Judge Winters nodded to the district attorney.
"Proceed," he said.
District Attorney Burger turned to one of the deputy sheriffs and nodded his head.
The man approached Perry Mason, a folded paper extended.
"Your Honor," the district attorney said, "there have been some rather startling, although not entirely unexpected, developments in connection with this case, and in connection with another matter which, while not directly involved, is nevertheless related to it. In view of this other matter, it will be necessary for me to ask for a brief adjournment of this hearing within approximately an hour."
Judge Winters frowned.
Burger went on, "I feel that I am violating no confidence, your Honor, in stating that this matter is one which is being investigated by the Grand Jury and it will be necessary for me to appear before the Grand Jury."
"Has the defense," asked Judge Winters, "any objections?"
Before Mason could say anything Burger, raising his voice, said, "The defense can have no objection, because one of the first witnesses who will be called by the Grand Jury is none other than Perry Mason, the attorney for the defendants."
Mason said in slow, level tones, "Your Honor, that remark was uncalled for and unnecessary. I hold in my hand a subpoena to appear before the Grand Jury, a subpoena which very apparently was held in the hands of a deputy sheriff and could have been served at any time prior to the convening of court. Yet that paper was served at a signal from the district attorney, and purely for the purpose of letting the Court and the spectators know publicly that I was being called as a witness before the Grand Jury. It was merely a grandstand play."
Judge Winters hesitated a moment, and Burger, turning belligerently to Perry Mason, said, "I see you can dish it out, but you can't take it."
Judge Winters banged his gavel.
"That will do, Mr. District Attorney," he said. "There will be no further personal remarks of that nature, and I can assure Counsel for the defense that the Court will not allow its decision to be influenced in the slightest by the comments of Counsel. Proceed with the case, gentlemen."
Perry Mason, holding the subpoena in his hand, turned to scan the faces of those in the courtroom. He caught the anxious, startled eyes of Della Street on the outskirts of the crowd. She raised a newspaper in her hand and gestured with it significantly.
Perry Mason nodded his head almost imperceptibly and then flashed her a swift wink.
"Your next witness," Judge Winters said to the district attorney.
"George Purley," Burger announced.
As Purley was taking the oath, Burger turned to Mason and said, "Purley's reputation as a handwriting expert should be too well known to require formal qualification. He has been with the police department for years and…"
"I'll stipulate Mr. Purley's qualifications, subject to the right to crossexamine," Mason said.
Burger nodded perfunctory thanks and turned to the witness.
"Your name is George Purley, and you are now and for some time past have been employed as a fingerprint and handwriting expert with the police department?"
"Yes, sir."
"On the fourteenth of this month did you have occasion to go to the house of Hartley Basset?"
"I did."
"I will ask you generally if you noticed the body of the man who lay on the floor of the office in the Basset residence."
"I did."
"Did you notice a portable typewriter on the table near that body?"
"I did; yes, sir."
"Did you notice a piece of paper on which typewriting appeared, and which was in the typewriter?"
"Yes, sir."
"I show you this piece of paper and ask you whether that is the same piece of paper."
"It is."
"Did you make tests to determine whether the typewriting on this paper was written by the machine in which the paper was found?"
"I did."
"What did those tests show?"
"They established conclusively that the typewriting was not done by that machine, but was, in fact, done by another machine that we subsequently found in the house."
"Where?"
"In the bedroom of Mrs. Basset, one of the defendants in this case."
"Did she make any statements in your presence as to, the ownership of that machine?"
"Yes, sir."
"What did she say?"
"She said that it was her machine and that she used it for her private correspondence; that occasionally she typed her correspondence personally and occasionally had one of her husband's stenographic assistants type the correspondence."
"Did she mention anything about her qualifications as a typist?"
"Yes, sir; she said she had been a professional typist for years and used the touch system."
"What is meant by a touch system?"
"A system of typing in which the operator does not look at the keys of the typewriter, but strikes entirely by a sense of touch."
"Is there anything about this typing by which you can tell whether the person operating the machine used a touch system?"
