In Death and Other Details, the Colliers call Rufus Cotesworth a hack, which later turns out to be true.
Rufus Cotesworth is regarded as the world’s greatest detective, which is why Imogene chooses him to investigate the death of her mother, Kira.
Imogene had seen a video of Rufus on the internet. It is of Rufus’ appearance on a TV show, in which he discusses how he solved a difficult case that even Scotland Yard and MI5 couldn’t solve.
The case is about a stolen necklace, and after hearing Rufus’ explanation, the host of the TV show gave the title of world’s greatest detective to Rufus Cotesworth.
The truth Rufus is hiding
Rufus discloses his secret when Llewellyn calls him out for being a hack and missing the truth about Kira’s death when it had been right in front of him.
Rufus admits to not being the world’s greatest detective. He lied about the case of the stolen necklace, which he explained on the TV show.
Rufus won that necklace in a poker game, and after learning that it is stolen, he spun a lie and showed everyone that he solved that case. That’s how he became the world’s greatest detective.
Rufus likes to think there is no such thing as the world’s greatest detective. It’s an invention. It’s a bluff, and Rufus bluffed as hard as he could.
The case that changed it all
Rufus and his partner, Danny, had been taking easy cases to protect Rufus’ title and earn as much money as they could.
Rufus picked up Kira Scott’s case only because Lawrence Collier is a billionaire and would pay them a lot.
However, Danny reminds Rufus that Lawrence Collier is a high-profile individual. They may make a lot of money, but if they fail to solve the case, their perfect record will be hurt.
Something like that happens, as Kira’s murder is far more difficult to solve than they imagined. Rufus fails to solve it, but losing his credibility doesn’t hurt him. It’s not being able to keep the promise he made to Imogene that hurts him the most.
Imogene was Rufus’ only lead, but she had blocked some of her memories, and he could not pressure an 11-year-old; her guardians, the Colliers and Kira’s mother, didn’t allow him, which saw him walk out of the case.
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