If it is unavoidable I am prepared, for a personal reason, to spend the major portion, even the entire sum, on the expense of the investigation, but not more. Since no successor to the cliency is in view, that’s all I’ll get.

Less than twelve hours after the client gave me a check for ten thousand dollars, she was murdered.

You must be informed of the total situation in all its intricacy, but first a word about money. Customarily, when I enlist your services, it is enough to define your specific tasks, but this time that won’t do. “Wolfe leaned back, rested his forearms on the arms of the chair, drew in a bushel of air and audibly let it out. Thus, the significance of the following quotation: In a period of less than a week, three people with whom Wolfe has found connections are dead and the police are sure that Wolfe is either very involved in the reason for their deaths or he is withholding key evidence about them. Wolfe treats the kid respectfully and agrees that they will both check out the situation and share what they find. He comes to Wolfe (because Archie Goodwin lets him in the door). It takes a significant force to motivate Nero Wolfe (the immovable object) and money is often the factor but, here, it isn’t the primary one.Ī neighborhood kid experiences a situation where he thinks that there is a woman in danger.

I’m damned if I get it.’” Inspector Cramer, as most well know, is Nero Wolfe’s foil. ‘I would have thought,’ he said, not positively, ‘that I have seen you work all the dodges there are, but this is new. He took the cigar from his mouth, held it half a minute, and put it back between his teeth.

The Golden Spiders by Rex Stout