The Third Secret
Prominent London psychoanalyst Dr. Leo Whitset is discovered injured from a gunshot wound in his home by his housekeeper, and as he lies dying he whispers, "Blame no one but me." These words lead the coroner to rule the death a suicide, a verdict questioned by one of Dr. Whitset's patients, Alex Stedman, a popular American news commentator for British television who has been in therapy since the deaths of his wife and daughter. The dead man's fourteen-year-old daughter Catherine is certain he was murdered and enlists Alex's aid in finding the killer to preserve her father's reputation.
Catherine provides Alex with the names of three other patients. Sir Frederick Belline is a respected judge, Alfred Price-Gorham runs a prestigious art gallery with his assistant Miss Humphries, and Anne Tanner is a corporate secretary. As Alex investigates their backgrounds, he discovers each of the three, like himself, harbours a secret known only by the murdered man. Hoping to find more clues, Alex goes to the doctor's country home to search his files. There he learns Catherine was under her father's care, and when he confronts her she admits she killed the doctor when he threatened to send her to an institution to be treated for schizophrenia. While re-enacting the crime, Catherine stabs Alex and consequently is confined to a psychiatric hospital. Recovered from his wound, Alex visits her and promises to stay in touch. The Third Secret the doctor had hidden from himself was the seriousness of his daughter's illness, which made him delay committing her to a mental institution.
murder