The Case of the Counterfeit Eye пм-7

by Эрл Стенли Гарднер

  "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.

  Chapter 17

  Judge Winters tried for three minutes to restore order in the court, and failed. He finally took a tenminute recess and ordered bailiffs to clear the courtroom.

  A bailiff appeared at Mason's elbow.

  "Judge Winters would like to see you and the district attorney in his chambers," the bailiff said.

  Mason nodded, accompanied the bailiff to the Judge's chambers. A moment later, the district attorney entered.

  Burger glowered across at Mason and became frigidly dignified. "
You wish to see me, Judge?" he asked.

  "I want to discuss the very peculiar development of this situation with you gentlemen," he said.

  "I have nothing whatever to discuss with Perry Mason," Burger announced. "Whether this woman is or is not Hazel Fenwick has nothing to do with Perry Mason's appearance before the Grand Jury."

  There was a knock at the door.

  "Come in," Burger called.

  Judge Winters looked up in frowning annoyance. The door pushed open, and Sergeant Holcomb entered the room.

  "You'll pardon me for taking liberties, Judge," Burger said, "but, under the circumstances, I have asked Sergeant Holcomb to place Perry Mason in custody."

  "Custody for what?" Mason asked.

  "Tampering with witnesses," Burger snapped.

  "But she wasn't a witness. She didn't know one single thing about the case. She hadn't even followed it in the newspapers. She was a total stranger."

  "You sent her to Reno to masquerade as Hazel Fenwick, thereby assisting the real Hazel Fenwick to escape."

  "I did nothing of the sort. Hazel Fenwick had already made her escape before I even met Thelma Bevins. In view of the information I gave you in court, it should be very apparent why Hazel Fenwick had concealed herself. Doubtless the police will apprehend her. Now that they know more about her, they will be on the watch for her.

  "And, as for advising this young woman to masquerade as Hazel Fenwick, I did nothing of the sort. I sent a man to serve some papers in Reno. I sent this woman to accept service of those papers. At the time the service was made, she told the man specifically and particularly that she was not Hazel Fenwick, that her name was Thelma Bevins, but that she was willing to accept service of the papers.

  "For reasons of my own, I desired to have it appear that service of the papers had been made in Reno, Nevada. What those reasons are can have nothing to do with this case."

  "But why did you do it?" Judge Winters said sternly. "That's the thing I'm getting at. I don't care to discuss this matter in public until after I've talked it over with you privately. But it seems to me that you have deliberately used the whole process of this Court to make everyone in connection with this case appear ridiculous, doubtless hoping to secure some advantage. If that is true, you have been guilty of a flagrant contempt of court and I intend to fine you and imprison you."

  "I have done nothing," Mason said. "I didn't bring this young woman here. In fact, under my instructions, she refused voluntarily to leave Nevada. You will doubtless find that because of connivance between the district attorney and the Nevada authorities, she was virtually forced to leave the state and come here."

  "She was a vital witness. I had a court subpoena for her, and the subpoena was served on her," Burger said.

  "Exactly," Mason told him. "You are the one that brought her here. You were the one who assumed she was Hazel Fenwick. I didn't bring her here. I didn't make any such assumption. I didn't put her on the stand."

  "But what did you hope to gain by doing it?" Judge Winters asked. "Why did you advise her not to answer questions?"

  "I'll answer that question," Perry Mason told him, "only upon condition that I may answer it fully and completely and without being interrupted."

  "I make no promises," Burger said, "except that you are going before the Grand Jury and that in the meantime you are going to consider yourself in custody."

  "I," Judge Winters said, "will be glad to hear your explanation. I feel that it is due me and, perhaps, is due you. You have the reputation for being a very clever and adroit attorney. There is usually some reason back of what you do. I would be glad to know what it was in this case."

  "Very well, Judge," Mason said. "Everyone in this room has lost sight of the fact that there is one man who had reason to fear Hazel Fenwick more than any other mortal on earth. That man is the murderer of Hartley Basset.

  "He didn't know what Hazel Fenwick looked like. Therefore, if the district attorney should produce some woman who apparently was Hazel Fenwick and put her on the stand, that man would think that the jig was up. He would naturally resort to flight.

  "I think you are all overlooking the significance of my comments in court to the effect that Brunold could not have committed this crime because he would not have deliberately placed his own eye in Hartley Basset's hand after the murder had been committed. Nor, on the other hand, could the eye have been snatched from its socket by Hartley Basset, nor even if we are to suppose that it could, would Brunold have deliberately masked the balance of his face, but left visible the empty socket, which would have been one of the most sure means of identification.

  "On the other hand, if some other person in that household had an artificial eye and that fact was not suspected by any of the other persons in the house, he would have gone to great lengths to have made it appear that the crime was committed by a person who had only one eye, feeling that by so doing he was directing suspicion to Brunold.

