Tammy’s Reviews > Murder Must Advertise > Status Update

This time is easier. I let the banter fly over my head instead of wondering if I was a dunce. It flows like a sitcom. Several things made me laugh and I am wondering if the descent imagery in the form of the iron staircase will mean anything. It is Sayers after all.

Ingleby loses his temper over an account Nutrax. Mr. Tallboy laughs at Bredon’s first name DEATH! Miss Rossiter jokes that his stuff should have universal appeal.

Prout the photographer has been planning his exit for five years but caves when they beg and plead for him to stay. OMG! What a twist on CM “They have set his feet in a large room.” But, Prout complains about it and thinks they need a Mussoline to organize trade conditions. He’s a firebrand. He goes to the copyroom and Miss Rossiter wants his full name and address and demands everything to be in block letters.

Bredon sees Ingleby in the lavatory and he learns that Daniels is a group manager with a bunch of clients. Bredon asked why he was so defensive about insurance and Ingleby thinks it has to be with seniority. He’s been there for so long that he doesn’t like a new guy dissing the place. It’s run like the goverment (no initiative, hustle, or curiosity). A feisty red-headed photographer scrubs his hands with pumice.

The guy talking to him goes down the steps with ease, but Bredon is far more cautions. Of course, they talk about the guy who broke his neck. The acrobat thinks he slipped. He can’t imagine how it happened because it’s well-lit and he’s never had a problem. Bredon if the guy had nails on his shoes. What an odd question. The guy talking is Daniels. Bredon is shocked that the insurance company didn’t fully investigate.

Oops, I’ve been talking about Hankin. Armstrong’s office is near the spiral staircase. Hankin’s at the opposite end of the corridor near the other staircase. He quickly wrote a few paragraphs (a sonnet, eh?) and then went out and studied the staircase and it is near Ingleby’s door. He is looking for the typists’ room and asks for help. He says frightfully a lot. Downstairs are the big igs, printing, and the washroom?

Ingleby is used to holding hands of new copywriters. He believes that encouragement is the way to go. He looks at Bredon’s early efforts and gives advise and background information. The company owners are straight-laced so he also tells what they will not approve of. He believes that the clients get in the way of good advertising because of their fads. Bredon comments there’s more to it than meets the eye.

I wonder if the spiral staircase is descent, which means managers live in Hell, which is appropriate! Ingleby has weighed and measured Bredon and has found him wanting. LOL As soon as everyone leaves, he goes through the dead guy’s desk. He’s got Alice in Wonderland. Is this an upside down world? I looked up guard-book and it is a collection of advertisements. I suspect each account/product had one.

They talk about derby and close calls on the steps. They tell Bredon that the margarine account is unlucky. People discuss how to trim an ad but the owner is picky about what must be included. Plus there is a time deadline. Ingleby shows him the guard-book for the Green Pastures margarine account, what to do (cow picure, price, taste), what not to do (Psalm 23, negroes, don’t knock butter).

Ingleby takes him to his “dog kennel” room and points out the rooms of others on the way. He and Bredon crack jokes about the spiral staircase with knobs to prevent boys from sliding down it. Group managers and conference rooms are downstairs. The fall happened while they were at work and one of the girls describes what happened that day. After the long, gory details, Bredon asks if that happens often. LOL