The Case of the Daring Divorcee

Chapter Seventeen

It was ten o’clock the next morning when Perry Mason, Hamilton Burger, Lt. Tragg and Adelle Hastings met in Judge Fallon’s chambers in response to a judicial summons.

“I have asked you to be here,” Judge Fallon said, “because I want to make certain that this case is so handled in open court that it protects the defendant without prejudicing the rights of other persons.

“As you people are, of course, aware, there is an estate involved here running to several million dollars. While I have become convinced in my own mind as to what happened, and I am assured that confessions have been obtained from some of the people, there will, nevertheless, have to be trials since the case is one involving first-degree murder.

“I have therefore asked Lieutenant Tragg to make a confidential statement, and I am asking that the defense refrain from turning over all the details of that statement to the press.”

“As far as we’re concerned,” Mason said, “once the case against Adelle Hastings is dismissed, we have no further interest in the matter; except, of course, from a standpoint of property rights.”

Judge Fallon said, “Huntley Banner is representing Minerva Hastings. I don’t know what his attitude will be in regard to the civil litigation. However, Lieutenant Tragg can tell you of developments which took place early this morning, and which in justice to the district attorney, I should state, were communicated to me at his request, as soon as I answered the telephone this morning.”

Judge Fallon nodded to Lt. Tragg. Tragg said tersely, without expression and very apparently measuring his words, “Helen Drexel is the daughter of Harley C. Drexel, a contractor in Carson City. Helen Drexel handled the business end of her father’s operation during the summer vacation. Huntley Banner is Drexel’s attorney.

“Drexel built a small house on the back of his lot, intending to rent it at what we would consider a rather exorbitant rental, to persons who were anxious to establish a six weeks’ residence in Nevada for jurisdictional purposes.

“Because Helen Drexel had for a long time been a close friend of Elvina Mitchell, Banner’s secretary, Miss Mitchell proceeded to supply clients who would occupy the house for the necessary period of time. One of those persons was Minerva Hastings, one of them was Rosalie Blackburn. They both became friendly with Helen Drexel, and both of them were friendly with Elvina Mitchell.

“Elvina Mitchell, in turn, is hopelessly head-over-heels in love with Connely Maynard, and for a long time felt that Maynard was not getting the business breaks he deserved from Garvin Hastings, that Simley Beason was gradually inspiring more confidence and being given more responsibilities.

“Minerva sympathized with Elvina Mitchell and one day put it up to her out of a clear sky that whenever Garvin Hastings died, Minerva would be the head of the business, that Connely Maynard would be given the position of chief executive and a share of the profits.

“What Minerva didn’t know, and what Elvina hadn’t known until a short time before, was that Connely Maynard had become involved financially and had embezzled money from the business. Simley Beason apparently either suspected this or was conducting some investigations which would soon give him the knowledge, and that, of course, would be fatal as far as Maynard was concerned.

“Apparently Minerva was not a party to the murder, but she did let Elvina know that she had a trump card in case anything should happen to Hastings before Hastings found out that she actually never had secured a divorce from him, and that his marriage to Adelle was legally bigamous.

“Elvina Mitchell shadowed Adelle Hastings that Sunday when she went to Ventura, found an opportunity to grab her bag off the seat of the automobile, had duplicate keys made to Adelle’s apartment. She didn’t need keys to the Hastings house because Connely Maynard knew where the key was kept in the office.

“After Adelle left the house Monday morning, Connely Maynard entered, killed Hastings in cold blood so that his defalcations would not be discovered, then ran to Elvina Mitchell to take the thing from there.

“Elvina put the fatal gun in Adelle’s handbag, put on dark glasses and went to Mason’s office during the noon hour. She gave the name of Adelle Hastings, planted the bag and then left.

“The next thing that bothered the conspirators was that Adelle might claim, with reason, the gun had been planted in her bag and her gun, being found in her apartment, would bear out the story. So Elvina chartered a plane to be in readiness just as soon as she could possibly get to the airport after leaving the office on Monday evening. She made a dash for Las Vegas, got there, as it happened, less than half an hour before Adelle arrived. She got into Adelle’s house, stole Adelle’s gun, and concealed it.

“The plot was all ready then to close the net on Adelle Hastings and frame her for murder.”

“Just where does Banner fit into all this?” Mason asked.

“Banner’s skirts are clean. At least we think they are,” Tragg said.

“Yes, I can understand that if they hadn’t been, if he had been a conspirator, Elvina could have taken the afternoon off to fly to Las Vegas and wouldn’t have had to cut things so fine. As it was, she didn’t want her employer to know anything about her activities, so she had to carry out her plot during the periods of freedom — the lunch hour and after the office closed.”

“It seems,” Lt. Tragg said, “that Hastings did execute a will in Adelle’s favor after his marriage. He came to the office when Banner was out, told Elvina Mitchell what he wanted.

“Elvina told him that he could make a holographic will entirely in his own handwriting, date it and sign it, and it would be valid. Hastings did so and left the will with her.

“However, Banner is vulnerable to this extent. He knew, or had reason to believe, that such a will had been made. He thought that it had been lost from his files and apparently decided that he would say nothing about it. He didn’t know that Elvina had deliberately destroyed that will.

“Now, as I understand it, once you prove the execution of the will, the fact that it was destroyed by third persons doesn’t affect the validity of the will if you can prove it was once in existence.”

Judge Fallon said, “That’s right.

“Now then, I am going to go into court and call the case of the People of the State of California versus Adelle Hastings, and I take it you, Mr. Burger, will move to dismiss the case on the ground that the real culprit has been apprehended and has confessed.”

Burger took a deep breath. “That is right,” he said.

Adelle Hastings impulsively threw her arms around Mason’s neck and kissed him.

Judge Fallon smiled. “I take it, then, we’re ready to proceed as soon as Mr. Mason has removed the lipstick from his cheek.”