Transcript
THE BROWNSTONE HOUSE OF NERO WOLFE <):::::=::::! TO ELEVE
desk, and handed him the note. He got it at a glance . . . .
3STH STREET
NTH AVE.
TO TENTH
AVENUE ~
(The Silent Speaker [1946} , chapter r8) ;AREA-E3ARE : WAY
AD:JACENT AREAliAY
What happened after that I remember only too vividly. Before midnight, our areaway had been floodlit, photographed by forensics and all the newspapers, dusted for prints, and cordoned off by the police to hold back the biggest mob we ever drew, and there was a dick, or an FBI man, or an assistant district attorney, one each, for everybody in the house, including Fritz, who, still shuddering occasionally, was valiantly doing his thing in the kitchen, making sandwiches and coffee for all the living, while seeing in his mind's eye the victim of violent death he had discovered in our areaway. That about covers it from the outside, but for those of you who think I'm a lousy describer I've drawn up a plot plan of the house and environs that may present a better picture. Next page, please.
AD:JACENT AREA!iAY
N W
lE
AD:JACENT BROWNSTONE
OF NERO WOLFE
AD:JACENT BROWNSTONE
40' in width 76 ' in length
s LOT SIZES ARE 40'
®
by 100.5
Side
~ \.1~
BACK LOor
~+ttttt ++++++
~Hh++++ ++f-++++++
+ t + t- -f"·f"
++ 1-+++
+++++ I4' Easement tor utilities , .
7' GATE IN WOLFE'S BACK FENCE
Rubbish
WAREHOUSE
PAPER PRODUCTS COMPANY
..
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IIMMALK
[ 22 }
34TH STREET
AD:JACENT COMMERCIAL PROPERTY
THE ORCHID ROOMS OF NERO WOLFE -- ROOF GARDEN
THE ORCHID ROOMS OF NERO WOLFE -- ROOF GARDEN
SOLID PITCH ROOF
SOLID PITCH ROOF
DOUBLE BLACK
-----------------
LINES DENOTE
++++~~~~~~~~~·
AREA COVERED BY SOLID ROOF.
• • • · · · · · · ·
IF
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1 1 1
1 1
--------------
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THE COOL ROOM 2500 PLANTS +++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++! ++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++
ALL ROOFING
DOUBLE BLACK LINES DENOTE AREA COVERED BY SOLID ROOF.
THE COOL ROOM 2500 PLANTS +++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++
ALL ROOFING IS SPECIAL GLASS.
IS SPECIAL GLASS.
BEFORE HE MOVED TO THE BASEMENT •••• BEDROOM AND BATH AFTER FRITZ MOVED TO BASEMENT
S .D. SLIDING DOOR
CH=CHAIR T =TABLE D. vl. IS THE DUMBWAITER CGT & V. ARE CIPHOGENE TANKS AND VALVE S =STOOL F. E. IS FIRE ESCAPE.
BBENCHES
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CIPHQJi GENE ~ GAS FUMIGATION ROOM
Air-
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CH=CHAIR T =TABLE D.VI. IS THE DUMBWAITER CGT & V. ARE CIPHOGENE TANKS AND VALVE $ =STOOL F . E. IS THE FIRE ESCAPE.
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VESTIBULE DER STOOP
WOLFE'S BASEMENT
THE BROWNSTONE HOUSE OF NERO WOLFE
----AREAWAY---C.W .
hands. I said, "Go ahead and don't drop it," and he started down the hall to the rear, where the stair to the basement was, and at the door to the office Orrie joined him.
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STORAGE ROOM
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FIU:S NEWSPAPERS
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(Ibid., chapter r9)
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Remembering things like that puts me in a homesick mood, and memory is a fink. Lily just caught me looking out of the window, read my face (and my mind), and said, "Come on, chum, I'll shoot you a game of pool. " Interesting woman, Lily. She not only dances like Fred Astaire, she handles a cue like he does, and I have a helluva time beating her. So, while I go take on the champ, you can examine my drawing of the basement. It's on the next page.
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CELLAR .
SHAFT,CWSET
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TUB
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ROOM
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IIJ KING SIZE
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SECOND FLOOR
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FLOOR
TABLE
BLANKETS FOLDAWAY BEDS LINENS UTILITY STORAGE
UTILITY ROOM FOR STORAGE
FRONT BE DROOH
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BEDROOM
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1934 to 1950
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(GUEST BEDROOM)
{1950 to 1976)
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From 1950 to 1976 this was !!!1... bedroom and the "spare" was on the floor
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From 1934 to 1950 this was a spare bedroom to accommodate our guests.
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belo~. For details of furnishing, see plan of SECOND FLOOR.
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WARDROBE> CLOSET NERO WOLFE'S BEDROOM SUITE
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SOUTH ROOM
For guests Ch = Chair T -;: Table D.W.=Dumbwaiter
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EXTRA LONG +KINGSIZE+ BED
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CHIMNEYS
THE BROWNSTONE HOUSE OF NERO WOLFE
don't understand it. They were all here yesterday when I cleaned in here. " "Are you sure of that?" "Yes, sir. Positive."
Window
MAIN FLOOR
Window
n
Shelf
~ t:::]sench
Armoire ENTRY
"Look for it. Archie, help him. I want to know if that cushion is in this room."
