The Case of the Nervous Accomplice

Chapter 19

Mason, Della Street, Sybil Harlan, Paul Drake and a policewoman sat in the witness room to one side of the courtroom.

“Will you kindly tell me what this is all about?” Drake asked. “How could the powder pattern have shown that the gun was held within eighteen or twenty inches of Lutts’ chest if he had been shot by Doxey down there in that contractor’s shack?”

Mason grinned. “That’s the third cartridge, Paul.”

“What do you mean ‘the third cartridge?’”

“The U.M.C. That cartridge was a blank. The bullet had been extracted and the powder held in place with a chalk paste, which would disintegrate when the gun was fired. Doxey wanted it to appear that Lutts had been killed by someone standing at close range, so he went back after the murder and fired the blank cartridge at the body from a distance of twenty inches.

“He had intended to lure Lutts out to the house and kill him at a time when it appeared he had an unshakable alibi, and then Mrs. Harlan entered the picture, and it was a heaven-sent opportunity for Doxey.”

“How do you mean?”

Mason said, “Remember, Doxey had spent some time out there in that contractor’s shack, safely concealed. He could look through the knothole and see the window up there in the house on the hill. But no one could see him. Only Roxy Claffin knew that he was there, and she wasn’t telling anyone for obvious reasons.

“So Doxey knew that Sybil Harlan was keeping the premises under regular survey. He knew that if he could make it appear that Lutts had been killed with a gun carried by Sybil Harlan, he would have committed the perfect crime and Mrs. Harlan would be the one who would have to take the rap.

“Doubtless, at first, he simply intended to show that Mrs. Harlan had been going out to the house pretty regularly, and then finding Lutts killed with the gun she had been carrying would present a case of circumstantial evidence she could never refute and—”

“What about the gun?” Drake said. “I still don’t get it.”

“That,” Mason said, “was simple. Enright Harlan gave Roxy Claffin a gun. Doxey took that gun. He purchased one just like it and gave it to Roxy, with instructions to return it to Harlan. It was exactly the same make, model, size and calibre as the one Enright Harlan had loaned to Roxy Claffin. Naturally, Harlan had no reason to compare numbers. He certainly thought it was the same weapon he had given her. So he took it and put it back in his collection and thought his guns were all accounted for. He was willing to swear the gun he loaned Roxy had been returned. Actually, the gun that he had given Roxy Claffin was then in the possession of Herbert Doxey.

“Doxey knew that Mrs. Harlan was carrying one of her husband’s guns in her glove compartment. He also knew from Lutts that she was at the beauty parlor that day. He had only to kill Lutts with one of Harlan’s guns, leave it where he knew it would be discovered at the proper time, then dash up to the parking lot, watch his opportunity to get into Mrs. Harlan’s car, jimmy open her glove compartment, take the gun, and that’s all there was to it. He had committed the perfect crime.

“Then Roxy Claffin got concerned about having things in her garage which she knew were telltale evidence. So she took the stuff out and threw it on the dump. She told Herbert Doxey what she had done, and Doxey became panic-stricken. He was afraid that someone might find the sandbags which had been cut open and the sand dumped out, the boards from the shooting stand and the stool. He was terribly afraid someone might put two and two together, particularly if that someone had ever done any shooting from a sandbag rest.

“So Doxey slipped out and picked up all that stuff and took it to his own garage. That was where he gave us the break we wanted. His accomplice had been too nervous, and Doxey, trying to cover up, made a fatal slip.

“However, if he hadn’t done this, we would have learned the true facts anyway.”

“How?”

“Elkins really gave the whole show away. Lutts was dying to learn the identity of my client. He went out to lunch with Doxey. During lunch he learned who had retained me.”

“From the bank,” Drake said.

Mason shook his head. “He had no chance to contact the bank.”

“Of course he did, Perry. He made a phone call, don’t you remember?”

“One phone call,” Mason said.

“Well, that was enough,” Drake retorted, his voice showing an impatience at what appeared to be Mason’s stupidity.

