The Bonfire of the Vanities

Kramer is jubilant when the jury declares Herbert 92X guilty. He is now on his way to Harlem, accompanied by detectives Martin and Goldberg, to meet Reverend Bacon and Annie Lamb about Henry’s case. The case would otherwise be considered too minor for the DA’s office, but Bacon is influential and has managed to convince Abe Weiss, Kramer’s boss, to investigate it further. At Bacon’s office, Martin and Goldberg act combative and disinterested, so Kramer has to play peacemaker. The detectives promise Bacon that Annie Lamb will not be prosecuted for her parking tickets and can speak to them freely. Annie Lamb tells the detectives Henry saw a white couple in the Mercedes that hit him and remembers that it was a New York plate beginning with the letter R, followed by either E, F, P, or B. The detectives say this is too little to go on; what they need is a witness who saw the hit-and-run take place. Bacon tells the detectives they would have been more interested in the case had the victim been a young white man from an Ivy League school.

On their way back, Kramer is surprised to hear Martin and Goldberg talk about Annie Lamb with empathy. She is a single mother who has supported Henry through teaching. Her husband was killed years ago when he tried to resist a robbery. Kramer realizes that the detectives’ rough front is a result of the daily deluge of crimes they see. Someone like Annie Lamb makes the detectives believe certain cases are worth fighting for.

Fallow gets a call from a lawyer called Abe Vogel, known for taking up unpopular cases of radicals. Vogel has a lead for Fallow. Vogel tells Fallow that he can get him an interview with Reverend Bacon over a hit-and-run case in the Bronx. The story has the potential to blow up, as the victim Henry Lamb, a poor Black youth from the Ellen Allan Poe projects, is a symbol of systemic injustice against Black Americans. Not only did a white couple in a Mercedes hit him, but the hospital initially minimized his medical concerns. Vogel convinces Fallow to chase the story, and for the first time in months, Fallow feels a sense of productiveness.

Back at the Homicide Bureau of the Bronx DA’s office, Kramer is approached by Mitt Lubell, Weiss’s press secretary. Lubell tells Kramer that a British journalist called Fallow called him to ask why the DA’s office was sidelining the Henry Lamb case. Lubell asks Kramer to contact Fallow to quell the potential bad press. Meanwhile, Fallow calls up Henry’s school to learn about his performance as a student. The principal tells him that Henry is a polite and dependable student who takes his studies seriously.

Sherman, Judy, and Campbell join Sherman’s parents for lunch at a fashionable beach club on Long Island. Rawlie Thorpe, Sherman’s colleague at Pierce & Pierce, and Pollard Browning, the head of Sherman’s co-op board, are also lunching at the club with their families. Sherman enjoys being away from Manhattan and his worries and revels in the sight of Campbell playing on the beach. Sherman briefly wonders if he should quit the rat race and move away from New York City to Long Island or maybe even to Knoxville, Tennessee, where his grandfather is from. Sherman is hopeful the visit to Long Island will help him patch things up with Judy.

However, the simmering tension between Sherman and Judy spills over after Campbell asks Sherman to explain what he does for a living. Judy explains that Sherman’s job is like cutting a slice out of a cake and transferring it to someone else. He collects the crumbs fallen in the process and soon enough he has enough crumbs to make himself a giant cake. Sherman finds the analogy demeaning and mocks Judy’s interior design business in turn. As Sherman and Judy argue loudly, Campbell begins to cry. Sherman’s parents seem aghast at the scene.

Meanwhile, Kramer and his wife, Rhoda, lunch with their friends at a restaurant in Soho. Among the group is Greg Rosenwald, a writer with the Village Voice, and his partner, Mary-Lou. Kramer reflects that Greg is the star of their group, having achieved fame as a journalist. Kramer is envious of Greg’s success, his air of artistic superiority, and more than anything else, the beautiful Mary-Lou. To attract Mary-Lou’s attention, Kramer regales the group with stories of his cases. When he describes the Herbert 92X case, the group, including Mary-Lou, begins to question his politics. Kramer feels only Shelly can understand his point of view.

Sherman arrives early at work so he can trade the Giscard bonds on the Paris Stock Exchange. Sherman is feeling relieved as he has not read reports of the Mercedes incident anywhere. As Felix, the Black shoeshine man, polishes Sherman’s shoes, Sherman feels a surge of power over Felix. Sherman gets on the phone with Bernard Levy, a Frenchman whom he has nearly convinced to buy $300 million worth of the Giscard bond as he scans the morning’s papers. To his horror, he spots a headline in The City Light: “Honor Student’s Mom: Cops Sit on Hit-and-Run” (260). As he reads the story, it is obvious it refers to the Mercedes incident. Wanting to sell off the Giscard bond before the case breaks so he can earn his commission, Sherman urges Bernard to buy the bond immediately. Bernard gets wary of Sherman’s pushiness.

Later that day, Sherman meets Maria at her apartment and discusses the new report with her. Maria tells him there is nothing to worry about as the news report itself stated the police could not do much without witnesses. If the other young man planned to report the incident, he would have done so by now. She says that she and Sherman would be in trouble if they went to the police now claiming that the men were trying to rob them. Sherman reminds her that this is the truth. Sherman and Maria are interrupted by a man sent by the landlord, questioning the legality of Maria’s claim on the sublet. Sherman chases him away.

Kramer goes on a date with Shelly Thomas, the pretty juror. Kramer tries to impress her with his knowledge of the court system and his mission of solving crime in the city. However, he worries about the bill for their dinner. Meanwhile, Gerard Steiner, Fallow’s boss, is impressed by the story Fallow broke. Fallow gets another call from Vogel. Vogel tells him Bacon has got a tip from someone who has researched license plate numbers at the DMV and narrowed the list of matching Mercedes down to 124. Bacon plans to pass this information to the police and the DA so they can investigate the 124 cars.

The next day, Bernard Levy calls up Sherman to offer him less than he expected for the Giscard bond. Sherman is stunned—the firm will lose money with this lower offer. He realizes that his desperation yesterday led Bernard to lower the offer price. Sherman gets a copy of The City Light and reads Fallow’s follow-up to yesterday’s story. The story quotes the secret source from the DMV who has provided the newspaper with a printed list of 124 license plates. Sherman is inundated with panic and decides to meet Freddy Button, his father’s lawyer, a WASP like the McCoys.

At the office of Dunning Sponget & Leach, Sherman reflects on Freddy’s appearance, wondering if Freddy is gay. He thinks about Freddy’s sexuality in offensive terms, linking it with his self-destructive habit of smoking. Sherman comes clean to Freddy about the Mercedes incident and feels a sense of relief. Freddy tells Sherman that if Maria testifies that it was her—and not Sherman—behind the wheel that day, Sherman should be safe However, Freddy is not sure Maria would admit this since it would mean indicting herself. Freddy wants to discuss the case with a criminal lawyer.