Chapter Summaries

Barbara’s attempt to infiltrate Henry’s apartment and plant listening devices failed when she discovered that his “Tabby Cat,” Kitty, was a huge tiger. She left Henry’s gift with Old Gary and reported the failed mission to Nick Fury.

• Barbara persuaded Old Gary to take her to Henry’s apartment so she could leave a gift and secretly install listening devices.
• Old Gary cautiously opened Henry’s door, and Barbara saw Kitty pinning the core robot BB beneath its enormous paws.
• Kitty charged at the doorway, so Barbara slammed the door shut and fled downstairs with Old Gary.
• Barbara handed Henry’s gift to Old Gary to pass along and left for the airport.
• Barbara called Nick Fury and explained that she had abandoned the mission because Kitty was a five- or six-hundred-pound tiger.

Henry received a tabby cat plush from Barbara and joked with old Gary about her matchmaking, then accepted Katharine Hepburn’s invitation to a banquet. He agreed to attend that evening, leaving Gary urging him to get ready.

• Henry found no surveillance devices in the plush and decided Barbara might simply be a kind college student, then asked old Gary to thank her if she contacted him.
• Old Gary teased Henry about finding a girlfriend and complained that Henry had pets while he endured his ex-wife.
• Happy Hogan arrived in a Rolls-Royce and delivered Katharine Hepburn’s invitation to Henry.
• Henry recognized the invitation as a familiar kind of banquet invitation and agreed to attend on time.
• Old Gary urged Henry to go upstairs and prepare, but Henry said the banquet was not a red-carpet event.

Henry attended a Hollywood awards-season banquet for elderly filmmakers with Katharine Hepburn, where he met Anthony Quinn and Lauren Bacall. He helped Catherine and Lauren reminisce and joke about their old rivalry, leaving the gathering laughing.

• Henry arrived at a Los Angeles villa for a banquet celebrating elderly Hollywood filmmakers, using the invitation Catherine had given him.
• Catherine called Henry over and introduced him to Anthony Quinn as a young man from her nephew's generation.
• Lauren Bacall recognized Henry as Audrey Hepburn's former assistant from a New York charity gala.
• Catherine teased Lauren about being remembered, then pinched Henry when he tried to praise Lauren's old films.
• Henry silently mouthed the title of The Big Sleep and gave Lauren a thumbs-up, making her smile and the guests laugh.

Henry discussed the popularity of Love from a Different Culture with Lauren Bacall and explained why he opposed adapting its translated stories for film. The adaptation idea was dropped, though Bacall revealed that she and Katharine Hepburn had hoped to play White Snake and Green Snake.

• Lauren Bacall recognized Henry as the translator of Love from a Different Culture, and Katharine Hepburn told him the book was popular with a devoted readership.
• Lauren Bacall asked Henry to adapt one of the stories for film, but Henry refused, citing Hollywood's creative interference and the difficulties of faithfully depicting another culture.
• Henry argued that limited sales and the expense of authentic costumes and sets would make a film adaptation financially risky, and Lauren Bacall abandoned the idea.
• Lauren Bacall regretted that the project would not let her and Katharine Hepburn play White Snake and Green Snake.

Henry left the crowded awards banquet with Catherine, helping her rest and bringing her food while they talked. Their meal was interrupted when Happy Hogan arrived with Tony Stark, CEO of Stark Group.

• Catherine asked Henry to take her to the lounge because her legs were aching and weak.
• Henry left the banquet crowd with Catherine and brought her two plates of carefully chosen food.
• Catherine sensed Henry’s hidden brokenness and felt moved to look after him.
• Catherine ate the caviar-topped cracker Henry had brought, then trusted his food choices and sampled more.
• Happy Hogan knocked on the lounge door and entered with Tony Stark, CEO of Stark Group.

Tony Stark met Henry at Katharine Hepburn’s party and asked him to become CEO of Stark Studios. Henry questioned whether Obadiah Stane had already sold or closed the studio, leaving Tony’s offer unanswered.