"Yes, sir; a certain evenness of touch by which all of the keys were struck with approximately the same force. In the socalled twofinger system or huntandpeck system, because the pressure is less mechanical, the keys are struck with varying force and there is a very slight difference in the impression made by the type upon the paper."
"In your opinion, Mr. Purley, this paper was written upon a machine other than the one in which it was found and by a person using the touch system. Is that right?"
"Yes, sir; beyond any possibility of doubt this document was typed upon the Remington Portable which was found in Mrs. Basset's bedroom. In my opinion it was typed by a person who used the touch system and who was, or at least had been at some time, a professional typist."
"Crossexamine," Burger said briefly.
"If I understand the testimony correctly," Mason said, "this paper was typed upon the machine which was subsequently found in Mrs. Basset's bedroom. After it was typed, it was taken to the room where the body was found, and inserted in the typewriter. Is that correct?"
"Yes, sir."
"Thank you," Mason said. "That is all."
Judge Winters made a note in his notebook, nodded his head to Burger and said, "Your next witness, Counselor."
"Arthur Colemar," Burger announced.
Colemar came forward, took the oath, and slid into the witness chair, his gray eyes blinking as though he were slightly bewildered at his surroundings.
"Your name's Arthur Colemar?"
"Yes."
"What's your occupation, and by whom were you last employed?"
"I was Mr. Hartley Basset's secretary, sir."
"How long had you been employed by him?"
"For three years."
"When did you last see him?"
"On the fourteenth of this month."
"Was he living or dead?"
"Dead."
"Where was he?"
"In his inner office."
"How does it happen that you saw him there then?"
"I had been to a show. I returned to find the house in confusion. People were running about, apparently very much excited. I inquired the cause of the trouble, and was informed that Mr. Basset was dead. Someone took me into his office so that I could identify him."
"I think," Burger said, "that I have already proven the corpus delicti, so I won't go into the matter of death by this witness at any greater length. I desire to show by this witness certain other facts."
Judge Winters nodded. Mason, sitting sprawled in his chair, his legs thrust out in front of him, said nothing.
"You are, of course, intimately acquainted with the defendant, Mrs. Sylvia Basset."
"Oh, yes, sir."
"Mr. Basset has his office in his house?"
"In the same building, yes, sir. It had originally been designed, I believe, as a duplex dwelling, or as a four flat building, I don't know which."
"And Mr. Basset had the east side of the building for his office?"
"The lower floor on the east side, yes, sir."
"Where did you sleep?"
"I slept upstairs in the back part of the house."
"Where did you work?"
"In the part Mr. Basset had set aside for his office."
"Did you have occasion, from time to time, to talk with Mrs. Basset?"
"Frequently."
"Did you ever have an occasion to converse with her concerning the amount of life insurance Mr. Basset was carrying?"
"Yes, sir."
"When was that conversation?"
"Objected to as incompetent, irrelevant, and immaterial," Mason said.
"Overruled," snapped Judge Winters, his countenance cold as granite.
"Your Honor," Burger said, "I intend to prove motive by this witness. I feel that I am within my rights, and…"
"The objection has been overruled," Judge Winters said. "Moreover, this Court will never sustain an objection that such a question is not material. Experience shows that the motive of gain is one of the most compelling motives in murder cases. If the prosecution can establish this as a motive, it is undoubtedly entitled to do so."
Mason shrugged his shoulders and settled down in his chair.
"This conversation," the witness said, "took place about three days before Mr. Basset's death."
"Who was present?"
"Just Mrs. Basset, Richard Basset and myself."
"Where did the conversation take place?"
"In the hallway at the head of the stairs near the entrance to her bedroom."
"What was said?"
"She asked me if I was familiar with Mr. Basset's business affairs, and I told her I was. She asked me precisely how much life insurance Mr. Basset was carrying. I told her that I would prefer she take that up with Mr. Basset. She told me not to be foolish, that the insurance was carried for her protection, and she said, as nearly as I can remember, 'Colemar, you know that I'm the beneficiary in the insurance.
"I didn't say anything, and after a moment she said, 'I am, am I not? And then I said, 'Of course, Mrs. Basset, since you put it that way, there's no reason why I should contradict you. But I would prefer you talked over the nature, extent and type of the insurance with Mr. Basset.
