The orchid-growing gourmet Nero Wolfe and his confidential assistant, Archie Goodwin, dine on a three-course feast of murder. The menu in the first case is a double helping of lethal instruments. In the second, an embarrassing situation develops when Wolfe's own soup-stained tie becomes a deadly weapon. Finally, Rex Stout proves that one can indeed have too much money, when a healthy serving of greenbacks and a ham actor lead Archie to an unpleasant discovery: a poor dead soul who may or may not have gotten his just desserts.