Erie Gardner: The Case of the Lazy Lover

“You have some reason for presenting this matter to me, Mr. Mason?”

“Well, yes.”

“May I ask what it is?”

Mason said, “My client retained me to look after certain interests. Then she became unavailable. The circumstances surrounding her departure are not entirely routine. It occurred to me that perhaps someone, knowing of her intended departure, had taken deliberate advantage of it to start making withdrawals from her account.”

“The forgery was done cleverly?”

“I believe so. Carbon paper and tracing, but it was detected by my bank, after I myself requested the officials of the bank to give the check the closest scrutiny.”

“In other words, you had some reason to think that the check had been forged?”

“I had reason to believe it might be to the interests of my client to have the check given very close scrutiny.”

“But, as I understand it, Mr. Mason, this check was purportedly for the purpose of retaining you to represent Mrs. Allred.”

“The other check was for that purpose.”

“But why should someone forge any check in your favor, Mr. Mason?”

The lawyer smiled. “That is one of the things I would like to determine.”

Pawling studied the letter and check for a few moments, and then abruptly reached a decision and passed them both to Mason.

The lawyer read the letter which was addressed to the cashier of the First National Bank at Las Olitas. It was entirely in typewriting, except for the signature, and read:

This will introduce to you Maurine Milford, whose signature appears immediately above mine, on the left-hand edge of this letter.

I am today giving Maurine Milford my check for five thousand dollars and I wish this check to be paid upon presentation without asking Maurine Milford for any identification, other than that contained in this letter.

You will notice that the check is payable to Miss Milford, that she has endorsed the check and that I, in turn, have signed the check under her endorsement, guaranteeing her signature.

I am also giving you this letter, so that there can be no doubt of Miss Milford’s identity. Please cooperate by seeing that this check is promptly cashed.

Very truly yours,

Over in the left-hand corner appeared the signature of Maurine Milford, and another signature of Lola Faxon Allred.

The check in an amount of five thousand dollars had been signed Lola Faxon Allred, then endorsed Maurine Milford, and under that endorsement appeared the signatures once more of Lola Faxon Allred and Maurine Milford.

“What do you make of it?” Pawling asked.

Mason gave the letter frowning consideration. “Do you have a magnifying glass there?” he asked.

“A very powerful one,” Pawling said, and opened the drawer of his desk.

Mason studied the signatures, said, “I’m no handwriting expert, but I would say that these signatures have not been made by the same means as the forged signature on the twenty-five hundred dollar check.”

Pawling nodded.

Mason went on, “The fact that Mrs. Allred went to such pains to see that Maurine Milford was provided with a means of identification is some indication that it might have been difficult for Miss Milford to have secured any other identification. In other words, Miss Milford is quite evidently a stranger here.”

Again the banker contented himself with a mere nod.

“And, quite apparently, there was some necessity for haste in connection with the transaction,” Mason said. “I see that the letter and the check were dated last Saturday. The documents were presented this morning.”

Mason turned the letter over, noticed a rubber stamp announcing the hour of receipt by the bank and said, “Apparently it was presented a few minutes after ten o’clock. Perhaps it would be a good plan to find out whether the cashier knows Maurine Milford.”

Pawling started to press the button, then checked himself, picked up the letter and the check, said, “Excuse me a moment, Mr. Mason,” and quietly opening the mahogany gate in his office walked unhurriedly along the long length of the corridor, to pause before the cashier’s window.

When he returned, he was carrying a slip of paper on which he had apparently jotted down the description which the cashier had given him.

“Maurine Milford,” the banker said, “is apparently a rather striking young woman, in the very early twenties, a decided brunette with dark eyes and long lashes. She was wearing a powder blue suit and dark blue suede gloves. She had a blue suede purse and an eccentric hat with red trim which perched on one side of her head. She took off her gloves when she presented the check. The cashier took the precaution of having her sign an additional endorsement to show she had received the money, and then paid her the money in hundred dollar bills. The cashier remembers that she was well-formed, slim-waisted and athletic-looking. She seemed thoroughly at ease, perfectly in command of herself and the situation. She smilingly parried all questions as to what she intended to do with the money. It was, of course, none of the cashier’s business, so he was tactful. He merely asked her whether she intended to establish a residence here, whether she would like to open an account, what denomination she would like the bills in, and things of that sort.

“The only thing which the cashier noticed that was at all conspicuous about her, aside from the fact that she was quite beautiful, was that her makeup was quite heavy, particularly the lips. The lipstick seemed to be rather vivid and the natural shape of the mouth had been radically distorted and thickened. As soon as her check was paid, she put the money in her purse and walked out.

“And that, Mr. Mason, seems to be about all we know concerning the transaction. I shall, of course, have a handwriting expert immediately check this letter and the signature on the check, but you will note there are three signatures — one on the letter, one on the face of the check, one on the back of the check under the endorsement of Maurine Milford. Each one of those signatures seems to be entirely genuine.”

The banker paused, inviting Mason’s further confidence.

The lawyer pushed back his chair. “Will you,” he asked, “telephone me at once, in the event there should be any question on the part of your handwriting expert?”

Pawling nodded.

Mason said, “I take it he will make a preliminary examination and then perhaps a more detailed examination. I should like to be kept advised.”

“I feel certain you are entitled to that courtesy.”

Mason, turning over the letter in his hand, said casually, “I’m not certain that you advised me as to whether there had been any other unusual activity on the part of Mrs. Allred’s account lately.”

Pawling said, “This is the only withdrawal that has been made during a period — well, of some time, Mr. Mason.”

Abruptly, Mason tilted the letter to one side so that the light struck it from an angle. Then he slid the tips of his fingers over the signature.

“Something?” the banker asked.

Mason said, “I would say that we may now safely put two and two together. You’ll notice a very slight indentation along the lines of this signature. Quite evidently, this was the signature from which the signature on the forged check was traced.”

“Dear, dear!” Pawling said as though he had suffered some minor irritation such as breaking the point of a pencil.

Mason regarded him quizzically. “A matter of some twenty-five hundred dollars,” he said.

Pawling positively beamed, “Which the bank has not paid, of course.”

“That does not alter the seriousness of the crime,” Mason said.