He had returned to New York and reconciled with his siblings—brothers David and Paul, sister Louise, and her husband Vincent Tuttle—in order to tell them of his success in finding a profitable site.

Arrow claims to have made an agreement with Bert that grants control of the mining business and any assets derived from it to either partner if the other dies, causing the family to suspect him.

The incident is similar to the death of the Fyfes' father 20 years earlier, due to pneumonia worsened by a bedroom window left open during a blizzard.

Wolfe brings Saul Panzer in to help and takes interest in the matter of some ice cream that Paul had bought for a Sunday party at the family home in Mount Kisco.

In a 1957 installment of "The Criminal Record", Saturday Review magazine's weekly column about detective literature, "A Window for Death" and the other two stories collected in Three for the Chair were pronounced the "usual smooth sailing … Trio of Nero Wolfe yarns finds big boy still lining 'em up and mowing 'em down.

In addition to quoting a passage that describes how Fritz prepares one of Wolfe's favorite warm-weather meals, Brazilian Lobster Salad, the newspaper reprinted the recipe.