CHAPTER XXI
"In reconstructing the case from the beginning," Duvall said, later in the day, "one fact stands out with especial prominence—the almost total absence of any definite clues."
He was sitting in the library of the Morton apartment, and with him were his wife, Mrs. Morton and Ruth.
"The thing was certainly very cleverly done," Mrs. Morton remarked. "I still do not understand it in the least. How, for instance, were the letters placed in my daughter's room?"
"I am coming to that," replied Duvall. "But first I will run over the case in the light of Miss Norman's confession to me so that you may understand it thoroughly and decide what action you wish to take against her and her sister, Miss Ford."
"Her sister?"
"Yes. The woman's name is not Norman. It is Ford—Jane Ford. Norman is an assumed name.
"The two of them came to New York about a year ago from somewhere up the state—a small town near Rochester, I believe. One secured employment in the motion picture studio—the other, the one calling herself Miss Norman, worked as a stenographer.
"Her interest in motion pictures having been aroused by her sister's stories of the life in the studio, she became an ardent picture 'fan,' and spent every evening watching the films.
"Her attention was particularly devoted to the pictures in which your daughter appeared, owing to the stories her sister told her about Miss Morton's marvelous salary, her beauty, the ease with which she had become famous.