Down by the pool, the dogs were whining and scratching at the gate. It was late, after 3am, and photographer Bob Landry had just returned home. He was renting the guest house at 5118 Bluebell Avenue, North Hollywood, part of the sprawling ranch home belonging to Universal Studio’s former head of wardrobe, Vera West, and her husband, Jack. Bob went to see why the dogs were fussing and found Vera, dressed in a nightgown, face down in the swimming pool. It was the day after her 47th birthday, June 29, 1947, and Vera was dead. Jack was nowhere to be found.
The police arrived first, followed by reporters. “I always come in the back way … but I heard the dogs fretting and I saw that all the lights were…
