Case
Assault on a Brownstone
Year Published
1985
Case Introduction
26 - 27 January, 1959. Complete rewrite of 'Counterfeit For Murder'. Wolfe investigates murder of woman who found counterfeit money and is trying to collect a reward.
Notes
Resolution

Characters in the case: 

Wanted reward for finding counterfeit money.
Character descriptionLandlady; operates rooming house on 47th Street between 8th and 9th Avenue.
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T-woman.
Character descriptionAspiring actress.
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Prepared Chestnut soup, Pheasants, Griddle cakes, Eggs poached with a puree of anchovy paste and sherry.
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.
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Wrote play 'Do As Thou Wilt'.
Character descriptionPoet/playwright
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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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Wolfe forceably kept him out of the brownstone.
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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Annis tenant.
Character descriptionActor
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Annis tenant.
Character descriptionActor
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Alias used by Archie.
Character descriptionaka Archie Goodwin.
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aka Buster.
Character descriptionNero Wolfe's tough and witty assistant.
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Mentioned.
Character descriptionLyricist
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Annis tenant.
Character descriptionActor
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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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Annis tenant.
Character descriptionDancer
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Searched the brownstone with 4 other T-men. Found nothing.
Character descriptionT-man
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Mentioned.
Character descriptionPlaywright
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Character descriptionWolfe's lawyer -- the only lawyer Wolfe ever sent orchids to. A bachelor who plays bridge on winter Sundays. (Appears as "Henry" Parker in The Squirt & the Monkey and The Golden Spiders.)
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Mentioned.
Character descriptionComposer
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Raymond Dell read his 'Oedipus Rex' during this case.
Character descriptionGreek playwright, known for tragedies. Works include: Oedipus Rex, Antigone.
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Assisted Inspector Cramer with investigation of the Hattie Annis murder.
Character descriptionInitially an employee in N.Y. D.A.'s office. Later Cramer's man. Detective (sergeant). Unfriendly.
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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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Searched Archie - found 'phoney' counterfeit money.
Character descriptionT-man
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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)