am I right?
“Asshole.” She topped off her wine, offered Eli the bottle. He only shook his head. “So. Your turn.”
“Not much to add. I gave them the rundown, which would’ve run parallel to yours, and Vinnie’s—who Wolfe may think is a dirty cop to go along with my other friend, the skanky, lying ho.”
“And co-murderer,” Abra reminded him with a lift of her glass.
“You take it well.”
“Now, after peeling and dicing potatoes, and drinking a glass of wine. But back up, someone got into Duncan’s office and apartment in Boston and now there’s no record of his clients, who might have hired him to investigate you. And all his things were cleaned out of the B-and-B. So it’s a very logical leap to that client. The police have to make that leap.”“Not if it’s Wolfe. I’m his white fucking whale.”
“I hated that book. Anyway, nobody who knows Vinnie is going to see dirty cop. And as we didn’t know each other until you moved here, it can’t be proven otherwise. Add to that my sex fast, and it’s really hard to box me as a big ho. All of that just weighs on your side, Eli.”1. does “after peeling and dicing potatoes, and drinking a glass of wine” have any special meaning here?
2. does “back up”=back to the point?
3. what does “a logical leap to that client”mean? does it mean “for that client, he may think that is illogical?”
4. what does “white fucking whale”mean?

Question

am I right?
“Asshole.” She topped off her wine, offered Eli the bottle. He only shook his head. “So. Your turn.” 
“Not much to add. I gave them the rundown, which would’ve run parallel to yours, and Vinnie’s—who Wolfe may think is a dirty cop to go along with my other friend, the skanky, lying ho.” 
“And co-murderer,” Abra reminded him with a lift of her glass. 
“You take it well.” 
“Now, after peeling and dicing potatoes, and drinking a glass of wine. But back up, someone got into Duncan’s office and apartment in Boston and now there’s no record of his clients, who might have hired him to investigate you. And all his things were cleaned out of the B-and-B. So it’s a very logical leap to that client. The police have to make that leap.”“Not if it’s Wolfe. I’m his white fucking whale.” 
“I hated that book. Anyway, nobody who knows Vinnie is going to see dirty cop. And as we didn’t know each other until you moved here, it can’t be proven otherwise. Add to that my sex fast, and it’s really hard to box me as a big ho. All of that just weighs on your side, Eli.”1. does “after peeling and dicing potatoes, and drinking a glass of wine” have any special meaning here?
2. does “back up”=back to the point?
3. what does “a logical leap to that client”mean? does it mean “for that client, he may think that is illogical?”
4. what does “white fucking whale”mean?

Answer

1. I don't think there's a special meaning here.
2. In conversation, "back up" means to return to a previous topic. Here's an example:
  A: How's Jim?
  B: He's doing okay. He took a trip to Europe after his mom died, to clear his head. I think he has a new job now.
  A: Whoa, back up. His mom died?!
3. A 'logical leap' is another word for 'inference'. In other words, it's the connection of two ideas based on some kind of evidence. For example, if $200 was stolen from me, and my brother came home the next day with a new computer, I could make a logical leap and infer that my brother stole the money.
4. This is a reference to the book 'Moby Dick', which is a story about a sea captain's lifetime obsession to find a whale that bit off his leg. Calling something a person's 'white whale' means it's something that he or she is focused on chasing, finding, etc. It usually carries a negative connotation.

Answers · 1

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