The Case of the Horrified Heirs

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Jerry Caswell, the deputy district attorney who had prosecuted Virginia on the charge of possessing narcotics and apparently firmly believed that there had been a miscarriage of justice in that case, had requested the district attorney's office to be permitted to present the People's case against Virginia Baxter at the preliminary hearing.

Now he entered upon his duties with a personalized zest and a grim determination that Perry Mason was not going to get any advantage because of ingenuity or quick thinking.

As his first witness, he called George Eagan.

The chauffeur took the stand, testified as to his name, address and occupation.

«Could you tell us what you were doing on Wednesday night?» Caswell asked.

«I was driving Lauretta Trent in her automobile. We had been to Ventura and were returning along the coast highway.»

«Did you have any fixed destination in mind?»

«Mrs. Trent told me that she intended to turn off to go up to a motel that was up in the hills near a lake. She said she would tell me what road to take.»

«She didn't tell you what road she intended to take?»

«No, just that she would tell me when to make the turn.»

«Now then, are you familiar with the motel known as the Saint's Rest and the road leading to it?»

«Yes, sir. The turnoff is approximately three hundred yards to the north of the Sea Crest Cafe.»

«When you approached that turnoff on Wednesday night, what happened?»

«Mrs. Trent asked me to slow down slightly.»

«And then what?»

«Well, I realized, of course, that she was going to-«

«Never mind what you thought,» Caswell interrupted. «Just confine yourself to answering questions as to facts. What happened?»

«Well, there were headlights coming behind and, since I-Well, I don't know how to express it without saying what I was thinking, but I was preparing for a left turn so I turned-«

«Never mind what you were preparing for; state what you did.»

«Well, I swung far over to the right-hand side of the road, just as far as I could get, and waited for this car to pass.»

«And did the car pass you?»

«Not in the normal manner.»

«What did happen?»

«The car suddenly swerved, its front end hit the front end of my car, then the driver jerked the steering wheel so that the hind end swung over and crashed hard against the front end of my car. It knocked my front end way over, and the car went out of control.»

«And what happened?»

«I fought the steering wheel, trying to keep the car from going over the bank, but I felt the car going. I shouted to Lauretta Trent to open the door and jump, and I opened my door and jumped.»

«Then what happened?»

«I don't know what happened immediately after that.»

«You were unconscious?»

«Yes.»

«Do you know when you regained consciousness?»

«No. I had no way of knowing the exact time. I know about the time of the accident but I didn't look at my watch to determine the time until sometime later. I was upset and excited and I was feeling bad. I had a terrific headache and I was… well, I was groggy.»

«How long do you think you were unconscious?»

«Objected to as incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial and no proper foundation laid, calling for a conclusion of the witness,» Mason said.

«The objection is sustained,» Judge Grayson ruled.

«Oh, if the Court please,» Caswell said, «there are certain ways by which a person can tell how long he has been out-certain bits of circumstantial evidence.»

«Let him give the circumstantial evidence then and not the conclusions he has drawn from that evidence.»

«Very well,» Caswell said. «Now, when you regained consciousness, what was your position?»

«I was sprawled out on the ground, face down.»

«How near the road were you?»

«I don't know the exact distance, probably about ten feet, I would estimate.»

«Who was there?»

«An officer of the highway patrol was bending over me.»

«Did he assist you to your feet?»

«Not right away. He turned me over. They gave me some sort of a stimulant, then they asked me if I could move any toes. I could. Then they asked me if I could move my fingers. I could. Then they had me move my legs slowly, then my arms. Then they helped me to a sitting position, then to my feet.»

«Do you know where they had started from?»

«Only from what they told me.»

«How long was it after you regained consciousness before you were helped to your feet?»

«A couple of minutes.»

«And then you looked for the Trent car?»

«Yes.»

«Did you see it?»

«No. It was gone.»

«And you told the officers what had happened?»

«It took me a little while to collect my senses. I was rambling a little at first.»

«Then what happened?»

«Then there was the sound of sirens, and a wrecking car came up, and shortly after that another car came, divers went down into the water and located the Trent car in about twenty-five feet of water. The car was lying on its right side with the front end down; the left-hand doors were open. There was no one in the car.»

«How do you know there was no one in the car?»

«I was there when the car was brought to the surface. I ran to it and looked inside. There was no sign of Lauretta Trent.»

«Now, if the Court please,» Caswell said, «I would like to withdraw this witness temporarily in order to ask questions of another witness. However, I am aware of the fact that when I start to prove admissions made by the defendant, the objection will probably he made that no corpus delicti has been established. I wish to state to the court that we are prepared to meet this objection here and now; that the corpus delicti means the body of the crime and not the body of the victim.

«There are several instances on record where murderers have been successfully prosecuted, convicted and executed where the body of the victim was never found. It is proper to prove the corpus delicti by circumstantial evidence just as any other factor in the case and-«

«You don't need to try to educate the court on the elementals of criminal law,» Judge Grayson said. «I think under the circumstances a prima facie showing has been made. If Mr. Mason wishes to adopt the position that no corpus delicti has been proven, I think he has the laboring oar.»

Mason got to his feet and smiled. «On the contrary, Your Honor, the defense feels certain that the evidence now introduced is sufficient to prove the death of Lauretta Trent. We intend to make no issue in this case of corpus delicti as far as the missing body is concerned. However, the Court will bear in mind that the corpus delicti consists not only of proof of death but proof of death by unlawful means.

«So far, it appears that Lauretta Trent's death could well have been an accident.»

