Stella Picked the Wrong Career...

Okay, so I want to clarify before I get into my post that I am fully aware that Jefferies was the first one to notify the authorities, and everyone else concerned with the murder of Mrs. Thornwald and the capture of Thorwald.

That being said, I think that Jefferies' nurse Stella was the true heroine of the movie. In fact, I would actually argue that being in the medical field is not where she belonged, but rather in some form of investigative services. I mean, think about it, although admittedly, morbid, Stella predicted the details of the crime to a T. She stated that Thorwald probably cut up Mrs. Thorwald and hid her all over the city, she explained why Thorwald was cleaning his apartment, and she knows the prison time for peeping toms (6 months). Furthermore, along with Lisa and Jefferies, Stella figures that Mrs. Thorwald must not be buried in her entirety in the garden because there wasn't enough room. Not to mention, Stella has uncanny prediction skills and accurately predicts major events like the 1929 stock market crash. All because one of her patients was nervous. I'm not sure if this is because her nursing experience, or if she has good intuition, but either way, she figured out a large majority of the crime. In addition, Stella is  sharp-tongued, so she would be able to put people in their place, which is an important skill to have as a police officer. Lastly, Stella is nosy and caring, which allows her to be observant and find clues to help her solve cases, as well as be empathetic to the crime victims and families she investigates.