The Bonfire of the Vanities

Gerald Steiner, the proprietor of The City Light, arranges for Fallow to interview Arthur Ruskin for a series on the new tycoons of New York. The real, secret purpose of the interview is to get information about Maria. Ruskin takes Fallow to La Boue d’Argent, an extremely expensive French restaurant, where the waiters fawn over the industrialist. The food that appears is gourmet and artistically plated. Ruskin is happy to share his life story with Fallow but does not divulge much about Maria. Ruskin tells Fallow the change in his fortunes came when he was almost 60 and began to charter planes for people to go to Mecca, the holiest pilgrimage site for Muslims. As Ruskin laughs about his ingenuity, he has a sudden heart attack and collapses on the table. An ambulance is called, and Ruskin is taken away. Fallow is shocked at the waiters treating the death like an inconvenience. Even worse, the restaurant callously hands him the dinner bill.

The next morning, Fallow’s story on Ruskin’s life and demise—“Death New York Style” (601)—appears in The City Light, along with Fallow’s condemnation of La Boue d’Argent. The story raises a lot of interest in West Asia because of the anecdote about renting planes for Mecca. Steiner is overjoyed at The City Light’s growing clout.

A few days after the “We the Jury” demonstration, the protests have declined, as have the threatening phone calls. Sherman has even gathered the courage to attend dinner at the di Duccis’ with Judy, arranged before his Court House arrest. Although Judy is not affectionate with him, she has stood by him in public, as she has promised. At the dinner, Kate di Ducci, the hostess, greets them warmly. Sherman finds the blond and statuesque Kate very attractive. He also realizes that his stint with the law has made him a minor celebrity. Novelists and industrialists attending the dinner want to know all the details of Sherman’s visit to the pens, and Sherman begins to regale them with stories. Everyone believes Sherman when he says the hit-and-run was nothing more than a robbery attempt gone wrong. Sherman enjoys a “social high” and is very pleased with himself on the cab ride back home, reveling in his change of fortune. Judy, however, does not share Sherman’s enthusiasm.

The Mayor of New York and his assistant Sheldon discuss the Sherman McCoy case. The mayor has been trying to rectify the debacle of his Harlem meeting by handing plaques and citations to worthy Black students, teachers, and civic activists. Sheldon calls this “plaques for Blacks” (612), a term the mayor detests. Having learned Roland might have been trying to rob Sherman, the mayor wants a thorough judicial investigation into the matter. Sheldon disagrees. Since the McCoy case has become a symbol of systemic injustice for the Black community, the mayor cannot be seen as opposing Sherman’s trial. In fact, Sheldon thinks the mayor should call for appointing a special prosecutor against Sherman, if required, and pledge Annie Lamb his full support. The mayor feels the approach is unfair to Sherman but accepts Sheldon’s advice.

Killian wants Sherman to attend Arthur Ruskin’s funeral to confront Maria. Sherman thinks it is crass to surprise a widow at her husband’s funeral, but Killian reminds him that if he does not get Maria’s testimony, he faces jail. Peter Fallow is present at the well-attended funeral too. He watches Sherman say something to Maria. The two step out of the gathering, and Fallow follows them to eavesdrop. Fallow hears Sherman tell Maria that she is the only one who can attest to his innocence. Maria says she cannot think about any of that now as she is overwhelmed by grief. Sherman walks away. Fallow takes the opportunity and comes forth to tell Maria he was with Arthur Ruskin when the latter died. As Maria relaxes, Fallow changes track and asks her if she was in the car with Sherman during the hit-and-run. Maria freezes and asks Fallow to leave immediately.

Detectives Martin and Goldberg have some important new information to share with Weiss’s office. During a “crack sweep,” a mass crackdown against drug dealers, they picked up a couple of men who know Roland Auburn well. According to the men, on the evening Henry Lamb was hit, Roland was trying to show a disinterested Henry how he robbed people on the highway. Henry did not want any part of it, but Roland taunted Henry for being a mamma’s boy. Roland threw a tire on the road to trip up a car, which happened to be Sherman’s. Henry was just a petrified bystander who was sideswiped as Sherman and Maria fled the scene in panic. Henry did not tell the hospital he was hit by a car because he did not want to be associated with Roland in any way.

Kramer does not like the new information at all and feels it is a rumor spread by Sherman McCoy. He and Weiss say they must rush along with the trial before such rumors take root. Meanwhile, Weiss gets a call that The City Light has broken the story that Maria Ruskin is the mystery woman who was in Sherman’s car at the time of the accident. Fallow has reported that McCoy claims Maria was driving the car and has begged for her to testify and save him. Weiss asks Kramer, Martin, and Goldberg to go to Maria’s apartment and offer her immunity if she comes clean about Sherman.

