Plot synopsis: Nero Wolfe enjoys a life of refined self-indulgence in his comfortable Manhattan brownstone — reading, dining, spending regular hours in his rooftop plant rooms, and only reluctantly involving himself in the detection of crime. Famously sedentary, Wolfe relies on his legman Archie Goodwin to collect the clues and the suspects in any case at hand, while he spars with his live-in chef Fritz Brenner and bickers with his resident orchid nurse Theodore Horstmann. Often assisted by freelance detective Saul Panzer, Wolfe and Archie customarily gather the suspects in Wolfe's office and present the solution to the exasperated Inspector Cramer of Manhattan Homicide.