The Case of the Horrified Heirs pm-75
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“Oh, thank you. Thank you so much. I… I just haven’t any idea how this happened and-“
“Never mind trying to explain over the telephone,” Mason told her. “Don’t say anything to anyone except to tell them to hold you right there, that I’m on my way. How are you fixed for bail? Could you put up bail?”
“I… if it isn’t too high. I have a little property, not much.”
“I’m on my way up,” Mason said. “I want to demand that you be taken before the nearest and most accessible magistrate immediately. Just sit tight.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Perry Mason invaded Virginia Baxter’s nightmare and tore aside the web of unreality and terror.
“The magistrate has fixed bail at five thousand dollars,” Mason said. “Can you raise that?”
“I’d have to draw out all of my checking account and withdraw money from the building and loan.”
“That would be better than waiting in jail,” Mason pointed out. “Now then, I want to know exactly what happened.”
Virginia told him the events of the morning.
“You were on the plane, coming from where?”
“From San Francisco.”
“What had you been doing in San Francisco?”
“I was visiting my aunt. I’ve been to see her several times lately. She’s elderly, not at all well and she’s all alone. She likes my visits.”
“What are you doing? Are you working for a living?”
“Not steadily. I haven’t been regularly employed since Mr. Bannock died. I have taken a few odd jobs.”
“I take it, then, you have some income?” Mason asked.
“Yes,” she said. “Mr. Bannock had no relatives, other than the one brother. He remembered me in his will. He gave me a piece of real property in Hollywood that produces an income and-“
“How long had you been with Bannock?”
“Fifteen years,” she said. “I started working for him when I was twenty.”
“You’ve been married?”
“Yes, once. It didn’t take.”
“Divorced?”
“No. We’re separated, have been for some time.”
“Friendly with your husband?”
“No.”
“What’s his name?”
“ Colton Baxter.”
“You go by the title ‘Miss’?”
“Yes. I think it helps in secretarial employment.”
“Now, you’d been to see your aunt. You got aboard that plane. What about the baggage? Anything unusual about the checking of the baggage?”
“No-Wait a minute, I had to pay excess baggage.”
Mason’s eyes showed swift interest. “You paid excess baggage?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have your receipt?”
“It’s attached to my ticket. That’s in my purse. They took my purse away from me when I was booked.”
“We’ll get it back,” Mason said. “Now then, you were traveling alone?”
“Yes.”
“Remember anything about the person you were seated next to?”
“He was a man of about thirty-two or thirty-three, rather well-dressed but-Well, now that I stop to think of it, he was… well, there was something peculiar about him. He was cold, rather crisp in his manner, not like the ordinary passenger you encounter on those trips. It’s hard to explain what I mean.”
“Would you know him if you saw him again?” Mason asked.
“Yes, indeed.”
“Could you identify him from a photograph?”
“I think so, if it’s a clear photograph.”
“You only had the one suitcase?” Mason asked.
“No, I had a suitcase and an overnight bag, an oblong bag containing cosmetics.”
“What became of that?”
“They took it. The suitcase came through first. The porter picked it up and then picked up the overnight bag. At that moment, a man stepped forward and showed me his identification card and asked me if I had any objections to his taking a quick look in my suitcase because there had been some trouble. Since my baggage had been delayed coming off the plane, I thought that was what he referred to.”
“What did you tell him?”
“I told him what was in the suitcase and that it was all right for him to look.”
“Can you remember anything more about the conversation?”
“Yes. He asked me first if that was my suitcase, and I told him it was, and he asked me if I could establish my ownership by identifying the contents. Then I described the contents, and he asked if it was all right to check.”
Mason frowned thoughtfully, then said, almost casually, “Your baggage, that is, the two pieces together weighed more than forty pounds?”
“Yes. They weighed forty-six pounds taken together, and I paid excess baggage on the six pounds.”
“I see,” Mason said thoughtfully. “You’re going to have to exercise a lot of self-control, and you’re in for a disagreeable experience, but perhaps we can work things out one way or another.”
“What I can’t understand,” she said, “is where the stuff came from and how it could have been placed in my suitcase. Of course, it was late coming off the plane, but one wouldn’t think anyone could tamper with it out there on the field going from the plane to the baggage counter.”
“There were several places it could have been tampered with,” Mason said. “After you checked the suitcase and before it was put on the plane, someone could have opened it.
“We don’t know where it was stored aboard the plane in the baggage compartment. We don’t know whether anyone could have tampered with it in there.
“Then, of course, when it was taken off the plane, there was this delay. That means that the suitcase was probably placed on the ground, waiting for another truck to come along to pick it up. Now, the way those planes are built, the baggage comes out on the other side from the side which has the passenger entrance. While the suitcase was there on the ground, it wouldn’t have been too difficult for someone to have opened it and inserted these packages of narcotics.”
“But why?” she asked.
