The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1917-08-11

EAA3 VI -
The dead girls mother insists that
Val Brandon was the girls only
sweethoart. and stin Mrs. King re-
peats the conversation she insists abe
had on the subject just shortly be-
fore the unhappy victims death Mrs.
King Is the Last person, with the sx-
csption Of the murderer, who saw
Mrs. Brandon alive. She, It IL, who
silencsd for all time ths unfortunate
suspicion against the young husband
By her assertion that she talked for
more than an hour with thee young
wife after Val Brandon went to his
MrG Kings story IL practically the
only thing that throws any light on
the last hours Of the murdered
woman. That Lottte Brandon had
another beau OF whom she was
very fond. that her marriage TO
Brandon was kept secret for some
time for some unexplained reason,
that this other sweetheart swore
that had he known about Brandon
he would have seen to IL that he
would never have won her and that
his life being spoiled, he would leave
waShinGton, are the salient facts
OF Mrs. Kings recital.
-shs described him to me a. tail
and dark" Mrs. King told me. she
confessed that she had been extreme
ly fond Of him, and that she only
refused him because OF her parentS
objection on religious grounds.
Met Mrs. BPunA0a-
Mrs. King had only lived next door
since Monday night, two days before
the murder. She met Mrs. Brandon
that evening and dropped In for =
nsighborly call the next morning II
was then, while the two women were
chatting In the CONFIDENTIAL manner
common to many women, that the dis
closures of the former lover came.
On "wednesday morning they again
ehatted for more than an hour, this
time from their windows. which were
separated by only . narrow areaWay.
Shortly aftsrwArd the shade Of Mrs.
Brandon's window was drawn. and
Mrs. King, supposing she was taking
. nap, did not disturb her. when, as
a matter OF fact, on the other side Of
that eggshsll partition. not twenty
isst away from where Mrs. King was
working about her kitchen, the gross
est of crimes was being committed
All this time Mrs King heard no
sound, no sudden call for help. no
struggle, no dying groanA although
previously she had been able to hear
the rumble Of Mr.. and Mrs. Brandon's
voices as they conversed together.
This statement OF Mrs. Kings seems
to indicate that she believed that
whoever entered Lottie Brandon's
little apartment that Wednesday
morning was not unknown to her.
and that their arrival or presence oc-
casioned neither surprise nor alarm.
May Have Let Murderer In.
Mrs. King Is equally certain that no
one could have gone out the back
way, the route by which the AssAil-
ant IL supposed to have escaped. or
scaled the high board fence without
having been seen either by herself
from her kitchen windows or by her
little niece, Virginia, who was play
ing In the adjoining yard the entire
morning.
Mrs. King does not hesitate TO suE-
Eest that IL may have been Lottis
Brandon herself who let someone into
the Brandon apartment by the front
door. and this suggestion Is based on
which Mrs. King AYERS Mrs. Brandon
made to her during those morning
chats. The husband of the young
woman, herself 4 bride of last De
Gambler. has been closely questioned
by the detectives working on the
case
The horror OF the whole thing still
remains that In that closely settled
nsiKh borhood, where the little houses
stand shoulder by shoulder like peas
In . pod. q woman could be cruelty
done to death without . disturbance
that a. much as interrupted the cook
inC OF her neighbors, that one wo-
men near an open kitchen window
from which she could almost have
reached out and touched the open
window OF the Brandon kitchen. did
not hear the smallest sound. There
Is something 80 unreal, so uncanny
about the situation as to make ones
very spine bristle.
II makes one feel that some in
credible genie stepped straight out
Of the Arabian Nights, some creature
with the faculty OF vanishing on de
mand. some creature with the power