“And what did you do?”

  “We told her we’d just put it in the can for the hard garbage.”

  “And she did?”

  “I did.”

  “So, the defendant’s fingerprint which was found in the dried salad dressing which had adhered to the bowl could have been placed there when she helped pick up the broken dish to put it in the garbage can.”

  “I don’t know when the print was placed there. I didn’t see any fingerprint. All I’m telling you is what I know of my own knowledge. I am the one who picked up the broken plate.”

  “You know that the defendant served the crab salad bowls to the two men at the little table at the west end of the arbour?”

  “Yes.”

  “Thank you,” Mason said. “That’s all.”

  Drew said, “If the Court please, I would like to ask an adjournment until two o’clock when I can put my toxicologist on the stand.”

  “It is approximately eleven-thirty now,” Judge Crowder said, and hesitated.

  Mason, on his feet, said, “If the Court please, I am going to ask for a recess until tomorrow morning.

  “I may state that I think the case can be concluded by tomorrow afternoon. The defence has very little evidence to put on.”

  Judge Crowder carefully considered the matter. “I have another short case which I could take up this afternoon,” he said, “if it is agreeable to the prosecutor. What about bail, Mr Prosecutor?”

  “I think that the bail should be cancelled at the present time and the defendant held in custody. After all, the Court has seen the dead open-and-shut type of evidence in this case.”

  Mason said, “The only object of bail is to make the defendant available to Court. The defendant not only has put up a hundred thousand dollars in cash, but has extensive property interests in addition.”

  Judge Crowder was thoughtful. “You will admit, Mr Mason, that the evidence seems rather convincing at the present time.”

  “The prosecution’s evidence always seems convincing,” Mason said.

  “Well,” Judge Crowder said thoughtfully, “I’ll let the bail stand until tomorrow. You think the case can be concluded by tomorrow night, Mr Mason?”

  “If the prosecution rests by noon, we’ll have the case in Your Honour’s hands for decision by four-thirty. Unless, of course, the prosecutor desires a long argument. As far as the defence is concerned we’ll limit our argument to fifteen minutes.”

  “Under those circumstances,” Judge Crowder said, “the Court will adjourn until tomorrow morning at nine-thirty. The defendant is released on her hundred-thousand dollar cash bail, which I want all parties to understand will be promptly forfeited in the event the defendant is not here in Court tomorrow at nine-thirty.”

  As Court adjourned and the spectators started to file out, Alexander Drew grinned at Perry Mason. “You can see how the judge feels about the evidence,” he said, “and I’m not finished.”

  “Neither am I,” Mason told him.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Perry Mason, Della Street and Paul Drake had lunch at their favourite restaurant reasonably near the Court House.

  Drake said, “Don’t you think you’d have done better with a jury, Perry?”

  Mason shook his head.

  “The evidence looks black as your shoe,” Drake said. “After all, Bill Anson was poisoned. The only person at that barbecue who could have had any possible motive for poisoning him was his wife, Selma.

  “You take that fact, couple it with all of the other facts in the case, and I don’t see where Judge Crowder can possibly do anything except find her guilty. After all, Judge Crowder is fair, but you can’t sway him by oratory?”

  “I don’t intend to,” Mason said. “I’ll talk for fifteen minutes and if I can’t make a case for my client in fifteen minutes I’ll quit trying.”

  “I’m afraid his mind is pretty well made up right now,” Drake said.

  “Could be,” Mason told him.

  Drake looked at him suspiciously. “Perry, are you holding something up your sleeve?”

  “My arm,” Mason said.

  “And what else?”

  Mason said, “Oh, maybe a couple of aces. You know the villain in the piece is George Findlay. He’s got his eye on a nice little inheritance and he doesn’t want to have anything happen which would rock the boat.”

  “And so?” Drake asked.

