not beautiful, but her perky features were vivacious, and her mop of blond curls-an Orphan Annie hairdo-had an outlandish charm. She wore a T-shirt that had a portrait of Beethoven printed on the front.
'Miss Judd,' he started, 'I'll try to make this as brief as possible; I don't want to take up too much of your time.'
'I've got plenty,' she told him.
'I've been looking for a job, but no luck yet. When I spoke to Doctor Diane before, she said she's looking for me, too, and thinks she may be able to get me something with a shrink she knows who's opening a clinic for rich alcoholics.'
'How long did you work for Doctor Simon Ellerbee?'
'Almost five years. Gee, that was a dreamy job. Good hours and very little work. No pressure-you know?'
'I assume you handled his appointments, took care of the billing, and things of that nature?'
That's right. And I could use their kitchen for lunch. They even invited me and Edith Crawley-she's Doctor Diane's receptionist-up to their Brewster home for a weekend every summer. That's a dreamy place. And, of course, I got the whole month of August off every year.'
'Did you like Doctor Simon?'
'A wonderful, wonderful man. Swell to work for. I had eyes for him, but I knew that would get me nowhere.
You've seen Doctor Diane? Too much competition!' She laughed merrily, clasping her knees with her arms and rocking back and forth on the floor.
'What hours did you work?'
'Nine to five. Usually. Sometimes he would ask me to come in a little earlier or stay a little later if a hysterical was scheduled. You know, some of those crazy ladies woman could scream rape-it's possible.'
'Did it ever happen-that a woman patient screamed rape?'
'It never happened to Doctor Simon, but it happened to a friend of his, so he was very careful.'
'Let's talk about the Friday he was killed. Did anything unusual happen that day?' She thought a moment.
'Noo,' she said finally, 'it was ordinary. Lousy weather; it poured all day. But nothing unusual happened in the office.'
'What time did you leave?'
'A few minutes after five. Right after Mrs. Brizio arrived.'
'Ah,' he said, 'Mrs. Lola Brizio… She was the last patient listed in his appointment book.'
'That's right. She came in once a week, every Friday, five to six.'
'Tell me about her.'
Mrs, Brizio? Gee, she must be sixty-at least. And very, very rich. That dreamy chinchilla coat she wears -I could live five years on what she paid for that. But a very nice lady. I mean, not stuck-up or anything like that. Real friendly. She was always telling me the cute things her grandchildren said.'
'What was her problem?'
'Kleptomania. Can you believe it? With all her loot. She'd go in these stores, like Henri Bendel, and stuff silk scarves and costume jewelry in her handbag. Been doing it for years.
The stores knew about it, of course, and kept an eye on her.
They never arrested her or anything because she was such a good customer. I mean, she bought a lot of stuff in addition to what she stole. So they'd let her swipe what she wanted and just add it to her bill. She always paid. She came to Doctor Simon about three years ago.'
Carol Judd burst out laughing.
'The first session she had, she stole a crystal ashtray off Doctor Simon's desk, and he didn't even notice until she was gone. Can you imagine?'
'Sixty years old, you say?'
'At least. Probably more.'
'A big woman?'
'Oh, no! A little bitty thing. Not even five feet tall. And fat. A roly-poly.'
'All right,' Delaney said, tentatively eliminating Mrs. Lola Brizio as a possible suspect, 'after she arrived at five o'clock, you left a few minutes later. Is that correct?'
'Right.'
'Did Doctor Simon tell you he was expecting a late patient?'
'No, he didn't.'
'Wasn't that unusual?'
'Oh, no, it happened all the time. Like maybe in the evening he'd get a panic call from some patient who had to see him right away. The next morning he'd just leave a note on my desk telling me to bill so-and-so for a session.'
'Did Doctor Diane ever have late patients?'
'Oh, sure. They both did, all the time.'
'Apparently, after six o'clock, when Mrs. Lola Brizio was gone, Doctor Simon told his wife that he was expecting a late patient, but didn't tell her who or when. Isn't that a little surprising?'
'Not really. Like I said, it happened frequently. They'd tell each other so it wouldn't interfere with their plans for the night-dinner or the theater, you know-but I don't think they'd mention who it was that was coming in. There was just no need for it.'
Delaney sat silently, brooding, and somewhat depressed.
As explained by Carol Judd, the mystery patient now seemed no mystery at all. It was just routine.
'And you have no idea who the late patient was on that Friday night?' he asked her.
'No, I don't.'
'Well, whoever had the appointment,' he said, trying to salvage something from his inquiries, 'was probably the last person to see Doctor Simon alive. And may have been the killer. But let's suppose the late patient arrived at seven and left at eight. Would it-'
'Fifteen minutes to eight. Patients got forty-five minutes.'
'What did the doctor do in those fifteen minutes between patients?'
'Relax. Return phone calls. Look over the files of the next patient.
Maybe have a cup of coffee.'
'All right,' he said, 'let's suppose the late patient arrived at seven and left at fifteen minutes to eight. Do you think it's possible that sometime during the evening Doctor Simon got a phone call from another patient who wanted to see him? A second late patient?'
'Of course it's possible,' she said.
'Things like that happened all the time.'
Which left him, he thought, nowhere.
'Thank you very much, Miss Judd,' he said, heaving himself out of the silly canvas sling and putting on his hat.
'You've been very cooperative and very helpful.'
She rose from her folded position on the floor without using her hands-just unflexed her limber body and floated UP.
'I hope you catch the person who did it,' she said, suddenly solemn and vengeful.
'I wish we had the death penalty.
Doctor Simon was a dear, sweet man, and no one deserves to die like that. I cried for forty-eight hours after it happened. I Still can't believe he's gone.'
Delaney nodded and started for the door. Then he stopped and turned.
'One more thing,' he said.
'Did Doctor Simon ever mention to you that he had been attacked or threatened by a patient?'
'No, he never did.'
'In the past year or six months, did you notice any change in him? Did he act differently?'
She stared at him.
'Funny you should ask that. Yes, he changed. In the last year or so. I even mentioned it to my boyfriend. Doctor Simon became, uh, moodier. He used to be so steady. The same every day: pleasant and kind to
