The Wilmington morning star., 1940-10-05
CHAPTER

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
For a moment, a long moment
no one In Linda's living room spok'
as the bathroom door opened ant
woman emerged.
Then Sarah found her voice. "Bu
Sue Alderman went into that room
the said wildly. And you-you'rt
Nina Nevins;"
The prosecutor had motioned
policeman to the outer door. No"
he looked into the bathroom, al
though he expected to find the Sis
ter Of the murdered girl S m
place in hiding.
When his search revealed moth
ing he came back. Miss Nevins,'
he began, where did you come
from"
The woman smiled, Mina's curl
GUS, i~mpersonal smile, but did moi
answer.
Are you and Nina Nevins the
same person." he asked, his eyes
popping in his round young face,
Linda ANSWERED. the question. mo,
they are not. I've s--, them to-
gethet."
Then how can Miss Alderman
BE- herself one, minute and Nina
Nevins, the actress little later?'
The woman spoke. Not in Nina
Nevins' voice. but in Sue Acker'
mans. Suppose: you stop asking
questions while l tell the story
Someone pulled the chain in an
other, lamp as though the eerie
telling OF the story was frightening
enough in itself without so much
Of darkness.
Sue began her. story. She started
it with a question.
Ibid any Of you notice that on
the night Clarabell Alderman, my
sister, was murdered, Miss Nevins'
voice was not as glorious as usu-
alp" g..
Yes, l did," Linda answered.
And Claraben was. a little disap-
pointed, too. Nina Nevins was an
idol Of hers" "
Did the voice sound like this?"
Sue Alderman repeated a few lines
from the play in such an exact re-
production of Nina. Nevins' tones
that, only. those who were unusual
ly familiar with the rich, husky
quality Of the woman's voice on the
stage could see that these. tones
were not so deep in quality.
Yes" Linda answered again.
THAT is-the voice Glarabel and
heard. But how" ~
The woman. nodded her he d
slowly and raised her hand for 81.
lence. Back in Hollywood 7 often
was used as a stand-in for Nina
Nevins. She got to the top. l didn't
Call it what you will. Fate, life,
luck. Her voice was better than
mine1 know but l thought 1 do
served better breaks than those
which l received.
She used to hire me sometimes
to impersonate her when there was
a hit to be done or she had to make
an appearance at a premiere and
didn't want to. She paid well, and
it was something to do. When she
began to slide dow mill she came
to me, frantic, asking me to help
her. There wasn't much I could
do, except take her place when
she was sick. She often was, but
she didn't want the public to know
it. Nobody ever guessed who I was
when I was made up to resemble
her"
She paused and the prosecutor
spoke sternly. Go on!"
THE evening Of the murder
Nina was appearing in a radio
broadcast. You know all about that
She's established the fact that she
was locked in a studio during the
time needed for the killing. Only
she wasn't. I was impersonating
her and she was perfectly free all
evening""
There was a silence so penetrat-
Ing, so electrifying thu it W a S
breathless, as Sue Alderman made
her statement.
Mina-free, Linda was thinging.
Then she could have come to the
office. She could have walked up
the long flights Of stairs unseen
and walked down again. Her hand
kerchief and her perfume had been
left behind. She could have stolen
The gun from the yacht.