"She said she thought Mr. Basset was carrying too much insurance, and that she was going to ask him to drop some of the policies."
"Did she say precisely which policies?"
"No, sir."
"Then the effect of her conversation was to reassure her mind upon the fact that Basset was carrying…"
"Objected to as argumentative and calling for a conclusion of the witness," Perry Mason said. "This man is now testifying as to the motive of the defendant's question. The words speak for themselves."
"Sustained," Judge Winters said.
"Now, then," Burger went on, his face showing dogged determination, "are you acquainted with Mr. Peter Brunold, one of the defendants in this case?"
"I am, yes, sir."
"When did you first become acquainted with him?"
"About a week or ten days ago."
"How did it happen?"
"He was just leaving the door of the house as I drove up. He said that he had been looking for Mr. Basset but Mr. Basset was out, and he asked me if I knew when Mr. Basset would be back."
"What did you tell him?"
"I told him Mr. Basset would not be back until late."
"And Brunold was coming out of the house at that time?"
"Yes, sir."
"Where had you been?"
"Attending to some errands for Mr Basset."
"You were driving Mr. Basset's car?"
"Yes, sir, that's right—the big sedan."
"That was the first time you saw Mr. Brunold?"
"Yes, sir."
"Did you see him again at a later date?"
"Yes, sir."
"When?"
"The night of the murder."
"And when did you see him then?"
"I saw him running away from the house."
"You mean the Basset house?"
"Yes, sir."
"Let's not have any misunderstanding about that. When you say the house, you mean the house where Mr. Basset had his office, and where he resided?"
"That's right. Yes, sir."
"And you say Mr. Brunold was running away from that house?"
"That's right."
"At what time was this?"
"Just as I was returning from the show I mentioned."
"How were you returning?"
"I was walking."
"Did you speak to Mr. Brunold?"
"No, sir, I didn't. Mr. Brunold didn't see me. He ran on past me on the other side of the street."
"Could you see him plainly?"
"Not all of the time, but when he passed under a street light, I was able to get a good look at his features. I saw him then and recognized him."
"Then what happened?"
"Then I approached the house and saw that something unusual was taking place. I saw figures running back and forth past the windows. They were moving rapidly."
"What did you see, if anything?"
"I saw Mrs. Basset and her son, Richard Basset."
"What were they doing?"
"They were bending over someone in the reception room. Then Mrs. Basset ran and called Edith Brite. I saw Edith Brite come running from the other part of the house and enter the reception room."
"What did you do?"
"I went to the reception room and asked what was the matter and if there was anything I could do. I could see someone was lying on the couch. I thought it might be Mr. Basset. I asked if he'd been hurt. Mrs. Basset came and stood in front of me and pushed me out of the door. She told me to go to my room and stay there."
"What did you do?"
"Followed instructions and went to my room."
Burger said to Mason, "Crossexamine."
Mason, arising from his chair at the counsel table, said, "Later on you went to the study and identified Hartley Basset's body, didn't you?"
"Yes, sir."
"At that time, did you hear it said that the young woman who had been lying on the couch when you first entered the house on your return from the picture show would know the man she had seen leaving the study if she saw him again?"
"Yes, sir, I heard there was such a witness."
"She was in a darkened room, but the light was streaming over her shoulder so that, while her own features were in the shadow, the light illuminated the features of this man after she had torn the mask from his face."
"I heard that was the case, yes."
"What's the object of this?" Burger asked. "Are you trying to get a lot of hearsay evidence into the record? We object to anything Hazel Fenwick may have said."
"It is," Mason pointed out, "part of the res gestae. I have a right to test this witness's recollection upon what happened immediately after he entered the house."
"But," Burger pointed out, "only for the purpose of testing his recollection, and not for the purpose of establishing what happened."
"That's all I'm asking him so far."
"Very well," Burger said. "With the understanding that your examination is limited for that purpose, I will make no objection."
Mason turned to Colemar.
"Now," he said, "if a man were wearing a mask, it would be because he wished to conceal the distinctive portions of his face, wouldn't it?"
"That question, Counselor," said Judge Winters, "is argumentative."
"I am not going to object," Burger said. "I am going to give Counsel a free hand."
