Rory Sutherland from Ogilvy London put it best, in all of the Spitzer scandal, there was some element of the population, myself included, who were first struck and outraged by the lack of an apostrophe in the word “Emperors Club.”
Shocking. All the copyeditors and proofreaders of the world were aghast.
Apparently the New York Times feels the same way, for as of this morning they are referring to the high-priced escort service as the “Emperor’s Club.”
One could argue it was a club for Emperors (of whom there are few), or, as many of us word geeks inferred, it was the club belonging to the Emperor, and therefore needed an apostrophe to designate its possessive condition.
As for Client 9, I think of Patrick McGoohan — “Number Six” — running for his life in The Prisoner, chased by the evil beach ball.
“I am not a number — I am a free man!”