“There,” Mason said, “is the rub. Presumably someone was trafficking in narcotics. He knew there’d been a tip-off and his baggage was going to be searched, so he put the contraband in your suitcase and then had an accomplice telephone the police that the stuff would be in the suitcase of one Virginia Baxter. He must have been able to describe you, because the officer who was standing there waiting for you to claim your baggage evidently had a good description of you and had you spotted from the time he saw you come down the escalator.”
Mason was thoughtful for a moment, then said, “How about your name? How did you have your suitcase marked? Was there an initial or a name painted on it, or what?”
“There’s a leather baggage tag,” she said, “one that straps around the ring at the handle, and it had my name typed on it, my name and address: 422 Eureka Arms Apartments.”
“All right,” Mason said, “we’ll get you out on bail. I’m going to try and have you brought up on a preliminary hearing just as soon as possible. At least we’ll make the police show their hand.
“I’m satisfied it’s all some sort of a mistake and we may be able to get it cleaned up without much trouble, but you’re going to have to put up with a lot of things.”
“Tell me,” she asked apprehensively, “there was a photographer there. Will there be anything in the newspapers about it?”
“A photographer?” Mason asked.
She nodded.
Mason said grimly, “Then the thing is a lot more sinister than I had at first supposed. It isn’t just a simple mistake. Yes, it will be in the newspapers.”
“My name, address, everything?”
“Name, address and photograph,” Mason said. “Prepare yourself for a picture showing the startled expression on your face and a caption such as: EX-LEGAL SECRETARY ACCUSED IN NARCOTICS CHARGE.”
“But how could the newspaper have had a photographer there?”
“That’s just the point,” Mason said. “Some officers like publicity. In return for publicity, they give some friendly newspaper reporter a tip when they’re going to make an arrest of some young woman who is photogenic.
“The newspapers play up the story, the officer gets his name in the paper with a favorable bit of publicity. Under these circumstances, be prepared to read that the value of the narcotics in your suitcase, at current retail prices, amounted to several thousand dollars.”
Her face showed her dismay.
«And after I'm acquitted,» she asked, «then what will happen?»
«Probably nothing,» Mason said. «Perhaps a few lines on an inside page of a newspaper.»
«I will be aquitted, won't I?» she asked hopefully.
Mason said, «I'm an attorney, not a fortuneteller. We'll do our best and you'll have to let it go at that.»
CHAPTER FIVE
Mason escorted Virginia Baxter to a seat inside the rail of the courtroom.
«Now, don't be nervous,» he said reassuringly.
She said, «That's like telling a cold person not to shiver. I can't help being nervous. I'm shaking like a leaf on the inside, if not on the outside. I feel full of butterflies.»
Mason said, «This is a preliminary hearing. It is usually a matter of routine for the judge to bind a defendant over to the higher court. When he does that, he quite frequently increases the amount of bail. Sometimes he makes the bail almost prohibitive. You're going to have to face that possibility.»
«I just can't raise any more bail, Mr. Mason, that's all, unless I sell my real property at a loss.»
«I know,» Mason said. «I'm just telling you what may happen. However, real property in your name will influence a judge in fixing the amount of bail.»
«You don't hold out much hope of… getting me out on this preliminary hearing?»
«Ordinarily,» Mason said, «the judge binds the defendant over if the prosecutor wants to go ahead with the case in the higher court. Sometimes, of course, we get a break.
«It's almost unheard of to put a defendant on the stand at the time of a preliminary examination, but if I think there's even a faint chance of getting the judge to dismiss the case, I'm going to put you on the stand so he can take a look at you and see the kind of a person you really are.»
«That horrid newspaper story,» she said, «-and that picture!»
«From the city editor's standpoint, it was a wonderful picture,» Mason said. «It showed surprise and consternation on your face and, as far as your case is concerned, the picture may do you some good.»
«But it blasted my reputation,» she said. «My friends are avoiding me in a big way.»
Mason started to say something but checked himself as the door of the judge's chambers opened.
«Stand up,» Mason said.
Every person in the courtroom arose as Judge Cortland Albert took his seat at the bench, then glanced appraisingly at the defendant.
«This is the time heretofore fixed for the preliminary hearing in the case of the People versus Virginia Baxter. Are you ready to proceed?»
«Ready for the defendant,» Mason said.
Jerry Caswell, one of the younger trial deputies who was frequently sent in to handle preliminary hearings and who was eagerly trying to make a record which would attract the attention of his superiors, was on his feet.
«The prosecution,» he announced dramatically, «is always ready!»
He waited a moment, then seated himself.
«Call your first witness,» Judge Albert said.
Caswell called the porter from the airport.
«Are you acquainted with the defendant?»
«Yes, sir. I saw her.»
«On the seventeenth of this month?»
«Yes, sir.»
«You are one of the porters at the airport?»
«Yes, sir.»
«And you make a living from transporting baggage?»
