The Case of the Negligent Nymph

Chapter 21

SEATED IN HIS OFFICE, MASON GLEEFULLY READ THE MORNING NEWSPAPERS.

Headlines announced j-SECOND MURDER WEAPON IN ALDER CASE FOUND, and down below these headlines UNEXPLAINED BULLET LODGED IN RIDGEPOLE!

“Well,” Della Street said, watching Mason’s smile, “are you going to read it aloud?”

Mason nodded, said, “I’ll give you a few of the highlights here and there. Listen to this one

“Sheriff Leonard C. Keddie disagreed sharply with ballistics experts. The bullet which was found in the ridgepole was, he insisted, one which had been planted there subsequent to the murder. How, he demanded, could a man be shot through the neck with the fatal bullet going straight up in the air? The bullet, he insisted, could not have come from the gun found under Alder’s body.

“On the other hand, Hartley Essex, the ballistics expert employed by the district attorney’s office, is equally positive that regardless of how the bullet arrived at its destination it is a bullet fired from Alder’s gun. Moreover, he now feels positive the .44 bullet found by searchers is probably the fatal bullet. A small fragment of dried human tissue was still adhering to the bullet when it was found.

“It has been established that the .44 bullet was fired from the gun found buried in the sand. This poses a most embarrassing series of questions for the prosecution. Which bullet killed Alder? If the one in the roof, Alder must have been leaning forward, bent over, when the shot was fired.

“On the other hand, if the .44 bullet was the fatal one, the whole theory of the prosecution needs revising. Even if someone stood in front of George S. Alder and fired the fatal bullet with the forty-four, how did the bullet from Alder’s own gun, found under his body, get into the ridgepole?

“It is also to be remembered that medical testimony already introduced by the prosecution is to the effect that the fatal bullet was a .38 caliber. It is understood a host of experts are available to the defense, anxious to testify that the hole of an entrance wound made by a bullet is almost always smaller than the caliber of the bullet, due to the elasticity of the human skin, which is pushed far inward before the bullet actually penetrates.

“However, if the prosecution should now change its contention as to the caliber of the fatal bullet, the defense will have a field day with the experts who have already testified.

“The .38 caliber double action unquestionably belonged to George S. Alder in his lifetime. Not only had Alder secured a permit to carry a gun and mentioned the numbers of this gun in his application for such a permit, but records show that the weapon was sold to George S. Alder some two years ago, and Alder’s signature appears on the record of firearms sold.

“Hartley Essex, the ballistics expert, explained that bullets in poing throurh a human body are quite frequently deflected by bones and will do extraordinary things but obviously he is not too happy about the position of the bullet in the Alder case, or about the prospect of facing further cross-examination by Perry Mason when the case reopens Monday morning.

“Dr. Jackson B. Hilt, the autopsy surgeon who per-formed the post-mortem on the body of the deceased, insists that the course of the bullet, while ranging slightly upward, showed no evidence that the bullet had been deflected by bony structures of the body. Assuming that the man was standing in an approximately upright position at the time the fatal shot was fired, the course of the bullet was such that the point of exit was approximately two inches higher than the wound of entrance. Yet a plumb line suspended from the place where the bullet was found shows that it points almost directly to the center of the bloodstain which indicates the position where the body was lying.

“Further statements were not forthcoming because District Attorney Claud Gloster clamped the lid down as soon as it appeared that there was an official variance of opinion between the sheriff and the ballistics expert. Shortly after statements were made by these men, they suddenly became as quiet as though a legal muzzle had been clamped over their mouths. When asked for an elaboration of his original statement concerning the bullet, Hartley Essex, the ballistics expert, merely gave a tight-lipped no comment.’

“Sheriff Keddie, obviously restless under the admonition of the district attorney, said, ‘I’m not going to say another word.’

“‘Does that mean that you’ve changed your opinion that the bullets you found were planted?” he was asked.

” ‘No, it doesn’t,’ he announced, grimly. I may be keeping quiet but I’m not changing my opinions.’

