Robert James Warner was born and raised in Long Beach, California, where he attended school. He was drafted into the Navy on March 9, 1944, during World War II as soon as he finished his last semester in high school. He was discharged from the Navy on June 16, 1946.
Mr. Warner went back to school, Long Beach City College, on the GI Bill, taking mechanical engineering, then switching to journalism. After about a year and a half at City College, he quit.
Mr. Warner had always been interested in writing, but he had huge handicaps to overcome: he couldn't spell (he still can't), and grammar was then and is now a mystery to him. Mr. Warner first began to write when he was about 20.
During the next few years, he wrote some songs, poetry, and short stories, but his output was quite low.
From 1947, after Mr. Warner left City College, to 1950, he had a number of different inconsequential jobs, the longest at Douglas Aircraft in Long Beach where he worked in the blueprint department for eight months. He then quit and loafed awhile.
In 1950, he enlisted in the Active Naval Reserve as a Week End Warrior so he could learn seamanship and get paid doing it. He has had a life-long love affair with boats (building his own) and fishing.
About three months later, the Korean War started and Mr. Warner was called back to active duty in the Navy Aircorp for a year, getting discharged in August 1951, serving on three aircraft carriers, operating off Korea in the China Sea, and bombing and strafing the communists!
After Korea, Mr. Warner went back to City College for awhile, then he got a job on a freighter as a deckhand and made two trips to the Hawaiian Islands (about 30 days round trip), hauling bulk sugar for C&H Sugar in Crocket California on the Sacramento River.
Leaving the ship in Crocket, he went to Santa Rosa, California, where he washed dishes in some restaurants and got a poem published in the local newspaper–a big day in his life.
Next, he went to Yosemite and washed some more dishes, and then he went home.
Mr. Warner has cleaned chicken dung from under the pens; owned and operated his own auto wrecking yard; owned his own 2nd Store; was half owner of a yacht landing; speculated in real estate; and worked at some other odd jobs, going to work for the Long Beach Fire Department in 1953 for the next 26 years and retiring in October 1979.
Mr. Warner married in 1961, had a son in 1963, and then divorced in 1973.
In 1974, Mr. Warner and his son, Jeff, drove to Alaska during the summer. On his return, Mr. Warner wrote his first novel.
Since 1974, Mr. Warner has written thirty-one novels, about 125 short stories, two Civil War books, and two poetry collections.
The dead man was lying face down in a pool of blood just inside of the bedroom doorway. He had a towel wrapped around his waist as if he had just come in to the bedroom from a shower. He was a stocky man, running to fat, late 40's or early 50's, dark, greying hair, which was about all one could see from the doorway since he was just a few steps inside the bedroom, falling face down away from the doorway.
He had been shot in the back of the head, the bullet coming out of his face taking his nose with it, leaving a gaping, ugly, bloody wound that could just be seen from the doorway as some kind of dark, ugly blob on the front of his face.
Gilmore (Lieutenant, in charge of homicide) started to go in to the bedroom, but Rodi (Robodick: Ro plus Di) said, "Do not go in the bedroom, please, you will contaminate the crime scene."
Gilmore, Eddy (Eddy Dix, main character), and Roxie (Eddy's girlfriend) all stared at Rodi for a long startled moment, then Gilmore smiled and said, "Quite right, ah is it Rodi? Yes, Rodi. Quite right, but we'll have to step in to the room to let you by."
Rodi said, "Yes, that is quite all right, thank you."
Gilmore, Eddy, and Roxie stepped in to the bedroom just far enough to let Rodi by, then they stepped back, Eddy and Roxie standing in the doorway, Gilmore just inside the doorway because they wasn't enough room for the three of them in the doorway.
