a dark, mysterious corner of Boulder

[FrenchymcB]

Hi,

I'm translating a documentary about the JonBenét Ramsey case (the unsolved murder of a 6 year-old beauty pageant queen in Boulder, Colorado).
A woman says:
"There’s some people that really have written books and they still have blogs about it that there was a ... there’s a whole dark, mysterious corner of Boulder that has not been touched on, and maybe it’s because, as the story goes, there’s people within the Police Department that perhaps knew about it, or knew somebody in it and wanted... at any rate there was a point where there was protection over that particular lead, and it was not followed."

I'm not entirely sure about the word 'corner' in this context, could anyone help? Does it just mean an area of Boulder? Thanks

 

[Barque]

It doesn't refer to a physical corner or area. It means "...there's a whole dark, mysterious aspect of Boulder..." The word "corner" has been used to convey the meaning of something away from the mainstream, or to the side, as it were.

the unsolved murder of a 6 year-old beauty pageant queen

Perhaps you mean 16?

 

[FrenchymcB]

I see! It was a bit confusing to me because she says maybe the police "knew somebody in it". I thought "area" sounded strange too but I didn't know what else she could mean. Thanks!

And no, she was 6. See here

Edit: I just realised "in it" may refer to the murder, as opposed to the corner. They knew somebody involved.

 

[Barque]

And no, she was 6. See here

Yes, I looked it up just before you posted. Still doesn't make sense to me - beauty pageants for children? Oh well...

 

[FrenchymcB]

Still doesn't make sense to me - beauty pageants for children? Oh well...

Couldn't agree more...

 

[FrenchymcB]

After doing more research, I found out that some policemen and the District Attorney were possible conspirators in a child-pornography ring which may have led to the murder.
"persistant foot-dragging by police investigators and obstruction by the District Attorney's office have long been rumored to be attempts at concealing complicity in the murder or cover up."

In light of this new information, could "corner" mean something different? Could it refer to a circle of highly-placed people who were possibly involved in the child-pornography ring and got away with it?

 

[Barque]

It could, but this would still, in my opinion, be covered by the word "aspect" that I used in my first post.

Let's see what others say.

 

[london calling]

I remember this case, poor little thing.

...there’s a whole dark, mysterious corner of Boulder..

This does not refer to a physical area in Boulder, as Barque says. It a reference to any goings-on in the town which are not common knowledge, if you will. A dark side to the town.

 

[Packard]

I am just rephrasing what has already been said but perhaps it will be helpful.

We "shed light" on situations that we want to understand.

People "keep us in the dark" about things that they want to keep us from knowing.

A dark corner is an area upon which no light has been shed and thus remains unknown.

 

[FrenchymcB]

Thank you so much everyone, that's really helpful!

I didn't realise "dark" meant "unknown / secret" here, but it makes sense.

I think I'll translate it as "some dark and mysterious goings-on", which sounds better in French in my opinion.

Thanks again!

 

[JulianStuart]

So the French word for corner cannot be used figuratively? You might get some more input if you ask about this in the French-English forum - specifically the acceptability of the word you have chosen to translate this.