Erle Gardner - The Case of the Phantom Fortune

"What do you mean?"

"He knew that I had looked upto him and idolized him when I was working for him and … well, he thoughtthat he could twist me around his finger and – Well, it was just one of thosethings."

"What did you do?"

She said, "Suddenly I saw thewhole thing in its real perspective. It was a disgusting situation. I simplygrabbed my handbag and dashed out of the place."

"What about the gun?"

"I left it on the table. Myright glove was on the floor, I guess. I didn't see it. To tell the truth, Iwasn't thinking. I was simply reacting. I was getting out of there as fast as Icould."

"He was alive when youleft?"

"Of course. He was very muchalive."

"Do you know what time itwas?"

"I know that he told me to bethere at quarter past two and I was there right on the dot. We talked for only a minute or two.The situation became unbearable with considerable rapidity -unbearable as faras I was concerned.

"It's difficult to keep trackof time in a situation of that sort, Mr Mason … They say he was killed withmy gun."

"Apparently so," Masonsaid, "but they haven't introduced proof of it yet, and when they do I'mgoing to have the right of cross-examination."

"But that was the only gun inthe place."

"If your husband shothim," Mason said, "he might well have been shot with your gun, butyour husband tells me he didn't shoot him."

"My husband wouldn't lie aboutsuch things."

"In a murder case many timesthings are entirely different from what they are in other cases," Masonsaid. "When a man's life is at stake he will do almost anything."

Mrs Warren blinked back the tears."Do you really mean his life is at stake?"

"Yes," Mason said.

"And its … it's myfault," she said, "I -"

Mason said, "Make up your mindto one thing, Mrs Warren. After water has run downstream and over the dam youcan't find any way on earth of getting it back upstream and over the dam thesecond time. Take things as they come. Concentrate on the present, forget thepast… You didn't give Gideon any money?"

"Not a cent."

"Did you tell him you had somemoney for him?"

"Yes. That was over the phone.I told him I had some money for him, not as much as I'd hoped to have, but allI could raise without attracting attention. I started talking and telling himhow sorry I was that I hadn't followed his instructions to get that money outof the safe and conceal it, but I pointed out that if they had found the moneyin my possession that would have been bad and – And then when I met him, MrMason I suddenly saw a look in his eye that made me think that perhaps he hadhoped he could get me so completely involved in the case with him that the jurywould have become sympathetic and acquitted both of us.

"As it was, the cases againstus were so sharply different that the jury was able to acquit me and stillconvict him, but if the cases had been mixed up a little closer – I don't know.I just suddenly lost my feeling of awed admiration for the man and saw him as atawdry performer."

Mason said, "You don't know howlong you talked."

"Just a minute or two."

"And he didn't tell youanything about what he had been doing since he got out?"

"No."

"You had only the one telephonecall from Gideon?" Mason asked.

"That's right. I hadn't heardfrom him directly from the time he was convicted and went to prison until afterhe got out and made that one phone call to me. I'll say that, he wasconsiderate of me. He didn't want any publicity to involve me."

"Sure he didn't," Masonsaid, "because he wanted to blackmail your husband."

"He wanted … what?"

"He wanted to blackmail yourhusband," Mason said. "That was one of the things he had in mind. He -"

"Oh, but he wouldn't have doneanything like that. He wouldn't have been that low."

"Don't kid yourself,"Mason said. "He came to my office and tried to get me to finance him bygetting your husband to put in money to avoid the publicity."

Her mouth sagged open. "Why …why – Well, of all things!"

"You had no idea of that?"

"No."

"All right," Mason said."You've told me about your background and about what happened when you gotinto that storeroom. Now, don't tell anyone else. Make absolutely no comment toanybody about anything."

"But it will all have to comeout now," she said. "My association with Gideon and -"

"No, it won't," Masonsaid. "Not necessarily. I'm going to put up a fight. I'm forcing the stateto an immediate preliminary examination and we'll see just how much of a casethey've got against your husband."

"I'm afraid it's a perfectlydevastating case," she said, "even if they don't know everythingabout the background."

"They won't necessarily try toprove motivation at a preliminary hearing," Mason said. "Where didyou get the gun?"

"My husband got it."

"Where? When?"

"He bought it several yearsago."

"From a friend or from afirearms dealer?"

"I believe from a firearmsdealer. He wanted a gun to keep in the house."

"All right," Mason said,"we'll do the best we can. You sit tight and make absolutely no commentabout anything. As far as possible adopt the position that you are tooprostrated to submit to interviews. Don't let any newspapermen in the house,don't answer the telephone yourself, and if you should be cornered by anyperson who wants an interview, don't let that person trap you into making anystatement of any sort other than the two words 'no comment'. Use those wordswhenever you open your mouth. Think you can do that?"

"Yes, of course."

"It's not going to be as easyas you think," Mason said. "They'll suddenly throw questions at youor make definite assertions of things that aren't true and try to catch you bysurprise. Simply remember and say 'no comment' and keep saying 'no comment'. Inthat way you can help your husband. Otherwise you may inadvertently hurthim."

"I'll try," she said.

Judge Romney Saxton took hisposition on the bench and said, "The case of the People of the State of California versus Horace Warren. This is a preliminaryexamination for murder. Is the case ready to be heard?"

"Ready for the defence,"Perry Mason said.

Hamilton Burger got to his feet."If the Court please, in announcing that we are ready for the prosecutionI wish to state . that my trial deputy, Alpheus Randolph, will assist me inpresenting the case.

"I am aware that an openingstatement is not usually made in connection with a preliminary hearing. I amalso aware my personal appearance in a preliminary examination is highlyunusual, but this is an unusual case. Because of the peculiar circumstancessurrounding this hearing, I desire to make a statement to the Court so that theCourt will understand the purpose of the evidence we are introducing and how itfits into an overall pattern.

"We have, for instance, beenunable to find a motivation for murder in the evidence in this case except byimplication and by circumstantial evidence.

"We propose to introduce thatcircumstantial evidence and let the Court draw its own conclusions.

"We shall be able to show thaton the night of the third of this month an attempted murder was committed inconnection with the hold-up of the main branch of the Pacific NorthernSupermarket in this city There were two witnesses who saw the murderer.

"Mr Perry Mason, who is theattorney for the defendant in this case, employed an artist to make a sketch ofthe decedent this was done in advance of any interview with those witnesses andbefore hearing any description given by those witnesses.

"The circumstantial evidenceindicated conclusively that Mr Mason intended to use this to exert pressure tobear on the decedent, Collister Gideon.

"Gideon had been convicted of afelony previously and had but recently been released from the federal prison.Knowing that a person of Mr Mason's influence was intending to frame anattempted murder charge on him, he could conceivably have been expected topanic."