Language English Published in The American Magazine Publication date April 1947 Country United States of America | Series Nero Wolfe Publication type Periodical Originally published April 1947 Genre Detective fiction | |
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Similar Rex Stout books, Other books | ||
"Before I Die" is a Nero Wolfe mystery novella by Rex Stout, first published in the April 1947 issue of The American Magazine. It first appeared in book form in the short-story collection Trouble in Triplicate, published by the Viking Press in 1949.
Contents
Plot summary
I gazed at my boss in bitter disgust. He had lost all sense of proportion. For the sake of making a wild grab for a rib roast, he had left his chair, walked clear to the front room, opened a window, and invited the most deadly specimen between the Battery and Yonkers into his house.
The meat shortage of 1946 has drastically affected the menu at Wolfe's dining room table and left him in a foul mood. A notorious gangster, Dazy Perrit, arrives at the brownstone to enlist Wolfe's help and, over Archie's protests, Wolfe invites him inside. Archie fears that Perrit will tell Wolfe something that Wolfe would prefer not to know, but Wolfe wants meat and thinks that Perrit's black market connections might enable him to get it.
Perrit gives Archie a phone number to call for a possible supply of meat, and then tells Wolfe his problem. He has a daughter, but he has kept her existence and identity a secret to protect her from his enemies. One of them, Thumbs Meeker, has recently let Perrit know that his daughter's existence is no longer a secret. Meeker apparently does not know the daughter's identity or location, only that Perrit has a daughter somewhere. Perrit has found a grifter named Angelina Murphy who is on the run from authorities in Utah, and has installed her as his daughter in his Fifth Avenue penthouse. This, Perrit thinks, will keep his enemies from seeking out and harming his real daughter. Angelina, though, has begun to blackmail Perrit, demanding large sums of money and threatening to expose his secret unless he pays. He wants to hire Wolfe to make Angelina stop.
Wolfe dispatches Archie to make contact with Perrit's real daughter, Beulah Page. Archie learns that Beulah is engaged to marry a law student named Morton Schane and invites them both to dinner at Wolfe's house. Wolfe uses the occasion to acquaint himself with the couple's plans and concerns. Later that night, after Beulah and Schane have left, Angelina arrives for an appointment with Wolfe. He threatens to reveal her whereabouts to the Utah authorities unless she gives him 90% of any further money she extorts from Perrit. Angelina responds by threatening to disclose that she is not Perrit's daughter, but Wolfe rebuffs her, saying that the information will be of no personal worry to him.
As Archie escorts Angelina home, she is killed in a drive-by shooting outside her apartment building. Archie is taken into custody, questioned, and released; when he reaches the brownstone, Perrit and one of his thugs are waiting to talk to him. These two men are killed in a second drive-by. Later that day, Perrit's lawyer, L.A. Schwartz, pays a visit to Wolfe with news that he has been named executor of Perrit's estate and entrusted with documents that prove Beulah's parentage. Wolfe accepts the responsibility — and the $50,000 fee that goes with it — and schedules an appointment with Beulah, Schane, and Schwartz.
The meeting is further joined by Saul Panzer, Meeker, and an associate of Perrit's named Fabian. Wolfe reveals Schane as the murderer, having become suspicious at the dinner after Schane made a nonsense comment about a simple point of law. Schane had been in league with Angelina in Utah, but decided to focus on Beulah instead after coming to New York, and Perrit had figured out what he was doing. The fingerprints he left on his wineglass at dinner confirm his identity and criminal background. Schane shoots at the group but misses, and Saul, Fabian, and Meeker return fire, with Saul's bullet killing Schane.
Six days later, the meat shortage ends. Archie comments to Wolfe on the way in which Wolfe orchestrated the meeting to bring about Schane's death without leading to criminal charges being filed against anyone else present, then leaves for a date with Beulah.
Revision
Although Rex Stout professed that he never revised stories, there are material differences between the first appearance of "Before I Die" in The American Magazine and its publication in book form by Viking two years later. The fourth paragraph of the magazine version relates that it is a shortage of stainless steel — not meat — that miffs Nero Wolfe. Archie sets up the story by reporting that Wolfe wants "to build stainless-steel supports for some new plant benches, and, on account of postwar shortages, couldn't get the steel." Further on, in his exchange with Wolfe, Dazy Perrit asks, "You want a slice of the building-materials racket?"
