Editing Nero Wolfe (section)

==Supporting characters==
{{Main|Nero Wolfe supporting characters}}

===Household===
* [[Nero Wolfe supporting characters#Fritz Brenner|Fritz Brenner]] – exceptionally talented Swiss<ref>''[[The Red Box]]'', chapter 15; ''[[Murder by the Book]]'', chapter 7</ref> cook who prepares and serves all of Wolfe's meals except those that Wolfe occasionally takes at Rusterman's Restaurant. Fritz also acts as the household's [[majordomo]] and butler.
* [[Nero Wolfe supporting characters#Theodore Horstmann|Theodore Horstmann]] – orchid expert who assists Wolfe in the plant rooms.

===The 'Teers===
* [[Nero Wolfe supporting characters#Saul Panzer|Saul Panzer]] – top-notch private detective who is frequently hired by Nero Wolfe either to assist Archie Goodwin, or to carry out assignments Wolfe prefers that Archie not know about. Archie often comments on Saul's exceptional memory, especially his talent for recalling people's faces.
* [[Nero Wolfe supporting characters#Fred Durkin|Fred Durkin]] – blue-collar investigator who is often hired for mundane tasks like surveillance.
* [[Nero Wolfe supporting characters#Orrie Cather|Orrie Cather]] – handsome, personable detective who thinks he would look just fine sitting at Archie's desk.

===Law enforcement officials===
* [[Nero Wolfe supporting characters#Inspector Cramer|Inspector Cramer]] – head of Homicide in Manhattan. In some of the stories it is implied that his authority extends to other [[New York City|NYC]] boroughs.
* [[Nero Wolfe supporting characters#Sergeant Purley Stebbins|Sergeant Purley Stebbins]] – assistant to Cramer.
* [[Nero Wolfe supporting characters#Lieutenant Rowcliff|Lieutenant George Rowcliff]] – obnoxious police lieutenant (who has been known to stutter when frustrated by Goodwin). Plays an integral part in ''[[Please Pass the Guilt]]''.
* Hombert – in some of the novels the New York police commissioner{{efn|In ''[[The Rubber Band]]'' (1936) Wolfe displays great respect (if not always cooperation) towards Cramer, but thinks Hombert "should go back to diapers"—an opinion indirectly shared by Cramer himself who points out that Hombert is a politician and not a policeman. In ''[[The Silent Speaker]]'', Wolfe gets a chance to humiliate Hombert and help Cramer in the process.}}
* Skinner – [[New York County, New York|New York County]] [[New York County District Attorney|Manhattan District Attorney]]
* Mandelbaum (aka Mandel) – Manhattan Assistant District Attorney.
* Cleveland Archer – [[Westchester County, New York|Westchester County]] [[District Attorney|district attorney]]
* Ben Dykes – head of [[Westchester County, New York|Westchester County]] detectives
* Con Noonan – lieutenant with the [[New York State Police]]. He dislikes Wolfe and Goodwin and would lock them up on the feeblest excuse (see the novella "[[Door to Death]]").

