Trouble in Triplicate

Rating:
Summary: Two would-be clients seeking to avoid murder, one blackmail
Review: One of the 3 short stories herein is set during WWII, after those of _Not Quite Dead Enough_, the others in the 18 months following. Wolfe spent the war working for U.S. Army Intelligence. Archie was in the Army as a major, but couldn't wangle a transfer to a combat assignment; he was assigned to Wolfe, essentially doing his normal job, and General Carpenter said that's where he'd stay. General Carpenter and Wolfe's Intelligence connections appear occasionally after the war, as in _The Silent Speaker_ or "Home to Roost" in _Triple Jeopardy_.

To date (the beginning of the 2nd season of Nero Wolfe), A&E has adapted 2 of the 3 stories herein. I've sorted them here by chronological order rather than as they appear in the book.

"Help Wanted, Male" - May 1944. Adapted for A&E's 2nd season. Wolfe isn't taking any private cases while working for Army Intelligence (and anyway, Archie is technically in the Army rather than doing legwork for Wolfe in his private capacity). When Ben Jensen (having met them during the court-martial of a man selling Army secrets for political purposes) comes to Wolfe asking for help after receiving anonymous death threats, Wolfe turns him down - although he would anyway, since there is ultimately no protection against a determined assassin. It's material, though, because Wolfe himself receives similar threats after Jensen's murder. (Granted, his first reaction is that Archie provided these last as a gag.) Then when Archie gets to Washington to request a combat assignment yet again, he sees a *very* unusual newspaper advertisement, seeking someone matching Wolfe's description.

"Instead of Evidence" a.k.a. "Murder on Tuesday" - October 1945, 1 week after Archie is officially out of the Army. Many attempt to hire Wolfe to keep someone from killing them, but none have ever been accepted - because a sufficiently determined killer can always succeed (and with enough patience, maybe not even be caught). Eugene Poor owns half of Blaney & Poor, manufacturers of novelties, but Blaney is determined to get sole control without paying full value for Poor's half - so Poor says. Mrs. Poor would rather see Eugene sell out for a pittance than run the risk of being murdered. Wolfe, in the end, undertakes only to see that the cops are tipped off properly if Poor is murdered - and the neatly typed list of facts is called for before bedtime by Cramer of Homicide, now that a bomb disguised as a cigar has blown Poor's face off.

"Before I Die" - Adapted for A&E's 2nd season. 7-8 October 1946, when Wolfe is desperate for a controlled substance - meat, under post-WWII rationing. Another desperate man - Dazy Perrit, king of the black market - can provide a quid pro quo, if Wolfe can protect his daughter. Even Beulah herself (through a combination of circumstances) doesn't know that Perrit is her father, but some of his underworld associates have been trying to find her, so he hired Angelina Murphy to play the role of daughter. "Violet Perrit", however, has become greedy, blackmailing Perrit by threatening to expose the charade. He's come to Wolfe to get him out from under without endangering Beulah.

The title quote is actually from Archie, who's really scared by this case, since they now know far too much of a dangerous man's secrets for comfort.

Rating:
Summary: Short, sweet, delightful
Review: Trouble in Triplicate tells a trio of tales in which the murder victim comes to Wolfe before being killed. In "Before I Die" a crime boss brings a blackmail case to Wolfe, never expecting to die. But just in case, he makes Wolfe the executor of his estate, thereby making Wolfe and Archie Goodwin the prime suspects in his murder. Wolfe's task: solve the crime boss's murder before he and Archie are erased by the boss's vengeful hit man. In "Help Wanted--Male" Wolfe blows off a prospective client who has received a death threat mere hours before the man's brutal murder. Then Wolfe receives an identical death threat. Wolfe is as concerned about the threat against himself as he was unconcerned about the threat against his prospective client. He goes to remarkable lengths to preserve his skin, makes the biggest blunder of his career, and discovers his mistake just in time by inspecting furniture. "Instead of Evidence" presents a situation where a prospective victim hires Wolfe for $5,000.00 to avenge his impending murder by his business partner. When the man dies horribly, Wolfe has a ready-made suspect but a paucity of evidence. It looks as though the killer will go unpunished, but at the last minute Wolfe gets the picture. At least two of these stories ("Before I Die" and "Help Wanted--Male") have been televised on the A&E series "Nero Wolfe" (long may it run).

Rating:
Summary: Three Cases with Corpses for Clients
Review: Trouble in Triplicate tells a trio of tales in which the murder victim comes to Wolfe before being killed. In "Before I Die" a crime boss brings a blackmail case to Wolfe, never expecting to die. But just in case, he makes Wolfe the executor of his estate, thereby making Wolfe and Archie Goodwin the prime suspects in his murder. Wolfe's task: solve the crime boss's murder before he and Archie are erased by the boss's vengeful hit man. In "Help Wanted--Male" Wolfe blows off a prospective client who has received a death threat mere hours before the man's brutal murder. Then Wolfe receives an identical death threat. Wolfe is as concerned about the threat against himself as he was unconcerned about the threat against his prospective client. He goes to remarkable lengths to preserve his skin, makes the biggest blunder of his career, and discovers his mistake just in time by inspecting furniture. "Instead of Evidence" presents a situation where a prospective victim hires Wolfe for $5,000.00 to avenge his impending murder by his business partner. When the man dies horribly, Wolfe has a ready-made suspect but a paucity of evidence. It looks as though the killer will go unpunished, but at the last minute Wolfe gets the picture. At least two of these stories ("Before I Die" and "Help Wanted--Male") have been televised on the A&E series "Nero Wolfe" (long may it run).

Rating:
Summary: Short, sweet, delightful
Review: While I'm a longtime Wolfe fan, this is the first time I've read him in a short story collection. It really worked for me. Fritz, Archie and Wolfe are all in fine form. The truncated storylines do not mean diminished character involvement. The plots are tense, the villains are neatly and economically drawn. I had a fine time with it.