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But there was still strain between Freddy and Sir Harry. Then, in Miami, Nancy told her mother that she was pregnant. On doctors' advice the pregnancy was terminated: Nancy was too weak. Sir Harry forbade the Count his house. At about that time Sir Harry and Lady Oakes changed their wills. In the spring Nancy left Nassau, enrolled at Bennington.
Sir Harry had planned to go North July 6 but postponed his trip a few days. On the 8th he was found dead, in a twisted position on a charred bed, his head crushed, his body covered with blisters (TIME, July 19).
Said Nancy: "I want the murderer of my father found." As Magistrate Field's pen scratched, she had seen a web of circumstance develop around her imperturbable husband.
The Web. Police said the murderer would have singed hairs from the fire. De Marigny submitted to a microscopic examination, was found to have singed hairs on arms, beard and head. He said he got them scalding chickens, lighting hurricane lamps. Police experts testified that a fingerprint identical with De Marigny's right little finger was found on a screen near Sir Harry's bed. De Marigny denied having been at Westbourne since March. De Marigny has never recalled what became of the shirt and socks he had on the day of the murder. Police testified that he had said he "hated him [Sir Harry] because he was a stupid old fool who couldn't be reasoned with." Sir Harry's manager, Newell Kelly, testified that De Marigny had threatened to kick his father-in-law.
Against these damaging circumstantial points stood one for De Marigny: Nancy's faith and the preparations she has made for experts' aid if the case comes to trial. But as she left the courtroom one day last week, she stumbled blindly on to the court's back porch, sobbing without restraint. She did not know that the street below was filled with spectators.