«You did a great deal of cooking, preparing foods that Lauretta Trent ate?»
«Yes, sir.»
«Outdoor cooking?»
«Yes, sir.»
«You used quite a bit of garlic?»
«She liked garlic. Yes.»
«Did you know that garlic was a good method of disguising the taste of powdered arsenic?»
«No, sir.»
«Did you, at any time, put arsenic in the food you prepared?»
«Oh, Your Honor, if the Court please,» Caswell interposed. «This is completely incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial. It's insulting the witness and it's calling for matters which have not been mentioned on direct examination. It is improper cross-examination.»
«I think it is,» Judge Grayson ruled, «unless counsel can connect it up. It is quite all right for him to show that the witness knew he was a beneficiary under the will, but this is an entirely different matter.»
Mason said, «I expect to show that a deliberate attempt was made to poison Lauretta Trent by the use of arsenic on three distinct occasions. And on at least one of these occasions, the symptoms followed the ingestion of food prepared by this witness.»
Judge Grayson's eyes widened. He sat forward on the bench. «You can prove that?» he asked.
«I can prove it,» Mason said, «by pertinent evidence.»
Judge Grayson settled back. «The objection is overruled,» he snapped. «Answer the question.»
Eagan said indignantly, «I never put any poison in Mrs. Trent's food. I don't know anything about any poison; I didn't know she had been poisoned. I knew she had had a couple of spells of severe stomach trouble and I had been told that they would be aggravated by eating highly seasoned foods. I had, therefore, talked her out of having another outdoor feed which she wanted. And for your information, Mr. Mason, I don't know one single, solitary thing about arsenic.»
«You knew that you were going to profit from Lauretta Trent's death?» Mason asked.
«Oh, now, just a minute,» Caswell said. «This is not a proper interpretation of what the witness said.»
«I'm asking him,» Mason said, «if he didn't know in his own mind he was going to profit from Lauretta Trent's death.»
«No.»
«You didn't know that you would be better off than your monthly salary?»
«Well… well, yes. She as good as told me that.»
«Then you knew you would profit from her death.»
«Not necessarily. I would lose the job.»
«But she had assured you that she was going to make it up to you so that there wouldn't be any loss?»
«Yes.»
«Then you knew you were going to profit from her death.»
«Well, if you want to put it that way, I knew I wouldn't lose anything. Yes.»
«Now then,» Mason said, «how was Lauretta Trent dressed on this last ride?»
«How was she dressed?»
«Yes.»
«Why, she had a hat, coat and shoes.»
«What else was she wearing?»
«Well, let's see. She had a topcoat with some kind of a fur, neckpiece rather, that fastened on to the coat in some way.»
«And she was wearing that?»
«Yes, I remember she asked me to cut down the car heater because she wanted to keep her coat on.»
«She had been where?»
«To Ventura.»
«Do you know what she had been doing in Ventura?»
«No.»
«Don't you know that she had been looking at some property up there?»
«Well, yes. I know that we drove to a piece of property she had contemplated purchasing and we looked it over.»
«And she had a handbag?»
«Yes, of course, she had a handbag.»
«Do you know what was in it?»
«No, sir. The ordinary things, I suppose.»
«I'm not asking what you suppose. I'm asking what you know.»
«How would I know what was in her handbag?»
«I am asking you if you know.»
«No.»
«You don't know a single thing that was in her handbag?»
«Well, I knew there was a purse in there… No, 1 don't know what was in there.»
«As a matter of fact,» Mason said, «don't you know of your own knowledge that there was the sum of fifty thousand dollars in cash in that handbag?»
The witness sat bolt upright in surprise. «What?»
«Fifty thousand dollars,» Mason repeated.
«Heavens, no! She wasn't carrying any such sum in cash.»
«You are positive?»
«Positive.»
«Then you know what wasn't in her purse.»
«I know that she would never have carried any such sum of money with her without telling me.»
«How do you know?»
«Just by knowing her.»
«Then the only way you know she didn't have that money with her is by reaching a conclusion based upon an assumption. Is that right?»
«Well, when you come right down to it, I don't know she didn't have that money with her,» the witness admitted.
«I thought so,» Mason observed.
«But I'm almost certain she didn't,» Eagan blurted.
«Didn't she tell you that she was going to wave a sum of cash under the nose of the owner of this property? Or words to that effect?» Mason asked.
Eagan hesitated.
«Didn't she?» Mason insisted.
«Well,» Eagan said, «she told me she was figuring on buying a piece of property up there. And she had told me she felt the owner was up against it for cash and that if she waved the down payment under his nose, he might accept it.»
«Exactly,» Mason said triumphantly. «And when this automobile was fished out of the water, you were there?»
«Yes.»
«And there was no handbag in the bottom of the car?»
«No. I believe the officers failed to find any handbag. The back of the car was completely empty.»
«No fur neckpiece? No coat? No handbag?»
«That's right. The officers made an heroic effort to find the body but the divers weren't risking their lives trying to find little objects. As I understand it, the floor of the ocean is rocky there.»
