- Case
- The Second Confession
- Year Published
- 1949
- Case Introduction
- 16 - 27 June, 1949. James A. Sperling hires Wolfe to break up the relationship of daughter Gwenn and lawyer (supposed Communist) Louis Rony. When Zeck enters the scene and Rony ends up dead, Wolfe calls in Saul, Fred, Orrie, and Mr. Jones to uncover the mystery. Suggestion: Read "And Be a Vilain" before you read this novel, and be sure to read The Second Confession before you read "In the Best Families". Otherwise, you won't understand the importance of the role of Arnold Zeck.
- Notes
- Resolution
-
Wolfe surmises that Rony stole the ACP membership card from one of the people at Stony Acres. Mr. Jones found out who among them was a member of the ACP. Wolfe had Mr. Harvey and Mr. Steven of the ACP sign an affidavit testifying to that fact and had them confront Webster Kane, the murderer, whose expression at seeing the two men was his second confession.
Characters in the case:
Character descriptionDistrict Attorney of Westchester County.
Archie says, " . . . he wasn't a bad guy."
Reserved notes for this case
Initially hired by Sperling to investigate Rony, before Sperling switched to Wolfe. Visits Wolfe offering to trade information.
Character descriptionOperator of Detective Agency in New York City.
Reserved notes for this case
Accomplice in Archie's plan to be ambushed with Louis Rony when driving out of Sperling's Stony Acres estate.
Character descriptionWoman friend of Archie. Used as assistant periodically.
Expert with a persuader.
Reserved notes for 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 case
Called in to help find Rony's murderer.
Character descriptionSecond in line behind Saul Panzer when Nero and Archie need extra manpower.
Reserved notes for this case
Given an exclusive on insider details of the American Communist Party by Wolfe.
Character descriptionReporter at the Gazette. Dark skin, dark brown eyes. Neat little face, slick black hair. Neatest (card) shuffler Archie knows.
Reserved notes for this case
Called in to help find Rony's murderer.
Character descriptionHired hand used by Wolfe and Archie when extra manpower is needed. Not the best, but can tail better than anybody but Saul. The favorite "irregular" after Saul - Fritz: "I'm glad it's Orrie instead of Saul or Fred"; Archie: "Such a chore for Saul or Fred of course, but I didn't like doing it for Orrie."; Mr Wolfe: "He doesn't have the dignity of a man who has found his place and occupies it, as you have, Fred."
Bald, burly, 5'10, 190 lbs; moves like a bear. Married with four children. Archie: "You can trust him to hell and back."
Reserved notes for this case
Character descriptionHead of the Westchester county detectives.
Archie describes Dykes as, ". . . neither friend nor enemy. Most of the enforcers of the law, both in and out of uniform, in the suburban districs, have got an inferiority complex about the New York detectives, either public or private, but Dykes was an exception. He had been a Westchester private eye for more than twenty years, and all he cared about was doing his work well enough to hang onto his job, steering clear of mudholes, and staying as honest as he could."
Reserved notes for this case
Makes a pass at Louis Rony.
Character descriptionWife of Paul Emerson. About 35 at the time of _The Second Confession_, one of those rare blue-eyed blondes who takes a good tan.
Reserved notes for this case
Present at Sperling's country estate when Rony is murdered.
Character descriptionNews broadcaster, WPIT.
Wolfe thinks little of his professional abilities.
Reserved notes for this caseAttacks Wolfe in a radio broadcast for continuing the investigation into Rony's death.
Gets slapped around by Archie for calling him a hyena.
Goes undercover as Andrew Goodwin the photographer at the Sperling Stony Acres estate to win over the heart of Gwenn Sperling from Louis Rony.
Character descriptionNero Wolfe's tough and witty assistant.
Reserved notes for this caseOrchestrates an ambush of himself and Louis Rony using Ruth Brady and Saul Panzer in order to search Rony.
Wish Saul searches Rony's apartment for Rony's Communist Party membership card, then bumps into Jimmy Sperling and Mrs. Sperling also searching Rony's apartment. Mrs. Sperling scratches his face.
Slaps around Paul Emerson for calling he and Wolfe hyenas. Madeline is not impressed.
With Mr. Stevens of the ACP, Harvey confronts Webster Kane in Wolfe's office.
Character descriptionIn the upper ranks of the American Communist Party.
Lieutenant to Mr. Stevens of the ACP.
Reserved notes for this casePossible identity of Mr. Jones.
Calls at the brownstone at the beginning of the case, to discuss orchids with Wolfe.
Character descriptionOrchid grower.
Reserved notes for this case
Has a lot of work to do during this case.
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 caseTo Wolfe's credit, his first reaction when the plant rooms were shot up was to check that Theodore was OK.
Mentioned by Wolfe after Zeck sends $50,000 cash. Wolfe tells Archie that $10,000 is to be put in the safe "for something that can't appear in our records . . . It will be for Mr. Jones."