  "I tried to get photographs of every one of the persons in that house, facing a strong light. As you are doubtless aware, it is very difficult to detect an artificial eye where the eye is well made, matched and fitted, and where the socket has not in any wise been destroyed. However, a natural eye adjusts itself to light, the pupil dilating or contracting, while an artificial eye obviously cannot make such adjustments. Therefore, a person photographed facing a bright light would show pupils of unequal diameter if he had one glass eye.

  "It happened that Colemar refused to pose for a photograph. That made me quite suspicious of Colemar. I am now wondering if Colemar didn't think the young woman who was placed on the stand by the district attorney was the missing witness who could positively identify him and that, as soon as the legal wrangling between counsel was over, she would unhesitatingly do so. I think, therefore, it might be well to check up upon the present whereabouts of Mr. Colemar."

  At that moment the telephone rang, and Judge Winters picked up the receiver, placed it to his ear and said, "Just a moment." He nodded to Perry Mason.

  "A young lady," he said, "wishes to speak with you."

  Mason put the receiver to his ear and heard Della Street 's voice coming over the wire.

  "Cheerio, Chief," she said. "Are you still out of jail?"

  He grinned into the transmitter and said, "Half and half—half in and half out."

  "Well," she said, "I was just a little bit dumb. I didn't realize what you were up to with that Bevins girl until after I heard you advising her not to answer questions. Then I saw a great white light."

  "Good girl," he told her.

  "So," she said, "I made up my mind that I'd sort of stick around and see if any of the witnesses found occasion to leave the courtroom rather abruptly or surreptitiously."

  "Good girl," he repeated. "Did you get any customers?"

  "I'll say."

  "Who?"

  "Colemar."

  "Did you tail him?"

  "Yes."

  "That," he told her, frowning, "was dangerous. You shouldn't have done it."

  "You gave me a signal," she said. "I wasn't certain you meant everything was under control or whether you wanted me to take a tumble to your technique and trail along."

  "Where is he now, Della?"

  "He's at the Union Airport. A plane leaves in twentytwo minutes. He has a ticket for it."

  "Be sure," he told her, "that you keep out of sight. The man's desperate."

  "How's the case coming?" she asked.

  "All finished," he told her. "You beat it up to the office. I'll meet you there."

  "I want to see this thing through," she said. "You wait there in the Judge's chambers and let me call you if he takes another runout powder."

  "I don't want you hanging around. He may recognize you at any time and…"

  She laughed lightly, said, "Cheerio, Chief," and hung up.

  Perry Mason consulted his wristwatch and looked at Sergeant Holcomb.

  "It may interest you gentlemen to know that Colemar is at t
he Union Airport and will be there for approximately twentyone minutes. It occurs to me, Sergeant, that if you made certain your gun was loaded you might make a rather spectacular arrest."

  Holcomb looked at Burger. Burger frowned thoughtfully, then nodded his head. Sergeant Holcomb gained the door in three swift strides. Perry Mason, lounging on the arm of the chair, grinned across at Burger.

  "Mason," the district attorney asked, somewhat sheepishly, "why the devil did you put on all that horse play?"

  "It wasn't horse play," Mason insisted. "I ran into a bum break, that's all. The witness who could have cleared my client was wanted by the cops. She had to take a runout powder. Naturally, I got the credit for her disappearance and it left my clients in a spot. I could probably have trapped Colemar on crossexamination, but I wanted as many strings to my bow as I could get. So I tried this stunt. I knew that if I could make him think the Fenwick woman had been returned and was going to be a witness against him he'd either have to kill her or resort to flight. He couldn't very well have killed her while she was in a courtroom surrounded by officers. So I put on an act to make him think the jig was up, but that he was going to have a few hours of grace while a bunch of lawyers were wrangling, back and forth. I figured he thought I really had spirited the girl away and that it would take a Grand Jury hearing to make her talk. That would give him a chance to run away."

  "Would you," asked Judge Winters, "mind explaining to me exactly what happened? I find myself very much in the dark."

  Mason nodded. "Colemar," he said, "was the partner of Harry McLane in an embezzlement. They embezzled money from Basset. Brunold was the father of Mrs. Basset's child. He'd spent years hunting for her after she had disappeared. When he found her, she was married. He called on her. The chauffeur, who was acting for Basset as spy, almost caught him. Brunold wanted her to leave Basset. She wasn't decided as to what she was going to do, but she did know that if Hartley Basset ever caught Brunold in her room, he would make a terrific scandal which would affect the boy. That was one of the things she didn't want. So she spirited Brunold out of the room. He dropped his glass eye when he was getting out—not the one he was wearing, but an extra one he carried in his pocket.