«Yes, sir.»
«Now, did the defendant, on the seventeenth of this month, indicate to you a suitcase?»
«She did. Yes, sir.»
«Would you know that suitcase if you saw it again?»
«I would. Yes, sir.»
Caswell nodded to a police officer who came forward with the suitcase.
«Is that the one?»
«Yes, sir, that's the one.»
«I want that marked 'People's Exhibit A' for identification,» Caswell said.
«So ordered,» the judge ruled.
«And the defendant said that was her suitcase?»
«Yes, sir.»
«Were you present when the suitcase was opened?»
«Yes, sir.»
«What was in the suitcase when it was opened, other than clothes, if anything?»
«There were some packages done up in plastic.»
«How many? Do you know?»
«I didn't count them. There was a goodly number.»
«That's all,» Caswell said. «Cross-examine.»
«The defendant identified this suitcase as being hers?» Mason asked.
«Yes, sir.»
«Did she give you a baggage check?»
«She did. Yes, sir.»
«And you compared the number on the check given you by the defendant with the number on the suitcase?»
«Yes, sir.»
«How many checks did the defendant give you?»
«Actually, she gave me two.»
«What became of the second check?»
«That was for an overnight bag. I got that for her, too.»
«And was that opened?»
«Yes, sir.»
«Now, directing your attention to the suitcase, just prior to the time the suitcase was opened, was there some conversation with a person who identified himself as a police officer?»
«Yes, sir. Officer Jack Andrews showed this young woman his credentials and asked her if that was her suitcase.»
«What did she say?»
«She said it was.»
«And what did Andrews say?»
«He asked her if he could open it.»
«No other conversation?»
«Well, that was the substance of it.»
«I'm not asking you about the substance,» Mason said. «I'm asking you about the conversation itself. Didn't he ask her if she was positive that was her suitcase, and if she could identify the suitcase by describing the articles that were in it?»
«Yes, sir, that's right.»
«And then he asked her to open the suitcase so he could inspect those articles?»
«Yes, sir.»
«And what about the overnight bag? Did he ask her to identify that?»
«He just asked her if it was hers.»
«And she said it was?»
«Yes.»
«And then what happened?»
«He opened it.»
«That's all?»
«Well, of course, afterwards they took her away with them.»
«Now, I call your attention to a photograph in an evening edition of the newspaper published on the seventeenth, and call your attention to this picture of the defendant and the suitcase.»
«Objected to as incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial and not proper cross-examination,» Caswell said.
«It is preliminary only and for the purpose of bringing out part of the res gestae,» Mason said.
«Overruled. I'll hear it,» Judge Albert announced.
«Were you present when this picture was taken?»
«Yes, sir.»
«Did you see the photographer?»
«Yes, sir.»
«Where did he come from?»
«He was hiding behind one of the pillars.»
«And when the suitcase was opened, he came out with his camera?»
«Yes, sir. He darted out from behind that pillar with his cameras all ready, and boom-boom-boom he took three pictures.»
«And then what?»
«If the Court please,» Caswell said, «we move to strike out all this testimony about the photographer. Not only is it improper cross-examination but it is incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial. It serves no useful purpose.»
«It serves a very useful purpose, if the Court please,» Mason rejoined. «It shows that this was no mere casual search. It shows that the officer had planned the search and anticipated what he was going to find. He had tipped off a friendly newspaper reporter and, if the Court will read the article in this newspaper, it will be seen that the reporter endeavored to reciprocate by seeing that the officer had proper publicity in return for the favor extended.»
Judge Albert smiled very slightly.
«Your Honor, I object. I object to any such statement,» Caswell said.
«It is merely by way of argument,» Mason said.
«An argument for what purpose?» Caswell asked.
«To show the relevancy of the testimony,» Mason said. «To show that the officer was acting under some specific tip, some bit of information which had been given to him; and the defense proposes to find out what that information was and who gave it to him.»
A look of fleeting dismay appeared on Caswell's features.
Judge Albert smiled and said, «I thought I appreciated the underlying purpose of the cross-examination when counsel started asking the questions. The motion to strike is denied.
«Do you have any further cross-examination, Mr. Mason?»
«No, Your Honor.»
«Redirect?»
«No, Your Honor,» Jerry Caswell said.
«Call your next witness.»
Caswell said, «I call Detective Jack Andrews.
«What is your name?» Caswell asked after Andrews had been sworn.
«Jackman, J-A-C-K-M-A-N, Andrews. I am known generally as Jack Andrews, but Jackman is my name.»
«Directing your attention to the suitcase which has been marked for identification as People's Exhibit A, when did you first see that suitcase?»
«When the defendant pointed it out to the porter who has just testified.»
«And what did you do?»
«I approached her and asked her if that was her suitcase.»
«And then what?»
«I asked her if she had any objection to my looking in the suitcase and she said she did not.»