known only as "The Big Fellow". Templar is abducted by one of the remaining crime lords and two corrupt, high-ranking New York City officials offer him $200,000 to reveal who is backing him. Templar claims to be working on his own, and the crime lord orders Templar to be taken for the proverbial "ride". Templar is taken to a remote location in New Jersey but manages to escape his fate thanks to the intervention of Fay Edwards, a beautiful young woman who happens to be a cold-blooded killer, and who claims to be working for The Big Fellow. Simon Templar and Fay Edwards fall in love with each other, in a completely Platonic way (they exchange only two kisses and exchange only a few words) which seems nevertheless very deep and poignantly emotional. (On his return to London, in the last page of the book, Templar would refuse to tell Patricia Holm about his American experiences.) The Saint eventually learns that he is being manipulated into killing off certain crime bosses in order that The Big Fellow will not have to split a $17 million cache of blood money that was going to be shared among the gangsters. In effect, rather than being a daring and idealistic vigilante, as he thought of himself, Templar finds that he had been made into a gangland hit man – and very much dislikes to see himself in such a role. And when Big Fellow's identity is finally revealed, he ends up being the last person Templar would suspect. Film adaptation It was this book that RKO Radio Pictures purchased and made the basis for their first Saint film, which was released in 1938. William Sistrom was the producer. Louis Hayward was cast as Simon Templar. A minor change was made to the character of Inspector Fernack; the spelling of his name was changed to Farnack and remained so for all future film appearances. In 1987, a television pilot for a potential new Saint TV series was broadcast on CBS. Entitled The Saint in Manhattan, the pilot was not directly based upon the novel but did feature the character of Inspector Farnack. Cultural references A copy of the novel The Saint in New York was featured prominently in an episode of the Canadian sitcom Corner Gas in 2004. In the episode "Comedy Night", the show's lead character, Brent Leroy, attempts to sway a local