need 2' of additonal shear wall.

After removing a door and frame, in the basement of our 1976 home, we would like to remove the wall surrounding the door, to create a more inviting opening into the living room. We are wondering if the small amount of wall that we want to remove is structural, or not. The wall in question is running perpendicular to the joists above. There is no wall on the 2nd floor of the house, directly above this wall. On the right hand side of the door are three 2x4 studs - one to support the door frame and 2 others that must connect to the joists above. For that side we will only be removing the one 2x4 that supported the door frame we removed. On the left hand side of the door there is a 12" section of wall that we would like to remove. This is the section in question - there is the 2x4 in place that was supporting the door frame we removed, but there appear to be additional 2x4's behind that. How can we tell if this section of wall is okay to remove? Thanks, in advance, for any help in this matter!

I went to look at a job today and the customer has some water damage on her pristine ceiling. She wants it repaired as such that you cannot tell there ever was a repair done. Is this even possible? I mean from my experience no matter how hard you try and no matter how many times you go over the spackle you can still tell there was a repair done. Any tips or tricks would be greatly appreciated. Thanx Jim