Character descriptionAgent used by Wolfe in extreme cases.
Used by Wolfe to get information on two Communists who had set him up (as described by Archie in "the Second Confession").
Reserved notes for this caseJones visits Wolfe (after Archie was told to go to bed) for three hours and provides inside information of the American Communist Party of which Rony was a member. The information involved a U.S. presidential election and the Party's manipulation of Wallace, a candidate.
After Wolfe sends an anonymous letter on Gazette letterhead to the American Communist Party, Jones calls in with the codeword "rectangle," indicating that the letter had been received. Wolfe calls the ACP to invite Mr. Harvey and Mr. Stevens (ACP leaders) to a discussion at his office.
Present at the Sperling country estate when Rony is murdered.
Character descriptionEconomist at Continental Mines Corporation.
Reserved notes for this caseSigns a confession that he accidentally ran over Rony killing him. Sperling obviously put him up to it, and Wolfe rejects the confession's validity.
Receives Archie and Saul at his office and strikes Archie as corrupt and in cahoots with Rony.
Character descriptionPartner of Murphy, Kearfot, and Rony law firm.
Reserved notes for this case
Along with D.A. Archer, Con is called to the Sperling Estate.
Con is antagonistic towards Archie due to prior run-ins.
Character descriptionLieutenant in the New York State Police.
Unfriendly. Archie says of Noonan, ". . . He was fitted out at birth for a career as a guard at a slave-labor camp . . ."
Reserved notes for this case
Works with Ruth Brady to ambush Archie and Louis Rony as they drive away from the Sperlings' Stony Acres estate; replies that the wife and children are "wonderful" when Archie asks about them.
Character descriptionTop hired hand Nero and Archie look to for manpower. Hosts regular Thursday night poker game at eight pm at his apartment in Brooklyn. Rust-colored hair, 5'7, 145 lbs, big nose and flat ears.
In the "Rubber Band" (ch. 6) Archie tells us that Panzer has a photographic memory when it comes to faces.
Reserved notes for this caseHelps Archie search Rony's apartment for Rony's Communist Party membership card, then bumps into Jimmy Sperling and Mrs. Sperling also searching Rony's apartment.
Dating Gwenn Sperling.
Character descriptionLawyer.
Reserved notes for this caseWorks for Arnold Zeck, who considers him promising. Murdered by motorcar.
Graduated from Smith with honors at 21. According to her father, she's too curious, turns her nose up at rules, and hasn't grown out of the notion that one can have independence without earning it.
Character descriptionDaughter of powerful James U. Sperling.
Reserved notes for this case
Hires Wolfe to break up the relationship of daughter Gwenn and lawyer (supposed Communist) Louis Rony.
Character descriptionChairman of the Board of the Continental Mines Corporation.
Abrupt. Brutal.
Likes Wolfe's office.
Reserved notes for this caseThrows Wolfe and Goodwin out of his house after Wolfe informs him that he was not fooled by Kane's signed confession.
Travels around, visiting his father's various enterprises.
Character descriptionSon of powerful James Sperling, industrialist.
AKA Jimmy or Junior.
Reserved notes for this case
26 years old at the time of "The Second Confession."
Character descriptionElder daughter of James U. Sperling.
Reserved notes for this case
Signs affidavit verifying Webster Kane's membership in the ACP.
Character descriptionThird from the top of the American Communist Party.
Reserved notes for this casePossibly Stevens is Mr. Jones.
Inspects Rony's corpse at the morgue -- he finds evidence that Rony may have been struck on the head before being run over by the car.
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
Agrees to drive a wedge into the relationship between Louis Rony and Gwenn Sperling.
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 caseGoes to the Sperling Stony Acres estate after Zeck has the plant rooms destroyed. (As Archie has sometimes mentioned, the rule about not travelling on business can be set aside if Wolfe's life is on the line, or if other personal considerations come into play.)
Gives Wolfe an ultimatum -- recall Archie from his weekend at the Sperling estate or suffer consequences.
Character descriptionCriminal mastermind. Wolfe's arch nemesis.
First made himself known to Wolfe in June 1943.
Reserved notes for this caseAfter Archie returned from his weekend 8 hours late, Zeck had the plant rooms shot up by henchmen using automatic machine guns from the roof across the street from Wolfe's brownstone.
Sends $50,000 cash to Nero to re-imburse him for the destruction of the plant rooms. Zeck encourages Wolfe to hunt the murderer of Rony.
Sends $15,000 to Wolfe after he solves the murder to cover the expense of employing Mr. Jones.
Wolfe sets aside the $50,000 cash received from Zeck in case he needs it to destroy his nemesis, rather than deposit it to his bank account.
Meals in the case:
(no meals are currently in the NWD for this story)
Orchids in the case:
(no orchids are currently in the NWD for this story)
Quotations in the case:
(no quotations are currently in the NWD for this story)