"Thank you," Perry Mason said. "The questions are preliminary. I merely wanted to point out one or two things to the witness in order to prepare a preliminary foundation for some of the questions I intend to ask later."
"Go ahead, Counselor," Judge Winters said, "in view of the fact that the prosecution is making no objection."
"Did it impress you as improbable," Mason asked, "that a man, using a mask to cover the distinctive portions of his countenance, would exhibit an empty eye socket through that mask, thereby disclosing the most distinctive portion of his features, to wit, the fact that one eye was missing?"
"I'm sure I don't know, sir," Colemar said.
"I'm merely asking you," Mason said, "if that portion of Miss Fenwick's story did not impress you at the time as being unreasonable."
"I don't think so. No, sir."
"Now, obviously," Perry Mason went on, "the fatal shot was fired from a gun which was concealed under a blanket and a quilt, thereby muffling the sound, isn't that correct?"
"That was what I gathered from my inspection of the premises, sir."
"It is perfectly obvious," Mason said, "that a masked man could not have entered Mr. Basset's study carrying a blanket and a quilt folded over his arm, and got close enough to his victim to have fired a shot, without having alarmed Mr. Basset. Isn't that true?"
"I would suppose so."
"Yet, from the position in which Mr. Basset's body was found, it appeared that he had been sitting at his desk and had simply slumped forward when the shot was fired. He had made no struggle, had not pulled the gun which was in a shoulder holster. Isn't that correct?"
"Your Honor," Burger interrupted, "these questions are plainly argumentative and speculative. This witness is not an expert and…"
Perry Mason smiled urbanely.
"I think," he said, "that Counsel is entirely correct." A commotion took place in the back of the courtroom. Men swirled about into little, grunting eddies of human flotsam. Perry Mason raised his voice so that he held the attention of the Court.
"Your Honor will understand," he said, "that this witness has definitely placed both of the defendants in compromising positions. I feel, therefore, that I am entitled to examine him as to his motives, and…"
The disturbance in the back of the courtroom grew in volume, A man's voice said, "We're officers. Make way!"
Judge Winters pounded his gavel and looked at the back of the courtroom, his facial expression showing judicial irritation vying with human curiosity.
Burger jumped to his feet.
Perry Mason, already on his feet, gave Burger no chance to be heard. He raised his own voice and shouted. "Your Honor, I demand that I shall have the undivided attention of this witness and of the Court. If for any reason this is impossible, I demand that this witness be withdrawn from the stand until I have an opportunity to examine him without having the attention of both the witness and the Court distracted."
Burger said smoothly, "If the Court please. I was going to suggest that same thing. An unavoidable interruption is taking place. I was going to suggest the witness be withdrawn…"
Judge Winters banged with his gavel repeatedly.
"Order!" he shouted. "Or I'll clear the courtroom."
"I'm an officer," a man from the back of the courtroom said.
"I don't care who you are," Judge Winters shouted. "You'll be fined for contempt of court. Court is in session."
"May it please the Court," Burger insisted with courtesy, but with his voice showing a very definite firmness, "I am perfectly willing for this witness to be withdrawn. In fact, I shall ask that he be withdrawn. A most important witness is entering the courtroom. I desire to examine this witness, and when I have examined her, I think I will not need to call any more witnesses. Except, perhaps, as to Mrs. Basset's complicity in the crime. I think this witness will definitely clinch the case of the prosecution against Brunold."
"And I object to that statement as improper, as argumentative, and assign it as misconduct," Mason shouted.
Burger, his face coloring, exclaimed, "Just throwing up a smoke screen in order to divert attention from yourself. You'll have plenty to worry about in a moment…"
"Order!" Judge Winters interrupted. "I'll have order in this courtroom, and I'll have no more personalities between Counsel. Be quiet or I'll clear the courtroom!"
A measure of silence descended upon the court. Burger, his face flushed, said in a choking voice, "Your Honor, I forgot myself. I beg the Court's pardon…"
"Your apology is not accepted," Judge Winters said sternly. "This Court has cautioned you before about engaging in personalities with Counsel. Now, what is it you wish?"
