To set the plot of The
Second Confession in motion, James U. Spurling, a wealthy industrialist,
comes to Nero Wolfe’s brownstone and hires the famous detective to do a bit of
tricky work for him. Spurling is convinced that his daughter Gwenn’s suitor,
Louis Rony, is a Communist. Spurling asks Wolfe to prove this, but Wolfe
decides it would be simpler to look for evidence that will convince Gwenn to
drop Rony. And so, Archie Goodwin is sent down to the countryside to get some
fresh air and do some undercover sleuthing.
But before you know it, Nero Wolfe gets a telephone call
from Arnold Zeck, who introduced himself in the previous book in the series, And Be A Villain. Zeck demands that Wolfe
cease the investigation, and when Wolfe refuses, Zeck arranges for some armed
goons to shoot up Wolfe’s brownstone, completely destroying the plant rooms.
This means war, and Nero Wolfe reacts to this threat by breaking one of his
most sacred rules: he steps out of his house.