While in class with two students - the Russian Ludlow and the American Faber - in the prestigious sports club in which she is a fencing instructor, Neya Tormic is accused by Mrs Falchi of the theft of a jewel. The cousin and colleague Carla asks for help from Nero Wolfe: Neya is none other than the daughter of the only woman whom the investigator has loved. Despite noticing that Carla also went to him to hide a microfilm, Wolfe is astonished and almost moved; that's why he sends Archie Goodwin to the club to investigate.
