 | |
| Author | Rex Stout |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Bill English |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Nero Wolfe |
| Genre | Detective fiction |
| Publisher | Viking Press |
Publication date | October 24, 1952 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 186 pp. (first edition) |
| OCLC | 36962338 |
| Preceded by | Triple Jeopardy |
| Followed by | The Golden Spiders |
Prisoner's Base (British title Out Goes She) is a Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout, first published by Viking Press in 1952.
As far as I know, no electrons had darted in either direction when I first laid eyes on Priscilla Eads, nor had I felt faint or dizzy at any point during my association with her, but the fact remains that I have never had swifter or stronger hunches than the two that were connected with her. Monday evening, before Helmar had said much more than twenty words about his missing ward, I had said to myself, "She's upstairs," and knew it. Tuesday morning, when I saw Inspector Cramer of Manhattan Homicide on the stoop, I said to myself, "She's dead," and knew it.
— Archie, reflecting, in Prisoner's Base, chapter 3.
A young woman who will shortly inherit control of a large manufacturing firm wants to rent a room in Nero Wolfe's house. Wolfe, outraged, puts her out; she is found murdered later that night. With no client in sight, Wolfe is not interested, but Archie feels responsible. His first step is to crash a meeting of the manufacturer's board of directors.
The 1992 Bantam edition reprints the typewritten title page of Rex Stout's 1952 manuscript, showing that the book's original title was Dare-Base. Darebase, also called prisoner's base, is a children's game, a variation on tag.
"The title on my manuscript was Dare-Base, from a game we played in Kansas when I was a boy," Rex Stout told biographer John McAleer. "My publisher, Harold Guinzburg, said it was better known as prisoner's base." [1]
Late one night, Archie muses that the situation faced by one of the characters is like the game — it's up to her to get from one base to another without being tagged. But she does get tagged.
After an argument between Archie and Wolfe over Archie's weekly paycheck, a young woman arrives at the brownstone with an unusual request. She wants to rent a room until June 30, one week away, without revealing her identity or presence to anyone. Wolfe rejects the idea, but before he and Archie can send her away, a lawyer named Perry Helmar arrives. He is the legal guardian of Priscilla Eads, a young woman who has gone missing, and he wants to hire Wolfe to find her before June 30. The photographs he has brought with him convince Archie that Priscilla is the house guest.
The terms of her father's will state that Priscilla is to inherit 90% of the stock in Softdown, a major towel manufacturer, when she reaches her 25th birthday on June 30. However, her ex-husband, Eric Hagh - currently living in South America - claims that she signed a document giving him half of her property. In addition, several Softdown officers are concerned about Priscilla suddenly becoming a majority stockholder.
Wolfe sends Helmar away without an immediate decision, then offers Priscilla a choice. She can either pay the same fee Helmar offered and stay at the brownstone incognito, or she can leave and Wolfe will accept Helmar's terms and begin tracking her down the following morning. She chooses to leave, but before Wolfe can call Helmar the next day, Inspector Cramer brings news that both Priscilla and her maid, Margaret Fomos, have been strangled to death. Margaret had keys to Priscilla's apartment, but they were not found on her body, leading the police to conclude that the murderer targeted her first in order to gain access to Priscilla.
While Archie feels guilt at his involvement in the events that led to Priscilla's death, Wolfe takes no interest in the case, having no client and no prospect of a fee. Infuriated, Archie storms out to begin investigating on his own. He barges into a meeting of Softdown personnel, four of whom are officers who will inherit Priscilla's stock in her place, and learns from them that Helmar will receive shares as well. Before he can learn much more, Lieutenant Rowcliff arrives and arrests him, based on claims that he had impersonated a police officer to get into the building.
While being questioned, Archie learns that thanks to Rowcliff's pettiness and overeagerness, Wolfe has been taken into custody as a material witness. Outraged, Wolfe states that he does now have a client – Archie – and the two are released. From Lon Cohen, Archie learns about Priscilla's background, her marriage and time spent living in South America, and her best friend Sarah Jaffee, who owns the remaining 10% of the Softdown stock. Sarah tells Archie that Priscilla had planned to oust the company's board of directors and replace them all with women, including herself, Sarah, and Margaret. Archie urges her to file an injunction blocking the four Softdown officers from exercising the voting rights on the stock they hold until the murders have been solved, but she turns down the idea. He also tries to question Margaret's husband Andy, but without success.
