Chapter 1 footnotes

No electrical or water services seemed to enter this room in the sub-basement of the old train station

Denver’s original Union Station opened on June 1, 1881, in the central Platte Valley but was heavily damaged by fire in 1894. It was quickly rebuilt and is the building that stands today, but it was not until 1914 that the building took the shape that is recognizable today (and can be seen on the cover of this book). There is only a basement, no sub-basement (that I know of).

He looked at the sign printed on the glass door — “Platte Valley Model Railroad Engineers.”

The Platte Valley & Western Model Railroad still meets in the basement of Union Station, despite the ongoing construction at the station. The group also has a Facebook page.

He moved closer to the kid to see if he had any other weapons besides the semi, which he now recognized as a .45-caliber Colt M1911, a beautiful weapon.

Even though guns fascinate me, I can never fire one or own one because I and would almost certainly become a gun nut (and I believe strongly in gun control), but I must admit I’ve always admired the M1911. I’m not alone in this; the state of Utah thinks enough of it to designate it the state firearm.

Munroe ignored the terminal’s translation, even though the beekeeper gag impressed him.

Sherlock Holmes, of course, retired to the life of Sussex beekeeper in his retirement, as is related in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s His Last Bow.

The lieutenant nodded and asked, “What’s the distance for a TASER?”

Many people are unaware that a TASER fires two darts trailed by wires that connect to the TASER, so you can’t fire at anyone farther away than the length of the wires.

He deleted everything and looked back at Yamaguchi, who as usual was already listening to the local public radio station.

That station is, of course, Colorado Public Radio, of which I am a member. Of course, Community Radio for Northern Colorado (KUNC) also serves the metro area.

They were watching TV in the corner of the room. Barney Miller, he noted. He’d always liked Barney Miller.

My particular friend Lee the cop loves Barney Miller and so do I, so I think this link is appropriate. 

I won’t just be Casper the Friendly Ghost to her.

I am old enough that I grew up watching Casper the Friendly Ghost on Saturday morning TV. I think I may even had read a Casper comic book. God I’m old.