«What do you mean it had lost a headlight?» Caswell asked.
«Well, one headlight wasn't working.»
«Then what?»
«Then I proceeded very slowly and cautiously until I found a place where I could turn around. I then went back down the road. There was a seafood restaurant about three hundred yards from the turnoff, and I stopped at this restaurant and telephoned the California highway patrol. I reported the accident. They said some motorist had already reported it and they had a radio car on the way.»
«You didn't go back to see if the other car had been seriously damaged or any person was injured?»
«No, sir, I'm sorry to say that I didn't. I felt that the first thing to do was to notify the highway patrol. I felt that if any persons were injured, other motorists who had been coming along the highway would see the damaged car, stop and give aid.»
«Cross-examine,» Caswell said.
«Could you see the car ahead well enough to tell who was driving, whether it was a man or a woman, or how many people were in it?»
«There was only one person in it. I couldn't tell whether it was a man or a woman.»
«Thank you,» Mason said. «That's all.»
Caswell said, «I will now call Gordon Kelvin to the stand.»
Kelvin came forward with unhurried dignity, took the oath and testified that he was a brother-in-law of the decedent, Lauretta Trent.
«You have been in the courtroom and heard the testimony of the defendant's statement that she was asked to participate in the forgery of a carbon copy of a will?»
«Yes, sir.»
«What can you tell us about the estate of Lauretta Trent?»
«That is objected to as incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial,» Mason said.
Caswell retorted quickly, «If the Court please, this is a very material matter. I propose to show that the story told by the defendant was a complete fabrication; that it had to be a complete fabrication because the forgery of the carbon copy of a will would have done no good at all. I expect to show by this witness that the decedent, Lauretta Trent, had made a will years before; had given it to this witness in a sealed envelope to be opened at the time of her death; that this envelope was produced and opened and that it contained the last will of Lauretta Trent; that there could be no doubt or ambiguity concerning it and that any socalled carbon copies of other wills would have been completely ineffective.»
«I'll overrule the objection,» Judge Grayson said.
Kelvin said, «I have always been close to my sister-in-law. I am the elder of the two brothers-in-law.
«My sister-in-law, Lauretta Trent, kept her will in a sealed envelope in a drawer in her desk. She told me where it was some four years ago and asked that it be opened in the event of her death.
«After the tragic occurrence of last Wednesday, and knowing that there might be some question about proper procedure in the matter, I communicated with the district attorney's office and, in the presence of an attorney, a banker, and the district attorney, this envelope was opened.»
«What did it contain?»
«It contained a document purporting to be the last will of Lauretta Trent.»
«Do you have that document here?»
«I do.»
«Produce it, please.»
The witness reached in his pocket and produced a folded document.
«You have marked this document in some way so that you can identify it?»
«That document,» Kelvin said, «is marked by my initials on each page, by the initials of Hamilton Burger, the district attorney, by the initials of the banker who was present and the lawyer who was also present.»
«That should identify it,» Judge Grayson said, with a smile. «These, I take it, are your initials written by you, yourself?»
«That's right.»
Judge Grayson inspected the document thoughtfully, then handed it to Perry Mason.
Mason studied the document; passed it back to Caswell.
«I want this introduced in evidence,» Caswell said. «I suggest that since this is the original will, it may be received in evidence and then the clerk may be instructed to make a certified copy which will be substituted in place of the original will.»
«No objection,» Mason said.
Caswell said, «I will now read the will into the record, and then it will be filed until a certified copy can be obtained.»
Caswell read in a tone of ponderous solemnity: «'I, Lauretta Trent, being of sound and disposing mind and memory, state that I am a widow; that I have no children; that the only relatives I have in the world are two sisters, Dianne Briggs and Maxine Kelvin; that my sister, Dianne, is married to Boring Briggs and Maxine is married to Gordon Kelvin.
«'I further state that these four people are living in my house with me and have been for some years; that I am very much attached to my two brothers-in-law, as much so as though they were brothers of mine, and, of course, I have love and affection for my sisters.
«'I further realize, however, that women-and, in particular, my two sisters-do not have the shrewd, innate business ability which would enable them to handle the numerous problems of my estate.
«'I, therefore, appoint and nominate Gordon Kelvin the executor of this my last will.
«'After the specific bequests herein mentioned, I leave all of the rest, residue and remainder of my estate to be divided equally among Dianne and Boring Briggs and Maxine and Gordon Kelvin.'»
Caswell paused impressively as he looked around the quiet courtroom, then turned a page of the will and went on, «'I give, devise and bequeath to my sister, Dianne Briggs, the sum of fifty thousand dollars; to my sister, Maxine Kelvin, a like sum of fifty thousand dollars.
«'There have, however,'» Caswell read, and paused to glance around the courtroom significantly, «'been a few people whose loyalty and devotion have been outstanding.
«'First and foremost, there has been Dr. Ferris Alton.
«'Because he has specialized in internal medicine and does not do surgery, he has locked himself in a branch of the profession which is somewhat underpaid as compared with the relatively remunerative practice of medicine in the field of surgery.'»
