Capote Vs. Hitchcock

Hitchcock's nickname is the "master of suspense." Capote is creating an enormous amount of suspense, and in some of his methods he is similar to Hitchcock. Just as in Rope Hitchcock had Rupert slowly figuring out that Brandon and Philip were the murderers, so in In Cold Blood Capote has Nye and others slowly figure out that Dick and Perry were murderers. During Nye's interview with the Hickocks, Nye first realizes Perry and Dick could have done it, they had no legitimate alibi: "The suspects could have made a round-trip journey of rather more than eight hundred miles, and, in the process, murder four people." (169) Then he hears that Dick at least was behaving unusually. Then he notices a gun, and "He felt certain it was the weapon that had killed the Clutter family. (171) I'm not sure if it is the gun that murdered the Clutters, but they were both .12-gauge Savage shotguns. He is clearly extremely suspicious at this point. Others have mentioned feeling sympathy towards Perry. If they are caught, and the trail is getting hotter, Perry could be executed, and of course he eventually is. If we as readers care about this character it builds suspense to have the clues slowly be found. Another thing I noticed that resembles Hitchcock is the use of comedy for suspense. At the end of the scene where Dick and Perry intend to steal a car, an intensely suspenseful scene, Perry is about to kill the driver. But out of the blue, a third hitchhiker appears as the driver is laughing nonchalantly at Dick's dirty jokes. I find this funny because the driver, Mr. Bell, had absolutely no idea that if this soldier hadn't shown up he would be dead, and probably left by some road somewhere. It is funny in that all of the sudden Dick and Perry's elaborate plans and work are for nothing, but it at the same time creates suspense because, well, Dick and Perry can't do anything. This third guy is a soldier, they certainly can't kill Mr. Bell. Who knows what they'll do? Maybe they'll try to kill them both. Maybe they'll crack and do something stupid. They could do anything because they can't plan together. But what is certain is that uncertainty creates suspense, particularly when that uncertainty involves possible murder, etcetera. And Capote's use of comedy in a suspenseful situation adds to this.