- Case
- Door to Death
- Year Published
- 1949
- Case Introduction
- 5-7 December, 1948. Seeking a replacement orchid-tender (Theodore left indefinitely to attend his sick mother), Wolfe and Archie go to northern Westchester to talk to Andrew Krasicki about accepting the position. Krasicki's love-interest turns up dead (poisoned by ciphogene), Krasicki is arrested and Wolfe is faced with solving the murder or losing the horticulturist.
- Notes
- Resolution
-
Wolfe provokes Donald Pitcairn to confessing with a fabricated letter from Dini Lauer to J. G. Pitcairn who had not allowed Donald to pursue his interest in Lauer.
Characters in the case:
Character descriptionDistrict Attorney of Westchester County.
Archie says, " . . . he wasn't a bad guy."
Reserved notes for this case
Character descriptionMaster chef in Wolfe's kitchen, has a small apartment in the basement. (In "Fer-De-Lance," his apartment is across from the plant room, not in the basement.) Swiss; native French speaker, served in WWI. Uninterested in murder, except whether a client is in the offing; gets anxious about household finance when Wolfe isn't working. Doesn't like to talk while cooking. Changes to his old slippers at 9 pm because of "things left on his feet by the war to remember it by". Implied he was a member of the Swiss Alpine Patrol during WWI.
Reserved notes for this case
Present at the investigation.
Character descriptionHead of the Westchester county detectives.
Archie describes Dykes as, ". . . neither friend nor enemy. Most of the enforcers of the law, both in and out of uniform, in the suburban districs, have got an inferiority complex about the New York detectives, either public or private, but Dykes was an exception. He had been a Westchester private eye for more than twenty years, and all he cared about was doing his work well enough to hang onto his job, steering clear of mudholes, and staying as honest as he could."
Reserved notes for this case
Character descriptionNero Wolfe's tough and witty assistant.
Reserved notes for this case
Choked (non-fatally) by Joseph Pitcairn in a rage; given a nice chunk of hush money.
Character descriptionNative of Westchester county, daughter of a poor family; left for New York City upon becoming pregnant out of wedlock.
Reserved notes for this case
Summoned via telegram to tend his critically ill mother in Illinois, so that Wolfe really had to *work* with the orchids instead of dally.
Character descriptionOlder man. Wolfe's orchid nurse. Lives in small cubbyhole on the roof with the plants. First mentioned in ch. 3 of "Fer-de-lance" - Archie sometimes hears him shouting at Wolfe in the mornings.
Reserved notes for this case
Possibly interested in Dini Lauer.
Character descriptionButler, chauffeur, and handyman on the Pitcairn estate.
Reserved notes for this case
Foolishly attempted to deny knowing that the fumigation would occur.
Character descriptionWife of Neil Imbrie, takes morphine.
Reserved notes for this case
Upon seeing Krasicki's work, Wolfe shakes his hand. Andy had just become engaged to the victim.
Character descriptionExpert horticulturist; studied under Hewitt. Blue-eyed, blond, athletic; about Archie's age.
Reserved notes for this case
Killed by ciphogene poisoning.
Character descriptionNurse.
Flirtatious.
Reserved notes for this caseHooked both Andrew Kasicki and Donald Pitcairn with her attentions.
Particularly offensive pushing Wolfe and Goodwin off the Pitcairn estate after arresting Krasicki for the murder.
Character descriptionLieutenant in the New York State Police.
Unfriendly. Archie says of Noonan, ". . . He was fitted out at birth for a career as a guard at a slave-labor camp . . ."
Reserved notes for this case
Helps with Wolfe's midnight plan to interrogate the Pitcairn family. Archie mentions leaving a message with Saul's wife when contacting him for this case.
Character descriptionTop hired hand Nero and Archie look to for manpower. Hosts regular Thursday night poker game at eight pm at his apartment in Brooklyn. Rust-colored hair, 5'7, 145 lbs, big nose and flat ears.
In the "Rubber Band" (ch. 6) Archie tells us that Panzer has a photographic memory when it comes to faces.
Reserved notes for this casePretends to find a provocative note from Dini Lauer addressed to Joseph G. Pitcairn. Wolfe mentions that Saul's talents are exceptional. Archie mentions that Saul leaps "like a college athlete" over a stream.
Character descriptionWife of Joseph Pitcairn. Requires live-in nursing care due to an injured back. Short, plump, and has some independent means.
Reserved notes for this case
Present on the Pitcairn estate in Westchester when Dini Lauer was murdered.
Character descriptionSon of wealthy J. G. Pitcairn.
Reserved notes for this caseIn love with Dini Lauer, killed her when she agreed to marry Andrew Kasicki. Drugged her with morphine and put her in the greenhouse before <B style="color:black;background-color:#ffff66">ciphogene</B> was to be used to fumigate.
Andy's ex-employer.
Character descriptionWealthy, lives on estate in Katonah.
Reserved notes for this caseHad an affair with Dini and as a result did not want to allow Donald to pursue her. Demeaned Donald to the point he killed her in a rage.
Sybil proclaims, "I'm disappointed in you Nero. I thought you were better than that" when Wolfe announces that he suspects some member of the Pitcairn family of murder. The line causes Wolfe to commit utterly to solving the murder despite the terrible inconveniences attached to such a project.
Character descriptionDaughter of J. G. Pitcairn.
Archie says, "Pretty."
Reserved notes for this case
"The young man in the rainbow shirt", assistant to Andy Krasicki.
Character descriptionMember of the groundskeeping crew on the Pitcairn estate in Westchester.
Friend of Andrew Krasicki.
Reserved notes for this case
Desperately seeking a replacement for Theodore and after enduring taunts from Noonan and Sybil Pitcairn, Nero endures great hardship (willingly skips a dinner, wades through a brook in the dead winter at night, etc.) to solve the murder.
Character descriptionMaster detective. Genius. Estimated weight: 1/7 ton. Carries a large platinum watch in his vest pocket. Sends a check every month to his mother in Budapest ("Fer-de-lance, ch. 13)..
Reserved notes for this caseFabricates a note form Dimi Lauer to provoke a reaction out of the killer.
Meals in the case:
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Orchids in the case:
(no orchids are currently in the NWD for this story)
Quotations in the case:
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