The Case of the Singing Skirt pm-63

by Erle Stanley Gardner

  "Yes."

  "All right," Mason said, "I'm going to put it to you directly. Didn't you at that time take possession of one of the guns in The Big Barn? Now remember, you're under oath."

  "What do you mean by 'take possession'?"

  "I'm asking you," Mason said, "if you didn't arrange with Sadie Bradford to pick up one of the guns and turn it over to you."

  "Just a moment, Your Honor," Hamilton Burger said. "This is getting far afield. This is not proper crossexamination. It is-"

  Judge Keyser, leaning forward looking at the witness's face, said suddenly, "I think it is. The Court wants an answer to that question. Did you or did you not, Mr. Ellis?"

  The witness shifted his position once more, moistened his lips with the tip of his tongue, said finally, "Yes, I did."

  "And," Mason said, "didn't you kill your wife with that gun? Then didn't you arrange with Sadie Bradford to put that gun in the baggage of this defendant while the defendant was in the powder room? Thereafter didn't the defendant tell you that she had consulted me? Didn't you therefore on Wednesday morning examine the gun which was in the defendant's possession and find that it was not the gun that you had planted? Didn't you thereupon surreptitiously remove the gun the defendant had in her baggage on Wednesday, go down to your yacht and fire another bullet from that gun into the dead body of your wife? Then didn't you surreptitiously return that gun to the defendant's bag? Didn't you do all of this without her knowledge before bodyguards had been employed to protect the defendant, all the time assuring her of your great love and devotion and telling her that you would arrange to marry her as soon as the necessary arrangements could be made, but swearing her to complete and utter secrecy?"

  "Your Honor, Your Honor," Hamilton Burger shouted, "this is the height of absurdity! This is the most fantastic, preposterous idea ever promulgated by counsel in an attempt to save his own skin! It is-"

  "It is," Judge Keyser interrupted in low, level tones, "a question which certainly tends to show the bias of the witness. Under the circumstances I am going to permit it. The witness will answer the question."

  White to the lips, Helman Ellis said, "I did not."

  There was a sudden commotion in the rear of the courtroom.

  The young woman who came marching determinedly forward said, "I see it all now. That's exactly what he did! He used me as a cat's-paw. I want to surrender and turn state's evidence."

  The bailiff started to pound for silence. One of the officers jumped up to grab the woman, but Judge Keyser restrained the officer with his hand, said, "Silence," to the bailiff, turned to the woman and said, "Who are you?"

  "I'm Sadie Bradford, the hat-check girl," she said. "I realize now exactly what he did. He used me for an accomplice."

  Judge Keyser looked at Perry Mason. The puzzled perplexity in his eyes slowly changed to grudging admiration. "I think," he said, "the Court will, of its own motion, continue this matter until tomorrow morning at ten o'clock, and I suggest that the district attorney endeavor to unscramble this situation before court convenes tomorrow."

  "I insist upon calling Perry Mason as a witness tonight, and in connection with this preliminary examination," Hamilton Burger shouted.

  Judge Keyser smiled at him. "I think, Mr. District Attorney, that on sober second thought you will be glad that you didn't call Mr. Mason. Court has adjourned."

  Judge Keyser got up and left the bench.

  Mason continued to stand. His facial expression gave no indication of his inner thoughts.

  Newspaper reporters, swarming through the gate in the mahogany rail, pelted him with questions. Photographers exploded flash bulbs.

  "No comment," Mason said. "I will reserve any statement until after tomorrow morning at ten o'clock."

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  A weary Hamilton Burger arose, tried to ignore the crowded courtroom and addressed himself to Judge Keyser.

  "If the Court please," he said, "the prosecution moves for the dismissal of the case against Ellen Robb, and in making that motion the prosecution feels it only fair to state to the Court that Helman Ellis has given a signed confession, that Helman Ellis was to some extent infatuated with Ellen Robb. He was also, however, having an affair with Sadie Bradford, the young woman who doubled as hat-check girl and as attendant in the ladies' powder room. Ellis is an opportunist, and he was no longer interested in his wife.