«That is why I wish to withdraw the witness at this time and put on another witness,» Caswell said. «By this witness I can prove that this was a crime.»

«Very well,» Judge Grayson said. «However, the defendant is entitled to cross-examine the witness on the testimony he has given at this time, if he so desires.»

«We will wait with our cross-examination,» Mason said.

«Very well. Call your next witness,» Judge Grayson said.

«I'll call Lieutenant Tragg to the stand,» Caswell said.

Tragg came forward and was sworn.

«Were you at the jail when the defendant was brought in and held for investigation?»

«Yes, sir.»

«Did you have any talk with the defendant?»

«I did. Yes, sir.»

«And did you advise the defendant of her constitutional rights?»

«Yes.»

«And what did she say by way of explanation?»

Tragg said, «She told me that Lauretta Trent had telephoned her and arranged a meeting at the Saint's Rest. That she went up there and claimed she had been there for considerably more than an hour. That she became nervous and telephoned Perry Mason. That Perry Mason went up there to join her at the motel. That after he arrived he suggested that they go out and look at her car.»

«And then what?» Caswell asked.

«Then they found that her car had been damaged. That a headlight had been knocked out and a fender bent.»

«And did Mr. Mason make any suggestions?» Caswell asked gloatingly.

«She said that Mr. Mason told her to get in her car and drive out of the exit, to then turn around and come right back into the entrance. That when she did this, Mr. Mason jumped in his car and ran into her car, thereby compounding the damage so that it would be impossible-

«Just a minute,» Mason said, «I object to the witness giving conclusions. Let him state the facts.»

«I'm asking him what the defendant said,» Caswell said. «Did the defendant say why this was done?»

«Yes, she said it was done so that it would be impossible to tell when her car was first damaged.»

«What else did she tell you?»

«She said that George Eagan, Lauretta Trent's chauffeur, had approached her about forging a copy of a will.»

«What sort of a will?»

«A will purported to have been made by Mrs. Trent.»

«And did she say what she did in connection with that?»

«She said that she accepted five hundred dollars; that she forged two wills on the stationery of Delano Bannock, an attorney at law, now deceased, who had done work for Mrs. Trent and by whom she had been employed.»

«Did she offer any proof of that statement?»

«She said that she had mailed herself a letter by registered mail containing the sheets of carbon which were used in making the forgeries. She said that following the advice of Perry Mason she had used fresh carbon paper so that it would be possible to read the terms of the forged will by holding the carbon papers to the light.»

Judge Grayson said, «Now, just a minute. This is asking for confidential advice given a client by an attorney?»

«It is, Your Honor,» Caswell said. «It would be manifestly improper for me to show this conversation except by calling for what the defendant had said. In other words, if the defendant should be on the stand and I asked her what her attorney told her, that would be calling for a privileged communication, but with Lieutenant Tragg on the stand, I may ask him what the defendant said in regard to her actions and in regard to explanation. If at the time of that conversation the defendant chose to waive the privilege of the confidential communication and state what her attorney has told her, then the witness can repeat that conversation.

«That is a chance an attorney has to take when he advises a client to do things which are for the purpose of confusing the law enforcement officers and, in this instance, for the purpose of compounding a felony.

«We will proceed against Mr. Mason in the proper tribunal and at the proper time, but in the meantime, we have a right to show what the defendant said her attorney told her.»

Judge Grayson looked down at Mason. «You have an objection, Mr. Mason?»

«Certainly not,» Mason said. «I have no objection to bringing out the facts in this case. At the proper time I will show that persons have deliberately framed a crime on this defendant and-«

«Just a moment, just a moment,» Caswell interrupted. «This is not the time for Perry Mason to put on a defense, either for this defendant or for himself. He will have an opportunity to put on a defense for the defendant when I have finished my case and he will have an opportunity to defend himself before the proper tribunal.»

«I think that's right,» Judge Grayson ruled. «However, Mr. Mason has an opportunity to argue this point in regard to the objection.»

«There hasn't been any objection,» Mason said. «I want the witness to state what the defendant told him, to state everything the defendant told him.»

«Very well, go ahead,» Judge Grayson said. «I thought there might be an objection interposed on the ground that this was calling for a privileged communication. However, I can appreciate that once the client has waived the privilege of the communication and made a voluntary statement-Well, there seems to be no objection, go ahead.»

«She stated that the witness, George Eagan, had been the one who called on her?»

«Yes.»

«And positively identified him?»

«Yes.»

«Cross-examine,» Caswell snapped.

Mason said, «You were talking with this young woman late at night, Lieutenant?»

«Yes, she was not arrested until rather late in the evening.»

«You knew that she was my client?»

«No.»

«You didn't?»

«I only knew what she told me.»

«And you didn't accept that as true?»

«We never accept what an accused defendant tells us to be the truth. We investigate every phase of the story.»

«I see,» Mason said. «Then you aren't prepared to state that what she told you about what I had advised her was the truth?»

«Well,» Tragg said, hesitating, «there were certain corroborating circumstances.»

«Such as what?»

«She gave us permission to pick up the registered letter which was sent to her and to open it.»

«And you did that?»

«Yes.»

«And found the carbon copies of the purported will just as she had told you?»

«Yes.»

«And for that reason you became inclined to believe everything she told you?»

«It was a corroborating circumstance.»

«Then why didn't you believe her when she said that I was representing her?»

«Well, if it's material,» Tragg said, «I did.»

«Then why didn't you notify me that she was in jail?»

