“Trueheart has a kind of ‘Officer Friendly’ way about him.” - Eve Dallas to Commander Whitney, Survivor in Death[1]
Introduction[]
Introduced in Conspiracy in Death, working Homicide-Lite with Ellen Bowers.
Descriptions[]
- Described as very young, with guileless eyes; All-American looking with long legs; about as grim as a cocker spaniel puppy
- Caucasian with pale skin
- “Very cute”
- An All-American boy, cute as a button in his summer blues.[2]
- Young and studly[3] with a young hero face.[4] He is sweet and hunky.[5]
- Trueheart hadn’t shaken off all the green, but he was dependable as sunrise.[6]
- Lieutenant Dallas described Trueheart like this, when he receives promotion to detective: “He’s smart, and he’s observant, and has a way of working through a problem thoughtfully. His looks don’t hurt. He looks handsome and homespun, and some people mistake that for him being a soft touch, easy to dupe. He’s not. And he’s got a shiny code of honor.”[7]
Personality[]
- Earnest
- Catholic - goes to St. Patrick’s Cathedral for Mass when he can get into Midtown on Sundays; otherwise he goes to Our Lady of the Sorrows, downtown.[8]
- He raises his hand like he’s in class.[9]
- Trueheart, according to Baxter, is a sweet kid.[10]
- Shy[13]
- He blushes.[14][15]
- Baxter said his boy, Trueheart, is a real gentleman.[17]
History[]
- Mother is Pauline Trueheart, single parent, tall and slim.
- Trueheart’s father abandoned his family when Troy was a child.[18]
- Trueheart wanted to be a police officer since he was a child.[7]
On the Job[]
- In January 2059, Trueheart states he has been out of the academy for three months,[19] placing his graduation as October or November of 2058 (if the Academy runs a two-year program – Conspiracy in Death). Trueheart would have joined at about age 20/21 as he is 22 years old in Witness in Death (late March 2059).[20]
- In Witness in Death (late March, 2059), Trueheart thanked Dallas for her assistance in having him transferred from stiff-scooping detail to Central.[21]
- He was shot and wounded in Witness in Death.[22] Injuries included a gash along the thigh and spinal injuries. He recovered fully.
- He was given the game Super Street Fighter by Peabody and Dallas while he was in the hospital.[23]
- Baxter became Trueheart’s trainer in July 2059 (Purity in Death).
- He is tranq’d and kidnapped by Gerald Stevenson (aka Steve Audrey) in Portrait in Death, August 14, 2059, and is located when he engages his communicator; police get his location based on his clues, as well as the street sounds they hear (airjack, tourist blimp).[24]
- By March 2060, he’d lost a lot of the green he’d had on him when Eve had first seen him on scooper detail.[11]
- As of June 2060, he was described as young and slightly seasoned.[25]
- In July 2060 (Indulgence in Death) Baxter judged that Trueheart was almost ready to take the detective exam, although this was fast track. Baxter told Dallas that Trueheart “needs a little more time.”[13]
- His trainer, Baxter, believes that Trueheart will “make a good detective.”[13]
- Baxter says Trueheart will be a good detective because he’s “quick,” has “good instincts,” and “thinks things through.”[13]
- Baxter believes Trueheart is “made for Homicide” because he sees that every homicide victim was a person, and that he will never lose that, even with time: “he’s wired that way.”[13]
- In autumn of 2060, Trueheart shows “good, creative work”[26] in building a color-coded spreadsheet of victims and witnesses during the search for the Red Horse murderer (Delusion in Death).[27]
- He takes and passes the exam for Detective, third grade, in January 2061.[28][29]
Nicknames[]
- Baby Face[30]
- Officer Danish (to go along with Baxter as “Detective Pig-Eater” as they enjoyed a breakfast buffet at Eve’s house)[31]
- Officer Friendly[32]
Interesting Facts[]
- When he was included in the pursuit of Kenneth Stiles, he was in heaven since he was after a murder suspect with Dallas (he thought she was amazing).[33]
- Trueheart liked to come to work a little early, so he could “look over yesterday’s work.”[11]
- Right handed
- Lived thirty-six blocks from Roarke’s mansion.
