Rex Stout, Not Quite Dead Enough

Rex Stout, Not Quite Dead Enough
Copyright © 1942, 1944 Rex Stout
Original hardcover publication Farrar & Rinehart, 1944
Reissued, Bantam, 1983
Out of print, but available from used booksellers

This is the second novella compilation, consisting of “Not Quite Dead Enough” and “Booby Trap.”  In both stories, Archie (Maj. Goodwin, to you and me) is working for U.S. Military Intelligence.

In the first (1942) story, Archie has been ordered by his superiors to get Wolfe to go to work with the intelligence services (with the first priority an investigation involving a Captain Cross).  So Archie returns from D.C. to New York, having snared a seat on a flight that day.  On board, he winds up sitting next to Lily Rowan, who had flown to D.C. to see him and discovered what flight he was on AND managed to get a seat.  This does not please Archie; apparently a coolness has developed (on his side at least) between them.  He manages his escape from Lily and, arriving at the brownstone, discovers (from Theodore, who is now the caretaker of the orchids) that Wolfe and Fritz are out exercising so Wolfe can lose enough weight to join the army and kill some Germans.  The task of persuading Wolfe to go to work for the war effort seems in trouble, a victim, as Archie puts it to Wolfe’s desire to do something heroic.  So he has to find a lever—a case—to yank Wolfe back onto the tracks.

And Lily might, inadvertently, have given him an idea.  While on the flight, Lily tells him that she even went to see Wolfe about helping Ann Amory, who has a problem.  But she won’t tell Lily what the problem is and she won’t get to see Wolfe, who’s too busy being heroic.  Archie sets out to discover the nature of the problem and to see if it will give him some leverage with Wolfe.  That takes him to the building in which Ann and her grandmother live.  The building belongs to a Miss Leeds (who inherited it from her mother), and occupied by (in addition to Miss Leeds and Ann and her grandmother), one Leon Furey, who makes a living killing hawks (originally on commission from Miss Leeds’ mother, now for Miss Leeds) and Roy Douglas, who raises racing pigeons (originally subsidized by Mrs. Leeds, now by Miss Leeds.

Archie manages to extract Ann from the building, telling her that he’s a friend of Lily, that Lily had mentioned that Ann had a problem, and offering Wolfe’s services.  So they’re off for dinner and dancing.  And they bump into Lily, which causes Archie and Ann to leave in great haste.  But Ann refuses to see Wolfe.

Archie spends the next day trying to find some kind of a lever to use on Wolfe, and, at the end of the day, Roy shows up and he and Archie converse.  As Roy is leaving, Lily arrives, breathless and seriously bothered, bringing the news that Ann has been murdered. 

A lever, Archie hopes, at last.  But he has to find a way to force Wolfe to become involved.  He does (and it’s quite a means to an end), and, in the end, of course, Wolfe solves the murder and resumes his usual life and livelihood.

There are a number of things of interest here.  First, Lily reappears in the saga (her first appearance was in Some Buried Caesar), after two novels and two novellas without her.  Second, Archie takes some shortcuts that would ordinarily lead to an extended stay in one of the State of New York’s finest prisons.  Third, we gain some additional insight into Wolfe.  And we get a little back-story about Kramer.  But…For one thing, Archie misses something that was a sort of obvious possibility.  And I found Wolfe’s desire to kill some more Germans somewhat under-motivated.  All in all, a good, not an outstanding, piece of work.

“Booby Trap” is even more a World War II story.  Wolfe is back doing what he does (in this case, sacrificing most of his income and a lot of his usual habits, in order to help the war effort).  Archie is assigned to work with Wolfe, and, although he is not spending all his time at the military intelligence offices, he is in uniform.  And Wolfe goes (not happily, but not too grudgingly) to meetings in someone else’s office.  The immediate issue is the death of Captain Cross, who jumped, or fell, or was thrown, from a hotel window after recovering an advanced type of grenade that had been stolen.  Wolfe and Archie are present at a meeting to discuss what comes next, in the office of Sol. Ryder (second in command of the New York office), Maj. Tinkham, Lt. Lawson, and a civilian, Senator John Bell Shattuck.  They are joined by Gen Fife.  As the meeting is drawing to a close, Ryder tells Fife that he has an appointment for the following day, with Gen. Carpenter, in D.C. (telling your commanding officer this, in a group meeting, is a serious breach of military discipline—and Fife points it out).  The meeting breaks up, and, as Wolfe and Archie are leaving, Archie takes another opportunity to try to become on more non-military terns with Sgt. Dorothy Bruce (which fails, in an amusing way).

That afternoon, Fife asks Wolfe to come back for some further discussions.  And, just as they arrive, an explosion occurs, and Ryder is dead, blown up by one of the grenades recovered by Cross (and then re-recovered by Archie).  Obviously, the NYPD has to be involved (as they were already involved in the investigation of Cross’s death), and, so, Inspector Cramer becomes involved.  There’s not a lot to investigate; the grenade was pretty obviously in Ryder’s suitcase, so “means” is not an issue.  Likewise for “opportunity”—everyone in the building had opportunity.  So the investigation focuses—has to focus—on motive.  No one is getting much of anywhere, although Bruce introduces a new prospective motive.  So Wolfe employs a stratagem.  And it works.  The denouement is not just that, however; the investigation has to be concluded without revealing some things that would be a bit uncomfortable for a lot of people.

As with “Not Quite Dead Enough,” “Booby Trap” is a good, but not excellent, outing.  I had anticipated that the resolution would disclose whether we were dealing with a case of military espionage or industrial espionage, but we weren’t.  The conclusion also leaves open the actual motive of the murderer (which could, after all, be separate from the other issues.  And the guilty party behaves in a manner that surprised me.  All in all, however, a reasonable addition to the saga.