Rudolph's evidence doesn't make sense

[spiritofair]

I think all of this is easily explained by the idea that Rudy's evidence doesn't have to make sense. Rudy isn't operating on the up and up. He's got a vendetta against Harry. Why? Money. His house is way too nice, clearly someone has been paying him under the table.

I think Rudy being in the pocket of the Black Council all along, not necessarily the Red Court. If the Red Court were his direct handler (the Eebs... remember, they are possibly not dead...), then either the Eebs could still be working him OR it could be whoever was directing the Red Court at the White Council, which is, I believe, the Black Council. Cowl. Or someone working with Cowl. Hell, Cowl could have bargained for the lives of the Eebs and gotten them out of the Erlking's court.

Come to think of it, why didn't Harry ask the Erlking about the Eebs when he met the Erlking in Cold Days? He didn't have a ton of time, sure, but no reference at all to the last time he saw the Erlking being a rumble? None at all? Probably because Jim didn't want us to know what happened to them.

[Bad Alias]

Then there would be a homicide investigation carried out by homicide investigators since Murphy hasn't been on the police force for years now, and Harry the same, they are private citizens. It shouldn't be Internal Affairs.

Yeah, but that doesn't have much to do with my point of how there is an investigation when there's a known crime. The point of an investigation is to find evidence, so it shouldn't be surprising that Rudy doesn't have all the evidence he needs to get an arrest warrant.

I thought the Ick ate his face.

No. He was with Murphy and Tilly last we heard from him in Changes.

Not that the cops tried to put the hard word on them with minimal evidence (all of which was circumstantial), but that both Murphy and Harry didn't call them out on it.

Most evidence is circumstantial. The unbelievable part is how bad Murphy and Harry are at dealing with being the subject of a criminal investigation, one in which they are actually guilty of numerous crimes. Don't talk to the cops is a pretty good rule of thumb. It's not even a bad idea if you're innocent. It's a really good idea if you're guilty.

[KurtinStGeorge]

You forget there is a record of Harvey’s retinal scam at the bank, which pushes the time line waaay back. Marcone isn’t cooperating, no evidence from the Bank at all. HIS CPD made everything disappear, his clients are aware the Nicky the perpetrator, got handed his ass by Marcone.

Rudy has been pointed at “what happened on this day involving Harry Dresden” and he has skimmed public resources, receiving contradictory results. Harvey had a secretary out to lunch, and I bet she said Harvey was in the office all afternoon when Harry was clearly elsewhere, alibiing Harvey. Someone has promised Rudy a big payout if he gets the goods on Harry and he is reaching.

You are right.  That actually helps Harry.  Nic's plan took three days to carry out.  Harvey's murder took place on the second day and the vault job and the retina scan happened on day three, which makes the photo of Harry taken on day two even less valuable.

Yeah, but that doesn't have much to do with my point of how there is an investigation when there's a known crime. The point of an investigation is to find evidence, so it shouldn't be surprising that Rudy doesn't have all the evidence he needs to get an arrest warrant.
No. He was with Murphy and Tilly last we heard from him in Changes.

Most evidence is circumstantial. The unbelievable part is how bad Murphy and Harry are at dealing with being the subject of a criminal investigation, one in which they are actually guilty of numerous crimes. Don't talk to the cops is a pretty good rule of thumb. It's not even a bad idea if you're innocent. It's a really good idea if you're guilty.

Yes, I have an uncle who is a retired judge who once told me to never talk to the police if I thought there was the slightest chance I could be a suspect.  He added that, "If you witnessed someone running out of a bank with a gun in one hand and a bag full of money in the other hand, that would be different; but even then you need to careful, don't say too much.  Just say what you saw and nothing more."

I once watched one of those true crime shows about an investigation of a police officer for murder and several other related crimes.  Of course with these reality TV shows you never really know how much you are seeing is so much hot air, but the investigator in that case said, "You would think that a police officer who committed a crime would be one of the toughest subjects to trip up and get useful information out of, but often it's just the opposite.  Knowing how to question a subject can give the person who is being questioned a false sense of security that they know the game, so they become overconfident and trip themselves up.  Plus, because a police officer or former officer knows how the system works it can sometimes be easier to make it appear that walls are closing in around them, that it's time to come clean." 

