Here is what a police Inspector looks like

"A tall, gaunt man in a loose gray topcoat was pushing through the crowd. His lower lip protruded belligerently, and a dead cigar was clamped in one corner of his mouth." (from Murder on Wheels, by Stuart Palmer)

This is our introduction to Inspector Oscar Piper in this novel. He fits the prototype of that role that we find over and over again in old movies. Always the topcoat. Always the cigar.