Эрл Гарднер - The Case of the Long-Legged Models

“All right,” Mason said. “What did she find?”

Gertie lowered her voice. “Bloody towels that Mr. Garvin had left there the night of the murder.”

“What?”

“That’s right. Towels with dried, crusted blood on them. And they’re stamped with the name of the Ambrose Apartments. They had been hidden there, and Marie was afraid — well, she didn’t want anybody to know. She wanted me to find you and tell you and ask you what to do. She’s loyal to Mr. Garvin but she simply can’t sit still with anything like this on her mind and let Stephanie Falkner go to prison.

“She felt that perhaps she could wait and see how the case came out and then she could apparently find them for the first time and then you could move for a new trial on the ground of newly discovered evidence. But that wouldn’t be right. She’s all at sea, poor kid. She...”

Mason said, “All right, Gertie. Calm yourself. Now sit down and have some coffee.”

“Heavens! I’m so terribly upset, Mr. Mason. You can see it all, now. Homer Garvin really did kill George Casselman, and Stephanie Falkner knows it. Because she loves him she won’t go on the witness stand and...”

“Hey! Wait a minute! Wait a minute!” Mason said. “That crazy, mixed up, romantic mind of yours has given me an idea.”

Della Street looked warningly at Perry Mason. “She has lots of crazy ideas. Give her a button and she’ll sew a romantic vest on it.”

Perry Mason started pacing the floor. “Hang it!” he said. “It’s corny. It’s a grandstand. But it will catch the District Attorney entirely by surprise, and it’s the only thing I can do.”

Gertie turned to Paul Drake. “And your office says for you to call right away. It’s terribly important.”

Paul Drake called for a phone to be plugged into an extension socket. Mason continued rapidly pacing the floor.

“What,” Della Street asked, “do you have in mind?”

Mason said, “I’ll call Stephanie Falkner to the stand as a defense witness. She will refuse to go. I’ll argue with her. There’ll be a scene in court. I’ll order her to take the stand. She’ll refuse to take the stand. Then I’ll rest my case. I’ll go to the jury with a whirlwind campaign that Stephanie Falkner knows the man she loved killed George Casselman, that— Wait a minute! Wait a minute, Della! I’ve got it. I’ve got it!” Mason said snapping his fingers rapidly.

“Got what?” Della Street asked.

Mason laughed. “They can’t find the bullet I fired into the desk out at Junior’s office. I’ve got it, Della! I’ve got it! We’ll use those bloodstained towels.”

“Go on,” she said, his excitement communicating itself to her. “What are you going to do?”

Paul Drake, listening on the extension telephone which had been plugged in by the waiter, shoved his right index finger in his ear, said, “Don’t make so much racket, you guys. My office is trying to reach me on something important.”

Mason said, “Della, I’ll claim that Junior Garvin actually did take the gun we’ve referred to as the Junior Gun up to Stephanie Falkner’s apartment, that in the meantime Stephanie Falkner had noticed that the gun we’ve referred to as the Holster Gun, which was the gun Homer Garvin, Sr. had left with her, had an exploded shell in the chamber. That convinced her Homer Garvin, Sr. had killed Casselman. So instead of leaving the Junior Gun on the table where Homer Garvin, Jr. had put it, she grabbed that gun and concealed it in her apartment. Then she took the Holster Gun, the one which Homer Garvin, Sr. had given her the night before, the one with the exploded shell, and put it on the table in exactly the same position. And, by heaven, that’s exactly what she did do!

“After all, Della, we’re a gun short. Homer Garvin, Sr. gave Stephanie the Holster Gun on the night of the murder. Homer Garvin, Jr. gave her the Junior Gun at my suggestion the following day. The police searched her apartment but they only found one gun! As soon as they found that one gun, they quit searching.

“By George! I’ll mix this case all up with the missing gun, bring in Gertie’s romantic theory, make a whirlwind argument to the jury, demand that the Court order my client to take the stand... Hang it! I’ll throw on some courtroom fireworks that will make history!

“I’ll recall Sergeant Holcomb to the stand. I’ll show that when he found that one gun in Stephanie’s apartment, he had to rush to the ballistic department to have it tested. Then when he found it was the murder gun, he became so excited he never went back to search Stephanie’s apartment until the ninth.

“We can see exactly what Stephanie did. As soon as Junior went out of the door, she put the Holster Gun on the table, and ditched the Junior Gun. By the time the police got back to search her apartment the second time she’d had ample opportunity to put the Junior Gun where they’d never be able to find it.

“That’s the only logical explanation. She felt Garvin Senior had killed Casselman so she switched guns.

“I know Garvin saw Casselman about a quarter past eight. He must have shot Casselman in self-defense. Then when Stephanie went in at eight-thirty she found Casselman dead. She stepped in the blood— She went out the back way— Hang it! Della, she saw Garvin when he was driving away from the apartment house. She knew he’d seen Casselman. It all hangs together. Police bungled the investigative work, and Stephanie was the one who switched guns!

“Della, I’ve been asleep at the switch! Why hasn’t it occurred to me before? We’ve been running around in circles about that gun, and it has never occurred to anyone that the whole case lies in that missing gun that the police haven’t found.”

“Well,” Della Street said thoughtfully, “if you can put that across to the jury with all the fire of white hot enthusiasm you have now, Chief, you’ll get away with it.”

“Get away with it!” Mason exclaimed. “Why the worst I’ll get will be a hung jury. They won’t convict her with that... Gertie, bless your romantic, daydreaming, exaggerating hide! I’m going to buy you five pounds of candy as soon as I get out of court this afternoon.”

“Oh, Mr. Mason,” she said. “Not candy, please! Anything else. I... I’m dieting this week.”

“Five pounds of luscious chocolate creams!” Mason said. “A big, five-pound box of candy.”

“Well,” she sighed, “if you insist.”

Paul Drake hung up the phone, said, “Hey! Wait a minute, Perry! I’ve been covering print shops all over the city trying to find the print shop that printed those billheads for the Acme Electric and Plumbing Repair Company and the Eureka Associated Renovators. Last night I started my men checking Las Vegas. We found a printing establishment in Las Vegas that printed the billheads all right. They were done at the order of a man who paid for them in cash and unfortunately we can’t get any kind of a description of the man. It was done nearly a year ago. The people just can’t remember him.”

Mason snapped his fingers. “Never mind that, Paul, I’m going to put this crazy, romantic idea of Gertie’s across. After all, why couldn’t Stephanie have switched guns?”

Drake looked at his watch. “Well, I didn’t hear all of that stuff. I was too busy on the phone. But you’d better finish eating if you’re going to be in court at two o’clock.”

Mason turned to Gertie. “Where is Marie now, Gertie?”

“Waiting in your private office.”

“She has those towels with her?”

“Yes.”

“On your way!” Mason said. “Tell her to wrap those towels in a package and bring them to me in court. I’ll stall the case until she can get there.”