Character descriptionCleaner

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Character descriptionFull name, Theodolinda Bonner. Owner and operator of a private investigation agency in New York City.

Reserved notes for this caseFound the murder weapon.

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 caseThreatened by Cramer with charges of obstructing justice, for refusing to put him in touch with Archie and Wolfe.

Character descriptionCompetitor of Otis Jarrell.

Reserved notes for this caseHe did receive information from Susan Jarrell and he paid her $200,000 out of the profits he made. When he found out about the murder of James Eber, he put two and two together and possibly confronted Susan Jarrell and either tried to blackmail her or to blow the whistel on her. She killed him.

Character descriptionSecond in line behind Saul Panzer when Nero and Archie need extra manpower.

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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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Character descriptionOperative with Dol Bonner's agency.

Reserved notes for this caseHelped in finding the murder weapon.

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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Character descriptionHead of the Mechanics Alliance Welfare Association.

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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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Character descriptionProfessional secretary, fired by Otis Jarrell.

Reserved notes for this caseHe was fired because Jarrell suspected him of passing on confidential inforrmation to his daughter-in-law, Susan, which was true. When he found out that Corey Brigham had made a big profit from the inside information, he confronted Susan Jarrell and asked for a share. She murdered him.

Character descriptionTrella Jarrell's brother.

Reserved notes for this caseWolfe assigned Archie to look for the gun at the race tracks.

Character descriptionNero Wolfe's tough and witty assistant.

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Character descriptionalias used by Archie in If Death Ever Slept

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Character descriptionGood looking Daughter of Otis Jarrell. She and Archie go to several clubs together.

Reserved notes for this caseShe tried to convince Archie that she had stolen her father's gun and had thrown it in the river.

Character descriptionListed in Who's Who as "capitalist"; reputed to be "a tough operator who can smell a chance for a squeeze play in his sleep."

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Character descriptionWife of Wyman Jarrell. Her father-in-law refers to her as a snake.

Reserved notes for this caseShe obtained inside information from James Eber and passed it on to Corey Brigham and made $200,000 on the deal. When Jim Eber figured out what she had done and confronted her, she stole Otis Jarrell's gun and went to Eber's apartment and shot him. Then when Corey Brigham figured out that it was Susan that killed Eber, she met him in his car and killed. She hid the gun in her health spa locker between the killings and that is where Dol Bonner found it.

Character descriptionSecond wife of Otis Jarrell, stepmother to his grown children.

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Character descriptionSon of Otis Jarrell.

Reserved notes for this caseRealized that Susan had time to steal the gun while he was taking a "long" shower.

Character descriptionStenographer to Otis Jarrell. (According to Archie, though, calling her a stenographer is like calling Jackie Robinson a bat boy.)

Reserved notes for this caseKeeps a scrapbook, in which both Wolfe and Archie appear, but Orrie doesn't. She recognized Archie and came to Wolfe's to hire him to protect her interests.

Character descriptionAssistant district attorney in New York City.

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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.

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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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Character descriptionAttractive blonde. Daughter of millionaire sewer man James Rowan, owns the Bar JR ranch in Montana.

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Character descriptionLieutenant in NYPD. Has antagonistic relationship with Archie and Wolfe.

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Character descriptionInitially an employee in N.Y. D.A.'s office. Later Cramer's man. Detective (sergeant). Unfriendly.

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Character descriptionButler at the Otis Jarrell apartment in Fifth Avenue

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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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