• Tony arrived late and found Henry unsurprised to see him at Katharine Hepburn’s party.
• Tony reacted tensely when Henry joked that the food might be poisoned, then admitted he had recently become seriously ill after eating questionable food.
• Henry teased Tony about his resilience, and Tony asked him to become CEO of Stark Studios, offering to negotiate an annual salary.
• Henry questioned whether Obadiah Stane had sold or shut down Stark Studios, which still operated mainly as a film equipment and prop rental business.

Stark Industries’ restructuring left its military-industrial core protected from Wall Street while its other businesses were sold, renamed, or retained by Tony Stark. Tony tried to hand Stark Studios to Henry, but Henry refused to work for him, prompting Katharine Hepburn to tease Henry about being his boss.

• Obadiah Stane’s restructuring transformed Stark Group into Stark Industries and kept its military-industrial shares out of Wall Street’s hands.
• Former Stark businesses were absorbed, renamed, or scheduled to drop the Stark name after their owners negotiated with Stark Industries.
• Tony Stark explained that he kept Stark Studios because Howard Stark had cared deeply about it and it remained profitable.
• Henry refused to take over Stark Studios, saying that working for Tony would force him to defend Tony and the company.
• Katharine Hepburn asked whether she could be Henry’s boss, and Henry promised to help her without asking for payment.
• Tony ground his teeth in jealousy as Katharine Hepburn patted Henry’s head.

Tony Stark asked Henry to help investigate the gunmen from the villa shootout and the suspicious car accident that killed Tony’s parents, offering to resolve Henry’s FBI problem in exchange. Henry heard Tony’s suspicions but had not yet agreed to help.

• Tony Stark sent Catherine away and used an anti-eavesdropping device before telling Henry about his investigation into the people behind the villa gunmen.
• Tony offered to help with Henry’s FBI problem if Henry joined his investigation, but Henry questioned why Tony was reopening events from years earlier.
• Tony explained that his parents’ car had faulty brakes, yet his father’s driving skill made the fatal crash seem suspicious.
• Tony said he had found no evidence, but he had never personally confirmed his parents’ autopsies and believed powerful Americans might have had a motive.
• Tony explained that Happy Hogan led his security team and said Henry’s refusal to be bought made him a promising ally, with Stark Studios as his strongest incentive.

Tony Stark offered Henry the CEO position at Stark Studios, with broad authority and resources, in exchange for keeping watch on the West Coast. Henry considered the offer and disclosed that he was currently working for the Continental Hotel.

• Tony explained that he wanted Henry to monitor an otherwise hidden West Coast foothold and offered him the Stark Studios CEO position as payment.
• Tony promised Henry full authority over the profitable, privately owned company, access to its legal team, and funding to restart film production so long as it avoided bankruptcy.
• Tony explained that Stark Studios had been left out of his public offerings after potential buyers demanded that he continue improving its equipment.
• Tony reassured Henry that joining his circle would deter the FBI and others from targeting him without cause.
• Henry considered Tony's offer and asked whether Tony knew he was working for the Continental Hotel.

Henry explained his work for the Continental Hotel and why he had joined it after the FBI targeted him, then challenged Tony Stark to examine his motives and whether someone was manipulating him. He left Tony with the warning not to make promises he could not keep.

• Tony questioned Henry about the Continental Hotel, and Henry described its support services, including medical care, cleanup, intelligence, and weapons.
• Henry told Tony that the FBI had sent him to Congressman Mike Holden, whose family and bodyguards were killed in an attack, leaving Henry as the sole survivor.
• Henry explained that he joined the Continental Hotel to escape FBI scrutiny, then refused Tony’s offer to hire him and clear his file.
• Tony argued that he could find another Continental Hotel employee, while Henry suggested he could be more useful by remaining in his current position.
• Henry pressed Tony to decide what he wanted from investigating his parents’ suspicious car accident and warned that someone might be using him as a pawn.
• Henry returned the powerless jammer to Tony and ended the conversation.

