A 1936 Nero Wolfe mystery novel written by Rex Stout, and the third in the series.
In 1895, during the last days of The Wild West, a young Englishman called George Rowley got himself into hanging trouble on the gold fields of California. To get himself out of it, he promised a ragtag gang of Prospectors and outlaws — known as "the Rubber Band" after their leader, "Rubber" Coleman — half of his family fortune if they'd help him escape. They did so, Rowley went on to become the Marquis of Clivers, an influential British soldier and diplomat, and the others went on to poor, anonymous obscurity.
In the present Clara Fox, the canny daughter of one of the members of the gang, has decided that it's high time the Marquis paid back his debt. As such, she has reunited the surviving members of the Band to approach Nero Wolfe in the hope that the detective might use his brilliant intellect and cunning to help persuade the Marquis, reluctant to give away his fortune, to agree to honor his debt. It appears to be a simple consultation, quite unlike Wolfe's usual cases — but when Clara is mysteriously framed for theft and one of the Band turns up dead mere hours after visiting Wolfe, it quickly becomes apparent that someone doesn't want the past to be dug up...
Tropes in this work: (Tropes relating to the series as a whole, or to the characters in general can be found on Nero Wolfe and its subpages.)
- Artistic License – Linguistics: A minor, spelling-related case; throughout the story, the French spelling of "Marquis" is used to describe the Marquis of Clivers. As the Marquis is British, however, he and everyone would use "Marquess" instead. As the French spelling is more commonly used outside of the United Kingdom, the error is understandable, but nevertheless.
- Contrived Coincidence: Archie - partially out of curiosity, partially to annoy Wolfe - reads him an article about the Marquis of Clivers at the beginning of the novel, before they get hired to investigate him and reclaim the debt. This later turns into a Chekhov's Lecture due to the article mentioning that the Marquis is unable to drive a car, which means he can't have killed Harlan Scovil.
- Diplomatic Impunity: Implied, at least; it is heavily hinted that the Marquis of Clivers is performing important diplomatic work on behalf of the British government which gives him this, as the authorities really, really don't want to bother him, and they especially don't want to have a reason that requires them to arrest him for murder. While he is apparently caught red-headed over the body of Mike Walsh, however, fortunately for everyone the Marquis turns out to be innocent. He does technically fire the bullet that kills Rubber Coleman, but as it's clearly self-defence and Archie was also firing, it's decided to make everyone's lives easier by just saying that Archie fired the killing shot.
- Double Meaning: The novel's title. The Rubber Band is the gang of outlaws who rescued the Marquis of Clivers in the Wild West, and that's how they're often referred to. However, it also becomes key to solving the murder: Wolfe realizes that Anthony D. Perry faked the gunshot that supposedly killed Michael Walsh, and which Wolfe and Archie overheard on the telephone, by snapping a rubber band over the phone's receiver to simulate a gunshot and fake an alibi for himself.
- Extremely Short Timespan: Most books take place over a week, weeks, or even months, but The Rubber Band takes place over four days, with the first day being consigned solely to the first chapter.
- Femme Fatale: Played with; Clara Fox fancies herself as an "adventuress" and our initial meetings of her suggest her to be a rather cold, ruthless figure. It gradually becomes clear that she's ultimately quite gentle-natured, kind-hearted and naive, however, and isn't really cut out for such a life.
- Frame-Up: The Big Bad tried to frame Clara of theft in order to get her arrested, hoping this would keep the rest of the Rubber Band from discovering his fraud.
- The Ghost: Victor Lindquist, a member of the Rubber Band too old and ill to travel to New York and personally attend Clara's meeting, although his daughter Hilda appears to represent him. Later, he turns into a Chekhov's Gunman due to being the only other known survivor of the Rubber Band besides the Big Bad, which means he can testify that he never got any of the money that the Marquis gave Perry, which will ensure his conviction for forgery and fraud.
- I Owe You My Life: The Marquis of Clivers owes his life to the Rubber Band, but refuses to pay what he promised them. Except that it turns out that this is because he believes he already has paid them.
- Justice by Other Legal Means: The murderer is rather cocky during The Summation, but Wolfe points out that even if the evidence can't be found of murder, there is sufficient evidence to convict him of another crime, which would still be more than enough to expose and ruin him. Specifically, Rubber Coleman faked the signatures of the other members of the Rubber Band to defraud a million pounds from the Marquis, and there remains a living witness who can testify he never received his rightful share, so he can be convicted of fraud in England.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Clara Fox gradually comes to blame herself for the numerous deaths that occur throughout the story, as they probably wouldn't have happened had she not persisted in trying to claim the debt from the Marquis. It gets to the point that at the end she tries to turn down her part in the Marquis' settlement. Wolfe bluntly talks her out of it, pointing out that the only one responsible for the murders is the murderer and even if she does have some responsibility, turning down what's rightfully hers won't fix anything.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: It's implied that the Marquis of Clivers is a lot more savvy and intelligent than his Upper-Class Twit appearances.
- Retired Badass: The Marquis of Clivers and most of the Rubber Band. Mike Walsh zigzags this due to still working as a security guard, carrying around a gun, and being prepared to investigate on his own due to doubting Wolfe's abilities.
- Ungrateful Bastard: The drama of the novel is kicked off because the Marquis of Clivers refuses to pay the debt that he owes the Rubber Band for saving his life those years ago. Though it's subverted when the Marquis reveals to Wolfe that he's already paid his debt to them several years before. Or, more accurately speaking, believes that he has. By the end, once the fraud and other matters related to it are cleared up, he proves willing to honor his debt though is apparently a bit stingy in terms of the haggling.
- Upper-Class Twit: The Marquis of Clivers at first seems to be a rather stereotypical British toff, but it's played with in that his Hidden Depths suggest that he's a lot sharper than he first appears and that he relies on Obfuscating Stupidity. He also turns out to be not too bad in a fight since it's his shot that kills Anthony Perry/Rubber Coleman. His nephew, Francis Horrocks, plays this a lot straighter, however.
- World War One: Briefly appears in the backstory as part of the inciting incident for the events of the novel; Clara's father was an American soldier serving on the Western Front and happened to briefly cross paths with George Rowley again, then a British general. This inspired him to write to his wife to tell her the story of what happened and to call in the debt, which Clara in turn was inspired to follow up on after her father's death in the trenches.
- Wham Line: Three of them, across the novel.Homicide Detective: (referring to a murder victim) His name was on a hunting license, also in his pocket. State of Wyoming. Harlan Scovil.The Marquis of Clivers: Bah, I owe them nothing! You know damn well I've paid them.The Marquis of Clivers: By Gad, you were right. He's Coleman. Rubber Coleman.
- What Happened to the Mouse?:
- During his Wild West Days, the Marquis was vague about how much he would inherit due to being a younger son. It's later mentioned he inherited the title when his uncle and cousins died in a shipwreck, with no mention of what happened to his older brother, who should have inherited before him (unless perhaps they were half-brothers).
- Clara and the others were unable to track down William "Turtleback" Mollen and Rubber Coleman, of the original Rubber Band. Although Rubber Coleman shows up as Clara's boss Anthony D. Perry, the final fate of Turtleback isn't revealed. Given his advanced age even at the time of the original rescue, Wolfe simply assumes that he's dead.
- The Wild West: Not featured itself, but the backstory takes place in the gold fields of California in 1895.
- Woman Scorned: A gender-inverted version: Ramsey Muir, who accuses Clara of theft, is clearly driven in large part by spite because Clara refused his advances.
