Эрл Гарднер - The Case of the Lucky Legs

"A minute or two," said Perry Mason. "Why?"

"Do you remember exactly what time it was when the officer arrived?"

"No," Mason said, "I didn't look at my watch."

"That," said Bradbury, "is something that can be ascertained, of course."

"Of course," Mason said, and set down his wineglass. "Go ahead, Bradbury, I'm listening."

"I was wondering just what time the murder was committed, with reference to the time that you got to the apartment?" Bradbury went on. "The time element may be important there."

"It may be," agreed Perry Mason.

"It seems funny to me," Bradbury said, "that if Margy had been in the bathroom and some one had killed Frank Patton, that the door would have been locked."

"Why?" asked Perry Mason.

"In the first place," said Bradbury, "it is utterly impossible for me to believe that Marjorie Clune had a key to Frank Patton's apartment. That is simply out of the question."

"Go ahead," Mason told him, "I'm listening."

"In the event," said Bradbury, "Marjorie Clune was barricaded in the bathroom, and Frank Patton broke in through the door, and there was a struggle and Marjorie killed him in selfdefense, she would have been the last one to go through the door."

"Yes," said Mason, "what of it?"

"In that event, the door wouldn't have been locked. Since Marjorie Clune didn't have a key to it, and since the dead man could hardly have locked the door.

"On the other hand," went on Bradbury, his eyes boring into those of Perry Mason with steady insistence, "if Marjorie Clune had been in the bathroom, and Patton had been trying to get in the bathroom, but hadn't been able to do so, and some other person had walked through the door into the apartment and killed Patton, and then walked out as you suggest, locking the door behind him, how could Marjorie have got out of the apartment?"

Perry Mason kept watching Bradbury in silent speculation.

"The only other possible solution," said Bradbury, "would be that Marjorie Clune ran out of the bathroom while the two men were struggling. That is, while Frank Patton was struggling with the intruder who had entered through the door of the apartment. In that event, Marjorie Clune would have seen this murderer, and would undoubtedly either have recognized him if she had known him, or been able to give something in the line of a description of him if she hadn't known him."

"And then?" asked Perry Mason.

"Then," said Bradbury, "the murderer would have stabbed Patton and run from the apartment. In that event, he would probably have seen Marjorie Clune, either when she emerged from the bathroom, or while she was in the corridor, or in the elevator."

"You," said Perry Mason, "are a pretty good detective yourself, Bradbury. You've reasoned the thing out quite clearly."

"I simply wanted to impress upon you," said Bradbury slowly, "that just because I came from a smaller city is no reason that I can't stand up and fight when the occasion arises. I don't want you to underestimate me, Counselor."

Perry Mason's eyes were filled with interest and with the glint of a dawning respect.

"Hell, no, Bradbury," he said, "I'm not going to underestimate you."

"Thank you, Counselor," said Bradbury and picked up his highball glass. He finished draining the highball.

Perry Mason watched him attentively for a few moments, and then raised his wineglass, sipped, and refilled the glass from the bottle.

"Are you finished talking?" he asked.

"No," said Bradbury, "there's one other point I wanted to make. That is, that I am satisfied Marjorie Clune must have seen the murderer, that in the event she didn't make an outcry or an alarm, it was because the murderer was known to her, and she desired to protect him."

"You're referring to Dr. Doray?" asked Perry Mason.

"Exactly," said Bradbury with a tone of cold finality in his voice.

"Look here," Mason said, "I may be able to set you right on one thing, Bradbury. I saw Marjorie Clune when she came out from the apartment house. I stood and watched her until she had walked a little over a half a block and then I turned and went into the apartment house. I took the elevator. After I left the elevator, I went down the corridor directly to Frank Patton's apartment. I didn't notice any one else coming from the apartment where Patton lived. I stayed at the door until after the officer arrived there. The officer wouldn't have let any one leave the apartment without his knowledge until he had made the search. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that the apartment was empty when I arrived there. There is, of course, the possibility that a murderer might have gone down the stairs while I was coming up in the elevator. That is only a possibility. I had met Dr. Doray. If I had seen him there in the apartment house, I would have recognized him."

"How about the windows?" asked Bradbury. "Were there windows?"

"Yes, there's a window that opens on a fire escape," Mason said slowly.

"There you are," Bradbury triumphantly pointed out.

"But," said Perry Mason, "if Dr. Doray had been in the room, if Marjorie Clune had run from the bathroom and out of the door, why would Dr. Doray have locked the door of the apartment and then gone through the window and down the fire escape?"

"That," said Bradbury, "is one of the things we are going to determine."

"Yes," Mason agreed, "there are a lot of things we will have to determine when we've got more facts, Bradbury. You understand that it's a physical impossibility for a man to reconstruct the scene of a crime, unless he knows all of the facts."

"I understand that all right," Bradbury said, "but the point I'm getting at is that the facts as we know them, don't seem to check up with certain things that must have happened."

"That," Mason said, "is something for us to figure on when we come into court and start analyzing the case of the prosecution."

"I would prefer," Bradbury said, "to figure on them right now."

"Then," Perry Mason said, "you think that Bob Doray is the one who is guilty of the murder?"

"To be frank with you, I do. I have told you all along that the man was a dangerous man. I feel certain that he is the one who is implicated in the murder, and I feel equally certain that Marjorie Clune will try to shield him, if it is possible for her to do so."

"Do you think she loves him?"

"I am not certain as to that. I think she is fascinated by him. It may be that she thinks she is in love with him. You understand, Counselor, there's a distinction."

Perry Mason regarded the hard glittering eyes of J.R. Bradbury with a newfound respect.

"I understand," he said.

"Furthermore," Bradbury said, "in the event Marjorie Clune tries to sacrifice herself, in order to give Dr. Doray a break, I propose to see that she doesn't do it. Have I made myself plain on that point?"

"More than plain," Perry Mason said.

Bradbury tilted the flask over his glass and poured in another generous shot of rye, which he diluted with ginger ale from the bottle.

"No matter what happens," he said, "Marjorie must not be allowed to sacrifice herself for Dr. Doray."

"Then you want me to try and show that Dr. Doray did the crime?" asked Perry Mason.

"On the contrary," said Bradbury slowly. "I want to impress this upon you, Counselor, that in the event it turns out that I am right, and Dr. Doray is either implicated in this or it should appear that he is the one who actually committed the murder, I think I shall instruct you to represent Dr. Doray."

Perry Mason sat bolt upright in his chair.

"What?" he asked.

Bradbury nodded slowly.

"I shall ask you," he said, "to represent Dr. Doray."

"If I'm representing him," Perry Mason said, "I'm going to do my best to get him off."

"That would be understood," Bradbury told him.