Did Lyle Alzado Ever Meet Mr. Rogers?

Pictured above is the late Lyle Alzado, of the Oakland Raiders. Just a guess, but I don't think he's asking members of the Denvers Broncos to please be his neighbor.

By all accounts Fred Rogers of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood was a genuinely nice man. But if everybody was Mr. Rogers, Thriller Novels would be pretty boring. Example:

Opening of The Ice Cream Caper
The group of three met every week at their secret location. Actually, everybody in town knew their secret location "Let's go to the Ice Cream Parlor," said Mark. "And maybe we can help some old ladies across the street like we did last time."

"That sounds swell," answered "Grasshopper" Jones. "That way I can be home in time to meditate."

See?  You need some Lyle Alzados to stir up the mix. And the real world has plenty of people who plot to steal other people's money, and don't care about the consequences. Without bad guys, there can't be any good guys.

Conflict! High Stakes! Bad Guys!

That's what makes a story. In Useful Idiot, the bad guy is very bad. He's not shy about "misplacing" people who stand in the way of the big payday.

Misplacing people is not a Mr. Rogers approved opportunity.