Virginia Baxter gripped Mason's leg just above the knee with hard fingertips. «Oh, it's so,» she whispered. «I remember now. I remember typing that. I remember the tribute she made to-«
«Hush,» Mason warned.
Jerry Caswell went on reading. «'Dr. Alton has given me loyal care and is working himself to death, yet has no adequate reserves for retirement.
«'I, therefore, give, devise and bequeath to Dr. Ferris Alton the sum of one hundred thousand dollars.
«'There are two other persons whose loyalty and devotion have made a great impression on me. Those are George Eagan, my chauffeur, and Anna Fritch, who has nursed me whenever I have been sick.
«'I don't care to have my death an event which will transform these people from rags to riches nor, on the other hand, do I want their loyalty to pass unrewarded.
«'I, therefore, give, devise and bequeath to my chauffeur, George Eagan, the sum of fifty thousand dollars, in the hope that he will open up a business of his own with a part of this money as capital and save the balance as a reserve. I also give, devise and bequeath a similar sum of fifty thousand dollars to Anna Fritch.'»
Here Caswell turned the page rather hurriedly as one does when nearing the end of an important document.
«'Should any person, corporation, or otherwise, contest this will or should any person appear claiming that I have a relationship with that person, that he or she is an heir, that I have through inadvertence or otherwise neglected to mention him, I give to such person the sum of one hundred dollars.'
«Now then,» Jerry Caswell said, «that will contains the usual closing paragraph with the date. It is signed by the testatrix, and it is witnessed by none other than the late Delano Bannock, the attorney, and…» And here Caswell turned impressively to the defendant… «the defendant in
this case, Virginia Baxter.»
Virginia sat gazing at him openmouthed.
Mason squeezed her arm and brought her back to reality.
«Does that conclude the testimony of this witness?» Judge Grayson asked.
«It does, Your Honor.»
«Any cross-examination?»
Mason got to his feet. «This will was the one you found in the sealed envelope?»
«Yes. The sealed envelope was in the drawer where Lauretta Trent said it would be. The will was in the sealed envelope.»
«What did you do with it?»
«I put it in a safe and called the district attorney.»
«Where was the safe?»
«In my bedroom.»
«And your bedroom is in the house owned and occupied by Lauretta Trent during her lifetime?»
«Yes.»
«The safe was already in your bedroom when you moved in?»
«No, I installed it.»
«Why did you install it?»
«Because I had certain valuables and I knew that the house was big; and the reputation of Lauretta Trent for extreme wealth was well known; so I wanted to have a safe place where I could keep my wife's jewelry and such cash as I had in my possession.»
«What has been your occupation?» Mason asked.
«I have done several things,» Kelvin said with dignity.
«Such as what?»
«I don't think I need to enumerate them.»
«Objected to as incompetent, irrelevant, immaterial, not proper cross-examination,» Caswell said.
«Oh, certainly,» Judge Grayson said, «I think this is background material and cross-examining counsel should be entitled to it, although I can't see that it will affect the outcome of the case or materially affect the evaluation the Court is placing on the testimony of the witness.»
«There's no need of going into his entire life,» Caswell snapped irritably.
Judge Grayson looked at Mason inquiringly. «Do you have some particular reason for this question?»
«I'll put it this way,» Mason said, «so I can summarize the situation. All these various business activities, which you yourself state have been numerous, were unprofitable, were they not?»
«That is not true, no sir.»
«But the net result was that you went to live with Lauretta Trent?»
«At her invitation, sir!»
«Exactly,» Mason said, «at a time when you were unable to support yourself.»
«No, sir. I could have supported myself but I had had certain temporary financial losses, certain business setbacks.»
«In other words, you were virtually broke?»
«I had had financial troubles.»
«And your sister-in-law invited you to come and live with her.»
«Yes.»
«At your instigation?»
«The other brother-in-law, Mr. Boring Briggs, was living in the house. It was a large house and-Well, my wife and I went there on a visit and we never moved out.»
«And the same was true of Boring Briggs, to your knowledge, was it not?» Mason asked.
«What was true?»
«That he had met with financial reverses and had come to live with his wife's sister.»
«In his case,» Kelvin said, «there were circumstances which made such a course of action… well a-necessity.»
«Financial circumstances?»
«In a way. Boring Briggs had met with several reverses and was unable to give his wife the monetary advantages which she subsequently obtained through the generosity of her sister, Lauretta Trent.»
«Thank you,» Mason said. «That's all.»
Kelvin left the stand.
«All right,» Mason whispered, turning to Virginia Baxter. «Tell me about it.»
«That's the will,» she answered. «I remember now typing that wonderful tribute to her doctor.»
Mason said, «I'm going up to get that will and take a good look at it. I don't want you to seem to be paying any great attention to what I'm doing, but look over my shoulder, particularly at the attestation clause and the witness clause and see if that really is your signature.»
