May 18, 1951

Chicago Tribune

WINNETKA MARRIAGE ENDS IN TRAGEDY

Friday of last week, the bodies of Henry and Nancy Elsner were found dead in the basement of their home. Police were called to the residency after a concerned neighbor claimed they hadn't seen the couple for about a couple of months. The bodies were unidentifiable by sight at the scene, but were later confirmed to be the married couple. Both bodies were found on the floor of the basement in an embrace. Mrs. Elsner was found to have a rope tied around her neck. Police believed this is what caused her death. An autopsy reported Nancy's cause of death to be asphyxiation and was ruled a suicide. Henry's death was determined to be caused by gashes to the throat and face, resulting in exsanguination. It is estimated that the bodies have been dead for about five or six months. A supposed suicide note was found underneath Nancy's body.

This mysterious letter has left investigators puzzled, as it implies the wife, who appeared to be delusional, ended their marriage in a murder-suicide. Strangely enough, however, neighbors from the surrounding area claimed the Elsners were a perfect couple. They were happily in love, and there was never a sign of arguments or tension. Though over the last months of 1950, neighbors claimed to see significant mood changes in both Nancy and Henry Elsner.

The local store clerk had this to say about Nancy Elsner: "The last time I saw Nancy was about in November. She was at the store by cloth and sewing material. She looked different than usual. She was nervous, scared, and withdrawn. It was like she was a totally different person.

Another neighbor claimed to see Nancy that same day: "She was having a panic attack in the middle of the street. I walked up to her to help her, but she told me to get away from her in a most rude way. It looked as if she had gone insane."

The only evidence pointing to why Nancy may have murdered Henry leads us to Mr. Elsner's profession as a journalist. Henry resigned from his job at the Chicago Tribune suddenly and without reason. A coworker reported, "[Henry] sure seemed to be in a hurry about the whole thing, one could have guessed he was being held at gunpoint! He looked absolutely terrified!"

Edwin Berkeley, editor of the Chicago Tribune, claimed to see Nancy Elsner on that November day. "I was telling her to be careful. I guess she wasn't. It is not a coincidence that both these people are dead. First, my photographer, John O'Connel. Then, my star-writer, Henry Elsner, and then his wife Nancy. Someone was after them. I think it was the gangs. They murdered them and made it look as if the wife did it. There is no other explanation into what happened. It was definitely the gangs."

Another neighbor claimed to hear a commotion going on in the house in late November: "We all heard it. It sounded as if a bomb had gone off. I didn't know what to think of it. I personally thought that the house was abandoned."

In attempts to gather more information on the events leading up to Henry's death, investigators tried to contact Frances Elsner, mother of Henry, and only known relative of the Elsners. She never answered nor replied to their phone calls. Police are attempting to reach her at the state asylum. They are still working to get to the bottom of this case.

A police detective and a deputy were walking down the hallway inside the state asylum. They were being accompanied by a nurse. She led them down the hall to the room where Frances Elsner was staying. The nurse unlocked the door, and pointed inside.

"She is in there," the nurse replied.

"Are you coming in?" the deputy asked.

The nurse shook her head. "You're on your own."

"Is it safe in there?" the deputy asked.

The nurse simply replied. "Be careful. She's nuts."

The nurse walked away as the two officers went inside. The room smelled like death. The floor was littered with newspapers, stories written by Henry Elsner, while the ceiling was covered in rotary dial phones. The phones hung down from the ceiling by the chords. It was truly an eerie sight. France Elsner sat in a wheelchair in the middle of the room. She was stroking a black rotary dial as if it was a cat. She was mumbling a certain tune as the officers approached.

"Number after number after cry after cry. I'm a little dizzy but it's all Gonna end

Why, all the ones that I love have hung up the telephone. Time after time after time after time after…" she sung to herself.

"Frances Elsner?" the detective asked.

"I am here," Frances replied. "Who is asking?"

"I am a detective investigating the strange death of your son Henry," the detective replied.

"If your looking for someone to frame, it's not me. I have an alibi," Frances replied with a smile.

"We know its not you!" the deputy stated. "We just have a few questions about Henry."

"You want to know if it truly was a murder-suicide," Frances replied.

