Professor Van Spee

Professor Van Spee is a partner of J.W. Wells & Co. whose strained history with John Wellington Wells comes into view when John investigates the firm’s partners. Their exchange establishes a rivalry marked by mutual dislike, but Van Spee denies having plotted against John and says he believed him dead.

Position and Introduction

Professor Van Spee appears among the group John Wellington brings into the room to begin his investigation. John addresses him as Theo and treats him as one of the firm’s partners under scrutiny. In this scene, Van Spee’s significance lies less in any account of his work than in his place within the company’s contentious internal relationships.

Rivalry with John Wellington

John describes a history of mutual hostility: he considers Van Spee jealous of him and says that he despises Van Spee. Even so, John doubts that Van Spee would have had the nerve to plot against him, including when John’s nephew appeared to have prevailed. The exchange presents their antagonism as longstanding, while distinguishing personal animosity from proof of conspiracy.

Statement During the Investigation

Asked whether he was involved, Van Spee strokes his beard before replying. He says that murdering John and selling his body would give him great pleasure, but adds that he genuinely believed John was dead. His answer combines an expression of hostility with a denial grounded in what he says he understood about John’s fate. The evidence does not establish that Van Spee plotted against John; his statement instead becomes one part of John’s questioning of the partners.