It was a long trip, but the detective concluded that this case on which he was engaged was a case of magnificent distances and he at once made his railroad reservations and bought his tickets.
Meantime the household at Headland House had been thrown into a new spasm of excitement by the receipt of a letter from a stranger.
It was addressed to Mrs Varian, and was of a totally different character from the frequent missives she received telling of girls who looked like the pictures of the advertised lost one.
This was a well written, straightforward message that carried conviction by its very curtness.
It ran:
Mrs Varian,
Dear Madam:
I address you regarding a peculiar experience I have just had. I am deaf, therefore I never go to the theatre, as I can’t hear the lines. But I go often to the Moving Pictures. Of late I have been taking lessons in Lip Reading, and though I have not yet progressed very far in it, I can read lips sometimes, especially if the speaker makes an effort to form words distinctly. Now last night I went to the Movies and in a picture there was a girl, who seemed to be speaking yet there was no occasion in the story for her to do so. She was merely one of a crowd standing in a meadow or field. But as practice in my Lip Reading I watched her and I am sure she said, “I am Betty Varian,—I am Betty Varian.” This seemed so strange that I went again this afternoon, and saw the picture again,—and I am sure that was what she said,—over and over. I don’t know that this will interest you, but I feel I ought to tell you.
Very truly yours, Ella Sheridan.
“It can’t mean anything,” Minna said. “Wherever Betty is, she isn’t in a moving picture company!”
“But wait a minute,” cried Granniss, “when they take pictures of crowds, you know,—in a field or meadow, they pick up any passer-by or any one they can get to fill in.”
“Even so,” Zizi said, “I can’t see it. I think somebody was talking about Betty and the girl read the lips wrong. She’s only a beginner, she says. I’ve heard it’s a most difficult thing to learn.”
“I don’t care,” Granniss said, “it’s got to be looked into. I’m going to answer this letter,—no, I’m going straight down there, it’s from Portland, and I’m going to see that picture myself.”