“How do you know it was a Coast Guard plane?”
She thought for a moment, and said, “I don’t know. I presumed it was. What other flyer would have taken such an unusual interest in a yacht? And that Tooms woman saw me when I came back with Marley’s boat, and I understand Marley had a fingerprint expert go over the steering wheel and throttle and develop my fingerprints. I suppose I’m in for it now.”
Hal Anders, tall, sunburned, and ill at ease, came over to Mae Farr. “I’m sorry, Mae,” he said simply.
She looked at him with troubled eyes.
“The D.A. has dismissed the case against me,” Anders went on. “I don’t know what that means.”
“It means they’re going to concentrate on me,” she said.
“It was my gun they found there in the pipe,” Anders said. “They thought Mason had planted it, but by checking up on the numbers, they found where the sale had been made directly to me, and they uncovered some other evidence. I don’t know exactly what it is, but they’ve dropped the charge against me.”
“That,” she said, “is very nice. Congratulations. You seem to have saved yourself a disagreeable experience. Thanks to the advice of your very competent and very ethical family lawyer.”
“Please, Mae, don’t be like that.”
She turned her face away from him.
Anders, conscious that the eyes of spectators were on him, knowing that reporters with high speed lenses were surreptitiously clicking candid camera shots, leaned forward until his lips were close to the ears of Mae Farr and, Perry Mason. “Please don’t, Mae,” he said, “and listen, Mae. I did one thing for you. I did this on my own without anyone’s advice. I managed to get in touch with Hazel Tooms this morning. She won’t be here. She’s on a plane to Mexico where a friend has a yacht. They’re going to leave at once on a cruise for — and I quote — destination unknown.”
Mae Fair’s expression showed utter incredulity. “You did that?” she asked.
Mason’s eyes hardened. They surveyed Anders with cold hostility. “I presume you realize,” he said, “that I’ll get the blame for that.”
“No, you won’t,” Anders said quietly. “If it comes to a showdown, I’ll take the blame.”
Scanlon said, “I’ve already viewed the body of the deceased. The autopsy surgeon has pointed out the course of the bullet and the cause of death. It was a gunshot wound in the head. That much of the case is so clear that we don’t have to waste the doctor’s time in having him come down here.”
He cleared his throat, glanced from Perry Mason to Oscar Overmeyer, a deputy district attorney, and Carl Runcifer, who represented the district attorney’s office. He said, “Proceedings are going to be short and informal. We’re going to get at the facts. I don’t want any delaying, technical objections from anyone to any of the testimony. I don’t want any fancy legal arguments raised. If I think it will speed things along and help us get at the truth, I’ll ask some of the questions myself.
There isn’t going to be any rambling cross-examination of witnesses just so the lawyers can make a showing of doing something; but if the attorneys for any of the interested parties want to ask questions purely for the purpose of clearing matters up, explaining or bringing out facts which the witnesses have neglected to state, I’m going to permit those questions.”
Carl Runcifer started to make some objection to Scanlon’s unorthodox procedures, but Overmeyer, who was familiar with Scanlon’s temperament, pulled him back into his seat.
Judge Scanlon’s clerk walked up to his informal podium and handed him a note. This gave Sidney Eversel time to march militantly over to Perry Mason. “I suppose,” he said ominously, “you think you’ve been very, very clever.”
“Now what?” Mason asked.
“I discovered the real object of your trip to my house early this morning,” Eversel said. “I suppose you thought I’d keep my mouth shut and that you could blackmail me into doing almost anything you wanted in order to keep my connection with it a secret. For your information, I went at once to the police and notified the district attorney’s office. I am advised that you were guilty of burglary in taking that negative. The only thing we lack is absolute proof. Produce that negative, Mr. Perry Mason, and you’ll go to jail. That is where I stand.” He turned on his heel and walked off.
Mason said to Mae Farr, “Well, you always claimed that Anders was too conservative and wouldn’t do anything without taking advice. He seems to have cut the apron strings with a very sharp pair of scissors. I’ll leave you two for a few moments to fight it out.”
He arose from his chair and walked back along the aisle of curious, staring spectators to engage in a whispered conference with Paul Drake and Della Street. “Called your office, Paul?”
“Yes, just a minute ago,” Drake said. “I have a last minute report, but it doesn’t mean anything. I simply can’t get anything on Hazel Tooms. She’s apparently a playgirl who goes in for outdoor sports.”
Mason said, “She told me all that herself. Where is she now, Paul?”
“She’s under subpoena,” Drake said, “and should be here. Good Lord, Perry, you haven’t spirited her away, have you?”
Mason said, “No. Personally, I wish she were here.”
“How are things looking?” Della asked in an anxious whisper.
Mason’s eyes glinted with a frosty twinkle. “They look like hell, Della,” he admitted. “Eversel got a burst of courage and went to the police, claimed the negative had been stolen, evidently told them all about taking the picture. That put Mae Farr right in the middle of a very hot spot. The police will now claim that she had a gun of her own, that she went back to the Yacht Club, took out Frank Marley’s boat, overtook the Pennwent, killed Wentworth, returned to the Yacht Club, drove to the place where she’d seen Anders ditch the gun, and dropped the murder gun where it would be found as soon as the drainage waters evaporated.”
“Isn’t that going to make a strong case against her, Perry?” the detective asked.
“Very strong indeed,” Mason said dryly. “I hadn’t counted on Eversel overcoming his fear of publicity. Apparently, he’s determined to get me. He reported the theft of the negative to the district attorney’s office. Of course, the evidence about the taking of the picture gives them an entirely new slant on the case. They have left Anders out of it. They’re concentrating on Mae Farr — and on me.”
“Go to it, Chief,” Della Street said. “Tear into them.”
Mason grinned and said, “I don’t know just how much tearing I can do. However, I have one ace up my sleeve. If I can play it at just the right time and in just the right manner, I can probably take the trick I want. If I can’t, I’m hooked.”
“What’s the ace?” Drake asked.
“Just a hunch,” Mason said. “I’m going to put a witness on the stand without knowing in advance what he’s going to say. If he says the right thing, his very evident surprise will register with the JP. Otherwise, it will look like a desperate attempt to drag a red herring across the trail.”
Drake said, “Gosh, Perry, you did lay yourself wide open, going after that negative. Why the devil do you violate laws in order to get justice for your clients?”
Mason grinned and said, “I’ll be damned if I know, Paul. I guess I’m just made that way. When I start unravelling a mystery, I can’t seem to find a brake. Every time I put my foot down, it hits the throttle.”
“I’ll say it does,” Drake agreed.
Della Street said calmly, “As a matter of fact, Chief, I was the one who took that negative out of the house. They can’t get you for that.”