«I told her she could call you.»

«And what did she say?»

«She said there was no use. That she couldn't understand what had happened but that this chauffeur, George Eagan, was the culprit and that she was freely and voluntarily telling us all of these facts so that we could go and pick up Eagan.»

«And did you?»

«Not that night. We did the next morning.»

«And what happened then?»

«In the presence of Hamilton Burger, the district attorney of the County, and in your presence there at the consulting room of the county jail we confronted the defendant with George Eagan. He said in her presence that he had never seen her before, and she stated that he wasn't the man who had called on her.»

«Did she make any further statements?»

«She admitted that the man who called on her had never told her he was George Eagan, the chauffeur, but said that an identification had been made from a physical description and the license number on an automobile. She said that the man who called on her had given the name of George Menard.»

«And you got the defendant to tell you all this by telling her that you were investigating the murder; that you wanted to apprehend the guilty person; that you didn't think she could be guilty; that she was too nice a young woman to be guilty of any crime of this sort; that you thought someone was trying to frame her and that if she would give you the facts immediately and without waiting to get in touch with me in the morning, that you would start an investigation which would perhaps have everything all cleared up so that she could go home and spend the night in her own bed. Isn't that right?»

Lieutenant Tragg smiled. «Well, I didn't say that personally, but one of the officers who was present made statements to that effect.»

«This was in your presence and with your approval?»

The lieutenant hesitated for a moment, then said with a dry smile, «It is routine in dealing with a certain type of suspect.»

«Thank you,» Mason said, «that's all.»

Caswell said, «Will Carson Herman please take the stand.»

Herman proved to be a tall, slender man with a mosquito-beak nose, watery blue eyes, a firm mouth, high cheekbones and an emphatic way of speaking.

He testified that he had been driving south on the coast highway. That is, he was headed between Oxnard and Santa Monica. There were two cars ahead of him. One of them was a light-colored Chevrolet; the car ahead of the Chevrolet was a big, black sedan. He hadn't had an opportunity to make sure of the make of the car. «Did you notice anything unusual?» Caswell asked.

«Yes, sir, as we approached a turnoff road the black car swung far over to the right, apparently wanting-«

«Never mind what you think the driver wanted,» Caswell interrupted, «just state what happened.»

«Yes, sir. The black car pulled clean over to the shoulder of the road.»

«And then what happened?»

«The Chevrolet got almost even with the car; then suddenly swerved over. The front of the Chevy hit the front of the other car a glancing blow and then the driver swung the wheel sharply so that the rear end of the Chevy came crashing against the front of the black sedan.»

«Did you see what happened to the black sedan?»

«No, sir. I was following rather close behind the Chevrolet and it all happened so fast that we were past the black car before I had a chance to get a real good look at it. I saw it swerving and tottering and then I was past it.»

«Go on. Then what happened?»

«The Chevrolet made a screaming turn up to a side road which takes off up a hill»

«What did you do?»

«I felt that it was a hit-and-run, and as a citizen-«

«Never mind what you felt,» Caswell again interrupted, «what did you do?»

«I swung in behind the Chevrolet and tried to follow it so I could get the license number.»

«Did you?»

«The road was full of curves, and I tried. I got the last two numerals of the license number, 65. I suddenly realized the road was lonely and realized my predicament. I decided to stop, turn around at the first available opportunity and notify the police.

«Because the road was so lonely and winding, it was certain that the driver of the car ahead would know that I was-«

«Never mind your conclusions,» Judge Grayson interrupted. «You have been warned twice, Mr. Herman, we are only interested in facts. What did you do?»

«I slowed to a stop and watched the lights of the car ahead disappear. I may say that as the car swung around so that the headlights shone on the cut bank to the side of the road, I could see that the car had lost one headlight.»

«What do you mean it had lost a headlight?» Caswell asked.

«Well, one headlight wasn't working.»

«Then what?»

«Then I proceeded very slowly and cautiously until I found a place where I could turn around. I then went back down the road. There was a seafood restaurant about three hundred yards from the turnoff, and I stopped at this restaurant and telephoned the California highway patrol. I reported the accident. They said some motorist had already reported it and they had a radio car on the way.»

«You didn't go back to see if the other car had been seriously damaged or any person was injured?»

«No, sir, I'm sorry to say that I didn't. I felt that the first thing to do was to notify the highway patrol. I felt that if any persons were injured, other motorists who had been coming along the highway would see the damaged car, stop and give aid.»

«Cross-examine,» Caswell said.

«Could you see the car ahead well enough to tell who was driving, whether it was a man or a woman, or how many people were in it?»

«There was only one person in it. I couldn't tell whether it was a man or a woman.»

«Thank you,» Mason said. «That's all.»

Caswell said, «I will now call Gordon Kelvin to the stand.»

Kelvin came forward with unhurried dignity, took the oath and testified that he was a brother-in-law of the decedent, Lauretta Trent.

«You have been in the courtroom and heard the testimony of the defendant's statement that she was asked to participate in the forgery of a carbon copy of a will?»

«Yes, sir.»

«What can you tell us about the estate of Lauretta Trent?»

«That is objected to as incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial,» Mason said.

Caswell retorted quickly, «If the Court please, this is a very material matter. I propose to show that the story told by the defendant was a complete fabrication; that it had to be a complete fabrication because the forgery of the carbon copy of a will would have done no good at all. I expect to show by this witness that the decedent, Lauretta Trent, had made a will years before; had given it to this witness in a sealed envelope to be opened at the time of her death; that this envelope was produced and opened and that it contained the last will of Lauretta Trent; that there could be no doubt or ambiguity concerning it and that any socalled carbon copies of other wills would have been completely ineffective.»

