The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1928-01-16
CHAPTER I

In the offices Of the Homicide Bur-
eau Of the detective division Of the
New York police department there
IL . large steel filing cabinet; and
within il, among thousands Of others
Of it, kind, there reposes . small
green index-card on which Is typed:
Odell, Margaret, 184 West list
Street. Sept. 10. Murder: Strangled
about II p. m. Apartment ran
sacked. Jewelry stolen. Body found
by Amy Gibson, maid"
Here, in . few commonplace
words, is the bleak, unadorned state
ment Of one of the most astonishing
crimes in the police annals Of this
country crime 50 contradictory,
50 battling, 50 ingenious, 50 unique,
that for many days the best minds
Of the police department and the dis
trict attorneys office were COM
pletely at loss rs to even . method
Of approach. Each line Of investi-
CATION only tended to prove that
Margaret Odell could not possibly
have been murdered. And yet, hud-
died on the great silken davenport
in her living.room lay the girls
strangled body, giving the lie to so
grotesque . conclusion.
The true story Of this crime. as
It eventually came to light after .
disheartening period of utter dark
ness and confusion, revealed many
strange and bizarre ramifications.
many dark recesses Of mans unex-
plored nature, and the uncanny sub
tlety of q human mind sharpened by
desperate and tragic despair.
Margaret Odell was a product Of
the bohemian demimondc of Broad
way-a scintillant figure who SEEM
ed somehow to typify the gaudy and
spurious romance OF transient
gaiety. For nearly two years be-
fore her death she had been the
most conspicuous and, in . sense,
popular figure of the city's night
Her notoriety was due in part to
certain legendary tales Of her affairs
with one or two obscure potentates
in the backwashes of Europe. She
had spent two years abroad after
her first success in "The Bretonne
Maid''-a popular musical comedy
in which she had been mysteriously
raised from obscurity to the rank OF
'setar"-and one may cynically, i'm
agine her press-agent took full ad-
vantage Of her absence to circulate
vermilion tales Of her conquests.
Her appearance went far toward
sustaining her somewhat equivocal
- that
she was beautiful in . 1a.a. slightly
flamboyant way. remember see
ing her dancing one night at the
xhtl6rs Cluh-a famous rey devious
for post-midnight pleasure seekers,
run by the notorious Red Reagan.
She Impressed me the. as . girl Of
uncommon liveliness, despite the cal
culating, predatory cast OF her fea-
lures. She was Of medium height,
slender, graceful in q leonine way,
and, thought, . trifle aloof and
even naughty in manner-a result,
perhaps, of her reputed association
with European royalty. She had
the traditional courtesan's full. red
lips, and the wide, mongooSe eyes
of Rossetti's BLESSED Damozel."
There was in her face that strange
combination Of sensual promise and
spiritual reunciation with which
the painters Of all ages have sought
to endow their conceptions of the
Eternal Magdalene. Hers was the
type Of face, voluptuous and with .
hint Of mystery, which rules mans
emotions and, by subjugating his
mind, drives him to desperate deeds.
Margaret Odell had received the
sobriquet Of Canary as 3 result Of .