I also thought Karin's attitude towards Harry when he said, "What should we do?" to be out of line.  I don't remember her exact words but it was something like, "What are we, Bond villain's in Rudolph's detective fantasy?"  Harry and Karin have both figured out that someone is targeting them and this individual or faction probably won't have any compunctions about creating false evidence to frame them.  Harry knows people and not people who could literally make evidence disappear.  That should be a reasonable back up plan for both of them to consider. 

[KurtinStGeorge]

Rudolph's arc; if that's what we can call it, doesn't make much sense at this point.  For example, with Marcone, even if we don't know his back story it's plenty to know that he chose a life of crime and has risen to the top of his profession.  Everything he does fits in with a crime lord's quest for power and riches, even if we find that Marcone is a much more complex person than average thug killer who runs a crime family.

In Fool Moon Rudolph was a useless coward.  In Grave Peril he threatened to kill Harry if Harry let anything bad happen to Murphy.  Did Rudy have a thing for his boss back then and Karin rejected him?  Who knows.  I don't think we saw Rudolph again until Changes when he turned into an abject coward again.  Maybe there's a cool way to make Rudy's changes in attitude make sense and make Rudolph's vendetta seem like a natural progression of events but right now it's somewhat messy and doesn't feel right, at least to me.

(By the way; according to Jim's new definition of what it means to be a tough guy, just as Butters is tough and dangerous because he threatened to knock Harry's teeth out if Harry made fun of the three way relationship Butters now finds himself in, Rudolph must also be; or at one time was, a tough and dangerous person because he threatened Harry in a convincing manner.  What nonsense.  As someone who has known two or three really dangerous people, the most dangerous people don't threaten, they just act.  Your best defense; aside from a loaded weapon, is to able to read their moods and body language so you can get the hell out of their way when it looks like they're about to go off.  Of course, even better is to avoid them all together.) 

[Yuillegan]

Agreed, in my forces days you learn the people who are really dangerous are the loose cannons. The thing that makes them dangerous is unpredictability. They might just fly off the handle because they get looked at the wrong way. But really they'll get you and everyone else killed because they will do something rash. Which isn't to say people who are more controlled are not dangerous. Plenty of those around. But they are generally more predictable and therefore easier to manage. Of course, smart and controlled people...that's when you need to start watching yourself as if they can outthink you then they are just as unpredictable as the loose cannons.

In my reading, Rudolph is only mildly dangerous. Mostly because of his tendency to do stupid things under pressure. Harry is more of a danger to himself in a confrontation with the law because of his fairly irrational belief in the institution (considering he is a Wizard in a supernatural world). If he bothered to fight his way out of being arrested for example (like he would against a supernatural threat), he would be likely be fine.

The reintroduction of Rudolph is all about whoever is wielding him/the law as a weapon against Harry and Jim needed/wanted a familiar face.

Also: does anyone notice that nearly every character under 6ft who is dangerous and male is built like a body builder? Will, the new cop Bradley (?), Jack Murphy etc

[Mira]

Yeah, but that doesn't have much to do with my point of how there is an investigation when there's a known crime. The point of an investigation is to find evidence, so it shouldn't be surprising that Rudy doesn't have all the evidence he needs to get an arrest warrant.

However  Bradley doesn't even know why it is IA that is investigating, he guesses because Murphy used to be a cop?  Come on, does that sound right to you?  If they are looking into a homicide then homicide should be looking into it.  Chicago has a sizable department.  No, it still sounds to me like Rudy is gathering what he can to be used later in blackmail. 

[Arjan]

I think the main reason we are seeing Rudolph now is that we are going to watch his total breakdown during the battle.

[morriswalters]

I think Rudolph's in the book to die and introduce his partner.

[Conspiracy Theorist]

I think we are going to see not Rudolph’s breakdown, but his total destruction, his disgrace. Prison time for him and disgrace.

There is a theory on Reddit that The Man In The Suit is Rudolph and that he tries to kill Murphy and Harry. We see Harry generate a shield and use it offensively to grind the man in a suit into a wall when he pulls a gun on Harry.

Harry won’t kill with magic but he would be willing to injure.

If so this shows two things, Harry may no longer need his shield bracelet as a focus, and secondly Harry has figured out a defensive shield can be an offensive shield. I never understood why he hasn’t ever run a spherical shield around an enemy and then contracted it massively compacting them to basketball size, would work nicely for Blamps, or if in a room full of adversaries just expanded his shield suddenly to crush them against the walls all at the same time, or created a shield around an adversaries head and then contracted it whilst striking a Darth Vader pose.

