Black Orchids
Encyclopedia
Black Orchids is a Nero Wolfe
double mystery by Rex Stout
published in 1942 by Farrar & Rinehart
, Inc. Stout's first short story collection, the volume is composed of two novellas that had appeared in abridged form in The American Magazine:
Millionaire orchid fancier Lewis Hewitt has hybridized three black orchid plants in his Long Island greenhouse. Wolfe is wild to have one, so he and Archie visit New York's annual flower show, where Hewitt's orchids are on exhibit. One of the other exhibits features a daily performance by a young couple miming a summer picnic. The woman, Anne Tracy, attracts the attentions of Archie, Lewis Hewitt, Billy Rose
and a young exhibitor named Fred Updegraff.
During Wolfe's visit to the show, Anne's picnic partner Harry Gould is killed, shot in the head by a gun concealed in the foliage. The gun's trigger is attached to a long string that reaches to a hallway well behind the exhibit.
After a little inquiry, Wolfe shows Hewitt how his expensive Malacca cane was used to pull the string, thus the gun's trigger, and thus to kill Gould. Hewitt is horrified by the prospect of the publicity that would ensue should his part in the shooting, however indirect and unwitting, become known. Wolfe offers Hewitt this arrangement: in exchange for all three black orchid plants, the only ones in existence, Wolfe will solve the murder and deliver the criminal to the police, without publicly disclosing Hewitt's connection to the crime. Hewitt terms it blackmail, but submits.
Earlier, Archie had noticed a woman waiting in the hallway behind the exhibit, at around the time that the murderer would have been deploying the string. He now finds her in the crowd that's gawking at the murder scene. In an act of detection that would strain the credulity of someone who was striving to maintain a neutral point of view, Archie steals her handbag, removes it to the men's room, searches it for identification, and learns her name (Rose Lasher) and address. He returns the handbag to her – all without Miss Lasher or anyone else noticing.
The police want to know more about her and, finishing their questions, they let her go — but surreptitiously follow her. The police lose her trail but Archie knows her home address, where she has been living with Harry Gould. He arrives at Miss Lasher's apartment just as she is about to flee the city, and takes her to Wolfe's house. There Archie searches her suitcase and finds some printed matter that Rose cannot or will not explain: a clipping of an article by Lewis Hewitt on Kurume yellows, a plant disease that is fatal to broadleaf evergreens; a postcard to Rose from Harry, postmarked Salamanca, NY (in the western part of the state); and a work order from a garage, also in Salamanca.
Wolfe gets Miss Lasher to discuss some of Gould's unsavory qualities. Wolfe learns that although Gould was employed as a gardener, he suddenly acquired a bank account containing several thousand dollars, and what Miss Lasher terms "a big roll of bills."
From his general awareness of horticultural events, Wolfe knows that an attack of Kurume yellows devastated a plantation of a new hybrid of broadleaf evergreens, about eighty miles west of Salamanca and owned by Updegraff Nurseries.
Weighing all this information, Wolfe concludes that Gould had known the Updegraff plantation had been deliberately infected, and was blackmailing the miscreant – who then killed Gould. Wolfe gathers the main players in an appropriate location – his plant rooms, specifically the fumigating room – and exposes the murderer's identity. Wolfe therefore keeps the black orchids, which subsequently have a cameo role in the second novella in this collection, "Cordially Invited to Meet Death."
She wants Wolfe to put an end to the smear campaign – if it continues, her monied clients will no longer trust her and won't hire her to arrange their parties. Miss Huddleston has two employees, an assistant party arranger named Janet Nichols and a secretary named Maryella Timms. Both have access to a box of stationery of the same kind used for the letters. The letters are typewritten, and appear to Miss Huddleston's eye to have been typed on one of her typewriters. Wolfe tells Miss Huddleston to have Miss Nichols and Miss Timms come to his office.
They do so, and arrive at a moment when Wolfe and Fritz are discussing another attempt at cooking corned beef. This has long been a problem in the brownstone's kitchen, one never satisfactorily resolved. Miss Timms hears about the dilemma and barges into the kitchen to help. Wolfe is so impressed by Miss Timms' expertise that he later allows her to link arms with him, and writes to a professor at Harvard concerning chitlins and corned beef.