“Only one phone call,” Mason said, “and that was to Enright Harlan’s house. Remember, the maid told Mrs. Harlan that Lutts had called and she told Lutts he could reach Mrs. Harlan at the beauty shop. Elkins swears there was only one call. He’s positive of that.”

“Then, how the devil did he find out?” Drake asked.

“Don’t you see, Paul? It’s the key clue. Doxey told him.”

“Doxey!”

“That’s right. Doxey had been watching the house on the hill. He knew of Sybil’s interest. He put two and two together when I entered the picture. He knew who had retained me. He communicated his knowledge to Lutts at lunch, and told him my client must have discovered something on the grounds or in the house which changed the value of the property. He probably suggested that Lutts make her go out there with him and show him just what it was. Doxey did this because he wanted Lutts to go out there to the house. He’d tried to lure Lutts out there by sending him an anonymous letter calculated to send Lutts running out to his death.

“But then I entered the picture and it gave Doxey a wonderful opportunity. He stopped by home to establish an alibi, then dashed out to the contractor’s shack while Lutts was calling for Mrs. Harlan at the beauty shop.

“Doxey was the only one who could have told Lutts who my client was. The very fact he told us that Lutts found out through a banking leak shows he was lying.

“Doxey’s alibi is a badly sunburned back. He could have gotten that lying in his curtain-enclosed sun bath, or he could have gotten it after be murdered his father-in-law by the brief use of a quartz lamp.”

“I’ll be damned!” Drake said. “But if Doxey missed that first shot, how did it happen that—”

“He didn’t miss that first shot,” Mason said. “That bullet had been fired two or three days before the murder, when Doxey was testing the gun and his accuracy. He fired one shot, which went through the window and into the wall. That was all the assurance he needed that he was in form and could count on picking Lutts off with one shot.

“It only remained for him to get Lutts out there at a time when Sybil was there or had been there. He hoped the anonymous letter would accomplish it; but when I entered the picture, he considered it a heaven-sent opportunity. Lutts had told me he was going to have his books audited. I’m sorry to say, the significance of that didn’t dawn on me until a short time ago. Undoubtedly, Herbert Doxey had been manipulating the books of the corporation and he knew that his father-in-law was getting suspicious.”

“Where’s Doxey now, Perry?”

“Panic-stricken, trying to make an escape and thereby clinching the case against him.”

The door of the room was abruptly pushed open. Enright Harlan came striding in. Sybil arose from her chair.

“Sybil!” Enright said, and took her in. his arms, patting her shoulder.

“Oh, Enny,” she said, “it’s been terrible! Thank you so much for standing by me.”

Enright Harlan looked guilty. “Hang it, Sybil,” he said, “I lost my head. I... I did things I shouldn’t. I—”

Sybil Harlan straightened. “Why, what are you talking about, Enny? I told you I understood you were making a play for that Claffin woman, in order to get her business. I knew that she was the vain type that demanded lots of attention and flattery. Why you did just right, Enny. You had to make a living for the firm of Harlan and Harlan.”

“You forgive me?” he asked.

Her laugh was clear. “Why, Enny, there’s nothing to forgive! Don’t be silly. Let’s not ever talk about it.”

There was a knock at the door. The bailiff said, “Judge Sedgwick wants the parties in court. Mrs. Claffin has made a complete confession. The police are searching for Herbert Doxey, and the judge wants to instruct the jury to return a verdict of not guilty in the case against Mrs. Harlan.”

Sybil linked her arm through that of her husband. “Come on, Enny. Let’s get this over with. Forget about the past.”

Perry Mason, Della Street and Paul Drake remained behind for a moment.

“Well, I’ll be darned,” Drake said, as the others went out through the door. “The way she handled that — and all the time she looked so damn demure, so utterly innocent!”

“Women,” Mason said, “are at their most deadly dangerous when they look like that.”

Della Street glanced up at Perry Mason. “Come on, Chief,” she said solicitously. “You’ve had a sleepless night. Get this case over with and then go and get some rest.”

Drake, looking at Della Street’s face, said, “Darned if you aren’t looking demure and innocent yourself, Della!”

The glance she flashed Drake held nothing of gratitude.