I may have referred to this in the past as a slipknot plot - things get more and more complex until something happens to unwind it all in one go. This is the comic that tugs on just the right loop. Anyhow, this explains why Hodges thought Brisbane wrote it for Peter and why he wanted ten more.
This is what happens when you apply cartoon logic to property law.
Yes, I went and found actual Duke Ellington sheet music so that I could check on who the publishing company was. Publishing houses own a variety of rights to music and originated back in the day when songwriters made money selling sheet music to people so they could perform it in the privacy of their own home. They're still around and taking a sizable cut.
And I'm a bit sad that the double-contractions (like "we'd've") never really caught on.
The tune is either Sophisticated Lady or Mood Indigo. I had been listening to the Boswell Sisters' versions of both of those when I was writing this. The name never got mentioned because, well, it didn't have to be.
I feel kind of embarrassed about this one; Caleb's Contract, which had driven the plot for the last few months, just get dismissed in one panel. Hodges' ambiguity got stretched two panels too far. If I had it to do over again, I'd've used all the panels to come up with a good dismissal for the contract.