Rodi had been walking but now he rose up off the floor a few inches so he wouldn't contaminate the crime scene. He quickly sent his six scanners out to scan the walls, floor, and ceiling, and his two evidence collectors, which made Gilmore exclaim in surprise as he watched the flying tools go to their positions and start working. They were silent, but lights came on shining on the spot they were scanning, much like flashlights, the two evidence collectors moving slowly and systematically over the floor looking and sniffing for evidence, their lights shining on the floor like flashlights too, their little retractable arms out, bent at the elbows, little hands ready, very much like crab claws, to pick up, suck up, or wipe up, any evidence, and mark the location of each bit of evidence, little nose tubes extended, noses sniffing the rug and furniture, slowly and systematically, examining the entire floor, rug, and underneath all of the furniture of the murder room for evidence very bug-like which caused Gilmore to exclaim, "Well, I'll be damned, lookit that, they look like a lotta big bugs!"
Eddy and Roxie could only nod in excited, expectant agreement as Eddy, said, "They sure do, sir."
Rodi, after sending out his eight tools, flew to the body and hovered over it, extending his nose tube and nose for a very careful smell examination from head to toe, then he carefully smelled the murder weapon, a revolver, then he just hovered over the body, examining the room with his battery of eyes, letting his eight tools to their job while he sent his crime scene computer graphics movie to the CCR for a close and leisurely examination, which automatically alerted the CCR which would be manned by Watchers whenever a crime scene investigation was in progress.
Eddy and Roxie had forgotten about their earphones and throat mikes, which were in Eddy's coat pocket. Rodi said, "Please put your earphones and throat mikes on, Eddy," which made Eddy and Roxie start in surprise, then they both smiled as Eddy exclaimed, "Oh, yeah, we forgot," and he took them out and they put them on, Eddy explaining to Gilmore, "We can talk to an' hear Rodi with this equipment, Lieutenant, wherever he is in the house."
Gilmore nodded and smiled as he said, "I see, it looks like you have a very wonderful machine there."
Eddy and Roxie both nodded emphatically and proudly as Eddy said with conviction, "We certainly do, sir."
Waiting for Rodi to finish his examination of the murder room, Eddy and Roxie forgot the CCR would be manned by the Watchers. When Eddy's wristwatch seephone blinked on and bonged softly he started with surprise, then he raised his wrist up so he could see the seephone screen, silently scolding himself for forgetting all about his wristwatch seephone and CCR. Krong's tiny image smiled his small smile at him as he said, "Hello, Eddy, Rodi is performing splendidly! His computer graphic movie is coming through perfectly. I am in CCR with some of my associates so we can watch Rodi at work and study the crime scene. We are sorry a man has been murdered."
Eddy turned slightly to Roxie, seeing that she had heard his seephone and was watching her own wristwatch seephone screen. She frowned as she murmured, "Damn, we forgot the CCR." Eddy nodded as he listened to Krong.
Gilmore asked, "What is that thing?"
Roxie said, "It's a wristwatch seephone, Lieutenant Gilmore, like a TV telephone. We can talk to the Watchers with it. Eddy's talkin' to 'em right now." Gilmore's eyebrows went up in surprise, then he smiled as he said, "Just like Dick Tracy."
Roxie nodded absently, listening to what Krong was saying, she'd heard of Dick Tracy, but vaguely, he was way before her time.
Eddy held his wristwatch seephone close to his lips as he spoke softly and said, "Hi, Krong, Rodi's doin' just fine, sir, we're standin' in the crime room doorway watchin' 'im."
"We can't see all of the crime scene yet, Rodi's tools have not finished their work, but what we have is excellent. Do you have any information about the murdered man yet?"
"No, sir, not yet, we'll send it on when we get it."
"Very well, Eddy, thank you, I will leave now so you can get on with your work. We Watchers are very proud of Rodi. Goodby."
"Goodby, sir." Krong's tiny image blinked off of Eddy's tiny seephone screen.
Eddy and Roxie smiled at each other with deep excitement and thrilled delight. Their crime adventure was more interesting and captivating than anything they had ever done,