Burger controlled himself with a visible effort. His voice was strained and tense.
"I wish to withdraw Mr. Colemar from the stand in order to place this other witness on the stand. I would, however, like to have a few moments' recess."
"If," Mason said, "Counsel wants to put this witness on the stand, he should be willing to do it without interrogating her first and in private."
"Your Honor," Burger protested, "this is a hostile witness. She has absented herself from the jurisdiction of the court. I will have to handle her as a hostile witness. But her information is of the greatest value."
"You are referring to Hazel Fenwick?" asked Judge Winters.
"Yes, your Honor."
Judge Winters nodded his head.
"You, Mr. Colemar, may leave the stand. Let Miss Fenwick come forward."
"Those men will have to make way, your Honor. The aisles are crowded," Burger pointed out.
"Clear the aisles."
"If we might have a few moments' recess," Burger pleaded.
Judge Winters hesitated a moment, then said, "The court will take a five minute recess."
Two officers came pushing their way down the aisle, a woman held between them, her face white.
Judge Winters, rising from behind the bench, stared curiously at her for a moment, then strode through the blackcurtained doorway into his chambers.
Every eye in the courtroom turned toward the slender, wellformed, darkhaired young woman.
She flashed one pleading, anguished glance at Perry Mason, then swiftly averted her eyes. The officers pushed her forward. Someone held open the gate in the mahogany rail, and she entered the space reserved for the lawyers.
Burger approached her with an ingratiating smile. Spectators in the courtroom craned their necks eagerly forward, trying to see what took place. Those who could not see tried to listen. There was none of that buzzing hum of excited conversation which usually characterizes the recesses taken during an important murder trial. There was only the slight rustling motion which came from bodies leaning forward and the sound of people breathing.
Burger looked about him appraisingly, then took Thelma Bevins by the arm, piloted her to a corner of the courtroom near the court reporter's desk, and started whispering to her.
She shook her head doggedly. Burger glowered at her, shot forth a barrage of whispered comments, then apparently asked her some question, She half looked at Perry Mason, but caught herself before she had completely swung her head toward the attorney, looked back at Burger and clamped her lips shut.
Burger's hoarse threat was audible to those sitting in the front row of the courtroom chairs.
"By God," he said, "if you try that stunt, I'll put you on the witness stand under oath and make you talk. This is a preliminary examination. Whatever you have to say in connection with it will be material. I'll prosecute you for perjury if you lie, and the Judge will jail you for contempt of court if you don't talk."
Her lips remained closed.
Burger's face took a darker shade. He glared across the courtroom at Perry Mason, who, urbanely nonchalant, was lighting a cigarette.
Burger took a watch from his pocket and said, in that same hoarse voice, "I'm giving you one more chance. You have just sixty seconds to talk, and talk straight."
He stood staring at his watch. Thelma Bevins, standing very straight, stared past him, her eyes fixed disdainfully upon distance, her face very white, her lips clamped together.
An enterprising newspaper reporter, taking advantage of the fact that court was not in session, focused his camera, raised a flashlight bulb, and shot a picture—a picture which showed Thelma Bevins, grim and defiant, Burger holding his watch, belligerent and impatient, while, in the background, Perry Mason, watching them with an expression of sardonic humor on his face, was puffing a cigarette.
Burger whirled on the reporter and shouted, "You can't do that!"
"Court ain't in session," the reporter said, turning and pushing his way through the crowd with his prized picture.
Burger snapped his watch in his pocket.
"Very well," he told Thelma Bevins, "you've made your bed. Now you can lie in it."
She gave no sign that she had heard him, but stood staring, as rigid as though she had been carved from marble.
Judge Winters reentered the courtroom from his chambers, ascended to his seat on the raised dais, and said, "Court will reconvene. Are you gentlemen ready to resume the trial?"
Perry Mason drawled, "Quite ready, your Honor."
Burger's face showed rage. He said, "Hazel Fenwick, take the stand."
The woman did not move.
"You heard me!" Burger shouted. "You're to take the stand. Hold up your right hand and be sworn, and then sit on that chair."
"My name is not Hazel Fenwick."
"What is your name?"
"Thelma Bevins."
