"The river has brought me a good bit of trouble," I said. "I'm--I'm
worried, Mr. Sergeant. I think a woman from my house has been
murdered, but I don't know."

"Murdered," he said, and drew up his chair. "Tell me about it."

I told him everything, while he sat back with his eyes half closed,
and his fingers beating a tattoo on the arm of his chair.

When I finished he got up and went into an inner room. He came back in
a moment.

"I want you to come in and tell that to the chief," he said, and led
the way.

All told, I repeated my story three times that afternoon, to the
sergeant, to the chief of police, and the third time to both the
others and two detectives.

The second time the chief made notes of what I said.

"Know this man Ladley?" he asked the others. None of them did, but
they all knew of Jennie Brice, and some of them had seen her in the
theater.

"Get the theater, Tom," the chief said to one of the detectives.

Luckily, what he learned over the telephone from the theater
corroborated my story. Jennie Brice was not in the cast that week, but
should have reported that morning (Monday) to rehearse the next week's