FRONT
B
(Ibid .)
UP
.. -bd
For the exciting conclusion to that "front room" episode, get a copy of "Help Wanted, Male." It's in a book entitled Trouble in Triplicate ( 1 949). You'll be glad you did - and so will I. I still get the royalties. Better yet, buy two!
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In the plan of the main floor that follows, you'll see most of the furnishings penciled in, except for Wolfe's office. That requires a chapter all of its own.
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DINING ROOM
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WOLFE'S OFFICE
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(22' by 34')
"------ --- -----' Wln Ducts for
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re Window
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THE BROWNSTONE HOUSE OF NERO WOLFE
There is only one other office experience I want to mention before this chapter ends. It happened on a Sunday morning, in preparation for one of Wolfe's most elaborate charades.
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. . . Fritz and I worked like beavers, setting the stage . The idea was - that is , Wolfe's idea - to reproduce as nearly as possible the scene of the crime, and it was a damn silly idea, since you could put seven or eight of that office [a gross exaggeration} into Mrs. Robilotti's drawing room [which was the scene of the crime}. Taking the globe and the couch and the television cabinet and a few other items to the dining room helped a little, bur it was still hopeless . . . . To get fourteen chairs we had to bring some down from upstairs, and then it developed later that some of them weren't really necessary. The bar was a table in the far corner [from which the couch had been moved} but it couldn't be up against the wall because there had to be room for Hackett [who tended bar} behind it. One small satisfaction I got was that the red leather chair had been' taken to the dining room with the other stuff, and Cramer wouldn't like that a bit. [and he didn't.} (Champagne/or One [1958}, chapter 15)
It would have been much easier to take the principals, all eighteen of us, back to Mrs. Rob~lotti's drawing room, but ·,, Wolfe absolutely refused to leave the house! Fritz and I had to put all the furniture back again on Monday . Wolfe helped. He carried a yellow couch cushion! You are now in possession of all the documented evidence [ 126}
NERO
>- • LIGHTS
WOLFE'S
OFFICE
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~ II • HASTE BASKET EB • ENGRAVING OF 11 • CUPBOARD BRILLAT-SAVARIN I l l' • COFFEE TABLE MD = MIRROR DOOR 1111 • DICTIONARY STAND OS = OFFICE SUPPLIES 0 = ORCHID VASES Vt: • YELLOW CHAIRS
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PSH = PORTRAIT OF SHERLOCK HOLMES S = SAFE - WITH SHELVES ABOVE TS = TYPEWRITER STAND WM = WALL MAPS. THE SHELVES ABOVE HOLD RADIO AND TV
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THE BROWNSTONE HOUSE OF NERO WOLFE
THE BROWNSTONE HOUSE OF NERO WOLFE
needed to support my drawing of the office on the preceding page. Looking at it again is an experience in nostalgia. There were many things in the office that are indicated only by abbreviations or symbols on the floorplan. To help you get a handle on them, here is a roadmap:
Urillac-Savarin. The Peephole is labeled. On the office side lS the waterfall picture, on the alcove side a sliding panel. )n the wall behind the globe and the cable were Gouchard thlps. Over my typewriter stand, and extend ing over the 11hinets behind Wolfe's desk, was the four-by-six-foot mirror. llor further information take nearest detour to next page. l'bat solid row of cabinets behind Wolfe's desk held en' lopedias in four languages, reference books pertaining to llttest interest, a dictophone and related paraphernalia, IC ' rare first editions that he wanted to protect from light I dust, several bottles of quite choice brandy (sampled by now departed Charley), and a collapsible stepstool for hing tomes in high places . II' windows were draped from floor to ceiling beneath an 111 valance. Yes, they were yellow. bookshelves started at the door to the front room floor to ceiling - and ended at the door to the hall; then I up again on the other side of the door for five and a h'c•r, continuing at the six-foot-eight height above the cable , and chair, making a nice reveal for the Gouchard
YC = MD = OS TS DS = B =
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There were eight of them. MIRROR DOOR. It added class to the closet. OFFICE SUPPLIES. Paper, carbons, and junk. TYPEWRITER STAND. I could hide it in the OS. DICTIONARY STAND. Wolfe used it every day . WASTE BASKET. Cramer threw his cigars at it and missed. = CUPBOARD. With shelves built around the safe, it was used as storage for big books, mementos, and a hand grenade! And a stack of Bibles. VASE. On Wolfe's desk for daily display of or· chids. Also a wall-bracket vase. = SAFE. It was an old one, but sometimes "old" i ~ better. Shelves were all around and above it. LAMPS. Wolfe had one on his desk, I had one 0 11 mme. = LIGHTS. Turned on by wall switches just insid the door to the hall. Doubled at the entrance 111 the front room. YELLOW CHAIR.
Over the couch were hung the Holbein reproductions . Uvc 1 my desk wns a dignified picture of Sherlock Holmes. On 1lu
W11~
in those high shelves over the globe that we put the 11 11d early black-and-white television sets. When TV to 1 olor, Wolfe had Fritz and me move the globe to the i•lc• of the table and bought a twenty-seven-inch console 11101 e control. Anything co keep from getti ng out of ·ircl c you sec in che n'liddk• of rh<: Ooorplnn