Apart from the culinary, though, Wolfe obtains no useful information from Nichols and Timms, and sends Archie to Miss Huddleston's house and place of business to investigate further. There, Archie is bedeviled by a playful chimpanzee, two pet bears and an alligator. He also meets Miss Huddleston's brother Daniel, her nephew Larry, and Alan Brady, an MD who has been spending time with Janet Nichols. Archie doesn't get much further at the house than Wolfe did in his office, but he has cocktails on the terrace with the various players. As the butler is bringing more drinks, the chimpanzee startles him and a tray of glasses crashes to the ground. Most of the broken glass is cleaned up, but Miss Huddleston's foot is cut by a shard and, because of the presence of the animals, Dr. Brady treats the cut with iodine.
Less than one week later, Miss Huddleston is dead, having undergone an excruciatingly painful and drawn out death from tetanus. That, as far as Wolfe is concerned, ends his involvement, but Daniel Huddleston makes a nuisance of himself with the police: he believes his sister was murdered. Daniel is insistent enough that Inspector Cramer comes to Wolfe looking for information. Wolfe has none for him, but after Cramer leaves he drops Archie an exiguous hint: he thinks there's one thing that Cramer should have done during his investigation, and wonders if it has rained during the past week.
as Nero Wolfe and Don Francks
as Archie Goodwin. Written by Ron Hartmann, the hour-long adaptation aired on CBC Stereo February 20, 1982.
Nero Wolfe
Nero Wolfe is a fictional detective, created in 1934 by the American mystery writer Rex Stout. Wolfe's confidential assistant Archie Goodwin narrates the cases of the detective genius. Stout wrote 33 novels and 39 short stories from 1934 to 1974, with most of them set in New York City. Wolfe's...
double mystery by Rex Stout
Rex Stout
Rex Todhunter Stout was an American writer noted for his detective fiction. Stout is best known as the creator of the larger-than-life fictional detective Nero Wolfe, described by reviewer Will Cuppy as "that Falstaff of detectives." Wolfe's assistant Archie Goodwin recorded the cases of the...
published in 1942 by Farrar & Rinehart
Farrar & Rinehart
Farrar & Rinehart was a United States book publishing company founded in New York. Farrar & Rinehart enjoyed success with both nonfiction and novels, notably, the landmark Rivers of America Series and the first ten books in the Nero Wolfe corpus of Rex Stout...
, Inc. Stout's first short story collection, the volume is composed of two novellas that had appeared in abridged form in The American Magazine:
- "Black Orchids" (August 1941, abridged as "Death Wears an Orchid")
- "Cordially Invited to Meet Death" (April 1942, abridged as "Invitation to Murder")
Black Orchids
Plot summary
Billy Rose
William "Billy" Rose was an American impresario, theatrical showman and lyricist. He is credited with many famous songs, notably "Me and My Shadow" , "It Happened in Monterey" and "It's Only a Paper Moon"...
and a young exhibitor named Fred Updegraff.
During Wolfe's visit to the show, Anne's picnic partner Harry Gould is killed, shot in the head by a gun concealed in the foliage. The gun's trigger is attached to a long string that reaches to a hallway well behind the exhibit.
After a little inquiry, Wolfe shows Hewitt how his expensive Malacca cane was used to pull the string, thus the gun's trigger, and thus to kill Gould. Hewitt is horrified by the prospect of the publicity that would ensue should his part in the shooting, however indirect and unwitting, become known. Wolfe offers Hewitt this arrangement: in exchange for all three black orchid plants, the only ones in existence, Wolfe will solve the murder and deliver the criminal to the police, without publicly disclosing Hewitt's connection to the crime. Hewitt terms it blackmail, but submits.
Earlier, Archie had noticed a woman waiting in the hallway behind the exhibit, at around the time that the murderer would have been deploying the string. He now finds her in the crowd that's gawking at the murder scene. In an act of detection that would strain the credulity of someone who was striving to maintain a neutral point of view, Archie steals her handbag, removes it to the men's room, searches it for identification, and learns her name (Rose Lasher) and address. He returns the handbag to her – all without Miss Lasher or anyone else noticing.
The police want to know more about her and, finishing their questions, they let her go — but surreptitiously follow her. The police lose her trail but Archie knows her home address, where she has been living with Harry Gould. He arrives at Miss Lasher's apartment just as she is about to flee the city, and takes her to Wolfe's house. There Archie searches her suitcase and finds some printed matter that Rose cannot or will not explain: a clipping of an article by Lewis Hewitt on Kurume yellows, a plant disease that is fatal to broadleaf evergreens; a postcard to Rose from Harry, postmarked Salamanca, NY (in the western part of the state); and a work order from a garage, also in Salamanca.