Henry avoided committing to Tony Stark’s offer and kept a low profile while enjoying Los Angeles and spending his untraceable cash. As he ate at a restaurant, he reflected on his slow-moving projects and Kitty’s brainwave translator, which still required extensive data collection and refinement.

• Henry decided that taking the CEO position at Stark Studios would expose him to Tony Stark’s impulsiveness and the many people watching him.
• Henry reasoned that the X-Men were unlikely to reveal Clown-Sup’s identity, and he continued living cautiously as spring turned to summer.
• Henry wandered around Los Angeles, photographing and sketching street scenes while sampling food from restaurants across the city.
• Henry closed the Black Clinic more often when people watched it and avoided further incidents that could draw police or FBI attention.
• Henry slowed his work on BB, Kitty’s brainwave translator, and CK’s online projects, while Kitty’s translator continued its data-collection stage.

Henry stopped a hungry girl from being chased for stealing bread, bought her lunch in exchange for sitting as a sketch model, and spoke with her about Hollywood. He left her with an honest account of his own stalled acting career and learned that she was chasing a dream there too.

• Henry paid the waitress for the bread and stopped the girl from leaving after she handed it back to him.
• Henry offered the girl lunch in exchange for modeling for a sketch, and she agreed after he showed her his drawings.
• The girl ordered several filling meals while Henry wondered if she resembled a future-famous ice queen.
• The girl asked Henry whether he was an actor, and he told her he had only appeared in unreleased B-movies and had worked as an assistant.
• The girl asked whether the acting path was difficult, and Henry explained that his former boss had died.

Henry shared acting advice with a beginner over lunch, then sketched her portrait. The girl signed the drawing as “shar-LEEZ_THERR-n,” leaving Henry with her name recorded beside the portrait.

• Henry and the girl discussed acting over lunch, and Henry shared advice he had learned from Gary.
• After the meal, Henry set up the girl to pose and began sketching her while she tried to recall happy childhood experiences.
• The girl grew frustrated as she thought about her difficult past, and Henry captured the sharp expression that crossed her face.
• Henry finished the portrait in about five minutes and showed it to the girl.
• The girl signed her name, “shar-LEEZ_THERR-n,” in Henry’s sketchbook.

Henry Brown met Charlize Theron, who discovered his sketches of Audrey Hepburn and learned he had been Hepburn’s assistant and translated Love from a Different Culture. A waitress recognized Henry and got his autograph, while Charlize remained curious but doubtful about his identity.

• Henry explained that Charlize Theron’s name was Afrikaans and let her look through his sketchbook.
• Charlize found Henry’s sketches of Audrey Hepburn with children during her UNICEF work and asked who the woman was.
• Henry told Charlize that he had been Hepburn’s assistant, introduced himself as Henry Brown, and explained that he had translated Love from a Different Culture.
• A waitress recognized Henry, brought her well-read copy of his book, and received his autograph.
• Charlize questioned whether Henry really was the translator and asked about the book’s sales, which he said were modest but slowly recovering its costs.

Henry explained why he had not promoted his translated book and encouraged Charlize to keep pursuing Hollywood while accepting help cautiously. He offered her his phone number, leaving her to consider how to balance trust and self-protection.

• Charlize questioned Henry about the translated book’s poor sales, and he said it had never been part of his plans and that he did not consider himself its creator.
• Charlize wondered whether she should return to South Africa, and Henry advised her either to go home or to keep fighting without letting doubts hold her back.
• When Charlize asked why Henry had stayed in Los Angeles, he said he had nowhere to return to and offered her his number in case she needed advice.
• Charlize asked what Henry expected in return, and he said he was passing along kindness he had received from others.
• Henry told Charlize that people could help or harm her depending on how she dealt with them, and urged her to accept help while protecting herself.

