Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-04-27
Search for Slayer Turns to
Home Town and Nearby
Virginia.
MISSION TO OAK GROVE
DECLARED SUCCESSFUL
Officer Fails to Disclose Purpose
of Trip-Car Thief Theory
Advanced.

Search for the slayer Of Mary Baker
carried Washington headquarters de-
tectives back into nearby Virginia yes
terday, while an Arlington County of
f1cer made another trip to Oak Grove,
Va, the young wonnan's home, for cer-
tain information which he said he OBJ
tanned.
The officer, Hugh Jones, returned to
Arlington Court House last night, but
declined to elaborate on the statement
that his mission had been successful. It
is known that he was selected for the
trip because of his knowledge Of the
Northern neck of Virginia. Mary
Bakers parents live at Oak Grove,
where her father, DR.. Thomas 2. Baker,
is pastor of the Episcopalian Church.
In Queen City, colored settlement
about a mile from the culvert where
Miss Bakers body was found April II,
the investigators questioned a number
OF residents, hoping to pick up some
clue to support the theory that the
woman may have been killed by an au-
tomobile thief. The trip was unpro.
ductive, but the detectives are going
back again today, accompanied by Com
monwealth Attorney william G. Cloth
OF Arlington County.
Seek Clue to Recovered Articles.
Frank Smith and James Vollin, the
two colored men held in the Arlington
Jail for removing Miss Bakers small
coin purse and scarf from the aban-
doned murder car, live in Queen City.
These men have satisfied authorities
they know nothing about the crime, but
there is suspicion on the part of Lieut..
Edward j. Kelly, chief Of the homicide
squad of the Detective Bureau, that
some Of their friends, perhaps, could
explain how the slain woman'S clothing
happened to be placed in the manhole
sewer on the Arlington experimental
farm of the Department Of Agriculture,
with jewelry, a pair of silk stockings
and a novel, known to have been stolen
from parked automobiles.
A promise of immunity from proSecu-
ton failed to bring any information
from the thief. AS q result the de.
tectives decided to intensity their
search. confident that the person who
hid the articles in the sewer is well ac-
quainted with the topography Of the
experimental farm: It is considered
likely by the investigators, too, that the
thief can throw some light on the crime.
After the investigation in Queen City.
the detectives and Department of
Justice operatives, made another search
of the experimental farm for Miss
Bakers missing Ilegiligee and the gun
used by the murderer. This was an
Otner useless hunC.
Lieut.. Kelly said he Is satisfied now
that the murderer did not dispose Of
the weapon, but carried 1t with him,
either to protect himself from capture
II pursued while making his escape, or
to prevent the authorities from obtain
| ing a clue from the gun. He cannot
understand, however, what happened to
| the woman's negiligee. It is definitely
known that she always wore such
garments.
Apparel Held Important Clue.
Although Lieut.. Kelly has abandoned
all hope Of ever finding the revolver. he
believes that Miss Bakers negiligee
| must be somewhere in the vicinity of
the spot where a ring containing the
keys to her car and her home in Lyon
Park together with receipted doctors
bill were found. Recovery Of this
missing garment, he said, probably
would settle the moot question as to the
exact spot where the assault took place.
There is yet some doubt among In
committed. Lieut.. Kelly pointed out
that it would have been possible for
Miss Bakers slayer to have shot her
in the machine while driving through
/ the streets OF Washington, and that
there is no definite information to show
that she was killed in Virginia.
Statements have been made by wit
nesses that they heard shots in the
vicinity OF Rosslyn on the night of
murdered, but Kelly said they may have
been mistaken for the backfire of an
automobile. The investigators have
observed that motor buses pulling a
steep incline on the Wilson Boulevard
in the vicinity of Rosslyn often backfire,
and that the explosions, in the stiffness
OF the night, can be heard for q mile
or more.
Aside from the Investigation In Queen
City and the renewed search for the
missing gun and Miss Bakers negligee
on the Arlington experimental farm,
Lieut.. Kelly and the other detectives
working on the case undertook to run
down several new leads regarded as
promising. The officials, however, failed
to complete the check-up late last night
and plan to resume the investigation
today, although Kelly indicated that
he expected these leads to be Of little
value In solving the crime.
Hill Hopeful Of Solution.
Commonwealth Attorney Cloth and
Inspector William J. Shelby, chief of
detectives, two of the principals in the
investigation OF the murder case, took
q DTleI respite yesterday ana devoted
but little time to the murder. Both
physically show the effects of the ten
sion Of the last two weeks Of activity
which has kept them working day and
night.
Despite the failure of the oficials to
uncover any material clue to put them
on the trail of the murderer after two
weeks of intensive investigation, all Of
them continue to be optimistic and pre-
dict the ultimate solution Of the crime.
News Of the murder of Miss Baker
not only spread throughout the United
States, but into number Of European
countries. One German paper, the
Frankfurter Zeitung, In its issue of April
is, carried a story on the case. The
article attributed the woman's death
to an entirely new motive, saying she
was a victim of political revenge. The
article which carried q New York date
line, read:
"The murder of Miss Mary Baker. an
employee Of the Navy Department., Is
supposed to be a political crime, ac-
cording to the newspapers. The secret
service is alleged already to have proof
that the Government clerk, whose body
was found last Saturday in q ditch by
a road near the National Cemetery Of
Arlington in the neighborhood of WASH
ington, was a victim of an act of re-
venge whose motive was political. The
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