Profile # 3 : Police Inspector Norfolk

Coydog on Jan. 18, 2009

-PROFILE #3:


INSPECTOR NORFOLK:

“Though he may not impress with his abilities when it comes to deductive reasoning, Norfolk has more dogged determination then the most able blood hound once on the scent…”
–Smythe on Inspector Norfolk


In 1889, barely one year after the mysterious Jack the Ripper's murderous rampage and equally mysterious disappearance, England is beginning to rise out of the depths of it's unease. But a series of brutal, bloody “manglings” have made it painfully clear that the depths of the unease in the city of Mansfordshire aren't going to be so easily breached.

The task of stopping the brutal and elusive killer dubbed “The Mangler” because of the savagery inflicted upon his victims, five souls in all confined to Mansfordshire's lowly eastend, is shouldered by Inspector Norfolk. And the newest murder, that of a member of Mansfordshire's posh upper class social sect, makes Norfolk's job all the more difficult. And even though he has a somewhat uneasy relationship with Continental Operatives Smythe and Fiziwigg, whom he sees as more or less intruding on his turf, the teaming of their talents should make Norfolk's job that much easier. But will it?

I always saw Norfolk as Bob Hoskins. A short, gruff, stout, work-a-day, blue collar english man just trying his best against odds that sometimes seemed not in his favor. I always figured Norfolk to have the “follow your nose, 1+1=2, if it walks like a duck…” police instincts of the day… So someone like Smythe and Fiona coming along with different ways of doing things wouldn't sit well with him and throw him a bit off kilter. Norfolk's seeing the new murder of the posh gentleman as yet another example of the Mangler's murderous handiwork, and Smythe and Fiona seeing something much more sinister at work, makes an uneasy teaming of oddly matched individuals all the more uneasy. And fun too. Especially when the tangled web of intrigue surrounding the Mangler murders entangle a member of westend society in it's threads–Dr. Daniel Abbeline.


NEXT WEEK: DR. DANIEL ABBELINE