Clue to Romance — Florence Faulkner

The evening began innocently enough. A dinner party at the House of Hidalgo. The host, Ira Tellerson, a man in his sixties with a reputation for miserliness; his date, the exotic-looking and years-younger Dorothy Marsh; his son, Bob, very much in love with debutante Natalie Spencer; Larry Payne, Bob's old friend from their college days and now and up-and-coming CPA; and Susan Norton, a painter with more than a casual interest in Larry. Just the six of them, just another evening out together.

Until Dorothy Marsh tripped and fell down a mezzanine staircase and accused Susan of having pushed her. Just because they had had a disagreement at the table moments earlier. Susan was aghast at having such a serious accusation hurled at her, and even though Dorothy's vindictiveness was completely un called for, it cast a pall over the party and left Susan feeling extremely defensive.

And the situation was not made any better the next morning, when Susan's police reporter boyfriend, Kevin O'Keefe, dropped by with the news that the police had received and anonymos call late that night before saying that she had threatened Dorothy and then pushed her down the stairs. Susan paid no heed to the reassurances that the police promptly placed the call in the wastebasket; she was warned that she was becoming enmeshed in a web of danger and intrigue, and before the day was over, Susan would have her worst fears confirmed...