The Girls of Murder City by Douglas Perry

Author:Douglas Perry
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Penguin USA, Inc.
Published: 2010-05-05T16:00:00+00:00

13

A Modest Little Housewife

On Thursday, May 22, the bailiff in Judge William Lindsay’s courtroom said the words everyone had been waiting to hear: “Beulah Annan.”

The defendant, her head bare, hands interlaced at her waist, rose and walked toward the bar. She progressed as if at the head of a funeral procession, her head cast slightly downward, steps slow and deliberate. Reporters took up most of the first handful of rows in the packed courtroom, and Beulah exchanged smiles with them as she approached. She passed her husband in the first row. Al leaned forward in his seat, twisting his cap in his hand, a worried gaze fixed on her. She did not meet his eyes.

Beulah knew everyone would be looking at her, the comely expectant mother of Cook County Jail. She didn’t disappoint. Her freshly marcelled hair arced with precision across her forehead. The lace collar of her new blouse suggested innocent modesty but at the breastbone dipped tantalizingly into shadow. “The courtroom was full of appreciative smiles directed toward the lovely girl beside the prisoner’s table,” noted a reporter from out of state. “There were flashes of consideration. The sheiks of the town crowded the spectators’ chairs. The pretty, bob-haired maid assuredly was the fairest thing that had ever graced a murder trial in Chicago.”

The Daily Journal ’s hack appeared equally impressed. He described in detail Beulah’s expertly tailored suit, even her black satin slippers.

Slightly pale from her recent illness but blossoming with the comeliness of face and figure which has spread her name broadcast, Mrs. Annan looked more like a boarding school girl tripping up to the principal’s “carpet” than a defendant in one of Chicago’s most sensational murder trials.

Perhaps there was “method in the madness” that prompted her to enter the courtroom bareheaded. With her flaming red hair showing at its best with a fresh trim and marcel, she made a picture which would rival paintings of the famous Titian.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.