"How did you know?" the deputy asked.

"My friend told me," Frances asked.

"…And how did he know?" the detective asked.

"It knew because it helped commit the act," Frances replied. Both the deputy and the detective looked at each other with a shocked expression. They then looked back at Frances, who was chuckling to herself.

"Who committed the act?" the detective asked.

"I would love to tell you, but that will be spoiling it for you!" Frances shouted. She then began laughing hysterically. The phones hanging from the ceiling all began ringing at once. It wasn't a soft ring either, it was one of those really loud annoying rings. It was so loud; both the detective and the deputy could not hear each other speak.

"What's going on?" the deputy asked.

"It's coming back!" Frances shouted. "My friend is coming back! It always comes back! You can kill it! YOU CAN'T KILL IT!"

The deputy and detective looked in horror at what was unfolding in front of there eyes. The wires on the phones began to slowly drip off the ceiling. Each one wrapped around a body part on Frances Elsner. The wires than began to pull her into the air. There was a loud crack, as her back snapped into place. She placed one foot down on the floor, and then another. The wires were helping her stand, something she hadn't done in years.

Frances approached the two officers, laughing as the phones rang. The two officers were scarred. Standing in front of them was a life-sized marionette. They looked up and saw a shadowy figure controlling her. It was a figure, dressed in a suit, with bandages wrapped around it's face, and with six hands controlling all of the wires.

Frances bent down and smiled at the two. "Do you want to know the truth? I will tell you. IT KILLS!"

She laughed again as the two officers screamed. Both of them ran out of the room as fast as they could. Frances just stood there singing her favorite tune.

"Time and time again and again I'll only speak to you. And maybe you should give me back the love I gave to you. I've given up on any kind of hope that's left for me. The wires on the telephone are tangled around me!" Frances laughed.

Suddenly, the world around became cloudy and it started to fade away into the black. Police Detective Robert Dachshund awoke back inside the little office surrounded by boxes and boxes of old files. The vison ended as Robert picked himself out of the chair. A voice echoed in his mind and he tried to wake himself up. He heard the voice as clear as day. It said…

"It's coming!"

He was disoriented, unaware if he was in Denver or Winnetka. He felt his nose, and saw that it was bleeding. He looked around the room and found the camcorder. He walked over to it and began recording.

"My name is Detective Robert Dachshund," he panted. "I believe it is still Tuesday, September 5. Today I investigated the murder-suicide of 1950. It involves a young couple named Henry and Nancy Elsner. Henry's mother Frances was very abusive. She tried to focus all her so-called love onto Henry by keeping him away from the world. When Henry broke free, Frances tried to kill him. This led to Nancy shooting Frances paralyzing her. After this, both Henry and Nancy should have been happy, but they were not. Henry saw another woman behind Nancy's back, and no one told her that it was harmless. This caused her to get jealous and murder Veronica Parson."

The detective continued. "After this, Henry began withdrawn and Nancy depressed. Fear consumed her when she realized that she might loose Henry and that she could have been caught by the police. She murdered her brother when he discovered that it was her, and then she murdered Henry when her worse fears were realized that he was leaving her. Nancy's depression continued until she tricked herself into thinking that Henry could come back to life. For a week, she lived this lie, until the depression got to her and she killed herself."

"Now this brings me to an important question," the detective replied. "What does this have to do with Police Chief Martin Strong? He wasn't alive in 1950, and I don't think Frances Elsner lived that long to kill him. So how does this case relate to his death?"

An idea hit the detective like lightning. "The gangs, maybe they had something to do with this? It was said that Henry was investigating the gangs. Maybe they retaliated? Maybe this Simmons character is involved somehow? He was a hitman. Maybe the gangs hired him to do some dirty work back in 1950. They covered it up, and for all these years they got away with it. Now, Martin was investigating the cases and came up with something. Something involving Michael Simmons. Maybe he is descendant of someone famous, or maybe an officer botched that case up. I don't know for sure, but Michael Simmons the Second or Michael Elsner or Junior or whoever you want to call this guy, he is my only lead, and I am going to follow it until I find answers."

He then placed his hand on the camera and turned it off. "Detective Dachshund out!"