- Case
- Please Pass the Guilt
- Year Published
- 1973
- Case Introduction
- 4 - 30 June, 1969. Peter Odell, Vice President of Continental Air Network went to the office of Avery Browning and opened a desk drawer. The resulting explosion destroyed the desk and Peter Odell.
- Notes
- Resolution
-
Kenneth Meer really did do it, out of his jealousy for the relationship between Browning and Helen. Wolfe goads him into coming to the brownstone, and Meer is arrested after showing up with explosives.
Characters in the case:
Cleans the Brownstone every Wednesday. Works for Home Service Corporation.
Character descriptionCleaner
Reserved notes for this case
Works for Home Service Corporation. Helped Andy and Sam clean the Brownstone.
Character descriptionCleaner
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Works for Home Service Corporation. Cleans the Brownstone every Wednesday.
Character descriptionCleaner
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Long pale faced seventy year old with a mop of well tended white hair.
Character descriptionContinental Air Network President
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Gave Archie information on James Farquhar. Appeared in case three years ago.
Character descriptionBanker, on the boards of 8 corporations (as best he can remember off the cuff). President of the Federal Holding Corporation.
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Said the Odell bombing was terrorist retaliation aimed at Continental Air Network.
Character descriptionTerrorist.
Reserved notes for this caseThe consensus at the brownstone is that he's an intelligence agent who infiltrated the terrorists.
Mentioned.
Character descriptionScot author and lawyer. Best known as Samuel Johnson's biographer; referring to someone as a Boswell is to call that person a biographer.
Reserved notes for this case
Made Shad Roe Creole during the Please Pass the Guilt 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
Pudgy, balding, fifty-six year old.
Character descriptionContinental Air Network Vice President
Reserved notes for this caseHaving an affair with Helen Lugos. A jealous Meer planted a bomb in his desk to kill him for that reason.
Threatened to leave Orrie when he came home at 5AM while investigating this case.
Character descriptionStewardess with Pan Am. Maiden name, Jill Hardy; married to Orrie Cather after _Death of a Doxy_.
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Assisted in the Odell murder investigation.
Character descriptionSecond in line behind Saul Panzer when Nero and Archie need extra manpower.
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Wolfe read Catton's book 'Grant Takes Command' during the Please Pass The Guilt case.
Character descriptionWriter, noted for historical works on the War Between the States.
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Had dinner with Archie in upstairs room at Rusterman.
Character descriptionReporter at the Gazette. Dark skin, dark brown eyes. Neat little face, slick black hair. Neatest (card) shuffler Archie knows.
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Brown hair down to his collar, sideburns that need trimming, soft low pitched voice and nervous hands.
Character descriptionKenneth Meer's rival. Hippie. His twin sister is married to George Rowcliff.
Reserved notes for this caseHis story about Meer warning Helen Lugos about the bomb is sheer fabrication, but it unwittingly gives Wolfe a clue about the murder case- that Meer knows that Lugos checks Browning's desk occasionally- that eventually leads him to the conclusion: Meer really is the murderer, although Copes didn't know and was only trying to frame him.
Wife of Lt. Rowcliff.
Character descriptionTwin sister to Denis Copes.
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Homicide south.
Character descriptionInspector with NYPD, Homicide. Has tolerate / hate relationship with Wolfe. He respects Wolfe, but is greatly irritated by his eccentricities. Habitually chews (but rarely lights) cigars. Notably, Cramer lights a cigar in Wolfe's office during "Instead of Evidence" in which the murder weapon is an exploding cigar! First name is given as Fergus one time, but generally accepted as Lionel. Had a son in the Army Air Corps during WWII. Archie has called Mrs. Cramer on the phone more than once to reach the Inspector at home. Archie's favorite alias for him is "the man about the chair" or "any name with a double "d", e.g., Mr. Judd".
At no time is Inspector Cramer ever referred to in the books as "Lionel T." Cramer; his first name is given as "Fergus" in "Where There's a Will." There is a lone later reference to him as L.T.C. (The Silent Speaker), but never Lionel. Stout's biographer, John McAleer, asked Stout to explain the "Fergus"/"L.T.C" discrepancy; Stout replied: "No significance. Laziness. I didn't bother to check on whether he already had a first name. Of course, all discrepancies in the Nero Wolfe stories are Archie Goodwin's fault." (from "Royal Decree; Conversations with Rex Stout)
He is featured in a book by Stout called Red Threads, first published 1939, tracking down a killer with a young fashion designer. There is no reference to Nero Wolfe.
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Made some guesses about the Odell murder.
Character descriptionReporter on the Gazette.
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Director of Clinical Psychiatry at San Francisco General Hospital. Mentioned by Wolfe
Character descriptionPsychiatrist
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Served Archie and Lon Cohen in the upstairs room.
Character descriptionWaiter at Rusterman's.
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Admitted to smoking 'grass'.
Character descriptionEldest daughter of Fred Durkin.
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Investigated terrorist tie to Odell murder.
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."
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Friend to Odell. Lean and limber - deeply tanned.
Character descriptionContinental Air Network Board of Directors.
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Guardian of law, defender of truth, protector of justice and virtue. Wolfe said, 'I'm no Jupiter Fidius'.
Character descriptionRoman god.
Reserved notes for this case
Made some guesses about the Odell murder.