Henry agreed to meet Charlize Theron after she called to ask him to sign her copy of Love from a Different Culture and discuss a few things. He postponed Kitty’s trip outdoors, fed her from her reinforced bowl, and prepared to see Charlize at noon.

• Two days after meeting Charlize Theron, Henry received her call requesting an autographed copy of Love from a Different Culture.
• Henry agreed to meet Charlize at the same restaurant at noon and offered to buy her lunch.
• Henry postponed Kitty’s outing and used his glowing eyes to persuade the tiger to wait until the next day.
• Henry described Kitty’s growing size, limited understanding of Tiger Language, and destructive history with her food bowls and refrigerator.
• Henry put Kitty’s lunch in her reinforced food bowl and passed the remaining time before his appointment.

Henry met Charlize Theron for dinner, signed her copy of Love from a Different Culture, and learned about her childhood in South Africa and her difficult path toward acting. Charlize asked him to forget what she had shared, and Henry played along.

• Henry arrived at the restaurant, ordered dinner with Charlize, and signed her book with a message in the language of the Netherlands.
• Henry and Charlize discussed his former boss Robert Wolders and compared Dutch with Afrikaans.
• Charlize described growing up on a farm in South Africa during apartheid and leaving at sixteen to work as a model in Italy.
• Charlize told Henry that a knee injury ended her ballet training and that her mother supported her move to Los Angeles to pursue acting.
• Charlize felt embarrassed about sharing her history and asked Henry to forget it, and he pretended he had.

Henry and Charlize shared stories over lunch before Charlize asked him to accompany her to meet talent scout John Crosby about an agency contract. Henry explained the contract terms and concluded that Crosby’s help cashing Charlize’s check was only a favor, then set off with her for their meeting.

• Henry and Charlize discussed their childhoods and shared stories about their experiences in Europe, New York, and abroad with Ms. Audrey Hepburn.
• Charlize told Henry that talent scout John Crosby had helped her cash a check and wanted to discuss an agency contract with her.
• Henry explained common agency contract terms and asked Charlize what she owed Crosby for his help.
• Charlize said Crosby had cashed her mother’s check after a bank refused it, deducting the fees from the amount.
• Henry judged that Charlize owed Crosby only a favor and agreed to go with her to meet him at a café on Hollywood Boulevard.

Henry accompanied Charlize Theron to meet talent agent John Crosby and reviewed the agency contract he offered her. He warned her about the contract’s financial obligations without revealing his suspicions, and Charlize was left to decide whether to accept Crosby’s offer.

• Henry and Charlize met John Crosby at a café, where Henry introduced himself as Charlize’s friend and said he would help review the contract.
• John offered to represent Charlize and pay for acting school, describing possible modeling work and future acting opportunities.
• Henry examined the contract and explained that the agency’s investment could trigger an extended contract and repayment obligations if Charlize left.
• Using his X-Ray Vision, Henry saw a harsher contract in Crosby’s briefcase that imposed steep earnings targets and could leave a newcomer trapped in debt.
• Henry explained the presented contract’s clauses and suggested Charlize could avoid the termination compensation by paying her own tuition.
• John urged Charlize to accept his chosen acting teacher’s lessons, and Charlize said she would think about the offer.

Charlize Theron asked Henry Brown to recommend a rental agent after signing with John Crosby and struggling to afford acting school and living expenses. Henry gave her Fabio Romano’s number, then prepared to answer another call at the Black Clinic when someone who had been shot arrived.

• Charlize Theron signed a representation contract with John Crosby and agreed to pay half the cost of acting school herself.
• Charlize called Henry and asked him to recommend a rental agent because John wanted her to find a more permanent place to live.
• Henry gave Charlize Fabio Romano’s number and offered to stand up for her if Fabio treated her rudely.
• Henry fed Kitty fresh beef after she pestered him for breakfast.
• The Black Clinic’s call bell rang, and Henry changed into his Tinkerer outfit to treat someone who had been shot.