Mrs. Lilly Trueheart was one of the first characters shown on the first weekday installment of the comic strip along with Dick Tracy, Tess, and Emil Trueheart.

Mrs. Trueheart ran a delicatessen with her husband. She and her family lived in an apartment above the business. She was a kind, loving woman who approved of Tracy and his relationship with Tess.

One night, Dick proposed to Tess and she accepted. At the same time, Emil and his wife were counting out the money that they had saved, pleased that they were officially out of debt (2,000 dollars in 1931 money). Unbeknownst to all, the house was being observed by mobsters who later burst in and threatened Emil. They wanted the code to the safe, but Emil defied them. He was shot by one of the thugs, a man called Crutch. Mrs. Trueheart fainted from the shock. With his dying breath, Emil revealed the combination. The men took the money and kidnapped Tess, taking her to their boss Big Boy.

Mrs. Trueheart was rushed to the hospital. She remained there during the entire time that Tracy was investigating the murder and rescuing Tess from the kidnappers. At the end of the affair, Mrs. Trueheart was seen to have recovered from the shock, but she still grieved her husband. She collected on his life insurance and took over day-to-day operations of the delicatessen.

Mrs. Trueheart continued to appear semi-regularly. She occasionally took in boarders to make extra money, and when business was good she would hire additional help (such as Heinie). She inadvertently hired the fugitive poison gas manufacturer Karpse, and later rented a room to Pruneface (another poison gas manufacturer). Mrs. Trueheart became suspicious of Pruneface, and enlisted Junior's aid in monitoring his activities. When Pruneface realized that Mrs. Trueheart was suspicious of him, he assaulted her with a rock, then fled. Mrs Trueheart was able to take a picture of Pruneface, which aided in his capture.

* Dick Tracy (October 12, 1931 - September 8, 1932)

*Dick Tracy (1937, 15 chapters)
*Dick Tracy (1945)

*The copyright to Mrs. Trueheart's first appearance in the October 12, 1931 comic strip was not renewed 28 years later in [https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/cce/1958r.html 1958] or [https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/cce/1959r.html 1959].

*[https://dicktracy.fandom.com/wiki/Mrs._Trueheart Dick Tracy Wiki]

Category:1931 Debuts
Category:Chester Gould - Creator
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