Эрл Гарднер - The Case of the Stepdaughter’s Secret

“And if she wants to claim self-defence, just let her try and explain why she didn’t notify the police right away.”

“Because,” Mason said, “she didn’t want to expose the matter which had been used as a means of blackmail. She didn’t want to have the police interrogating her about the subject of blackmail and about why she had taken Fordyce down to the yacht in the first place.”

Hastings said, “Let her tell that story on the witness stand where I’ve got an opportunity to cross-examine her and I’ll rip her story to shreds — and when she tries to tell that story, don’t think the Court will let you stand around and put words in her mouth. She’ll tell it according to the rules of evidence, the same as any other witness.

“As far as I’m concerned, this thing has been just a dress rehearsal and an attempt on your part to influence the press into giving her a sympathetic sob-sister background.

“I challenge you to put her on the witness stand tomorrow and let her tell that same story.”

“You prepare your case and I’ll prepare mine,” Mason said. “The press conference is over.”

Sheriff Jewett said, “In view of your client’s statement, Mr Mason, I don’t see why you accused me of incompetent investigative technique in that I failed to mark the location of the yacht where we recovered it. Quite evidently the yacht had drifted with the rising tide down the bay and had come to rest there.”

“The point is,” Mason said, “that you don’t know what went overboard from that yacht. You don’t know what evidence might have been thrown overboard.”

“What makes you think any evidence was?”

“I think it was,” Mason said. “I think something very significant was thrown overboard. I also think that in the best police procedure any investigation worthy of the name would have marked the exact location of that yacht and had divers explore the bottom.”

“I don’t know what you’re getting at,” the sheriff said.

“You’ll find out before I rest my case,” Mason told him.

The sheriff said, “All right, I’ll tell you the same thing you told the district attorney. You run your business and I’ll run mine.”

“Thank you,” Mason said, smiling. “As far as I’m concerned the press conference is over. I’ll see you tomorrow, Mrs Bancroft, and in the meantime don’t answer any more questions. Just say that you’ll tell your story at the proper time and in the proper place. From now on, keep your own counsel. Don’t tell anybody anything.”

Mason stalked out of the room.

Della Street said, “Why didn’t you show the sheriff up by proving that two typewriters had been used on that note?”

Mason smiled at her. “It won’t help our case to get the sheriff confused, but it will help our case to keep the blackmailers confused.”

“Why? One of them is dead.”

“Do you know that there were only two?” Mason asked.

She thought over his question for a few seconds. “No,” she admitted at length.

“Exactly,” Mason said, and then, after a pause, “Let’s eat.”

It was four o’clock when Mason got Paul Drake on the phone.

“You down there at the bay, Paul?”

“I’m down here.”

“What’s the weather?”

“Foggy again.”

“Damn it,” Mason said, “I was hoping the fog would lift.”

“Well, it may be lifting. It looks as though it’s getting a little lighter.”

“You’re camped down there by that wharf?”

“Hell, I’m on the wharf,” Drake said. “I’ve got a set of white coveralls with the name of an oil company all over the back and I’m ostensibly waiting for boats to come in to be refuelled.”

“All right, keep your eyes open,” Mason said.

“What am I looking for?”

“Divers,” Mason told him. “I think before the afternoon is over you’ll find the district attorney and the sheriff down there with some divers. I’ve got the sheriff worried. He thinks that maybe he should have explored the bottom of the bay around where the yacht was found, and I’m positive the district attorney will try to disprove Mrs Bancroft’s testimony by sending a diver down to look over the place where she says she jumped overboard. I think he’s convinced the actual murder took place out where the yacht was found.”

“All right, I’ll stick on the job,” Drake said.

“And when any divers come along I’ll want to know,” Mason told him. “You have a phone there?”

“Right here on the wharf,” Drake said. “I’m sitting here inside the little cabin at the end of the wharf and looking out over the bay right now.”

“All right,” Mason said, “keep looking.”

“How long do I stay here?”

“Have someone bring your meals,” Mason told him. “Get a relief, if you have to, but I’d prefer to have you on the job personally.”

“It’s colder than hell with this fog,” Drake said. “I came down here with just a business suit. I’ve got these white coveralls over it but they’re not sufficient.”

“Try running and jumping up and down,” Mason told him. “Try thumping your hands against your thighs. That will keep the circulation going. Make your arms go up and down. Pretend you’re a seagull, trying to fly.”

“Go jump in the lake,” Drake told him. “It’s easy for you to sit up there in a heated office with the temperature regulated by a thermostat and tell me what to do to keep warm.”

Mason chuckled. “Just stay on the job, Paul. I’ve been a big help already, you’re mad enough now to keep warm for an hour.”

It was a little after five o’clock when Drake called Mason.

“Okay, Perry,” he said, “we’ve got action down here.”

“You’re at the wharf?”

“Yes.”

“How’s the weather?”

“It’s clear.”

“Cold?”

“Not as bad as it was when the fog was in.”

“What’s the action?”

“The sheriff, the district attorney, a couple of deputies and a diver.”

“What are they doing?”

“Just standing around, waiting for the diver... Oh, oh, here comes the diver now. He has something in his hand.”

“Can you see what it is?” Mason asked.

“No, the diver has motioned to the sheriff and the district attorney and he’s going ashore with it. He isn’t coming out here to the wharf.”

“Keep an eye on things,” Mason said. “Just hang onto the phone and let me know what’s happening.”

“All right. They’re in a huddle now,” Drake said, “and it’s quite a huddle... Here’s the diver going back. He’s swimming under water. You can get an idea of where he is by the air bubbles.”

“You don’t have any idea what it was he found?”

“No.”

“Couldn’t get any glimpse of it?”

“No.”

“Think it’s the purse?”

“Probably. It was right out there where the purse was — right where... Hey, wait a minute, Perry. He’s back again. There are two things. They’re positively jubilant. The district attorney is patting the diver on the back.”

Mason said, “Take off your coveralls and go to dinner, Paul. Your shift is over.”

Judge Hobart said, “Case of the People versus Phyllis Bancroft. This is the time heretofore fixed to resume the hearing and hear the defendant’s case. Are you ready, gentlemen?”

“Just a moment,” Hastings said. “If the Court please, we announced yesterday that we were going to rest our case but with the indulgence of the Court I would like to ask a few more questions to clear up certain matters which have been in doubt and remove certain criticisms which have been directed toward the law enforcement agencies of this county in a press conference—”