  “And so,” Mason said, “Findlay will be worried that I’m trying to get Selma Anson acquitted. If that happens, he’s not entirely certain but what she may become Mrs Delane Arlington, and when that happens he’s pretty certain that his potential inheritance is going to be greatly impaired, or perhaps completely cut off.”

  “That’s quite obvious,” Drake said. “I think everybody sees that, that is everybody who has had any contact with the parties.”

  “The thing to do is to make Judge Crowder see it,” Mason said.

  “I don’t see how you’re going to get that brought to Judge Crowder’s attention or what particular good it will do if you can get it to his attention,” Drake said.

  “Findlay,” Mason said, “is not one to sit back in idleness. If he thinks there’s any chance that the defendant is going to be acquitted he’ll try to stack the cards so as to make a conviction doubly sure.”

  “Well?” Drake asked.

  “And,” Mason said, “if we could catch him at it, Judge Crowder would take the bit in his teeth and we’d be sitting pretty.”

  “And you have something up your sleeve?” Drake asked.

  “Could be,” Mason said laconically. “The best thing we have in our favour is that statement you just made a few moments ago – who could possibly have any motive to murder Bill Anson other than his wife?”

  “That statement is in your favour!” Drake exclaimed.

  “Exactly,” Mason said. “It’s going to be the whole basis of my argument to Judge Crowder.”

  Drake stared at Mason in amazement.

  The lawyer pushed back his chair, picked up the luncheon bill. “Let’s go,” he said.

  After lunch, in the lawyer’s office, Mason said to Della Street, “It’s two-thirty, Della. Ring up Pinky Brier and see if she’s available.”

  “Are we going somewhere?”

  “We aren’t,” Mason said. “But I’d like to see if she’s available. Just ask where she is. Tell whoever answers the phone that it’s not particularly important, but we’re just trying to keep a line on her.”

  Della Street put through the call, talked for a moment, then turned to Perry Mason. “Pinky,” she said, “left for Las Vegas, Nevada, about an hour ago. She had two passengers, a man and a woman. Does that mean anything to us?”

  Mason said, “Does it suggest anything to you, Della?”

  Della Street regarded the lawyer with wide-eyed admiration. “You clever so-and-so of a such-and-such!” she said.

  Chapter Twenty

  At nine-thirty, when Judge Crowder had taken his place on the bench, and the audience had been seated, Hamilton Burger, the District Attorney, came marching into Court and took his seat beside Alexander Drew.

  Judge Crowder regarded the addition to the prosecutor’s staff with apparent surprise.

  “You have a separate matter to take up with the Court, Mr District Attorney?”

  “No, Your Honour,” Hamilton Burger said, “a matter has arisen in this case which is so important that I desire to present it in person.”

  “Go ahead,” Judge Crowder said.

  “If the Court please,” Hamilton Burger said, getting to his feet with ponderous dignity, “it has come to my attention that very important new evidence has been discovered in this case; that in some manner the defence attorney, Perry Mason, learned of this discovery before the police did, and I believe that Perry Mason has been taking steps to obstruct the introduction of this evidence.”

  “That is a very serious charge,” Judge Crowder said.

  “The prosecution is in a position to prove it!” Hamilton Burger snapped.

  “Would you care to make a formal statement?” Judge Crowder asked.

  “The facts are simply these, Your Honour. We have reason to believe that Delane Arlington found a very important piece of evidence which had heretofore been overlooked; that he consulted with his niece, Daphne, about this evidence; that Daphne, in turn, went to Perry Mason; that Perry Mason arranged to have the witness, Delane Arlington, take a plane and leave the jurisdiction of the Court, going to another state, returning only this morning, and refusing to discuss any aspect of the case or the nature of his evidence with officers.

  “The police are, therefore, baffled to find out the details concerning this evidence, except they know generally and from hearsay evidence that a jar of the arsenic compound marketed under the trade name of Featherfirm was found in the back part of a cupboard at the scene of the fatal barbecue.