Wolfe gets Miss Lasher to discuss some of Gould's unsavory qualities. Wolfe learns that although Gould was employed as a gardener, he suddenly acquired a bank account containing several thousand dollars, and what Miss Lasher terms "a big roll of bills."
From his general awareness of horticultural events, Wolfe knows that an attack of Kurume yellows devastated a plantation of a new hybrid of broadleaf evergreens, about eighty miles west of Salamanca and owned by Updegraff Nurseries.
Weighing all this information, Wolfe concludes that Gould had known the Updegraff plantation had been deliberately infected, and was blackmailing the miscreant – who then killed Gould. Wolfe gathers the main players in an appropriate location – his plant rooms, specifically the fumigating room – and exposes the murderer's identity. Wolfe therefore keeps the black orchids, which subsequently have a cameo role in the second novella in this collection, "Cordially Invited to Meet Death."
Cast of characters
- Nero Wolfe — The private investigator
- Archie Goodwin — Wolfe's assistant (and the narrator of all Wolfe stories)
- Anne Tracy — Secretary at the Rucker and Dill nursery company, and the star of the company's Flower Show exhibit
- Harry Gould — Greenhouse man at Rucker and Dill, the exhibit's co-star, and murder victim
- W. G. Dill — Their employer
- Fred Updegraff — Nursery owner, exhibitor, and Miss Tracy's would-be beau
- Rose Lasher — Harry Gould's live-in girlfriend
- Lewis Hewitt — Wealthy owner and exhibitor of the only three black orchid plants in existence
- Inspector Cramer and Sergeant Purley Stebbins — Representing Manhattan Homicide
Cordially Invited to Meet Death
Plot summary
Bess Huddleston arranges parties for New York society. She has been in contact with Wolfe once before, when she wanted him to play the detective at a party that would feature a mock murder; Wolfe declined to participate. Now, she comes with one anonymous letter in hand and a report of another. They were not sent to her, nor do they threaten her directly: rather, one was sent to a client and the other to a member of the circle in which her clients move. The letters imply strongly that Miss Huddleston has been gossiping about her clients' private lives.She wants Wolfe to put an end to the smear campaign – if it continues, her monied clients will no longer trust her and won't hire her to arrange their parties. Miss Huddleston has two employees, an assistant party arranger named Janet Nichols and a secretary named Maryella Timms. Both have access to a box of stationery of the same kind used for the letters. The letters are typewritten, and appear to Miss Huddleston's eye to have been typed on one of her typewriters. Wolfe tells Miss Huddleston to have Miss Nichols and Miss Timms come to his office.
They do so, and arrive at a moment when Wolfe and Fritz are discussing another attempt at cooking corned beef. This has long been a problem in the brownstone's kitchen, one never satisfactorily resolved. Miss Timms hears about the dilemma and barges into the kitchen to help. Wolfe is so impressed by Miss Timms' expertise that he later allows her to link arms with him, and writes to a professor at Harvard concerning chitlins and corned beef.
Apart from the culinary, though, Wolfe obtains no useful information from Nichols and Timms, and sends Archie to Miss Huddleston's house and place of business to investigate further. There, Archie is bedeviled by a playful chimpanzee, two pet bears and an alligator. He also meets Miss Huddleston's brother Daniel, her nephew Larry, and Alan Brady, an MD who has been spending time with Janet Nichols. Archie doesn't get much further at the house than Wolfe did in his office, but he has cocktails on the terrace with the various players. As the butler is bringing more drinks, the chimpanzee startles him and a tray of glasses crashes to the ground. Most of the broken glass is cleaned up, but Miss Huddleston's foot is cut by a shard and, because of the presence of the animals, Dr. Brady treats the cut with iodine.
Less than one week later, Miss Huddleston is dead, having undergone an excruciatingly painful and drawn out death from tetanus. That, as far as Wolfe is concerned, ends his involvement, but Daniel Huddleston makes a nuisance of himself with the police: he believes his sister was murdered. Daniel is insistent enough that Inspector Cramer comes to Wolfe looking for information. Wolfe has none for him, but after Cramer leaves he drops Archie an exiguous hint: he thinks there's one thing that Cramer should have done during his investigation, and wonders if it has rained during the past week.
