Cyril Orchard, the publisher of the weekly horse racing sheet "Track Almanac," is poisoned with cyanide during a live soft drink commercial on a popular radio talk show. A media sensation, the case attracts the attention of Nero Wolfe, who is facing a crippling income tax bill, and Archie Goodwin is dispatched to convince the producers and sponsors to hire Wolfe to investigate the crime. The police have identified several suspects, including the show's host Madeline Fraser; her business manager, friend and former sister-in-law Deborah Koppel; her on-air side-kick Bill Meadows; Tully Strong and Nathan Straub, representatives of the show's sponsors; script-writer Elinor Vance; Nancylee Shepherd, the head of Fraser's fan-club; and F.O. Savarese, an assistant professor of mathematics and the show's other guest.