Archie is standing in for a friend at a party for unwed mothers when one of the guests drops dead. Through she had often talked about killing herself and was known to carry cyanide, Archie does not believe her death was suicide. A little digging uncovers the connection that proves his hunch, and Wolfe helps bring the killer to justice.
A women arrives at the brownstone to say that Wolfe's long-lost adopted daughter has been falsely accused of robbery and needs his help. By the time Archie arrives at the scene - the fencing studio where she works - her name has been cleared in the robbery, but there is a fresh case to investigate. And another muder on the way. .