  "It is true that George Anclitas gave Helman Ellis a gun. This gun was kept in Ellis' house. According to Helman Ellis' confession, he secured possession of one of the other guns which was kept behind the bar in The Big Barn for protection against holdups. On Tuesday evening Helman Ellis shot his wife with this gun while they were aboard his yacht, the Cap's Eyes. In order to make it appear that his wife had been defending herself against an assailant, he took the gun which George Anclitas had given him and, after he had murdered his wife, fired a shot into the woodwork near the cabin door, then cocked the gun again and left the cocked and loaded revolver by the dead body of his wife, near her right hand.

  "Helman Ellis then returned to The Big Barn, saw the defendant, and also saw his friend, Sadie Bradford. He persuaded Sadie Bradford to plant the gun with which the murder had been committed in the baggage of Ellen Robb, hoping that it would remain there until it was discovered by the police. Sadie Bradford had no knowledge of the murder. Ellis persuaded her to plant the gun because he said he wanted to have Ellen Robb discharged so he could terminate an affair with her.

  "Later on, through his friend Sadie Bradford, Ellis learned of the altercation which had resulted in the discharge of Ellen Robb and learned that Ellen Robb had telephoned the Surf and Sea Motel for a reservation, stating that she intended to go there for the night. Helman Ellis immediately drove to the motel, waited for Ellen to arrive, and then under the guise of his great affection for her and his desire to help her, first convinced himself that the gun had indeed been planted in Ellen's baggage and then persuaded Ellen that she must under no circumstances admit that she had seen him that evening at the motel or that there was anything between them.

  "Thereafter, according to his confession which we now have reason to accept at its face value, Helman Ellis left the motel, drove directly to the yacht club, loosened the yacht from its mooring, drifted with the tide until he was able to start the motors without anyone at the yacht club knowing the boat had been cast loose. He then took the boat to Catalina Island and caught the morning plane back to the mainland.

  "Knowing that Ellen Robb planned to call on Perry Mason, he made it a point to see her after she had left Mason's office. He walked with her to the place where she was to take the bus to Costa Mesa and got her to describe in detail her visit to Perry Mason's office.

  "When Ellen Robb had told him that Mason had told her to keep the gun in her possession and had done nothing about it, Ellis became suspicious and got Ellen to show him the gun which she was then carrying in her purse.

  "We now come to the interesting part of Helman Ellis' confession which was designed to completely baffle the investigators. The gun which George Anclitas had given to Helman Ellis was not the gun that had the scratch on the front sight. But the gun with which the murder had been committed, and which had been planted in the bag of Ellen Robb, did have that scratch on the front sight. Ellis had a shrewd suspicion that perhaps Mason in an attempt to protect his client had substituted guns, giving her an entirely different gun, and when he inspected the gun which Ellen Robb showed him, he was convinced that this was the case because that gun did not have a scratch on the front sight.

  "Ellis persuaded Ellen Robb that it would be dangerous for her to carry the gun which was then in her purse, on the bus. He said that she might be apprehended for carrying a concealed weapon. He said that Mr. Mason had undoubtedly given her the right advice and that she should return the gun to the bag where she had found it, but that it would be better if she did not carry that gun in her purse since she had no permit. He therefore volunteered to take possess
ion of the gun and return it to her possession later on in the day so that she could then put it back in the bag where she had found it. But he persuaded her that under no circumstances must she tell anyone of his intercession in the matter or of his interest.

  "He then explained to Ellen Robb that he had some business matters to attend to, left her at the bus station, drove at once to an air field where he rented a plane, since he has a flier's license, and flew to Catalina Island. There he again sought out the yacht, unlocked the cabin door, fired a shot from this second gun into the dead body of his wife, locked the cabin door of the yacht, sailed it around to the other side of the island, tied it up to a convenient rock, pointed the yacht out to sea, locked the steering gear in position, started the motor, then untied the doubled rope and let the yacht head out to sea. He then returned to the place where he had left his rented airplane, flew back to Los Angeles, went to the office of Perry Mason and persuaded Perry Mason that Ellen Robb was in danger of attack from Nadine Ellis-knowing that Mason would in all probability hire bodyguards to protect his client.

