In "The Code of the Woosters", most of which takes place at Sir Watkyn's country house, Totleigh Towers, Spode is the leader of the Black Shorts. He quickly starts to think of Bertie as a thief, believing that Bertie was trying to steal Sir Watkyn's umbrella and also the silver cow-creamer from a shop. Spode threatens to beat Bertie to a jelly if he steals the cow-creamer from Sir Watkyn. Spode also antagonizes Gussie, for two reasons. First, Spode thinks Gussie is not devoted enough to Madeline, who is engaged to Gussie. Second, Gussie has insulted Spode in a notebook, writing that Spode's mustache was "like the faint discoloured smear left by a squashed blackbeetle on the side of a kitchen sink", and that the way Spode eats asparagus "alters one's whole conception of Man as Nature's last word." With help from Jeeves and the Junior Ganymede club book, Bertie learns the word "Eulalie", and tells Spode that he knows all about it. Spode, who does not want his followers to learn about his career as a designer of ladies' lingerie, is forced not to bother Bertie or Gussie. Spode is also blackmailed into taking the blame for the theft of Constable Oates's helmet. Bertie does not learn the true meaning of "Eulalie" until the end of the story.