by Alma Bond

A Mary Wells Psychiatrist Mystery

Mary's patient, Veronica Vail, was murdered in her Park Avenue apartment. Lt. John Franklin asks for her help in finding the killer. They interview her husband Roland, his daughter by a former marriage who never liked Veronica, and Carlos de la Cuesta, a handsome, black-haired drag queen in love with Roland. Lt. Franklin hypothesizes that a stranger broke into the Vail apartment to steal a painting. Roland confirms that an expensive painting has disappeared. A maid named Lottie Lobell tells them that while looking out the window on the day of the murder, she saw a black-haired man run away from the building carrying a painting. He is found and brought in for questioning. Using purely psychological clues, Mary confronts all the suspects with the truth. The killer collapses under her inquisition, and confesses.