The Film Mystery | Page 5

poised a moment, inhaling reflectively, his eyes
clouded in thought. Then he went to the windows, raising the shades an additional few
inches each, but that did not seem to give him the light he wished.
In the room were the portable arcs used in the making of scenes in an actual interior
setting. The connections ran to heavy insulated junction boxes at the ends of two lines of
stiff black stage cable. Near the door the circuits were joined and a single lead of the big
duplex cord ran out along the polished hardwood floor, carried presumably to the house
circuit at a fuse box where sufficient amperage was available. Kennedy's eyes followed
out the wires quickly. Then, motioning to me to help, he wheeled one of the heavy stands
around and adjusted the hood so that the full strength of the light would be cast upon
Stella. The arc in place, he threw the switch, and in the sputtering flood of illumination
dropped to his knees, taking a powerful pocket lens from his waistcoat and beginning an
inch by inch examination of her skin.
I gained a fresh realization of the beauty of the star as she lay under the dazzling electric
glow, and in particular I noticed the small amount of make-up she had used and the
natural firmness of her flesh. She was dressed in a modish, informal dinner dress, of
embroidered satin, cut fairly low at front and back and with sleeves of some gauzelike
material reaching not halfway to her elbow, hardly sleeves at all, in fact.
Kennedy with his glass went over her features with extreme care. I saw that he drew her
hair back, and that then he parted it, to examine her scalp, and I wondered what
infinitesimal clue might be the object of his search. I had learned, however, never to
question him while he was at work.
With his eye glued to his lens he made his way about and around her neck, and down and
over her throat and chest so far as it remained unprotected by the silk of her gown. With
the aid of Mackay he turned her over to examine her back. Next he returned the body to
its former position and began to inspect the arms. Very suddenly something caught his
eye on the inside of her right forearm. He grunted with satisfaction, straightened, pulled
the switch of the arc, wiped his eyes, which were watering.
"Find anything, Mr. Kennedy?" Doctor Blake seemed to understand, to some extent, the
purpose of the examination.
Kennedy did not answer, probably preoccupied with theories which I could see were
forming in his mind.
The library was a huge room of greater length than breadth. At one end were wide French
windows looking out upon the garden and summer house. The door to the hallway and
living room was very broad, with heavy sliding panels and rich portieres of a velours
almost the tint of the wood-work. Between the door, situated in the side wall near the
opposite end, and the windows, was a magnificent stone fireplace with charred logs
testifying to its frequent use. The couch where Stella lay had been drawn back from its
normal position before the fire, together with a huge table 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