«I'll overrule the objection,» Judge Grayson said.

Kelvin said, «I have always been close to my sister-in-law. I am the elder of the two brothers-in-law.

«My sister-in-law, Lauretta Trent, kept her will in a sealed envelope in a drawer in her desk. She told me where it was some four years ago and asked that it be opened in the event of her death.

«After the tragic occurrence of last Wednesday, and knowing that there might be some question about proper procedure in the matter, I communicated with the district attorney's office and, in the presence of an attorney, a banker, and the district attorney, this envelope was opened.»

«What did it contain?»

«It contained a document purporting to be the last will of Lauretta Trent.»

«Do you have that document here?»

«I do.»

«Produce it, please.»

The witness reached in his pocket and produced a folded document.

«You have marked this document in some way so that you can identify it?»

«That document,» Kelvin said, «is marked by my initials on each page, by the initials of Hamilton Burger, the district attorney, by the initials of the banker who was present and the lawyer who was also present.»

«That should identify it,» Judge Grayson said, with a smile. «These, I take it, are your initials written by you, yourself?»

«That's right.»

Judge Grayson inspected the document thoughtfully, then handed it to Perry Mason.

Mason studied the document; passed it back to Caswell.

«I want this introduced in evidence,» Caswell said. «I suggest that since this is the original will, it may be received in evidence and then the clerk may be instructed to make a certified copy which will be substituted in place of the original will.»

«No objection,» Mason said.

Caswell said, «I will now read the will into the record, and then it will be filed until a certified copy can be obtained.»

Caswell read in a tone of ponderous solemnity: «'I, Lauretta Trent, being of sound and disposing mind and memory, state that I am a widow; that I have no children; that the only relatives I have in the world are two sisters, Dianne Briggs and Maxine Kelvin; that my sister, Dianne, is married to Boring Briggs and Maxine is married to Gordon Kelvin.

«'I further state that these four people are living in my house with me and have been for some years; that I am very much attached to my two brothers-in-law, as much so as though they were brothers of mine, and, of course, I have love and affection for my sisters.

«'I further realize, however, that women-and, in particular, my two sisters-do not have the shrewd, innate business ability which would enable them to handle the numerous problems of my estate.

«'I, therefore, appoint and nominate Gordon Kelvin the executor of this my last will.

«'After the specific bequests herein mentioned, I leave all of the rest, residue and remainder of my estate to be divided equally among Dianne and Boring Briggs and Maxine and Gordon Kelvin.'»

Caswell paused impressively as he looked around the quiet courtroom, then turned a page of the will and went on, «'I give, devise and bequeath to my sister, Dianne Briggs, the sum of fifty thousand dollars; to my sister, Maxine Kelvin, a like sum of fifty thousand dollars.

«'There have, however,'» Caswell read, and paused to glance around the courtroom significantly, «'been a few people whose loyalty and devotion have been outstanding.

«'First and foremost, there has been Dr. Ferris Alton.

«'Because he has specialized in internal medicine and does not do surgery, he has locked himself in a branch of the profession which is somewhat underpaid as compared with the relatively remunerative practice of medicine in the field of surgery.'»

Virginia Baxter gripped Mason's leg just above the knee with hard fingertips. «Oh, it's so,» she whispered. «I remember now. I remember typing that. I remember the tribute she made to-«

«Hush,» Mason warned.

Jerry Caswell went on reading. «'Dr. Alton has given me loyal care and is working himself to death, yet has no adequate reserves for retirement.

«'I, therefore, give, devise and bequeath to Dr. Ferris Alton the sum of one hundred thousand dollars.

«'There are two other persons whose loyalty and devotion have made a great impression on me. Those are George Eagan, my chauffeur, and Anna Fritch, who has nursed me whenever I have been sick.

«'I don't care to have my death an event which will transform these people from rags to riches nor, on the other hand, do I want their loyalty to pass unrewarded.

«'I, therefore, give, devise and bequeath to my chauffeur, George Eagan, the sum of fifty thousand dollars, in the hope that he will open up a business of his own with a part of this money as capital and save the balance as a reserve. I also give, devise and bequeath a similar sum of fifty thousand dollars to Anna Fritch.'»

Here Caswell turned the page rather hurriedly as one does when nearing the end of an important document.

«'Should any person, corporation, or otherwise, contest this will or should any person appear claiming that I have a relationship with that person, that he or she is an heir, that I have through inadvertence or otherwise neglected to mention him, I give to such person the sum of one hundred dollars.'

«Now then,» Jerry Caswell said, «that will contains the usual closing paragraph with the date. It is signed by the testatrix, and it is witnessed by none other than the late Delano Bannock, the attorney, and…» And here Caswell turned impressively to the defendant… «the defendant in this case, Virginia Baxter.»

Virginia sat gazing at him openmouthed.

Mason squeezed her arm and brought her back to reality.

«Does that conclude the testimony of this witness?» Judge Grayson asked.

«It does, Your Honor.»

«Any cross-examination?»

Mason got to his feet. «This will was the one you found in the sealed envelope?»

«Yes. The sealed envelope was in the drawer where Lauretta Trent said it would be. The will was in the sealed envelope.»

«What did you do with it?»

«I put it in a safe and called the district attorney.»

«Where was the safe?»

