Carter Sloane

CARTER SLOANE, PI

BACKGROUND: Carter Sloane was born in New York, in 1897, the son of Irish immigrants. He grew up in a rat-infested tenement in Hell’s Kitchen, never truly knowing who his father was. His mother told him it was a local criminal figure, Jimmy “Mad Dog” Donahue, but the mobster denied it. Sloane’s teen years were spent on the mean streets in a sordid jumble of robbery, thuggery and bare knuckle boxing, running with Donahue’s own gang, the Parlor Mob. He was a natural brawler, with an iron jaw and viscous left hook.

After the cops made a decent effort to break up the gangs of Hell’s Kitchen, criminal life became harder and much more dangerous. Sloane dodged a stint in prison, only by the intervention of a good local kid, Owen Dunn, who convinced and helped him to enlist in the National Guard. In less than two years, the United States declared war on the German Empire, and Sloane was on a ship bound for Europe with the American Expeditionary Forces.

Sloane served with the 42nd Infantry Division, seeing action at Saint-Mihiel and experiencing the horrors of the Argonne Forest. He was never far from his new lucky charm, Dunn, the pair somehow managing to avoid death. On more than one occasion Sloane put himself in harm’s way to save his friend and a lifelong bond was secured. A leg wound eventually earned Dunn a ticket home, shortly before the end of the war.

Sloane returned to his old neighborhood late in 1920, a war veteran and hero. People treated him differently now, with respect and admiration, and he vowed never to readopt his criminal ways. He easily found jobs working the doors of jazz bars and speakeasies, and Dunn joined him when he became well enough to walk again. They were eventually hired by Sherman Billingsley, the owner of the prestigious Stork Club, one of the finest nightclubs in Manhattan. They were employed to ensure Billingsley’s safety along with the patrons of the Stork.

It was during this time that Sloane met Gracie Moore, a pretty showgirl who was involved with a local gangster, Johnny “the Jip” Portelli. Portelli frequented the Stork Club along with his cronies, who often caused trouble there. One night Sloane intervened when the mobster was beating on Gracie and he pummelled Portelli senseless, breaking both his nose and pride, sending him packing. Gracie was eternally grateful, retired from dancing, and within six months the pair were married.

SLOANE'S FORD MODEL A

Tiring of the ritzy nightlife, and on Gracie’s behest, Sloane tried to convince Dunn to partnership a detective agency, but Dunn decided instead to join the police force. Undeterred Sloane opened his own PI office with Billingsley’s help. Sloane’s tenaciousness and street smarts served him well, and with the businessman’s contacts, the Sloane Detective Agency prospered, and quickly acquired an excellent reputation amongst New York’s upper-class. They could even afford to move into a decent apartment and hire a part-time cleaning lady. Soon after, Gracie gave birth to a baby boy, Carl Sloane, his father’s pride and joy.

On the 7th September 1928, Sloane’s world unraveled. The gangster, Johnny Portelli, who had never forgotten how Sloane had insulted him years ago, dropped into the agency to pay his “respects” to Sloane, but instead found Gracie there alone, as she would often help with the books. The gangster and his cronies meant to cut her face up a bit, but things got out of hand quickly and Gracie fought them like a wild cat. In the end one of Portelli’s men stuck her and she bled out on the office floor. There were witnesses, and when Sloane worked out who had killed her, he hunted the streets for them, delivering his own justice. Dunn and the cops got to Portelli first though and the gangster was sentenced to life in Sing Sing. Sloane was never the same.

For a long while Sloane drifted into depression and apathy, drowning his misery in whiskey. Carl was sent to live with Gracie’s sister in Charlton, Massachusetts, and he was forced to sell the apartment, moving back into a wretched tenement in Hell’s Kitchen. Dunn eventually convinced Sloane he had to return to work and once he mustered the strength, he threw himself into his cases wholeheartedly. But things had changed.

SLOANE'S S&W MODEL 27

Sloane found himself taking on every hopeless case the city could throw at him, atrocious cases that nobody else would touch, cases where the cops had come up empty handed or turned a blind eye. Gone were the cream jobs of trailing adultering wives and delivering subpoenas. Once a case was taken he dedicated every sober hour of the day and night, and if he got results, if he found out those responsible, he usually ensured they got what was coming to them. 

And so it has been for the last five years or so. Sloane lives in a perpetual world of death and despair, where the horrific is becoming mundane. But it’s what keeps him alive - the thoughts of revenge for all the poor souls - that and his kid.

SLOANE'S OFFICE

DESCRIPTION: Sloane looks older than his years; his face is drawn, his green eyes look perpetually tired. His short brown hair is unkempt, and although he tries to remain clean shaven, he often sports a 9 o’clock shadow.

Of average height and unimposing, Sloane maintains a sinewy build; his frame belying his inherent strength and resilience. His large, brawny hands, bare quite a few scars across the knuckles.

Sloane’s khaki trench coat is scuffed and stained, at the hems and cuffs. His usual attire is a dark grey suit, topped with a black fedora and crumpled necktie. His clothes are almost always disheveled and look slept in. His Smith & Wesson revolver hangs beneath his left arm in a worn leather shoulder holster.