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The Whore of Mensa | The New Yorker

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“For a price, she’ll come over and discuss any subject—Proust, Yeats, anthropology.” (Humor from the archive.)

Save this story Save this story Illustration by Roman Muradov One thing about being a private investigator, you’ve got to learn to go with your hunches. That’s why when a quivering pat of butter named Word Babcock walked into my office and laid his cards on the table, I should have trusted the cold chill that shot up my spine. “Kaiser?” he said. “Kaiser Lupowitz?” “That’s what it says on my license,” I owned up. “You’ve got to help me. I’m being blackmailed. Please!” He was shaking like the lead singer in a rumba band. I pushed a glass across the desk top and a bottle of rye I keep handy for n

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