"All right, then, Thelma Bevins. Hold up your right hand to be sworn, and then take the witness stand."
She hesitated for a moment, then held up her right hand. The clerk administered the oath. She stepped to the witness chair and sat down.
"What's your name?" Burger said, in a loud tone of voice.
"Thelma Bevins."
"Did you ever go under the name of Hazel Fenwick?"
She hesitated.
Perry Mason's voice was suave and somewhat patronizing.
"Now, Miss Bevins," he said, "if you don't want to answer that question, you don't have to."
Burger whirled to him and said, "Are you now appearing as this young woman's attorney?"
"Since you ask it, yes."
"That," Burger said, "puts you in a very questionable position, particularly in view of the question which has arisen as to your connection with her absenting herself from the state."
Mason bowed and said, "Thank you, Counselor. I'm quite capable of estimating the consequences of my own acts. I repeat, Miss Bevins, you don't need to answer that question."
"But she does need to answer it," Burger said, facing back toward the witness and pointing his finger at her. "You have to answer that question. It's a pertinent question, and I demand an answer."
Judge Winters nodded and said, "It happens, Counselor Mason, that it rests with the Court to say what questions shall be answered and what shall not be answered. This is a pertinent question, and I order the young woman to answer it. In the event she does not, I will be forced to hold her in contempt of court."
Perry Mason smiled reassuringly at Thelma Bevins.
"You don't need to answer it." he said.
Judge Winters gave an exclamation. Burger whirled to face Perry Mason, with his exasperation showing on his countenance.
Perry Mason went on in the same tone of voice, as though he had merely paused in the middle of a sentence, "… if you feel that answering the question would tend to incriminate you. All you need to do, Miss Bevins, is to say, 'I refuse to answer upon the ground of my constitutional privilege that the answer might incriminate me. When you have once said that, no power on earth can make you answer the question."
Thelma Bevins flashed him a smile and said, "I refuse to answer the question upon the ground of my constitutional privilege that the answer might incriminate me."
A deadlocked silence fell upon the group clustered about the witness chair. At length, Burger sighed. The sigh was an eloquent acknowledgment of defeat.
He turned once more toward Thelma Bevins.
"You," he said, "were in the Basset residence at the time when Hartley Basset was murdered, weren't you?"
She glanced at Perry Mason.
"Refuse to answer the question," Mason said.
"How can an answer to such a question incriminate her?" Burger asked of Judge Winters.
Mason shrugged his shoulders and said, "I think, if I understand my law correctly, that is for the witness to decide for herself. It may be that an explanation might be more incriminating than an answer."
Thelma Bevins, taking her cue from Perry Mason's remarks, smiled. "At any rate, I refuse to answer the question, which should settle the point."
Judge Winters cleared his throat, but said nothing. Burger frowned, then plunged savagely into another line of attack.
"You know Perry Mason?" he asked.
Judge Winters, leaning forward, said with judicial solemnity, "There certainly is nothing in an answer to that question, either one way or the other, which could be incriminating. The Court, therefore, directs you to directs you to answer the question."
"Yes," she said.
"Did you go to Nevada at the suggestion of Perry Mason?"
She glanced in a bewildered manner toward Perry Mason.
Mason said, "I am also going to instruct the witness not to answer that question upon the ground of her constitutional rights, but, for the benefit of Court and Counsel, I will state that I am the one who suggested this young lady go to Reno, and that I paid her fare to Reno."
Had the district attorney been struck across the face with a wet towel, he could not have shown greater surprise.
"You what?" he asked.
"Paid this young lady's fare to Reno, and suggested that she go there," Perry Mason said. "Also, I paid her expenses while she was there."
"And you're appearing as attorney for this young woman?" Burger asked.
"Yes."
"And you refuse to allow her to answer any questions?"
"I refuse to allow her to answer the questions which you have so far asked, and I do not think I will allow her to answer any questions you may ask."
Burger faced the witness again.
"How long have you known Richard Basset?" he asked.
"Refuse to answer that question," Mason said, "upon the ground that the answer may incriminate you."
Judge Winters leaned forward to stare down at Perry Mason.
