The Washington times., 1935-08-24

Betty felt a wave Of disgust at
her fellow men and women, as
she looked around the room, and
noticed faces that had long been
familiar to her and to her friends;
people who could not possibly be
of any assistance in this ordeal,
through which their friend must
go: people who tried by their we'll
dressed air Of aloof interest, to
veil the avid curiosity in their
eyes.
"VultureS!" she repeated to her.
self. "Just so many vultures, wait
ing for a chance to get at the de-
fenseless body"
She made up her mind, then
and there, that after this one
assignment was over, she would
resign. She felt that never, so
long as she lived, did she want to
hear the word scoop" again.
She studied the faces of the
jury, as that august body Of
twelve filed in.
Betty'S heart sank.
Never before had she so loved
Lawrence Vane as she did at that
moment: for now, added to her
girls love, was the passionate, pro-
tectlng love Of q woman, when her
beloved is menaced.
The district attorney and his
assistants arrived, and he bowed
formally to her, no smile tighten
ing his face.
The Trial Starts
The defense attorney arrived,
and there was a great arranging
Of papers by the two opposing
forces.
The two attorneys chatted, and
Betty could have screamed aloud
when she heard one say:
did it in 86!" and the D. AS.
casual reply:
That's a bad water hazard
they've got out there"
She twisted around and studied
the room again. Was Uncle
Cyrus never coming? She could
not understand him.
He had been out Of town for a
week, on some mysterious mission.
Just before the court rose for
the entrance of His Honor, she
saw the well-built little figure slip,
quietly and unobtrusively, into the
room, and take a seat in an in
conspicuous corner.
She gasped, and felt tears sting
her lids, as Lawrence Vane came
in under escort, and took his seat
at counsel table with his at
torneyS. His palor and his Shad-
owed eyes, but most of all, the
proud lift to his chin, as he looked
over the room, tore at her heart.
In his opening declaration,
States Attorney Turnbull told the
jurors he would prove the muir
der Of 1Sobel Vane, by her hus-
band Lawrence Vane. He told
them that he would bring wit
nesSeS who could testify to the
fact that Vane had every reason
for wishing to do away with his
wife, and that on several occa.
Sions he had been heard to
threaten her. In spite of the de-
capitation Of the body. and the
inability Of the prosecutor to pro-
duce the head, they had positive
Identification Of the body by the
victims own mother.
He told them that the accused
artist, Lawrence Vane, was under
the influence Of veronal when
the police first discovered him,
and that, in spite of his denialS
that he had either purchased or
taken the drug, they would hear
the evidence Of the chemist who
sold him the bottle, proving that
he had, in fact, purchased it him.
self a few nights before the
murder.
He told them that Vane was
alone with the murdered woman
in his penthouse apartment from
approximately 5 o'clock in the
afternoon until the arrival Of the
police shortly after midnight,
when they found Mrs. Vane'S
headleSs body.
Defense counsel indicated that
they would prove that Lawrence
Vane was innocent Of the charge
brought against him by the State.
that he was the victim of q plot