Sinister Shadow

NZ Truth, Issue 1195, 25 October 1928, Page 7

Sinister Shadow

Pye did not take much notice of him, but he thought his movements seemed suspicious.

When asked if he thought he was a resident of the locality, Pye replied that he did not think he was. In fact, he was sure he was not. *

The girl who accompanied Pye corroborated what he had said. ' "I did not take very much notice of the man," she told "Truth" over the telephone. • When asked if she could give a" description of him, Miss Haig said she could discern that he was slim, ,of medium build and that he was wearing a dark overcoat and a cap. That was all she could tell about him.

This mystery man is highly suspicious, particularly as he was prowling about the road m v the close proximity to where the dead 'girl lay the evening of the very day she is supposed to have met her death.

Had the man been accompanied by a girl, the fa&t of his presence would not have been unduly remarkable, for the locality m question is a well-known resort for courting couples, as a litter of cigarette packets, beer bottles and other odds and ends will testify.

But, being, there alone, and making no response to the whistle of Pye, certainly suggests that he had soihe ulterior motive.

He may have been the . man who killed the girl— assuming that she was killed, as "Truth" firmly believes— and most likely was the slayer obeying that amazing instinct of the murderer to re-visit the scene of his crime.

It is obvious to any right-thinking person that the secret of Elsie Walker is also -the secret of her slayer.

The last man m the world to incline to the sensational view of things without the . grayest justification is ..the girl's father.

And De Renzy Walker is positive that she was killed, brutally arid foully.

When a representative of "N.Z. Truth" called upon him last week at the private hotel where he was staying, he- was introduced tp a pleasantfaced, strapping man whose bearing and open manner indicated one who has been used to the free, open spaces all his. life. '".;■

His grip, as he shook hands, was hearty, but the smile on his face as he welcomed the interviewer was clouded by the' troubled look m his eyes.

The interview lasted for over two hours. Every possible angle of the tragedy was discussed ; every possible alternative to murder was considered, but the conversation came back every time to the unalterable fact, supported by the clearest of evidence, that Elsie was the victim of murder.