The New York Trilogy

Blue is a private detective in New York, working at Brown’s agency. Brown has been Blue’s teacher in the profession and is now retired. The story begins when White visits Blue and hires him to watch a man named Black; he doesn’t say why. He has rented a small apartment for Blue across the street from Black’s apartment. White asks Blue for a weekly written report.

The story starts in 1947 and continues for years. Blue says goodbye to his companion, “the future Mrs Blue” (138), and settles in the small apartment at Orange Street. He starts watching Black from the window, seeing the man writing at his desk. Blue records his observations in a notebook. Later, Blue watches Black having dinner and reading a book, Thoreau’s Walden. Days pass and Blue becomes disillusioned. Black only reads, writes, and occasionally walks around the block. Blue thinks the only way to understand is to see into Black’s mind. To occupy himself, Blue reads magazines, particularly True Detective.

Blue struggles to adjust to this new reality. Accustomed to observing “the surface of things” (145), he realizes he never considered his inner world. To make sense of the case, Blue starts inventing stories about Black and White’s relationship. Meanwhile, he continues to think of the future Mrs. Blue but feels a gradual change within himself. Finally, he records the details of the case on his typewriter.

While following Black on his walks, Blue recalls his childhood and realizes he likes Black. Black enters a bookstore and Blue follows him in and buys a copy of Walden. Later, he follows Black into a restaurant, where a woman joins him. Blue assumes they are having a tense conversation because the woman cries and Black looks sad. Finally the two leave.

Blue continues sending reports to White and receives payment from him but no further comments on the case. Disheartened, he nonetheless feels a responsibility to resolve the case. He continues following Black, becoming even more obsessed with him. Simultaneously, he starts enjoying his walks around the city.

Knowing Black’s movements in advance, Blue starts to deviate from Black’s course, watching ball games or going to bars. Mostly he goes to the movie theater and watches film noirs. The film Out of the Past remains in his mind and he thinks about the protagonist for days. He starts reading Walden but struggles to understand the book.

One day while wandering around the city, he comes across his former fiancée, who is with another man. She becomes hysterical when she sees him and the man beside her comforts her. Blue understands that he has lost his previous self. He thinks of ways to approach Black. He sends a report to White saying that Black is sick, hoping to extract information.

The next morning, Blue waits outside the post office to see the man who receives his reports. He sees a masked man retrieve the envelope from the post box and follows him, but the man escapes. He then receives a letter from White saying “No more funny business” (169). Blue thinks taking action is the way to solve the case. He wonders if White and Black have plotted against him to trap him in the case. Blue feels condemned to live vicariously through other people. He knows Black’s movements in detail but gains no insight from watching him. He suspects that Black may be White’s construction.

Months pass, and Blue decides to approach Black in disguise. He takes up “a new identity” as a man living on the city’s streets (173). When Black appears, Blue asks him for some money. The next day, Blue, still disguised, starts a conversation with Black. Black tells Blue that he looks like Walt Whitman and tells him a story about the poet’s brain. He says that famous writers have passed through the neighborhood and claims that his hobby is learning about the lives of American writers. He also tells Blue that “writing is a solitary business” (178).

Blue sends his regular report to White and receives a response asking him why he is lying. Blue is close to despair, certain that Black and White are in league against him. He follows Black into a hotel lobby and they sit at the same table. They start talking and Black claims he is a private detective. Black says that he is involved in a case watching a man who reads and writes. He hints that the man knows he is being watched.

Blue feels disillusioned and realizes that the facts offer him nothing. He disguises himself as a salesman and goes to Black’s apartment. While Black chooses a red toothbrush, Blue notices a book. Black says he is a writer.

Blue considers abandoning the case but feels compelled to pursue it. He decides to break into Black’s apartment to look for clues. He searches Black’s papers and finds his own reports.

Blue keeps to the small apartment and neglects his appearance. He now identifies himself with Black, feeling compassion for the man. He returns to Black’s building and finds the man inside the apartment. Black is wearing a mask and points a gun at him. He says that Blue was the right man for his experiment. Black needed Blue to remind him “what [he] was supposed to be doing” (196), but Black doesn’t need him anymore. Blue wants to know the story and Black says he already knows it. Blue dares him to kill him. They wrestle, and Blue leaves Black unconscious. He takes Black’s manuscripts and returns to his apartment. He reads Black’s story and realizes that he did know it all.

The story ends when Blue leaves the room. The “I” of the narrator appears again and states that Blue has left for an unknown destination.