Update: This is Thelma Todd giving a surprise birthday party for Patsy Kelly on the set of "Sing, Sister, Sing." "Because of Patsy's particular fondness for condiments and sauces, Thelma used a 'catsup' motif for the party," according to the caption information. Please congratulate Dewey Webb, Mike Hawks, Gerald McCann, Barry O'Brien, Mary Mallory and Cold in Phoenix for identifying her!

Dec. 24-27, 1935: Rumors, rumors and more rumors in the Thelma Todd case. Did she have lacerations on her throat? Did she appear to be drunk (recall that the autopsy found her blood-alcohol level to be 0.13%)? Who is the mysterious blonde seen in Hollywood?

And what did Todd mean when she said: "A great many changes are going to take place in my life by the first of the year?"

Update: Chauffeur Ernest Peters, left, talks to Sid Grauman. Please congratulate Mary Mallory and Mike Hawks for identifying Grauman!

Dec. 21-23, 1935: The Thelma Todd story dwindles and falls off of Page 1. Notice that the case prompted crank mail, like the 1947 Black Dahlia case. 

On Dec. 23, The Times reported on tests by LAPD chemist Ray Pinker to see how quickly someone would be overcome by monoxide fumes from Todd's 12-cylinder Lincoln. Detective Joe Whitehead volunteered to sit at the wheel with a stopwatch while the engine was started and the garage door closed. Whitehead lasted about 90 seconds before pounding on the door to be released.

ALSO

Ray Pinker on the Daily Mirror

Update: This is Charley Chase and Thelma Todd in a photo by Agnes O'Malley. Please congratulate Mary Mallory, Mike Hawks, Cold in Phoenix and Brent Walker for identifying them!

Dec. 20, 1935: Thelma Todd's body is cremated after a funeral attended by hundreds at Wee Kirk o' the Heather at Forest Lawn in Glendale. An estimated 10,000 admirers passed her casket in a single-file procession that lasted more than five hours, The Times said.

On the jump, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. wishes everyone …  what’s this? “Season’s Greetings?”  Yes, it’s true. “Season’s Greetings” isn’t a new expression.

Update: Roland West, Alice Todd, center, and May Whitehead enter the church at Forest Lawn for Thelma Todd's funeral.

Dec. 19, 1935: A "swarthy man" always seems to figure in Hollywood mysteries and one has emerged in the Thelma Todd case.

"Alive — driving in her death car with a dark-complexioned man — in Hollywood — Thelma Todd was reported seen at 11 o'clock Sunday night by Jewel Carmen, wife of Roland West, the dead actress' business partner," The Times says.

Dr. A.F. Wagner, county autopsy surgeon, testifies that in his opinion, Todd died sometime early Sunday.

"He added that his opinion was based on medical examinations, facts and the material circumstances surrounding the case.

"Miss Todd's death, Dr. Wagner testified, in his opinion was due to carbon monoxide poisoning. An analysis of her bloodstream, he said, indicated between 75% and 80% carbon monoxide saturation.

"There also were traces of alcohol in the brain of the actress, he testified, but only about 0.13% by saturation, which would not be sufficient to cause death."

 
By today’s standards, with a 0.13% blood-alcohol level, she would be considered drunk.