«In my bedroom.»

«And your bedroom is in the house owned and occupied by Lauretta Trent during her lifetime?»

«Yes.»

«The safe was already in your bedroom when you moved in?»

«No, I installed it.»

«Why did you install it?»

«Because I had certain valuables and I knew that the house was big; and the reputation of Lauretta Trent for extreme wealth was well known; so I wanted to have a safe place where I could keep my wife's jewelry and such cash as I had in my possession.»

«What has been your occupation?» Mason asked.

«I have done several things,» Kelvin said with dignity.

«Such as what?»

«I don't think I need to enumerate them.»

«Objected to as incompetent, irrelevant, immaterial, not proper cross-examination,» Caswell said.

«Oh, certainly,» Judge Grayson said, «I think this is background material and cross-examining counsel should be entitled to it, although I can't see that it will affect the outcome of the case or materially affect the evaluation the Court is placing on the testimony of the witness.»

«There's no need of going into his entire life,» Caswell snapped irritably.

Judge Grayson looked at Mason inquiringly. «Do you have some particular reason for this question?»

«I'll put it this way,» Mason said, «so I can summarize the situation. All these various business activities, which you yourself state have been numerous, were unprofitable, were they not?»

«That is not true, no sir.»

«But the net result was that you went to live with Lauretta Trent?»

«At her invitation, sir!»

«Exactly,» Mason said, «at a time when you were unable to support yourself.»

«No, sir. I could have supported myself but I had had certain temporary financial losses, certain business setbacks.»

«In other words, you were virtually broke?»

«I had had financial troubles.»

«And your sister-in-law invited you to come and live with her.»

«Yes.»

«At your instigation?»

«The other brother-in-law, Mr. Boring Briggs, was living in the house. It was a large house and-Well, my wife and I went there on a visit and we never moved out.»

«And the same was true of Boring Briggs, to your knowledge, was it not?» Mason asked.

«What was true?»

«That he had met with financial reverses and had come to live with his wife's sister.»

«In his case,» Kelvin said, «there were circumstances which made such a course of action… well a-necessity.»

«Financial circumstances?»

«In a way. Boring Briggs had met with several reverses and was unable to give his wife the monetary advantages which she subsequently obtained through the generosity of her sister, Lauretta Trent.»

«Thank you,» Mason said. «That's all.»

Kelvin left the stand.

«All right,» Mason whispered, turning to Virginia Baxter. «Tell me about it.»

«That's the will,» she answered. «I remember now typing that wonderful tribute to her doctor.»

Mason said, «I'm going up to get that will and take a good look at it. I don't want you to seem to be paying any great attention to what I'm doing, but look over my shoulder, particularly at the attestation clause and the witness clause and see if that really is your signature.»

Mason walked up to the clerk's desk. «May I see the will, please?» he said. «I'd like to examine it in some detail.»

The clerk handed Mason the will while Caswell said, «My next witness will be a member of the California highway patrol, Harry Auburn.»

Auburn, in uniform, advanced to the witness stand. He proved to be the officer who had inspected the scene of the collision at the Saint's Rest Motel.

Mason, turning the pages of the will, casually paused to examine the signatures.

Virginia Baxter said in some dismay, «That's my signature and that's Mr. Bannock's signature. Oh, Mr. Mason, I remember it all now. This is the will all right. I remember several things about it. There's a little ink smudge at the bottom of the page. I remember it happened when we were signing it. I wanted to type the last page over but Mr. Bannock said to let it go.»

«There seems to be a fingerprint there,» Mason said, «a fingerprint in the ink.»

«I don't see it.»

«Over here,» Mason said. «Just a few ridges, but enough, I would say, to make an identifiable fingerprint.»

«Heavens,» she said, «that will be mine-unless it should be Lauretta Trent's.»

«Leave it to Caswell,» Mason said, «he'll have found it out.»

The lawyer flipped over the remaining pages of the will, folded it, replaced it in the envelope, went up and tossed it casually on the clerk's desk, as though not greatly interested in it, and turned his attention to the witness on the stand.

As Mason walked back and sat down beside Virginia Baxter, she whispered to him, «But why in the world would anyone want all this fuss about forging two wills when there already was this will? It must have been that they didn't know of its existence.»

«Perhaps someone wanted to find out,» Mason said. «We'll talk it over later, Virginia.»

Harry Auburn gave his testimony in a voice without expression, simply relating what had happened, and apparently with every attempt to be impartial but, at the same time, to be one hundred percent accurate.

He testified that he had been directed by radio to go to the Saint's Rest Motel to investigate an automobile accident; that this had been a routine call; that he had gone up the road to the Saint's Rest and found that an automobile belonging to the defendant and one belonging to Perry Mason had been in a collision; that while he was investigating the facts of the collision he asked for a check on the cars, and he was called back on the radio of his car.

«Now, you can't tell us what anyone told you on the radio,» Caswell said. «That would be hearsay, but you can tell us what you did with reference to that call.»

«Well, after receiving that call, I interrogated the defendant as to whether she had been using the car, whether she had been in another collision, and where she had been in the last hour.»

«What did she say?»

«She denied using the car except to make that one loop in the motel grounds. She said that she had been in her room in the motel for some two hours. She emphatically denied having been in any other collision.»

«Then what happened?»

«I checked the license number of her car; I found two significant figures; I checked the make of the car; I found enough evidence to take her into custody.

«Later on, I returned to the scene of the accident. I picked up pieces of broken headlight which had come from her car; that is, they matched the broken lens on the righthand headlight.