«You don't know the driver of the car that hit you?»
«I am told it was the defendant.»
Mason smiled. «You yourself don't know who the driver of the car was?»
«No.»
«You didn't recognize the defendant.»
«No.»
«It could have been anyone else?»
«Yes.»
Mason turned abruptly, walked back to the counsel table and sat down. «No further questions,» he said.
Judge Grayson said, «Gentlemen, we got a late start today because of another case which was a carry-over. I am afraid we're going to have to adjourn for the evening.»
«My case is just about finished,» Caswell said. «I think the Court can receive all of the evidence and make an order disposing of the matter before adjournment. This evidence certainly indicates that a crime has been committed and that there is probable cause to connect the defendant with that crime. That is all that is necessary for us to show in a preliminary examination. I would like to have it completed tonight. I have other matters on my calendar tomorrow morning.»
Mason said, «The assistant prosecutor is making a usual mistake in assuming that the case is entirely one-sided. The defendant has the right to put on evidence on her behalf.»
«Do you intend to put on a defense?» Judge Grayson asked.
Mason smiled, «Very frankly, Your Honor, I don't know. I want to hear all the evidence of the prosecution, and then I want to ask for a recess so I may have an opportunity to confer with my client before making up my mind what to do.»
«Under those circumstances,» Judge Grayson said, «there is only one course of conduct open to the Court and that is to continue the matter until tomorrow morning at ten o'clock.
«Court's adjourned. The defendant is remanded to custody, but the officers are directed to give Mr. Mason a reasonable opportunity to confer with his client before she is taken from the courtroom.»
Judge Grayson left the bench.
Mason, Della Street, Paul Drake and Virginia Baxter gathered for a moment in a close huddle at the corner of the courtroom.
«Good heavens,» Virginia said, «who was the person who came to me and wanted that forged will made?»
«That,» Mason said, «is something we're going to have to find out.»
«And how did you know that she had fifty thousand dollars in cash in her purse?»
«I didn't,» Mason said, grinning. «I didn't say she had fifty thousand dollars in her purse. I asked Eagan if he didn't know she had fifty thousand dollars in her purse.»
«Do you think she did?»
«I haven't the slightest idea,» Mason said. «But I wanted to make Eagan say she didn't have it.
«Now then, Virginia, I want you to promise me faithfully that you won't talk with anyone about this case before you get into court tomorrow morning. I don't think they'll try to get anything more out of you, but if they do I want you to tell them that you have been instructed not to answer any questions, not to say one single word.
«Do you think you can do that, Virginia, no matter how great the temptation may be to talk?»
«If you tell me to keep quiet,» she said, «I will.»
«I want you to keep very, very quiet,» Mason told her.
«All right. I promise.»
Mason patted her shoulder. «Good girl.»
He stepped to the door and signaled the policewoman who took Virginia Baxter away.
Mason returned to indicate chairs for the others. He started pacing the floor.
«All right,» Paul Drake said, «give. What about the fifty thousand?»
Mason said, «I want a search made for that handbag. I want the officers to make the search. I think they'll do it now.
«Now then, Paul, here's where you go to work. I should have thought of this before.»
Drake pulled out his notebook.
Mason said, «Lauretta Trent was intending to have Eagan turn the car to the left and drive up to the Saint's Rest Motel. She had a reason for going there.
«When Virginia told me that Lauretta Trent had telephoned her and told her to go to the Saint's Rest Motel and wait there for her, I felt that perhaps Virginia had been victimized by the old trick of having some third party identify himself or herself over the telephone and, since the telephone doesn't transmit the personal appearance of the person talking, it's a very easy matter to deceive someone in a case of that sort.
«However, the fact that Lauretta Trent did intend to turn to the left and go up that road is strongly indicative of the fact that she had telephoned Virginia Baxter.
«Now, why had she telephoned her?»
Drake shrugged his shoulders, and Mason went on.
«It was either because she wanted to give Virginia some information, on the one hand, or get some information from Virginia, on the other. The strong probabilities are she wanted to get some information from Virginia.
«Now, someone must have overheard that telephone conversation. There's not much chance that the telephone line could have been tapped. Therefore, someone must have heard the conversation at one end of the line or the other. Either someone was listening in Virginia Baxter's apartment, which isn't likely, or someone was listening at the place where Lauretta Trent telephoned.»
Drake nodded.
«That person, knowing that Virginia Baxter was going to drive her car to the Saint's Rest, went up to the Saint's Rest, waited until Virginia had parked her car and was inside the motel room. Then that person took Virginia's car, drove it down to the coast highway and waited for Lauretta Trent to come along to keep her appointment.
«That person was a very skillful driver. He hit the Trent car just hard enough to throw it to one side of the road and then speeded up, threw the rear of the Baxter car into a skid which knocked the Trent car completely out of control.
«Then that person drove the crippled Baxter car up to the Saint's Rest Motel and parked it.
«Because other tenants had moved in in the meantime, the parking space where Virginia had parked her car was filled up, so he had to select another parking space.»
«Well?» Drake asked.
