Erle Gardner - The Case of the Horrified Heirs

«We will wait with our cross-examination,» Mason said.

«Very well. Call your next witness,» Judge Grayson said.

«I'll call Lieutenant Tragg to the stand,» Caswell said.

Tragg came forward and was sworn.

«Were you at the jail when the defendant was brought in and held for investigation?»

«Yes, sir.»

«Did you have any talk with the defendant?»

«I did. Yes, sir.»

«And did you advise the defendant of her constitutional rights?»

«Yes.»

«And what did she say by way of explanation?»

Tragg said, «She told me that Lauretta Trent had telephoned her and arranged a meeting at the Saint's Rest. That she went up there and claimed she had been there for considerably more than an hour. That she became nervous and telephoned Perry Mason. That Perry Mason went up there to join her at the motel. That after he arrived he suggested that they go out and look at her car.»

«And then what?» Caswell asked.

«Then they found that her car had been damaged. That a headlight had been knocked out and a fender bent.»

«And did Mr. Mason make any suggestions?» Caswell asked gloatingly.

«She said that Mr. Mason told her to get in her car and drive out of the exit, to then turn around and come right back into the entrance. That when she did this, Mr. Mason jumped in his car and ran into her car, thereby compounding the damage so that it would be impossible-

«Just a minute,» Mason said, «I object to the witness giving conclusions. Let him state the facts.»

«I'm asking him what the defendant said,» Caswell said. «Did the defendant say why this was done?»

«Yes, she said it was done so that it would be impossible to tell when her car was first damaged.»

«What else did she tell you?»

«She said that George Eagan, Lauretta Trent's chauffeur, had approached her about forging a copy of a will.»

«What sort of a will?»

«A will purported to have been made by Mrs. Trent.»

«And did she say what she did in connection with that?»

«She said that she accepted five hundred dollars; that she forged two wills on the stationery of Delano Bannock, an attorney at law, now deceased, who had done work for Mrs. Trent and by whom she had been employed.»

«Did she offer any proof of that statement?»

«She said that she had mailed herself a letter by registered mail containing the sheets of carbon which were used in making the forgeries. She said that following the advice of Perry Mason she had used fresh carbon paper so that it would be possible to read the terms of the forged will by holding the carbon papers to the light.»

Judge Grayson said, «Now, just a minute. This is asking for confidential advice given a client by an attorney?»

«It is, Your Honor,» Caswell said. «It would be manifestly improper for me to show this conversation except by calling for what the defendant had said. In other words, if the defendant should be on the stand and I asked her what her attorney told her, that would be calling for a privileged communication, but with Lieutenant Tragg on the stand, I may ask him what the defendant said in regard to her actions and in regard to explanation. If at the time of that conversation the defendant chose to waive the privilege of the confidential communication and state what her attorney has told her, then the witness can repeat that conversation.

«That is a chance an attorney has to take when he advises a client to do things which are for the purpose of confusing the law enforcement officers and, in this instance, for the purpose of compounding a felony.

«We will proceed against Mr. Mason in the proper tribunal and at the proper time, but in the meantime, we have a right to show what the defendant said her attorney told her.»

Judge Grayson looked down at Mason. «You have an objection, Mr. Mason?»

«Certainly not,» Mason said. «I have no objection to bringing out the facts in this case. At the proper time I will show that persons have deliberately framed a crime on this defendant and-«

«Just a moment, just a moment,» Caswell interrupted. «This is not the time for Perry Mason to put on a defense, either for this defendant or for himself. He will have an opportunity to put on a defense for the defendant when I have finished my case and he will have an opportunity to defend himself before the proper tribunal.»

«I think that's right,» Judge Grayson ruled. «However, Mr. Mason has an opportunity to argue this point in regard to the objection.»

«There hasn't been any objection,» Mason said. «I want the witness to state what the defendant told him, to state everything the defendant told him.»

«Very well, go ahead,» Judge Grayson said. «I thought there might be an objection interposed on the ground that this was calling for a privileged communication. However, I can appreciate that once the client has waived the privilege of the communication and made a voluntary statement-Well, there seems to be no objection, go ahead.»

«She stated that the witness, George Eagan, had been the one who called on her?»

«Yes.»

«And positively identified him?»

«Yes.»

«Cross-examine,» Caswell snapped.

Mason said, «You were talking with this young woman late at night, Lieutenant?»

«Yes, she was not arrested until rather late in the evening.»

«You knew that she was my client?»

«No.»

«You didn't?»

«I only knew what she told me.»

«And you didn't accept that as true?»

«We never accept what an accused defendant tells us to be the truth. We investigate every phase of the story.»

«I see,» Mason said. «Then you aren't prepared to state that what she told you about what I had advised her was the truth?»

«Well,» Tragg said, hesitating, «there were certain corroborating circumstances.»

«Such as what?»

«She gave us permission to pick up the registered letter which was sent to her and to open it.»

«And you did that?»

«Yes.»

«And found the carbon copies of the purported will just as she had told you?»

«Yes.»

«And for that reason you became inclined to believe everything she told you?»

«It was a corroborating circumstance.»

«Then why didn't you believe her when she said that I was representing her?»

«Well, if it's material,» Tragg said, «I did.»

«Then why didn't you notify me that she was in jail?»

«I told her she could call you.»

«And what did she say?»

«She said there was no use. That she couldn't understand what had happened but that this chauffeur, George Eagan, was the culprit and that she was freely and voluntarily telling us all of these facts so that we could go and pick up Eagan.»

«And did you?»

«Not that night. We did the next morning.»

«And what happened then?»

«In the presence of Hamilton Burger, the district attorney of the County, and in your presence there at the consulting room of the county jail we confronted the defendant with George Eagan. He said in her presence that he had never seen her before, and she stated that he wasn't the man who had called on her.»

«Did she make any further statements?»

«She admitted that the man who called on her had never told her he was George Eagan, the chauffeur, but said that an identification had been made from a physical description and the license number on an automobile. She said that the man who called on her had given the name of George Menard.»

«And you got the defendant to tell you all this by telling her that you were investigating the murder; that you wanted to apprehend the guilty person; that you didn't think she could be guilty; that she was too nice a young woman to be guilty of any crime of this sort; that you thought someone was trying to frame her and that if she would give you the facts immediately and without waiting to get in touch with me in the morning, that you would start an investigation which would perhaps have everything all cleared up so that she could go home and spend the night in her own bed. Isn't that right?»