  "Thereafter Ellis, according to his confession, drove to the Surf and Sea Motel, entering the place through a driveway back of the alley where he would not be noticed. He explained to Ellen Robb that he had done her a great favor in bringing the gun back to her but that she must never mention his connection with the matter. He swore his undying love and affection for her and promised her that they would be married when he could arrange with his wife to get a divorce.

  "Again according to the confession of Ellis, which apparently is true, he did not know about the proscribed area for small boats off Catalina Island. He thought that his yacht would sail out into the ocean until the fuel tanks were exhausted, that then it would probably be capsized during some storm, and sink. He knew that the boat was hardly seaworthy. If, however, anything happened and the boat was discovered, he knew that the body of his wife would contain a bullet fired from a gun which was in the possession of Ellen Robb. And he felt certain that by having arranged the crime as he did, he could give himself a perfect alibi.

  "Now then, if the Court please, that is the gist of the confession of Helman Ellis. I feel it my duty as an officer of the court to disclose that confession at this time in connection with a motion to dismiss the case against Ellen Robb. I feel that she has been victimized and I wish to make this statement so that the facts can be made public."

  Judge Keyser regarded Hamilton Burger thoughtfully. Then his eyes shifted to Perry Mason. "The Court still doesn't understand how it happened that the gun which was originally placed in the defendant's baggage was returned to the possession of George Anclitas."

  Hamilton Burger said wearily, "It seems that Sadie Bradford, while working as attendant in the women's powder room, found this gun on the floor of the powder room at a time when she had momentarily stepped to the door to talk with Helman Ellis. She feels certain that Helman Ellis had placed the gun on the floor, and that when she opened the powder-room door, she had kicked the gun into position under one of the washbowls. She knows that the gun was not there when she stepped to the door. There was no one in the powder room at the time. When she returned from her conversation with Mr. Ellis, the gun was lying there under the washbowl. She therefore picked it up and returned it to its place under the bar, feeling that in so doing she was following the wishes of Helman Ellis.

  "The perplexing point is that Helman Ellis, while confessing the murder, still insists that he had nothing to do with returning that gun to the washroom. However, under the circumstances and in view of the fact that the powder room is ventilated entirely by fans and has no windows, that there is no door to the powder room except the one door where the witness, Sadie Bradford, was standing, it would seem that for some reason which I confess I can't understand at the time, Helman Ellis is continuing to lie about returning that gunand for the life of me," Hamilton Burger blurted, "I can't see why he would lie about it unless it was in an attempt to involve Perry Mason as counsel for the defense.

  "It now appears that Perry Mason acted unconventionally but not illegally. Having been advised that a gun had been planted in a suitcase in the defendant's possession, he had test bullets fired from that gun and gave them to a ballistics expert for checking. In doing this he was quite probably within his rights."

  "I still don't see how the Crowder gun could have been placed in the purse of Ellen Robb unless it was done by her counsel."

  "May I address the Court, Your Honor?" Mason asked.

  "Certainly, Mr. Mason."

  "When my client came to my office and stated that someone had planted a gun in her suitcase, I desired an opportunity to examine that gun," Mason said. "I felt that I was well within my rights in so doing, particularly in view of the fact that there was no indication that any crime had been committed at that time. I substituted a gun from my office in such a way that the defendant would not know there had been any substitution of guns.

  "I feel that any attorney who is confident that someone has attempted to involve his client by planting stolen property in her possession is entitled to take such steps to see to it that in any search of his client's possessions designed to produce that stolen property, the property recovered may not necessarily be the property which was deliberately planted in the possession of the client.''

  "So far so good," Judge Keyser said. "The Court is inclined to agree with you there, although it is certainly an unconventional procedure. The proper procedure would have been to report to the police."

  "That is a matter of expediency and depends upon the circumstances," Perry Mason said.

  "However, as to all the rest of this," Judge Keyser said, "with all of this manipulation of weapons and the fact that it appears a murder had been committed with the weapon which apparently had been planted in the baggage of your client, Mr. Mason, how do you account for subsequent events?"

