- Case
- Booby Trap
- Year Published
- 1942
- Case Introduction
- Captain Albert Cross had been investigating the theft of some samples of a new type of grenade and was due to make a report to the group of intelligence people that Wolfe works with when he was found dead on the pavement beneath his hotel room window - an obvious murder. Archie and Wolfe, after using Cross' notes to recover the grenades, are working on who killed Cross and why. Wolfe won't let Archie keep one grenade as a trophy - and after Archie returns it, someone employs it to set a booby trap for another member of the group.
- Notes
- Resolution
-
Shattuck rigged the grenade in the suitcase to kill Colonel Ryder before he confessed his involvement with Shattuck in selling trade secrets.
Characters in the case:
While WWII was in progress, he and Wolfe ran a kitchen pure as cottage cheese - no black market food in the brownstone.
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
Confidential Assistant to Colonel Ryder. Archie hasn't been able to find any signs of a sense of humor in her. Wolfe can't bring himself to address her by her rank.
Character descriptionSergeant (WAC).
Reserved notes for this caseWorking undercover directly for Lieutenant General Carpenter, Head of G-2 (intelligence), who Wolfe and Archie also report to. General Carpenter directed Sergeant Bruce to mail out 30 anonymous letters to various individuals to gather information about the rumors of find secret selling and assigned her to work for Colonel Ryder because he was suspected.
Dines at the brownstone.
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 caseAssigned Sergeant Dorothy Bruce to work undercover as confidential assistant to Colonel Ryder and directed her to mail out 30 anonymous letters to various individuals to gather information about the rumors of find secret selling.
'Show me a corpse, any corpse, under the most ideal and innocent circumstances, with a certificate signed by every doctor in New York, including the Medical Examiner. Then show me Nero Wolfe anywhere within reach, exhibiting the faintest sign of interest, and I order the squad to go to work immediately.'
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.
Reserved notes for this case
Captain Albert Cross had been investigating the theft of some samples of a new type of grenade and was due to make a report to the group of intelligence people that Wolfe works with when he was found dead on the pavement beneath his hotel room window - an obvious murder.
Character descriptionCaptain, U.S Army Intelligence.
Reserved notes for this case
Regular Army and reports to Lieutenant General Carpenter, Head of G-2 (intelligence), who Wolfe and Archie also report to.
Character descriptionGeneral, U.S. Army Intelligence.
Reserved notes for this case
Major, U.S. Army Intelligence.
Character descriptionNero Wolfe's tough and witty assistant.
Reserved notes for this case
Archie isn't impressed by him, either.
Character descriptionEastern Products Corporation tycoon, father of Kenneth Lawson, jr.
Reserved notes for this case
A Cleveland lawyer whose only son was killed in action a few weeks before the story opens.
Character descriptionColonel, U.S. Army Intelligence.
Reserved notes for this caseAlso received an anonymous letter and was planning to confess his involvement with Shattuck in selling trade secrets. Killed by a grenade used as a booby trap in his suitcase.
A Congressional committee chairman who received an anonymous letter alleging that various unpatented, uncopyrighted trade secrets and industrial processes have been made available to the government to support the war and that somebody's selling them to unscrupulous companies seeking post-war advantage. It's hard to prove, since the profit motive can't be established until it's too late. Shattuck was also godfather to Colonel Ryder's only son, who was killed in action a few weeks before the story opens. Shattuck brought the letter to his old friend, Colonel Ryder with Army Intelligence, rather than to the FBI.
Character descriptionAmerican politician. Voice lower than God intended it to be.
Reserved notes for this caseShattuck rigged the grenade in the suitcase to kill Colonel Ryder to keep him from confessing his involvement with Shattuck in selling trade secrets.
While WWII was in progress, he and Fritz ran a kitchen pure as cottage cheese - no black market food in the brownstone.
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 case
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