Character descriptionReporter on the Gazette.
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Character descriptionNero Wolfe's tough and witty assistant.
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Madeline Odell's secretary and LSD source.
Character descriptionV.I.P .
I CAN HELP YOU IF YOU WANT .
TELL ME AND YOU WILL SEE
Reserved notes for this casehello, my name is charlotte haber too, i am a lebanese girl and i was thinking that it will be nice to be in touch and to know u.
my e.mail:charlottehaber@hotmail.com or yahoo.com
N.B: I'll be so glad!
thx
Millionaire - deceased.
Character descriptionFather to Madeline Odell.
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Theodore babies Wolfe, which is one reason why Theodore isn't Archie's favorite human being. Nevertheless, he calls "Theodore and Fritz and I.. as manly as they come".
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.
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Announcer for game that Archie listened to.
Character descriptionPirates ballplayer and announcer.
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Supplied some educated guesses about the Odell murder.
Character descriptionReporter on the Gazette.
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Secretary to Amory Browning. In her late twenties.
Character descriptionSecretary
Reserved notes for this caseIs having a secret affair with Browning, which Meer is insanely jealous of- in fact, it induces him to bomb Browning's desk.
Mentioned.
Character descriptionFemale lead in Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth.
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Wolfe called him a 'peacock' and a 'blowhard'.
Character descriptionAmerican writer.
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Character descriptionAssistant Attorney General of the United States during the Nixon administration, later Political Coordinator for the Committee for the Re-election of the President (CRP).
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Set up small room upstairs at Rusterman's for Archies dinner with Lon Cohen.
Character descriptionRusterman Maitre d'hotel.
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Assistant to Amory Browning. Resides at 147 Clover St. NYC. Poorly designed face, tired too young, long pointed nose, wide square chin. thirty-two years old. Since the explosion sees blood on his hands occasionally.
Character descriptionAssistant to Amory Browning.
Reserved notes for this caseSees blood because he is the killer, except he intended the bomb for Browning, not Odell.
Took message from Archie for Inspector Cramer.
Character descriptionInsp. Cramer's phone tender.
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Inherited eighty million dollars from her father Carl Hartig.
Character descriptionWife of Peter J. Odell. Lives on East 63rd St. between 5th and Madison Aves.
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Vice President in charge of development. Blown up.
Character descriptionContinental Air Network Vice President.
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Ersatz witness used to pressure James Farquhar.
Character descriptionCharacter contrived by Archie
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Dr. Vollmer's friend.
Character descriptionPsychiatrist, runs a crisis clinic.
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Lives eleven blocks from Rustermans.
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 case
Made some guesses about the Odell murder.
Character descriptionReporter on the Gazette.
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Named as terrorist leader by Nasir ibn Bekr.
Character descriptionTerrorist.
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Mentioned.
Character descriptionAttractive blonde. Daughter of millionaire sewer man James Rowan, owns the Bar JR ranch in Montana.
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His wife Diana is the twin sister of Denis Copes.
Character descriptionLieutenant in NYPD. Has antagonistic relationship with Archie and Wolfe.
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Alias of a patient at a crisis clinic run by a colleague of Doc Vollmer's. The patient sees blood on his hands and compulsively tries to wash it away, but won't give enough information about himself to allow the therapists to work with him.
Character descriptionObvious alias, taken from the names of two NY Met's - Ron Swoboda and Tom Seaver. Assumed by a walk-in patient of a colleague of Doc Vollmer's.
Reserved notes for this caseAlias adopted by Kenneth Meer.
His painting of an 'unwashed coal miner' hangs on the wall of the Brownstone office.
Character descriptionArtist
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His likeness hangs in Wolfe's office.
Character descriptionEnglish writer.
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His likeness hangs on the wall of the Brownstone office.
Character descriptionGreek philosopher.
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Archie borrowed his boat the 'Happygolucky' for a fishing trip.
Character descriptionFormer Wolfe client.
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Bypassed by Cramer when Wolfe insisted on seeing Rowcliff.
Character descriptionInitially an employee in N.Y. D.A.'s office. Later Cramer's man.
Detective (sergeant). Unfriendly.
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Wolfe reread a book of his stories.
Character descriptionRussian writer.
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Star of 'The Big Town' program on the Continental Air Network.
Character descriptionRadio personality
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Friend of psychiatrist Irwin Ostrow.
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.
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Mentioned. Goodwin reminisces about when he was alive.
Character description"He was one of only two men whom Wolfe will call by their first names, apart from employees," Archie relates as he introduces Marko in "Too Many Cooks." A boyhood friend from Montenegro, Marko is welcome to address Wolfe by his first name, and he dines monthly at Wolfe's house. One of the Fifteen Masters, Marko is the great chef of Rusterman's restaurant in New York -- one of the few places Wolfe will dine away from home.
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Ersatz witness contrived by Archie to put pressure on James Farquhar.
Character descriptionCharacter contrived by Archie.
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Wolfe read his book 'History Of Human Marriage'.
Character descriptionFinnish anthropologist.
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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)..
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Boating guest of James Farquhar.
Character descriptionWife of Percy Young.
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Boating guest of James Farquhar.
Character descriptionFriend of James J. Farquhar.
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Meals in the case:
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Orchids in the case:
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