Norma Veitch flashed one quick glance at the paper, then shifted her eyes to her mother. Mrs. Veitch’s face was quite expressionless.
Norma spoke rapidly.
“I’m sorry that you found that out, but since you did, I may as well tell you. I didn’t want Carl to know anything about it. I was married and had trouble with my husband and left him. I came here and took my maiden name. Carl met me, and we fell in love with each other at first sight. We didn’t dare to do anything about announcing our engagement because we knew that Mr. Belter would be furious. But, after Mr. Belter died, there wasn’t any reason why we should keep it secret.
“I found out my husband had another wife living. That’s one of the reasons we separated. I talked to a lawyer. He said the marriage wasn’t any good. He told me I could get an annulment. I was going to do it quietly. I didn’t figure that anybody would know a thing about it or connect the name of Loring with that of Veitch.”
“That isn’t what Griffin says,” Mason told her.
“Of course not,” she said. “He doesn’t know anything about it.”
Mason shook his head.
“No,” he said. “You see, Griffin has confessed. We’re trying to check up on his confession, trying to find out if you’re criminally responsible as an accessory or if you were just the victim of circumstances.”
Sergeant Hoffman moved forward. “I think,” he said, “that right here is where I’m going to stop the show, Mason.”
Mason turned on him. “Listen for one more minute, Sergeant,” he pleaded. “You can stop the show then if you want to.”
Norma Veitch looked swiftly and nervously from one to the other. Mrs. Veitch’s face was a mask of weary resignation.
“What happened,” said Mason, “is that Mrs. Belter had an argument with her husband, and fired the shot at him. Then she turned and ran, without waiting to see what had happened. Womanlike, she supposed, of course, that because she had shot at a man, she had hit him. As a matter of fact, at that distance, in her excitement, the chances were very strongly against her hitting him.
“She turned and ran down the stairs, grabbed a coat, and went out into the rain. You, Miss Veitch, heard the shot and you got up, dressed, and came to see what the trouble was. In the meantime Carl Griffin had driven up to the house, and had come in. It was raining and he had put his umbrella in the rack, and went upstairs to the study.
“You heard Griffin’s voice and Belter’s voice, and listened. Belter was telling Griffin about how his wife had shot at him, and that he’d uncovered proof of her infidelity. He mentioned the man’s name to his nephew and asked his nephew what should be done about it.
“Griffin became curious as to the shooting, and got Belter to stand in the door of the bathroom, just as he’d been standing when Mrs. Belter shot at him. When Griffin had him in that position, he raised the gun and shot Belter through the heart. Then he put the gun down, ran down the stairs, out through the front door, jumped in his car, and drove away.
“He went out and got himself good and tight, so that he could put up a better front, let the air out of one tire, so as to account for his delay in getting here, and drove up, after he knew the police had arrived. He pretended that it was the first time he’d returned since he went out in the afternoon. But he forgot about his umbrella which was in the hallway, and he overlooked the fact that he’d found the door open when he came in, and had put the night latch on it when he went upstairs.
“He shot his uncle because he knew that he was going to inherit under the will, and he realized that Eva Belter thought she had shot him. He knew that the gun could be traced to her and that the evidence was all against her. The purse in which Belter had found the incriminating evidence, which connected her with the man who was trying to keep his name out of the scandal sheet, was in Belter’s desk.
“You and your mother talked over what you had seen, and decided that it was a fine opportunity to make Griffin pay a good price for silence. So it was agreed that he was to have his alternative of being convicted of murder, or making a marriage which would be advantageous to you.”
Sergeant Hoffman scratched his head, and looked puzzled.
Norma Veitch flashed a swift glance to her mother.
Mason said slowly, “This is your last chance to come clean. As a matter of fact, you’re both accessories after the fact, and, as such, you’re liable to prosecution, just as though you were guilty of murder. Griffin has made his statement, and we don’t need your testimony. If you want to try to keep up the deception, go ahead. If you want to cooperate with the Police Department, now’s your time to do it.”
Sergeant Hoffman interrupted. “I’m just going to ask you one question,” he said, “and that’s going to stop this business. Did you, or did you not, do what Mason says, or substantially what he said?”
Norma Veitch said, in a low voice, “Yes.”
Mrs. Veitch, roused at last, whirled on her with fury snapping in her eyes.
“Norma!” she screamed. “Shut up, you little fool! It’s a bluff! Can’t you see?”
Sergeant Hoffman moved toward her. “It may have been a bluff, Mrs. Veitch,” he said slowly, “but her statement and your comment have spilled the beans. Go ahead and tell the truth. It’s the only thing left for you to do; otherwise I’m going to figure you’re accessories after the fact.”
Mrs. Veitch ran her tongue along the line of her lips, and burst out furiously, “I should have known better than to trust the little fool! She didn’t know anything about it. She was asleep, as sound as a log. I was the one who heard the shot and came up here. I should have made him marry me, and never taken my daughter into my confidence. But I thought it was a break for her, and I gave it to her. That’s the gratitude I get!”
Sergeant Hoffman turned and stared at Perry Mason.
“This,” he said, “is a hell of a mess. What happened to the bullet that missed Belter?”
Mason laughed. “Sergeant,” he said, “that’s what had me fooled all along. That wet umbrella in the rack, and the locked door bothered me. I kept figuring what must have happened, and then I couldn’t figure out how it could have happened. I’ve been over this room carefully, looking for a bullet hole. And then I realized that Carl Griffin had sense enough to know that he couldn’t have pulled the crime if there had been that bullet hole. Therefore, there was only one thing which could have happened to that bullet. Don’t you see?
“Belter had been taking his bath. It’s an enormous bath tub, and holds over two feet of water when the bath water is drawn. He was furious with his wife and was waiting for her to come in. He heard her come in when he was in his bath, and jumped up and flung on a bathrobe, yelling for her to come up.
“They had their fight, and she shot at him. He was standing in the door of the bathroom, just about where the body was subsequently found. You can stand over there by the door and figure the line of fire by pointing your finger. When the bullet missed him, it went into the bath tub, and the water stopped the force of the bullet.
“Then Carl Griffin came home, and Belter told him what had happened. That’s when he unwittingly signed his own death warrant.Griffin saw his opportunity. He got Belter to stand in just the position he had been when the shot was fired, and then Griffin picked up the gun in his gloved hand, pointed it at Belter, fired one shot through the heart, picked up the second empty shell, which had been ejected, put it in his pocket, dropped the gun and walked out. That was all there was to it. It was that simple.”