- Case
- The Silent Speaker
- Year Published
- 1944
- Case Introduction
- Cheney Boone, director of the government's Bureau of Price Regulation, has been murdered just before he is to give a speech. The primary suspects are the members of the National Industrial Association who were in the building at the time of the murder.
- Notes
- Resolution
-
Wolfe has a eureka concerning the location of the missing recording -- he realizes that Phoebe Gunther was alone in his office at the time of her first visit. Wolfe has the whole house staff search the office for the cylinder; of course, it is found (by Fritz behind a row of books on a bottom bookshelf). The recording reveals Henry A. Warder informed Cheney Boone that Don O'Neill had been buying information from Alger Kates of the BPR. Presented with the information Kates admits to killing Boone and Gunther.
Characters in the case:
Ch. 12 - sam did xyz.
Character descriptionDrugstore Soda Jerk
Reserved notes for this caseSam dies.
Murdered -- head smashed in with monkey wrench moments before giving speech. The search for his murderer is the focus of "The Silent Speaker."
Character descriptionDirector of the government Bureau of Price Regulation.
Reserved notes for this caseMurdered by Alger Kates who was selling BPR secrets to NIA member Don O' Neill.
Fritz prepared Breaded Fresh Pork Tenderloin, Corn Cakes with Tomato and Cheese Sauce and Corn Cakes with Honey during this case.
Character descriptionMaster chef in Wolfe's kitchen, has a small apartment in the basement. (In "Fer-De-Lance," his apartment is across from the plant room, not in the basement.) Swiss; native French speaker, served in WWI. Uninterested in murder, except whether a client is in the offing; gets anxious about household finance when Wolfe isn't working. Doesn't like to talk while cooking. Changes to his old slippers at 9 pm because of "things left on his feet by the war to remember it by". Implied he was a member of the Swiss Alpine Patrol during WWI.
Reserved notes for this caseFound the body of Phoebe Gunther.
Mentioned. Mrs. Boone is his cousin and asked him for advice after her husband's death.
Character descriptionLieutenant General, U.S. Army, head of G-2 (intelligence). Wolfe and Archie reported to him during World War II.
Reserved notes for this case
Lets Archie take a look at the room where Cheney Boone was murdered.
Character descriptionHotel dick at the Waldorf.
Reserved notes for this case
Attracted to Phoebe Gunther.
Character descriptionNero Wolfe's tough and witty assistant.
Reserved notes for this case
Claims to have lost the ten cylinders of recordings made by Cheney Boone before his death.
Described as beautiful...
Character descriptionPersonal Secretary to Cheney Boone.
Reserved notes for this casePhoebe lied about losing the cylinders. She knew the identity of the killer (due to the content of the recordings), but kept it secret to maintain the public resentment and suspicion of the NIA.
Murdered by Alger Kates on Wolfe's doorstep because she knew he murdered Boone.
Mentioned at the end
Character descriptionOlder man. Wolfe's orchid nurse. Lives in small cubbyhole on the roof with the plants. First mentioned in ch. 3 of "Fer-de-lance" - Archie sometimes hears him shouting at Wolfe in the mornings.
Reserved notes for this caseTheodore helps to search for the missing cylinder in the office.
Discovers the corpse of Cheney Boone backstage at the Waldorf.
Character descriptionMember of the Research Department of the BPR.
Reserved notes for this caseKates admits to murdering Cheney Boone -- Boone discovered that Kates is selling out the BPR.
Kates also murdered Phoebe Gunther because she had a recording of Boone oulining the exploits of Kates.
Chairman of the Dinner Committee when Cheney Boone is murdered.
Character descriptionPresident of O'Neill & Warder, Inc.
Member of the NIA.
Reserved notes for this caseImplicated in the murder of Boone
Character descriptionGangster, known as the King of the Black Market.
Reserved notes for this case
Character descriptionM.D. Wolfe's consultant where a physician is needed.
Wolfe likes him. Always accepts a beer when he calls in the evenings. He leaves abruptly after business is finished. His house and office is one minute (60 yards)from the brownstone. His brownstone still has a vestibule (Mr Wolfe removed his years ago to make the front hallway bigger). Once signed a medical certificate that Mr Wolfe was batty. Once took 22 stitches in Archie's side when a character "went wide enough but not deep enough".
Short. Spectacled.
Reserved notes for this case
Present at the dinner where Boone is murdered.
Character descriptionVice President and Treasurer of O'Neil & Warder, Inc.
Member of the NIA.
Reserved notes for this caseBoone's missing recording reveals that Warder alerted Boone that Alger Kates was selling out the BPR.
Due to the dipping bank account balance and impending tax bills, Nero is forced to act. Upon reading of the murder of Cheney Boone, Wolfe sends Archie out to get a job with the NIA to solve the murder and clear their name.
Character descriptionMaster detective. Genius. Estimated weight: 1/7 ton. Carries a large platinum watch in his vest pocket. Sends a check every month to his mother in Budapest ("Fer-de-lance, ch. 13)..
Reserved notes for this caseWolfe declares, "I have the brain of a mollusk" when he considers that Phoebe Gunther must have hidden the missing recording in his own office.
See the story resolution for more details.
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