"Counselor," he said, "the Court is beginning to believe that you are instructing this witness not to answer questions upon the ground that the answers may incriminate her, not because you feel the answers actually may incriminate her, but because you feel that the answers may incriminate you. The Court is going to give you an opportunity to be heard upon that subject and, if it appears that such is the case, the Court is going to take drastic steps."
"I am to be given an opportunity to be heard?" Perry Mason asked.
"Yes. Certainly," Judge Winters remarked with dignity.
"Very well," Perry Mason said; "under those circumstances, it becomes necessary for me to make a statement which I hoped I would not have to make.
"On the night Hartley Basset was murdered, a young woman was waiting in one of the outer offices. While she was waiting there, and at a time which was apparently immediately after the murder had been committed, a man appeared in the room. His face was covered with a mask made from carbon paper. Two eye holes had been torn in this mask. Through one of these eye holes was visible an empty eye socket."
Judge Winters said sharply, "Counselor, has this anything to do with this young woman, or her reason for not answering questions?"
Perry Mason said frankly, "Your Honor, that is not the question. The question is why I am advising this young woman not to answer questions. I am about to answer that point, and I can assure your Honor that when I have finished, I feel certain your Honor will see that everything I am now saying is pertinent, although some of it may perhaps be argumentative."
"Very well," Judge Winters remarked; "go ahead."
"The young woman screamed. The man struck at her. She tore at the mask and ripped it off. She was able to see his features. Because of a peculiar lighting arrangement, the man couldn't see her features. He struck at her again, knocked her unconscious, and probably thought he had killed her. Then he fled. Now, your Honor, that young woman is the only living person, so far as we know, who has seen the face of the man who left that room immediately after the murder had been committed."
"Well," Judge Winters said, "your own argument convinces me, Counselor, that it is a most serious offense to try and suppress that evidence, and a doubly serious offense to spirit such a witness from the jurisdiction of the court."
"I am not discussing that point at the present time," Mason said. "I am merely explaining why I have instructed this young woman not to answer questions upon the ground that they will incriminate her."
"This," Judge Winters said, "is a most amazing situation, Counselor."
"I do not claim that it isn't," Mason remarked. "I am merely seeking to make the explanation that you said you would give me an opportunity to make."
"Very well. Go ahead and make it."
"It will be obvious," Perry Mason said, "that the mask was rather an extemporaneous affair. The man who entered Basset's room came prepared to do murder. He came prepared to shoot, and yet had taken precautions so that the gun wouldn't make a noise which would be heard. In other words, he had the gun concealed under a blanket and a quilt, which served the double purpose of concealing the weapon from his victim, and also muffling the noise of the shot. That shows premeditation. He must also have prepared, in advance, a typewritten suicide note to leave in Basset's typewriter."
"You are now." Judge Winters said, frowning, "arguing against your client in the murder case."
Perry Mason's voice remained urbane.
"I am now, your Honor, patiently trying to make the explanation which you requested of me, the explanation of my position in refusing to allow this young woman to answer questions."
"But you are violating legal ethics in turning against the client whom you are representing in the murder case."
"I don't need this Court," Perry Mason said, "to instruct me as to the ethics of my profession or my duties to my client."
"Very well," Judge Winters remarked, his face turning several shades darker, "go ahead with your explanation, and be brief. Unless it is satisfactory, you will be held in contempt."
"Unfortunately," Mason said, "the explanation must be complete in order to be any explanation at all. I am calling the Court's attention to several significant details. One of these is that, had the man planned to leave by the outer office after the murder had been committed, he would have prepared his mask in advance. The crime shows premeditation. The escape does not. The mask was hastily constructed. It was constructed from materials which lay at his hand after the murder had been committed.
"Now then, your Honor, it is my contention that this whole plan of escape, this plan of exhibiting a masked face with one eye socket, was hatched in the brain of the murderer after the murder had been committed, for the simple reason that after the murder had been committed he recognized the potential significance of the glass eye which the victim was holding in his hand.
