I don't know how much [literary agent Ad
Schulberg] wrote you about our reaction, but I must say that it was entirely
favorable. There was one very basic point made, however, in our editorial
discussion about the first section of the manuscript. There does not seem to be
any representative of the higher moral values in society - either a cop or a
private citizen – to help cope with the criminal situation. One's sympathy
seems to be with the master-mind bank robber. It was difficult - in fact
impossible - to tell just how you were going to work things out, but there
should develop some opportunity for the law to enter in a very specific and
positive way. Or failing that, the protagonist must ultimately pay for his
crime - not simply to meet the standards of an arbitrary Code, but so that his
actions are placed in proper perspective.