===Friends===
* [[Nero Wolfe supporting characters#Lon Cohen|Lon Cohen]] – of the ''New York Gazette,'' Archie's pipeline to breaking crime news. Lon apparently has no official title at the ''Gazette'' but occupies a room just two doors down from the publisher's [[corner office]]. Archie frequently asks Lon for background information on current or prospective clients, and returns those favors by providing Lon exclusives, and occasional photos, concerning Wolfe's cases. Lon is also one of Archie's poker-playing pals.
* [[Nero Wolfe supporting characters#Lily Rowan|Lily Rowan]] – heiress and socialite, often appears as Archie's romantic companion, although both Lily and Archie are fiercely independent and have no intention of getting engaged or settling down. (It is implied that they enjoy an intimate, ongoing but nonexclusive relationship.) Lily was introduced in ''[[Some Buried Caesar]]'', appears in several stories (and is mentioned in passing in others), and assists in a couple of cases.
* Marko Vukčić – A fellow Montenegrin whom Wolfe has known since childhood, possibly a blood relative (since "vuk" means "wolf"). Vukčić owns the high-class Rusterman's Restaurant in Manhattan. According to ''[[In the Best Families]]'' (in which Wolfe gives him power of attorney), he is the only man in New York who calls Wolfe by his first name. Wolfe is executor of Vukčić's will and, following Vukčić's death, runs Rusterman's as a trustee for "a couple of years".<ref>''[[A Family Affair (novel)|A Family Affair]]'', chapter 6.</ref>
* Lewis Hewitt – well-heeled orchid fancier, for whom Wolfe did a favor (as told in "[[Black Orchids]]"). During a prolonged absence (''[[In the Best Families]]''), Wolfe sends his orchids to Hewitt for care. Wolfe occasionally asks professional favors of Hewitt (as in ''[[The Doorbell Rang]]''), and Hewitt has sent at least one friend, Millard Bynoe, to ask Wolfe's assistance ("[[Easter Parade (short story)|Easter Parade]]").
* Nathaniel Parker – Wolfe's lawyer (or occasionally a client's lawyer, on Wolfe's recommendation) when only a lawyer will do. The character name evolved from "Henry H. Barber"; in ''Prisoner's Base'' (1952) the lawyer's name is Nathaniel Parker, but in ''[[The Golden Spiders]]'' (1953) it's Henry Parker, and then reverts to Nathaniel Parker for the rest of the series. Parker is an old friend, and has a broad scope of interests: e.g., Parker converses with Wolfe in French, in "[[Immune to Murder]]".
* Doctor Vollmer – a medical doctor who is Wolfe's neighbor and friend. Wolfe calls upon Vollmer whenever a dead body is discovered, or medical attention is required, at the brownstone. In ''[[The Silent Speaker]]'', Vollmer contrives an illness severe enough that Wolfe cannot be questioned or even seen by anyone. Vollmer examines Louis Rony's corpse for Wolfe in ''[[The Second Confession]]'' and acts as a go-between for Cramer and Archie in ''[[The Doorbell Rang]]''. Vollmer's motivation, aside from friendship, is that Wolfe helped him out with a would-be blackmailer years ago. Vollmer's house (or perhaps Wolfe's) moves along 35th Street from time to time. In chapter 5 of ''[[Before Midnight (novel)|Before Midnight]]'' the houses are said to be thirty yards apart; in chapter 6 of ''[[The Final Deduction]]'' the distance is sixty yards; and in chapter 2 of "[[Disguise for Murder]]" the distance is two hundred yards. "[[Cordially Invited to Meet Death]]" is less specific, placing the houses "on the same block".
* Carla Lovchen – Wolfe's adopted daughter, who appears in only two stories, ''[[Over My Dead Body (novel)|Over My Dead Body]]'' and ''[[The Black Mountain (novel)|The Black Mountain]]''.{{efn|Wolfe receives news of her death in the latter. "Lovchen" is not a family name; rather, it is the name of the [[Lovćen|black mountain]] from which Montenegro gets its name.}}

===Other associates===
* Bill Gore – freelance operative occasionally called in when Wolfe requires additional help in the field.
* Johnny Keems – freelance operative occasionally called in by Wolfe. He makes his last appearance in the novel ''[[Might as Well Be Dead]]''.
* Theodolinda (Dol) Bonner and Sally Corbett (aka Sally Colt){{efn|Wolfe and Archie first meet Sally Colt, later Corbett, in "[[Too Many Detectives]]" (1956), chapter 1, when they are summoned to Albany for questioning about wiretapping activities. Archie starts his report by stating, "I am against female detectives on principle." Still Sally Colt, she is again called on to help out in ''[[If Death Ever Slept]]'' (1957), chapter 17. In ''[[Plot It Yourself]]'' (1959), chapter 19, it is a Sally Corbett, not Colt, who helps out on Wolfe's case. "Sally Corbett was one of the two women who, a couple of years back, had made me feel that there might be some flaw in my attitude toward female dicks." Sally Colt/Corbett makes a final appearance in ''[[The Mother Hunt]]'' (1963), chapter 12. Archie remarks again that Sally and Dol had made him change his attitude about female detectives.}} – female operatives whom Wolfe employs at need. They also play a major role in the novella "[[Too Many Detectives]]". Dol Bonner is the principal character in the novel ''[[The Hand in the Glove]]'', which is an early example of a woman private detective as the protagonist of a mystery novel. Dol Bonner and her agency operatives appear in a few Wolfe mysteries in places where female operatives are required, such as ''[[The Mother Hunt]]'' (also one of the few stories where Wolfe has to flee his home to escape arrest).
* Del Bascom – independent investigator who runs a large conventional detective agency in Manhattan. Wolfe sometimes subcontracts to Bascom when he needs a lot of men for something (as in ''[[The Silent Speaker]]'').
* Herb Aronson and Al Goller – friendly cabbies who make themselves available to Archie for mobile surveillance jobs.
* Ethelbert Hitchcock – Wolfe's contact in London who handles enquiries to be made in Europe. Although he is usually identified by only his surname, in ''The Rubber Band'' (chapter 10) Archie refers to him as Ethelbert Hitchcock, "which I consider the all-time low for a name for a snoop, even in England." Wolfe also identifies him by that full name when speaking to FBI investigator Stahl in ''Over My Dead Body'' (chapter 15). Some years later, in ''The Black Mountain'' (chapter 4), it is Geoffrey Hitchcock who meets Wolfe and Archie at the airport.
* Felix Courbet – Part owner and manager of Rusterman's Restaurant following the death of Marko Vukčić. Felix plays a major role in both "[[Poison à la Carte]]" and ''[[A Family Affair (novel)|A Family Affair]]'', in which his surname is changed to Mauer. In ''[[The Black Mountain (novel)|The Black Mountain]]'' his surname is Martin.