[Mira]

   Apparently Rudy was also tailing Harry and Murphy when they went to Lara's place to plan the escape.  What is that all about?  Assassination/murder of elves by a vampire and the F.B.I are involved?   

[TheCuriousFan]

I think we are going to see not Rudolph’s breakdown, but his total destruction, his disgrace. Prison time for him and disgrace.

There is a theory on Reddit that The Man In The Suit is Rudolph and that he tries to kill Murphy and Harry. We see Harry generate a shield and use it offensively to grind the man in a suit into a wall when he pulls a gun on Harry.

Harry won’t kill with magic but he would be willing to injure.

If so this shows two things, Harry may no longer need his shield bracelet as a focus, and secondly Harry has figured out a defensive shield can be an offensive shield. I never understood why he hasn’t ever run a spherical shield around an enemy and then contracted it massively compacting them to basketball size, would work nicely for Blamps, or if in a room full of adversaries just expanded his shield suddenly to crush them against the walls all at the same time, or created a shield around an adversaries head and then contracted it whilst striking a Darth Vader pose.

Because he struggles with maintaining a full bubble around himself, he is nowhere near good enough to use a shield offensively outside of melee range.

[Snark Knight]

Because he struggles with maintaining a full bubble around himself, he is nowhere near good enough to use a shield offensively outside of melee range.

The line between adapting the shield and forzare spells is actually kind of blurry. The shield is made of force, and he's used forzare with the focus turned out to full-body as a nonlethal for human gunmen since way early in the series. There's also blowing the front off Gard & Hendricks' safe house to create an escape in SmF, which is at least mid-range.

He seems to find planes easier than spheres to work with, but I'd argue what Harry did to Namshiel in the aquarium fight - squeezing him and batting him around with a soulfire-enhanced force spell - is pretty close to what Conspiracy Theorist is suggesting. He has the capability, he just has to figure out how to do it without Uriel bumping his elbow.

Though, generally, the strangler he tried to use on Shagnasty is probably lower effort. He just needs a couple extra loops to restrain the target's limbs and prevent drawing a circle to counter it.

[Bad Alias]

I also thought Karin's attitude towards Harry when he said, "What should we do?" to be out of line.  I don't remember her exact words but it was something like, "What are we, Bond villain's in Rudolph's detective fantasy?"  Harry and Karin have both figured out that someone is targeting them and this individual or faction probably won't have any compunctions about creating false evidence to frame them.  Harry knows people and not people who could literally make evidence disappear.  That should be a reasonable back up plan for both of them to consider.

They should definitely get a criminal lawyer who is aware of the supernatural seeing as how they are guilty of numerous crimes and have a bunch of diamonds from the crime. The government would definitely seize the diamonds if the found them, so they might as well use them to get a good lawyer using them now.

As to the evidence of Harvey being at the bank, I'm not sure if that exists. I don't know if the law requires it or if there are cameras in the vault.

However  Bradley doesn't even know why it is IA that is investigating, he guesses because Murphy used to be a cop?  Come on, does that sound right to you?  If they are looking into a homicide then homicide should be looking into it.  Chicago has a sizable department.  No, it still sounds to me like Rudy is gathering what he can to be used later in blackmail.

That it's weird that IA is investigating still doesn't have anything to do with my point that a lack of evidence isn't a reason to not have an investigation when there is sufficient evidence to know a crime has occurred and who is likely involved in some way.

[Mira]

That it's weird that IA is investigating still doesn't have anything to do with my point that a lack of evidence isn't a reason to not have an investigation when there is sufficient evidence to know a crime has occurred and who is likely involved in some way.

Then you have homicide investigate..  Harry and Murphy are civilians.  IA is for in house investigations pertaining to police misconduct, plus one of the investigating officers doesn't even know why they are there. 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

The problem with getting a criminal lawyer au fait with the supernatural world is that they are all Whamps, and Malvora and Skavi’s to boot. The Skavi’s feed when they send you the bill. Actually I think that applies to all lawyers.

Diamonds from what crime? They weren’t stolen from Marcone’s vault, indeed they gave Marcone diamonds, in what Pratchett would call an anti-crime. After this his vault will have had more diamonds in it, not less.

Why would the Government take them? Since they will predate any Kimberley records and are unlikely to capable of being shown to be blood diamonds (Greek and Roman diamonds came from India, nor Africa ) the Government would scratch their head and conclude they are heirlooms.