of carved walnut. The other two walls were an unbroken succession
of shelves, reaching to the ceiling and literally packed with
books.

Facing the windows and the door, so as to include the fireplace
and the wide sweep of the room within range, were two cameras
still set up, the legs of their tripods nested, probably left
exactly as they were at the moment of Stella's collapse. I
touched the handle of one, a Bell & Howell, and saw that it was
threaded, that the film had not been disturbed. The lights,
staggered and falling away from the camera lines, were arranged
to focus their illumination on the action of the scenes. There
were four arcs and two small portable banks of Cooper-Hewitts,
the latter used to cut the sharp shadows and give a greater
evenness to the photography. Also there were diffusers
constructed of sheets of white cloth stretched taut on frames.
These reflected light upward upon the faces of the actors,
softening the lower features, and so valuable in adding to the
attractiveness of the women in particular.

All this I had learned from visits to a studio with the Star's
photoplay editor. I was anxious to impress my knowledge upon
Kennedy. He gave me no opportunity, however, but wheeled upon
Mackay suddenly.

"Send in the electrician," he ordered. "Keep everyone else out
until I'm ready to examine them."

While the district attorney hurried to the sliding doors, guarded
on their farther side by one of the amateur deputies he had