Without a conscience he would not have been so caught up in the fact that he thought his shipmate was a detective. He thought too deep into things. I believe this is one way that Woolrich created suspense in the story. He continuously made Sherman think up things about Fowler that were obviously illegitimate. From these false accusations, Sherman did things rather sneaky and creepy because he did not want to get caught with the woman’s body by Fowler.

Another way Woolrich created suspense in the story was by not including too many characters. This, for me, left a big sense of question. It was unclear who, how, or when Sherman was eventually going to get caught. I still think, based on the genre, that it was inevitable that he would, but it was questionable as to the specifics. The only characters that were truly mentioned were Fowler and Sherman.

As I said before, the idea that Sherman was so worried about Fowler and what his next move would be, created suspense. The following quote from the story was one that officially made me believe that Fowler was a detective and had some idea about what was going on: “You Mr. Sherman, 42-A? Sorry we’re booked solid; you’ll have to stay in there” (pg.415). Anyone with a guilty conscience and fear of being caught would take that statement to mean that he/she was in trouble.

I was fooled until the very end of Fowler’s true identity. I thought it was unfortunate that Sherman found out Fowler’s identity after he had practically thrown him off the ship for no reason. Because this is a pulp, the criminal always gets punished no matter what. There had to be some sort of glitch in Sherman’s plan. In this case, it was Fowler. Sherman was so worried about Fowler discovering the woman’s body that he practically put the handcuffs on himself.

Questions:
1. Do you suspect Fowler actually knew about the woman's body in Sherman's trunk?
2. Was there anything in the story that hinted to the fact that Fowler was a fake?