Mason walked up to the clerk's desk. «May I see the will, please?» he said. «I'd like to examine it in some detail.»
The clerk handed Mason the will while Caswell said, «My next witness will be a member of the California highway patrol, Harry Auburn.»
Auburn, in uniform, advanced to the witness stand. He proved to be the officer who had inspected the scene of the collision at the Saint's Rest Motel.
Mason, turning the pages of the will, casually paused to examine the signatures.
Virginia Baxter said in some dismay, «That's my signature and that's Mr. Bannock's signature. Oh, Mr. Mason, I remember it all now. This is the will all right. I remember several things about it. There's a little ink smudge at the bottom of the page. I remember it happened when we were signing it. I wanted to type the last page over but Mr. Bannock said to let it go.»
«There seems to be a fingerprint there,» Mason said, «a fingerprint in the ink.»
«I don't see it.»
«Over here,» Mason said. «Just a few ridges, but enough, I would say, to make an identifiable fingerprint.»
«Heavens,» she said, «that will be mine-unless it should be Lauretta Trent's.»
«Leave it to Caswell,» Mason said, «he'll have found it out.»
The lawyer flipped over the remaining pages of the will, folded it, replaced it in the envelope, went up and tossed it casually on the clerk's desk, as though not greatly interested in it, and turned his attention to the witness on the stand.
As Mason walked back and sat down beside Virginia Baxter, she whispered to him, «But why in the world would anyone want all this fuss about forging two wills when there already was this will? It must have been that they didn't know of its existence.»
«Perhaps someone wanted to find out,» Mason said. «We'll talk it over later, Virginia.»
Harry Auburn gave his testimony in a voice without expression, simply relating what had happened, and apparently with every attempt to be impartial but, at the same time, to be one hundred percent accurate.
He testified that he had been directed by radio to go to the Saint's Rest Motel to investigate an automobile accident; that this had been a routine call; that he had gone up the road to the Saint's Rest and found that an automobile belonging to the defendant and one belonging to Perry Mason had been in a collision; that while he was investigating the facts of the collision he asked for a check on the cars, and he was called back on the radio of his car.
«Now, you can't tell us what anyone told you on the radio,» Caswell said. «That would be hearsay, but you can tell us what you did with reference to that call.»
«Well, after receiving that call, I interrogated the defendant as to whether she had been using the car, whether she had been in another collision, and where she had been in the last hour.»
«What did she say?»
«She denied using the car except to make that one loop in the motel grounds. She said that she had been in her room in the motel for some two hours. She emphatically denied having been in any other collision.»
«Then what happened?»
«I checked the license number of her car; I found two significant figures; I checked the make of the car; I found enough evidence to take her into custody.
«Later on, I returned to the scene of the accident. I picked up pieces of broken headlight which had come from her car; that is, they matched the broken lens on the righthand headlight.
«I then went to the scene of the accident on the coast road and picked up a bit of glass there which had come from a broken headlight; then I removed the headlight from her car and patched all of the pieces of the glass together.»
«Do you have that headlight with you?»
«Yes.»
«Will you produce it, please?»
Auburn left the stand, picked up a cardboard carton, opened it and took out an automobil
e headlight. The lens had been patched together.
«Will you explain these different patchings, please?»
«Yes, sir. This small piece around the rim was the part that was in the headlight of the defendant's automobile at the time I found it. I have marked those two pieces number one and number two with pieces of adhesive tape which have been placed on them.
«The pieces of glass I found at the scene of the accident at the Saint's Rest Motel, I numbered number three and number four; and these three pieces, numbers five, six and seven, were picked up at the scene of the hit-and-run on the coast road.»
«You may inquire,» Caswell said.
«No questions,» Mason said cheerfully.
Judge Grayson looked at him. «No questions, Mr. Mason?»
«No questions, Your Honor.»
«Now then,» Caswell said, «I would like to recall George Eagan to question him on another phase of the case.»
«Very well,» Judge Grayson said.
Eagan approached the stand. «You're already under oath,» Caswell said.
Eagan nodcjed and seated himself.
«Did you ever at any time approach the defendant and ask her to tell you about a will?»
«I never saw the defendant in my life until I was taken to see her in the jail.»
«You never gave her five hundred dollars or any other sum to make spurious copies of any wills?»
«No, sir.»
«In short, you had no dealings with her whatever?»
«That is right.»
«Never saw her in your life?»
«No, sir.»
«You may cross-examine,» Caswell said.
Mason regarded the witness thoughtfully. «Did you,» he asked, «know that you were a beneficiary under Lauretta Trent's will?»
The witness hesitated.
«Answer the question,» Mason said. «Did you or did you not know?»
«I knew that she had remembered me in her will. I didn't know for how much.»
«You knew, then, that when she died you would be comparatively wealthy.»
«No, sir. I tell you I didn't know how much.»
«How did you know that she had remembered you in her will?»
«She told me.»
«When?»
«About three months ago, four months ago-well, maybe five months ago.»
The Case of the Horrified Heirs pm-75 Page 13
