The Washington times., 1920-06-15
ELWELL'SSLAyER
: WAS MAN-REEVE
Author Of "Cralg Kennedy"
Sees Vengeance as Motive tor
''Vhist Kings" Death.
CONTINUED from First Page,

CONTINUED from First Pase.)
the case. in the absence Of the full
facts, as at present
WEAPON NOT WOMAN's KIND.
The next question would be: Did
q woman shoot Elwell, or was II a
man? -.
The suicide theory seems pretty
well ruled out. There was no mo
tive for il. On the other sand, IT is
established that to Elwell the pur-
suit of women was the pursuit OF
happiness: ,,.
Naturally, the first conclusion
would be that it was woman who
shot this pajama-clad man.
That positively remains widely
open. But do women, when they
are dressed to kill, usually carry
.45-caliber gats?
At present incline to think that
this sex murder was committed py
q man.
The question then arises: For
what woman did this man shoot!
Wife? Mistress? Daughter!
There is a novel or drama IN
any Of the three possibilities.
1t is said that Elwell left thea
ter party on Forty-second street at
I about 2 o'clock in the morning. What
his movements were during the next
, five hours no one has been able to
discover.
FASCINATION IN PUZZLE.
In all probability, if what hap
pened during those five hours was
discovered, it would point to the
I murderer, although in the case OF
! a man like Elwell, and with such
a career as his, it would be equally
possible that the avenger had no
relation to the history of the pre-
vious five hours.
Either way the story loses none
of it's fascination.
In the second place, the scien-
tific detective would attempt to
| analyze the case from the stand
point of motive. Murders are done
= for many reasons-moncy, drink,
women, gambling. So far there
seems to be no reason for dragging
! in our recently abolished vice,
| which prohibition has made so at
| tractive. However, the woman mo-
tive is undoubtedly the main one
!! in this case, and if there was a
! money motive it must be tied up
with the gambling motive. =.
Elwell himself seems to have had
! not only money, but nearly all the
! things that money will buy.
LAYOUT" SIGNIFICANT THING.
Regarding Elwell's tastes and
habits the most interesting develop
| ment has been the quiet, lavishly fur
! nished house, in which he lived alone
! with only one servant--a house.,
keeper.
When, in addition to that, it is dis.
covered that this Whist King"
owned a complete faro layout and
other paraphernalia. many pointed
inferences can be drawn.
Tragedies lurk in the sex pursuit
bound up with the pursuit OF the
fashionable goddess Of chance.
Theories have been built up that this
shot was fired by a woman scorned.
Might it not have been fired because
of a woman ruined-financially
And if some woman had lost a
fortune, either of her own or Of an
other, it brings us back to our former
dilemma. Was the murderer husband,
lover or father?
We have built up pretty theory.
Now all we need is a few facts.
CLEVER CRIMINAL BETRAYED.
1t all goes to show that Craig
Kennedy is correct in holding that
the hardest murderer in the world
to catch is not the clever, scientific
criminal. The latter leaves clues
, through his own cleverness. The or
binary detective may not be able to
follow them, but in the last decade
enough scientific detectives outside
of fiction have been developed to
make the scientific criminal tremble.
The hardest murderer of all to
catch is the man who strikes in the
dark with a blackjack and flees. Or
it may be the man who shoots in the
early hours of the morning and then
quietly lets himself out Of the front
door, nonchalantly carrying the
weapon, secure in the sense that he