A dozen cases await the reclusive Manhattan epicure and his gregarious sidekick. Archie finds a dead woman's body while doing a simple favor for a friend. Wolfe bolts from court when he believes his testimony will convict an innocent man. While fetching his raincoat, Archie stumbles onto a murder scene. A delivery boy is murdered and Archie is the prime suspect. Wolfe and Archie hunt for the mother of an abandoned baby. A lecherous producer is poisoned during a banquet prepared by Fritz. A client who thinks he's being followed turns up dead. A gangster hires the duo to protect him from blackmail. Wolfe refuses to help a man whose being threatened and who later turns up dead. A nearly bankrupt Wolfe reluctantly investigates the death of a bureaucrat. Two illegal aliens become suspects in the killing of a policeman. The Assistant Secretary of State is found floating in a trout stream.