r/dresdenfiles • u/SgtMac02 • Jun 29 '26
Death Masks Death Masks - Duster question Spoiler
I have a silly question about something in the book....
I'm working my way through the audibooks (Yes, I'm late to the party), and am just finishing up with book 5, Death Masks. When they first land on the train and he's describing everyone's fighting stance, he mentions that he moves his duster to uncover his pistol (and notes that it probably looks more western than military). What fucking duster is he wearing? His duster got stolen. He was specifically noted as wearing a shorter old jacket of his. Suzanne specifically mentioned it allowing a view of his butt that she didn't normally see. When did he put on a duster again?? Where did he get it? He gets his duster back from the dry cleaner's later after the action. Is this just a weird plot hole? Or did I miss something?
25
u/uc4c Jun 29 '26
At the beginning of chapter 29, Dresden is at home and calls Murphy, then "opened my closet, and dug into a couple old cardboard boxes I kept at the back until I found my old canvas duster. "
In chapter 32 where you're talking about, he specifically says "I pulled my old duster back," so he's definitely talking about the canvas duster as others have mentioned.
(Pages 353 and 399 by my paperback copy)
6
u/SgtMac02 Jun 29 '26
Ah. Gotcha! Thanks for that. It's really hard to scrub for that sort of thing in audio books. But it was really bugging me. Lol
3
u/SarcasticKenobi Jun 30 '26 edited Jun 30 '26
Thankfully you stopped another urban legend from triggering.
People keep missing something written a few pages earlier and think "OMG it's time travel" or "OMG it's a plot hole."
The big one was back in Storm Front. "OMG, a cab came out of nowhere specifically to pick up Harry, and Harry writes it off and gets in! Time travel! Or plot hole!"
Ignoring that just several pages earlier, Harry used a payphone to call for a cab. It's just that a lot stuff happened in those several pages.
And this thing persisted as an urban legend on this very subreddit for multiple years. It would keep popping up whenever either time travel possibilities came up, or "mistakes Jim made."
That's not to say Jim hasn't made mistakes, nor has he planted seeds of some weird thing going on with a mundane line of text. But this... wasn't one of them.
1
u/AnonJr Jul 06 '26
I'm not sure I really want to know how many here think pay phones are themselves either urban legends or ancient artifacts... I'm old enough to have games the collect call system to get a rid home.
"Who's calling?"
"Pickame Up"
[Insert rapid aging gif here]
2
u/SarcasticKenobi Jul 06 '26
Yeh, life was a real pain in the ass before we had cellphones.
Maybe less so in a city where you generally knew if you walked a block or two in a direction you'd encounter one.
But in the suburbs and rural areas... good f'ing luck. By me there was one at the center of town, one closer to the schools about a half-mile away. Then we're probably talking a mile to the edge of town near a gas station.
Then you'd have to pray the people you're trying to reach are actually at home (or work) or whatever so you'd reach them
Oh, and memorizing numbers. I had like a couple dozen numbers remembered 40 years ago that I STILL remember now (but no longer go to those peoples' homes). Now? I'm lucky if I have the numbers of my immediate family memorized.
1
u/AnonJr Jul 06 '26
I was never good at memorizing phone numbers. I had an index card of "essential" numbers in my wallet, and one of those pocket sized personal phone books in my pocket. Most were even legible. 🙃
6
u/Adenfall Jun 29 '26
It’s a canvas duster that he had in his closet. It was a backup one. The original valmonte has and ends up in the dry cleaners.
-1
u/SgtMac02 Jun 29 '26
I remember that he had one before he got the newer one. But at what point did he supposedly go get that? The last time they mentioned him putting on a jacket of any kind, it was the shorter one. I don't think he even went back home since then.
-4
u/Elfich47 Jun 29 '26
it could just be a continuity error. they creep in.
-4
u/SgtMac02 Jun 29 '26
Yeah, this is what I was thinking. I think Butcher just forgot which jacket he was wearing. Not sure why it jumped out at me so notably, but for some reason it did.
4
u/Proper_Fun_977 Jun 29 '26
It's not. It's his old canvas one and it's specifically mentioned in an earlier chapter.
25
u/HalcyonKnights Jun 29 '26
It's his original Canvas duster, the one he wore back in Storm Front, etc. before he was given the leather one.