George Kennedy

George Kennedy is a private detective who becomes a practical ally to Mike Noonan and, during an attack at Mattie Devore’s trailer, proves capable of meeting violence with controlled force. First introduced in connection with Mike’s legal affairs, he later intervenes against an armed assailant and helps keep the attacker in custody until assistance can be found.

Identity and Introduction

Kennedy is identified as a private detective when Mike meets him at a terminal alongside Romeo Bissonette, the lawyer who had guided Mike through his deposition. He introduces himself formally and explains that his wife has read all of Mike’s books, asking Mike to sign one for her. His manner is courteous and slightly shy, a personal touch that contrasts with the danger he later faces.

The first impression is deliberately ordinary. Kennedy wears a brown suit, blue shirt, and string tie fastened with a golf-club clasp; Mike thinks he looks more like a farmer at an auction than a man likely to enliven an evening over drinks. The apparent plainness of his clothes becomes meaningful when he later keeps the same suit jacket on during a crisis, its incongruity concealing a readiness that Mike only understands once the attack begins.

Professional Connections and Character

Kennedy’s work brings him into contact with Mike’s legal and personal circle. He had been present during Mike’s deposition, where the stenographer’s equipment unsettled Mike; Kennedy explains that the stenographer, Gerry Bliss, is the last person in the area still using a Stenomask. Kennedy himself had bought one from Bliss, apparently as a memento. The exchange situates him as a professional familiar with the details of legal proceedings, but also as someone capable of taking an interest in their odd remnants.

At Mattie’s trailer, Kennedy joins a relaxed gathering with Mike, John Storrow, and others. He sits outside with Ki and tells a story about having shot it out with Rolfe Nedeau and the Real Bad Gang on Lisbon Street in 1993. John teases him about the increasingly implausible length of his nose, treating the tale as an exaggeration. The later attack gives this anecdote a different resonance: although the story is presented socially and questioned humorously, Kennedy’s composure and skill under actual gunfire are not in doubt.

The Attack at Mattie’s Trailer

When a car carrying masked men returns along the road, the passenger aims a weapon from the window. Kennedy walks toward the vehicle without hurrying, even though blood is spreading across the right thigh of his trousers. He has kept his jacket on throughout the gathering, and the earlier choice now reads as preparation rather than eccentricity. As the car tries to escape, he draws his pistol and fires five deliberate shots. The final shot disables a rear tire; the car leaves the road and overturns in a ditch, where it catches fire.

Kennedy’s response is controlled rather than triumphant. He confronts the surviving shooter, George Footman, and holds him at gunpoint. When Mike is present, Kennedy tells him to go inside and find something to restrain Footman, asking specifically for strapping tape. He estimates that he can keep the man covered for another minute or two, but makes clear that his own wound limits how long he can do so. His call for practical help both protects the group and acknowledges that even his competence has physical limits.

Narrative Role and Significance

Kennedy serves as more than a private investigator attached to Mike’s affairs: at the trailer, he becomes the immediate barrier between the armed attackers and the people gathered there. The scene turns his initially unremarkable appearance into a useful contrast. The suit that suggested a harmless, almost comic figure is also the clothing in which he remains prepared, while his refusal to hurry under fire gives the confrontation its most defining image.

His presence also connects the novel’s legal and personal conflicts to its physical danger. He first enters through Mike’s deposition and professional dealings, but the attack makes his role tangible: he acts quickly, gives Mike a concrete task, and holds the surviving assailant until help can be secured. The episode confirms the seriousness beneath the social teasing of his earlier story, without making him invulnerable; he succeeds while wounded and explicitly needs assistance.