Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1922-04-27
y ENNEDY'S suit case was ly-
"a ing open on the bed, and he
N was literally throwing things


stuffing in a package of clean laundry
without taking of the wrapping pa
per-. I've got your suit case OUT.
Pack up whatever you can In hve
minutes. We must take the O'Clock
train for cambridge"
{ did not wait to hear any more.
The mere mention Of the name OF the
quaint and quiet little Connecticut
town was sufficient For cambridge
was on everybody's lips at that time
1t was the scene Of the now famous
cambridge poisoning Casa brutal
case, in which the pretty little
actress, Vera Lytton, had been the
victim.
I've been retained by Senator
Adrian Willard" he called out from
his room. as I was busy packing in
mine. The Willard family believe
that that young DR.. Dixon Is the vic
tim of a conspiracy-or, at least.
Alma Willard does. which comes to
the same thing, and-well, the sena-
tor called me up on long distance and
offered me anything 1 would name in
reason to take the case. Are you
ready? Come on, then"
AS we settled ourselves in the smok-
ing compartment of the Pullman.
which. for some reason or other, we
again for the first time since our
frantic dash across the city to catch
the train.
Now let us see. Walter" he began.
We've both read a good deal about
this case in the papers. Let's try to
get our knowledge in an orderly
shape before we tackle the actual
case itself"
Ever been in Darbridge?" asked.
Never" he replied. What sort OF
Mighty interesting" 1 answered:
"a combination of old New England
and new. of ancestors and factories,
Of wealth and property. and above al!
To- tv,tn n7ff Two to
New Yorkers-what shall I call TIA
literary -artistic- combination.
guess.
YES" he resumed. at thought as
much. Vera Lytton belonged to the
colony. A very talented girl. too
you remember her in The Tanning OF
the New Woman last season? Well.
to get back to the facts as we know
them at present
Here is a girl with a brilliant fu-
ture on the stage discovered by her
friend. Mrs. Boncour. in commissions
practically insensible-with bottle
of headache powder and jar of am
monia on her dressing table. Mrs.
Boncour sends the maid for the
nearest doctor. who happens to be a
DR.. Waterworth. Meanwhile she
tries to restore Miss Lytton, but with
no result. She smells the ammonia
powder, a very foolish thing to do,
for by the time DIR. Waterworth ar
rives he has two patients.
No" I corrected, only one. for
Miss Lytton was dead when he ar
rived, according to his latest state
ment."
VERY well. then-one. He arrives.
Mrs. Boncour is i'll. the maid knows
nothing at all about it. and Vera Lyt-
ton is dead. He, too. smells the am
monia, tastes the headache powder
just the merest trace-and tnen ne
has two patients, one of them him.
~ f~~ "
periencs must have been appalling.
How he ever did it l can't imagine,
but he saved both himself and MRS.
Boncourt from poisoning-cyanide,
the papers say. but. of course we
can't accept that until we see It
seems to me, Walter. that lately the
papers have made the rule in muir
der cases When in doubt, call 1t
cyanide"
NOR of expressing his real opinion
of the newspapers. I hastily turned
the conversation back again by ask
ing, How about the note from Dr.
Dixon?''
"Ah. there is the crux. of the whole
case-that note from Dixon. Let US
see. Dr. Dixon is. if / am informed
correctly. of q fine and aristocranc
family. though not s wealthy; that Dst
while he was an inferno in a city
hospital he became acquainted with
Vera Lytton, after her divorce from
that artist ThurS nn,r,, Then and comes hes
meeting and later his engagement with
Miss Willard. On the whole. Walter.
Judging from the newspaper pictures,
Alma Willard is quite the equal OF vera
Lytton for looks on only OF w DHs sbalI
see. Vera decided to spend the spring
and summer at cambridge in the bum
galow of her friend. Mrs. Boncour, the
novels. That's when things began to
Yes" I put in. when you come to
know cambridge as I did after that
summer when you were abroad youn
understand. too. EVERYBODY KNOWS
main occupation of a certain set. and
the, per-capita output of gossip Is
record that would stagger the census
bureau. Still. you can't get away from
own handwriting, even if he does deny
it: This will cure your headache. Dr;
Dixon That's damning piece OF
evidence"
"the note was queer, though. wasn't
It? They found it crumpled up In
the jar of ammonia. Oh, there are
lots of problems the newspapers nave
failed to see the significance OF, let
alone trying to follow up.
Our first visit in Cambridge was to
the prosecuting attorney, whose Of
ace was not far from the station on
the main street. Craig had wired
him, and he had kindly waited to see
fus, for it was evident that Cambridge
respected Senator Willard and every
one connected with him.
would it be too much to ask just
to see that note that was found In ,.
the Boncour bungalow? asked Craig. |
Tho prosecutor, an energetic young
man. pulled out Of document case
a crumpled note which had been
pressed fiat again. On 1t In clear,
deep black letters were the words,
Just as reported:
"This will cure your headache.
DIR. DIXON"
How about the handwritingT
asked Kennedy.
The lawyer pulled out number nun, s.o OF
to admit" he said with reluctance,
AS IL down in his heart he hated to
prosecute Dixon. I'VE have lots OF
these, and no handwriting expert
could successfully deny the identity
sof the writing"
out letting Kennedy get a hint as to
their contents. Kennedy was ex-
aiming the note carefully.
May count on having this note
for further examination. of course
always at such times and under such
conditions as you agree toE
The attorney nodded. II am per-
fectly willing to do anything not
illegal to accommodate the senator,
he said. But. on the other hand. I
am here to do my duty for the state, !
cost whom 1t may" Il
The willard house was in virtual
IL MAJ yCvHoy