«Then,» Mason said, «he presumably picked up his own car, drove it back down to the highway and into oblivion.»
Drake nodded, «That, of course, is obvious.»
«But is it?» Mason said. «He couldn't tell about the timing element. He couldn't tell whether someone riding along behind got the complete license number of Virginia Baxter's car instead of just the last two numbers. He had to have a second string to his bow.»
«I don't get it,» Drake said.
Mason said, «He had to have it so he could conceal himself in the event he didn't have time to get back down to the highway. Now, how would he do that?»
«That's simple,» Drake said. «He'd rent a unit at the Saint's Rest Motel.»
«That,» Mason said, «is where you come in. I want you to go to the Saint's Rest Motel, check the registrations, get the license numbers of each automobile and run down the owners. See if you can get a line on anyone who checked in and then left without sleeping in the bed. If so, get a description.»
Drake snapped his notebook shut. «All right,» he said, «that's a job, but we'll get on it. I'll put a bunch of men on it and-«
«Wait a minute,» Mason said. «You're not finished yet.»
«No?» Drake asked.
Mason said, «Let's look at what happened after the car was crowded off the road, Paul.»
«There were big rocks there,» Drake said. «The chauffeur fought for control and lost out. The car toppled over into the ocean-you couldn't have picked a more perfect spot for it. I've checked it carefully. The road makes a left-hand curve there. As soon as you get off the shoulder, there are rocks-some of them eighteen inches in diameter-just regular rough boulders. There's only about ten feet between the road and the sheer drop straight down to the ocean.
«At that point there's an almost perpendicular cliff. The highway construction crews had to blast a road out of that cliff. It rises two hundred feet above the road on the left and it drops straight into the ocean on the right.»
«Presumably,» Mason said, «that's why this particular spot was chosen. It would be a perfect place to crowd a car off the road.»
«That, of course,» Drake said, grinning, «is elemental, my dear Holmes.»
«Exactly, my dear Watson,» Mason said. «But what happened to Lauretta Trent? The chauffeur told her to jump. Presumably she tried to get out of the car. The door on the left rear was unlatched. There was no body in the car; therefore, she must have been thrown clear.»
«Well,» Drake asked, «what does that buy us?»
«Her missing handbag,» Mason said. «When a woman jumps from an automobile, she hardly bothers to take her handbag with her unless it contains a very, very large amount of money or something that is very, very valuable.
«That was why I had to find out from Eagan whether or not she was carrying something of great value. If she had a large sum of money or something of great value in her handbag, it's quite natural that she'd have told the chauffeur to be alert.
«Yet Eagan's surprise was too natural to be feigned. We're forced to the conclusion that, if there was anything of value in her purse or handbag, he knew nothing about it.
«Yet, when Lauretta Trent was faced with that moment of supreme emergency, that moment of great danger, she either grabbed up her handbag from the seat before trying to jump, or it was washed out of the car-otherwise it would be in the car.
«Now, my questioning about fifty thousand dollars being in the handbag will spur the police to go back and make a desperate search for that handbag with divers and submarine illumination. If the handbag is lying there amon
g the rocks on the floor of the ocean, they'll find it. A body would be carried away by the ocean currents, a handbag would be trapped in the rocks.»
Drake gave a low whistle.
«Then, of course,» Mason said, «we come to the peculiar conduct of the heirs. Someone was trying to get Virginia to furnish a forged will which could be planted in the office copies of Bannock's wills.»
«That is the thing that gets me,» Drake said. «With a perfectly good will in their possession, why should anyone want to plant a forged will?»
«That,» Mason said, «is what we are going to have to find out-and find out before ten o'clock tomorrow morning.»
«And why the second spurious will?» Drake asked.
«That,» Mason said, «is good practice in will forgeries, Paul. If in some way forged will number two is knocked out, then forged will number one has to be faced.
«Heirs are much more willing to compromise when they have two difficult hurdles to jump.»
«Well,» Drake said, «it's too much for me. I not only don't think we have the right answer, but I don't think we're even on the right track.»
Mason smiled, «What track do you think we're on, Paul?»
«The one that makes Virginia blameless,» Drake said.
Mason nodded thoughtfully. «As her attorney, Paul, that's the only track I can see.»
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Back in his office, Mason said, «How about working late tonight, Della, and then having dinner?»
Della Street smiled. «You know I never go home until you do when we're working on a case.»
Mason patted her shoulder. «Good girl,» he said. «I can always depend on you. Put some paper in the typewriter, Della. I'm going to give you a list of questions.»
«Questions?» she asked.
Mason nodded. «Somehow I have a feeling that I'm letting my client down in this case simply because I'm not using my head and breaking the case down to basic fundamentals.
«Someone in the background is carrying out a preconceived plan or, rather, has carried out a preconceived plan.
«That plan makes sense to him, but the outward manifestations of it, which we see in the light of events which have taken place, simply don't make sense.
«When that happens, it means we're looking at only a part of the picture. Let's start taking things up one at a time and trying to see if we can get answers.
The Case of the Horrified Heirs pm-75 Page 14