The second paragraph in the magazine version refers to Charley the cleaning man, but Charley was edited out of the Viking edition and is mentioned in only one book version of a Nero Wolfe story, The Silent Speaker (1946). The magazine version also provides the highest weight ever estimated for Nero Wolfe: "He weighs between 310 and 390," Archie reports in the third paragraph.
The epilogues of the two versions are also different: In the lengthier magazine version, the heroine turns down Archie's invitation to dinner in favor of spending the time with Wolfe and his orchids; in the book version, Archie gets the girl, as usual.
The unfamiliar word
In most Nero Wolfe novels and novellas, there is an unfamiliar word, usually spoken by Wolfe. "Before I Die" contains this:
Cast of characters
"Before I Die"
Trouble in Triplicate
A Nero Wolfe Mystery (A&E Network)
"Before I Die" was adapted for the second season of the A&E TV series A Nero Wolfe Mystery (2001–2002). Directed by John L'Ecuyer from a teleplay by Sharon Elizabeth Doyle, "Before I Die" made its debut June 16, 2002, on A&E.
Timothy Hutton is Archie Goodwin; Maury Chaykin is Nero Wolfe. Other members of the cast (in credits order) include Colin Fox (Fritz Brenner), Bill Smitrovich Inspector Cramer, Conrad Dunn (Saul Panzer), Christine Brubaker (Violet Perrit), Seymour Cassel (Dazy Perrit), Lindy Booth (Beulah Page), Joe Pingue (Archie 2), Ken Kramer (L.A. Schwartz), Bill MacDonald (Lieutenant Rowcliff), Matthew Edison (Morton Schane), Beau Starr (Thumbs Meeker), Doug Lennox (Fabian), Nicky Guadagni (Fabian's Girl) and Angela Maiorano (Archie 2's Girl).
In addition to original music by Nero Wolfe composer Michael Small, the soundtrack includes music by Ralph Dollimore (titles) and David Steinberg.
Broadcast in widescreen when shown outside North America, "Before I Die" is also expanded from 45 minutes to 90 minutes for international broadcast.
In North America, A Nero Wolfe Mystery is available on Region 1 DVD from A&E Home Video (ISBN 0-7670-8893-X). The A&E DVD release presents the 45-minute version of "Before I Die" in 4:3 pan and scan rather than its 16:9 aspect ratio for widescreen viewing.
The adaptation is faithful to the original save for a light touch added to the ending: Fritz receives a delivery of lamb chops, much to his and Wolfe's delight, at the same time Beulah phones Archie about having dinner together.
Poka ya ne umer (Russian TV)
"Before I Die" was adapted for Russian television in 2001 by F.A.F. Entertainment. Titled Poka ya ne umer, or Nero Wolfe i Archie Goodvin: Poka ya ne umer (Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin: Before I Die), it starred Donatas Banionis as Wolfe and Sergey Zhigunov as Archie. Written by Vladimir Valutsky and directed by Yevgeni Tatarsky, Poka ya ne umer was one of a series of Russian Nero Wolfe TV movies made in 2001–2002.
Nero Wolfe (CBC Radio)
"Before I Die" was adapted as the second episode of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's 13-part radio series Nero Wolfe (1982), starring Mavor Moore as Nero Wolfe, Don Francks as Archie Goodwin and Cec Linder as Inspector Cramer. Written and directed by Toronto actor and producer Ron Hartmann, the hour-long adaptation aired on CBC Stereo January 23, 1982.
Nero Wolfe (Paramount Television)
"Before I Die" was loosely adapted as the third episode of Nero Wolfe (1981), an NBC TV series starring William Conrad as Nero Wolfe and Lee Horsley as Archie Goodwin. Other members of the regular cast include George Voskovec (Fritz Brenner), Robert Coote (Theodore Horstmann), George Wyner (Saul Panzer) and Allan Miller (Inspector Cramer). Guest stars in "Before I Die" include Ramon Bieri (Leo Crown [Dazy Perrit]), Char Fontane (Violet/Angelina Murphy), Tarah Nutter (Elaine [Beulah] Page), John Ericson (Arthur Poor [L.A. Schwartz]), H.M. Wynant (Eddie [Thumbs] Meeker) and Eddie Fontaine (Harry Fabian). Directed by Edward M. Abroms from a teleplay by Alfred Hayes, "Before I Die" aired January 30, 1981.