Shortly after Archie returns to the brownstone, a lawyer named Albert M. Irby arrives and asks to see Wolfe. He represents Hagh, who is due to arrive in New York the following afternoon. That next morning, Sarah decides to act on Archie's suggestion of legal action; Wolfe arranges representation for her by Nathaniel Parker, his lawyer. He uses the decision as leverage to bring all of the involved parties - the four Softdown officers, Helmar, Sarah, Parker, Andy, Hagh, and Irby - to his office for a meeting that night.
The meeting yields little of use, but after everyone has left, Sarah calls Archie from her apartment to report that her keys are missing. Suspecting that the murderer may have stolen them and is lying in wait, he instructs her to leave the phone off the hook and exit so that he can clearly hear her; when the line goes silent, he rushes to her building and finds her strangled to death in the apartment.
After being questioned and released from custody, Archie discovers that Wolfe has brought Saul Panzer in on the case and provided him with expense money. He observes the interrogation of several people who were at the meeting, with Cramer's permission, then relays a suggestion to re-enact the night's events at the office. To his surprise, Wolfe accepts.
The gathering takes place at noon that same day, with Saul present as well. Wolfe dismisses the police's initial theory that Margaret was killed only to get her keys and/or because she recognized her attacker. Saul had traveled to South America, carrying a photograph of Hagh that Sarah had given to Archie, and learned that he had died three months earlier. The man claiming to be Hagh is in fact Siegfried Muecke, an associate who left South America shortly after Hagh's death. Muecke had learned of the document Hagh and Priscilla signed, witnessed by Margaret, and traveled to New York to collect half her property. He killed all three women because they had seen the real Hagh, either in person or through photographs, and could expose his deception.
Archie vents his frustration by punching Andy when he lunges at Muecke, who is quickly arrested.
In most Nero Wolfe novels and novellas, there is at least one unfamiliar word, usually spoken by Wolfe. Prisoner's Base contains these three:
Prisoner's Base was adapted for the first season of the A&E TV series A Nero Wolfe Mystery (2001–2002). The teleplay for the episode, written by Lee Goldberg and William Rabkin, was nominated for an Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America. Directed by Neill Fearnley, "Prisoner's Base" made its debut in two one-hour episodes airing May 13 and 20, 2001, on A&E.
Timothy Hutton is Archie Goodwin; Maury Chaykin is Nero Wolfe. Other members of the cast (in credits order) are Bill Smitrovich (Inspector Cramer), Saul Rubinek (Lon Cohen), Colin Fox (Fritz Brenner), James Tolkan (Bernard Quest). Ron Rifkin (Perry Helmar), Kari Matchett (Sarah Jaffee), Shauna Black (Priscilla Eads), Conrad Dunn (Saul Panzer), Nicky Guadagni (Viola Duday), R.D. Reid (Sergeant Purley Stebbins), Steve Cumyn (Eric Hagh), Gary Reineke (Oliver Pitkin), Hrant Alianak (Nathaniel Parker), David Schurmann (Jay Brucker) and Wayne Best (Albert Irby).
In addition to original music by Nero Wolfe composer Michael Small, the soundtrack includes music by Ib Glindemann (titles) and Johannes Brahms. [3]
In North America, A Nero Wolfe Mystery is available on Region 1 DVD from A&E Home Video ( ISBN 076708893X). "Prisoner's Base" is divided into two parts as originally broadcast on A&E. [4]
"Prisoner's Base" is one of the Nero Wolfe episodes released on Region 4 DVD in Australia by Magna Pacific, under license by FremantleMedia Enterprises. Nero Wolfe — Collection Two (2008) was the first release of an episode containing scenes not available on the A&E Home Video release. [5] The international version presents "Prisoner's Base" as a 90-minute film with a single set of titles and credits, and it includes three scenes (3.5 minutes) found on pp. 3–5, 21 and 27–28 of the script written by Lee Goldberg and William Rabkin. The A&E and Magna Pacific DVD releases present the episode in 4:3 pan and scan rather than its 16:9 aspect ratio for widescreen viewing. [6]
Random House discovered in 2011 that most of the Bantam paperback editions of Prisoner's Base lack the final chapter (17), which is 1.5 pages in length in the hardcover editions. [7] The Wolfe Pack, the Nero Wolfe literary society, took the liberty of providing the final chapter in PDF format on its website. [8]
The Golden Spiders is a Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout. It was first published in 1953 by The Viking Press.
