The only man who has ever given Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin any real trouble is Rex Stout himself. In this, his latest full-length novel, Stout sets before his famous detecting pair a seemingly insoluble problem. Orrie Cather, one of Nero Wolfe’s occasional employees, is in jail, suspected of murdering a lovely young thing. The lovely young thing has been the well-kept possession of a certain wealthy and influential man who has reasons for not wishing his name dragged into the case. The wealthy man offers to share his wealth with Nero — providing Nero will keep his name from ever being connected with the murder. Nero, at the same time, must get Orrie out of jail. He could easily do this by using his client’s name. It seems impossible to do it otherwise. Problem: How does Nero get Orrie out of jail? How does he keep his client’s name out of the press? And how does he find the true murderer? He does it with the avid and skilled assistance of one Julie Jacquette, a swinging songstress from the Ten Little Indians. That, at least, is partly how he does it