"It is obviously impossible that this glass eye should have dropped accidentally from the murderer's eye socket, or that it could have been grabbed by Basset during a struggle. A glass eye must be deliberately removed if it is a wellfitted glass eye. This was a wellfitted glass eye. Therefore, why should the murderer have deliberately removed his glass eye and deliberately exhibited the empty eye socket to a witness? There is only one reason, your Honor, and that is that the murderer felt certain no one knew about his artificial eye, but that he knew one of the suspects who would be questioned by the police did have an artificial eye, and probably suspected that the glass eye which the dead man held in his hand was the property of this suspect."
"All of this," Judge Winters said impatiently, "is merely argumentative. It is the type of argument you would make to the Court to keep your clients from being bound over. Although, I may say, Counselor, that your comments about deliberation and premeditation on the part of the murderer go far toward influencing this Court in favor of the prosecution, you are not confining yourself to the explanation which you were called upon to make. You are merely arguing."
Perry Mason bowed slightly and said, "I was about to state that when this young woman, who was the only one who could identify this man, arose from her couch, she staggered against a door and flung up her hands to brace herself. Her hands pressed against a piece of plate glass in the doorway. It occurred to me that this young woman had, therefore, left a set of fingerprints. Acting under my instructions, detectives developed those latent fingerprints, and they were classified.
"A classification of those fingerprints showed that the young woman in question is very much wanted by the police as a female Bluebeard. She's been in the habit of marrying husbands, and the husbands have developed a habit of dying within a few weeks or a few months after the marriage. In every such instance the woman has inherited property and has gone on to another marriage."
Judge Winters stared at Perry Mason in shocked, incredulous silence. Burger, the district attorney, slowly sat down, took a few deep breaths, then as slowly got to his feet. His eyes were wide with astonishment.
"We find," Perry Mason went on urbanely, "that the police have developed several cases to a point where they can virtually prove murder. This young woman secretly married Richard Basset. That marriage was bigamous. She had one husband living—that is, she had at least one husband living, probably others. The reason this particular husband was left alive was that he had lied to her about his property when he married her, and had refused to take out any insurance in her favor. Therefore, he wasn't worth killing.
"I have the proof of all of these matters. I have in this envelope a complete set of documents giving the criminal record of the young lady in question. It gives me great pleasure to hand these documents, together with photographic copies of the fingerprints left on the plate glass of the doorway, to the Prosecutor in this action.
"Now, then, your Honor, I defy even the Prosecutor in this case to intimate that in advising this woman not to answer questions upon the ground that the answers will tend to incriminate her, I have not exercised my rights as an attorney."
Burger took the envelope which Perry Mason handed him. His fingers were awkward, so great was his surprise.
Judge Winters stroked his chin for a moment, then said slowly, "Counselor, this Court has never heard such an astounding statement coming from the lips of an attorney, betraying the interest of a client whom he is supposed to represent. The Court simply cannot understand such a statement. The Court appreciates of course, that some of your remarks consist of facts which you have learned and which probably it is your duty to communicate to the officers, but the manner in which this statement has been made, the phraseology in which it has been couched, and the time at which it was made, all tend to militate against this young woman's interests. And yet you are appearing as her attorney."
Perry Mason nodded, and said, almost casually, "Naturally, your Honor, I didn't want to make the statement, and wouldn't have done it unless the Court had forced me to do so, but you insisted that I was advising this young woman not to answer questions upon the ground that the answers would incriminate her, merely because I wanted to protect myself instead of her. I think your Honor will now see that I knew what I was doing."
Judge Winters started to say something, but he was interrupted by Burger, who lunged to his feet, holding in his right hand a photograph of a woman's full face and profile, below which appeared a printed description and a set of fingerprints.
He held in his other hand a photographic print of a set of fingerprints. He shook both papers at Perry Mason.
"Are these," he demanded of Perry Mason, "the fingerprints that were left on that doorway?"
"That is a photograph of the fingerprints, yes."
"And, do they correspond identically with the fingerprints appearing on this document which I hold in my right hand?"
"They do," Mason said.
"Then," shouted Burger, shaking the paper at Perry Mason, "some hocuspocus has been practiced here, because the photograph of this female Bluebeard isn't the photograph of this young woman at all!"
Perry Mason smiled serenely at him.
"That," he said, "is something you can tell the Grand Jury."
Pandemonium broke loose in the courtroom.