Editing Nero Wolfe (section)

====Suppositions====
In 1956, [[John Drury Clark|J. D. Clark]] theorized in an article in ''[[The Baker Street Journal]]'' that [[Sherlock Holmes]] and [[Irene Adler]] (a character from "[[A Scandal in Bohemia]]") had an affair in Montenegro in 1892, and that Nero Wolfe was the result. The idea was later co-opted by [[William S. Baring-Gould|W. S. Baring-Gould]] and implied in the novels of [[Nicholas Meyer]] and [[John Lescroart]], but there is no evidence that Rex Stout had any such connection in mind. Certainly there is no mention of it in any of the stories, although a painting of Sherlock Holmes does hang over Archie Goodwin's desk in Nero Wolfe's office. Some commentators note both physical and psychological resemblances and suggest Sherlock's brother [[Mycroft Holmes]] as a more likely father for Wolfe. Commentators have noted a coincidence in the names "Sherlock Holmes" and "Nero Wolfe": The same vowels appear in the same order. In 1957, [[Ellery Queen]] called this "The great O-E theory" and suggested that it was derived from the father of mysteries, [[Edgar Allan Poe]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Queen |first=Ellery |author-link=Ellery Queen |year=1957 |title=In the Queens' Parlor |location=New York, NY |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |pages=4–5 |oclc=2628466 }}</ref> The only mention of Wolfe's mother in Stout's stories is in the first novel, ''Fer-de-Lance'' (1935), in which it is stated that she lives in [[Budapest]] and Wolfe sends her a monthly check.

Some [[Wold Newton family|Wold Newton]] theorists have suggested the French thief [[Arsène Lupin]] as the father of Nero Wolfe. They note that in one story Lupin has an affair with the queen of a Balkan principality, which may be Montenegro by another name. Further, they note that the name Lupin resembles the French word for wolf, ''loup''.<ref>
{{cite web
  | last = Ruaud | first = A.-F.
  | year = 2002 
  | title = Arsène Lupin: A Timeline
  | website = Cool French Comics
  | url = http://www.coolfrenchcomics.com/arsenelupintimeline.htm
  | access-date = 2007-11-16
}}
</ref>