- Title: The Acquisitive Chuckle
- wiki: link
Mystery Monday takes us back to the Milano restaurant located in Midtown Manhattan where a group of six friends would gather once a month for an exclusive dinner of themselves, their server Henry Jackson, and a (decidedly male) guest of their choice to be grilled over the course of the evening and would invariably would bring up a problem or puzzle to be solved (almost always by Henry rather than the more distinguished members of the club).
Originally published in the January 1972 edition of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, “The Acquisitive Chuckle” is the first of Isaac Asimov‘s “Black Widowers” stories introducing us to this group (with each member based on one of the author’s friends). Over the years, more than 60 short mysteries would be published following the same basic format which the author regarded as some of his favorite stories.
The guest of the evening is private investigator Hanley Bartram, invited by patent attorney Geoffrey Avalon (based on L. Sprague de Camp). The short tale sets the stage for all to come, introducing each member of the group, describing the setting and unusual monthly ritual, and allowing the guest to tell their tale before opening up discussion to the group.
Bartram offers a tale of a falling out between two business partners, the honest-to-a-fault Jackson and the far less scrupulous Anderson. After managing to push Jackson out of the business, he receives a final visit from Jackson which implies the honest man liberated something from his partner’s vast collection (far too vast for everything to be accounted for). Unable to identify what might be missing, Anderson reached out to Bartram for assistance, although the detective wasn’t able to solve the mystery.
As is the case with these stories, the various members of the group offer questions and suggestions with no real truth in sight. It’s Henry, who is revealed to be Mr. Jackson at the end of the night, who admits to the truth about what happened allowing Henry to offer the perfect solution (as he will do countless more times over the years in tales he isn’t personally involved with). It’s a poetic ending that ties up the short tale with a bow, inspiring dozens of more problems to be brought to the table of the Black Widowers (and for their server, and honorary member, to solve).