Эрл Гарднер - The Case of the Sleepwalker's Niece

“On my honor, Mr. Mason, I didn’t tell a soul.”

“Did anyone see you put the knife in there?”

“I’m certain they didn’t.”

“Where did you have the key last night?”

“I hid it.”

“Where?”

“In the toe of an old shoe. I was afraid that… that something might go wrong, and I knew how much it meant to you. I…” she broke off as Sergeant Holcomb came striding into the room and said triumphantly, “Neither one of the witnesses cares to make any statement to you, Mr. Mason.”

Mason sucked in a quick breath, as though about to make some retort, then shrugged his shoulders, said, “Very well,” and stalked from the house, banging the front door behind him. He ran lightly down the cement walk, jumped into his car and sent it racing through the gears as he headed toward his office. He stopped at a drugstore, however, to telephone Drake’s office. “When Drake comes in,” he told the girl who answered the telephone, “have him send an operative out to search Kent’s residence for a carving knife that’s a duplicate of the one with which the murder was committed. Have the operative go through the place with a finetoothed comb until he finds it. And he might start by looking under the top of that coffee table in the patio.”

Della Street raised her eyebrows inquiringly as Mason hung up hat and coat in the closet. “Well?” she asked.

Mason said, “Mrs. Doris Sully Kent has tied up Kent’s bank account.”

“What do you mean?”

“She had a restraining order issued late yesterday afternoon, preventing him from disposing of any of the property. She’s made an application to have a receiver appointed. The restraining order is effective until a hearing can be had on the receivership.”

“But that… why, Chief, that would even keep him from paying you an attorney’s fee.” He nodded. “And he can’t pay Paul Drake for detective service?” He shook his head. “And suppose a receiver is appointed, what then?”

Mason said, “It depends on who the receiver is and how the Judge happens to look at things.”

“But Mr. Kent has lots of business interests. How can she tie them all up?”

“She’s claimed that he threatens to dissipate his property, make fraudulent transfers and a few other things. She found a judge who was willing to listen to her.”

“You mean he was willing to look at a stare of baby innocence!” Della Street retorted indignantly.

“You mustn’t be unjust,” Mason grinned. “Remember, she’s only a helpless woman, who wants to do what’s right. She states in her action that the alimony granted her in the divorce case shouldn’t be continued because the whole divorce was a fraud on her and on the court. So she alleges in her complaint that she wants to have the fifteen hundred dollars a month discontinued.”

“In other words, she wants to take all of Kent’s property instead of just part,” Della Street exclaimed. Mason grinned. “How can she get an injunction without putting up a big bond?”

“Our Code Section. Look it up sometime. Section 529 provides that there’s no necessity for a bond whenever a court grants an injunction against a spouse in an action for divorce or separate maintenance.”

“Then she can come into court and make any sort of perjured allegations she wants to and make it look as though she were really an injured party, and, when the judge tries the case and finds she hasn’t got a leg to stand on, Mr. Kent can’t do a thing about it?”

“Hardly that,” Mason said, “but don’t worry about that baby not having a leg to stand on. When she gets into court, the judge will realize she’s got two very shapely legs to stand on. He’ll see plenty of them, too. She’ll make a good appearance on the witness stand. Kent won’t; he’ll be nervous, fussed and irritable. He’ll feel that he’s been unjustly held up. He’ll stutter and stammer, he’ll be so damned mad he won’t be able to impress his side of the case on the court. Mrs. Kent, on the other hand, will be very calm, cool and collected. Accent on the collected, Della! She’ll smile very sweetly at the judge and say that really, she doesn’t want to do any injustice to her poor, dear husband; that she was tricked into filing the divorce complaint; that she realizes now he wasn’t right mentally; that what he needs is someone to care for him; that he’s mentally sick; that now is the time he really needs his wife and that her place is by his side, and she wants to be there.”

“Chief, why don’t you go into court and show her up?”

“Can’t afford to,” he said. “ Kent will have to make some sort of a settlement with her. He can’t afford to have his property tied up until this thing can be threshed out at a trial. He can’t afford to have a receiver in charge; and he can’t stand going through with all the litigation. He’s nervous anyway. It would drive him crazy. By the time he got into court, she’d have no difficulty sustaining the allegations of her complaint.”

“Isn’t there anything you can do about it?”

“Buy her off, that’s all.”

“What makes you so certain she’d make a good impression on a judge?”

“Her past record for one thing. She’s always done it. Remember, she’s been through the mill. She’s not an amateur when it comes to acting on the witness stand, she’s a professional.”

“And you’re going to let her get away with it?”

“I’m going to buy her off, if that’s what you mean.”

“Then she’ll help Maddox collect some more money?”

“Before she gets a settlement,” Mason promised, “she’ll tell the truth about Maddox.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that she’ll have to admit Maddox called her up at three o’clock in the morning.”

“You think Maddox will deny that?”

“I’m practically certain he will.”

“Why?”

“Lots of things. The way they’re going about this business of pooling their interests, for one thing. What a fool Duncan is. He thinks he’s gaining an ally. As a matter of fact all he’s doing is letting himself be used as a cat’spaw. She’ll use him as a club to hold over our heads. Then she’ll shake us down and very sweetly throw Maddox overboard in order to make her own settlement.”

“When are you going to settle with her?”

“The Grand Jury is going to indict Kent on a murder charge this morning,” Mason said. “The district attorney will make a play for an immediate trial. I’m going to consent. Maddox and Duncan will testify to a bunch of stuff. Then I’ll tear into Maddox, asking him where he was and what he was doing at three o’clock in the morning. He’ll stall around and either won’t answer or else will lie. Then I’ll take Doris Sully Kent out and make a settlement with her. I’ll explain to her that, if I could prove Maddox did telephone her, it possibly would clear up Mr. Kent’s difficulties so he would feel able to make a substantial cash settlement. Then Harris can go on the stand and testify to the telephone conversation and she’ll go on the stand and corroborate it. That will make Maddox out a liar.”

“Of course, she’d have to swear she recognized Maddox’s voice and apparently it was the first time she’d heard from him.”

“Technically, yes, practically, no. All I need to do is to put Harris on the stand, let him tell his story, call her to the stand and let it appear she’s a hostile witness. I’ll ask her if Maddox didn’t telephone her at that time. They’ll object. Then I’ll ask her if some man didn’t telephone at that time who said he was Maddox. They’ll probably object to that. The court may sustain them, unless she can testify she recognized Maddox’s voice. I’ll pretend to be very exasperated then suddenly ask her, ‘Madam, what were you doing at the time the murder was committed, on the morning of the fourteenth—were you, or were you not, at that time holding a telephone in your hand and talking with some person over long distance?’ She’ll give a very faint and apparently reluctant ‘yes’ and that’ll be just about all the jury needs. I’ll dismiss her from the witness stand. The district attorney will be afraid to crossexamine her. Then I’ll introduce photostatic copies of the telephone company records.”