  “Since there was no reason on earth for any preparation used in the preservation of bird skins to be present at the site of this barbecue, but since there was every reason on earth for a poisoner to have this preparation there, this becomes a very damning piece of evidence and we feel that the process of the Court is being abused by any run around which keeps us from having this jar in our possession.”

  “Do you know where this piece of evidence is at the present time?” Judge Crowder asked.

  “I want to interrupt these proceedings long enough to find out,” Hamilton Burger said. “I want to call witnesses to the stand, and I am asking the Court that, under the circumstances, the bail of the defendant be cancelled and the defendant remanded to custody.”

  Judge Crowder frowned down at Perry Mason. “Mr Mason,” he said, “do you care to answer these charges?”

  “No Your Honour, all I request is that the Court reserve its ruling on the question of bail until all the evidence is before the Court.”

  Judge Crowder shook his head. “I have been uneasy about this case ever since yesterday morning. I think it is a case where the defendant should be incarcerated. The Court is going to cancel the order admitting this defendant to bail, and this defendant is remanded to custody.

  “Now then, Mr Burger, if you have any evidence you want to put on, go ahead.”

  “I want to call Daphne Arlington,” Burger said.

  Daphne Arlington took the witness stand, gave her name, her address, her relationship to Delane Arlington.

  “Did your uncle come to you yesterday and tell you that he had uncovered something in the barbecue arbour which caused him a great deal of worry?” Hamilton Burger asked.

  “Objected to on the ground it calls for hearsay evidence,” Mason said.

  Hamilton Burger frowned. “I am not asking for the evidence at the present time. I am simply trying to get at a conversation which will pave the way for calling Delane Arlington to the stand.”

  “I still object on the ground that it’s hearsay. If he wants to ask the witness if Delane Arlington made any statement about having evidence in his possession, he should first call Delane Arlington, and then use this witness as an impeaching witness.”

  “Is there any objection to calling Delane Arlington?” Judge Crowder asked.

  “I would prefer to lay the foundation first,” Hamilton Burger said, “but if the Court wants it done that way, we’ll do it that way. You are excused, Miss Arlington, and I will call Delane Arlington to the stand.”

  Arlington came forward and took the witness stand.

  “Your name is Delane Arlington? You are the owner of the house where the barbecue which has been under discussion in this case took place?”

  “Just a moment,” Mason said. “May I ask the prosecution if the purpose of this question is to build up a case against Selma Anson, the defendant, in this case?”

  “It certainly is,” Hamilton Burger snapped.

  “Then,” Mason said, “I would like to point out that this witness has a privilege not to be called.”

  “What do you mean, a privilege not to be called?” Judge Crowder snapped.

  “He is the husband of the defendant,” Mason said.

  For a long moment there was shocked silence in the courtroom. Then Hamilton Burger, his face purpled, shouted at Perry Mason, “So, that’s why you insisted on having your client out on bail. That’s why you took advantage of the process of the Court to obstruct the administration of justice!”

  Judge Crowder tapped emphatically with his pencil. “Let me handle this, Mr Prosecutor,” he said.

  “If I may make one statement first,” Perry Mason said, “I think it will clarify the situation.”

  Judge Crowder said, “I am not entirely certain that I care to have your statement at this time, particularly in view of the fact that the Court does not like the situation which is being disclosed. To take advantage of the fact that a defendant is out on bail to have her marry one of the witnesses for the prosecution is, to my mind, perverting the ends of justice. I intend to look into this very carefully, both from the standpoint of ethical practice, and also from a standpoint of taking advantage of the Court. Now then, if you wish to make any statement in view of those facts, you are at liberty to do so.”

