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claim they were at that time … “Doctor Diane Ellerbee was up in Brewster, waiting for her husband to arrive.
    “Henry Ellerbee was at a charity dinner at the Plaza Hotel.
    I confirmed his presence there at nine o’clock.
    “Doctor Samuelson was at the Carnegie Hall concert. Confirmed.
    “One of the receptionists was home watching television with her mother. Mommy says yes, she was. Who knows?
    “The other receptionist says she was shacked up with her boyfriend in his apartment. He says yes, she was. Who knows?
    “The super was playing pinochle at his basement social club. The other guys in the game say yeah, he was there.
    “The two ladies who run the art gallery were at a private dinner with eight other people of the Medicare set. Their presence is confirmed. Besides, the two of them are so frail I don’t think they could lift a ball peen hammer.
    “The top-floor movie producer was at a film festival in the south of France. His presence there is confirmed by news reports and photographs. Scratch him.
    “And that’s it.”
    Delaney looked admiringly from Boone to Jason and back again. “What the hell does Suarez need me for? You two guys can break this thing on your own.
    Well, here’s what I’ve got.
    It isn’t much.”
    He gave them a prcis of his conversation with the police psychiatrist and told them what Dr. Walden had said about the incidence of attacks on therapists by their patients.
    “He guessed about one-quarter to onethird of all psychiatrists have been assaulted. Those percentages look good. After what you’ve just told me, I’m beginning to think Ellerbee’s patient list may be our best bet.”
    Then he said that Walden had agreed with Boone’s theory about those hammer blows to the eyes: It could be a symbolic effort to blind the doctor.
    “After he was dead?” Jason said.
    “Well, Walden thinks most attacks on therapists are made by psychotics. I didn’t tell him about the two sets of unidentified footprints. That could mean there were two psychotics working together, or Ellerbee had two visitors that night at different times. Any ideas?”
    Jason and Boone looked at each other, then shook their heads.
    “All right,” Delaney said briskly. “Here’s where we go from here. I want to see that townhouse and I want to meet Doctor Diane Ellerbee. Maybe we can do both at the same time. Sergeant, suppose you call her right now. Tell her you’d like to see her as soon as possible, as part of the investigation into her husband’s death. Don’t mention that I’ll be with you.”
    Rather than dig through the records in the cartons for Diane Ellerbee’s phone number, Boone looked it up in the Manhattan directory. He identified himself and asked to speak to the doctor. He ended by giving Delaney’s phone number. Then he hung up.
    “She’s with a patient,” he reported. “The receptionist said she’ll give the doctor my message and she’ll probably call back as soon as she’s free.”
    “We’ll wait,” Delaney said. “It shouldn’t be more than forty-five minutes.
    Meanwhile, there’s something else I want to know more about. Boone, do you know a dick one named Parnell? I think his first name is Charles.”
    “Oh, hell, yes,” the Sergeant said, smiling. “I know him.
    They call him Daddy Warbucks. He’s still on active duty.”
    “That’s the guy,” Delaney said. He turned to Jason.
    “You’ve got to realize that some detectives make a good career for themselves by specializing, Now this Parnell, he’s a financial whiz. You want a money picture on someone and he can come up with it. He’s got good contacts with banks, stockbrokers, credit agencies, accountants, and for all I know, the IRS. He knows how to read wills, trusts, and reports of probate.
    He’s just the guy we need to get a rundown on the financial status of the deceased and his widow. Sergeant, tell Chief Suarez everything we’ve done so far-don’t leave anything out-and then ask him to have Daddy