OKAY, mystery time. This is the story of Marion Lambert, who was found in the woods on February 8, 1916. No Googling -- and don't get too attached to your theories on this one. 1/

We're in Lake Forest, Illinois, which is like the Greenwich of Chicago. Huge estates, lots of captains of industry, but Marion is not from one of those families. Her father is the gardener/caretaker on the estate of clothing magnate Jonas Kuppenheimer. 2/

Marion was a senior at Deerfield High School (which served several towns back then), and she had to take the train to school from Lake Forest. On Feb 6, she'd turned 18, and her friend Josephine Davis threw a party for her. All was good except... 3/

that she missed her boyfriend, who was away at college at UW Madison. She seems in good spirits. On Feb. 8, she and Josephine walk to the train to head to school. (For anyone who knows the area -- there used to be a train stop by what later was Barat College.) 4/

They're about to get on the train, but Marion says she needs to mail some letters to her Sunday school teacher (classic excuse) and that she'll meet Josephine there. Josephine leaves without her. 5/

She's wearing a bright green coat. Marion had told her parents she was going to a party after school and would be back on the 8:05 train. Her father, Frank, waited for her; she wasn't on that train or the next one. He drove to Highland Park, where the party was. Here's Frank. 6/

No one at the party has seen her. They tell him that Marion wasn't at school that day, either. 7/

Frank goes home and he and his wife sit up all night. Before dawn he finally goes back to the station and starts lighting matches to look for footprints. A friend eventually joins him, and when the sun comes up they see prints leading away from the station in the snow. 8/

Actually, there are two sets of prints. One small, one large. They're going side by side into the woods. 9/

There are three oak trees together (these are they) and under them they spot Marion in her green coat. 10/

Just a side note here that the woods are on the property of John D. Rockefeller's daughter. This doesn't matter, but it definitely had something to do with the public's eventual interest in the case. 11/

Marion is dead. She's lying on her side, and she still has her school books tucked under her arm. The letter to her Sunday school teacher still in her pocket. She has a glove on her left hand, but not her right, and her right hand is reaching away from her. AND -- 12/

There are no wounds. But her mouth looks like it's been burned. It's bloody and blistered. 13/

He also notices something white and powdery in the palm of her hand. 14/

I already totally messed up; she disappeared on the 8th, and obviously it's the 9th when the find her. They perform the autopsy around midnight that night, as soon as she has thawed. (Sorry.) 15/

The State's Attorney holds a press conference and says: “We are confident Miss Lambert was poisoned. We do not know if the poison was taken with suicidal intent or whether it was administered by someone else. We believe a man was with her when she died.” 16/

The coroner concludes that Marion swallowed cyanide mixed into an acidic solution. He believes this caused the blistering as well as the white residue in her hand. The police search for a bottle in the woods, but find none. 17/

. @MaggieGilewicz is pointing out how much Marion looks like Maggie Gyllenhaal, and YES. 18/

Okay, so at this point we very much need to hear about Marion's boyfriend. Sharpen your knives. 19/

Will Orpet was also the son of a gardener; his father worked on the estate of Cyrus McCormick, inventor of the mechanical reaper. Cyrus was dead, but his family still had the estate. They'd started dating when Marion was a freshman and Will was a senior in high school. 20/

He largely wooed her by letter from Madison. That fall, when he was home, they went into the woods (the same woods) and had sex one (1) time. 21/

After this, two things happen. One is that Marion becomes convinced she's pregnant. The other is that Will falls in love with a chemistry teacher in Madison. 22/

I know that at this point you think you know what happens, but trust me, you don't, because nobody does. 23/

His letters grow distant and short throughout the fall, especially after she thinks she's pregnant. He tells her this would be impossible, and halfway accuses her of lying. But sometime that fall, he sends a potion from a pharmacist friend, one meant to "cure" her condition. 24/

He has several other girlfriends, and he's planning to marry the chemistry teacher. He keeps trying to shake her, but it doesn't take. The night of Marion's birthday party, she took a call from Will and was upset, worried he was going to "throw her over." 25/

So obviously, they look into Will Orpet and find him in his rooming house in Madison. He's shocked by the death. He says their relationship wasn't serious, he's been at school the whole time, and he just sent her a letter wishing her luck with exams and saying he missed her. 26/

They search the post office and do find this letter, posted on February 8th from Madison. Which seems pretty tight. BUT. 27/