In April 1943, four boys trespassing in Hagley Wood, Worcestershire, discovered a human skull inside a hollow wych elm. Police found an almost complete female skeleton, folded into the narrow trunk while the body was still warm. She was approximately thirty-five years old, five feet tall, and carried a cheap wedding ring. Nobody reported her missing. No suspect was ever charged. Then, in 1944, graffiti began appearing on walls across Birmingham: Who put Bella in the Wych Elm? The author was never identified. The case was officially closed in 2014. The remains have since been lost. The question endures.
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