| Supersleuth Nero Wolfe and his assistant Archie Goodwin are called into action by one of their own when their associate Orrie Cather is accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend, a dancer with a mysterious Sugar Daddy. Private investigator Archie Goodwin, assistant to the legendary (and corpulent) Nero Wolfe, is asked a peculiar favor by his associate Orrie Cather. Orrie has been seeing an dancer named Isabel Kerr, but now wishes to get married to an arline stewardess, Jill Hardy. Isabel has reacted badly when Orrie attempted to break off the affair, and has stolen several of his belongings, including his detective's license, and is blackmailing him with their return. Orrie gives Archie his key to Isabel's apartment, and asks him to retrieve his license. When Archie sneaks into the apartment, he discovers Isabel's dead body.
Archie confronts Orrie, and after being satisfied that Orrie did not attempt to frame him for the murder, lets the matter rest. Shortly thereafter, Isabel's body is discovered by her sister and Orrie is arrested for her murder. Wolfe, reluctant as always to get involved, is forced to investigate to prevent his own name from being associated with a murderer. Archie and Wolfe enlist the aid of their usual operatives Saul Panzer and Fred Durkin. Although all of them have doubts about Orrie's innocent, Saul argues convincingly that the sequence of events indicate that he did not kill Isabel. Their investigation begins, and Wolfe focuses on the wealthy "protector" who paid for Isabel's apartment. Inspector Cramer of Homicide warns Wolfe and Archie off the case, claiming Isabel's diary provides clear evidence of Orrie's guilt. Archie begins by talking to Isabel's sister Stella Fleming and her husband Barry, but Stella is mostly concerned that any scandal be kept out of the paper. Orrie is more forthcoming, especially after learning Archie has placated his jealous fiancée, and Archie is able to identify Isabel's benefactor, who she referred to as "The Lobster", as wealthy magnate Avery Ballou. He is able to get Ballou to visit Wolfe by inferring blackmail, which is an effective tactic since Ballou is already being blackmailed with the knowledge of his affair by a man identified only as "Milton Thales". Ballou, who assumes Orrie Cather is the blackmailer, offers to pay Wolfe to hush up the affair. Wolfe, however, recognizes "Milton Thales" as the names of two mathematicians, and concludes that Barry Fleming, a math teacher, is the blackmailer and probably the murderer. After ruling out Ballou's dog-loving wife as a suspect, Wolfe and Archie contact Isabel's closest friend, the cabaret singer Julie Jacquette. Jacquette horrifies Wolfe by interrupting his dinner-time with a rock-and-roll song, and by demanding to see his famous orchids, but he recognizes the underlying intelligence to her kittenish act and treats her with respect. He requests her help with smoking out Isabel's killer, and she agrees after being offered a large reward (to be paid by Ballou) Julie and Archie set a meeting with Fleming at a hotel, and when he arrives, threaten him with the knowledge that he is blackmailing Ballou. Fleming denies any wrongdoing, but later that night an attempt is made on Julie's life which puts Fred Durkin in the hospital with a wounded leg. Julie is moved into Wolfe's brownstone for protection. The next day, Inspector Cramer arrives, furious at Wolfe for fouling up his case. He has a frustrating interview with Julie, who refuses to tell him anything, but concedes that he now must release Orrie. Stella Fleming is called to the brownstone, and Wolfe, Archie and Julie inform her of her husband's misdeeds, and pressure her to get him to confess to Isabel's murder. Several hours later, Cramer arrives with news that Barry Fleming has shot himself and left a confession in his suicide note, but Archie wryly observes that it is more likely that Stella, obsessed with keeping her sister's reputation under wraps, shot him herself. Several weeks later, Orrie has married Jill, and Archie receives a letter from Julie, who has used her reward money to leave her singing career behind her and enroll in a university, describing how she has used some of the quotations she has discussed with Wolfe to impress her professors. | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of story - Dry-cynical How difficult to spot villain? - Moderately Challenging Time/era of story: What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 90% Murder of certain profession? Misc. Murder Plotlets - butler provides unemotional service - character killed during/after sexing - local police w/ IQ of a houseplant - Proving innocence of very obvious suspect Kind of investigator Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Any non-mystery subplot? descript. of violence and chases - 10 % Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 60 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30 % How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 0 % Crime Thriller Yes Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes Main Character Gender - Male Profession/status: Age: - 40's-50's Ethnicity/Race Unusual characteristics: Setting United States Yes The US: - Northeast City? Yes City: - New York Misc setting - fancy mansion Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript |
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