Inside the Ruskins’ apartment, Kramer, Martin, and Goldberg are awestruck at the luxury on display. A single painting here is as much as half of a detective’s annual pay. The starstruck feeling intensifies when they meet the beautiful, impassive Maria. Kramer feels Maria is weaponizing her good looks to distract them. However, when Kramer tells Maria that Roland has identified her, he sees her gulping nervously. Kramer gets the upper hand over her, feeling giddy at the power he enjoys over the freedom of any citizen, no matter how beautiful or rich.

Meanwhile, Killian tells Sherman that Maria reached out to him to arrange a meeting with Sherman. Quigley and Killian fit Sherman with a wire. Sherman feels deceitful and dishonorable secretly recording Maria at the sublet. At the sublet, Maria tells Sherman about Kramer’s offer for her to testify against him. Sherman tells Maria she should just tell the truth. Maria asks Sherman for a hug and discovers the wire. Sherman rushes out in guilt, with Maria screaming at his betrayal.

Sherman’s trial begins in the amphitheater-like grand jury courtroom. After Roland’s initial testimony, Maria takes the stand. The jurors note she pronounces Sherman just the way Roland heard it, lending credibility to both witnesses. Kramer has coached Maria to appear humble, and she tells the jurors she is a housewife. Maria backs Roland’s story, that Sherman accidentally hit Henry, omitting the bit about the tire. Kramer asks her if Sherman assumed the worst of the two young men because they were Black, and Maria agrees. Kramer is elated that Maria is such a good pupil.

The grand jury indicts Sherman and sets his new bail at $500,000. Unless Sherman can produce the money the next day, he will be jailed. Meanwhile, The City Light has broken a detailed, sordid story about Maria’s rent-controlled sublet, terming it her and Sherman’s “love nest.” Sherman notes that the story contains first-hand details about the rent that only Maria and he knew. He wonders how the reporter got the details, but before exploring that angle, he calls Judy as he had told her his affair was just a minor flirtation. Judy has read the story and tells Sherman she feels sorry for him but cannot help him. Sherman reminds Judy that when they were younger, he used to raise his left fist in a Black Power salute to her when leaving for work. This was to show her that Wall Street would never corrupt his spirit. Judy sadly tells him those memories are now tainted for her.

Quigley pulls strings and learns The City Light story was based on tapes illegally recorded by the landlord. He gets hold of the tape and plays it for Sherman and Killian. The recording is from the day the landlord’s man burst into the apartment and contains Maria’s confession that it was her behind the wheel when Henry was hit. Quigley and Killian are overjoyed but wonder how to present this evidence in court. Sherman suggests they can lie that it was he who made the recording, which would make the tape admissible.

The next morning, Sherman, Killian, and Quigley arrive at the courthouse with very vocal demonstrators demanding, “Jail! No bail!” (690). The demonstrators cram the courtroom as well. Myron Kovitsky, the judge from Chapter 2, is presiding over the bail hearing. Kovitsky tells Kramer not to play to the gallery and incite the crowd. Kramer argues with the judge, which predisposes Kovitsky against him. When Killian asks Kovitsky to approach the bench to submit some new information, Kovitsky allows it, despite Kramer’s protests. Sherman, Killian, Kovitsky, and Kramer retire to his chambers where Killian first plays the tape in which Maria discovers Sherman’s wire. In the tape, Maria can be heard saying Kramer visited her and told her she could get immunity if she testified against Sherman. In the second tape, Maria is heard stating that a tire was placed on the road as a barricade, and she was the one driving when Henry was accidentally hit. Kramer dismisses the tapes as a cheap trick, but Kovitsky decides to accept them as evidence. Sherman feels relieved but also guilty for lying about the second recording.

Kovitsky returns to the courtroom and dismisses the indictment against Sherman. The DA’s office can pursue the case in the future, but only if they have more solid evidence. The crowd is outraged and begins to mob the courthouse. Sherman, Kovitsky, and the others are forced to run out of the courthouse using side exits.

A year later, a follow-up article in The New York Times reports that after the recent death of 19-year-old Henry Lamb, Sherman McCoy has been arraigned for manslaughter. Sherman showed up at the courthouse in everyday casuals, in contrast to the expensive suits he used to wear at Pierce & Pierce. Sherman has been left nearly penniless after a year of fighting lawsuits, including Annie Lamb’s case against him. Sherman sold off his Park Avenue apartment and now lives in a modest flat near First Avenue. Sherman is separated from Judy, who, along with Campbell, has moved to the Midwest. However, Judy was present at his arraignment trial. When Sherman spotted Judy, he raised his left fist to her in a private gesture. Killian has quit Sherman’s employ since Sherman no longer has the funds to pay him. Maria inherited Ruskin’s fortune and is now married to Filippo Chirazzi. She will testify for the prosecution in Sherman’s trial. Meanwhile, Kramer is under the scanner as he secured Maria’s former sublet for Shelly. Peter Fallow has won a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the case and has recently married Lady Evelyn, Sir Gerald Steiner’s daughter.