Evening star., 1928-10-27
THE TULE
MARSH MURDER
By
NANCY
BARR
MAVITY
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES QIQ1QEQEgQglgEQgQNENS
Copyright. 1928. BY Bell Syndicate. Inc

and deaf before 1 ever met that
womanl"
DR.. Cavanaugh listened calmly to this
ierky. spasmodic outburst, his face as
expressionless as that Of an image Of
Buddha. He waited without Interrupt
ton until Don relapsed into a silence
as abrupt as his cpeccs.
There's still another possibility" he
said then. "A cutting of all Gordian
knots. don't say that 1t is more than
a possibility But wouldn't be too
sure. if were you, that the activities
Of our friends. the police, as outlined
III tonight'S paper can be dtSregarded.
With an obvious effort at self-control
the young man forced his hands to
stop their nervous clenching and un-
clenching and lie tightly closed in his
lap. Only the involuntary twitching of
muscle at the corner of his eyes be-
trayed an agitation beyond the power
of his will to conceal.
II don't understand what you're
driving at he said in low, breathleSs
voice. "You said the body they found
in the marsh couldn't be identified"
You came here not long ago and
asked me to help you," DR.. Cavanaugh
went on. as If Ellsworth had not
spoken. But the positions are reversed
i am now about to ask you to help
me. 1 said that the body 1 mentioned
was unrecognizable. 1t was-except for
tiny patch of scalp" Without rails
| ing it's tone the doctors voice took on
new emphasis. THAT body belonged
to a woman about 40 years of age. She
| patronized an expensive beauty parlor,
where she had recently had what I
believe is called a marcel. She was in
| the habit of using black narcisse per-
| fume. She was fair of skin with brown
| eyes and vivid color that accompany
this particular pigmentation. Her hair,
naturally red, was darkened to auburn
| by the use of henna, and was worn
| long-in fact, rather surprisingly in
this day, it had never been cut. 1t
was thick and luxuriant, and she took
an extreme pride in it. So much for
what the microscope tells us.
From measurements taken Of the
body itself-Camberwe of the identifi-
cation bureau was kind enough to sup
| ply me with the figures over the tele-
phone Il have not seen it myself
we are safe in saying that this woman
of expensive tastes, which she was able
to crafty and a somewhat overwhelm-
| ing consciousness of her personal ap-
pearance was rather tails feet 7
inches. Naturally, she would have
been of the opulent, deep-bosomed
| type. But she kept herself trained
down to the fashionable slenderness.
The articulation of the bones. particu-
larly of the feet, indicate that she was
trained in dancing. The formation of
the roof of the mouth makes it prob
able that she was a Singer-though
she had not taken her singing very
| seriously Of late, as stains on the teeth
show her to have been an excessive
smoker of strong cigarettes. Does all
this convey anything to you?"
The face in the chair opposite might
have been carved out of ivory-yellow,
white, with burntout Goals for eyes
Don cleared his throat and run the tip
of his tongue across dry lips.
"You mean-it's Sheila," his voice
was rasping whisper.
Il mean it was some one who at least
| bore a general resemblance to Mrs
Ellsworth" Dr.. Cavanaugh amended
imperturbably. But there is a way of
finding out whether we are dealing
with resemblance or identity. Under
the microscope the cell structure of the
hair is as individual as the whorls that
make up the pattern of finger prints.
have the hair of the woman who
was found in the marsh. viii you
bring me for comparison a hair be-
longing to Mrs. Ellsworth-from her
brushes, her gown-any place where
| you can be sure the hair was hers?
That ought to be easy"
For a moment the face before him
did not change. Only that twitching
eye muscle marTed its absolute rigidity.
The teeth were clenched so tightly that
the line of the jaw stood out sharply.
Then dark flush, almost purple, flood
ed his cheeks and mounted until even
the eyes we're bloodshot His fist
crashed suddenly on the arm OF his
chair.
"Ill be damned if I Wilt" he
shouted.
(To Be Continued)