«I then went to the scene of the accident on the coast road and picked up a bit of glass there which had come from a broken headlight; then I removed the headlight from her car and patched all of the pieces of the glass together.»

«Do you have that headlight with you?»

«Yes.»

«Will you produce it, please?»

Auburn left the stand, picked up a cardboard carton, opened it and took out an automobile headlight. The lens had been patched together.

«Will you explain these different patchings, please?»

«Yes, sir. This small piece around the rim was the part that was in the headlight of the defendant's automobile at the time I found it. I have marked those two pieces number one and number two with pieces of adhesive tape which have been placed on them.

«The pieces of glass I found at the scene of the accident at the Saint's Rest Motel, I numbered number three and number four; and these three pieces, numbers five, six and seven, were picked up at the scene of the hit-and-run on the coast road.»

«You may inquire,» Caswell said.

«No questions,» Mason said cheerfully.

Judge Grayson looked at him. «No questions, Mr. Mason?»

«No questions, Your Honor.»

«Now then,» Caswell said, «I would like to recall George Eagan to question him on another phase of the case.»

«Very well,» Judge Grayson said.

Eagan approached the stand. «You're already under oath,» Caswell said.

Eagan nodcjed and seated himself.

«Did you ever at any time approach the defendant and ask her to tell you about a will?»

«I never saw the defendant in my life until I was taken to see her in the jail.»

«You never gave her five hundred dollars or any other sum to make spurious copies of any wills?»

«No, sir.»

«In short, you had no dealings with her whatever?»

«That is right.»

«Never saw her in your life?»

«No, sir.»

«You may cross-examine,» Caswell said.

Mason regarded the witness thoughtfully. «Did you,» he asked, «know that you were a beneficiary under Lauretta Trent's will?»

The witness hesitated.

«Answer the question,» Mason said. «Did you or did you not know?»

«I knew that she had remembered me in her will. I didn't know for how much.»

«You knew, then, that when she died you would be comparatively wealthy.»

«No, sir. I tell you I didn't know how much.»

«How did you know that she had remembered you in her will?»

«She told me.»

«When?»

«About three months ago, four months ago-well, maybe five months ago.»

«You did a great deal of cooking, preparing foods that Lauretta Trent ate?»

«Yes, sir.»

«Outdoor cooking?»

«Yes, sir.»

«You used quite a bit of garlic?»

«She liked garlic. Yes.»

«Did you know that garlic was a good method of disguising the taste of powdered arsenic?»

«No, sir.»

«Did you, at any time, put arsenic in the food you prepared?»

«Oh, Your Honor, if the Court please,» Caswell interposed. «This is completely incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial. It's insulting the witness and it's calling for matters which have not been mentioned on direct examination. It is improper cross-examination.»

«I think it is,» Judge Grayson ruled, «unless counsel can connect it up. It is quite all right for him to show that the witness knew he was a beneficiary under the will, but this is an entirely different matter.»

Mason said, «I expect to show that a deliberate attempt was made to poison Lauretta Trent by the use of arsenic on three distinct occasions. And on at least one of these occasions, the symptoms followed the ingestion of food prepared by this witness.»

Judge Grayson's eyes widened. He sat forward on the bench. «You can prove that?» he asked.

«I can prove it,» Mason said, «by pertinent evidence.»

Judge Grayson settled back. «The objection is overruled,» he snapped. «Answer the question.»

Eagan said indignantly, «I never put any poison in Mrs. Trent's food. I don't know anything about any poison; I didn't know she had been poisoned. I knew she had had a couple of spells of severe stomach trouble and I had been told that they would be aggravated by eating highly seasoned foods. I had, therefore, talked her out of having another outdoor feed which she wanted. And for your information, Mr. Mason, I don't know one single, solitary thing about arsenic.»

«You knew that you were going to profit from Lauretta Trent's death?» Mason asked.

«Oh, now, just a minute,» Caswell said. «This is not a proper interpretation of what the witness said.»

«I'm asking him,» Mason said, «if he didn't know in his own mind he was going to profit from Lauretta Trent's death.»

«No.»

«You didn't know that you would be better off than your monthly salary?»

«Well… well, yes. She as good as told me that.»

«Then you knew you would profit from her death.»

«Not necessarily. I would lose the job.»

«But she had assured you that she was going to make it up to you so that there wouldn't be any loss?»

«Yes.»

«Then you knew you were going to profit from her death.»

«Well, if you want to put it that way, I knew I wouldn't lose anything. Yes.»

«Now then,» Mason said, «how was Lauretta Trent dressed on this last ride?»

«How was she dressed?»

«Yes.»

«Why, she had a hat, coat and shoes.»

«What else was she wearing?»

«Well, let's see. She had a topcoat with some kind of a fur, neckpiece rather, that fastened on to the coat in some way.»

«And she was wearing that?»

«Yes, I remember she asked me to cut down the car heater because she wanted to keep her coat on.»

«She had been where?»

«To Ventura.»

«Do you know what she had been doing in Ventura?»

«No.»

«Don't you know that she had been looking at some property up there?»

«Well, yes. I know that we drove to a piece of property she had contemplated purchasing and we looked it over.»

«And she had a handbag?»

«Yes, of course, she had a handbag.»

«Do you know what was in it?»

«No, sir. The ordinary things, I suppose.»

«I'm not asking what you suppose. I'm asking what you know.»

«How would I know what was in her handbag?»

«I am asking you if you know.»