- In Vegas, he won over five thousand dollars on a slot called Pirate Quest.[34]
- In Fantasy in Death (July, 2060), Baxter told Roarke that Trueheart finally worked up enough courage “to ask out the little redheaded cutie in Records” - he had been seeing somebody else but it fizzled.[35]
- In Indulgence in Death (July, 2060), he asked Eve if he could bring a date to her barbecue, and said “Casey’s going to be really excited about Saturday.”[36]
- In Possession in Death (the day after Indulgence), Trueheart brought his “pretty, shy-eyed girlfriend” to Eve and Roarke’s barbecue,[37] but she was now named Cassie.[38] They were still dating in December 2060, and Dallas thought “they must be serious.”[39]
- In Desperation in Death (late June, 2061), Peabody said he just split from his girlfriend - she moved to East Washington for a job.[40]
References[]
- ↑ Survivor in Death (ISBN 0-425-20418-9), p. 61
- ↑ Remember When (ISBN 0-425-19547-3), p. 310
- ↑ Strangers in Death (ISBN 978-0-399-15470-6), p. 42
- ↑ Strangers in Death (ISBN 978-0-399-15470-6), p. 292
- ↑ Promises in Death (ISBN 978-0-399-15548-2), p. 243
- ↑ Eternity in Death, Chapter 8
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Brotherhood in Death (ISBN 978-0425279006), p. 73
- ↑ Imitation in Death Chapter 11
- ↑ Remember When (ISBN 0-425-19547-3), pp. 324, 425
- ↑ Divided in Death (ISBN 0-425-19795-6), p. 169
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Strangers in Death (ISBN 978-0-399-15470-6), p. 146
- ↑ Strangers in Death, Chapter 22
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 Indulgence in Death, Chapter 11
- ↑ Promises in Death (ISBN 978-0-399-15548-2), p. 247
- ↑ Strangers in Death, Chapter 20
- ↑ Promises in Death (ISBN 978-0-399-15548-2), p. 291
- ↑ Kindred in Death (ISBN 978-0-399-15595-6), p. 176
- ↑ Witness in Death (ISBN 0-425-17363-1), p. 298
- ↑ Conspiracy in Death (ISBN 0-425-16813-1), p. 16
- ↑ Witness in Death (ISBN 0-425-17363-1), p. 248
- ↑ Witness in Death (ISBN 0-425-17363-1), p. 191
- ↑ Witness in Death (ISBN 0-425-17363-1), p. 245
- ↑ Witness in Death (ISBN 0-425-17363-1), p. 295
- ↑ Portrait in Death (ISBN 0-425-18903-1) pp. 328, 331, 334-335
- ↑ Kindred in Death (ISBN 978-0-399-15595-6), p. 116
- ↑ Delusion in Death, Chapter 11
- ↑ Delusion in Death, Chapter 10
- ↑ In Calculated in Death, which takes place in December 2060, Dallas says “when Trueheart takes his detective’s exam next month.” Calculated in Death, Chapter 10
- ↑ 29.0 29.1 Brotherhood in Death (ISBN 978-0425279006), p. 71
- ↑ Creation in Death (ISBN 978-0-425-22102-0), p. 101
- ↑ Strangers in Death (ISBN 978-0-399-15470-6), p. 293
- ↑ Survivor in Death (ISBN 0-425-20418-9), p. 61
- ↑ Witness in Death (ISBN 0-425-17363-1), p. 241
- ↑ Promises in Death (ISBN 978-0-399-15548-2), p. 291
- ↑ Fantasy in Death, Chapter 12
- ↑ Indulgence in Death, Chapter 14
- ↑ Possession in Death, Chapter 1
- ↑ Possession in Death, Chapter 2; Taken in Death, Chapter 4
- ↑ Festive in Death (ISBN 978-0515154156), p. 164
- ↑ Desperation in Death, Chapter 13