Rich industrialist Otis Jarrell hates his venomous new daughter-in-law. But his son loves his wife and threatens to leave the family home if they try to drive the snake out. The only way to get rid of the daughter-in-law and not lose the son is to catch her in illegal acts. Suspecting that his daughter-in-law is selling the company’s secrets to the side, Jarrell hires Wolfe to confirm it. To gather evidence, Archie Goodwin temporarily takes a job as the businessman’s secretary—and naturally runs into a corpse.