The Christmas Eve Murders: Dr. Stewart

In The Christmas Eve Murders, Dr. Stewart is one of the names on the Deputy Sheriff's "persons of interest" list. Dr. Stewart is the local veterinarian for Stone Ridge, while moonlighting as the farm manager at Old Man Johnson's farm.

Based out of the quiet town of Stone Ridge in the Catskills, Dr. Stewart is deeply embedded not only in the Stone Ridge community, but in the greater Catskills countryside. Due to his involvement in tending to both family pets and local livestock, he is likely to be familiar with the movements, schedules, and private lives of almost everyone in the rural settlement.

Dr. Stewart is a perfect candidate for Ryan to interview in order to gather information, provided that the detective treads carefully enough in questioning the residents of Stone Ridge. Ryan is aware that there may very well be an uneasy relationship between the tight-knit community, and outsiders from city law enforcement.

Locals of Stone Ridge are protective of their neighbors, and inherently suspicious of the NYPD detective poking around their bucolic idyll. Respected pillars of the community, like Dr. Stewart may not take kindly to being interrogated, or having their routine disrupted during the holiday season. As a medical professional, Dr. Stewart possesses a sharp eye for detail. His unique knowledge of the area and its residents may provide the critical, subtle puzzle pieces that Detective Ryan needs to untangle the dark secrets hiding in Stone Ridge.

With his busy schedule, Dr. Stewart proves to be a difficult man to track down, and his apparent initial reluctance to cooperate with the investigation, forces Detective Ryan to figure out whether the veterinarian is actively protecting a killer, hiding his own dark secrets, or simply distrustful of city police.