Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-10-25
THE TULE
MARSH MURDER
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NANCY
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MAVITY
Copyright. 1879. By Ben Syndicate. Ine

cit certainly has" Camberwell agreed
again.
"If she went away of her own free
will, there Is the possibility that she
was actuated by strong sex impulse,
directed elsewhere than toward her
husband-I very much doubt II she
| ever felt any very compelling attrac-
ton toward. a man of EllSworth's type.
There is also the possibility that Els
woGth put on the screws financially
and she found that being married to
a multi-millionaire did not give her
immediate access to all the millions to
play with. In either case, she might
have left as suddenly and as mex
plicably as she did. She would not be
hampered, you see, by consideration for
Don nor by the fear Of publicity. She
may, indeed, have planned the manner
of her exit, knowing the stir it would
cause, as preliminary press agentry for
a return to the Stage!"
But in that caSe-in any Of those
caSes-we ought to have got some trace
Of her!"
ST would not underestimate her re-
sourcefulness," DR.. Cavanaugh counter
ed. I'm no sense Of the words was
Sheila O'Shay born yesterday. How
ever, there is the second possibility
that she was abducted, perhaps for
ransom, perhaps by jealous former
lover. And there IS, of course, the third
that she was murdered. SO far it's
all speculation"
But this Tule Marsh business"
| This Tule Marsh business may in
deed substitute second mystery for
the f1rst-or merely add another unre-
lated on. BY the way, if it were
Sheila O'Shay, 1t would hardly be I'M
recognizable so soon, would It? Or
would 1t? You haven't told me, you
know"
THAT part fits in all right, as to time
But it makes identification the very
dickens of a job. Properly speaking
the body wasn't found in the marsh
at all, but above it, on the south slope
Of Ell Cerrito Hill. There was a grass
fire there couple of weeks ago that
burned the place over. This morning
a group Of boys playing Indian
stumbled on the body. It had been
burned beyond recognition. It might
have lain there in the tall grass fol
months or years-except that the char.
red remains showed little sign of ex.
lposure to the weather
"And this fire-how did it start?"
There you have us. There was 9
high north wind blowing for severa
days about that time. remember it
and anyway the weather reports bach
it up. Under those conditions, graS.
fire along that strip are common
enough-a cigarette end thrown out
Of an automobile, q spark from a pass.
ing locomotive, embers of Jungle firt
made by trampS-any one of a number
Of things might account for 1t. On the
other hand, the fire came pretty pat
to destroy all chances Of identifying
that body"
You don't quite mean that. DR.
Cavanaugh leaned back in his chair
He had a way Of appearing most re.
Taxed when another man would have
leaped forward in strained attention
"You would not have called me away
from golf to attempt the impossible
because you're one Of the very few PEG.
pie who realize that the impossible L
one Of the things that simply ISM
done"
you're right" Camberwell swuns
the front legs Of the swivel chair tt
the floor with bang. There's just
one little thing more-and it's beyond
me-" He pulled a bunch of keys from
a baggy trousers pocket, flung his cigar.
cite butt on the floor and automatically
stamped it out, and reached down tt
unlock the drawer Of a specially con.
structed fireproof cabinet that stooC
beside the desk. What do you make Of
this?" he asked.
! To Re Continued