AtD (37) p.1045 Merle R. appears, old farmland, flirting?

[Mark Kohut]

P.1045 
Merle Rideout, been there a long time and feared he ws turning into a hybrid citrus?? A tree? Planted-like? just a Merle R. witticism? (wikipedia says citrus trees hybridize easily)  

Why does OBA have Lew and Merle come together here? Merle, photographer and lightning rod salesman in film noir LA? Where Hollywood is happening. 

Sycamore Grove...Iowa girls...The Grove was mostly farmland then, it seems. Became (or also was) a park.

Shalimar, named after a battleship, remember, offers to be Lew's "muscle".Hilarious.

flirting with Erlys? for saying she looks the same as always?. Well, the woman seems to be right in these situations, yes?

  

Zombini. Name of a famous magician.