Mission Impossible

“Mission Impossible” is the name detectives give the investigation into Carolyn Polhemus’s murder, turning its apparent difficulty and political deadline into a joke. The expression captures both their skepticism about solving the case quickly and their irritation at the expectations surrounding it.

Use and Meaning

Dan Lipranzer reports that detectives at McGrath Hall are using the nickname in their everyday talk about the case. It is not presented as an official designation: its force comes from the contrast between an ambitious promise of progress and the investigators’ sense that the mystery may remain unsolved. The phrase makes that pessimism portable, reducing the case to a label that can be repeated as a cynical shorthand.

Investigative and Political Context

The nickname carries a specific deadline. Dan says the detectives doubt the investigation will produce an answer in time for Raymond Horgan. He blames Horgan for allowing the press to expect a quick result, arguing that repeated interviews about the department’s efforts have made the difficulty harder to manage. The phrase therefore refers not only to the murder investigation but also to the public pressure surrounding it.

Dan voices this complaint during lunch with the narrator at a vacant lot beneath a highway viaduct. The informal setting contrasts with the publicity and institutional expectations he criticizes: the nickname belongs to the detectives’ private working language, where frustration can be stated more plainly than in a press interview.