Horace Selkirk paused to survey Mason coldly.
Hamilton Burger, the district attorney, took a cigar from his pocket, clipped off the end and lit the cigar.
Judge Kent looked speculatively at Hamilton Burger’s face. Then he looked at Mason, then back to Horace Selkirk.
“You are making rather sweeping charges, Mr. Selkirk,” he said.
“I know what I’m talking about.”
“You have proof?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
Selkirk said, “I can produce my grandson, Robert, here in chambers within thirty minutes. I ask only that you, Judge Kent, take this young man into a private conference, where you — as a judge who is accustomed to handling problems with juveniles — can talk with him in a confidential manner. I suggest that you get his story. When you have that story, you will realize the truth of what I am saying.”
Judge Kent frowned. “This procedure is, of course, highly irregular,” he said. “As the judge in this case I am supposed to keep myself completely aloof from any outside influence.”
“I grant you that,” Selkirk said, “but as a citizen — a citizen who is not without some influence in the community, I may state — I feel that your primary function is to administer justice. I feel that it is going to be inhuman to allow Mr. Perry Mason to appear again in public as a master of legal legerdemain at the cost of wrecking the life of a seven-year-old boy. After all, Judge Kent, you are charged with looking after the rights of juveniles who, because of their tender age, must be, in a measure, wards of the state.”
Again Judge Kent looked at Hamilton Burger.
Hamilton Burger removed the cigar from his mouth, blew out a wisp of pale blue smoke. His expression indicated that he was savoring the aroma of the cigar.
Manley Marshall sat there perfectly still, trying to look utterly noncommittal.
Judge Kent seemed somewhat irritated at Burger’s attitude. “Do you,” he asked, “know anything about this, Mr. Burger?”
Burger studied the tip of the cigar for a moment, holding the cigar between the thick first and second fingers of his powerful right hand. Then he said thoughtfully, “I’m not prepared to say that I know nothing about it. I am prepared to state that we consider this entire procedure irregular, that we wish to try our case in the courtroom, and particularly that I don’t intend to disclose our evidence in this case in front of counsel for the defense. I simply don’t intend to give him that advantage.”
Judge Kent turned to Mason. “You have heard what Mr. Selkirk has said, Mr. Mason.”
“I have heard what he has said.”
“May I ask if there is some element of truth in it?”
“Since you ask, I can tell you that there is some element of truth in it I’d like to ask Mr. Selkirk a question.”
Mason turned to Horace Selkirk. “You are, I believe, attached to your grandson, Mr. Selkirk?”
Selkirk’s face softened for a moment, then became hard. “That boy,” he said, “is the only Selkirk who can carry on a proud name and the proud traditions of a proud family. I am proud of those traditions. I love him and I don’t intend to see his life ruined.”
“And,” Mason said, “you would like to have his sole custody and guardianship?”
“That is beside the point.”
“I don’t think so,” Mason said. “I would like to have you answer that question.”
“You have no right to sit here and cross-examine me,” Selkirk flared. “You know that I called the turn on you. You know exactly what you plan to do in connection with this case. You know the type of dramatic disclosure you intend to make when court reconvenes this afternoon. You know how you intend to cross-examine Barton Jennings. You know that you have been out getting information about the blood trail and about the gun.”
“Do you know anything about a blood trail?” Judge Kent asked Hamilton Burger abruptly.
“Frankly, Your Honor, we do,” Hamilton Burger said. “And, equally frankly, we don’t think either Perry Mason or Mr. Selkirk knows all of the facts in this case. We are quite content to try this case in the courtroom, which is where it should be tried.”
Judge Kent drummed on the desk with his fingers, then looked at Perry Mason. “Is it true that Robert Selkirk was permitted to play with a weapon, Mr. Mason?”
“I think it is,” Mason said.
“The same weapon that has been introduced in evidence in this case as the murder gun?”
“I believe so, Your Honor. But that doesn’t necessarily indicate it is the murder gun.”
“I think it is the murder weapon,” Hamilton Burger said. “I think we’ve established that point by the imprint of the firing pin.”
“I am not prepared to admit it,” Mason said.
“Have you evidence concerning a blood trail, Mr. Mason?” Judge Kent asked.
“One of the neighbors has told me about it,” Mason said.
“A blood trail, Mr. Mason?”
“That is my understanding,” Mason said.
Judge Kent glanced across to Hamilton Burger. “I think the Court is entitled to find out more about this, Mr. District Attorney.”
“Perhaps the Court is,” Hamilton Burger said, “but counsel for the defense isn’t.”
“Just what do you mean by that?”
“I mean that there is no chance on earth that Robert Selkirk killed his father. The death of Mervin Selkirk was at the hands of Norda Allison. We are prepared to prove that.”
“I take it you have a surprise witness?”
“A surprise witness, and we intend to keep this witness as a surprise witness.”
Judge Kent thought for a moment, then turned to Horace Selkirk. “You have talked with your grandson?”
“Naturally.”
“And you are sincere in your belief that your seven-year-old grandson, Robert, killed his father?”
“I feel absolutely certain of it.”
“All right,” Judge Kent said. “You get your grandson here without letting him know what it’s all about. I’m going to talk with him during the noon recess. The procedure may be irregular, but I certainly am not going to let this case get to a point where it is made to appear in court that a seven-year-old boy inadvertently killed his father until I know more about the facts in the case.
“It may be that before I finish I will ask counsel to make certain stipulations, but in the meantime I am going to talk with this boy. How long will it take to get him here?”
“Fifteen minutes,” Horace Selkirk said. “That is, if I may use your phone.”
“Use the phone,” Judge Kent snapped.
Selkirk crossed over to the phone, picked it up and asked for an outside line. Then he dialed a number.
Manley Marshall leaned over to whisper to Hamilton Burger, but Burger, holding up his left hand, gestured his assistant to silence.
The big district attorney puffed contentedly on his cigar.
Selkirk spoke into the telephone. “This is Horace Selkirk,” he said. “How about the woman and the boy whom you were shadowing. Are they in the next room? All right,” Selkirk said, “bring them up to the courthouse, to the chambers of Judge Homer F. Kent. Bring them up right away... I said bring them... All right, if they don’t want to come we’ll send an officer, but I don’t want to waste that time. I want them here in fifteen minutes. Tell them that the judge has sent for them.”
“Now, just a minute,” Judge Kent said. “I didn’t issue any such peremptory summons. I—”
“It’s all right, Judge,” Horace Selkirk said. “They’ll be here. This woman is in my employ and she is supposed to do what I tell her to. I am the one who issues instructions.”
Judge Kent looked at his watch. “Do you think they’ll be here in fifteen minutes?”