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How does the Quinn family’s wealth and status in the town of Jewel factor into the investigation?
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Quinn was the largest landowner in the county. He was a bully and a drunk. He had pissed off half of the men in the county at one time or another. Quinn probably thought he was untouchable because of his wealth. “He wore a three-piece suit and was posed (in a photo) in a way that might make one think of those great robber barons who so horribly misshaped America’s history with their greed and hubris.” (Being repeated today.) Quinn is not liked. Felix noted that “feeding those catfish is just about the only unselfish thing that man ever did.” Those who attended the funeral did not seem grieved, but nevertheless looked to Noah Bluestone as the killer because that’s what Indians do. Brody doesn’t care who killed Quinn because he was certain that it was justified and feels like “a coward for not having taken Quinn down himself long before.”
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As Nancy noted, practically everyone in Jewel had motive to kill James Quinn. Brody instinctively understands that and wipes Quinn’s truck of prints in a valiant but futile effort to shield everyone in Jewel from a murder investigation.
The family’s wealth and status puts the focus on others. At least until Quinn’s daughter provides the motive to Charlie. I don’t think anyone, Charlie, Brody or Connie, would have ever considered Marta as the one who killed her husband unless Fiona had provided the link.
Noah Bluestone’s gift to the family which includes his son is even more generous because he is fully aware of the family dynamics and intends to continue to protect Marta.
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The sad thing about certain rich people like Quinn is that they can hold so much power over so many people. He can ruin lives if they cross him. Too many people want to curry favor with people like that, or are forced to. People pay lip service to him, whether they believe he’s a good or a bad person (witness the turnout at the funeral). He influenced the way many people did business or ran their lives, simply because of the power and wealth he possessed. Therefore, when he’s murdered, the townspeople wanted an easy answer, a scapegoat, and then to move on. Nobody truly mourned him. Nobody really cared about what happened to him except those who might benefit from the situation, like getting rid of someone they personally disliked (I can’t at the moment think of who that loudmouth was who immediately blamed and threatened Noah, stirring up all that hatred — I don’t have the book available for reference– sorry!) And as you say, Jane, because of who Quinn was, it motivated Brody to alter his investigation in a huge way when he decided that it was a justified killing and should be swept under the rug.
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