Cast of characters
- Nero Wolfe — The private investigator
- Archie Goodwin — Wolfe's assistant (and the narrator of all Wolfe stories)
- Bess Huddleston — Party arranger for members of the Social Register
- Mister, Logo, Lulu and Moses — Miss Huddleston's pet chimp, bears and alligator
- Janet Nichols — Miss Huddleston's assistant
- Maryella Timms — Miss Huddleston's secretary
- Daniel Huddleston — A research chemist and Miss Huddleston's brother
- Larry Huddleston — Another assistant party arranger employed by Miss Huddleston, and her nephew
- Alan Brady — A local medical doctor who has become friendly with the Huddleston household
- Inspector Cramer — Representing Manhattan Homicide
The unfamiliar word
In most Nero Wolfe novels and novellas, there is at least one unfamiliar word, usually spoken by Wolfe. "Cordially Invited to Meet Death" contains just one, in this case first spoken by Daniel Huddleston:- Catholicon. Page 180 of the Bantam 1992 edition, chapter 7.
Reviews and commentary
- Jacques BarzunJacques BarzunJacques Martin Barzun is a French-born American historian of ideas and culture. He has written on a wide range of topics, but is perhaps best known as a philosopher of education, his Teacher in America being a strong influence on post-WWII training of schoolteachers in the United...
and Wendell Hertig Taylor, A Catalogue of CrimeA Catalogue of CrimeA Catalogue of Crime, by Jacques Barzun and Wendell Hertig Taylor, is a critique of crime fiction first published in 1971. A revised edition was published in 1989 by Barzun after the death of Taylor in 1985. The book was awarded a Special Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America in...
— In the first, Wolfe and Archie are in fine form, and murder at a flower show provides a suitable background for Wolfe's talents and predatory instincts. Archie himself innocently pulls the trigger. The second story is less satisfactory, involving as it does a highly debatable move by the murderer to disarm suspicion. Besides, too many animals. - TimeTime (magazine)Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
, "Murder in May" (June 1, 1942) — Nero Wolfe and his ebullient amanuensis Archie Goodwin are here at top form in two "novellas" — "Black Orchids" and "Cordially Invited to Meet Death." The first concerns a cleverly contrived murder at New York's annual Flower Show. The second features an adroit bit of poisoning in the fantastic Riverdale ménage — and menagerie — of a successful party-arranger for Manhattan society. First-class entertainment.
Nero Wolfe (CBC Radio)
"Cordially Invited to Meet Death" was adapted as the sixth episode of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's 13-part radio series Nero Wolfe (1982), starring Mavor MooreMavor Moore
James Mavor Moore, CC, OBC was a Canadian writer, producer, actor, public servant, critic, and educator.-Biography:...
as Nero Wolfe and Don Francks
Don Francks
Donald Harvey Francks or Iron Buffalo is a Canadian actor, vocalist and jazz musician.- Life and work :Francks was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. He is a drummer, poet, native nations champion, motorcyclist, author and peace activist...
as Archie Goodwin. Written by Ron Hartmann, the hour-long adaptation aired on CBC Stereo February 20, 1982.
Publication history
"Black Orchids"
- 1941, The American Magazine, August 1941, abridged as "Death Wears an Orchid"
- 1943, The Philadelphia InquirerThe Philadelphia InquirerThe Philadelphia Inquirer is a morning daily newspaper that serves the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, metropolitan area of the United States. The newspaper was founded by John R. Walker and John Norvell in June 1829 as The Pennsylvania Inquirer and is the third-oldest surviving daily newspaper in the...
, a Gold Seal NovelGold Seal NovelGold Seal Novels were illustrated novels covering a wide range of genres published in editions of the Sunday Philadelphia Inquirer between 1934 and 1949. They were published as a "complete illustrated novel" as a section of the Inquirer's Sunday edition...
, January 10, 1943 - New York: Lawrence E. SpivakLawrence E. SpivakLawrence Edmund Spivak was an American publisher and journalist who was best known as the co-founder, producer and host of the prestigious public affairs program Meet the Press...
, American Mercury #72, not dated, paperback - 1945, Rex Stout Mystery Quarterly #1, May 1945
- 1950, New York: Avon #256 (as "The Case of the Black Orchids"), 1950, paperback
- 1967, The Saint Magazine, January 1967
- 1996, Burlington, Ontario: Durkin Hayes Publishing, DH Audio ISBN 0-88646-889-2 December 1996, audio cassette (unabridged, read by Saul RubinekSaul RubinekSaul Rubinek is a Canadian actor, director, producer and playwright, known for his work in TV, film and the stage.-Early life:...
)
"Cordially Invited to Meet Death"
- 1942, The American Magazine, April 1942, as "Invitation to Murder"
- 1943, The Philadelphia InquirerThe Philadelphia InquirerThe Philadelphia Inquirer is a morning daily newspaper that serves the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, metropolitan area of the United States. The newspaper was founded by John R. Walker and John Norvell in June 1829 as The Pennsylvania Inquirer and is the third-oldest surviving daily newspaper in the...
