first name. Though it is given as George elsewhere, in Please Pass the Guilt, his first two initials are stated as "J.M." in a letter dictated by Wolfe. There is also inconsistency in the spelling of the lieutenant's surname; it occasionally appears as "Rowcliffe." (This variant is the version that appears in The Silent Speaker, the same novel in which the continuity error regarding Cramer's first name is introduced.) Rowcliff is the only character acknowledged by Stout to have been consciously modeled and named after a real-life persona young naval attache under whom Stout served while a yeoman on Theodore Roosevelt's presidential yacht Mayflower in 1906–07 and to whom Stout took an intense and enduring dislike. Whether or not the connection between the real and fictional Rowcliffs was known contemporaneously, clearly the source of Stout’s obnoxious cop suffered no ill effects professionally: Gilbert Jonathan Rowcliff went on to a distinguished naval career spanning both world wars, at sea as an honored commander and in Washington as judge advocate general, a position he assumed in June 1936, shortly after his namesake was introduced in The Rubber Band. Also, whether or not the naval Rowcliff followed Stout’s career or read and recognized himself in the Nero Wolfe books, Stout clearly followed his; in an interview with John McAleer, the author dead-panned, “he retired in December 1945, with the rank of rear admiral.” The role of Rowcliff is played by Bill MacDonald in the A&E TV series. Others Police Commissioner HombertIn some of the novels, the New York police commissioner. A politician, rather than a policeman, he is not especially respected by either Wolfe or Cramer. Skinnerdistrict attorney for Manhattan Mandelbaum (aka Mandel)assistant district attorney for Manhattan. Cleveland Archerdistrict attorney in Westchester County Ben Dykeshead of detectives for Westchester County Con Noonanlieutenant with the New York State Police, a suburban version of Lieutenant Rowcliff Richard WraggFBI Special Agent in Charge of the New York Office Friends Lon Cohen Lon Cohen is a journalist near the top of the fictional New York Gazette, a major New York daily newspaper. Lon is Archie's pipeline to breaking crime news, and Archie frequently asks Lon for background information on current or prospective clients. Archie, Lon, and some other Wolfe regulars play poker Thursday nights at Saul Panzer's apartment. Over the years, Wolfe and the Gazette develop a symbiotic relationship that gives the newspaper exclusive information regarding Wolfe's