Where There's A Will (novel) - Plot Summary

Plot Summary

The famous Hawthorne sisters — April, May and June — visit Nero Wolfe in a body to ask his help in averting a scandal. After the shock of their brother Noel's death in a hunting accident three days before, they have been dealt another shock at learning the terms of his will, which are sure to cause a sensation once they are made public. Even if the three sisters agree to honor the will (which leaves nothing to each of them but a piece of fruit), they are certain their sister-in-law, Daisy Hawthorne, will contest it and bring the matter into open court. They suggest that Wolfe come at the problem from the other end, and persuade Noel Hawthorne's primary beneficiary — a young woman named Naomi Karn — to relinquish the bulk of the inheritance.

Their conference is interrupted by the arrival of their brother's widow. Once a most beautiful woman, Daisy Hawthorne was horribly disfigured by her husband in an accident. She is now famous as a tragic and quite unsettling figure — "the lady who wears a veil."

"I sat and stared at it," Archie wrote, "trying to ignore an inclination to offer somebody a ten-spot to pull the veil up, knowing that if it was done I'd probably offer another ten-spot to get it pulled down again."

After a somewhat menacing confrontation, Daisy is assured by Wolfe that he will consider her as well as the Hawthorne sisters as his clients, and will negotiate with Miss Karn on their behalf.

Later that day, another conference in Wolfe's office is interrupted. Inspector Cramer of Homicide arrives at the brownstone to inform the Hawthorne sisters that the shooting accident that killed their brother was no accident at all.