Jimmy Wells

Jimmy is a 40-year-old patrolman on the New York Police Department. He was born and raised in New York City, and for the first half of his life was best friends with Bob. The story's twist ending depends on Jimmy's identity not being divulged until the end, and the narrator further maintains the patrolman's anonymity by providing no physical description of him. All the reader ever knows about Jimmy's appearance is that he is not as tall as the plainclothesman in the overcoat and has a Roman nose. Another word for this is an aquiline nose, which refers to the shape of an eagle's beak. It is possible here that O. Henry is further reinforcing the fact of the patrolman's watchful eye by suggesting the eagle-like feature, as the eagle is known for its keen eyesight. Yet, even though the reader does not know that the humble...