This mystery from one of America's best-loved writers features one of the greatest fictional detectives of all time—Nero Wolfe. An orchid-growing, gourmandizing, eccentric genius, Wolfe tracks down truth with the able assistance of his legman, Archie Goodwin, who narrates with his usual wry humor. In this confounding whodunit, Wolfe breaks almost all of his rules. First, he overcomes his aversion to females and agrees to help young Sally Blount clear her father of murder. The police are sure Matthew Blount killed a chess opponent at the Gambit Club with a heavy dose of arsenic. Wolfe proposes four other suspects, but when one turns up dead he becomes so discombobulated that he neglects his orchids and skips lunch. Will Wolfe recover from his conniptions in time to save an innocent man?