At times, Wolfe and Archie are on a personal errand when a murder occurs, and legal authorities require that they remain in the vicinity (Too Many Cooks, Some Buried Caesar, "Too Many Detectives" and "Immune to Murder", for example).
Nogle gange skyldes det, at Wolfe og Archie er på et privat ærinde, når der indtræffer et mord, og de lokale myndigheder forlanger at de bliver i området (det gælder f.eks. i (Too Many Cooks, Some Buried Caesar, Too Many Detectives og Immune to Murder).