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The twenty-fifth Nero Wolfe novel by Rex Stout, published in 1962.

Sally Blount hires Wolfe to clear her father Matthew of the murder of Paul Jerin, poisoned with arsenic during a simultaneous chess exhibition. Sally does not trust Matthew's lawyer Dan Kalmus, convinced he is in love with Sally's mother Anna and would rather see Matthew executed than clear him. Suspicion immediately falls on the four messengers who relayed moves to the blindfolded Jerin, and Wolfe theorizes Jerin was killed in a gambit to get Matthew executed for his murder. But after a second homicide, and the revelation of a fact that Matthew had told Kalmus in confidence, Archie and Wolfe realize the killer's identity. Wolfe must come up with one of his most convoluted traps in order to ensure Matthew's freedom.


Tropes in this work: (Tropes relating to the series as a whole, or to the characters in general can be found on Nero Wolfe and its subpages.)

  • Big Secret: Blount is adamant in his reluctance to admit that he drugged the murder victim as a petty prank. If he had revealed this earlier, it would have pointed to the real poisoner immediately and kept Dan Kalmus from being murdered.
  • Chess Motifs: Wolfe properly deduces that Jerin was killed as a gambit; in the same way that a chess player might sacrifice a pawn as a gambit so as to open up an attack on the opponent's king, Jerin was sacrificed in order to get Matthew Blount arrested and executed for murder.
  • Leave Behind a Pistol: Victor Avery puts a bullet through his head after Wolfe reveals his guilt rather than go to trial.
  • Right for the Wrong Reasons: Twice.
    • Sally Blount is firmly convinced that her father has been framed for murder, and that his attorney, Dan Kalmus, is deliberately doing a poor job preparing his defense due to being in love with Sally's mother and hoping to marry her himself after Matthew Blount is executed. It gradually transpires that Kalmus actually is doing a dedicated and through job as Blount's lawyer and isn't trying to deliberately get him convicted and executed, but the murderer - who is not Kalmus - did in fact frame Mr. Blount due to hoping to romance Mrs. Blount once her husband was executed for murder.
    • Additionally, Wolfe speculates that one of the four messengers with access to the victim - including Kalmus - might have committed the murder solely to frame Blount for it rather than out of any personal beef with the victim. While Wolfe's right about that motive, the killer isn't one of those four suspects.
  • Writer on Board: The novel opens with Wolfe furiously burning a hated dictionarynote  in the office fireplace because it stated that "imply" and "infer" were synonyms. Rex Stout was one of the strongest voices condemning that particular dictionary. Though Archie's snarkiness as Wolfe does so does at least suggest that Stout was willing to take a poke at himself about it.

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