Tom Dempsey

Tom Dempsey
Tom Dempsey spots a blemish
Vital Statistics
Gender	Male
Status	Deceased
Other family	Tom Dempsey III (grandson)
Character Information
Appearances	The Blue Butterfly
Portrayed by	Mark Pellegrino

Tom Dempsey, whilst seemingly no relative of World Heavyweight boxing champion Jack, was just as much of a scrapper as his namesake, although in Tom's case the gloves were off - permanently.

In the 1940s, he ran a jumping joint called the Penny Baker Club, and as we enter the world of "The Blue Butterfly", we likewise cross the threshold of his establishment, and are whisked away, courtesy of Castle's vivid and virtual imagination, to a time and place of molls and dolls, of tough guys, wise guys and gumshoes.

For much of our sojourn in this era, Dempsey looks and feels like the only real choice for the inevitable plugging of Castle's counterpart, the mononym Joe, Sam Spade made flesh. Dempsey is, in Joe's argot, "the most ruthless mob boss New York has ever given birth to".

However, the twists in this tale are manifold, and in the end we find the real Joe residing under an alias, but still going strong, in 2012, with Vera for whom he hazarded it all by his side. Dempsey's unquestionable roll call of removals didn't extend to our heroes, in any form.

Tom's grandson, Tom III, is proof that while blood make be thicker than water, it can easily thin down the river of time, and he never looks like a serious contender for the crown of "conqueror" of Stan Banks in 2012.