The Nero Wolfe stories are populated by a cast of supporting characters who help sustain the sense that each story takes place in familiar surroundings.
In the Best Families is a Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout, first published by the Viking Press in 1950. The story was collected in the omnibus volumes Five of a Kind and Triple Zeck.
Champagne for One is a Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout, first published by the Viking Press in 1958. The back matter of the 1995 Bantam edition of this book includes an exchange of correspondence between Stout and his editor at Viking Press, Marshall Best. A letter from Stout to Best, dated July 1958, shows that Stout suggested as a title both "Champagne for One" and also "Champagne for Faith Usher." Best's reply states that Viking was quite satisfied with "Champagne for One."
Over My Dead Body is the seventh Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout. The story first appeared in abridged form in The American Magazine. The novel was published in 1940 by Farrar & Rinehart, Inc.
The Rubber Band is the third Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout. Prior to its publication in 1936 by Farrar & Rinehart, Inc., the novel was serialized in six issues of The Saturday Evening Post. Appearing in one 1960 paperback edition titled To Kill Again,The Rubber Band was also collected in the omnibus volume Five of a Kind.
Too Many Women is a Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout, published in 1947 by the Viking Press. The novel was also collected in the omnibus volume All Aces.
Murder by the Book is a Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout published in 1951 by the Viking Press, and collected in the omnibus volume Royal Flush (1965).
Too Many Clients is a Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout, published by the Viking Press in 1960, and later collected in the omnibus volume Three Aces.
The Final Deduction is a Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout, published by the Viking Press in 1961 and collected in the omnibus volume Three Aces.
Death of a Doxy is a Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout, first published by Viking Press in 1966.
The Mother Hunt is a Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout, first published by Viking Press in 1963.
"Disguise for Murder" is a Nero Wolfe mystery novella by American writer Rex Stout, first published as "The Twisted Scarf" in the September 1950 issue of The American Magazine. It first appeared in book form in the short-story collection Curtains for Three, published by the Viking Press in 1951.
"Cordially Invited to Meet Death" is a Nero Wolfe mystery novella by Rex Stout, first published in abridged form as "Invitation to Murder" in the April 1942 issue of The American Magazine. It first appeared in book form in the short-story collection Black Orchids, published by Farrar & Rinehart in 1942.
"Counterfeit for Murder" is a Nero Wolfe mystery novella by Rex Stout, first serialized as "The Counterfeiter's Knife" in three issues of The Saturday Evening Post. It first appeared in book form in the short-story collection Homicide Trinity, published by the Viking Press in 1962.
"Murder Is No Joke" is a Nero Wolfe mystery novella by Rex Stout, first published in the 1958 short-story collection And Four to Go.
"The Next Witness" is a Nero Wolfe mystery novella by Rex Stout, first published as "The Last Witness" in the May 1955 issue of The American Magazine. It first appeared in book form in the short-story collection Three Witnesses, published by the Viking Press in 1956.
"When a Man Murders" is a Nero Wolfe mystery novella by Rex Stout, first published in the May 1954 issue of The American Magazine. It first appeared in book form in the short-story collection Three Witnesses, published by the Viking Press in 1956.
"Easter Parade" is a Nero Wolfe mystery novella by Rex Stout, first published as "The Easter Parade Murder" in the April 16, 1957, issue of Look magazine. It first appeared in book form in the short-story collection And Four to Go, published by the Viking Press in 1958.
"Home to Roost" is a Nero Wolfe mystery novella by Rex Stout, first published as "Nero Wolfe and the Communist Killer" in the January 1952 issue of The American Magazine. It first appeared in book form in the short-story collection Triple Jeopardy, published by the Viking Press in 1952. This novella and the 1949 novel The Second Confession are notable expressions of Stout's contempt for both Communism and McCarthyism.
THE MISSING CHAPTER: In 2011 Random House (Viking) discovered that most paperback editions published after the first hardcover printing had omitted CHAPTER 17.
Here, at long last, is Chapter 17.
