Character Relationship Map: Tricky Dicks

Characters

• Shemp (played by Shemp Howard) — protagonist

  A detective who introduces pickpocket Slick Chick, joins a gin rummy game, struggles with an obstinate filing cabinet, and engages in a comical exchange regarding a dismissed bootlegging charge.

• Larry (played by Larry Fine) — supporting

  A detective who makes an amorous advance toward a female officer, receives a swift rebuke, and grapples with a stubborn filing cabinet alongside his partners.

• Chopper (played by Phil Arnold) — supporting

  A prospective murder suspect whose verbose and linguistically convoluted confession bewilders the detectives, leading them to dismiss his assertions.

• Antonio Zucchini Salami Gorgonzola dePizza (played by Benny Rubin) — supporting

  An individual whose resourceful monkey intervenes during a chaotic office confrontation, incapacitating an armed assailant with well-aimed objects.

• Slick Chick (played by Connie Cezon) — supporting

  A skilled pickpocket introduced by Shemp who adeptly eludes the confines of the police station through persuasive rhetoric.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Larry → Slick Chick (Social Shared Police-Station Encounter) — Larry and Slick Chick are connected through the same disruptive police-station episode.

  Slick Chick is introduced and escapes through the police station while Larry is part of the detective group handling the station's interruptions.

• Antonio Zucchini Salami Gorgonzola dePizza → Larry (Alliance Crisis Supporter) — Antonio's animal companion provides decisive support to Larry during the chaotic attack.

  Antonio Zucchini Salami Gorgonzola dePizza's monkey intervenes during the armed confrontation and protects the detectives, including Larry.

• Antonio Zucchini Salami Gorgonzola dePizza → Shemp (Alliance Crisis Supporter) — Antonio indirectly assists Shemp when his monkey ends the office attack.

  Antonio Zucchini Salami Gorgonzola dePizza's resourceful monkey incapacitates the armed assailant, allowing the detectives to emerge unscathed.

• Larry → Chopper (Conflict Investigator And Suspect) — Larry is part of the detective team evaluating Chopper's unreliable-sounding confession.

  The detectives, including Larry, hear Chopper's verbose confession concerning the murder case and dismiss his assertions.

• Shemp → Chopper (Conflict Investigator And Suspect) — Shemp questions Chopper but rejects the suspect's linguistically convoluted assertions.

  Shemp and the other detectives encounter Chopper as a prospective murder suspect and dismiss his confusing confession.

• Shemp → Slick Chick (Narrative Introducer And Pickpocket) — Shemp brings Slick Chick into the detectives' environment, while her rhetoric enables her escape.

  Shemp introduces Slick Chick as a pickpocket, after which she persuades her way out of the police station.

• Shemp → Larry (Alliance Detective Partner) — Shemp and Larry operate as comic detective partners within the same police office.

  The plot identifies Shemp and Larry as detectives working with their third partner, and both struggle with the filing cabinet during their office rout...

Story Analysis

A chaotic detective routine spirals into a murder deadline and an office assault resolved by Antonio's resourceful monkey.

Plot Progression

1. Interrupted Detective Routine — Shemp and Larry attempt to function as detectives while playing gin rummy and enduring a ringing telephone. Slick Chick's introduction and persuasive escape add another disruption.
2. A Deadline for Murder — The detectives struggle with a filing cabinet before an angry superior assigns them Slug McGurk's murder case. They are given only twenty-four hours to resolve it.
3. The Bewildering Suspect — Chopper offers a verbose and confusing confession, but the detectives dismiss his assertions. Larry's rejected amorous advance provides another comic interruption.
4. Visitors and Verbal Chaos — The office fills with people seeking attention, including a bewildering witness whose appearance and language frustrate the detectives. Shemp also becomes involved in a comic bootlegging-charge exchan...
5. The Monkey Ends the Threat — An armed assailant turns the office comedy into a dangerous confrontation. Antonio's monkey incapacitates the assailant with thrown objects, leaving the detectives safe but bewildered.