  “I wish to make a statement,” Mason said. “I wish to state that the marriage of Delane Arlington and Selma Anson was not for the purpose of obstructing the administration of justice. They had been going together for some time, in fact I think if it hadn’t been for Arlington’s interest in the defendant this case might never have been brought to trial. Now then, in order to show my good faith, I am going to state that it is my understanding of the present law that the witness has a privilege not to testify; but I will advise the witness, on behalf of the defendant, not to claim that privilege. We will ask that the witness be permitted to testify. I simply want the Court to understand that this is being done voluntarily on the part of the defendant and her husband, and that this is the best answer to the District Attorney’s contention that the marriage was for the purpose of obstructing the interests of justice. The marriage was the culmination of a romantic interest between the parties.

  “In short,” Mason said, “to spare this witness any embarrassment, and, at the same time, to place all of my assistance at the service of the District Attorney in order to ferret out the real truth in the case, I will stipulate that yesterday morning the witness went to the arbour where the barbecue took place and in checking around in a dark corner of the cupboard below the sink at the kitchen end of the arbour he found a jar of Featherfirm, the jar being about half empty.

  “I will further stipulate that the witness, tremendously embarrassed and emotionally upset because of this finding, turned the jar over to his niece, Daphne, who, in turn, gave it to me.

  “I have this partially empty jar with me in Court, and it gives me great pleasure to offer to introduce it in evidence, if I may do so, as a Defendant’s Exhibit.”

  “A Defendant’s Exhibit!” Hamilton Burger shouted.

  “Exactly,” Mason said, “a Defendant’s Exhibit.”

  Delane Arlington, on the stand, stared in open-mouthed amazement at the lawyer.

  Mason produced a jar of white powder and approached the witness. “This is the jar of white powder which you gave to Daphne?”

  “Just a moment,” Hamilton Burger interposed. “I’ll take the stipulation of the defendant rather than risk technical error by having the husband of the defendant – and I will take the word of the Counsel for the defence that he is the husband – be instrumental in presenting any evidence which would result in her conviction.”

  “This is a most unusual situation,” Judge Crowder said.

  “Very well,” Mason said, “I will now try to introduce this as the Defendant’s Exhibit.

  “I further wish to state to the Court that the marriage of Delane Arlington and the defendant was the result of a romantic attachment.

  “As the Court will presently observe there is not only no reason for the defendant to try to prevent the introduction of this piece of evidence, but it is very much in her favour to have it introduced.

  “In order to identify this as evidence for the defence, I wish to interrogate some witnesses on their voir dire.

  “I will first ask Lieutenant Tragg to come forward.”

  Tragg took his position on the witness stand amid a breathless silence of intense interest.

  “A short time ago you searched the arbour where the barbecue was held at the time the defendant’s husband ingested poison, or at the time it was claimed he had ingested poison, and found the broken plate which you have introduced in evidence?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “At the time you made that search, did you search all of the arbour?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Is there any possibility, any possibility at all, that, during such search, you could have overlooked a jar of Featherfirm such as I now hand you which could have been in a dark corner of the cupboard compartment underneath the sink in the kitchen area of that arbour?”

  “Just a minute!” Hamilton Burger said. “I object to this evidence being handled by the defendant’s lawyer and being in the custody of the defendant. This is the prosecution’s evidence, and heaven knows how many fingerprints have been eradicated by reason of the handling of this piece of evidence.”

  “It’s a piece of defendant’s evidence,” Mason said. “The defence certainly doesn’t have to turn all of its evidence over to the prosecution as soon as the defence finds the evidence.”

  “Now, just a minute, just a minute,” Judge Crowder said. “There’s a question which has been asked the witness. Let’s hear what the witness has to say in answer to that question.”

  “Very well,” Mason said, “answer the question, Lieutenant. Could you have overlooked this piece of evidence?”

  “Absolutely not!” Lieutenant Tragg said. “This is the first I had heard about any such evidence being discovered, but I will state that we searched every inch of that arbour. As far as the cupboard beneath the sink is concerned and the so-called dark corner, there weren’t any dark corners to a police search. I had a powerful flashlight and I examined every nook and cranny of that cupboard.”

 

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