Tuesday, March 25, 2025

Short Story Wednesday: Three Witnesses by Rex Stout

 

In January I read "Die Like a Dog," a novella featuring Nero Wolfe. It was published in Three Witnesses in 1956. This month I read the other two novellas in that book.


It has been awhile since I read these two stories. I was pleased to find that they were both entertaining, with interesting premises. 

For a brief introduction to the series of books and novellas:

Nero Wolfe is an armchair detective, preferring to do all his detecting from home. He is a genius, a lover of orchids and fine food, who supports himself (and his household) as a private detective. Archie Goodwin, the narrator of the stories, is both his assistant and a private investigator, and he does most of the legwork. They live in a New York brownstone, where Nero Wolfe has his office.


"The Next Witness"

Nero Wolfe has been called by the prosecution as a witness in a murder trial. A man has been accused of murdering a switchboard operator who worked at a telephone answering service. While sitting in the courtroom waiting to be called and listening to the questioning of other witnesses, Wolfe decides that it is possible that the man is not guilty. He abruptly leaves the courtroom with Archie Goodwin, his secretary/assistant/investigator. This puts them both in contempt of court, so they have to avoid the police while pursuing an independent investigation. The steps they take in order to prove Wolfe's hypothesis are engaging and fruitful.

Nero Wolfe is well known for his extreme distaste for leaving his home. He is also afraid of riding in cars (or any other mode of transportation, actually). In this case, he spends all of his time away from home hiding from the police, either in the courtroom, interviewing witnesses, or staying in the apartment of one of his freelance operatives.


"When a Man Murders"

Carolyn Karnow's first husband, Sidney, was declared MIA a few months after the Army sent him to Korea.  After a few years she married Paul Aubry. Six months later, Sidney Karnow shows up in New York, which means that Carolyn and Paul are no longer legally married. They go to Nero Wolfe to ask him to intercede with Karnow to give Carolyn a divorce. Carolyn inherited a substantial amount of money from Sidney when he was declared dead; she plans to return as much of the money as she can if he will agree to a divorce.

Archie goes to Sidney Karnow's hotel to talk to him, but when Archie arrives at his room, he finds Karnow's dead body instead. Shortly after that, the police arrest Paul Aubry for the crime, and Wolfe and Archie are looking  around for the real culprit.



20 comments:

pattinase (abbott) said...

I read all of his books in the seventies and enjoyed them so much. Really an indelible pair of characters.

Margot Kinberg said...

One thing I always admired about Rex Stout was his ability to write well in the novel, novella, and short story formats. Many people can't do that, but he was great at it. Thanks for the reminder of these stories. Time to get back to Stout, I think...

George said...

I've read all the Nero Wolfe books. THE GOLDEN SPIDERS is my favorite. Rex Stout was able to tell stories in novels and short stories successfully. Not many writers master both forms.

Todd Mason said...

I think a number do, George, though Stout was so much at home with Wolfe & Co. that his ease with their narratives overcame all...

Todd Mason said...

In at least two discussion lists I'm a part of, Stout's work is cited as "Comfort Reading"...(and don't forget novelets, Margot)...now, when one can write a pound vignette, one has run the table...unless we also bow to those who can write a lean cycle of novels, et al, as did Stout.

Cath said...

These sound like two really interesting novellas, Tracy. I want to know what happens now. LOL!

Kelly said...

I plan to put something by Stout on my next CC list. I might have a post at some point looking for recommendations on what to choose from a few authors (like this).

Kathy's Corner said...

I read Rex Stout's first Nero Wolfe novel years ago and then a few months ago I read a short story of his, The Christmas Party, and it was very good and got me back into the world of Nero and Archie.

TracyK said...

Patti, I read as many of Stout's Nero Wolfe books as I could find in the 60s and 70s but later, probably in the 80s, I read them all in order and picked up all the books I had missed earlier. I also read a biography of Stout which went into details about his writing process, etc.

TracyK said...

Margot, right now I am concentrating on Stout's shorter works in the Nero Wolfe series, but sometime I want to reread more of the novels that I have not covered on the blog.

TracyK said...

George, THE GOLDEN SPIDERS is one of my favorite novels in the series. I think it has some unique qualities that differentiate it from the others. More action in the story than usual, for one thing. And the TV adaptation in the series starring Timothy Hutton and Maury Chaykin was well done.

Todd Mason said...

Possibly of interest: https://litmagnews.substack.com/p/we-like-to-be-excited-by-the-printed

Todd Mason said...

I Thought I typed Profound vignette, but one Ezra Pound might write, unless it praised Mussolini, could be good, too...

TracyK said...

Todd, the Nero Wolfe stories are definitely comfort reading for me. And I should be reading even more of them right now. Thanks for clarifying pound vignette. And thanks for the link to the imformation about Ploughshares. I don't know much about that magazine, and I spent a bit of time at the website today.

TracyK said...

Cath, Three Witnesses may be the best of the Nero Wolfe novella collections that I have reread so far, because all three stories have great premises. But the next one I want to reread, Three for the Chair, has a lot of promise too.

TracyK said...

That sounds like a good idea, Kelly. Reader recommendations can help.

TracyK said...

Kathy, I am glad you enjoyed both of those. The first Nero Wolfe novel is my favorite, but other readers don't agree. To me, you can see in that novel that Rex Stout had the picture of the Nero Wolfe / Archie Goodwin relationship and the other characters that were seen throughout the series right from the start.

Lark said...

One of my reading goals for this year is to read a Rex Stout mystery!

TracyK said...

I am glad you are planning to read a Rex Stout mystery, Lark. I hope you like it. Not everyone likes them as much as I do, but it is good to give older mystery series a try.

Todd Mason said...

PLOUGHSHARES has been another of the better and more steady "little" magazines over the last several decades. We'll see if that gets wrecked, directly or indirectly, by the current hooligans-in-chief.