«No.»

«You don't know a single thing that was in her handbag?»

«Well, I knew there was a purse in there… No, 1 don't know what was in there.»

«As a matter of fact,» Mason said, «don't you know of your own knowledge that there was the sum of fifty thousand dollars in cash in that handbag?»

The witness sat bolt upright in surprise. «What?»

«Fifty thousand dollars,» Mason repeated.

«Heavens, no! She wasn't carrying any such sum in cash.»

«You are positive?»

«Positive.»

«Then you know what wasn't in her purse.»

«I know that she would never have carried any such sum of money with her without telling me.»

«How do you know?»

«Just by knowing her.»

«Then the only way you know she didn't have that money with her is by reaching a conclusion based upon an assumption. Is that right?»

«Well, when you come right down to it, I don't know she didn't have that money with her,» the witness admitted.

«I thought so,» Mason observed.

«But I'm almost certain she didn't,» Eagan blurted.

«Didn't she tell you that she was going to wave a sum of cash under the nose of the owner of this property? Or words to that effect?» Mason asked.

Eagan hesitated.

«Didn't she?» Mason insisted.

«Well,» Eagan said, «she told me she was figuring on buying a piece of property up there. And she had told me she felt the owner was up against it for cash and that if she waved the down payment under his nose, he might accept it.»

«Exactly,» Mason said triumphantly. «And when this automobile was fished out of the water, you were there?»

«Yes.»

«And there was no handbag in the bottom of the car?»

«No. I believe the officers failed to find any handbag. The back of the car was completely empty.»

«No fur neckpiece? No coat? No handbag?»

«That's right. The officers made an heroic effort to find the body but the divers weren't risking their lives trying to find little objects. As I understand it, the floor of the ocean is rocky there.»

«You don't know the driver of the car that hit you?»

«I am told it was the defendant.»

Mason smiled. «You yourself don't know who the driver of the car was?»

«No.»

«You didn't recognize the defendant.»

«No.»

«It could have been anyone else?»

«Yes.»

Mason turned abruptly, walked back to the counsel table and sat down. «No further questions,» he said.

Judge Grayson said, «Gentlemen, we got a late start today because of another case which was a carry-over. I am afraid we're going to have to adjourn for the evening.»

«My case is just about finished,» Caswell said. «I think the Court can receive all of the evidence and make an order disposing of the matter before adjournment. This evidence certainly indicates that a crime has been committed and that there is probable cause to connect the defendant with that crime. That is all that is necessary for us to show in a preliminary examination. I would like to have it completed tonight. I have other matters on my calendar tomorrow morning.»

Mason said, «The assistant prosecutor is making a usual mistake in assuming that the case is entirely one-sided. The defendant has the right to put on evidence on her behalf.»

«Do you intend to put on a defense?» Judge Grayson asked.

Mason smiled, «Very frankly, Your Honor, I don't know. I want to hear all the evidence of the prosecution, and then I want to ask for a recess so I may have an opportunity to confer with my client before making up my mind what to do.»

«Under those circumstances,» Judge Grayson said, «there is only one course of conduct open to the Court and that is to continue the matter until tomorrow morning at ten o'clock.

«Court's adjourned. The defendant is remanded to custody, but the officers are directed to give Mr. Mason a reasonable opportunity to confer with his client before she is taken from the courtroom.»

Judge Grayson left the bench.

Mason, Della Street, Paul Drake and Virginia Baxter gathered for a moment in a close huddle at the corner of the courtroom.

«Good heavens,» Virginia said, «who was the person who came to me and wanted that forged will made?»

«That,» Mason said, «is something we're going to have to find out.»

«And how did you know that she had fifty thousand dollars in cash in her purse?»

«I didn't,» Mason said, grinning. «I didn't say she had fifty thousand dollars in her purse. I asked Eagan if he didn't know she had fifty thousand dollars in her purse.»

«Do you think she did?»

«I haven't the slightest idea,» Mason said. «But I wanted to make Eagan say she didn't have it.

«Now then, Virginia, I want you to promise me faithfully that you won't talk with anyone about this case before you get into court tomorrow morning. I don't think they'll try to get anything more out of you, but if they do I want you to tell them that you have been instructed not to answer any questions, not to say one single word.

«Do you think you can do that, Virginia, no matter how great the temptation may be to talk?»

«If you tell me to keep quiet,» she said, «I will.»

«I want you to keep very, very quiet,» Mason told her.

«All right. I promise.»

Mason patted her shoulder. «Good girl.»

He stepped to the door and signaled the policewoman who took Virginia Baxter away.

Mason returned to indicate chairs for the others. He started pacing the floor.

«All right,» Paul Drake said, «give. What about the fifty thousand?»

Mason said, «I want a search made for that handbag. I want the officers to make the search. I think they'll do it now.

«Now then, Paul, here's where you go to work. I should have thought of this before.»

Drake pulled out his notebook.

Mason said, «Lauretta Trent was intending to have Eagan turn the car to the left and drive up to the Saint's Rest Motel. She had a reason for going there.

«When Virginia told me that Lauretta Trent had telephoned her and told her to go to the Saint's Rest Motel and wait there for her, I felt that perhaps Virginia had been victimized by the old trick of having some third party identify himself or herself over the telephone and, since the telephone doesn't transmit the personal appearance of the person talking, it's a very easy matter to deceive someone in a case of that sort.

«However, the fact that Lauretta Trent did intend to turn to the left and go up that road is strongly indicative of the fact that she had telephoned Virginia Baxter.