  "I don't think I have to account for them," Mason said. "I have exonerated my client, I have exposed a murderer. If my methods were unconventional, they were at least effective."

  Judge Keyser smiled.

  Hamilton Burger, his face somewhat red, said, "If there was any possible opportunity for Perry Mason to have been in any way connected with the return of that weapon to the powder room in The Big Barn, I would feel differently about it. As it is, I have only the word of a confessed murderer and his accomplice as to what happened and I am satisfied that regardless of the truth of what has been told me, the situation as disclosed by Sadie Bradford, who has now become a state's witness, is such that it would have been impossible for Perry Mason to have placed that gun where it was found. I feel Helman Ellis entertains a bitter hatred for Perry Mason because of the way Mason interfered with his well-laid plans for murdering his wife. In some way Ellis secured possession of that gun and returned it to the women's powder room, hoping to involve Mr. Mason.

  "Quite obviously, Mr. Mason, who must have acted very unconventionally if not illegally, is not going to betray the confidences of his client. Since my own witnesses say Mr. Ellis must have had that gun in his possession and returned it to the washroom, and since the only witness against Perry Mason is now a self-confessed murderer with a vindictive hatred of counsel, and since it appears counsel's client is innocent, I am convinced that whatever happened it would be impossible to proceed against Perry Mason. If I did so, moreover, I would be questioning the integrity of one of the prosecution's own witnesses and weakening my case against Helman Ellis, who, incidentally, has now repudiated his confession and insists that it was obtained by coercion and promises of immunity."

  Perry Mason said, "If the prosecutor is satisfied that it was impossible for me to have returned that gun, I certainly am not one to contradict him."

  Judge Keyser gave the matter long and earnest thought, then finally shook his head. "This is a situation," he said, "which completely baffles the Court. However, it is now quite apparent that in view of the circumstances as disclosed by the prosecutor, whatever coun
sel did to protect his client who was completely innocent of any wrongdoing, resulted not only in the acquittal of an innocent person but the detection and arrest of the guilty person.

  "Under those circumstances it seems that there is nothing for the Court to do except… dismiss the case against Ellen Robb, release her from custody, and take a recess."

  Judge Keyser arose from the bench, started toward his chambers, paused, glanced thoughtfully at Perry Mason, shook his head and then hurried on into chambers.

  Hamilton Burger, surrounded by reporters anxious to learn the details of Ellis' confession, had no chance to exchange any comments with Perry Mason, and Perry Mason, winking at Della Street, took advantage of the confusion to hurry from the courtroom.

  "How in the world did you know?" Della Street asked him as they descended in the elevator.

  "Because," Mason said, "it was the only thing that could have happened. From the time Ellen Robb got that gun from me she didn't have time to find the yacht, fire a bullet into the body of Nadine Ellis and return to the Surf and Sea Motel. Remember that Drake traced her movements from the bus depot to the motel.

  "The only thing that could have happened was that the boat with the body of Nadine Ellis must have been taken to sea in two installments. First, a night cruise to some isolated cove in Catalina; then, in the second stage, being pointed out to sea and left to run out of fuel. The only place I could think of where the yacht could have made such a two-stage cruise was by stopping at Catalina and, quite obviously, Ellen Robb had no opportunity to get to Catalina on at least two different occasions.

  "Moreover, once I stopped to think of it, I realized that the gun which was found in the cabin with Nadine Ellis must have been planted there after Mrs. Ellis had been killed. One shot had been fired from that gun, and the gun, fully cocked, was lying on the cabin floor near her hand.

  "When a person tries to do accurate shooting with a double-action gun, he quite frequently pulls back the hammer so as to work the mechanism with a simple pull of the trigger, but when one is trying for rapid shots at close range, there is no time to cock the gun manually. Almost invariably, under such circumstances, a person uses the double-action mechanism and in so doing it would be impossible for the gun to have been fully cocked after the first shot had been fired. Therefore I began to suspect the gun had been a plant and if it had been planted, then the bullet fired into the woodwork of the cabin was designed to throw us off the trail.