“The unexpected developments in the case followed an examination of the premises by Perry Mason, attorney for the defendant, Paul Drake, a private detective employed by him, and several deputies armed with devices designed to detect the presence of metallic substances below the surface of the earth.

The .44 revolver, when located, was found to be fully loaded, with one empty cartridge case in position under the hammer, indicating that only the one bullet had been discharged from the gun.

It is, therefore, quite evident that interesting possibilities have been opened up by this somewhat tardy discovery of the fatal bullet, provided it is the fatal bullet.

“It is assumed that Perry Mason may now attempt to show that George S. Alder must have committed suicide, or was the victim of an accidental discharge of his own gun. Despite the fact that Mason’s client has insisted she was not on the premises that night, despite circumstantial evidence indicating that this statement is, to put it mildly, subject to some correction, Perry Mason is in the advantageous position of being able to conform his courtroom strategy to whichever direction the cat may jump.

“It is assumed by courtroom experts who have been following the trial that it will be necessary at some stage of the proceedings for Mason to put his client on the stand, and at that time it is almost certain that she will be forced to change her statement that she was not at the beach city on the night of the murder. Too strong an array of facts and of witnesses have been piled up to enable her to consistently maintain her original position that she did not leave the Monadnock Hotel Apartments where she was living on the night in question.

“However, once having made that concession, the attractive defendant is in a position to go on from there as circumstances may indicate. Inasmuch as these later developments are as much of a surprise to the district attorney as they were to the sheriff, it is obvious that the prosecution finds itself faced with the necessity of anticipating a surprise move on the part of the defense, and since Perry Mason is known as a past master at staging dramatic last-minute surprises, there is no doubt but what the courtroom will be crowded Monday morning when Judge Garey resumes the trial of the case of The People of the State of California vs. Dorothy Fenner.

“While outwardly everything remains serene, there is courthouse gossip to the effect that Claud Gloster, who felt positive he could achieve the triumph of adding Perry Mason’s scalp to his belt, is quite obviously unhappy about the failure of the authorities to make a sufficiently careful search of the premises to reveal the bullet hole in the ridgepole, and there are persistent rumors that a strained feeling has come to exist between the district attorney’s office and that of the sheriff.

“Sheriff Keddie not only insists that his office did not overlook the bullet in-the ridgepole, but demands enlightenment as to how it happened that Perry Mason, who had never been on the premises before, walked into the room, and within a matter of minutes was pointing out a bullet hole which had previously been overlooked by all investigators.

“‘How,’ Sheriff Keddie demanded indignantly, ‘did Perry Mason know it was there?”

“That probably will be the sixty-four-dollar question which Claud Gloster will hurl at Perry Mason in front of the jury Monday morning.

“But those who have been following the astonishing legal career of Perry Mason point out that hurling questions at Perry Mason in front of a jury is apt to be a dangerous pastime.

“In any event, developments since the Friday adjournment have been such as to change the complexion of the case. Deputies in the county offices who can get away are quietly staking out their claims to reserved seats in the courtroom of Judge Garey in anticipation of the Donnybrook Fair which they insist will take place when Court convenes Monday morning at ten o’clock.”

Mason folded the newspaper and grinned at Della Street.

“Chief,” she asked, “how did you know that bullet was up there?”

“I didn’t”

“But, as the reporter points out in the newspaper, you entered the room and within a few minutes discovered a bullet hole which had eluded all the investigatorsl”

“I did for a fact.”

“What were you looking for when you found that bullet hole?”

“The hole made by a bullet”

“How did you know it was there?”

“Where else could it have been? The sheriff had examined all other places.”

“It was assumed that it had gone out through the French doors.”

“It’s dangerous to make such assumptions,” Mason said.

“But how did that bullet get up there?”

Mason grinned, “I’m not sticking my neck out, Della, but you’ll want to be in comt Monday morning. I think I now know what happened.”

“Who won’t?” she asked, laughingly.

“Won’t what?”

“Be in court Monday morning.”