«Now, why had she telephoned her?»

Drake shrugged his shoulders, and Mason went on.

«It was either because she wanted to give Virginia some information, on the one hand, or get some information from Virginia, on the other. The strong probabilities are she wanted to get some information from Virginia.

«Now, someone must have overheard that telephone conversation. There's not much chance that the telephone line could have been tapped. Therefore, someone must have heard the conversation at one end of the line or the other. Either someone was listening in Virginia Baxter's apartment, which isn't likely, or someone was listening at the place where Lauretta Trent telephoned.»

Drake nodded.

«That person, knowing that Virginia Baxter was going to drive her car to the Saint's Rest, went up to the Saint's Rest, waited until Virginia had parked her car and was inside the motel room. Then that person took Virginia's car, drove it down to the coast highway and waited for Lauretta Trent to come along to keep her appointment.

«That person was a very skillful driver. He hit the Trent car just hard enough to throw it to one side of the road and then speeded up, threw the rear of the Baxter car into a skid which knocked the Trent car completely out of control.

«Then that person drove the crippled Baxter car up to the Saint's Rest Motel and parked it.

«Because other tenants had moved in in the meantime, the parking space where Virginia had parked her car was filled up, so he had to select another parking space.»

«Well?» Drake asked.

«Then,» Mason said, «he presumably picked up his own car, drove it back down to the highway and into oblivion.»

Drake nodded, «That, of course, is obvious.»

«But is it?» Mason said. «He couldn't tell about the timing element. He couldn't tell whether someone riding along behind got the complete license number of Virginia Baxter's car instead of just the last two numbers. He had to have a second string to his bow.»

«I don't get it,» Drake said.

Mason said, «He had to have it so he could conceal himself in the event he didn't have time to get back down to the highway. Now, how would he do that?»

«That's simple,» Drake said. «He'd rent a unit at the Saint's Rest Motel.»

«That,» Mason said, «is where you come in. I want you to go to the Saint's Rest Motel, check the registrations, get the license numbers of each automobile and run down the owners. See if you can get a line on anyone who checked in and then left without sleeping in the bed. If so, get a description.»

Drake snapped his notebook shut. «All right,» he said, «that's a job, but we'll get on it. I'll put a bunch of men on it and-«

«Wait a minute,» Mason said. «You're not finished yet.»

«No?» Drake asked.

Mason said, «Let's look at what happened after the car was crowded off the road, Paul.»

«There were big rocks there,» Drake said. «The chauffeur fought for control and lost out. The car toppled over into the ocean-you couldn't have picked a more perfect spot for it. I've checked it carefully. The road makes a left-hand curve there. As soon as you get off the shoulder, there are rocks-some of them eighteen inches in diameter-just regular rough boulders. There's only about ten feet between the road and the sheer drop straight down to the ocean.

«At that point there's an almost perpendicular cliff. The highway construction crews had to blast a road out of that cliff. It rises two hundred feet above the road on the left and it drops straight into the ocean on the right.»

«Presumably,» Mason said, «that's why this particular spot was chosen. It would be a perfect place to crowd a car off the road.»

«That, of course,» Drake said, grinning, «is elemental, my dear Holmes.»

«Exactly, my dear Watson,» Mason said. «But what happened to Lauretta Trent? The chauffeur told her to jump. Presumably she tried to get out of the car. The door on the left rear was unlatched. There was no body in the car; therefore, she must have been thrown clear.»

«Well,» Drake asked, «what does that buy us?»

«Her missing handbag,» Mason said. «When a woman jumps from an automobile, she hardly bothers to take her handbag with her unless it contains a very, very large amount of money or something that is very, very valuable.

«That was why I had to find out from Eagan whether or not she was carrying something of great value. If she had a large sum of money or something of great value in her handbag, it's quite natural that she'd have told the chauffeur to be alert.

«Yet Eagan's surprise was too natural to be feigned. We're forced to the conclusion that, if there was anything of value in her purse or handbag, he knew nothing about it.

«Yet, when Lauretta Trent was faced with that moment of supreme emergency, that moment of great danger, she either grabbed up her handbag from the seat before trying to jump, or it was washed out of the car-otherwise it would be in the car.

«Now, my questioning about fifty thousand dollars being in the handbag will spur the police to go back and make a desperate search for that handbag with divers and submarine illumination. If the handbag is lying there among the rocks on the floor of the ocean, they'll find it. A body would be carried away by the ocean currents, a handbag would be trapped in the rocks.»

Drake gave a low whistle.

«Then, of course,» Mason said, «we come to the peculiar conduct of the heirs. Someone was trying to get Virginia to furnish a forged will which could be planted in the office copies of Bannock's wills.»

«That is the thing that gets me,» Drake said. «With a perfectly good will in their possession, why should anyone want to plant a forged will?»

«That,» Mason said, «is what we are going to have to find out-and find out before ten o'clock tomorrow morning.»

«And why the second spurious will?» Drake asked.

«That,» Mason said, «is good practice in will forgeries, Paul. If in some way forged will number two is knocked out, then forged will number one has to be faced.

«Heirs are much more willing to compromise when they have two difficult hurdles to jump.»

«Well,» Drake said, «it's too much for me. I not only don't think we have the right answer, but I don't think we're even on the right track.»

Mason smiled, «What track do you think we're on, Paul?»

«The one that makes Virginia blameless,» Drake said.

Mason nodded thoughtfully. «As her attorney, Paul, that's the only track I can see.»