, a Gold Seal NovelGold Seal NovelGold Seal Novels were illustrated novels covering a wide range of genres published in editions of the Sunday Philadelphia Inquirer between 1934 and 1949. They were published as a "complete illustrated novel" as a section of the Inquirer's Sunday edition...
, May 16, 1943, as "Cordially Invited" - New York: Lawrence E. SpivakLawrence E. SpivakLawrence Edmund Spivak was an American publisher and journalist who was best known as the co-founder, producer and host of the prestigious public affairs program Meet the Press...
, Jonathan Press #15, not dated, paperback - 1956, New York: Avon #738 (with Edgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
's "Some Words with a Mummy"), 1956, paperback - New York: Hillman PeriodicalsHillman PeriodicalsHillman Periodicals, Inc. was an American magazine and comic book publishing company founded in 1938 by Alex L. Hillman, a former New York City book publisher...
, not dated - 1998, Burlington, Ontario: Durkin Hayes Publishing, DH Audio ISBN 0-88646-472-2 August 1998, audio cassette (abridged; CBC Radio drama, "Cordially Invited to Meet Death")
Black Orchids
- 1942, New York: Farrar & RinehartFarrar & RinehartFarrar & Rinehart was a United States book publishing company founded in New York. Farrar & Rinehart enjoyed success with both nonfiction and novels, notably, the landmark Rivers of America Series and the first ten books in the Nero Wolfe corpus of Rex Stout...
, May 21, 1942, hardcover
- In his limited-edition pamphlet, Collecting Mystery Fiction #9, Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe Part I, Otto PenzlerOtto PenzlerOtto Penzler is an editor of mystery fiction in the United States, and proprietor of The Mysterious Bookshop in New York City, where he lives.-Biography:...
describes the first editionEdition (book)The bibliographical definition of an edition includes all copies of a book printed “from substantially the same setting of type,” including all minor typographical variants.- First edition :...
of Black Orchids: "Brick brown cloth, front cover and spine printed with black; rear cover blank. Issued in a brick brown and green pictorial dust wrapper … The first edition has the publisher's monogram logo on the copyright page." - In April 2006, Firsts: The Book Collector's Magazine estimated that the first edition of Black Orchids had a value of between $3,000 and $5,000. The estimate is for a copy in very good to fine condition in a like dustjacket.
- 1942, Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1942, hardcover
- 1942, New York: Detective Book Club #5, August 1942, hardcover
- 1943, London: Collins Crime ClubCollins Crime ClubThe Collins Crime Club was an imprint of UK book publishers William Collins & Co Ltd and ran from May 6, 1930 to April 1994. Customers registered their name and address with the club and were sent a newsletter every three months which advised them of the latest books which had been or were to be...
, July 5, 1943, hardcover - 1943, New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1943, hardcover
- 1945, Cleveland, Ohio: World Publishing Company, a Tower Book, March 1945, hardcover
- 1946, New York: Avon #95, 1946, paperback
- 1963, New York: Pyramid (Green Door) #R-917, September 1963, paperback
- 1992, New York: Bantam Crimeline ISBN 0-553-25719-6 May 1992, trade paperback
- 1996, Burlington, Ontario: Durkin Hayes Publishing, DH Audio, "Black Orchids" ISBN 0-88646-889-2 December 1996, audio cassette (unabridged, read by Saul RubinekSaul RubinekSaul Rubinek is a Canadian actor, director, producer and playwright, known for his work in TV, film and the stage.-Early life:...
) - 1998, Burlington, Ontario: Durkin Hayes Publishing, DH Audio ISBN 0-88646-472-2 August 1998, audio cassette (abridged; CBC Radio drama, "Cordially Invited to Meet Death")
- 2009, New York: Bantam Dell Publishing Group (with The Silent SpeakerThe Silent SpeakerThe Silent Speaker is a Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout, first published by the Viking Press in 1946. It was published just after World War II, and key plot elements reflect the lingering effects of the war: housing shortages and restrictions on consumer goods, including government...
) ISBN 978-0-553-38655-4 August 25, 2009, trade paperback - 2010, New York: Bantam Crimeline ISBN 0-307-75573-8 June 30, 2010, e-bookE-bookAn electronic book is a book-length publication in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, and produced on, published through, and readable on computers or other electronic devices. Sometimes the equivalent of a conventional printed book, e-books can also be born digital...